Mrloud15 Posted September 13, 2014 Report Share Posted September 13, 2014 Hello everyone, this will be the first of many post to discuss these topics. I'm going to wait a few days between posting new topics so they don't get lost. Donating: Should we add some sort of badges on the forums for donators? Should we add something in game to distinguish donators? How else could we encourage donating? Should we have more donation drives/events? Please feel free to discuss these or similar questions, but please try to keep this thread on topic. EDIT: Please note that this post is not asking for or encouraging people to donate. These and similar question have been brought up by players as something they would like to discuss, so this tread was created. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TornadoHorse Posted September 13, 2014 Report Share Posted September 13, 2014 Before thinking of additional ways to encourage donations, I think we need to discuss what we're spending our donations on. Is this going to be for advertising or just general upkeep of the servers? I wasn't aware that we were in a bad place in terms of donations, are we planning on spending more money on something, if so, what? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roastnewt Posted September 13, 2014 Report Share Posted September 13, 2014 Thank you Mrloud for bringing up this topic, I think there's worthy discussion to be had. The nerd servers subsist entirely on donations, and are a charity in everything but name. Every other nonprofit I've donated to has published a list of their accounts and expenditures. I think it would be responsible of nerd to do the same. http://nerd.nu/donate says that the servers have raised $2900 in the last 6 months. I have been told that nerd's monthly expenses come to around $250. That means nerd is running a surplus of $1400 in the last 6 months. What is that extra money being used for? Could it be used for advertising? If we're running such a large surplus, what's the motivation for this thread and seeking to "encourage donating"? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trooprm32 Posted September 13, 2014 Report Share Posted September 13, 2014 Should we add some sort of badges on the forums for donators? Should we add something in game to distinguish donators? Absolutely not, we are not a donator perks server. Even if your idea is completely cosmetic, it disguises players from one another... which is not a good thing in my opinion. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirTacoface Posted September 13, 2014 Report Share Posted September 13, 2014 Absolutely not, we are not a donator perks server. Even if your idea is completely cosmetic, it disguises players from one another... which is not a good thing in my opinion. Completely 100% agree with this, I feel adding a donations badge/rank would completely ruin this. Although it would be nice to get a small nod to donators, I still don't think this idea would work. Donating itself should be a pleasure/reward because you feel happy to contribute. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aypop Posted September 13, 2014 Report Share Posted September 13, 2014 (edited) Absolutely not, we are not a donator perks server. Even if your idea is completely cosmetic, it disguises players from one another... which is not a good thing in my opinion. Completely agreed on this point. Even if there is no official advantage to being labeled as a donator, having a badge in game or on the forums will provide (in my opinion, unwarranted) psychological weight to your posts and opinions. Thank you Mrloud for bringing up this topic, I think there's worthy discussion to be had. The nerd servers subsist entirely on donations, and are a charity in everything but name. Every other nonprofit I've donated to has published a list of their accounts and expenditures. I think it would be responsible of nerd to do the same. http://nerd.nu/donate says that the servers have raised $2900 in the last 6 months. I have been told that nerd's monthly expenses come to around $250. That means nerd is running a surplus of $1400 in the last 6 months. What is that extra money being used for? Could it be used for advertising? If we're running such a large surplus, what's the motivation for this thread and seeking to "encourage donating"? I agree with this sentiment in general, but at the end of the day accounting might be more busywork than anything else. As for the extra money, it's always nice to have a surplus. I would very much like to see this surplus being used for some kind of DDOS protection, or we might want to hop onto another machine with higher capabilities (I'll default this opinion to those that know more about the hardware aspect of the server and servers in general than I do). At the same time, we don't want to starve ourselves if for whatever reason donations dip. Edited September 13, 2014 by Aypop 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrloud15 Posted September 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2014 Before thinking of additional ways to encourage donations, I think we need to discuss what we're spending our donations on. Is this going to be for advertising or just general upkeep of the servers? I wasn't aware that we were in a bad place in terms of donations, are we planning on spending more money on something, if so, what? Thank you Mrloud for bringing up this topic, I think there's worthy discussion to be had. The nerd servers subsist entirely on donations, and are a charity in everything but name. Every other nonprofit I've donated to has published a list of their accounts and expenditures. I think it would be responsible of nerd to do the same. http://nerd.nu/donate says that the servers have raised $2900 in the last 6 months. I have been told that nerd's monthly expenses come to around $250. That means nerd is running a surplus of $1400 in the last 6 months. What is that extra money being used for? Could it be used for advertising? If we're running such a large surplus, what's the motivation for this thread and seeking to "encourage donating"? This is a topic a lot of players wanted to discuss, so that's why this thread was made. It's the first topic from here that I don't need to poke some people about, so that's why it's the first thread to be made from that list. I will have to get back to you guys on how much is being spent and where. