The future of DRD Team

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Rachael
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The future of DRD Team

Post by Rachael »

With only $120 raised in the last donation campaign, I've decided that the time has come to ... well ... "make do with what I have."

I've contacted the owner of MancuNET and DRD Team will be having a new home within the next month. Fact is, I am not very aggressive (or much of a marketing personality) to have continued the donation campaign and done what I really needed to do to get the money for the entire year. But there were other factors influencing the decision, as well; if my marketing weakness was the only issue, it would not have come to this.

What about the money that was already donated?
Because the transfer is not going to be free, I will be refunding the 2013 donation money at a prorated amount, which will be the year's entire donation pool minus costs post-transfer. Everyone will get a portion of their money back, but some will be needed for fees - after the total costs are calculated, they'll be subtracted from the donation pool and a percentage will be calculated; everyone will get the same percentage of their total donation amount returned based on their original contribution.

Why this change now?
$40/mo for a website that gets less than 10k hits per month is a VERY huge amount. Previously the cost was justified with all the extra services that DRD Team ran, such as IRC and project SVNs (not to be confused with the SVN site which is still used quite frequently and will be continued after transfer), which, fact is, aren't really used anymore. If the community doesn't use it, why charge them for it?

But HPACK uses the DRD Team SVN!
MancuNET might be willing to take that over. It's one thing I forgot to discuss that with Mike, but I will soon.

You're giving up on this way too easily, you miserable crone!
That may well be, but $40/mo is a huge financial responsibility - at least it is, for me. Even when the donations come in, there's still other fees such as taxes, domains, as well as paypal and bank fees. My friend has been kind enough to front most of those fees, but there comes a point when one has to just say ... it's just not worth it. Fact is, personally, I need to cut costs across the board. Giving up a website is not the only thing that I've done to accomplish that.

Who is MancuNET? Why them?
MancuNET is owned by Mike "Mancubus II" Lightner who is a very long-time member of the Doom community and tends to be more active on Doomworld than anywhere else (at least, that I've seen). He's the one who currently hosts both the ZDoom and GZDoom SVN's, and probably a countless number of other things too. He's one of the more trusted and looked up-to members of the community, which is why he was my first choice for taking over DRD Team. As far as hosting goes, I'm fairly confident that this is a man who has his things together, and I have faith in DRD Team's future with him.

Who will admin DRD Team?
Not much will be changing there. I will likely retain my status unless I am voted off the island for some reason. :P If that happens, Enjay and Blzut3 are the two that will succeed me. Obviously, Mancubus II will be getting ownership status, which implies admin as well. I will continue to support and try to improve DRD Team after the take-over, but I will probably work a little bit more in the background.

What now?
DRD Team will continue on. And it will continue going strong! :) It won't be the same as it has always been, but it will still be here, and it will still focus on its primary goal: to empower the community, especially developers, but also as a resource for players as well.

... and those ads?
They'll be removed. If Mike wants to put ads of his own in, that's his decision. :)
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Tiger
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Re: The future of DRD Team

Post by Tiger »

Sorry to hear this... On the flip side, - this move is rather better off to secure the future of DRDTeam instead of hoping to gain enough funds to keep going efficiently.

For normal\average users, is there really going to be much of a change (instead of switching over to a new server box)?
Nicholas 'Tiger' Gautier
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Rachael
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Re: The future of DRD Team

Post by Rachael »

Tiger wrote:For normal\average users, is there really going to be much of a change (instead of switching over to a new server box)?
For the most part, no.
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Enjay
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Re: The future of DRD Team

Post by Enjay »

A sad day in some ways but a very good solution to the problem. I don't think anyone can hold what is, ultimately, a very sensible decision, against you. I'd just like to say a public thank you for what you have done with DRD and the services that you have provided for the community. Thank you.

Also, thanks to Manc for picking things up. He too has also provided many services for the community over many years and I'm sure that DRD will be in safe hands.
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Rachael
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Re: The future of DRD Team

Post by Rachael »

Enjay wrote:I'd just like to say a public thank you for what you have done with DRD and the services that you have provided for the community. Thank you.
Thank you for helping me run the site and for your input over the years. :) I think your contribution to DRD Team is one of the most understated things in the entire community and I don't think anyone will ever really realize as much as I do just how much you've helped this site grow and flourish. You, Enjay, are a true hero, and for that, I thank you. :)
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Paul
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Re: The future of DRD Team

Post by Paul »

Eruanna wrote:You're giving up on this way too easily, you miserable crone!
Whoever acuses you of this personally insults me as well.
Your contributions to DRDTeam were and are of tremendous value, and you've been here for years. Years! I can't believe so much time passed.

By the way, my site is the only non-doom related one. Is this an issue of any kind with the new hosting?
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Rachael
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Re: The future of DRD Team

Post by Rachael »

I don't think it will be, although you may want to double check with Mike when he comes on board. One thing you will want to note, however, is it will be hosted in California, United States (I think?) rather than the UK, after the move.
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Re: The future of DRD Team

Post by NeoHippo »

It's never a pleasant experience when one has to say good bye to one's baby, especially so when it is necessitated by economic pressure.

I just want to let you know that I appreciated your continued efforts in looking after this site.
And I am happy to see that Mike "Mancubus II" Lightner is willing to host DRDteam.
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Gez
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Re: The future of DRD Team

Post by Gez »

DRD Team was originally Grubber's baby, wasn't it? This is the second time it changes hands. Eruanna saved it and held it afloat for all these years, and deserves our thanks for her work in maintaining and updating it.

MancuNET already hosts the Doom Wiki, Odamex, the SLADE website, and more, older stuff.
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Rachael
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Re: The future of DRD Team

Post by Rachael »

Gez wrote:DRD Team was originally Grubber's baby, wasn't it? This is the second time it changes hands.
This is correct.
Gez wrote:Eruanna saved it and held it afloat for all these years, and deserves our thanks for her work in maintaining and updating it.
Kind words, thank you. :)
randy
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Re: The future of DRD Team

Post by randy »

Now zdoom.org and drdteam.org won't be in the same data center anymore. It was quite something to see a <1ms ping to drdteam.org
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Rachael
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Re: The future of DRD Team

Post by Rachael »

I thought you were in the Newark NJ one?

This site has been in the UK for well over 3 years now.
randy
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Re: The future of DRD Team

Post by randy »

Eruanna wrote:I thought you were in the Newark NJ one?

This site has been in the UK for well over 3 years now.
Whoops. You're right. It was probably skulltag.net or zandronum.com I got it confused with.
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Re: The future of DRD Team

Post by Blzut3 »

randy wrote:Whoops. You're right. It was probably skulltag.net or zandronum.com I got it confused with.
Well skulltag.net was hosted here, so it's zandronum.com you're thinking of which is indeed hosted in Newark, NJ.
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