Site Downtime (July 2016)

[MURDERCAT]

You are free to buy mafBlack for $4.99

[Firebringer]

We should just make people pay for skins, the free default one will be tigers.

*AHEM*

I have a visual impairment, and that puts me at a disability.

The visually impaired gotta pay the big bucks

[BROseidon]

lol

[Ircher]

You are free to buy mafBlack for $4.99

I would leave this site in a heartbeat!

[MURDERCAT]

If I owned the site there would be a 1 minute unskipable ad that plays when you log on. Skins are all $4.99. You can become a subscriber for $10 a month to get access to all skins, have no ads play, get access to site chat, and get your alignment preference in all your games.

[BBmolla]

I would be fine with ads tbqh. And payable cosmetics.

[Raskolnikov]

No, a subscription based model is clearly optimal.

VT tier - access to newbie and normal game queues. ABSOLUTELY FREE!
Doctor tier - access to themes, opens, and micros. Allows custom avatars and signatures! only 1.99/month
Godfather tier - access to blitz and marathon queue. Also gives GTKAS+speakeasy access, and is a requirement for consideration in the scummy awards. 4.99/month

Now selling 1 year GF subs at 66%! off for only $20 for a limited time only!

[Oman]

We had this discussion around the last crash. YOu can tell because the people who are talking about it like it's a

fresh new idea

all have join dates after the last major crash.

Except for BBMolla but whatever.

[BBmolla]

Like, epicmafia has a couple paid features like name color and text color and "custom roles"

I'm being fairly serious about this, as long as it doesn't affect gameplay and as long as someone can have an enjoyable experience without ever paying a dime, I'm all for it.

edit: I probably ignored that thread there was a long period I didn't look at GD

[Firebringer]

No, a subscription based model is clearly optimal.

VT tier - access to newbie and normal game queues. ABSOLUTELY FREE!
Doctor tier - access to themes, opens, and micros. Allows custom avatars and signatures! only 1.99/month
Godfather tier - access to blitz and marathon queue. Also gives GTKAS+speakeasy access, and is a requirement for consideration in the scummy awards. 4.99/month

Now selling 1 year GF subs at 66%! off for only $20 for a limited time only!

I actually like the VT tier, nobody likes newbies and normal anyways, so obviously that's the free part.

[Ircher]

Yeah, well, having to use the Tigers skin DOES affect gameplay.

[BBmolla]

Yeah, well, having to use the Tigers skin DOES affect gameplay.

well duh

but having your own custom skin could be cool if implementable.

[Oman]

Like, epicmafia has a couple paid features like name color and text color and "custom roles"

"Epicmafia does it" is not a serious reason to do anything. And I'm not even talking from a "hue hue fuck those guys" perspective, even though...yeah fuck those guys.

Epicmafia and MSdotnet are different beasts, and different communities, and they have different needs. They're not even close enough to us that they're a good 1:1 analogy.

[MURDERCAT]

Yeah, well, having to use the Tigers skin DOES affect gameplay.

well duh

but having your own custom skin could be cool if implementable.

This is not hard to do actually if you know basic HTML/CSS, I got sick of the available skins so I've been working on my own.

[hitogoroshi]

I um. I want this to come across in the most undickish way possible...but it might come out rude anyway...

Who in their right minds thinks this site is worth money?

It generates no revenue, has a user base that continues to decline and requires hosting costs that are not recouped in any way.

It's been a great thing for me throughout my life and I'm very thankful to the people who continue to put hard work and money into keeping it running, but the idea that someone would pay money for the privilege of chucking money down the hosting black hole and dealing with the constant aggravation of users like shotty is mind boggling to me.

Well, it's "worth money" to the people who want to have the ability to control other peoples access to the site / threaten people off of it entirely. But we probably don't want them in charge.

I suppose a more wholesome reason would be someone able to float some large fixed costs now that would lower the monthly costs down the road. Although it would still probably be better to just donate that money to mith instead of "buying the site". (And actually, let me know if we're actually in this situation.)

[Firebringer]

Like, epicmafia has a couple paid features like name color and text color and "custom roles"

"Epicmafia does it" is not a serious reason to do anything. And I'm not even talking from a "hue hue fuck those guys" perspective, even though...yeah fuck those guys.

Epicmafia and MSdotnet are different beasts, and different communities, and they have different needs. They're not even close enough to us that they're a good 1:1 analogy.

I think the argument "Simpsons did it" has always been the best argument of why to do something, because if simpsons did it, you know you can do it better. So the equivalent with EpicMafia seems good enough to engage in their behavior and beat them at their own game!

[Firebringer]

I um. I want this to come across in the most undickish way possible...but it might come out rude anyway...

Who in their right minds thinks this site is worth money?

It generates no revenue, has a user base that continues to decline and requires hosting costs that are not recouped in any way.

It's been a great thing for me throughout my life and I'm very thankful to the people who continue to put hard work and money into keeping it running, but the idea that someone would pay money for the privilege of chucking money down the hosting black hole and dealing with the constant aggravation of users like shotty is mind boggling to me.

Well, it's "worth money" to the people who want to have the ability to control other peoples access to the site / threaten people off of it entirely. But we probably don't want them in charge.

I suppose a more wholesome reason would be someone able to float some large fixed costs now that would lower the monthly costs down the road. Although it would still probably be better to just donate that money to mith instead of "buying the site". (And actually, let me know if we're actually in this situation.)

According to some shitty site that tells you the worth of other websites the worth of MafiaScum.net is:

$9,322

I was actually surprised. I thought it was going to be worth only 2-3 thousand at most.

