A Few Changes [Archive] - The Electrogarden Network Music Forums

~admin

January 3rd, 2003, 04:38 PM

There are a few changes to announce.

We have disabled the Item Shop due to a lack of funds for shipping and handling and other resources. We may bring it back online if the situation improves.

The Chat server is no longer available except for special events like the Mesh chat that we had not too long ago.

We have discontinued the Journals due to an overall lack of interest and minimal use.

Electroswank

January 3rd, 2003, 05:33 PM

The Journals and Item Shop issues I can understand but the Chat was being used on a regular basis... Why did it get taken down?

just curious,
Anna

~KissTheStar

January 3rd, 2003, 05:37 PM

Originally posted by ElectroSwank
The Journals and Item Shop issues I can understand but the Chat was being used on a regular basis... Why did it get taken down?

just curious,
Anna

Certain items are of a higher cost to the EGN and that is one of the more expensive items.

~Craig

~amyagogo

January 3rd, 2003, 05:39 PM

Uh...who wasn't using the journals?

i think that's a bit unfair to those of us who WERE using them to not let us know in advance...and i think the chat was being used rather frequently, so that i don't understand either...

I know it's just my opinion, but i think it's a bit rash seeing that people were just on vacations for the holiday and not much traffic was here...

~KissTheStar

January 3rd, 2003, 05:42 PM

Originally posted by amyagogo
Uh...who wasn't using the journals?

i think that's a bit unfair to those of us who WERE using them to not let us know in advance...and i think the chat was being used rather frequently, so that i don't understand either...

I know it's just my opinion, but i think it's a bit rash seeing that people were just on vacations for the holiday and not much traffic was here...

Sorry that a few financial realities are showing through. I am sure you can find a site where you could start a new journal. Once again ... apologies to those who this is inconvieniant for.

~Craig

Originally posted by stargazer
you can always put up a java chat right? you dont have to buy your own irc server...

i dont know a whole lot about that though

The IRC server was the only chat protocol where we had adequate stability and intergration to the EGN.

Electroswank

January 3rd, 2003, 05:54 PM

can we do a poll to see how many of us would pay a small fee to carry on using the chat or does admin think its not worth revisiting?

test

January 3rd, 2003, 06:01 PM

Originally posted by ElectroSwank
can we do a poll to see how many of us would pay a small fee to carry on using the chat or does admin think its not worth revisiting?

I soo agree with you on this. I would pay a fee for a chat. However, there are some people here who want something for nothing. Just look at Joel's poll from last week. I love this site and would be willing to help financially as much as I can. This just saddens me. :(

Electroswank

January 3rd, 2003, 06:17 PM

it just upsets me cos i used to really like chatting to people (like cheetah, seraphim, cliffwalk and rivetsbatd, kirilian blue and others) by way of chat room or responding thru a journal...

now i won't get that luxury of talking to people at all since it was easier for me to just chat or reply rather then IM or PM people.

whatever... i am sure i am not alone but if its not an option then so be it.. there are other chat rooms that we can set up :)

xo, anna

~Bornslippy

January 3rd, 2003, 06:24 PM

Ughhhh thats a bummer, I luv the Journals.. I read them every single morning.. I dont really reply but they are quite entertaining.. However I do post there too. Like someone said I havent post there cause of the holiday, cmonnnnn.... Bummer bummer bummer. The chat gone too, errrrrrrrrrrrrrr nooooooooooooo.... Frankly this last month, it was used to the extent, it was getting busier there, like yesterday night , it was Electrowank, amy, stargazer, etc.
This morning it was seraphim, scar, etc..... It is being used everyday.. What a heart breaker heh..

~Dan1boy

January 3rd, 2003, 06:40 PM

Has anybody really stepped back and realized that of the 1000's of registered members on EGN, there are probably only 20-25 active, participating people??? In fact, I probably have most of those people's names memorized and can recite them in alphabetical order. Can a website as elaborate and expensive as this one to operate survive financially forever? Is the mysterious and elusive "Admin" a secret, philanthropic millionaire? Doubt it.

Think about it...... The same 20 people who forum post all day long are also the ones keep online journals, stop in to chat and "purchase" their free CD's.

Unfortunately, the synth scene has and probably always will be the most unsupportive one around. I'm no saint, don't get me wrong, but I've been around long enough to know when the time has come to face realities.

~KissTheStar

January 3rd, 2003, 06:47 PM

Originally posted by Dan1boy
Has anybody really stepped back and realized that of the 1000's of registered members on EGN, there are probably only 20-25 active, participating people??? In fact, I probably have most of those people's names memorized and can recite them in alphabetical order. Can a website as elaborate and expensive as this one to operate survive financially forever? Is the mysterious and elusive "Admin" a secret, philanthropic millionaire? Doubt it.

