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Discussion about buying Stratics pulled out of the Lost Dragon thread
Captn Norrington
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The premium banner, and professional banner are from the two available subscriptions anyone can sign up for here: http://stratics.com/index.php?account/upgrades
The supporter banner is available to anyone who donates through the donation feature here: http://stratics.com/goals/help-keep-the-lights-on.1/
We will also be adding more banners like those but with new names, for people who donate specific amounts to the fundraising campaign the staff have been making which is designed for us to raise money to try to buy Stratics. We are doing that to prevent it from being sold to a mystery owner who most likely will not actually care about the website, only its profits. Here is the link to the Uhall thread about it: NEWS - Good News Everyone! | Stratics
How much are you guys raising to buy over stratics?
Captn Norrington
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We are still deciding on an official number for the goal, but all the information should be ready in the next day or two. It's kind of difficult to decide since the fundraiser website we are using does not actually give us any of the money unless the goal is met. If the goal is not met, all the donations are refunded instantly.
The challenge is that Stratics is up for sale in a public auction so we have no way to determine exactly how much we need to buy it heh.
The bidding is currently at $5,650. here is the link to the actual auction: Stratics.com — Website For Sale on Flippa: 18 year-old gaming site with 30,000 uniques/mo making $300/mo
Its at action now and currently up to $5650 with 17 days left.
Stratics.com — Website For Sale on Flippa: 18 year-old gaming site with 30,000 uniques/mo making $300/mo
to be fair, thats an over-generalized assumption that the staff here are the only ones who would have an interest in the site more than "profits". Im mentioning this because it looks like your trying to get people to donate under false assumptions.
I know a few people who have a deep interest in the site, do not care about "profits" and are seriously considering it.
would a fundraiser to support other potential buyers be allowed on stratics, since there is one already in the works (and appears to be allowed to be advertised via the site) (they probably dont need it, but more $$ cant hurt)
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Captn Norrington
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I didn't mean other posters on Stratics were after the profits, I meant the people who have already bid on the auction. Their profiles on Flippa were researched and many of them do this for a living. They buy websites for the sole purpose of adding it to their portfolio hoping to resell it for a profit later on. They then pretty much abandon the website until they find a buyer for it. There is nothing wrong with doing that to make money, but it would be extremely bad for Stratics if one of them got it and decided to just plaster the site with ads and forget about it for a few years.
You would have to ask Ron Bron about the additional fundraiser thing, he is the only one who can decide whether or not it can be advertised here. We asked his permission to post the one we are making.
One thing to consider though, having a second fundraiser has a decent chance to cause both fundraisers to fail, since the donations could be split up. For example if one fundraiser alone would have gotten $10,000 if there are two and they are both drawing on the same pool of donors then they both may get only $5,000 which isn't even enough to beat the current bid. It could seriously happen, and I hope that anyone considering making their own fundraiser takes that risk into consideration before deciding what they want to do.
It would be very depressing to see Stratics get sold to one of the "mystery investors" that is not associated with UO at all just because the community's donations got split up too much.
@Captn Norrington you know id donate alot if you were owner (and got rid of a few above you). Unfortunate that the situation is what it is
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Captn Norrington
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The fundraiser has begun! here is the link to it: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stratics-com-because-we-ve-all-been-there#/
Technically, I would own 12.5% of it if we win the auction. We have 8 people selected for the Board of Directors, and each would own an equal 12.5%.
Not a good structure, I'd never jump into business on a each 12.5%.
Why not treat this like a company, I pledge 2K to the Captain, and captain you get funds. Which will eventually reflect your share of Stratics. Let's say 51%?
Captn Norrington
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The way we set it up that isn't possible, the actual "owner" will be an LLC company. The 8 board members will basically be "employees" for lack of a better term, of the LLC with 12.5% voting rights for when we have to vote on things. We set it up that way to guarantee that no one can randomly sell their 12.5% one day if they want to leave. This way if someone quits, their 12.5% is automatically given to whoever replaces them. The LLC will own Stratics forever, which guarantees that Stratics will never be sold again. Even if all 8 members of the Board of Director's quit the site still would not be sold, it would just be transferred to whoever replaces us.
But it is in my hopes that, you can be Stratics President to instill fairness and leadership. Not trigger happy and swift / harsh methods of other admins.
If you can overcome the stupid LLC structure, I'm already pledged.
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Please read this new thread for the answers to many of the questions people have been curious about regarding the fundraiser and the sale of Stratics: NEWS - SAVE STRATICS! Consolidated Crowdfund Campaign Thread With Q/A
This speaks directly to why the team first approached the purchase as a project primarily funded by the community. While we did (and frankly, still do) have the personal funds to make a purchase outright, we recognize that the expected ROI against the likely purchase price argues against it, as a financially-motivated project.
Were the site to be purchased "by the community" and become a not for profit project, the financial burden is spread amongst a wider base and according to each person's desire and ability to contribute...AND the site need only meet its operating costs rather than an investor's expectations. Under those circumstances, the site could truly be returned to a community-focused website -- which is the "win/win" scenario that many of us are hoping for.
Captn Norrington
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You haven't ICQ'ed me in months lol, or at least it isn't showing me the messages if you did. My ICQ is 678566021.
To answer your question though, No I could not run Stratics by myself. I do not have the technical knowledge required to do all the programming stuff. If the site crashed, I would have no idea how to fix it. I know a lot about moderation, but not about the technical side of running websites.
Captn Norrington
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I've never blocked anyone on ICQ, I don't even know how actually lol. I just added your ICQ and I see all the missed messages now, no idea why I didn't get them before.
