08-21-2005, 12:21 AM
New thread since it contains some new and important info.
Alright, I spoke to the hosting guys and checked out one or two other offers. Then I did some pondering.
The bottom line I see right now is:
The site *can* be hosted here. Completely. And it wouldn't be too expensive.
However.
I won't pay the fee. This is a decision I lost a few nights of sleep over, but in the end, I settled on it.
The few of you who actually followed the course of events should know where I'm coming from, but I'll give you the long version anyway.
I started working as "DaD Staff" more than two years ago. July/August 2003, to be exact (depending on how you count - I basically joined staff in July, but the first official update had been in August). I joined to do the updates. The agreement had been that Togashi takes care of everything and just gives me the converted lemons and the pictures so I simply integrate them into the site.
About a month later, I became the staff. Read: Togashi had left. That sorta sucked since he had left with a whole bunch of material. There had been a huge pile of stuff to add, and he hadn't given that to me. Remember the "Due to some major system failures, I am forced to ask lemon authors to resubmit[...]" announcement at the end of '03? Now read this paragraph again.
I suddenly had to deal with being the Admin of the DaD. Due to some sort of cosmic coincidence, I had poked Toga for all the passwords and rights before he poofed. Mail passwords, FTP passwords, Admin rights on the board. Everything except for some sort of official introduction as Admin. Telling people that I'm suddenly the only guy in charge had been odd for them and for me.
Last year, Togashi came back, announcing that he'd be back for good and that everything would be okay. At this point, I had been unwilling Admin for more than a year. I had to deal with people, complaints and threats Toga had promised to shield me from. Trust me, that's not fun, especially not while people still just see you as Toga's underling.
I decided to quit. Site announcement, I think a forum thread, a PM to Togashi. It all had been sent after a week of pondering.
However, Togashi had already been gone again.
Another half-year of idle hissing at the guy who had TWICE abandoned me without a word.
This time, Togashi has apparently left for good. No trace of him, no word, no money. I think it's safe to say that he is no longer the Admin of the DaD.
When the DaD went down, I had to dig out the host's mail address from an old board backup. I had already snapped into the mindset that I'd pay for the site since it's my responsibility and all that.
Then I stopped to think. Or rather: Two very good friends stopped me. After bapping some sense into me, I then started thinking.
I never wanted to be The Admin. I never wanted Toga's job. I had just been there to fully convert it to a new design in two weeks. Additionally, I had been there to update with stuff mailed from Toga. I fulfilled the first part. The second part crumbled at various places explained above.
This site is not my responsibility. It is not my job. My job basically poofed twenty or so months ago when I fully realized that my one superior had left the building. Ever since then, I basically just held on to the keys. I even did it after resigning simply because I had believed that it would be mean to just turn around, knowing that the site would rot completely.
*sigh*
The lack of funding is a major cut. Both for you and for me. It's the cut that officially leaves me alone at the top. My choices were technically simple.
1) Pay monthly for the privilege of being stuck in a position I basically resigned from more than half a year ago.
2) Find somebody else.
I had actually started to plan the "pay for it" option. Exchanged mails with the host and negotiated a pretty good price. But in the end, I decided against it.
Updates have been a rarity, and my own free time is being reduced with each month. Two years, a few updates, no lemons (if I recall correctly) and TONS of mails dealing with people I never wanted to deal with simply because the guy in charge had abandoned me. That's not a great answer to the question "Hey, what did you do during the last two years?".
Now I'm going with option two.
If you think you're up to the task of restoring the DaD (and of paying for it), say so. Or mail me. Or PM me. I'm not OVERLY picky, but I do have a few guidelines.
1) There are a few people I really wouldn't trust with the DaD. This group includes (but is not limited to) the people
- I hate (and who hate me back)
- who tried to backstab, outsmart, threaten, blackmail or use me at some point.
So if you know you belong to this group: Sorry, but no.
2) I'd like to give the community to somebody who has the trust of the community. If you're some guy nobody has ever heard of, I will most likely say no. Nothing personal, but this is a community site.
That's why I'd love to see some open and constructive discussion and planning in this thread. If some people want to form a group to share the cost and the responsibility, that's great.
I won't put out numbers in the open, but I'll just drop the hint that the cost of one or two CD albums should easily cover the server cost (depending on artist ;)), assuming that the traffic stays in the dimensions of the past few months (post-dojin-removal months). Of course, you can also try to fund the site with donations or what-not. That's up to you. If you (the group) settle on somebody to be the potential new Admin (or the group speaker at least) I can give you the details via PM or mail.
Yes, this is a shock in difficult times, and I apologize for my move at this time. But I hope you understand my own position in this situation.
So from here on, no bitching, whining, finger-pointing. The site *is* running on borrowed time.
