Covering the server costs...

[Kosta]

Hi!

As you all know Abandonia has recently been moved to a new host. A much better one with lots of bandwidth. However, unfortunately these things don't come free :?

Last few days were pretty disastrous, income-wise, and if it keeps going at this rate I won't be able to cover the expenses!

I won't be extorting any money from you :whipped: but I did a little maths, and calculated that if every active forum member clicked on an add twice a day, that would be sufficient to cover the server costs!

I hope its not too much to ask!! I hate doing this, but it is kind of critical :wall:

Thanks!

[Maikel]

:help:

:wink:

[FreeFreddy]

I'm gonna clickin'... :wink:

[Kosta]

Tnx. Just don't overdo it... I might get banned if they register more than 10 clicks from 1 I.P. address.

We shall prevail :P

[wendymaree]

Don't worry, Kosta, I'm right on to it....even though I'm not really keen on finding 'sexy singles' in my area. :oops:

[xndr2181]

Anything to help Kosta, also just let me know if there is more I can do to aid this great site.
-Sean

[revgb]

Do you only need to click the ad what happens if u close the window before it fully loads?


Edit : Btw kosta when ever i download a game the add that should be just above the download link never shows up. i dont know if the problem is on your end or my end tho, but just so u know.

ill just click the adds from the frontpage

[Tom Henrik]

Don't worry, Kosta-del-sol, I'm right on to it....even though I'm not really keen on finding 'sexy singles' in my area. * :oops:

What? You don't like auhsor and Woodlander? :P

But seriously.
If you try the ads on the frontpage, you'll see that some of them are actually very promising. :mrgreen:

[wendymaree]

You're so right. I clicked around the front page adds and came across a site for interactive fiction, something I'm into.

Join the clickathon, folks, and help keep Abandonia going. Remember what the world was like before we found Abandonia? Brrr.... :evil:
_________________

[FreeFreddy]

Yeah, mom, you're right :wink:

[wendymaree]

Anyone would think I owned the place instead of being just a newbie. :wink: Hey, my rank has gone up to a hobbit. Only four hundred more posts and I can become a lazy lurker. Hmmm... :shock:

[auhsor]

Don't worry, Kosta-del-sol-del-sol, I'm right on to it....even though I'm not really keen on finding 'sexy singles' in my area. * :oops:

What? You don't like auhsor and Woodlander? :P


Eh?? :wink:

Just so you know, it probably isnt a great idea to advertise in the forums to click on the ads. I was on another site that did that and they got banned cos heaps of people kept clicking the ads. They say in their terms and conditions that you arn't supposed to encourage clicking on the banners. Well at least the did for the google ones.

[Kosta]

Yepp, but our active forum base is around 40 users. And if they click twice on an ad daily, that won't cause any trouble!

I'm well aware of the google ads TOS, don't worry :wink:

[Omuletzu]

Only four hundred more posts and I can become a lazy lurker. *Hmmm... :shock:

MUHAHAHA you can't become a lazy lurker... only i am the lurker around here...

Anyway i will click the ads

[Tom Henrik]

Yeah... Omuletzu has a special Title :D

Only he can be Lazy Lurker! 8)

[xndr2181]

Yeah... Omuletzu has a special Title *:D *

Only he can be Lazy Lurker! *8)
I want a special title!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
-Sean

[The Niles]

I want a special title!! :mrgreen: *:mrgreen: *:mrgreen: *
-Sean

Well there you go. Hope you like it.

[xndr2181]

Haha, ya! Go me! Thanx Pizzard.
-Sean

[Danny252]

click click click

[Unknown Hero]

You didn't answer to revgb "What happens if u close the window before it fully loads?"
I'm interested, too.

P.S. I'll keep on clicking!

[Durak]

It's probably because we don't know.

[Chef Boyardee]

What happens if you click an ad in rapid succession? Can you click on the same ad and get money? I am unfortunately LAZY but that doesn't mean I won't click. I love this site, and even though I'm not an important member doesn't mean I won't contribute. In fact, do you have a paypal account I can send money to?

[Titan]

we do have that, yes...
it's "batlord@swirvemail.com"

[JoA]

I presume you're referring to the adds down the righthand side? Hope so anyway seeing I just clicked twice on them all! :)

[FreeFreddy]

Yes, that are them.

[Chef Boyardee]

Hmmm, Perma-grease lubricators. Now that's an ad I'd click on anyday! =P

[Tom Henrik]

Of course... You need that before you try to meet singles in your area :P

[TheVoid]

And then bring'em to the Platinum Play Casino B)

[gregor]

oddly i can't see comercials when i use explorer. i can see them when i use my mnetscape, but then i can't downlaod with netscape because it activates my download accelerator which downloads a php file.

[Unknown Hero]

Have you ever taught about changing your internet browser???
Just a month ago, I changed my browser from standard Internet Explorer to Firefox!

EDIT: Yeah... Omuletzu has a special Title* :D*

Only he can be Lazy Lurker!* 8)
I want a special title!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
-Sean

@ admins

Can I get a special title, too?

[Stroggy]

I don't need a special title to be special.

anyway...Tuesday's coming, do you know how many links you've clicked yet?

[Maikel]

Originally posted by Unknown Hero@Oct 23 2004, 11:00 PM
Have you ever taught about changing your internet browser???
Just a month ago, I changed my browser from standard Internet Explorer to Firefox!

EDIT: Yeah... Omuletzu has a special Title* :D*

Only he can be Lazy Lurker!* 8)
I want a special title!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
-Sean

@ admins

Can I get a special title, too?
There then. Enjoy ;)

[Yamcha]

excuse me for the stupid question but what ads are you talking about?

[Tom Henrik]

That just proves that we hide the ads good. (Which is what we want). There are ads in the header for the forum, a whole row on the main site, and a ads-segment over every game review.


But we don't want these ads to take the focus of the site. So we try to keep them neutral.

[Yamcha]

Talking about things like banners??however so i must click the only two times per day?

[Tom Henrik]

That is correct.

[Yamcha]

Ok thanks.Just a thing... Why about the ftp adress and how to make my/can I a directory where i could upload things?

[Tom Henrik]

As I stated earlier, ONLY Kosta can do this. He is not available, because he is busy busy busy.

