Let's Talk - Donations

charlest wrote:

SuperflyTNT wrote: So, here's a thought. Editor-In-Chief Michael gets games for the Fortres.uh...TWBG delivered to writers. They sell them after review and half of the proceeds are sent back to the F.....TWBG....in the form of donations. Everyone wins.

I don't think the point was to find a way to funnel more money away from the writers to the site, the point is to make the site fully sustainable and perhaps some day get beyond that to pay the writers.

This apparently flew over you guys' heads. MM wasn't paying much, and certainly not enough to really get excited about. The draw was the review copies that weren't tied to a publisher, thereby eliminating any optics of quid pro quo. At least for me.

So, if Mike gets a game from a publisher for the TWBG crew, and has it sent to a writer who asks for it et al, there's still a line of separation, as it's for the site, not the publisher. Let's say it's a 50$ game and sells on the secondary market for 40$. Writer gets 20$, site gets 20$. Everyone wins. I'm not saying that writers should be screwed over, but the reality is that the site needs funding to draw users, which in turn draws publishers, which in turn draws review copies and allows the site to be continually relevant.

Just my 2C.

Gary Sax wrote: Once the writers get going especially, I would absolutely encourage you to surface the donation link in a much more prominent place with more verbiage. I think it's overly modest in its presence right now, tbh.

I hate to be elitist, but I'd love to see people who subscribe to a 10$ a month (or whatever) get a special "Subscriber Badge". That shit really does drive income, and I don't know why. Just look at BGG.

What if the reviewers want to keep the games instead of selling them? Will they be fired for not contributing? I don't think the writers should owe the site anything beyond well written reviews.

SuperflyTNT wrote:

charlest wrote:

SuperflyTNT wrote: So, here's a thought. Editor-In-Chief Michael gets games for the Fortres.uh...TWBG delivered to writers. They sell them after review and half of the proceeds are sent back to the F.....TWBG....in the form of donations. Everyone wins.

I don't think the point was to find a way to funnel more money away from the writers to the site, the point is to make the site fully sustainable and perhaps some day get beyond that to pay the writers.

This apparently flew over you guys' heads. MM wasn't paying much, and certainly not enough to really get excited about. The draw was the review copies that weren't tied to a publisher, thereby eliminating any optics of quid pro quo. At least for me.

So, if Mike gets a game from a publisher for the TWBG crew, and has it sent to a writer who asks for it et al, there's still a line of separation, as it's for the site, not the publisher. Let's say it's a 50$ game and sells on the secondary market for 40$. Writer gets 20$, site gets 20$. Everyone wins. I'm not saying that writers should be screwed over, but the reality is that the site needs funding to draw users, which in turn draws publishers, which in turn draws review copies and allows the site to be continually relevant.

Just my 2C.

I get what you're saying Pete but I think you're looking at this from the perspective of a FATtie. I also think that if a publisher has ill-will towards a review, they'll remember whose name is on it. Finally, I think that anyone who needs that separation to keep their integrity shouldn't be reviewing in the first place.

Look at this from someone's perspective who's never been here. I recruited them to write for Miniature Market and receive a check each month. Many people there were requesting games from publishers already so that separation didn't even exist in many cases. Those people who may have never even heard of FAT would be asked to give up their check as well as write one to help fund a site that's asking for their work.

You're saying the site needs money to build an audience. The draw for a writer with no attachment to the Fort is an audience. That's why someone would write for FAT instead of just writing their own blog. So you're now asking them to pay for the only benefit they hope to receive.

I'm not trying to sound like a dick as this doesn't affect me much at all, but I do feel attached to the writing team as I recruited 90% of it. The notion of taking a group of professionals and turning them into amateurs that have to pay for that privilege is a bit crazy.

I don't think bringing up ideas like this is dumb, as we need some fresh thought. But Michael would never sign off on that.

ubarose wrote: I would like to say a public thank you to Space Ghost, and all the rest of you have donated over the past week or so.

I have OCD for buttons .... just ... have .... to..... push .....all .....

Southernman wrote:

ubarose wrote: I would like to say a public thank you to Space Ghost, and all the rest of you have donated over the past week or so.

I have OCD for buttons .... just ... have .... to..... push .....all .....

Don't push that "Text Size -" button, old man. We'll lose you for another few years as you try figure out how to get back into the site blind.

Charlie is right, there's no way I am signing off on that. Review copies, like I have always said, are part of the compensation package. In this case, for now at least, they are the ONLY compensation. The writers' investment in the site is the content they provide. I absolutely do not expect our team to do anything like that. If they want to do that on their own, that is up to them.

I always say that the best piece of advice I ever received about being a professional is that "being a professional means you get paid, don't work for free".

Our goal is to get to where we can pay these folks again, at least as much as they were getting at MM...AND to keep them rich with review copies so that they can provide content and receive whatever benefit they desire from those when they are done with them.

I do think that one thing we will likely do is have a giveaway once a month or so of some review copy materials that folks choose to donate toward this end.

Michael Barnes wrote: I do think that one thing we will likely do is have a giveaway once a month or so of some review copy materials that folks choose to donate toward this end.

Treat some X number of "Thank Yous" as additional entry tickets for the drawing, then people will be encouraged to quit lurking and speak up.

"Thank Yous" and not posts, because they should still be trying to make sense and add to the discussion, not just game the system for free shit.

Agreed. Number of thank you’s given.