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roastnewt Posted September 13, 2014 Report Share Posted September 13, 2014 I agree with this sentiment in general, but at the end of the day accounting might be more busywork than anything else. What would be busywork about it? Nerd only has a few expenses, and most of them do not vary from month to month. A single blurb on nerd.nu/donate that just says "Our server costs are $230 a month for hardware, $20 a month for forum software, and $10 a month for mumble hosting" would suffice. (I pulled these numbers out of my ass) 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Four_Down Posted September 13, 2014 Report Share Posted September 13, 2014 (edited) Should we add some sort of badges on the forums for donators? Yes. Should we add something in game to distinguish donators? Don't really mind either way, but when running a donation drive, a message in in-game chat saying 'Thanks for donating playername!' would be nice. How else could we encourage donating? Say where it's going and use it to bring in new players. Should we have more donation drives/events? Yes, make them scheduled (Example: Every six months). Edited September 14, 2014 by Four_Down 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barneygale Posted September 13, 2014 Report Share Posted September 13, 2014 I know it's a minority opinion, but I think cosmetic perks for donors are fine. On my favourite music tracker we get a little "piggy bank" icon next to our names on the forum, and badges for other things too. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aypop Posted September 13, 2014 Report Share Posted September 13, 2014 What would be busywork about it? Nerd only has a few expenses, and most of them do not vary from month to month. A single blurb on nerd.nu/donate that just says "Our server costs are $230 a month for hardware, $20 a month for forum software, and $10 a month for mumble hosting" would suffice. (I pulled these numbers out of my ass) You're right, I didn't think the idea through enough. I thought you were talking about individual donations. In any case, that kind of notification seems useful. I'd be for it unless there was a substantial reason not to. On the topic of drives/events, I think we can possibly do things like UHC or CTF every 3 or 4 months, unless it's too much work for the admins. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmx20042004 Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 Should we add some sort of badges on the forums for donators? Yes Should we add something in game to distinguish donators? I feel like this wouldn't be bad, I think something like a color change of the players name in game would be nice. How else could we encourage donating? Show where all the funds are going and possibly have a suggestions thread where people could suggest ideas for spending i.e ddos protection Should we have more donation drives/events? I think more drives and events would be nice and a plugin where when someone donates it notifies people in game. I think it would be nice to see it year around and not just during events and drives though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobylane Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 Forum - Something simple like a group. It says above and below our avatar that we're members, if one of them says donator then it's still clear that person is a ordinary member too. Game - At most a server wide notice for donations >$5, limit of one per 20 mins and three per day. No changes to their own name in chat. Maybe a higher pet limit on C? Slippery slope there. Encouraging donations - Add Donate to the top nav bar of Nerd.nu homepage. I think that bar should be something like Live Maps - Donate - Appeal a Ban - Rules - Wiki - Forum - Subreddit - Twitter. Or move Wiki onwards to a second line, maybe that line starts Get Involved. Events - Stick with yearly for now, I think there'd need to be a good reason made very obvious to go more often than that. If there's no planned purchases like further DDoS protection, how about donating a little of the excess to Sponge? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roastnewt Posted September 17, 2014 Report Share Posted September 17, 2014 I will have to get back to you guys on how much is being spent and where. Sweet, thanks Mrloud 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Four_Down Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 Would be great if we could get a response about the expenses before the meeting or proper discussion will be difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrloud15 Posted September 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 Would be great if we could get a response about the expenses before the meeting or proper discussion will be difficult. It's being looked into, but it's unlikely that the information will be ready before the meeting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jauris Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 (edited) Should we add some sort of badges on the forums for donators? Sure. That's what most server and websites do, and it's a nice way to recognize members helping to keep the server afloat. Should we add something in game to distinguish donators? I don't know about something that would be by