When he get the time away from his other duties, I will forward him to you. :max:

[Yamcha]

However I was thinking of something else (a little difficult maybe) making an e-mail in yahoo where can be sented games up to 10MB.(the mail is free and the stockage is 100MB)if the game is bigger - seperate it in peaces. btw this helps me a lot when i reinstall my Window$ and I'm doing this often:))

[Unknown Hero]

Man you're smart! But I don't have that fast connection to upload ~6GB of files!

BTW Thanks about new rank, Maikel! It made me laugh! LOL

[Maikel]

Originally posted by Unknown Hero@Oct 24 2004, 08:40 PM
Man you're smart! But I don't have that fast connection to upload ~6GB of files!

BTW Thanks about new rank, Maikel! It made me laugh! LOL
Glad to be of service ;)

[Yamcha]

No, i mean that if someone wants to upload a Dos/Windows game (talking about little ones) to send them to this e-mail in yahoo.Of course if the game is less than 10MB or he/she must seperate it.But you are right the time for upload is too much :not_ok: I have 3,3MB speed and I upload a 8MB for 5min :ranting:

[Mad-E-Fact]

You indeed hide them good ;) Do you get some money just for placing them or only if someone clicks on them? In the second case, maybe it's not that good an idea to hide them... ;)
Also, do I just have to click on the ad, or actually wait til the site that comes up is completely loaded?

[Kosta]

The ads are CPC meaning Cost Per Click, and not per impression ;) But I hate those things that pop up and flashy banners that clutter up pages, so I'm counting on visitor's fairness that they click them at least once if they like the page :)

And you have to wait for the page to load ufortunately...

[Iron_Scarecrow]

So how much do you get per click?

[Kosta]

Around 5 cents :P

[FreeFreddy]

And I thought you receive loads of money for them... :eeeeeh:

[Tom Henrik]

Not a chance Freddy boy. Kosta do not get rich from this. The income is just enough to pay the server costs. :sneaky:

[TheVoid]

And the instalments of the Porsche Cayenne LOL

[Unknown Hero]

Yeah, and new apartment here in Split! :ranting:


Just kidding...of course it's much (5 cents), but if you click every day, there will be enough to cover costs.

[Kon-Tiki]

20 clicks a day makes 1 buck a day. 30 months in a day ... errr days in a month, makes 30 bucks. Let's just hope more than 10 members'll click twice a day then, or you won't have enough to cover it completely. To get a bit of pocket money (but not enough to seriously call it earnings), I guess you'd need 3 bucks a day, being 60 clicks. That'd be 30 members clicking twice a day. Do we have so many active members... or visitors that take care of a member not clicking once in a while?

[Tom Henrik]

As I stated before.....

The income just barely cover the server costs. We're safe. But no-one is making any money on this. We all work for free, because we really want to share these games with all of you.

Call it charity if you want. :bye:

[Havell]

I presume if the site does make any money then it's saved up for special things like paying Maikel to redesign the site? (he did get paid didn't he?)

[Sebatianos]

I know that the idea was, that the ads should not bother anyone, but still...
Could it be so, that when people try to download, they'd have to click an add before the download would finish?
This way every download would bring in a few cents. Just a thought!

[FreeFreddy]

Well, this would be rather annoying, because it would take the decision to do it off the downloader. I think it should be up to people if they would like to click on the banners to support the site.

[Mad-E-Fact]

I'll second that. The sms service sms.de uses the same method, it says: "to commence sending this sms, click the banner below" It's not a big thing and you have a secure source of income. :)

edit: posted at the same time as FreeFreddy... So what do you do with people who are too lazy or can't be bothered to click the ads because they take everything for granted? I'd hate to see this site disappear, and I rather have forced clicking than spend my own real money. ;)

[Iron_Scarecrow]

Well I've done my two clicks for the day. Shall I do a third?

[wormpaul]

Just let`s try all to click at least 1 time a day...should be enough :ok:

[Maikel]

Originally posted by R Havell@Nov 5 2004, 11:48 PM
I presume if the site does make any money then it's saved up for special things like paying Maikel to redesign the site? (he did get paid didn't he?)
Hehe, I didn't get paid in cash. Instead they gave me a shitload of webspace for my portfolio site, which I can use for free ( My previous one was 100mb :S). Second to that, Kosta send me a postcard, which is something special to ;)

So I didn't get paid in money, but it does save me money in the future

+ It is nice to say you designed a site which has about 15000 pageviews a day

[wormpaul]

Indeed...

And when you ever wanna another postcard...give me you adress by PM and ill make sure you will get another card :ok:

[Tom Henrik]

I did also recieve a postcard for all my work.

And you will soon be in for a real treat supplied by your favourite smurf. :ok:

[Eagle of Fire]

I'll second that. The sms service sms.de uses the same method, it says: "to commence sending this sms, click the banner below" It's not a big thing and you have a secure source of income.

Yeah sure... And oh, warez sites all do that too.

I would not take the chance to go on a banner site and get spywares and malwares. That's why I don't click on them. Period.

[BUFFY]

Yeah the whole:
But first you must click here here and here, rate this site, touch your nose, look at some porn, close the million windows that have opened up, delete the XXX favourites added, and reset the homepage.... is all a bit much just to download some broken-linked corrupted file! :angry:

HERE HERE

... I dont mean this site obviously! And by the way I just read this, didn't realise it was an issue, but will now click away.

[Wael]

Originally posted by Eagle of Fire@Nov 6 2004, 07:55 PM
Yeah sure... And oh, warez sites all do that too.

I would not take the chance to go on a banner site and get spywares and malwares. That's why I don't click on them. Period.
Have a little faith in abandonia...

[Unknown Hero]

I've never seen google ad with some warez and porno contents, and if I'm right all of the adds on abandonia are google adds! :ok:

[FreeFreddy]

Yep, here there are no annoying and bad ads. ;)

[evilded]

Although i am new here, im proud to be a part of something as honest and fun as abandonia and for that matter the entire abadonware scene. I'll click the ads twice a day for sure, I'll do what i can to keep this site alive.

