So please let us know how much money is required to keep the game alive. Is it just for the server? Server is €840 but maybe €420 I heard Poekie say. Premium income is about €464. So with a cheaper server all expenses are covered right? I don't have a problem with donating once, but would like to see some more transparency in how much is needed, how much is coming in and what the money is used for.
Well, you can see it for yourself.
Let's see how many premium members we have:
1:1 4 (if I not count myself and Helder)
2:1 8
2:2 7
3:1 2
3:2 4
3:3 3
3:4 2
In lower divisions hardly anybody
That means over the first 3 divisions 30. That hasn't been the case most of the years.
Let's say in the most positive situation that they all pay for 1 year (what also isn't happening).
That means € 450 premium money, best case scenario.
Server is € 860. That means a loss of € 410.
I don't know what you mean by more transparancy. Do you want to see a copy of the invoice of the server costs?
I have paid this for 4 years and 2 of my kids are now at the age that go to the university and the Dutch managers here can confirm that I need to pay for that myself. That means quite simply that I cannot afford that anymore.
I did it 4 years ago to save the game. We (Frank, Helder and I) had 1 day to decide, couldn't work out a detailed plan.
We just jumped in. In that years we tried to find a programmer. We were once close to one, but I did not succeed.
The three of us aren't able to develop it ourselves. That means not a lot of improvements are possible, only smaal things that don't need decoding.
Our roles were quite clear from the beginning. I was paying for it, Helder would do the daily maintenance and Frank would try to see if he could understand the code.
There were big chances into Frank's private life that gave him almost no time to spend on the game. These things happen.
No things change in mine were I cannot afford this.
This is not a surprise. I have mentioned this a few times already.
It is just a matter of how bad does everybody wnats to play this game and what are they prepared to do.
It has been mentioned a few times to raise premium money. But not everybody can afford that. I don't want premium to be an advantage that not everybody can afford.
Therefore I asked if people are willing to make donations. Only a very few made a donation. The names are mentioned.
I cannot say that I am not a little dissapointed that even some very loyal and old players did not even react to the topic.
Probably they don't mind that much if the game ends. After all, there are a lot of games to play, so there are alternatives.
We try to cut costs by changing server, but we don't know enough about it so far.
I am also speaking to people who might take over the game.
Sure is that I am not going to invest another € 860 in it and then just hope that everybody renews their premium, which is definately not a guarantee, when I look back in history.
What I do guarantee is that if anybody does make a donation, I prefer through PayPal, and in the end it isn't enough, everybody get their money back.
That is all I can say about it basically. I am not a company but a private person. Like everybody I can spend my money only once. And ask yourself the question: if you have paid for this already 4 times, and your kids need to go to university. Would you do it then?