Think about it...... The same 20 people who forum post all day long are also the ones keep online journals, stop in to chat and "purchase" their free CD's.

Unfortunately, the synth scene has and probably always will be the most unsupportive one around. I'm no saint, don't get me wrong, but I've been around long enough to know when the time has come to face realities.

Dan is quite correct. And quite frankly, though a few of you would, if the EGN became a pay-per site it would go away from lack of people willing to ante-up. It would be nice if the money was endless but it is not.

~Craig

test

January 3rd, 2003, 06:58 PM

I just went to try and order an EGN t shirt. The site takes Paypal. I couldn't remember my password, so they said they would send me a new one in 7-10 working days. That was weeks ago. I still don't have my new password. No password, no shirt. :( Ugh!

~cliffwalk

January 3rd, 2003, 10:30 PM

I'm trying to stick to my vow of silence this month so I'll be brief.

I respect all of you for having the heart to want to donate money and help out the cause..

I'll cut to the chase.

What is EGN in the business of doing?

I mean what generates income? Payable income?

Advertising and Hosting "Premium" Artists.

See: Mechandise, Donations, and Subscriptions are great fund raising activities.

FUND RAISING.

EGN is an entity with MONTHLY expenses. Fund raising doesn't cut it unless you raise so many funds it leaves a year worth of operating expenses in the bank.

Neither one of EGN's revenue streams has much in its pipeline.

The rest is simple math I wont insult your intelligence with.

Dave

~Bornslippy

January 3rd, 2003, 11:04 PM

Ok I dont want to sound negative or anything but, just in case EGN closes, will you(admin) tell us in advance..... I just need to get addy's from my friends here so I can send them Xmas cards, flyers, b-day cards, whatever..... Notify us in advance ok...

BTW, here's how I trully feel, EGN will be here for long years to come, it will improve, it will find ways to generate money, there will be more artist supporting the site, more fans will register, this site will be here for a very very very long time.. Remember

FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION...

~amyagogo

January 3rd, 2003, 11:40 PM

i think that most of us here are being underestimated and maybe even a bit underappreciated...i know Joel did a poll about whether people would pay or not to maintain this site and while i'm aware that i didn't respond, i can honestly say that i think most of us (myself included) would be willing to pay a nominal fee yearly to provide for the upkeep...

i know that i have met quite a few people that i wouldn't have otherwise from this site and it saddens me as well that the chat has been discontinued cos recently i think a lot of us were taking advantage of it and getting to know one another, but again, that's my opinion...

I belong to another board www.lizardkingduran.com and i have gladly made contributions to keep it going...even though i tend to hang out here more often...

And i have yet to "purchase" or cash in my participation credits to get a cd or whatever...that's not what i'm interested in...it's the people that post here and the thoughts and ideas being shared :(

Guess we'll just have to find other ways to communicate *shrugs* though i thought it was nice to sneak a peek into people's personalities through things like the journals and chat...but what do i know?

~cliffwalk

January 4th, 2003, 12:22 AM

you know plenty..........

i'm asking this question, however...

is EGN this website or is EGN a group of participants?

i think it's the latter.

Dave

OH, Follow this link if you folks want to chat with each other:

http://freepop.parachat.com/freepop/freechathost-black.html?room=EGN

Electroswank

January 4th, 2003, 03:46 AM

I agree with you Dave - I've also met some really great people here (you being one of them) and while its about the scene, you can't have a scene without people who are as passionate about music as most of us are.

i loved getting to know everyone thru quirky journals and having fun in the hilarious chat sessions - we'll just have to find another way to keep it going is all :)

whats a shocker to me is that for the amount of bands on EGN that only a handful of them buy ad space to promote... i see the same banners... Mesh, Brand New Idol, Iris and only a couple of others (sorry i can't remember exactly) If i had an album or single out i would buy space here to keep the site alive, but thats just me... also i don't mind paying a low membership fee or contributing to a 'fundraiser or drive", hell i use this site daily so its the least i can do. the scene is too small for free rides...

Also keep in mind the internet isn't as free as it used to be in the past. I hope that we can pool together for a solution to keep everyone happy.

~cheetah

January 4th, 2003, 04:43 AM

I'm with all of you guys here. I would be willing to do whatever it takes to keep Electrogarden in business. Maybe we should all do some thinking as to how we can keep it running. For me, it would be helpful to know some of the logistics of how everything is managed behind the scenes. Perhaps we can all (the regulars at least) do something (within reason) to keep things running smoothly. And yes, I too would like to be warned of any impending shut-down. It truly has been a pleasure getting to know everyone here and I don't plan on losing contact with anyone. Just let me know what I can do. EGN is way to valuable for us to let it fall by the wayside.