[wormpaul]

Originally posted by evilded@Nov 15 2004, 07:47 AM
Although i am new here, im proud to be a part of something as honest and fun as abandonia and for that matter the entire abadonware scene. I'll click the ads twice a day for sure, I'll do what i can to keep this site alive.
And that's very good...

You get a :angel: from me :ok:

[Tom Henrik]

Whohoo!

And welcome to the site. It's great to have a new member :w00t:

[FreeFreddy]

Well, welcome here. Fan of Evil Dead movies? ;)

[evilded]

LOL howd u know?

[evilded]

:ot: I just want to see everyones reaction to my avatar...

please try to figure it out, i can't...

(if its too small to read, heres the jist of it: the top triangle is the exact same size as the lower one, made with the exact same shapes in a differant order. The trick? where does the hole on the lower one come from?!?! :crazy: )

[Kosta]

If you look closely at the full resolution pic, you will see that the hypotenuse on the lower triangle is slightly bent outwards. This creates extra area exactly equal to the one square missing in the pic.

[evilded]

LOL

Since i changed my avatar, someone looking at it recently will be quite confused...

[marko river]

Originally posted by Tom Henrik@Aug 11 2004, 03:24 PM
Yeah... Omuletzu has a special Title :D

Only he can be Lazy Lurker! 8)
Well, recentlu Yog Sothoth joined the site, so I guess now we have professional lurker.

[marko river]

Stupid idea, still.....

Is there any way that we contact developers and publishers of video-games andd say something like: "Hi. We have lots of your abw games and we will keep uploading them. People from all over the world now can admire your work. We strongly believe that your small yearly contribution will help us growing and being better and better. Thank you. You can't go wrong with us"

Well, we don't have to sound like some stupid american comercial, but I guess that we should start building relations with companies, maybe even put a couple of their links for few dollars a year. If that is enough for you Kosta??

[Sebatianos]

And a company will say - WHAT? so many people are interested in the game? Let's sell it again - it's not abandoned any more - no more abandonia!

Good thinking Marko!

:wall: :wall: :wall:

[wormpaul]

No...

They will not Sebastianos..

It will cost more to produce and sell that it will raise money for them..

I think we can give it a try....and maybe in stead of money then can place a link on their so people can found their old games :ok:

[Sebatianos]

Guys - remember one thing!
Abandonware is only not illegal!
It's not like were doing the most legal thing in the world and some companies may even decide to take this in to the court - that could be the end of all abandonware sites - if they decide that abandonware is not legal!!!
I don't think flashing a red flag in front of a bull is the best idea!

[wormpaul]

Game Designers knows of this sites...

When they want it they already has been at a court...

[marko river]

Well, I guess that companies will cancel abw if they wanted to. My idea is a little rush, but I don't know, just crossed my mind. Also, I doub that people will be interested in paying for these old games again and companies know that. It is one thing being interested in something for free, to download it and something else to pay 30$ for 10 years old game.

Still, just an idea. I guess we should be careful like Sebatations. :kosta:

GOOD THINGS ONLY COME SLOWLY, so if we are to be the best.... :sneaky:

[Unknown Hero]

But we already have few links that lead to buying the game, like Monkey Island 1 and 2!

[auhsor]

Well they have been there from the start of this site I think. Maybe we should get some more here, because they seem a little out of place.

[Unknown Hero]

I think Kosta put those links for free, but still I'm not 100% sure!

[wormpaul]

The Reason the links are there:

To give people a full site of old games....when they can't find the classics from MI serie not here they will search on and we lost them for our site...

So that`s why there here....just to give people a full idea

[The Niles]

No those links are there because Kosta wanted to join several abandonware rings and those game are not abandonware so they had to be removed.

[Unknown Hero]

Originally posted by The Picard@Dec 8 2004, 01:37 PM
No those links are there because Kosta wanted to join several abandonware rings and those game are not abandonware so they had to be removed.
Enlighten me! :blink:

[marko river]

Originally posted by The Picard@Dec 8 2004, 12:37 PM
No those links are there because Kosta wanted to join several abandonware rings and those game are not abandonware so they had to be removed.
Well, we are called "Abandonia" right?

Well, just a idea, turned out to be real stupid one.

COMMON PEOPLE, MORE IDEAS FOR RAISING MONEY.

Guess we could form FR (funds raising) team, only then we won't be non-profitable, or we're already not that?

[Sebatianos]

Why do you want to raies so much money?
We're moving to a new server, and there's enough money to buy prizes people compete for (great decision :ok: :ok: :ok: ) and we're a non-profitable site. So why do we need more money again?

[N17R0]

Sell merch and say it's just to cover server costs. :D

[Danny252]

get my dad to give me some of his ?65000 annual salary? or part of that ?10000 bonus he got last year?

[bohor]

....well I can beg at the streets if you want... :unsure:

[Kon-Tiki]

I could hang out with random people when they're trying to get with a girl and get them to pay me to leave them alone, if that'd help the site :max:

[Sebatianos]

Originally posted by Kon-Tiki@Dec 14 2004, 04:45 PM
I could hang out with random people when they're trying to get with a girl and get them to pay me to leave them alone, if that'd help the site :max:
:roflol: but :ot:
I really don't think this site needs more money - we're a non profit site and we get some income from the comertials people click on. We need some money to cover the costs, but no-one is trying to get rich or anything...
So there's no need to start any found raising (yet).
Thanks for the suggestions though!

[marko river]

Originally posted by Sebatianos@Dec 14 2004, 03:44 PM
We need some money to cover the costs, but no-one is trying to get rich or anything...
:D

That's on Kosta to decide........ :cheers:

No offense :bleh:

[Sebatianos]

Originally posted by marko_river+Dec 14 2004, 08:00 PM****</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (marko_river @ Dec 14 2004, 08:00 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> ******QuoteBegin-Sebatianos@Dec 14 2004, 03:44 PM
We need some money to cover the costs, but no-one is trying to get rich or anything...
:D

That's on Kosta to decide........ :cheers:

No offense :bleh: [/b][/quote]
I apreaciate your willingness to help, but it's because of what Kosta wrote and said that I made these replys. His opinion was clear - he doesn't want to make money out of this site (but needs some to make this site going - to cover the costs).

