07-09-2015, 01:14 PM
You may have noticed the Donation button pop up on the side bar of the forums, as well as an ad at the bottom of the page. I just wanted to discuss what purpose each of them serves for the sake of transparency.
The Ads help offset the costs Blue2000 pays to maintain the website and our domain name, which is under his ownership. We are doing our best to keep ad sparse and unobtrusive and are always open to feedback concerning their content and placement.
Donations on the other hand are used on upgrades to the server. I run the server from home, right next to my own computer, as I have since the days of Alpha. This means I don't pay rental fees, just the cost of powering the server and the bandwidth it uses. These costs are small enough that it's not worth isolating them, and so I consider part of my regular bills.
On the other hand, running from home also means I don't get access to whatever latest hardware those same rental companies are using. In fact, the hardware this server is running on is quite dated. That's not to say it isn't capable, only that we've hit a wall in which we can't expand beyond without significant cost. I'd like to continue upgrading the server, and in fact have already started with the purchase of a new case. Most of the parts though are strongly coupled, and replacing one means replacing them all. In the past some players have donated to help offset the cost of those upgrades. In adding the donation button, we am allowing players to continue helping. I want to be clear in that I am not asking for help. The server upgrades are going to occur regardless of what donations are made. I am simply making the option available for those who want to. There are no rewards, and there is no risk of the server going down because not enough people donated. I've been hosting this server for years, and as long as someone is logging on, I will continue to host it. Donate only because you think we're providing the best Minecraft Server we possibly can. If you disagree with that statement, hold onto your money.
The Ads help offset the costs Blue2000 pays to maintain the website and our domain name, which is under his ownership. We are doing our best to keep ad sparse and unobtrusive and are always open to feedback concerning their content and placement.
Donations on the other hand are used on upgrades to the server. I run the server from home, right next to my own computer, as I have since the days of Alpha. This means I don't pay rental fees, just the cost of powering the server and the bandwidth it uses. These costs are small enough that it's not worth isolating them, and so I consider part of my regular bills.
On the other hand, running from home also means I don't get access to whatever latest hardware those same rental companies are using. In fact, the hardware this server is running on is quite dated. That's not to say it isn't capable, only that we've hit a wall in which we can't expand beyond without significant cost. I'd like to continue upgrading the server, and in fact have already started with the purchase of a new case. Most of the parts though are strongly coupled, and replacing one means replacing them all. In the past some players have donated to help offset the cost of those upgrades. In adding the donation button, we am allowing players to continue helping. I want to be clear in that I am not asking for help. The server upgrades are going to occur regardless of what donations are made. I am simply making the option available for those who want to. There are no rewards, and there is no risk of the server going down because not enough people donated. I've been hosting this server for years, and as long as someone is logging on, I will continue to host it. Donate only because you think we're providing the best Minecraft Server we possibly can. If you disagree with that statement, hold onto your money.
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Founder and Co-owner of The Wolf Den
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