Post by Azoth on Jan 9, 2017 18:49:12 GMT
Hello everyone, Azoth here.
I have made a small little addition to the Forum and whether or not you use it is entirely up to you. Seriously, this is 100% optional.
As many of you know, if not all of you, the Chat Box at the bottom of the forum costs money. It is not free. There are free alternatives, a lot of them, but the CBox is honestly the best and most workable thing I have found so far. In addition, the paid version gives us a lot of pretty cool features that, to be honest, make it far more functional and worth keeping. Most of these features aren't exactly noticeable at this point because of how long we've had them, but things like auto-refresh, icons/avatars, staff powers, and filters/emotes are some prime examples. Without these features, the CBox would be a painful sight and honestly, Chatango would probably be a better alternative (even though Chatango has its own share of problems and can be painful on the eyes).
I have no qualms with paying for the CBox as long as it is used and allows people to hold Conversation as they please. It allows players to connect with each other easily and allows new players to the forum to ask questions and integrate with the older members easily. Most forums don't have this feature and force players to use the Board itself to communicate. This is fine, but we all know how that goes. Response times are slow, conversations get a bit more formal, and the board gets a bit stale since you never feel like you actually connect with someone. A Chatbox helps with that connection.
However, due to the alternatives this makes the Chat Box a privilege and not a necessary thing. Discord is a new tool which allows for chatting in the same exact way as the CBox and even brings more to the table. The downside is that there is no applet that allows me to integrate it to the Forum aside from the Widget currently at the bottom of the page. Using the widget draws you away from the site and forces you to either use another browser window or the chat program itself. In addition there are programs like Chatango where, even with their downfalls, present things in the same manner as the CBox.
As I mentioned, I prefer the CBox over the alternatives. The CBox allows everyone to connect on the Forum and allows newcomers to actually be welcomed to the Site when they join up. It allows for swift connection and is actually very easy to use. Due to this, I have no issues paying for it, but it would really help me out if people contribute.
The monthly fee for the chatbox is 2 dollars, but CBox has you pay in increments of 3 Months, 6 Months, or 12 Months. The more months you pay for, the cheaper the monthly fee. I generally do the 3 month because it's 6 dollars and you never know when this site is going to flop, so I'd rather not tie up money should I not have to. No that does not mean I don't have faith in the site. It means that I pay attention to the times and the activity. If you are interested, there is a Donate button beneat the Discord Widget at the bottom of the page. This button allows you to donate money to a paypal account. Using that Account, I can pay for the CBox subscription.
But, I will be setting up some rules for this button simply because I don't want you fools throwing your money away. This is to benefit the site, not suck you all for money.
Donating to the CBox Fund ensures that it continues to appear at the bottom of the forum and does not expire. I enjoy having it, and I know a lot of you enjoy having it as well. However I cannot justify keeping it if it is used sporadically. The point of it is to bring you all together in the Forum. I have found that upon the inclusion of Discord, a large number of players have abandoned the Forum simply to chat there. That was not the intent of creating Discord. Discord was meant to be a free alternative to the CBox while everyone continued to play. Instead it had a severe negative effect on forum activity. Thus, I initially allowed the CBox to run out and almost didn't pay for it again. Unless activity picks up and players return from Discord to the forum, the CBox will likely last another 3 months. Feel free to continue to use Discord but as I have said plenty of times before; don't forget about where it all started.
Thanks,
--Azoth
I have made a small little addition to the Forum and whether or not you use it is entirely up to you. Seriously, this is 100% optional.
As many of you know, if not all of you, the Chat Box at the bottom of the forum costs money. It is not free. There are free alternatives, a lot of them, but the CBox is honestly the best and most workable thing I have found so far. In addition, the paid version gives us a lot of pretty cool features that, to be honest, make it far more functional and worth keeping. Most of these features aren't exactly noticeable at this point because of how long we've had them, but things like auto-refresh, icons/avatars, staff powers, and filters/emotes are some prime examples. Without these features, the CBox would be a painful sight and honestly, Chatango would probably be a better alternative (even though Chatango has its own share of problems and can be painful on the eyes).
I have no qualms with paying for the CBox as long as it is used and allows people to hold Conversation as they please. It allows players to connect with each other easily and allows new players to the forum to ask questions and integrate with the older members easily. Most forums don't have this feature and force players to use the Board itself to communicate. This is fine, but we all know how that goes. Response times are slow, conversations get a bit more formal, and the board gets a bit stale since you never feel like you actually connect with someone. A Chatbox helps with that connection.
However, due to the alternatives this makes the Chat Box a privilege and not a necessary thing. Discord is a new tool which allows for chatting in the same exact way as the CBox and even brings more to the table. The downside is that there is no applet that allows me to integrate it to the Forum aside from the Widget currently at the bottom of the page. Using the widget draws you away from the site and forces you to either use another browser window or the chat program itself. In addition there are programs like Chatango where, even with their downfalls, present things in the same manner as the CBox.
As I mentioned, I prefer the CBox over the alternatives. The CBox allows everyone to connect on the Forum and allows newcomers to actually be welcomed to the Site when they join up. It allows for swift connection and is actually very easy to use. Due to this, I have no issues paying for it, but it would really help me out if people contribute.
The monthly fee for the chatbox is 2 dollars, but CBox has you pay in increments of 3 Months, 6 Months, or 12 Months. The more months you pay for, the cheaper the monthly fee. I generally do the 3 month because it's 6 dollars and you never know when this site is going to flop, so I'd rather not tie up money should I not have to. No that does not mean I don't have faith in the site. It means that I pay attention to the times and the activity. If you are interested, there is a Donate button beneat the Discord Widget at the bottom of the page. This button allows you to donate money to a paypal account. Using that Account, I can pay for the CBox subscription.
But, I will be setting up some rules for this button simply because I don't want you fools throwing your money away. This is to benefit the site, not suck you all for money.
- Every dollar you donate goes towards the CBox, that's it. You are allowed to donate however much you wish, but keep in mind that I will only pay for the CBox in 3 month increments. I will not be using this money for anything else other than the CBox. I get receipts for each time a payment is made so if y'all want, I can take snapshots and provide them.
- Every time 6 dollars is raised, the button will disappear. The reason for this is because I will not allow you guys to pump money into the fund when I only need 6 dollars. When it comes time to renew the CBox, the 6 dollars will be used to pay for it and the button will renew. I do have to do this manually so more than 6 dollars may be raised. If this is the case, then the button will remain gone until all of the money in the account is used. I will be checking every Sunday on the amount in the account and will determine what happens with it at that point.
- If 6 dollars is not raised, I will continue to pay for the CBox based on the activity in the forum. Donating to the fund ensures that the CBox is renewed at the end of the 3 Month Subscription. If 6 Dollars is not raised, then it will be up to my judgement whether or not I renew the CBox.
Donating to the CBox Fund ensures that it continues to appear at the bottom of the forum and does not expire. I enjoy having it, and I know a lot of you enjoy having it as well. However I cannot justify keeping it if it is used sporadically. The point of it is to bring you all together in the Forum. I have found that upon the inclusion of Discord, a large number of players have abandoned the Forum simply to chat there. That was not the intent of creating Discord. Discord was meant to be a free alternative to the CBox while everyone continued to play. Instead it had a severe negative effect on forum activity. Thus, I initially allowed the CBox to run out and almost didn't pay for it again. Unless activity picks up and players return from Discord to the forum, the CBox will likely last another 3 months. Feel free to continue to use Discord but as I have said plenty of times before; don't forget about where it all started.
Thanks,
--Azoth