[Kosta]

Yepp, that's right, and the more money we raise, the better the service will be! (faster forum, quicker downloads, more content etc). And when it comes to choosing a quality server, sky is the limit, so don't worry, there's always room for improvement. Don't be affraid to click ;)

[Havell]

I think we should get the Paypal donate button on the front page back, after all, you never know when an eccentric millionaire might decide he wants to play some DOS games :whistle:

[Sebatianos]

I play them all the time, but you're not getting my milions :evil: (you wouldn't want my deapts anyway :bleh: ).

[Kosta]

I'll think about re-instating the donate button next to the get it button on the download page!

[aaberg]

Do anyone donate anything when they have the orpetunity?

[Data]

some people actually do. I run a website with a donate button and more people then expected donated something.

[Sebatianos]

On Lemon64 I wanted to donate - but couldn't. Slovenia wasn't one of the countries they could collect donations from! OMG

[Fawfulhasfury]

I'm pretty sure Kosta would get ,at the very least, millions in donations.

[FreeFreddy]

My would be there, though I don't have Paypal... :whistle:

[Titan]

Hehe.. i guess Kosta got nervous, since I was the reciver of any donations via Paypal ;) muhahahaheeeee... erhm... seriously thou; I agree.. we should atleast have the OPTION for it... you NEVER know..

[hiipoo2088]

you know what... i reckon we all go and hold Bill Gates for ransom! bit off topic, but ah well :D

[Unknown Hero]

I will hold your back, you go! LOL

[DSmidgy]

To cover the server cost you should minimize the bandwdth where you can.

I noticed that you use ZIP to compres the games. Why not RAR or better 7ZIP.
You can make 7ZIP self-extract - because not lot of people have 7ZIP installed.

On 7ZIP site: http://www.7-zip.org

Compressing: The GIMP 1.2.4 for Windows after full installation (127 subfolders, 1304 files totaling 27,128,826 bytes).

7-Zip (7z format) | 5.445.402 | 100%
WinRAR 3.10 | 6.004.155 | 110%
WinAce 2.3 | 6.242.424 | 115%
CABARC 1.0 | 6.455.327 | 119%
7-Zip (zip format) | 9.461.621 | 174%
PKZIP 2.50 | 9.842.800 | 181%

[Data]

will those self extracters work in dos ?

[Sebatianos]

Originally posted by Data@Dec 16 2004, 09:35 PM
will those self extracters work in dos ?
RAR would - and the WinXP - sp2 includes some tools to selfextract RAR files (at lest the version I have on my laptop - never installed other decopressing tools except winzip - but with rar it asks me if I wish to extract).

[wormpaul]

Just to say:

First post...and then such idea

:kosta: :kosta:

[Wanabe]

I think it's not a big ask to click the ads every day :-). I'll do it for sure, hehe.

[marko river]

Originally posted by wormpaul@Dec 16 2004, 08:35 PM
Just to say:

First post...and then such idea

:kosta: :kosta:
I agree :kosta: :kosta:

That's why we should keep all of our members. And we also must show respect depending on their ability and behavior, not because their power. :sneaky:

I guess that admins will soon hire assassin to take care of me. :D

[FreeFreddy]

Oh well, no need to roll a barrel on admins. Do we lead here some kind of dictatorship? Some dark and evil regime? I wouldn't say so... :rolleyes:

[marko river]

Originally posted by FreeFreddy@Dec 17 2004, 02:52 PM
Oh well, no need to roll a barrel on admins. Do we lead here some kind of dictatorship? Some dark and evil regime? I wouldn't say so... :rolleyes:
:ot: Mostly I'm just ironic, I just want to cry out those "suckers" although I know that's just kiddin'

PUBLIC:
You won't get away that easily :Titan:


:ot: Don't you think we should shake up this forum a little?

[FreeFreddy]

You could, but spam attempts or posting offensive content will be stopped. :karate: :D

[marko river]

Originally posted by FreeFreddy@Dec 17 2004, 03:10 PM
You could, but spam attempts or posting offensive content will be stopped. :karate: :D
Not offensive man, just little amusing.

All right, this can't last. Some of you adimns are gone to far.

Now it's us honest and hard-working members against oppressive admins and members that keep sucking up (even if there is noone on the other side we must take our own side just in case right?)

:ot: I guess I just have a lot of spare time (which I should use for writing a review)

[wormpaul]

LOL..

Wanna be a Admin??

Start up sucking at Kosta :bleh:

[marko river]

Originally posted by wormpaul@Dec 17 2004, 03:49 PM
LOL..

Wanna be a Admin??

Start up sucking at Kosta :bleh:
NEVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Admins like have to work all the time. Why would anyone want to become admin?

Also I'm totaly against sucking. And I plan to do something about it. Let's just see how it will turn out.

[FreeFreddy]

Ok, people, let's return to the topic here again, ok? ;)

[Fawfulhasfury]

Um, what was the subject of this topic again????? :blink: Marko spammed so much I forgot. :blink:

[FreeFreddy]

Covering the server costs, clicking on ads to support us and like that. ;)

[marko river]

Ups......... :blink:
Just click the adds :ok:

[Fawfulhasfury]

Ah, telemarketing. Its so evil, I love it. How many ads should I click on daily? :ok:

[Wael]

Around two on one computer-/

[Fawfulhasfury]

OK then. Thanks :D

[Loial]

Oh, I've been lurking around this site for months now, all the time wearing my ad-filtering goggles... :max: It actually didn't occur to me that not clicking ads degraded their value... As with real-world tv-commercials and magazine ads, I rarely take any action based on them alone... Just assume that the system works by there beeng enough other people responding to the ads... Become second nature to subconsciously (boy, had to look up that word to get it right...) ignore the ads, almost unaware that there's ads at all...

Now that's all gonna change! As everyone else I'd like this site to stay, and will begin to take more interrest in the ads. Of course I will have to explore the supporting ads for my other favourites too... I think that this is a really important topic, and reading this was a real eye-opener for me! I'm glad I found this thread! (And sorry that it took so long before I read it... Not being that very active, and trying to read up on old posts, before reading the new ones, I even overlooked several pinned threads... :unsure:

Keep up the good work folks!

