Clarification Requested (Donations)

As was stated in Bobo's webspace, donations for the return of GFF amounted to US$1,120. This was raised to pay off the $1,350 debt for the old $400/month GFF server.

However, since we have not been able to recover anything from the old server, was the amount of the donations used to pay off the old host? Was it used for down- and pre-payment of the current ~$300/month server?

Requesting for clarification!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

BUMP!

Re-requesting for clarification please!

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Where do we go from here, then?

Even though we have a cheaper server ($300/month), this is not going to stop the need for another $1200 donation drive four months from now...

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I say one of you admins go ahead and get Adsense for GFF. Hold the money in trust for bobo, and produce it when the inevitable drive for more donations come :biggrin:

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Originally Posted by BlueMikey

I must say that I'm sure glad we all came back to bobo's version of GFF when, you know...he's not going to do things to keep it running financially and...well, he's not going to actually implement anything and...er, oh yeah, he's not actually going to be around.

This plan was A+++++.

Bobo can be faulted for many things, but he sure is magnanimous. Not many people would still keep you on staff were they in Bobo's position, BlueMikey, after the things you've been saying. Not that I disagree with you now, mind you. Just sayin'.:biggrin:

Regardless, I'm glad this is moving along. I think the priority is GFF first, and donors second. By all means, those who donated the money to get us back up should be repaid, but only if the amount of cash from advertising is more than sufficient to cover GFF's running costs. Make sure the cash flow is sufficient and stable enough before paying 'dividends'.

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I see such strong feelings, coming from both sides. The point of disagreement seems to be directed at Bobo himself, and not the clarifications I'd wish to have.

Now, I'm sure both camps can agree on two things: First, we've used Gamingforce in the past, and continue to use it because we get something out of it. It's a community thing, and something that is not exactly easily replaced.

The second thing I can safely say we agree on, is that we all have an interest in seeing Gamingforce continue to survive. To that end, we're going to need a stable source of cash, at least sufficient enough to pay for the monthly $300 hosting fee.

In the past, Bobo has provided Gamingforce with funds, and had been a reliable source of it. However, I think we could also agree that his circumstances and priorities have changed. As such, he has been forced to resort to asking for donations.

I am not attacking bobo on this aspect. Choosing however to spend his own money is his own business. We reach a point of disagreement, however, when it comes to donations. This is my personal belief, that when you solicit other people's money for a particular reason, you're going to have to let them know exactly how you're spending it.

I tend to take a dispassionate view towards this, since it brings parallels to the world of business. In fact, it was bobo himself who expressed plans to incorporate the Gamingforce Network, in effect turning it into a real venture. Thus, I think the applicability of business concepts such as corporate governance is not unwarranted, since the metaphor was first broached by the head honcho himself.

I said earlier that we each have an interest in seeing the survival of Gamingforce. In order to ensure this, we have to secure a stable source of funds. Donations are a possible source, although I debate the sustainability of this model. Adsense has been brought up plenty of times (ad infinitum by BlueMikey it seems), and has been experimented on another forum.

The results indicate that even with a user base that is a fraction of Gamingforce's, the funds generated by Serious Business Forums from Google AdSense exposures are sufficient (and then some, by extrapolation) to fund Gamingforce's monthly server bills.

I'm happy to see that the majority is not opposed to having ads. I conjecture that Bobo might be unwilling to proceed with this, since he may feel marginalized or useless. It may be a matter of pride, you know.

Be that as it may, I still think AdSense is the way to go. The best solution, of course, is to have Bobo implement it himself. Any funds it generates will be split between the server bill, and himself (and holders of GFF shares, should he proceed to issue some and pay out dividends). He is entitled to the residual, since he spent a fair amount of cash setting up the community in the first place.

Bobo has been non-committal thus far ("I will definitely consider it"), hence my proposal for an admin to go ahead and put up the AdSense code. This is less preferred, since the money is flowing to a third party. Thus, I suggested that this money be held in trust for Bobo, and be produced when server bills need to be paid. The money is still rightfully his, only that someone else is holding it.

We all have a stake in this, and the fact that we're here after a relatively major crash testifies to our dedication. I hope we can at least agree on these points.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?