[Killthestory]

it's worth more than me

[hitogoroshi]

Also, if we want to actually get serious about fundraising, we just need a public thread where all "basic respect" rules are nullified but you have to donate $10 to the site for each post you make there.

[kuribo]

Like, epicmafia has a couple paid features like name color and text color and "custom roles"

"Epicmafia does it" is not a serious reason to do anything. And I'm not even talking from a "hue hue fuck those guys" perspective, even though...yeah fuck those guys.

Epicmafia and MSdotnet are different beasts, and different communities, and they have different needs. They're not even close enough to us that they're a good 1:1 analogy.

I think the argument "Simpsons did it" has always been the best argument of why to do something, because if simpsons did it, you know you can do it better. So the equivalent with EpicMafia seems good enough to engage in their behavior and beat them at their own game!

You did not just shit talk The Simpsons.

[kuribo]

Also, if we want to actually get serious about fundraising, we just need a public thread where all "basic respect" rules are nullified but you have to donate $10 to the site for each post you make there.

Or a VIP lounge which is accessible to paid users

[Kison]

There's definitely value in the site. A lot of people visit it, it has good SEO visibility & a ton of content. That foundation is valuable and not trivial to replicate.

Would you be able to make boatloads of money monetizing it today? Probably not. But think about how basic what we have is: a message board, the onsite chat & wiki. There's a ton of room to improve:
- Better website(moving wiki content there, building face-to-face app(kind of like Fibbage), building realtime game app with simple graphics)
- Improving what we currently have: streamlining the queues, modernizing the forum gameplay, better mobile optimization

This isn't me trying to persuade anyone to buy it(I'm here because it's fun to build stuff, don't care about $), but more to get people excited about the things we can do and can build if we just get excited about and focus on it.

[zakk]

I um. I want this to come across in the most undickish way possible...but it might come out rude anyway...

Who in their right minds thinks this site is worth money?

It generates no revenue, has a user base that continues to decline and requires hosting costs that are not recouped in any way.

It's been a great thing for me throughout my life and I'm very thankful to the people who continue to put hard work and money into keeping it running, but the idea that someone would pay money for the privilege of chucking money down the hosting black hole and dealing with the constant aggravation of users like shotty is mind boggling to me.

Well, it's "worth money" to the people who want to have the ability to control other peoples access to the site / threaten people off of it entirely. But we probably don't want them in charge.

I suppose a more wholesome reason would be someone able to float some large fixed costs now that would lower the monthly costs down the road. Although it would still probably be better to just donate that money to mith instead of "buying the site". (And actually, let me know if we're actually in this situation.)

According to some shitty site that tells you the worth of other websites the worth of MafiaScum.net is:

$9,322

I was actually surprised. I thought it was going to be worth only 2-3 thousand at most.

Those things are all bullshit

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Is it worth SOME money? yes
Is it worth THAT MUCH? hell no

There's definitely value in the site. A lot of people visit it, it has good SEO visibility & a ton of content. That foundation is valuable and not trivial to replicate.

Would you be able to make boatloads of money monetizing it today? Probably not. But think about how basic what we have is: a message board, the onsite chat & wiki. There's a ton of room to improve:
- Better website(moving wiki content there, building face-to-face app(kind of like Fibbage), building realtime game app with simple graphics)
- Improving what we currently have: streamlining the queues, modernizing the forum gameplay, better mobile optimization

This isn't me trying to persuade anyone to buy it(I'm here because it's fun to build stuff, don't care about $), but more to get people excited about the things we can do and can build if we just get excited about and focus on it.

This is reasonable. The site definitely has value

But the value lies in its value to the users, not the value to potential advertisers/marketers.

It's like a teddy bear that you've had for 14 years. Means the world to you, buuut, you'd part with it if your GF told you to, buuut, you couldn't sell it for more than a dollar if you tried. Goodwill at best, garbage at worst.

Unless your little brother shared the teddy bear, then he miiiight be willing to take it off your hands for a "fair" sum. lol

[Oman]

But the value lies in its value to the users, not the value to potential advertisers/marketers.

It's like a teddy bear that you've had for 14 years. Means the world to you, buuut, you'd part with it if your GF told you to, buuut, you couldn't sell it for more than a dollar if you tried. Goodwill at best, garbage at worst.

That's a terrible analogy because in this case the person that you're selling your precious teddy bear too will be renting it back to you in some way. Which is valuable.

If the site has value to users, and the ethereal "they" can find a way to make us trade something (money, attention, space, bandwith) for what we value, then yes this site does have value to potential whatevers.

Again, in the bear scenario imagine you say "I love this bear and need it in my life but am going to sell it for quick cash influx. However, I would pay $1/day to rent it back. Or you can dress him up in a pepsi outfit and name him 'cola coley the bear' and give him back to me."

[Cromulent Simpsons Quote]

Like, epicmafia has a couple paid features like name color and text color and "custom roles"

"Epicmafia does it" is not a serious reason to do anything. And I'm not even talking from a "hue hue fuck those guys" perspective, even though...yeah fuck those guys.

Epicmafia and MSdotnet are different beasts, and different communities, and they have different needs. They're not even close enough to us that they're a good 1:1 analogy.

I think the argument "Simpsons did it" has always been the best argument of why to do something, because if simpsons did it, you know you can do it better. So the equivalent with EpicMafia seems good enough to engage in their behavior and beat them at their own game!

You did not just shit talk The Simpsons.