[Tom Henrik]

Thanks for the support :D :ok:

[goblins]

a quick question do you guys get paid on a per click basis so if i click and ad 10 times you get paid 10 times ? or is it per user click in which case if i click onthe same ad 50 times you only get paid once ? or is it a % of sales in which case clicking on an ad is useless if i dont buy anything from them ?

Also how much do you get paid per click if that is the csae. As i do like to click on banner ads to keep websites alive.

[Kosta]

Wow, now there's a bunch of questions. :) I'll try to answer them all

First of all, yes we get on a per click basis. Secondly, you can click up to something like 5 times on an ad, after which the google system for detecting illegal clicks will probably erase them, and warn me...and that's not good :) We do not get any percentages from the sales on the sites on which you click the ads. We get something like $0.05 (5 cents) per click :)

[goblins]

thanks costa ok i will keep that in mind - perhaps you need wider variety of rotation of google adwords in the banner ads ive already clicked on the PHP - Nuke Post - Nuke PhpBB 3 times - so there is 15c but i can only clikc on it 1 more time.

Thanks for that - well i do my part and generate income for you guys

[Kosta]

Thanks! Every click counts :ok:

[Maikel]

Donations do a good job to :P

[goblins]

no donations well leave that to others but clicking on banner ads yeilds 2-5c a click enough users to that and it can make a difference.

[wormpaul]

i just click twice a day,...

must be enough :sneaky:

[Sebatianos]

I just ried to donate, but I couldn't. Sloveina isn't among the countries that can contribute!!! :crazy:

[Koen]

Woah, never seen those ads... Now clicking on it :P

[wormpaul]

LOL Koen...

Maybe we need to give you some pressure..

activating: :Titan:

[Tom Henrik]

Not really.

It just means that we have succeeded in making the ads as gentle as possible. The last thing we want is to have ads that jump into the face of the viewer and signals "I am an ad, click on me or hate me!"

We all hate those ads, so we try to keep the ads as invisible as possible.

[goblins]

so tom henrik a quick follow up - how much in terms of revenue do those banner ads actually make for you guys if we were to generate say 50c - $1 US a day would it be helpful ? if everyone did it you wouldnt have to worry about donations LOL.

[Kosta]

LOL, actually if the daily income was $1 US a day, abandonia would be long gone by now :) Total server costs add up around $300, so $10 US a day is a minimum....

[goblins]

ok if you dont mind telling us for discussion sake how much do you make a month approximatley so far from banner ads - if we make a $1 a day or even 50c (thats 1 click on 10 seperate ads) say by 30-50 members that would be what $15-$25 a day which im sure would be more than enough to cover running costs ? add donations and you have no problems - i assume as well all the admin and site operators are adding $5 or $10 a month out of their own pockets to help run the site.

Well good luck and i will do my best to keep helping out as well as encouraging others to click also - you might wish to consider a more diverse range of ads so we dont get the same ones and we can keep clicking without breaking the 5 limimt

[Kosta]

Well unfortunately I don't decide on the ads that get displayed, google does :(
We are able to cover the server costs with the clicks so I'm happy with that, and I hope it stays that way! However, with more and more games added, we're getting close to the 20Mbit limit of the unmetered server, and I would hate to see Abandonia get as slow as the Underdogs.... so let's just hope we don't have to make the leap to 100Mbits unmetered because that starts at about $1000 Monthly, and that I definitely cannot afford :)

[goblins]

doesnt youre servre host have a 40MBitS option say priced around $500 mark - other option is to shift to one that does i guess. Or restrict users to downloads or even make it compulsory for each downloader to click on 1 ad before they download ?

[Kosta]

Naah, I won't force people to do something... that would be against the policy of this site. As long as people understand that we need clicks to survive, and to it volountarily, that is fine. And, no, there are no 20Mbit packages unfortunately, or I might have considered it :(
Currently there is a restriction of 5 downloads per user....

[punch999]

there is???are u talking about games???

are the adverts the ones next to the abandonia sign up on the top of the forum

[Tom Henrik]

The ads are all marked with a nice little yellow text saying "Google ads" ;)

The only one in the forum is placed in the header.

[wormpaul]

Never thought it was so expensive this site....

My dutch server kost only 12 euro a year :whistle:


*start thinking about donation... :ph34r:

[goblins]

do you mean 5 downloads per user per day or 5 downloads like forever ?

[Wael]

I think you already know the answer to that one...

[wormpaul]

Just give him answer..

we`re not all that smart..

it`s 5 a user :ok:

[Mad-E-Fact]

I just open a few ads into a background tab (shift+ctrl+click in opera) that way I dont have to wait until they load or watch them, but can continue browsing the forum, and you guys still get the money from it. ;)

[DSmidgy]

It's 5 files downloading at any given time - if I'm not mistaken.

About RARing / 7ZIPing. If the majority of the bandwidth is games being transfered (which I think it is) you really should consider compressing the games a bit more. I have Ascencancy rared at 31MB, zip file at Abandonia is 41MB, 7zip can compres a little bit more than rar. So I think you can decrease overall banadwidth for about 20%.

[Danny252]

But not everyone cann access RARs. We've had this discussion before.

[DSmidgy]

Here (http://www.rarlab.com/rar_add.htm) are lots of free unrar files for many platforms.

[Unknown Hero]

Originally posted by DSmidgy@Jan 9 2005, 04:06 PM
It's 5 files downloading at any given time - if I'm not mistaken.

About RARing / 7ZIPing. If the majority of the bandwidth is games being transfered (which I think it is) you really should consider compressing the games a bit more. I have Ascencancy rared at 31MB, zip file at Abandonia is 41MB, 7zip can compres a little bit more than rar. So I think you can decrease overall banadwidth for about 20%.
Where can I get 7zip?

[DSmidgy]

7-zip (http://www.7-zip.org/download.html)

Interface isn't as stylish as RARs'. And for ultra compression you need a lot of RAM (512MB or better 768MB).

[kOS]

:blink: i didnt know about those adds :P i was lurking from abandonia for some time, and today i decided to join to this small community :)
you bought me guys =)

[Bjarte]

I will start to click at the ads two time a day, if that is what that I need too do too help abandonia from closing down.

