posted 01-03- 02:11 AM               

Also check out the web article he points out. another good read.

I do think we need a system in place to pay a fraction of a cent for a click and a couple cents for an article though.
AND/OR subscription.

If this was in place us that only visited combat sim every week or so for a quick browse could still do so very cheaply, and those use use it daily or more could subscribe.

kinda like buying the paper everyonce in a while when something catches your eye. and paying for it delivered daily.

That would also bring in more subscribers.

I can see paying being in the future of large web sites like this.

Combat sim didn't pay alot for articles.

Now imagine www.ign.com. Its a huge site, and mad dog was getting 150 US TO START for reveiws and such. How can they contiue to pay that much to freelance and probly more to permanent writers and web workers AND pay for that crazy bandwidth? Certainly not from advertising. It just doesn't pay enough.

posted 01-03- 09:52 AM               

I bet they still don't make enough off ads to pay for the site.

Think about it, I visit that site all the time. And I have NEVER clicked on an ad. I think its been proven time and again that banner ads don't make much if any money.

posted 01-03- 12:21 PM            

1. Major Corporations (ie: CNN)- I don't see them ever charging for content, since the first one of CNN/CBS/NBC/ABC/BBC/CBC/CTV etc that does this will take a huge hit, and these conglomerates have the budgets to keep their current model afloat. That's good, because I like these sites.

2. Fansites (ie: geocities, nbci, etc)- While I use the term loosely (dangerously so perhaps), communities like our own engage in a sort of intellectual communnism. We make mods for the game, hundreds of mods totalling hundreds and hundreds of MBs, and share them for free. These mods are spread thinly enough over a collection of sites that none are in danger of going under for financial reasons, with the exception perhaps of simfiles and FSH, because Dogma and Razer both generously pay for the bandwidth we use for massive online standard files. This is also good, because this is where I spend the majority of my time online.

3. Being a University student, research sites. Without question these are, and always will be free. It's in the pedigree of the net, and that's not going to change. Again good.

4. Distributors of Intellectual Information (ie: Combatsim et al.): I can see why these guys would charge for content, it's the same reason you pay to buy their magazines if they're in print. If they go subscriber only, so be it. I'd rather read a hundred posts on forums belonging to category 2 than a handful of supposedly "professional" reviews by people who are, imo, dead wrong. Consider the thrashing sdoe took in these so-called reviews. This is the same reason I quit buying PCGamers. Every game has pros and cons, strengths and bugs, and I think as a collective, users of the game do a better job than any one person could ever do. Again I think FSIC is a testament to that, we acknowledge sdoes strengths and weaknesses, and you don't have to pay for that. So anyways if these sites go subscriber only, so be it. I won't miss them.

(rant off)

I'm sure I come off sounding like some neo-communist techno thug, but I'm really not. I just think that this new "business model" combatsim is touting may not be the new way of doing business across the board like their suggesting. When Tom's Hardware goes subscriber, then I'll be worried.

Werner

posted 01-03- 12:22 PM               

A banner ad can pay three ways...

1.) Presence = Just by you going to the origin site, it registers to that banner that you simply "saw it". (think of it as a billboard) they gat a minuscule kick-back for that.

2.) Click through = By clicking on the banner to visit that site, the origin site gets a kick-back.

3.) Some banners, if it's linked to a site that "sells" stuff, you sometimes get a percentage "of" any sale that results from the click-through.

Sorry... I don't buy it.

You don't let a site run that far into ruin without something going holostically wrong.

posted 01-03- 03:57 PM               

Just chill down guys, will ya?!
It's all a question of attaining an equilibrium state (whatever that is, heard it's a delirium of some sort, that's kewl enough by me )

I really like my beer I'm heving it's not too cold to loose all flavour and not too warm to become disgusting, of which I wish you all copious amounts in this New Year (if you believe that christian guys, not sure myself if you ask me, still pondering the thought of sending them to the arena amongst the lions, could provide some fun for us hard working, tax paying folks)

Bless you all

posted 01-03- 04:44 PM            

In other news, babelfish is down today...

I think people are getting worked up because they recognize that we may look back on this in a few years and say it was part of a larger turning point in the direction of the internet.

Werner

posted 01-03- 08:20 PM               

Well dan Ya know if ya read the message he mentions "the hundreds of people who have already subscribed"

So yeah people have signed up.

posted 01-03- 11:06 PM               

Ah, good question. Now I'm wondering that too.

posted 01-04- 06:18 AM               

As a side issue, I signed up over at simhq, to find out what EAW ( yep, I still play it ) was doing, since most of the regulars seem to have moved to it's forum.

I hadn't visited it before, and was amazed at what I found!

An honest review! B17 II reviewed without hype, with reference to it's good bits AND IT'S BAD bits. Honest views on BOB..

I would happily pay money for a service. A website that doesn't provide a service has a cheek charging for it! I know the people running Combatsim were just ordinary guys, trying to make a living, but this is business. If they charge me money I change my level of expectations.

posted 01-04- 03:40 PM               

That table of contents sure wouldn't make me want to join.

posted 01-05- 01:04 AM               

Speaking of free internet.

Check this out.

------------------

Free Internet access could be another victim of the retrenchment, Clibanoff said.

They include pure plays like NetZero, which announced it's going to start charging some of its users who surf more than a certain number of hours a month. Market conditions have already shuttered other free-Internet-access companies.

---------------------

posted 01-05- 08:43 AM               

"Paying" for a site does not gaurentee quality content.

The idea that the internet will eventually become a "pay-per-view" venue is perfect example of a snowball becoming an avalanch. Your already paying for your internet (most are).. through your local ISP or online package. A "pay-sites" are the cable eqivilent of "PlayBoy Channel"...

Sure, "some" sites may fall to becoming pay sites, but the great majority cannot afford to halve their traffic to justify a means.

I say it again.... "SOMETHING" happended to ol' DOug and Combatsim that was unexpected... Something he counted on, got pulled out from under his feet, and ultimately forced him to reduce his bandwidth and "immediately" start charging for the site.

posted 01-05- 11:41 AM               

Perhaps some better planning might of made the decision a little more seamless. Combatsim should of just 'went' subscription - no explaination, just do it.

You don't have to explain yourself in this industry, it's already volitale enough - you just gotta ride the bumps.

The problem, as I'm sure Werner and others here feel, is that because the site was such a hub for us simmers, we all felt that Combatsim just slammed the door on us and in the process it hurt our feelings.

I'm not going to say much else as I am sure if I blab too much, I could find myself in a 'legal' situation.

posted 01-05- 02:07 PM               

"Sure, "some" sites may fall to becoming pay sites, but the great majority cannot afford to halve their traffic to justify a means."

WHy not? If the ad revenue wasn't enough to cover costs who cares if you have 1/16th the hits as long as those hits are paying the bills?

Your still basing it on making money off the ads zur, if you get rid of those ads or find they arn't paying enough to pay the bills then why do you need a HUGE user base?