Alright, I spoke to the hosting guys and checked out one or two other offers. Then I did some pondering.
The bottom line I see right now is:
The site *can* be hosted here. Completely. And it wouldn't be too expensive.
However.
I won't pay the fee. This is a decision I lost a few nights of sleep over, but in the end, I settled on it.
The few of you who actually followed the course of events should know where I'm coming from, but I'll give you the long version anyway.
I started working as "DaD Staff" more than two years ago. July/August 2003, to be exact (depending on how you count - I basically joined staff in July, but the first official update had been in August). I joined to do the updates. The agreement had been that Togashi takes care of everything and just gives me the converted lemons and the pictures so I simply integrate them into the site.
About a month later, I became the staff. Read: Togashi had left. That sorta sucked since he had left with a whole bunch of material. There had been a huge pile of stuff to add, and he hadn't given that to me. Remember the "Due to some major system failures, I am forced to ask lemon authors to resubmit[...]" announcement at the end of '03? Now read this paragraph again.
I suddenly had to deal with being the Admin of the DaD. Due to some sort of cosmic coincidence, I had poked Toga for all the passwords and rights before he poofed. Mail passwords, FTP passwords, Admin rights on the board. Everything except for some sort of official introduction as Admin. Telling people that I'm suddenly the only guy in charge had been odd for them and for me.
Last year, Togashi came back, announcing that he'd be back for good and that everything would be okay. At this point, I had been unwilling Admin for more than a year. I had to deal with people, complaints and threats Toga had promised to shield me from. Trust me, that's not fun, especially not while people still just see you as Toga's underling.
I decided to quit. Site announcement, I think a forum thread, a PM to Togashi. It all had been sent after a week of pondering.
However, Togashi had already been gone again.
Another half-year of idle hissing at the guy who had TWICE abandoned me without a word.
This time, Togashi has apparently left for good. No trace of him, no word, no money. I think it's safe to say that he is no longer the Admin of the DaD.
When the DaD went down, I had to dig out the host's mail address from an old board backup. I had already snapped into the mindset that I'd pay for the site since it's my responsibility and all that.
Then I stopped to think. Or rather: Two very good friends stopped me. After bapping some sense into me, I then started thinking.
I never wanted to be The Admin. I never wanted Toga's job. I had just been there to fully convert it to a new design in two weeks. Additionally, I had been there to update with stuff mailed from Toga. I fulfilled the first part. The second part crumbled at various places explained above.
This site is not my responsibility. It is not my job. My job basically poofed twenty or so months ago when I fully realized that my one superior had left the building. Ever since then, I basically just held on to the keys. I even did it after resigning simply because I had believed that it would be mean to just turn around, knowing that the site would rot completely.
*sigh*
The lack of funding is a major cut. Both for you and for me. It's the cut that officially leaves me alone at the top. My choices were technically simple.
1) Pay monthly for the privilege of being stuck in a position I basically resigned from more than half a year ago.
2) Find somebody else.
I had actually started to plan the "pay for it" option. Exchanged mails with the host and negotiated a pretty good price. But in the end, I decided against it.
Updates have been a rarity, and my own free time is being reduced with each month. Two years, a few updates, no lemons (if I recall correctly) and TONS of mails dealing with people I never wanted to deal with simply because the guy in charge had abandoned me. That's not a great answer to the question "Hey, what did you do during the last two years?".
Now I'm going with option two.
If you think you're up to the task of restoring the DaD (and of paying for it), say so. Or mail me. Or PM me. I'm not OVERLY picky, but I do have a few guidelines.
1) There are a few people I really wouldn't trust with the DaD. This group includes (but is not limited to) the people
- I hate (and who hate me back)
- who tried to backstab, outsmart, threaten, blackmail or use me at some point.
So if you know you belong to this group: Sorry, but no.
2) I'd like to give the community to somebody who has the trust of the community. If you're some guy nobody has ever heard of, I will most likely say no. Nothing personal, but this is a community site.
That's why I'd love to see some open and constructive discussion and planning in this thread. If some people want to form a group to share the cost and the responsibility, that's great.
I won't put out numbers in the open, but I'll just drop the hint that the cost of one or two CD albums should easily cover the server cost (depending on artist ;)), assuming that the traffic stays in the dimensions of the past few months (post-dojin-removal months). Of course, you can also try to fund the site with donations or what-not. That's up to you. If you (the group) settle on somebody to be the potential new Admin (or the group speaker at least) I can give you the details via PM or mail.
Yes, this is a shock in difficult times, and I apologize for my move at this time. But I hope you understand my own position in this situation.
So from here on, no bitching, whining, finger-pointing. The site *is* running on borrowed time.