[rabadi]

On suggestion with the .rar file: before the game is compressed, the option Create SFX Archive can be selected, so that the end result is .exe instead of .rar. That way, when members download the games, there's no need to download unrar utility. Just a suggestion. Sorry if this issue has been talked and rejected about previously.

[Unknown Hero]

Originally posted by rabadi@Mar 1 2005, 07:14 AM
On suggestion with the .rar file: before the game is compressed, the option Create SFX Archive can be selected, so that the end result is .exe instead of .rar. That way, when members download the games, there's no need to download unrar utility. Just a suggestion. Sorry if this issue has been talked and rejected about previously.
When I take in consideration that .exe SFX (Self extracting archive), doesn't occupy too much more space than a normal .zip or .rar archive, then I think we should do this! :ok: :ok: :ok: :ok:

Thanks for suggestion Rabadi!

[JJXB]

if we pack using a compression format that can be sfx'ed and upload the sfx'ed file, it will save a lot of space overall (if you get UHARC GUI 2.0 you can create sfx files with uha compression :) and uha compression is one of the best out there)

[Unknown Hero]

I think we have a lot of work to do! :whistle:

[Kosta]

Interesting. If someone can confirm that SFX archives work on max and *nix systems, I'll start working on it right away!

[Unknown Hero]

Originally posted by Kosta@Mar 2 2005, 12:56 AM
Interesting. If someone can confirm that SFX archives work on max and *nix systems, I'll start working on it right away!
I don't know what is 'max' or '*nix' system, but I know that we should agree how will we make game archives?

I mean, will we put a game inside a directory, or ouside. My suggestion is to put game in directory and to put readme.txt file outside of directory. In readme.txt will be written all necessary instructions of how the game must be ran in order to work.

What do you think guys?

[NeKromancer]

Originally posted by Kosta@Mar 1 2005, 06:56 PM
Interesting. If someone can confirm that SFX archives work on max and *nix systems, I'll start working on it right away!
It seems that the "rar" linux binaries support SFX compression. It allows you to use the -sfx switch to "create SFX archive" though after checking the rar website on the formats they support http://www.rarsoft.com/otherfmt.htm, SFX is not mentioned.. unless it is under a different name.

Though using the -sfx switch, you need to register the rar linux binary, as it is only shareware :(

[Luchsen]

With WinAce you can create SFX archives that should be supported by (nearly) all systems (normal EXE).

[quatroking]

One thing:
NEVER place an ad by google. (it cost 5 cent per click)

[Unknown Hero]

Originally posted by quatroking@Mar 3 2005, 04:25 PM
One thing:
NEVER place an ad by google. (it cost 5 cent per click)
What are your advices?

[quatroking]

just don't make a ad!
(i have make one, somebody have no a biiiiiiiiiiiiiig bill...)

[Robster]

And is that really appropriate for a topic named 'Covering server costs'?

[Unknown Hero]

We already have adds. And it will stay that way.

Adds and pay-pall is the only way this site can survive!

[Keylog]

I'll start clickin'. Anything to keep this great site going

[PrejudiceSucks]

I will also start. I really hope that this site survives.

A little off topic, but what the hell has happened to HoTU?

[Luchsen]

Originally posted by PrejudiceSucks@Mar 26 2005, 10:14 AM
A little off topic, but what the hell has happened to HoTU?
What do you mean?

[Micge]

How big are the server costs per month? Working on a couple sites and frequenting alot more I've noticed people dont think that donating a $/month is worth anything to the admins, but if enough people would do it... One site I was helping got a helpfull member putting up a 10$/month donation because he believed in the site and wanted it to stay up. I'd bet there are some here too that could spend a little if you'd just raise the issue abit. :)

[Grinder]

What do i have to do to get a special title? how many posts? any services for abandonia?

[BeefontheBone]

well, not posting off-topic in the stickies would help :D

[Unknown Hero]

*goes to click on an add*

[Danny252]

wish I had some cash to donate...

[ReamusLQ]

If I donate an insanely large sum of money, could I buy my way into the VIP section? :bleh:

[Havell]

Originally posted by ReamusLQ@Apr 15 2005, 11:42 PM
If I donate an insanely large sum of money, could I buy my way into the VIP section? :bleh:
Nope, as thaqt could be seen as selling the content in there, which is even more illegal than what is going on on the site already. There was apparently a long discussion about this among the admins.

[ReamusLQ]

Originally posted by R Havell+Apr 15 2005, 03:50 PM****</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (R Havell @ Apr 15 2005, 03:50 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> ******QuoteBegin-ReamusLQ@Apr 15 2005, 11:42 PM
If I donate an insanely large sum of money, could I buy my way into the VIP section?* :bleh:
Nope, as thaqt could be seen as selling the content in there, which is even more illegal than what is going on on the site already. There was apparently a long discussion about this among the admins. [/b][/quote]
I'm sure if I donated $100,000 to the site, the admins could find SOME way of justifying me as becoming a VIP :ok:

[lukefromoz]

i think if i dontae say $50 australian to the site i should be rewarded with the speach packs downlaoded to cd ad sent to my real address as i dont have broadband :cry:

[Unknown Hero]

Originally posted by lukefromoz@Apr 16 2005, 04:05 AM
i think if i dontae say $50 australian to the site i should be rewarded with the speach packs downlaoded to cd ad sent to my real address as i dont have broadband :cry:
Hmmmm....Well, we'll think of something, don't worry, just send the money dumbass :D


*goes to click an add*

[Tom Henrik]

Hello everyone.



Titan has just paid the servercosts for this month, and we have bad news...

In the last couple of month, we have seen a decrease in income and an increase in costs. I know a lot of you do what you can to keep this site alive, clicking ads and donating money, and I would like to thank all of you for doing this.

I hope this doesn't make me sound greedy, but we need more if this site is to keep running. My plea to you is to make a monthly donation of 5€. We can all survive a month with 5€ less in our wallets.

(Note that this is not a rule, but a wish. We don't want to force people).

If enough people did this, we would have no problems paying the server costs - and it might even give us some extra cash every month. And as we have said before, all extra money is spent on the site (buying better servers to give you more games, buy games for competitions, and other things we can think of that will give the people their money's worth so to speak).

