ideas....

[TradeMark]

i thought that GNU GPL automaticly means stuff is free.

you can still download and play for free... but the servers wouldnt be 100% free. code would be free, everything... except servers with their epic features i mentioned above. also note that if you make free secondary server, how many people would actually even know about it? and how many people would be such an asshole they wont register because they could get it free too?

one way to attract the people to register, is to make a good map editor (like OTA had) where you just practically move squares around. very simple. people can create lots of fun maps, easily. you could choose features, like... "lava comes from below" etc. but only registered users could host custom maps (on this epic server).

well, we dont even need to make a map editor for this, could just make hosting only for registered users. people have too little patience to wait that someone hosts the map they want to play: so they will register it.

I'm pretty sure that if the official server started charging for some features, someone would set up an unofficial free server, and most of the playerbase would change servers.

but for how long? you know their servers costs money too. why would anyone do this just to piss off the people behind this awesome project they love?

[Wombat]

if they loved it so much donations wouldnt be any problem.

also hamachi, but ye i dont think ppl would actually bother. i dont think community can afford any restrictions tho

[PTSnoop]

the servers wouldnt be 100% free. code would be free, everything... except servers with their epic features i mentioned above.

So you're saying, change the main server from being free and open source to being charging-for-features and closed source? I reckon plenty of people would see that as selling out. If I wanted to make closed-source games, I'd be making SC2 mods.

Hey, if people had to pay registration fees to host Static Friction games, then I'd probably set up a separate FOSS server myself.

[TradeMark]

if they loved it so much donations wouldnt be any problem.

people are lazy, and i dont see any donation buttons on the spring lobby either... its super hard to even find that button. also, most of the time people wont buy anything unless they need to...

So you're saying, change the main server from being free and open source to being charging-for-features and closed source?

NO. i say make the servers cost money only if you want to host games yourself... you can still join to already existing hosts and play for free, but that means you dont have much of a choice what map or mod you want to play. that means people will get their lazy ass of their chair and just pay the few bucks instead of whine and suffer from all those annoyances.

[Wombat]

people are lazy, and i dont see any donation buttons on the spring lobby either... its super hard to even find that button.

indeed, indeed.

i say make the servers cost money only if you want to host games yourself... you can still join to already existing hosts and play for free, but that means you dont have much of a choice what map or mod you want to play. that means people will get their lazy ass of their chair and just pay the few bucks instead of whine and suffer from all those annoyances.

majority of ppl already play on existing hosts. they can host own for free but still fail at it. now u want autohost owners to pay for hosting games (using own servers btw)?

just when i started to see some point in this idea, it failed again :D

[TradeMark]

majority of ppl already play on existing hosts. they can host own for free but still fail at it. now u want autohost owners to pay for hosting games (using own servers btw)?

we can provide good autohosts ourselves with the money we get from registered users.

and most of the people play only 8v8 games. So... now when they cant, what do they do.. what do they do...

also, voting on autohosts would be limited to registered users too. (or else it would be quite retarded if you join to autohost and vote map & mod to whatever you wanted... XD)

[PTSnoop]

I don't think stopping people from hosting games is going to solve the 12v12 BADSD problem. You only need one person willing to pay to host a big BA game, so those will still be around. All you'd be doing is cutting down on the number of less-popular-but-interesting maps and games.

And once you start charging for features, random internet people start seeing Spring as a commercial project rather than a free engine. That's going to turn away a lot of potential players and devs.

And once new people stop joining, then you're stuck with the current crop of BA-only players. Yes, you'd gain some money in the short term. But is it worth it?

[Wombat]

we can provide good autohosts ourselves with the money we get from registered users.

so u want to forbid bibim or lolforce (ok, ok i know, but thats not the point :D) to provide, good autohosts FOR FREE?

i dont see any profit.

then you're stuck with the current crop of BA-only players.

one sentence convinced me, while this whole thread didnt manage to ;D

[TradeMark]

I don't think stopping people from hosting games is going to solve the 12v12 BADSD problem. You only need one person willing to pay to host a big BA game, so those will still be around. All you'd be doing is cutting down on the number of less-popular-but-interesting maps and games.

meh... i said it like 10 times: you cant join to big games unless you paid for registration.