the players name all the time, but perhaps have a message displayed in chat occasionally with all of the donors currently online. Additionally, adding a small chat message every time someone donates (over a certain threshold, of course), wouldn't be too bad. How else could we encourage donating? Disclose exactly how all donation money is being spent, and be able to show that money players would be spending is improving the servers. As an example, this is the financials sheet for the battlefield servers I play on (and donate monthly to): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ar7t5EiYlTZndFRKNDZqT3F2UE0xcnp2alFjX1NwZXc#gid=3 Should we have more donation drives/events? Absolutely. Make them regularly scheduled, and planned well ahead of time. Perhaps collect a community vote about what sort of event they want to play? Edited September 23, 2014 by Jauris 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Four_Down Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 It's being looked into, but it's unlikely that the information will be ready before the meeting. May I ask what bits of information are taking so long? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roastnewt Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 (edited) I might be missing something, but how would having that information help with discussing this topic? Because one of the main topics of the meeting is "donations and how to encourage donations". I know my opinion on something like "Forum Badges" really depends on the financial state of the server. If we're doing okay, then I'm against it, but if we're really hard up for money, then we need to do whatever we can to encourage donations. In fact, my answers to that entire section depend on how well the server is doing financially. Should we add some sort of badges on the forums for donators? Depends on the financial state of the server. Should we add something in game to distinguish donators? Depends on the financial state of the server. How else could we encourage donating? We could take more drastic action, depending on the financial state of the server. Should we have more donation drives/events? Depends on the financial state of the server. Edited September 23, 2014 by roastnewt 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dizney07 Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 I agree with roast, if the servers are doing well we shouldn't have players with some sort of distinguishing icon that shows they're different than others. Some players won't be able to donate, it doesn't make them any less of a member of the community. While I know the icons wouldn't be there to make a player look better than another, people will always think that it means more to be donator than to not be. Another point is do players always have the icon from then on? If a player donates a quarter once, do they always have the donator icon from then on? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneByNumbers Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 I'm generally opposed to donation perks, even cosmetic ones. Any such visual identification places a separation between donators and non-donators that doesn't need to be there. Our main donor incentive should be people liking the servers and wanting to stick around and so wanting the servers to stick around. We've scraped by on that for 5 years. One idea I do remember reading and liking, though, is some kind of in-game message about donations made during donation events (can't credit author because can't find link, our search bar is crap). Such events are already geared towards the subject and don't really count, I would say, as "normal" gameplay. A quick "Thanks to [Player] for donating! See nerd.nu/donate for our donation history or to add a donation" would be horrible normally, but appropriate during events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roastnewt Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 A quick "Thanks to [Player] for donating! See nerd.nu/donate for our donation history or to add a donation" would be horrible normally, but appropriate during events. Why would this be horrible normally? At the rate nerd gets donations, it would happen once a week, MAX. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rokku117 Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 I have an idea! Why not have donator perks on forums/in-game, but have them be optional as to whether each individual player wants to see them? They could be turned off by default similar to the live maps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jauris Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 That seems sort of, pointless, I guess? If the donator "perks" can be turned off by other players, why even have them at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rokku117 Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 That seems sort of, pointless, I guess? If the donator "perks" can be turned off by other players, why even have them at all? Because some might not want to see them, while others could. This is just me trying to compromise. I suppose if we have to choose one or the other, I support not having any. It would distinguish some from the general community too much and that does not seem to be in the spirit of our community. Just as the post "Becoming a moderator is not a promotion" Why should we "Promote" other players by giving them something to stand out. Yes, I see the point in letting people be proud of helping the servers, but the ones who can't or don't might be resentful at the fact that they don't get anything. I do not believe we could ever have purely "cosmetic" addition to in-game/forums without some kind of "class separation" would be very unlike nerd.nu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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