I know a lot of you already have donated once, and that was truly appreciated, but that only helped us out that month. So please consider my plea of making a monthy donation of 5€ (or more if you like).

We will however try to maintain the page even if we have to manage without one server, so don't worry or feel guilty.


Thanks. :Tom:

[Havell]

That's sad to hear... :(

I can't donate €5 every month (not enough cash) but I'll donate when I get home and whenever I can! :ok:

btw, what are the server costs? Are they still €300 per month?

[Reup]

Done. :ok:

[Tulac]

Unfortunately I can't donate... :(

Well I saw on another site that every month they thank their monthly donators, and they get some 'goodies' like choosing their title, or something like that...

[Titan]

We unfortunaly can't offer anything in return for the donation, as it could be conciderd a form of purchase, and not a pure donation, as we have now.
A Thankyou-page, might be possible, but i think Kosta have settled for the Top-5 list for now.

The server-costs are running at more then 300€ (not going to say how much, just that it's more then this sugested ammount)

You will pretty soon also see the fruite of some of these donation, in for of the big surprise we've been planing the last 4-5 months.

Ofcourse we COULD manage with 1 server, but i can't begin to imagen the horrible lag we would have to put up with.

Anyway, I see every donation, and save every name and mail who have made donation since we started with them in december last year.

It's due to them, we've been able to keep a high standard, and keeping the site and forums running fast without lagg, and offer decent download-speed with minimal ads and NO POPUPS, and we'r DAMN proude of not having a single pop-up nor any banners that jumps out and tries to eat you.

Once again, Big thankyou to everyone, and NOONE should feel bad for NOT donating or clicking banners. Providing the contence is equaly as important, right?

:cheers:

[Maikel]

Just don't forget to click the google ads often :D

[Havell]

Originally posted by Paypal
Amount:* €5.00 EUR
Postage & Packing:* €0.00 EUR
Item Title:* Abandonia
Quantity:* 1
Total Amount:* €5.00 EUR

There :ok:

[Sebatianos]

But what can somebody (*me*) do, if I can't pay through Paypal - doesn't work in Slovenia...

[Omuletzu]

That's sad, if i would have a job, and a credit card i would donate.

[Titan]

Originally posted by Sebatianos@May 6 2005, 05:05 PM
But what can somebody (*me*) do, if I can't pay through Paypal - doesn't work in Slovenia...




Keep up with the updates?
That's the work we'r trying to keep online..
So both things are needed for everyone to be able to enjoy Abandonia :)

Omuletzu:
Keeping the forum straight is also a job much apprisiated.

We'r a small community.. everyone CAN help out, not you dont HAVE to.

Shure, we could skip the donation, and run XXX and Casino ads to finance this, but noone wants that, nor like such aggresive banners and popups...
So we chose an alternative way; minimal ad-exposure, and hoping that ppl voulentairly help us. And it works so faar :)

[Dino]

I can't donate either... don't have a credit card... :not_ok:
Will try to make it up some other way, though!

[fanta]

Hello all. I've downloaded about 5 games and have donated 10 euros. Thank you so much and keep up the clean and good work!

[Tom Henrik]

Thank you very much :cheers:

I hope you stick around, there are still many many games you should try.

[vip.a]

ive leeched all the games ...

so ...

i donated 10$

;) ...

great job @ abanonia team ...

[Tom Henrik]

A paying leech?
That's a new one :D

Thanks and welcome :ok:

[humbi83]

i tried to help a little by cliking on the ads (sorry for my english) but this err apeard after i have pushed the correct button. what's the problem ??

Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error '80040e4d'

Login failed for user 'web_user'.

/functions/aspfunctions.asp, line 419

[Sean]

Clicking adverts is amazingly fun when you know where the money is going :)

[blastradius14]

If I am ever in the clear for an extended period of time I will assist Abandonia monetarily :ok:

But right now, my wallet is smaller than my nostrils LOL

[reijo-lpn]

Well, I don't have a big income, but I promise that every time I download a game I will click on two adds. :max:

[Tom Henrik]

Thanks. Everything helps ;)

[Doubler]

It works by clicking the adds, and then you can just go back to the forums, right? :unsure:

[Tom Henrik]

Yup, you can even click the ad we have in the banner of the forum :ok:

[Godteri]

Ill do it... (Im new to this site by the way. Tyvm for the great site!)

A such little thing to help such a good thing... = Good

[Tom Henrik]

Takker, og velkommen til sida :ok:

Translation:
Thanks, and welcome to the site
(in case you people didn't understand it :bleh: )

[Dave]

Clicking the ads?...mhhh...I see it's not difficult...people!
Click them when you can! :ok:

[Kearnsy]

ill do my best to click some everytime i log on.

*Programing in habit*
...
...
...
...
*BEEP*

that should do it.
dig deep abandonians!!! :ok:

[commanderkeen]

How much do you get for someone clicking on an ad anyway?
Is it 10 cents or more like $1or 2?

[Romano]

Originally posted by Kosta@Nov 3 2004, 02:44 PM
Around 5 cents :P
From the fourth page in the same thread :D

[Dave]

Where ara the ads?I didn't find all... :help:

[Tom Henrik]

We have tried to hide the ads as much as possible, as we hate ads on this site.

There is one in the header of the forum, and there's a coloumn to the right of the mainsite called STUFF. Then there are 2 ads in the game listings, 1 on each game page, and 1 ad on the download page (but this one doesn't show for everyone of unknown reason).

[Dave]

ok,thank you! I'll click as much I can :ok:

[Romano]

Just don't overdo it :angel:
No more than 10 clicks from the same I.P. address

[A. J. Raffles]

Per session, you mean? Or no more than 10 clicks in total?:huh:

[Tom Henrik]

Per 24 hours.

[Romano]

Within 24 hours, or so... :ok:

EDIT:
Yah. Tom is younger and quicker !

[Kon-Tiki]

If I'm not mistaken, you'll have to let the page load completely, or it won't count.

[Dave]

I know it. :ok:

[Bobbin Threadbare]

I shall click ads 3 timesa day. Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!
Can I have a special title toooooo???

P.S: I've been gone for a while due to viruses.

