The future of GameTavern

[Neo]

I've fallen on hard times of late when it comes to the almighty dollar. I can barely pay monthly bills and the IRS is raping me hard and dry over a $1500 mistake I apparently made on my 2003 tax return. So naturally I've been looking for things to axe and GT made the list. Though before anyone panics I'm not sure if I could bring myself to shut it down completely. I'm hoping to perhaps cut down on server costs by reducing the amount of space allocated to us. This would require the deleting of the majority of our post database. Post counts would be unaffected as long as I didn't reindex them. They actually haven't been reindexed since the beginning so I think a lot of us have Nintendose posts still added into the count. If I do this I'll make a backup of all the posts and save it to my system in case someone someday just has to read one of the old posts. Our sql usage seemed to balloon overnight indicating we somehow used 70 MB in a few days which is impossible. I'm having tech support look to see what the actual space available is.

I have an owned vB license but my supscription must be renewed each year in order to have access to upgrades. If we're left with a stable version then it shouldn't matter too much if we go without that. Part of me doesn't want to do the site at all if I can't do it to the extent that I want, but I also think some site is better than no site.

A couple of other things.... Things may seem slow now but they'll pick up naturally once the next gen systems hit the floor. Or the shelves...wherever it is that they "hit." Also I am probably going to reset the high scores in the arcade. The current high scores will be kept in an all-time high scores thread but the trophies will be up for grabs again. The treasure hunt will start if I can ever find what I did with that d@mn story.

I just increased the font size if you didn't notice. It was hurting my eyes.

[Jonbo298]

Why not setup a donation like thing? I'd be willing to donate some money either this week or next week with some leftover cash to help hopefully alleviate some of the costs to run GT.

[Neo]

I had a donate thing up for a long time and strangely enough no one ever clicked on it. Thanks for the offer though.

[Jason1]

Well I cant say im happy to hear that all of the previous threads might get deleted, but if its really the only way to save GT then by all means do what you have to do Neo. Your the man, I love this place and would never want to see it shut down.

[Swan]

Do whatever you have to do Neo.

[Jonbo298]

Promote it more! ;) No one knew much about it since it didnt matter as much back then. Now it will make a big diff and needs a donate thing on the front page, etc...and I guarantee more would be willing :)

[Fox 6]

i wont like to see my throphey go, but its a very small price to pay to keep GT up and running.

[Joeiss]

Delete every old thread. I mean, do people actually look back and re-read them?

[GameMaster]

How much does the GT bill come to each month? I might be interested in becoming a business partner.

[Bond]

How much does the GT bill come to each month? I might be interested in becoming a business partner.
Same here.

[Krypton]

Do whatever you have to do Neo.

that sounds like a good idea.

would deleting members who havent posted in a couple years help?

[Dylflon]

This old place is just falling apart.

/me becomes trapped under fallen rafter

[Typhoid]

Also I am probably going to reset the high scores in the arcade.



You monster!!


Of course you decide this soon after I beat Germy's unbeatable chopper challenge score! :(

[Jonbo298]

This old place is just falling apart.

* Dylflon becomes trapped under fallen rafter

Was that a joke or not? :confused:

GT has a very long history (in terms of how often other game message boards come and go) and I couldnt stand to see it go away completely

[TheGame]

I talked to Breakabone on AIM like a month ago, and we were looking over old posts... its cool to check out how much things have changed over time. :p This wouldn't be the first time history was erased, but this is easily the longest period we've ever went with without any type of huge thread deletions.

I'm with Jason though... do what you gotta do, as long as it keeps the site operating. Its the people that make the place special, the site itself doesn't even have to be super complecated. (heck we lived through not even having a main site at all for a while >.>)

[Crash]

paypal donation button should be put up... i dont mind that at all

[jeepnut]

We've lived through moves, we can live through this. Although I think if you tried to close GT, you would be met with a lot offers to buy it from you. I'm sure most people here, myself included, would do whatever they could to keep this place from closing.

In short, this isn't happy news, but if it's what you need to do, we will support you.

[Jonbo298]

Dyne, whip out your skills and put up that Donate button on the front page and on top area of the forums ;) :D

[Dyne]

I'll buy GT later, if you want. I'm on a steady income now - plus, I was looking to revive my old site, electronic gaming world, but I would rather serve a site with an actual community.

I'm pretty proficient in web design now and I'm taking interactive arts as a major. I'd like to get rid of that fugly vB-generated page. I also run business with radiant.net's hosting services, so hosting wouldn't be much of a problem. I would buy the lifetime-vB and then pay for hosting month by month. Donations would be welcomed.

Also, my father is serious about having me create a t-shirt design business. I could tie it into GT if I owned it. He's willing to talk to big companies for real, solid licencing details (Sony, Square-Enix, the whole lot). He's done it plenty of other times before for other businesses. I can make and design official GT t-shirts.

[Ginkasa]

I can make and design official GT t-shirts.


I'm so there. I'd buy one.


/me shrugs and walks away

[Vampyr]

I want a t-shirt!!!


