A collective monetary effort

[Touzen]

Dear NSEuropeans,

sometimes the administration of this forum wants to take things to the next level. Today is one of these days.

After intensive deliberation and discussion amongst members of the staff we have decided that it would be prudent for our roleplaying community to adjust to the environment of Web 2.0. As you might know or not know, we are currently running an old and if I may say so myself rather outdated version of the highly advanced vbulletin forum software, which has served us well for many a year. However, even the most battle-hardened of technical products eventually reaches the end of its lifeline and that is the point in time when you have to advance and look towards expanding the technical abilities of the community. We have therefore decided to update from the current vbulletin forum software 3.0 to version 4.0.

What does this mean? First of all, the new and updated vbulletin software allows us to make some quite positive changes to the graphical overlay of the forum. I mean, let us be honest there, the forum layout could use a lifting or two. Not to speak of the fact that under the surface, vbulletin 4 offers exciting new opportunities from a technical perspective to include new features, like a closer integration of wiki and forum or other amazing stuff, not to say that there will be some neat new tools available for administrators and moderators. We will also be able to have a frontpage again, where important FAQ articles, news, updates, latest map versions and such can be accessed at a single glance. We theoretically even would have the option to include a blog system, though at this point this seems like something that would still have to be deliberated upon.

Now the catch. We need money.

This thing isn't free. To be exact, we need 285$ or 239€. Now, the good news is that some highly patriotic members of the forum already have pledged their support to the cause, with 180$ already safely in. That means that we still need around 105$ or ~76€.

We will also have a scheduled downtime of the forum for like one weekend sometime in December because I am changing the server to a more powerful model, so it would be neat if we could put the update and the server move together so that we won't have double downtime.

So what is everyone's take on this? If there is interest in assisting, I will eventually create a NSEurope Paypal Account where people can send the money to. Of course all donors will be mentioned and fondled.

Click down here to donate via PayPal!

You must be registered for see links

So here is the button for those wanting to donate over PayPal. The procedure is simple and not different from any other instance of PayPal you can encounter on the net.

For those that are willing to contribute by other means: Send me a PM or something and I will forward the bank details to you within the next days, same goes for people who wish to send money the old school way via envelope.

Currently received money: €206,55
Currently needed money: €32,45

 

[Mergogne]

I would be willing to pitch in.

 

[Vistrasia]

I am also willing to pitch in, somewhere around 20 euro would be possible.

 

[Thaumantica]

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[Caelia]

COME ON

 

[Minhdao]

As long as the4re is given a link, I'm happy with it. I"m what we call "computer retarded" so whatever I can get helps me out.

 

[Josepania]

I'd be willing to pitch in. Anywhere from $20 to $50 is something I think can be done. Note I've never used PayPal before(JUST set up an account for it actually).

 

[Minhdao]

I'm not paying money...Never going to happen over the net.

 

[Saxe-Friesken and Polaben]

I have to admit I haven't been pleased with the direction administration has been headed over the past 8-12 months. This makes me very weary of contributing cash to something I haven't been very supportive of. That said, I'm not saying I won't, because I do use the service and have used it for quite sometime, but at the same time my American sentiments refuse taxation without representation... (not that it's a tax or any mandatory fee for that matter) I find it difficult for me to fund something I have no rights or voice in. Xen could just ban me tomorrow for example.

The general sense has always been, Xen pays for this shit, and thus Xen decides. If I'm pitching in money I want something more in return than just a good time (which doesn't always happen). This doesn't mean I want mod status or something, but at least perhaps some kind of vote or say on the direction of the forum in the future and so on and so forth. You might note I stopped mapping for these very reasons (no voice, no fun, and displeased with administration) and so in some ways making me speak with my wallet is even more indicative of how I feel. For example you don't go to restaurants where you get bad service. (Since this restaurant is free, I keep coming anyway though.) So I can't say I am willing to support the upgrade, although I do admit it would be nice. So, where am I going with this annoying rant? Well, this is mostly a road to nowhere other than to say a year and a half ago I would've been willing to donate $50-100 and now I feel bad just coughing up $5. So take this rant however you'd like, (...and please don't turn this thread into an argument, it's not the purpose of this thread) but I think most of all it shows that some things need to change before some people are willing to donate hard earned cash to a project like this.

...and thus I conclude with the fact that I may donate something if a link is put up, but I don't plan on donating much if that is the case... and the donation is more a case of feeling guilty for using a service for so long for no cost rather than a vote in approval of how the forum has been run.

Mhmmm... this feels like a politics course on approving a budget in parliament.

 

[Mergogne]

these days, whenever i see an OOC post of yours that is longer than a paragraph, I sigh deeply.

 

[Khemia]

I can do $40, though the time of month does matter. Needs to come after a paycheck. $40 for a year or two of NSEurope is cheaper than $14.99 a month for WOW or EVE.

 

[Saxe-Friesken and Polaben]

I can do $40, though the time of month does matter. Needs to come after a paycheck. $40 for a year or two of NSEurope is cheaper than $14.99 a month for WOW or EVE.

...and more enjoyable than both!

 

[Danzig]

I have to admit I haven't been pleased with the direction administration has been headed over the past 8-12 months. This makes me very weary of contributing cash to something I haven't been very supportive of. That said, I'm not saying I won't, because I do use the service and have used it for quite sometime, but at the same time my American sentiments refuse taxation without representation... (not that it's a tax or any mandatory fee for that matter) I find it difficult for me to fund something I have no rights or voice in. Xen could just ban me tomorrow for example.