[Shrek]

Just one question; there are adds in the top of each page (they are quite discrete, almost don' t notice them) and they seem to appear randomly. now here's my question: since there are adds for diferente subjects in diferente pages, if we click adds from these diferente subjects are we still limited to "10 clicks per day"? after all why can' t i click 20 adds if they all are from a diferent thing? (ops, sorry guys, this turned up into two questions :whistle: )

[Titan]

Originally posted by Shrek@Sep 17 2005, 11:04 PM
Just one question; there are adds in the top of each page (they are quite discrete, almost don' t notice them) and they seem to appear randomly. now here's my question: since there are adds for diferente subjects in diferente pages, if we click adds from these diferente subjects are we still limited to "10 clicks per day"? after all why can' t i click 20 adds if they all are from a diferent thing? (ops, sorry guys, this turned up into two questions :whistle: )
It will cause google (who provides them) to remove ALL the clicks from the specific IP during that day, and perhaps ban that ip from clicking that would count towards Abandonia..... so... don't go on a clicking-spree.... please.. it hurts us more then it might gain us.

[Abi79]

So if I go to school and from every computer connected to the internet I click 10 times on the ads nothing bad would happen ? :Brain:

[Bobbin Threadbare]

I've been clicking 3x a day. :)

That's a good idea, Abi. Gon on one computer at school, click three ads, go on to the next computer... etc.

[Titan]

As the school uses routers and have a SINGLE public IP, it would ban the schools ip from any future generation... so no.

Don't try to overdo it.
If you could just click one or two ads, at home, every day or so, it will help us more then drawing attention from google, and they suspend several IP's from generation.

It's good to see that you want to help, but it can easily harm us instead of helping.

[Abi79]

OK, then I'll click just 10 times from the school. Thanks :ok:

[Kosta]

Yeah, your idea makes sense basically, but the probability that someone clicks on an add, and then returns to the page, and then clicks on an add again, 20 times in a row is not very likely ;)

[Reup]

If you're using Firefox, you can just right click on the ads and say 'Open in new tab'. If you open the four websites from the frontpage that way, they all load in the background and you can just browse on. That's what I do daily, anyway :)

[Bobbin Threadbare]

As do I. Some of the ads are funny too. :roflol:

[Danny252]

Originally posted by Abi79@Sep 18 2005, 11:01 AM
OK, then I'll click just 10 times from the school. Thanks :ok:
But what about others from your school? They'll feel so left out!

[Bobbin Threadbare]

That's quite rare. Nobody at my school likes decent games. Though, there was some (sorry to sound a bit racist) Aisan that saw me playing Monkey Island on the computer and wanted it. So I gave it to him.

[Abi79]

Originally posted by Kosta@Sep 18 2005, 03:42 PM
Yeah, your idea makes sense basically, but the probability that someone clicks on an add, and then returns to the page, and then clicks on an add again, 20 times in a row is not very likely ;)
I open them in a new tab. I like opening many things in tabs :D :wub:
@Danny: Nobody at school even heard of Abandonia and I only know people who don't like old games :not_ok:

[Titan]

Originally posted by Abi79+Sep 19 2005, 11:26 AM****</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Abi79 @ Sep 19 2005, 11:26 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> ******QuoteBegin-Kosta@Sep 18 2005, 03:42 PM
Yeah, your idea makes sense basically, but the probability that someone clicks on an add, and then returns to the page, and then clicks on an add again, 20 times in a row is not very likely ;)
I open them in a new tab. I like opening many things in tabs :D :wub:
@Danny: Nobody at school even heard of Abandonia and I only know people who don't like old games :not_ok: [/b][/quote]
If you want to do that, noone can stop you, but Abandonia will not benefit from it, and you would only have waisted time/bandwith/oxygen unfortunally.

It's good to see that ppl want to help out, but don't overdo it.

[Lucullus]

*takes deep breath* Okay... just finished reading all the posts on this thread. I click on ads when I know a site that is decent... I'll keep on clicking when I'm in here. Might not be every day but if everybody did that you wouldn't be having problems at all. I wouldn't mind the click for a download ad idea tho as that would ensure you get what you need and you would not exceed the click ratio either as you have only 5 downloads per user limit.

I'm new here but I do enjoy sending more ppl to your site when they ask me for abandonware games... will also remind them to also click a banner. As said... most ppl are taking it all for granted.

Keep up the good work! Hmmm... can't click anymore today :(

[Tom Henrik]

Thanks, man. It's people like you that help us the most. Welcome to the site :ok:

[ReamusLQ]

this is going to be a stupid question, but where the heck are the ads you guys are talking about? The only ad I ever see is the one that links to Adventure Quest on the main page on the right.

[Abi79]

The ads are changing on the main page of the site always (so there should be more). Also there is one at the top of each forum page (next to the name "abandonia", on the right)

[Mr Miau]

The ads are really formidable hidden, thx to the colors! But I try to do some clicks every day, too.

[Danny252]

What about people with ad blockers?I have some sort of one on my other pc and I dunno how to turn that off.

[Shunk Eat Enemy]

hmmm 2 clicks eh? well thats easy enough... 2 clicks a day keeps the repo man at bay

[Abi79]

Originally posted by Danny252@Oct 2 2005, 09:30 PM
What about people with ad blockers?I have some sort of one on my other pc and I dunno how to turn that off.
What kind of ad blocker ? I've got Adblock for firefox, but I made it let abandonia and reloaded.com live in peace :angel:

[Danny252]

I dunno, just shows [AD] where ads are. Even shows it on the shoutbox.. I usually use this pc more, therefore...

[Abi79]

What kind of browser are you using ?

[Danny252]

It happens in both IE and Firefox.

[Abi79]

Haven't you got some sort of "add-remove programs" thing in WinXP like in Win98SE ? You should see there every software installed on your computer. Maybe there is something related to ads.

[Danny252]

Well, Im too lazy to look up add-remove, and i know it never shows everything. It'll show 3 of my games, and wont bother to could everything installed more than a month ago. Mainly due to the fact we never reinstalled anything after getting XP or even after we reinstalled XP...

Or maybe the fact this computer started off with carbon-copy hard drives of the other one..