Octopus Overlords

by **FishPants** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 5:20 pm

Ok guys as you are all aware we've successfully moved the server out of Rip's data center and onto an iWeb dedicated server.

The current out of pocket expenditure to yours truly is $70 per month USD (So actual cost to me will fluctuate with the exchange rate between CAD / USD). I've committed to the staff that barring anything major happening to me financially, I am prepared to fund all/some of this for at least a year (December 2010).

Now that we have settled into our new home we thought we would offer some different ways that you can pitch in, should you want to help out with keeping the lights on around here; and so far we've come up with the following ways:

Do your Amazon shopping through this link and OO will get a percentage of margin on everything you buy.

I've also set up an Amazon.ca for us Canucks.

Thinking about buying some games on Impulse? Please download the client here, and purchase through it. Again we get a portion of what's bought through it.

If you'd rather just donate, you could do that as well here via Paypal.

No matter which way you decide to help, it's appreciated.

by **LordMortis** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 5:30 pm

Aw man. I just bought some games off impulse not two weeks ago. It's rare I buy games any more though. So it's the paypal option for me. Don't you go embezzling, now. Here's to hoping the price somehow miraculously comes down as I'm not sure there are enough of us left to keep the juice flowing.

by **silverjon** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 5:34 pm

Another point, I don't know how many people consistently read Meta. It might be a good idea to post a sticky in The Bargain Bin to provide the links for people who do a lot of shopping.

by **Z-Corn** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 7:20 pm

Paypal link hit and donation made. Thanks for all your hard work, everyone involved!

by **Jag** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 7:31 pm

I know its cheesy, but what about posting those links to the top of every page so people can see them more often.

by **The Meal** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 8:16 pm

Jag wrote:I know its cheesy, but what about posting those links to the top of every page so people can see them more often.

I think this is the best solution. I know that I could probably keep things aflOOat with just my own personal Amazon purchases (today I bought a sombrero), but it'd suck if I forgot to use the link.

by **Z-Corn** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 8:38 pm

The Meal wrote:
Jag wrote:I know its cheesy, but what about posting those links to the top of every page so people can see them more often.

I think this is the best solution. I know that I could probably keep things aflOOat with just my own personal Amazon purchases (today I bought a sombrero), but it'd suck if I forgot to use the link.

I agree. I also use Amazon a lot and if I have reminders to go through the OO link I surely will do so...

by **Zaxxon** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 8:43 pm

We are working on improving visibility. Stay tuned.

More importantly, thanks to all who have or plan to use these links!

by **FishPants** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 9:26 pm

Ok I've added some text at the top for all the styles.. Let me know if it's too much, wrong, or whatever feedback you have.. I'm easy; just a quick patch into each style.. I don't want to be too over the top with this stuff.

by **Zaxxon** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 9:28 pm

I'll abstain from voting on the appearance. However, I did just place a couple of Christmas orders through the Amazonian link. Woo.

by **Zurai** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 9:28 pm

The current header is perfectly fine in the black-and-gold style. It's noticeable but not so space-consuming as to be annoying.

by **Kelric** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 9:34 pm

I'll try to remember to purchase through the Amazon link. At some point when I'm not feeling so lazy I will re-install my Impulse client with the OO link.

by **ChrisGrenard** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 9:50 pm

I can totally contribute via the Amazon thing. I know how hard it can be to fund websites out of pocket... I'm still doing it myself!

by **LordMortis** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 10:07 pm

I'll use the link for my rare purchases but I am too much of impulse shopper (hence why Impulse would have been good a couple of weeks ago...). In the meantime PayPal is fine by me. I won't think enough to donate on a regular basis so if the coffers get low, say something, even it's by PM.

by **The Preacher** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 10:17 pm

It's a pretty big chunk of subsilver space. With the usual OO stuff, headers now consume about half the first page.

by **Remus West** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 10:49 pm

As a typically non-meta visiting poster I like the links. Otherwise I would have remained in the dark about this and we would have lost out on any funds from purchases I buy. As I am sending Christmas to my folks and sister (+BIL and 3 kids) I'll be buying a bit from amazon soon and will be certain to use the link now.

by **Lassr** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 10:52 pm

damn, a few weeks too late. I just bought about $600 worth of x-mas off Amazon. I'll remember the link for my next purchases though.

by **Jiffy** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 11:01 pm

As a fellow Canadian, any chance of an Amazon.CA OO Link as well? I buy from the .ca probably a little more than the .com site. It doesn't need to be posted up top, just somewhere that I can favourite for future uses.

by **FishPants** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 11:23 pm

Jiffy wrote:As a fellow Canadian, any chance of an Amazon.CA OO Link as well? I buy from the .ca probably a little more than the .com site. It doesn't need to be posted up top, just somewhere that I can favourite for future uses.

Absolutely, let me see if I can link the two affiliates together.

The other thing is in the main header I am using a link to the Video Games.. Not sure if you buy something outside of that, if it still registers on the affiliate links? Anyone with experience with this stuff, I'd appreciate your feedback.

EDIT: I've added an Amazon.ca link to the top of this message. I will keep the first post updated with the latest affiliates.

by **Kraken** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 11:48 pm

This is silly. Just apply for federal stimulus funding. OO: Shovel-ready since 2004.

by **The Preacher** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 10:55 am

FishPants wrote:
Jiffy wrote:As a fellow Canadian, any chance of an Amazon.CA OO Link as well? I buy from the .ca probably a little more than the .com site. It doesn't need to be posted up top, just somewhere that I can favourite for future uses.

Absolutely, let me see if I can link the two affiliates together.

The other thing is in the main header I am using a link to the Video Games.. Not sure if you buy something outside of that, if it still registers on the affiliate links? Anyone with experience with this stuff, I'd appreciate your feedback.

I don't think it matters. Following the link and they pay commish based on the items purchased (a varying amount between 2-15%).

by **Kelric** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 12:41 pm

There, uninstalled Impulse and downloaded the OctoImpulse client. Hopefully that will work for future purchases.

by **hentzau** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 12:41 pm

And just finished my Amazon gift shopping today using the OO link! Woo! Hope you get $.50 out of it!

by **Zaxxon** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 12:50 pm

Actually, the % payout rises with the quantity of items purchased each month. It's like an achievement!

by **pengo** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:31 pm

70/month, that seems excessive? Does OO do that much traffic?

Anywho, can you see if you can hook up with any animal charities to see if you can get a cut of donations that way?

by **Zaxxon** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:33 pm

pengo wrote:70/month, that seems excessive? Does OO do that much traffic?

It's not the traffic, but the large RAM requirement for speedy response times, and the fact that we didn't want to squeeze into a shared server.

by **pengo** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 9:15 pm

Still seems excessive with the price of ram these days, I guess its registered RAM? Oh well it is what it is.

by **FishPants** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 10:16 am

pengo wrote:Still seems excessive with the price of ram these days, I guess its registered RAM? Oh well it is what it is.

Well don't forget this isn't a box in my living room, its dedicated steel in a true data center. the cost of hvac, electricity, rack space, technicians, and of course margin are all there for 70/mth.

If you can find similar for cheaper, I'm all ears (from a non fly-by-night operation), we aren't on a contract with iWeb.

by **craterus** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 3:45 pm

also if you check out some of the popular TF2 servers (doorman is god and others) - there are monthly fees available for reserved slots... (those slots are across many servers so the fee that you charge for reserve slots on OO server might want to be smaller).

if our tf2 server gets fairly consistent traffic - it may be a way for people on OO to donate to the site (and get the bonus of a reserve slot in addition to being able to help out the site)

by **Carpet_pissr** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 3:52 pm

pengo wrote:70/month, that seems excessive? Does OO do that much traffic?

Anywho, can you see if you can hook up with any animal charities to see if you can get a cut of donations that way?

God, now I feel guilty for starting that "Post your best animated gifs!" thread!

by **Bad Demographic** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 5:43 pm

Carpet_pissr wrote:
pengo wrote:70/month, that seems excessive? Does OO do that much traffic?

Anywho, can you see if you can hook up with any animal charities to see if you can get a cut of donations that way?

God, now I feel guilty for starting that "Post your best animated gifs!" thread!

And well you should!
Shame, Carpet_pissr! Shame!

by **pengo** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:47 pm

FishPants wrote:
pengo wrote:Still seems excessive with the price of ram these days, I guess its registered RAM? Oh well it is what it is.

Well don't forget this isn't a box in my living room, its dedicated steel in a true data center. the cost of hvac, electricity, rack space, technicians, and of course margin are all there for 70/mth.

If you can find similar for cheaper, I'm all ears (from a non fly-by-night operation), we aren't on a contract with iWeb.

So a VPS wouldn't be good enuf? Do ou really have to colocate your own equipment?

by **FishPants** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 11:12 am

pengo wrote:
So a VPS wouldn't be good enuf? Do ou really have to colocate your own equipment?

You are just going to have to trust me on this one.. I've built a data center or seven in my time.

We were on a VPS with RIP (and a lot of resources thrown at it); and what did you think of the reliability? Not good. Let alone trying to get a VPS with 4gb of RAM is more expensive than a co-lo. Since I was the guy doing the admin work, I wanted to ensure that some asshat serving warez/porn/irc servers (or just with a misconfigured sendmail server) didn't bring us offline. I've yet to see a VPS company that provides affordable (ie less than co-lo) and reliable hosting.

by **pengo** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 1:06 am

Okie dokie.

by **Montag** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 1:31 pm

I will contribute some dollars outright, but I would like some visibility on cash flows and assets. I would encourage some target of cash inflows greater than $85ish a month so that there is a budget for hardware and what not.

I trust all the mods and admins, but transparency is a good thing and those that watch may learn a thing or two on costs and how to run something like this.

by **LordMortis** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 1:45 pm

Montag wrote:I will contribute some dollars outright, but I would like some visibility on cash flows and assets. I would encourage some target of cash inflows greater than $85ish a month so that there is a budget for hardware and what not.

I trust all the mods and admins, but transparency is a good thing and those that watch may learn a thing or two on costs and how to run something like this.

If there were transparency I'd feel guilted into donating more. So I'm all for obscurity. :ninja:

by **FishPants** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 2:44 pm

Montag wrote:I will contribute some dollars outright, but I would like some visibility on cash flows and assets. I would encourage some target of cash inflows greater than $85ish a month so that there is a budget for hardware and what not.

I trust all the mods and admins, but transparency is a good thing and those that watch may learn a thing or two on costs and how to run something like this.

What would you like to know? I have no qualms posting some non-specific data (ie donations without names attached). Right now we have enough money to keep it going for 4-5 months through a myriad of donations and some amazon activity (Right now the amazon.com affiliate purchases have netted $35, of which I need $100 before I can request a cheque to be mailed to me) -- amazon.ca and Impulse revenue is negligible ($2.99 on Impulse from one person buying a game, and not much to speak of on Amazon.ca).

Unfortunately we had all of this happen after most people had done their shopping for the holidays.

So current tally is 4.5 months of fees are covered. Any other details I'm missing?

by **Z-Corn** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:08 am

FishPants wrote:What would you like to know? I have no qualms posting some non-specific data (ie donations without names attached).

Personally, I would like to have had an acknowledgment that my gift was received. Maybe a Thank You card. A post in this thread. Or even just a PM, seems like that would've been even easier to send then my Paypal donation was...shrug...

by **FishPants** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 10:00 am

Z-Corn wrote:
FishPants wrote:What would you like to know? I have no qualms posting some non-specific data (ie donations without names attached).

Personally, I would like to have had an acknowledgment that my gift was received. Maybe a Thank You card. A post in this thread. Or even just a PM, seems like that would've been even easier to send then my Paypal donation was...shrug...

Here's the problem, a lot of the donations we've received show only real names, and didn't have a nick within the message.

You've got a good point though, and that certainly wasn't my intention to snub the folks generous enough to donate. Let me discuss some ideas with the other admins/mods and we will figure out a way to make it right.

by **Carpet_pissr** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 10:25 am

Dear Overlord Elites:

Please put this in a more visible place! I just now saw it as I was browsing...if you had it as a sticky in every forum, I feel very sure you would have more $$ than chump change at this point.

Based on the Steam threads, if you could figure out a way to cash in on THAT action, your financial maintenance problems would be solved.

I will TRY to remember to click through here when buying off Amazon, but it sure would be nice to have a sticky as well.

Octopus Overlords

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