The general sense has always been, Xen pays for this shit, and thus Xen decides. If I'm pitching in money I want something more in return than just a good time (which doesn't always happen). This doesn't mean I want mod status or something, but at least perhaps some kind of vote or say on the direction of the forum in the future and so on and so forth. You might note I stopped mapping for these very reasons (no voice, no fun, and displeased with administration) and so in some ways making me speak with my wallet is even more indicative of how I feel. For example you don't go to restaurants where you get bad service. (Since this restaurant is free, I keep coming anyway though.) So I can't say I am willing to support the upgrade, although I do admit it would be nice. So, where am I going with this annoying rant? Well, this is mostly a road to nowhere other than to say a year and a half ago I would've been willing to donate $50-100 and now I feel bad just coughing up $5. So take this rant however you'd like, (...and please don't turn this thread into an argument, it's not the purpose of this thread) but I think most of all it shows that some things need to change before some people are willing to donate hard earned cash to a project like this.

...and thus I conclude with the fact that I may donate something if a link is put up, but I don't plan on donating much if that is the case... and the donation is more a case of feeling guilty for using a service for so long for no cost rather than a vote in approval of how the forum has been run.

Mhmmm... this feels like a politics course on approving a budget in parliament.

Go away and suffocate under the weight of all those poorly chosen words

I'm willing to chip in, as long as stuff remains anonymous. Don't feel like tossing name and cc number around

 

[Confederal Republics]

Alas, unemployment casts certain limits, but I'd say that at least 20-30$ would be well within those.

 

[Saxe-Friesken and Polaben]

Go away and suffocate under the weight of all those poorly chosen words

I'm willing to chip in, as long as stuff remains anonymous. Don't feel like tossing name and cc number around

What makes you think I'm trying to win a popularity contest? I grew tired of playing nice on this forum awhile ago when it became clear that sucking somebody's cock got you in high places on this forum. Just cause you want to do it Danz doesn't mean I'll bend over and open wide. If Xen really wanted me to take a bigger interest on this forum and feel inclined to donate to it's coffers he'd address the problems that not only I have, but a group of people have on this forum. (Including yourself from what I've heard some some IRC queries.) These problems have nothing to do with scenario and, nothing to do with the map. They are bigger systemic problems.

If he doesn't want to address them, fine, I'm okay with that. I come here to RP, not to play OOC power games. So long as the forum remains free and open, I'll take part and contribute to RP. Doesn't mean I'm going to contribute to his paypal account though. —however, I do openly support others to donate should they feel it worth their money. I do consider Xen a friend though and I feel I can openly tell him I'm not going to willingly contribute due to larger issues in what I consider morality and other grievances that have been experienced over the past two months. Ask again in six months, maybe my opinion of things will have changed when the greater impact of Xen's recent administrative changes (and other changes I'm perhaps unaware about) can be seen.

 

[Touzen]

First of all many thanks for the great feedback thus far. Quite encouraging.

For those that are concerned about anonymity or who are unwilling to send money by electronic means (e.g. paypal), I think it will be possible to arrange for these people to send money by bank account transfer or old school in an envelope. Once the concrete fund-raising effort is underway we can see about that I guess. Though it would be good to know roughly how many people would use that way instead of paypal. It should go without saying that regardless of how you decide to transfer the money, whether that be by paypal or other means, all personal information will be handled with the utmost of discretion.

There is also no explanation or justification needed for anyone not paying anything, and I thought this would be obvious. NSEurope has always, and will always be, a free service with no strings attached. Ever. I gladly pay for the hosting on a monthly base and give my free time to make sure the entire thing doesn't come burning down on us, it is not like I am forced to do this. So if you want to chip in, if you want to support us getting a neat new feature, cool. If you don't, that is cool, too, and there shouldn't be a huge ragefest at Coro now.

So in short contribute or not contribute as you see fit. Everyone's effort is appreciated!

 

[Hesperia]

these days, whenever i see an OOC post of yours that is longer than a paragraph, I sigh deeply.

I agree completely

 

[Remuria]

I logged in to check my PayPal balance, motivated by the desire to contribute to the Greater Good [tm]. But then I just thought to myself: "Hey, why give money to a place where your repeated requests are outright ignored?"

Egoism took over and so I just closed the PayPal tab.

Good luck in the fund gathering!

 

[Gunnland]

Despite my desperate poverty, I will chip in a few clams. I would prefer to put a check in an envelope, so at some point when this gets along feel free to send me a PM with "how much we have left to raise" and "where to send what you can afford of the difference".

WRT the political undertones, my donation should not be seen to reflect even the slightest awareness of how these forums are run, only that I am (sporadically) addicted to this sandlot game.

 

[Touzen]

You must be registered for see links

So here is the button for those wanting to donate over PayPal. The procedure is simple and not different from any other instance of PayPal you can encounter on the net.

For those that are willing to contribute by other means: Send me a PM or something and I will forward the bank details to you within the next days, same goes for people who wish to send money the old school way via envelope.

In regards to you, Gunn: Thanks, I will get in contact with you should there be the need for just that little edge.

Everyone's willingness to contribute is highly appreciated.

(PS: The initial post has now been updated as well).