I've been in a leaky boat in windy weather. I'm glad the Coast Guard came out. That water was deep and cold.
Thoughts from that experience come to mind here: Just about any service requires money to keep it going. Like my leaky boat, where we have to keep tossing hats of water over the rail, or we all go down, any service takes a continual input of money to stay afloat.
Chaos Empire doesn't require hats full of money to keep it afloat, because it doesn't cost hats full of money per month to operate. 300 members, sending 1 euro per month each, would keep CE in good stead, and would not bust anybody's budget. This would not be a "profit making venture" to Joe, who is not looking for a money profit from the Empire, rather, it would say "I'll help this happen" which is the real coin that Joe wants to see.
Neither Joe, nor anybody else, likes parasites who receive but never contribute. What everybody likes is symbiotes, where two or more entities nourish one another. Anybody too poor to toss Joe a euro a month is in such danger of starvation that they sell their computer to buy dog-food to eat, meaning they are not here. Anybody who does not contribute is saying that Joe's work is not worth a Euro, a Mark, a Franc, or even a Lira. They're also saying that they also don't care about the other members here. That we care about one another is the primal essence of "what is a community". If we care about one another's playing enjoyment here, we'll contribute a Euro a month to the running of the Empire. I contribute so that YOU may continue to play here. It does you no good to give you a BoW or SoulStone today, and have the Realm unplugged tomorrow. So, more than a BoW or SoulStone, you need for me to contribute. The player "next to you" needs for you to contribute, more than they need you to give them a BoW, a SoulStone, or a full set of Ubers.
What CE runs on more than anything is Joe's good will towards us. What CE takes to stay afloat is that we return that good will to him, and to each other.
What I'd like to see (consider this a challenge): Who has a good reason for NOT giving? If you can't follow up to this message with a GOOD reason for NOT giving a Euro a month, then give.
Buy the Empire a beer... send that much. Buy a beer and a sandwich... send that much. Or, send a Euro, because that's as much as you can contribute to the gaming community.
Postet at: March 16, 2006, 07:11:26 pm
3778 hits on 7.65, 2020 on SP3 update.
If the download cost ONE WHOLE EURO the realms would be paid for!
I know that I'm hollering in a tornado here...
Chaos, we have in the States a type of organization called "not-for-profit" fitting in laws and tax scales between "non-profit" (red cross, churches, educational foundations) and "For Profit" corporations (like Blizzard, Microsoft, and Dell). not-for-profit orgs can charge for their services, but the money must stay inside the organization (maintaining servers and paying net connectivity etc). Could ChaosEmpire take that kind of position in Europe? The charge is for the download of the Mod revision, not for playing on the Realm...
Possible?
Topic: Donations (Read 2404 times)
August 11, 2005, 10:36:40 am