~Kirlian Blue

January 4th, 2003, 06:03 PM

same here me miss's my journals they prevented manty people from feeling depressed lol with my insanity im buying my shirt next week tahts my first thing i will do for EG!!

~Ekstasis

January 4th, 2003, 06:12 PM

Maybe I should ask this in the thread about if people would be willing to pay to use EGN, but I'll ask here.

With EGN just hitting 5000 members, did the price for banner space rise? It only seems logical. It a big land mark, and justifies a the price going up.

Also, why not add a pop up to the site. I cant justify my self spending money on the site. I would rather buy records then talk to people on line, but I have no problem with closing a pop up window or two.

Avil

January 5th, 2003, 09:19 AM

I haven´t been online for one day, and what happens?
I loved the journals and the item shop. (Didn´t use the chat that often so it doesn´t affect me)
I had a lot of interesting conversations in the journals, thought that was one of the most personal things on this site.
Can´t complain about this now, won´t make things better.

I only hope that this will come back one day.

One question:
With the journals being taken down, are the entries gone forever or are they saved somewhere in cyberspace?

Christina

~Kirlian Blue

January 5th, 2003, 09:35 AM

like tears in rain-the kirlian crys i need to become a superstar and sponser this place..........................no more i loves yous and no more i love myselfs ........:(.............and no more avil cockatil requests and bornslippys...my god my tears are over me .......no i underatsnd the cost of running and hosting .......the Reocrd LASBEL SITE IM DOING FOR AN American firm willcost a fortune haveing those feature's........I know the expense but i as i said will buy that shirt later and sooner or later one to frame over the wall!!!!!

~Bornslippy

January 5th, 2003, 02:01 PM

Originally posted by Kirlian Blue
like tears in rain-the kirlian crys i need to become a superstar and sponser this place..........................no more i loves yous and no more i love myselfs ........:(.............and no more avil cockatil requests and bornslippys...my god my tears are over me .......no i underatsnd the cost of running and hosting .......the Reocrd LASBEL SITE IM DOING FOR AN American firm willcost a fortune haveing those feature's........I know the expense but i as i said will buy that shirt later and sooner or later one to frame over the wall!!!!!

Gives KB a tissue......

~jetjaguar15

January 5th, 2003, 02:16 PM

The really frustrating part of these changes is that they were unannounced beforehand. I was saving up my EGN currency for a specific purpose. Oh well. I'll still participate in the site, but this could have been handled a little better.

~skylla

January 5th, 2003, 02:43 PM

why not put up an account for voluntary contributions and see what happens. i was a member of the danish mame-site (arcade emulations) until it was shut down (some manufacturers wern't too happy about it even though the titles were discontinued), and they we're able to keep the site running on donations only. i don't know what your expenses are, but i think they raised about $100 pr. month. anyway... by trying out donations you won't keep any newcommers away by demanding payment but could still get some contributions by the regulars. what have you got to loose? if it was a succes some of us might sign up for regular donations. i don't know much about the world of banking, but if it was possible i wouldn't mind you putting me down for say $5 pr. month on a voluntary basis (allready giving a similar ammount to unicef and the danish cancer association wich gets drawn from my personal bank-account each month without me even noticing it).

in any case i think it's imperrative that something gets done. the way to get more members and to get more awareness is by expanding this site, not the opposite. i for one started to get nervous twitches when first reading this thread and seeing the journals, chat and item-shop disappear.

~cheetah

January 5th, 2003, 02:55 PM

I'm down with what Skylla just said. It would be a shame to lose this site after building it up so nicely. Something needs to be done before we reach the point of no return. And hopefully that hasn't happened yet.

NoirTech

January 6th, 2003, 12:07 PM

Crap. Been away on vacation and what's the first thing I find out when I log back unto EGN? My journal is gone. aahh! I need that back. Or at least a txt sent to me with all my entries. I was using it as my actual journal.
Oh well, guess it's time to email Admin.
As for paying for this site. I would. Though, I have a feeling 90% of the people who are registered here would not. So it would only be 10% of us or so who would be supporting the site. ....if that.
Dan is right. There is just no support from the scene. Well...maybe "no support" is too general. Should probably say very very little support.
I hope EGN goes on, but if it closes I would understand why. I also would like to know in advance.

~MGun

January 6th, 2003, 01:18 PM

They do have T-Shirts for Sale if you want to contribute to the website.

~Scar Chemik

January 6th, 2003, 01:30 PM

Originally posted by cliffwalk

OH, Follow this link if you folks want to chat with each other:

http://freepop.parachat.com/freepop/freechathost-black.html?room=EGN

EGN operators - why not just put this link where you had the 'chat' link. We promise that we will talk about EGN : )