And once you start charging for features, random internet people start seeing Spring as a commercial project rather than a free engine. That's going to turn away a lot of potential players and devs.

i doubt the spring community is made out of anti-commercialism people...

And once new people stop joining, then you're stuck with the current crop of BA-only players. Yes, you'd gain some money in the short term. But is it worth it?

we could allow hosting for free, but only for 2v2 max etc... i didnt write a rule that would be final, we can change the rules you know...

seriously... you guys are so much against my idea that you cant even see anything good in it... you already decided the idea will not work, so you dont even want to make it to work. ANYTHING can work if we find out HOW. if we dont even try, then of course it wont work...

so u want to forbid bibim or lolforce (ok, ok i know, but thats not the point :D) to provide, good autohosts FOR FREE?

meh... as i said above, you are only thinking how this cant work, thus, you cant see it working.

[Wombat]

you are only thinking how this cant work

dont blame us for that :D

[PTSnoop]

meh... i said it like 10 times: you cant join to big games unless you paid for registration

Good point. I'd forgotten that part of your idea, sorry.

i doubt the spring community is made out of anti-commercialism people...

I'm one of them. And apparently so is smoth.

seriously... you guys are so much against my idea that you cant even see anything good in it... you already decided the idea will not work, so you dont even want to make it to work.

Bear in mind that all you've done is suggested it, and you've already got people complaining loudly. Just imagine what the reaction would be like if you actually *implemented* this...

Removing functionality unless people pay money is never popular. Just look at Spotify.

[TradeMark]

Just imagine what the reaction would be like if you actually *implemented* this...

i would be a hero for destroying BADSD8v8 ? and even if it became popular again, i would still be a hero for making all your coding finally pay off and stop us (us = the developers of spring) from paying for this project by ourselves just to please the people who are playing all day BADSD8v8....

Removing functionality unless people pay money is never popular. Just look at Spotify

well, we can always make it free, but as a downside there would come a popup window every once and now with some sad panda images saying: "why did you do not donate spring needs money to run *crying panda sounds*" would that help? at least it would make some people feel bad for not paying... and thats what marketing is all about... making people feel bad and then taking their moneys as "donations", and then both can feel happy again!

some guy made similar approach (and instantly got more sales i heard):


dont underestimate the power of guilt.

[Wombat]

Removing functionality unless people pay money is never popular. Just look at Spotify

i would agree with the idea of paying for 'some' options implemented since now, not forcing players to pay for stuff they had for free before.










now seriously, do u really think that 'they' take such ideas serious? :D
at least it was fun.

[Teutooni]

Wait, what. Is it 12v12 BADSD now?

[TradeMark]

now seriously, do u really think that 'they' take such ideas serious? :D
at least it was fun.

umm.... you miss the point here. my idea was that registering would cost 5Ôé¼, and by registering you open some functionality. that functionality can be anything, i just suggested it could be playing on bigger games than 4v4... and yeah, i expect people to take this seriously here, not everyone are trolls like you whose only aim is to lol at me...

[Silentwings]

I think 5$ registration to play games more than some limit is an excellent idea. As long as the amount is small and theres plenty of opportunity to play without paying $5.

For donations - it's not about how much people like spring, if it's free most people won't pay for it. Most people don't even read the forums or #main and won't know who pays for spring anyway.

[Valheru]

Im with Trade and Silent, the £5 registration fee is a brilliant idea and would also reduce the massively annoying smurfing problem we have. If you're really too poor to be able to afford £5 you should probably get up off your fatass and get a job. If you're morally objectioned to paying to play a game someone else has made for you, I dont get your point.

[Forboding Angel]

This entire thread is fail and should be locked.

It comes down to you bitching about BA DSD.

FUCKING DEAL WITH IT! YOU MADE YOUR BED, NOW WALLOW IN IT!

[Silentwings]

This entire thread is fail and should be locked.

It comes down to you bitching about BA DSD.

If you'd bothered to read anything you'd have noticed that I was only suggesting replacing 12v12 with 8v8, and for reasons that had nothing to do with BA or dsd.

[smoth]

8v8 12v12 is just something arbitrary with players silent you COULD start when you have 4v4 but you don't it is an elective decision on the part of the players.