And yeah, I read back on old post more often than you would think. Several times I have needed information and a link and the only place I can remember seeing it is on GT, so I find it that way.

For example, somehow I lost my Genetic Engineering essay, and I really needed it badly this year for my senior portfolio. Thankfully it still existed on a post I made on GT.

And I would donate some as well...

[Jonbo298]

I'd be willing to donate once a get a little more cash next check to anything to keep GT up and alive.

[Swan]

I can make and design official GT t-shirts.
That would be awesome.

[MuGen]

Hmmmm......You should overhaul this place.... threads over __ years old should be swiped.

The basic things.... maybe keep only a year old threads.

i unno

[Crash]

i love the old threads....matter of fact, i miss the E3 threads of past!

[GiMpY-wAnNaBe]

the old threads are great to have around, but just out of curiosity, how steep is the price? can teamwork overcome it?

[Neo]

It's actually been my intention to pass it off to someone in the future, especially if I end up embarking on a certain venture next year. I thought about asking CamFu awhile back but he's so unrealiable I might as well delete the whole site myself.

I'm just not sure really how to go about it. I own the name, the server account, and the vB license. All or some of those would have to be turned over. The name has to be renewed every year or so, and the vB subscription for upgrades is like $20-30 per year. I paid about $120 or something for the owned license and I'm not sure if I want to just give that away or not. The server is billed quarterly at about $60, but that can be reduced if we reduce the space we are being charged for. The cost will inevitably continue to increase with the database size if we do not start deleting stuff.

If I let someone(s) take over I'd like to know they have a commitment and won't let the site go to crap within a few months. It certainly helps if you have a knowledge of vB 3 and how to fix SQL errors. Of course I knew absolutely nothing when I started this gig.

One alternative to donations would be a subscription plan. vB has a built-in subscription service where users who subscribe can get access to things they would normally need rep or a certain post count for.

Edit: I just found out CamFuBot is taking up 32 MB of SQL space. What a dick!

[Dylflon]

Burn the bot!

[Fox 6]

Burn the bot!
I agree, but just to be safe we should take a poll or something to see if we should get rid of him.

[Jonbo298]

Poor bot. So ill informed sometimes. I remember his antics of the old days...good stuff :lol:

[GameMaster]

I'm ready to march up Pride Rock and inherit my piece of this kingdom. Name your price, for a new age has risen!

[Ginkasa]

I'll run away and never return if GM gain ownership of GT.

(ooh, bad joke!)


/me shrugs and walks away

[Crash]

http://www.cyke.com/lionking/images/p_hyena.jpg

[Jonbo298]

I'll run away and never return if GM gain ownership of GT.

(ooh, bad joke!)


* Link1130 shrugs and walks away

:sneaky: I agree :sneaky:

[Crash]

so far so good (in reguards to changes)

[Bond]

There. What do you think?

[DimHalo]

I was so confused when I couldn't find the Happy Hour. But I think I like it. It is going to take some getting used to though.

Good job.

[Dyne]

There. What do you think?

It's overall a good idea, because the gaming forums saw very little activity. Now the most active forum is on the top, and GT doesn't look so dead now when you first log on. First impressions are important.

I'm sure we'll see increased activity now.

[Jonbo298]

If Nintendo wasnt so secretive, GT would be more active :p

[Dyne]

Speaking of Nintendo, I should really write something up about PAX.

I got to play Zelda. I played the Horse riding demo, the village demo, and the forest temple demo. It is oh-so-hot. <33

I'm not kidding when I say there was a crowd around it the entire time the exhibition room was open.

And I got some people referred to GT. Some for personal, others just because.

[GameMaster]

There. What do you think?

Looks good. Although I always the 'New Posts' link so it doesn't really effect me. It'll look more appealing to outsiders and newcomers though.

[Neo]

hmmm, I reset the arcade however the trophies have not been taken away

[Swan]

hmmm, I reset the arcade however the trophies have not been taken away
Go me!

I rule at every game!!!






EDIT:This post was made when I had every single trophy!

[Crash]

if you look at some of the most successful forums, they have just "video games discussion" and "general discussion"

but..

[Dyne]

Go me!

I rule at every game!!!

Hahaha, you bastard.

[Jonbo298]

haha!

[Neo]

Go me!

I rule at every game!!!

I bow to you, oh master of internet arcade.

[Neo]

I talked to our host and he uninstalled some webstat programs and maybe a few other useless items which gained us 250 MB of storage space! Looks like the crisis is over for the time being.

I was getting worried that I'd have to erase my precious sims stories from the server. :uhh:

[Swan]

I talked to our host and he uninstalled some webstat programs and maybe a few other useless items which gained us 250 MB of storage space! Looks like the crisis is over for the time being.

I was getting worried that I'd have to erase my precious sims stories from the server. :uhh:
Or the GT 24 stories as well. Those were so enthralling.


PS I think they should make a movie about Spider Jump.


EDIT: I may not have all the trophies anymore, but I would like it to be remembered that I at one point, had every single one!

[Neo]

I received some PMs from people but I may not have time to respond for a couple days... going out of town.