Forum's storage costs increased by 30%, funds needed

[GooRoo]

Starting immediately, the monthly storage price has gone up by 30%, from $10 (USD) per month to $13 per month.

With interest waning in Gruntz, my wife will likely pressure me to "pack it in".

I make my payments automatically through PayPal. Any contribution to me via my email account fills up the PayPal coffers, so that the draw on my checking account is lessened.

Monthly contributions would be nice, but even one-time assistance would certainly help.

I will post around the 28th of each month with the total of contributions made for that month. Please keep my wife happy, so she doesn't make me pull the plug.

[athrun]

That's unfortunate about the storage thing, and if I could donate then I definitely would. Probably in the future for me when I have steady income.

But I'm unsure what you mean about interest in Gruntz waning. I don't check on the forum all the time, but I and other Gruntzers are active on the discord. I've definitely been pondering a new Battlez level when I have the time after Christmas, and I know others have been looking over customs levels. We're likely to see a Multiplayer game soon when schedules allow. (I'm getting new fiber internet soon, and I'm excited at the prospect of playing with the others.)

[Zu]

I sent some funds for the month. I find it important for the forum to continue its existence, even if it may not seem like it at first glance from the forum's low activity.

[GooRoo]

Dec 28, 2019 9:46:56 GMT -8 Zu said:

I sent some funds for the month. I find it important for the forum to continue its existence, even if it may not seem like it at first glance from the forum's low activity.

Thank You!

I will post the total amount, but not the individual amounts, so as not to embarrass anyone. ANY contribution (any amount) helps, whether ongoing or one-time.

[GooRoo]

For the month of January, 2020 $10 (USD) was contributed toward the upkeep (rental) of the web hosting for this Forum.

January	2020	$10.00
February	2020	$70.00 (so far)
March	2020	$8.04
April	2020	$.00
May	2020	$.00
June	2020	$.00
July	2020	$.00
August	2020	$.00
September	2020	$.00
October	2020	$.00
November	2020	$.00
December	2020	$12.15

[Zu]

Made my monthly contribution.

[GooRoo]

Feb 2, 2020 22:47:34 GMT -8 Zu said:

Made my monthly contribution.

Thank You!

It took some investigating, since I haven't memorized names for handles, but now I know who all of you are!

GoDaddy is covered for February through June, with a bit left over.

[GooRoo]

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has the entrie world in a PANic ... because of lack of faith in the ability of the knowledge God has given man to deal with such things. Funding for this Forum is good for another 3 months before I will once again dip into my own funds to keep things going. There has been unexpected financial assistance from the US government which helps a LOT!

Thank you to the contributors (you know who you are) ... and I pray that your own circumstances have not been impacted by lockdowns, etc.

To quote Winston Churchill "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself". A battle may be going against us now, but the war's outcome is foreordained.

[GooRoo]

In August, it is time to renew the domain. I do not recall what the cost would be (it would be paid for regardless) but I am wondering how viable the Gruntz discussion area is. For me, the domain and the hosting are mainly a relatively low cost back-up system. Virtually everything in this discussion forum is duplicated in the web host storage. Most of the 'Announcements' are backed up, but the posts added into those threads are not so protected. And threads such as this one are not backed up at all.

Where do your interest lie? For me, the difficulty level of most new submissions are beyond my ability, so are not in the least enjoyable. Some Gruntzerz downgrade the difficulty levels posted for the first 15 years of this forum. And the older Gruntzerz have been very quiet in ANY discussion threads. Part of that may simply be that the 'improvements' in Windows since the XP version and severely impacted play-ability of Gruntz. Windows 10 has been particularly unfriendly toward Gruntz. There are multiple work-arounds available, and it is difficult for THIS old geezer to determine EXACTLY what is needed for the most workable solution. Components simply may be fighting one another. I am sure that someone has put together a working Windows 10 solution, and can provide an index listing all of the required files, so that it would be possible to remove those files that obfuscate the Gruntx working solution. Then we could pare down the threads dealing with Windows 10 to a single one that contains a complete list of the required files, and how to implement them. Of course, said list would contain links for each said component that would retrieve them from our web host. I know, some will say that everything could simply be archived in ZIP or RAR or some other compression program. But then said compression program would be a prerequisite for creating a good playing environment for Gruntz. (As can be seen in some very old threads which have links to Paul's Gruntz Page, the self-extracting file for a Gruntz Custom Level are at least six times as large as the WWD itself.) And I doubt that there would be agreement as to which compression program to use. At one time, I had three different unZIP programs.

[Zu]

There definitely is still interest in keeping the forum alive.

Are the funds needed again? We can pitch in if necessary.

[GooRoo]

Jul 30, 2020 20:46:12 GMT -8 Zu said:

There definitely is still interest in keeping the forum alive.

Are the funds needed again? We can pitch in if necessary.

I have set aside $40 for domain renewal ... which (as I stated above) WILL happen. I intend to keep it if only for back-up purposes. (But contributions are always welcome.)

[swietymiki]

After the creation of the Gruntz Discord Server, the casual content basically disappeared from this forum, as most discussions related to the game happen on Discord. For me and many other people the forum became the place for official announcements only. But that doesn't make it unneeded. This website is what gives our community internet visibility. It shows others that there are still people who have interest in the game and provides relevant resources. I don't think much more needs to be done here.

[GooRoo]

The domain has been renewed for another year at a cost of $23.99 + tax. Also, August storage charge was paid at the same time.

[Perfect Grunt]

Is it only PayPal? That's not so common in Germany. At least I do not have it.

[swietymiki]

It only takes a few minutes to create an account. Then you can transfer money to it from your bank account for example.

[Zu]

How are we standing with the funds at the moment?

[GooRoo]

Sept 1, 2020 13:00:37 GMT -8 Zu said:

How are we standing with the funds at the moment?

The domain has been renewed for a year ($23.99) and the August data storage charge ($12.99) was also paid in early August. There is enough for September's data storage monthly charge and then I am back to paying on a monthly basis. I have been frugal with my discretionary funds (aka 'allowance') so am not concerned. But any assistance is still very much appreciated.

[Wyatt]

Howdy there. New guy

You should try setting up a patreon or something with subscription options. I'd definitely throw a dollar or two your way every month if it meant the Gruntz community had a hub on the net,
Loved this game growing up and I can't wait to try and get back into the swing of things

[Perfect Grunt]

I think, what Wyatt said is a great idea...

How are the funds at the moment, GooRoo?

[GooRoo]

Nov 19, 2020 18:47:06 GMT -8 Wyatt said:

Howdy there. New guy

You should try setting up a patreon or something with subscription options. I'd definitely throw a dollar or two your way every month if it meant the Gruntz community had a hub on the net,
Loved this game growing up and I can't wait to try and get back into the swing of things

Financial assistance is something that I certainly will NOT discourage. I pay the storage fee (currently $12.99 per month) out of my own discretionary funds (allowance) which is more a slight inconvenience than a real burden. Voluntary contributions certainly help (me) to feel that there is interest other than my own for maintaining the web host. This discussion Forum itself is free of charge (so far), so even the end of web hosting will only mean the removal of "bells and whistles" (images, etc.) that IMHO make the Forum attractive to use.

Contributions through a medium such as PayPal (via my eMail address) are convenient.

Any other method (patreon?) is not something that I could help with. Someone who has experience with the method would have to become involved. Hopefully, the time spent in doing so would be a one-time thing, and not an ongoing burden of time.