Community restructuring - Member Update

[smilodon]

That makes sense. I think going forward the dates will be out there well in advance. Heck we already know when we're at the LAN in October

One last point on the subscriber feature. Obviously some people may want to offer other amounts to the community and they may want to do it anonymously. While the actual donation amount is made public sometimes the person who made it is kept private by their own wishes.

At the moment the genius that is Gandalf has a script that runs when you use the subscribe feature. It assigns you your badge and will soon automatically add you to the forum user group for subscribers. However donating at the LAN or through Paypal  doesn't do that. You will need to be added manually to the group. It's a slower process as TeaLeaf is having to go through the account records and find the donators that way. It's slower and we're going to miss the odd person as well. Also things like bringing stuff to sell to the LAN or donating by cheque is also going to take a bit of time to get through the system.

The important thing is that people who make a contribution of £12 or more by what ever means should and will be recognised as contributors to the community. And for those who wish to keep the amount they have donated private we will make sure we respect that as well.

If anyone does want to 'remind us' about a donation they have made then please sned a PM and let us know. If you handed money over at the LAN then Penfold is your man. If you send a cheque or used paypa then speak to Tealeaf....... I think?

[Penfold]

I have a stinkin' hangover so I'll make this brief.

Regarding the LAN's - people from overseas have special dispensation to book ahead of everyone else. That's the way it has been since I took over the running of the LAN and it remains thus. I posted up the dates of the next LANs so early so that DuVeL and others can book their flights well in advance to take advantage of the best flight rates. Nothing has changed. I didn't even bother to write that into the first post as I kinda presumed that it was a given.

We've made it clear that if people have made a donation and want it converted to a Supporting Member then to tell us and we'll do that. This has been done for several people who have asked. We're not psychic.... it does need a little bit of effort on your side to send us a pm to tell us. Other people have managed it.

The idea of a subscription is only an attempt to remove the sole funding of the Community to those who attend the LANs. By giving people who attend the LAN a £5 reduction it means that the Community Supporter only costs £7 if you attend one LAN and £2 if you attend twice. Is it fair that it's the same group of people who pay time after time for a community that others are so happy to use but who contribute nothing.

Lumi - to subscription is £12 per annum which has been widely publicised.

DuVeL - There are plenty of people to donate money at the LANs... many of which who do it anonymously and don't want to make a song and dance about it.

You say:

Although next few dates have been announced, it's sometimes pretty difficult to arrange flight and cars. Heck, I even bought a PC to go abroad. Considering even LeRouge wants to join sometime I think admins , might have to call in that people might get a more of a way more advance then regular UKlads.    

I'm not quite sure what I'm meant to say. I'm sorry it's hard for you to arrange flights but short of posting up the LAN dates as early as possible there's little I can do.

Gaara: Removing Avatars and signatures and limiting pm's for non-supporters is one way to control the bandwidth. Again I ask - why should the onus be only the people prepared to go to the LANs and to donate who keep the forum running. It's the same people time and time again and frankly it's not fair nor right. We felt that £12 was not a lot of money to ask of anyone be they a student or whatever. If anyone really takes exception to paying £1 per month for playing here then don't become a supporting member. it's not compulsory .... It's your call.

Sulky: As I said in top post no, you won't lose your pms.

Finally, and I reiteratre the point. We're hardly running a business here. A few people spend a lot of time and effort making this the place it is. 100% of funds received go into the buying hardware / licences / bandwidth and hosting costs - all of which is transparant and posted up.

[Gone_Away]

*Freak_On
 
I agree with the management here folks. a buck a month is nothing in terms of supporting this community that has been running for so long.
 
There's a tonne of volunteer efforts by highly technical people. Without them, and those that co-ordinate the LAN, there wouldn't be a dMw as it would be too costly to run. Hell, I'd gladly pay 20 quid a year and full LAN fees cuz it's worth it.
 
Outside of the BIG clan there's very little out there for me. I wouldn't for a second contemplate attending a LAN full of 18 year old mommy's boys proving to eachother how 3l33t they are. (no offence to our younger community memebers!)
 
You guys act like dMw is asking for 12 quid a month.. Please consider what you have and also where you would go if you if dMw shut down.. Then ask yourself is 12 quid too much? Is the loss of some forum access really a big deal?
 
NF
 
*Freak-over

[Anonymous]

To add to Pen's comments about time spent on community work, I've just spent 2 and a half days trying to track down the cause of the slow downloads - it is frustrating and every avenue we have followed so far has proved to be a dead end. This, and much other work by the admins team, the match arrangers, forum moderators, etc, etc, is done for free. We receive no payment at all for doing this and we still pay for subscriptions. Now, if anyone still thinks it is a lot to charge then feel free not to contribute. It is voluntary.

[Lee]

I think that £12 is a very reasonable amount really - easily spent on a night out. Once my computer is back working i'll make sure to donate.

[TE_owner]

noooooo not my suicide rabbit dont gooooo :crying:

[Zootoxin]

I think that £12 is a very reasonable amount really - easily spent on a night out. Once my computer is back working i'll make sure to donate.

Where do you have your nights out man!! I want a piece of that £12 action lol
£12 wouldn't even get the first round in the LDN

[Lee]

Where do you have your nights out man!! I want a piece of that £12 action lol
£12 wouldn't even get the first round in the LDN

Haha, notice the "easily" part. :norty: