Octopus Overlords

Carpet_pissr wrote: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.

Look up at the top of the page, you should see:

Help Support OO by buying through our affiliates: Amazon.com OO Link
For other methods please see this thread

(With links)

If you don't see it, let me know. We are trying to balance paying the bills against being too aggressive "OMGZ WE NEED UR BENJAMINZ!"

Note that we do have the Amazon link and a link to this thread on every page of the forum - it's why everything moved down a bit. We're trying to balance the fine line between noticeable and annoying/tacky.

[edit]It appears I should have read onto page 2 before replying![/edit]

In my personal opinion, that's not big enough...I come here all the time and I did not see it until I read what you guys just posted. At least a point size larger maybe?

Just trying to help...

Carpet_pissr wrote:In my personal opinion, that's not big enough...I come here all the time and I did not see it until I read what you guys just posted. At least a point size larger maybe?

Just trying to help...

Now you know about it, and that's good.

Don't be shy about mentioning those links when suggesting games to other forumers. Then they'll know about it, and that's good too.

Putting a big ol' billboard on top of the forums would be a major pain in the ass.

I think a monthly update on money in/out/reserve would be good enough for me.

I rekon you should put it in blinking hot pink neon.

Carpet_pissr wrote: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 made an Amazon purchase (through the link) on Monday, but I made a Steam purchase today, and was sad that I couldn't get anything sent the site's way.

There doesn't seem to be an affiliate program with Steam for whatever reason. I'd love to set one up, but I can't find it anywhere on their site nor through google.

FishPants wrote:There doesn't seem to be an affiliate program with Steam for whatever reason. I'd love to set one up, but I can't find it anywhere on their site nor through google.

Heh, as if Steam needs an affiliate program.

It may be in Steam's best interest to keep sites like this around, though. I don't know if I'd still be much of a PC gamer if my big collection of internet buddies wasn't located on a site full of other PC Gamers. I know for a fact that Steam wouldn't have got the $300 it got from me last year (and I know that I wouldn't have found out about many of the cool games I purchased without this site).

Not sure how close my situation is to typical, however.

Oh I absolutely spent about 50% more than I would have on Steam because of the OO effect.

The Meal wrote:It may be in Steam's best interest to keep sites like this around, though. I don't know if I'd still be much of a PC gamer if my big collection of internet buddies wasn't located on a site full of other PC Gamers. I know for a fact that Steam wouldn't have got the $300 it got from me last year (and I know that I wouldn't have found out about many of the cool games I purchased without this site).

Not sure how close my situation is to typical, however.

I would have never known about Steam at all without OO. It looks like I will be making my first Steam purchase for a game I would have never known about without OO. And from the sound of it once I start I will be hooked. This is not my first Intenet digital download purchase of a games though. I don't know what my first was. I think maybe saving documentation of serial numbers may have first been with Mount and Blade but maybe there was something or somethings before then. I have at least four games on Impulse. And I am quickly becoming a convert to digital downloads. It just hurts to think about rebuying games, which I may end up having to do to get Win 7 x64 compatability patches/issues figured out.

That's the point. All of this without an affiliate program.

Don't forget though if you buy it through Impulse instead of Steam, we do get affil dollars.. Not sure if there's much overlap between services.

FishPants wrote:Don't forget though if you buy it through Impulse instead of Steam, we do get affil dollars.. Not sure if there's much overlap between services.

I won't forget. But if they only send you pennies then I'm going to the cheapest route and just cut you a check directly. I don't see me paying five extra bucks to buy something on impulse to send you fifty cents, if you even get that much. But if the prices are about the same, then impulse it will be.

LawBeefaroni wrote:That's the point. All of this without an affiliate program.

My point is that the free advertising goes away if OO can't stay afloat.

Yea I am pretty sure just about everyone has some purchases that are easily funneled though one of these affiliations. I buy a number of books on Amazon that will all go through the affiliate from now on.

The Meal wrote:

LawBeefaroni wrote:That's the point. All of this without an affiliate program.

My point is that the free advertising goes away if OO can't stay afloat.

We just need impulse to (contract with the developers to?) get more competitive with their pricing. Then life will really rock. I'll support OO and support a local business, all the while, not wondering why I have to pay so much for the privilege.

By the by after my computer crapped out and I had to reinstall impulse. I couldn't figure out how to get the Elemental beta to reinstall and there chat room for support feature totally rocks. I think I was frustrated for all of two minutes when someone came on revealed the mystery of the interface to me. Thumbs up Stardock.

I don't know if it's from the update, but in the subsilver2 color scheme the link to amazon etc. is now missing. I know it was there not too long ago because I used it to order my DS lite.

The Meal wrote:

LawBeefaroni wrote:That's the point. All of this without an affiliate program.

My point is that the free advertising goes away if OO can't stay afloat.

You'd have to convince them of that and that they should provide a cut of their revenue to prevent it from happening. In general terms of course, not you specifically and not this site specifically.

I don't think Steam needs the kind of differentiation that comes from an affiliate program. Impulse and GoG obviously do.

Bad Demographic wrote:I don't know if it's from the update, but in the subsilver2 color scheme the link to amazon etc. is now missing. I know it was there not too long ago because I used it to order my DS lite.

Should be fixed now.

Yup! Thanks.

Question: If I use the affiliate link and then go through my wishlist to purchase something on Amazon, does that still count?

Kelric wrote:Question: If I use the affiliate link and then go through my wishlist to purchase something on Amazon, does that still count?

Yes. I believe that so long as you start your Amazon trip through the link, everything counts.

Picked up a new mouse and some printer ink through the affiliate link. Hope it worked.

To keep everyone in the loop since we've started doing this:

- the Amazon.com link has earned $200 USD (Good for 2 months of hosting + some leftover).

- the amazon.ca link has earned exactly 0.40 CDN... Yes 40 cents Canadian.. I now realize why we have limited options in Canada for online shopping. We don't use it

- Impulse - 1 purchase and 4.49 in commission.

- No further donations received.

Glad to hear it. Everyone, I hear the Ides of March are a great time to purchase gifts for all your friends. At Amazon. Through our link.

Carry on.

FishPants wrote:To keep everyone in the loop since we've started doing this:

- the Amazon.com link has earned $200 USD (Good for 2 months of hosting + some leftover).

- the amazon.ca link has earned exactly 0.40 CDN... Yes 40 cents Canadian.. I now realize why we have limited options in Canada for online shopping. We don't use it

- Impulse - 1 purchase and 4.49 in commission.

- No further donations received.

You should have had the link in October when I bought Elemental... And the Corporate Machine... And last year when I bought Children of the Nile...

FishPants wrote:- the amazon.ca link has earned exactly 0.40 CDN... Yes 40 cents Canadian.. I now realize why we have limited options in Canada for online shopping. We don't use it

I use the .ca link if I buy something from .ca, but .com is more likely to have the stuff I want, personally. I do like having both options, provided it's not more trouble than it's worth to have both.

Only one Impulse purchase? That is surprising.

Kelric wrote:Only one Impulse purchase? That is surprising.

What was surprising to me is how generous Impulse is with their commission. That's awesome.

i was never in favor of the server move. it doesn't make sense to relocate from a place with free hosting (even if went down for long periods of time) to 'stable' hosting now dependent on community funding to keep alive. it seems like an inevitable death sentence for the forum.

Believe me, that was (and remains) a big concern. Unfortunately, we were facing so much frustration from forum regulars over the down time that we risked the forum dying from people giving up on us. Just about every time we had a major outage, we lost members that still have not come back, and others would make noise about being at edge of their patience. Damned if we do, damned if we don't . . . .

and I have no doubt I would and if I didn't someone else would step forward with another free hosting arrangement if required. The only important thing is that we maintain good backups and lines of communication. We can always move back to a less costly solution if we can't maintain enough cash flow.

Rip wrote:and I have no doubt I would and if I didn't someone else would step forward with another free hosting arrangement if required. The only important thing is that we maintain good backups and lines of communication. We can always move back to a less costly solution if we can't maintain enough cash flow.

That's exactly it.. I'm willing to fund it out of my own pocket in entirety for a year (Christmas 2010) as a minimum commitment, maybe longer, maybe not.. So far the Amazon link helps offset that cost which is a nice help.

I would never just say "ok thats it lets shut it down" without figuring out a way to transfer it back over to Rip or wherever for free hosting.

OK, that's good to know.

true story: i'm building a new computer and i had placed the first part order (for the case itself) - without having used the affiliate link! so i canceled and re-ordered with the appropriate referral URL...

hitbyambulance wrote:OK, that's good to know.

true story: i'm building a new computer and i had placed the first part order (for the case itself) - without having used the affiliate link! so i canceled and re-ordered with the appropriate referral URL...

Somebody give this man an octo-hug.

Zaxxon wrote:Somebody give this man an octo-hug.

AWS260 wrote:

Zaxxon wrote:Somebody give this man an octo-hug.

I've been doing my best to remember to use the OO link for Amazon. Even replaced my Amazon bookmark in Firefox with the OO Link.

I like the unobtrusive nature you all have chosen and use the Amazon link whenever buying from Amazon. However, as a former Admin for the Rams forum in my sig, this is my small piece of advice.

The Rams forum runs solely on fan donations. We never set up an Amazon-like link. Once per year - usually in July right before pre-season starts - one of the Admins makes a post about the current state of the server, what it costs, and how long the forum can continue to run based on current needs. The post remains pinned for one month on the "football" forum to ensure everyone gets a chance to read it and make their own suggestions. It is then pulled. It might be worth making the same post once per year requesting donations beyond the current situation. Only being around for one month on the EBG forum, IMO, would not be excessively obnoxious, would let our forum goers know the current state of things, and what they could do to help, beyond the current passive nature of asking for support.

IMO, you all would probably be surprised by the amount of support available using something more direct.