Site funding

[AlCapowned]

I would be willing to donate monthly if UnrealSP had a Paypal donation button. This place is great, and I'd really hate to see it go.

[Buff Skeleton]

I dunno, does Unreal really even need this site now? Maybe it is a smart decision to let it die from my perspective. I mean, only a handful of UT and Unreal projects are even in existence anymore and IMHO, those projects could be just as well supported from BeyondUnreal or even OldUnreal.com in the future. Don't get me wrong, I think UnrealSP.org is probably the most honorable and organized forum of the mother game (when comparing it to the others), but sometimes I think keeping the grounds clean and organized isn't really the key to a public forum. The important thing in a forums is to let everyone express their own opinion whether it be off the wall insane or an informative response. Sure, such things as racism should never be tolerated at any level, but other than that.. anything goes in my book. It is my own opinion that UnrealSP tries to keep a level of public toleration which can be seen as appealing from an outsiders perspective when joining the forum.

The fact of the matter is though, if someone loves to play Unreal and sees a semi-officially supported forum as OldUnreal, chances are they are going to join regardless of what is/is not tolerated.

This is a website, not just a forum. Losing the reviews and articles would be a pretty big loss.

I'd be willing to help chip in for costs when possible; hell, if it came to it, I'd offer to pay for hosting - I just don't think I could be relied upon for that since I don't exactly make much money.

What happened to the original plan that was hatching a few months back?

[jackrabbit]

This is a website, not just a forum. Losing the reviews and articles would be a pretty big loss.

I'd be willing to help chip in for costs when possible; hell, if it came to it, I'd offer to pay for hosting - I just don't think I could be relied upon for that since I don't exactly make much money.

What happened to the original plan that was hatching a few months back?

While that is very true, it would be a somewhat simple task to create a 100% free website which could supply all reviews and articles minus some very rare download links which occasionally link directly to UnrealSP. And reviews could still be made by some core members of this site through email. Its really a good option to consider, and no-one will have to pay a cent to do so. To show my sincerity to this idea which I truly think is best, I would be willing to go through the process of creating such a website myself (of course with access to retrieve all template files, articles and reviews from this one). Even MOTW could also still be available and continued by me for free as long as my YouTube account stays active and UB keeps picking them from a hat. Honestly, If the site did go down, logically I would think all that would happen anyways. And if it didn't I would make sure to be the one to do so. Even if it means bugging Hellscrag with emails for some way to get all articles and reviews.

EDIT: Oh, I did forget to mention the small cost of renewing the domain name UnrealSP.org from GoDaddy or whatever. I assume that that renewal would be remained covered by Hellscrag, but even if not, even I would be willing to renew the yearly license to the name. That really isn't an issue to be worrying about.

[ividyon]

If people truly want to help keep USP alive by donations, I am 100% sure we can manage this without having to sacrifice anything.

[Mister_Prophet]

Been too busy to make a comment last week or so, but as I told you guys months back when Mike first brought this up, I offered to handle payments. As it stands I can still manage it, though it would be wise to share the burden anyway, if there are any takers.

I dunno, does Unreal really even need this site now? [...] I mean, only a handful of UT and Unreal projects are even in existence anymore and IMHO, those projects could be just as well supported from BeyondUnreal or even OldUnreal.com in the future.

Gotta disagree. How many websites have there been that have been dedicated to Unreal Singleplayer? Beyond Unreal supports my team site, but as for in depth focus on USP there really only has been this site as far as I can remember. I could make a Red Nemesis forum at Beyond Unreal like I have here, but the way I see it...everyone that is really interested in the Unreal SP gametype is here anyway and this site serves as a HUB for everyone's work.

Don't get me wrong, I think UnrealSP.org is probably the most honorable and organized forum of the mother game (when comparing it to the others), but sometimes I think keeping the grounds clean and organized isn't really the key to a public forum. The important thing in a forums is to let everyone express their own opinion whether it be off the wall insane or an informative response. Sure, such things as racism should never be tolerated at any level, but other than that.. anything goes in my book. It is my own opinion that UnrealSP tries to keep a level of public toleration which can be seen as appealing from an outsiders perspective when joining the forum.

I don't think I quite understand this. When has a post never been tolerated in our forums when it hasn't been incendiary or an otherwise banable offense? Compared to other forums, ours has maintained a relatively clean history for the most part, and if there is a reason for that then I tend to think that it's because we've always had small, manageable group of regulars.

The fact of the matter is though, if someone loves to play Unreal and sees a semi-officially supported forum as OldUnreal, chances are they are going to join regardless of what is/is not tolerated.

As long as people still want to come here, post news and coverage about their projects, and find out in depth feedback about SP packs that are out there and or planned for release, and people are willing to obviously contribute funds to keep the site open...then I don't understand why anyone would propose shutting it down as an option simply because Mike is choosing to pass the torch or because money is suddenly an issue. I think, in the event of calamity, that saving the written work on the website itself would be wise, but not having a forum is something I'm not keen about exploring, personally. A lot of what has kept me here as a regular has to do with the forum. I don't mind paying to keep it running as is.

If people truly want to help keep USP alive by donations, I am 100% sure we can manage this without having to sacrifice anything.

This. Now if someone wants to start a discussion about payments or PM me about it...

[Doublez-Down]

Yeah, again, funding isn't an issue. As much time as I spend mapping and browsing this site, I'm happy to kick in $$. The articles and reviews are what make the site stick out imo..although it'd be nice to read a new review or two. The forum, while essential, has always been secondary for me (although not sure why).

[editor Dave]

I would pay something monthly, too, but not the whole price. That's too much for my pocket money of 45 € ^^

[Sarevok]

You can also count me in for a donation. How much is it per month in US dollars?

[Mister_Prophet]

How much is it per month in US dollars?

Yeah, I'd like to know that as well

[editor Dave]

15,99 $ says a currency converter from the internet.

[jackrabbit]

That is correct. Its surprising just how expensive this site actually is. TBH, I think a better hosting deal is a must at this point. This site is simply paying way to much for not even much bandwidth use.

[Hellscrag]

I believe sana is looking for a better deal.

[Buff Skeleton]

Yeah, once sana finds a site with a better deal (to the tune of like 5-7 USD per month) then we can square away setting up the initial funding.

A lot of deals require a two-year purchase to lock in the lower rates, i.e. one site offered $5 per month instead of $7, but that was only if you paid for 2 years in advance.

[Frieza]

Definitely don't mind contributing some funds towards keeping the site running, let me know what happens

[Shivaxi]

This is a website, not just a forum. Losing the reviews and articles would be a pretty big loss.

http://waybackmachine.org/*/http://unrealsp.org

UnrealSP is logged going all the way back to June 9th, 2001 when Hellscrag had simply written:

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Under Construction
http://www.unrealsp.org - the only dedicated Unreal single player site - coming here soon!

Forums open for business.

Mike "Hellscrag" Wilberforce 28/05/2001

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I don't think the reviews are going anywhere