A new message on Housequake.com:

A small survey...

Just out of curiosity; would you be willing and able (when Housequake.com is online again) to subscribe for a monthly payment of about 5 dollars/euro's to help us pay the hosting costs? For reward, we can lift some limitations for you, like the PM character limit & storage for example. If you would, please send me an e-mail so I can collect all the responses. Thanks!

Best regards,

The Housequake.com team

drop by the Housequake site and let 'em know whatcha think...

I told them that $5/month (preferably billed as $60 once per year) sounds reasonable.

Hope prince.org isn't in financial straits...if so, please give us some warning, I certainly didn't know that housequake was about to go under!

I dont think this is what caused the down time. I think there are technical issues at play. I assume that the costs have hit home a little as a result.

I dont mind kicking in but $60 a year is too much and will spell the end for the site i think. Putting a subscription fee on a previously free site will likely spell doom in the long run.

I think up to $25 a year to be reasonable but I fear even that much would cause great harm. i think strongly encouraging "donations" is the way to go.

Just my 2 cents.

I think a small fee is'nt asking too much, even if the site was previously free. I've spent money on far worse things than a website- not including some unmentionable sites which I no longer view- and the Quake is a cool place to look around. IMHO, it's just a somewhat nicer, kinder org.

No. I would not use it.

bkw said:

I agree completely. On a side note, I wonder how the google ads are paying? I hope okay, though I doubt they hardly ever get clicked. They're so unobtrusive, I rarely even notice them.

Possibly, a particular donation would get you some extra features (extra posting/org noting privileges, an e-mail with a prince.org name, maybe a small gift), you know, do it PBS style, that might be a good idea. Of course, anyone can donate, and anyone can post and start threads, but for a little extra you get these perks.

I think it will be fair to make a note on this issue:

The spirit of Housequake is that it should be free to access. This will not change in the future. It will thus not be mandatory to pay a fee or donation.

But it would indeed help.

The benefit of donating a fee is still not determined but we won´t deny access to people not donating.

Just to make that clear

I started to join Housequake but now I'm glad I didn't. I have enough bills to pay already, I don't need another one.

It's funny how many people are willing to pay $60 a year for an unofficial fan site, yet not pay $25 for life for the official site! Who's pimpin' who?

bkw said:

i have had donations on my website for over 3 years and hardly get anything..people tell you how valuaBle your website is but never bother to donate anything an my website..i know what Housequake is going thru they dont want to ask but they have to so they can keep it going...for the work they do $5 a month is NOTHING

Mazerati said:

no one wants to donate to a eddie Money fansite tho

If there were benefits besides a message board, I might consider it, but as it is, why pay for Prince chat, when there's here and AMP (OK the latter is all but dead, but it used to be the place for Prince discussion once upon a time).

Extra feature for paying members sounds like a good idea. But the basic feature should remain free for everyone (i.e. access to all threads, posting and PMs).

Thanks to Chastity for clarifying the isse, otherwise I would agree that it would be the start of the end of the best Prince site ever.


nickfunk

Hi People,

I thought it was clear ... but apparently it isn´t

BUT ... Housequake will continue to be a FREE site for all to enjoy.

What we´re asking is that maybe some of you might be willing to donate something. The Paypal donation option has been there a long time now. But now we´re just asking directly. And based on the huge number of emails we´ve recieved I´d say a lot of you seems willing to help out with a small donation too.

So no need to freak out and be sad about the bills. This is voluntarily work ... and it´s also voluntarily to donate or not.

AND: This is not intended to be a business. So all donations will go to make the site run on decent servers and connections. All benefits will be returned to the donating people in some way: Merchandise (like Caps, T-shirts) or other ways. Housequake will not earn money on this.

Thanks for your cooperation.

Chastity

I've been to Housequake only a handful of times...I don't like their set up.
The Org is more user friendly, IMO.
I certainly wouldn't pay for HQ...

There closing it?

Hey Chastity I do not think that it is an issue of misunderstanding. The question below which appears on the housequake site can not be read in many different ways.... In other words I suggest you change it with a text that reflects more what you say in your last post.

nickfunk


A small survey...

Just out of curiosity; would you be willing and able (when Housequake.com is online again) to subscribe for a monthly payment of about 5 dollars/euro's to help us pay the hosting costs? For reward, we can lift some limitations for you, like the PM character limit & storage for example. If you would, please send me an e-mail so I can collect all the responses. Thanks!

Best regards,

The Housequake.com team
[Edited 9/2/04 5:47am]

Paying for a fansite is ridiculous.

yes and no.

yes, it'd be a nice gesture to donate money in order to help keep the site running...no, paying for features on a fansite ain't such a good idea to me.

I don't fucking believe this....housequake had THE BEST FUCKING PHOTOGRAPHY FORUM EVER!!!! and now it may be gone forever...I should've known a good thing like that wouldn't last forever....I'm fucking depressed right now.

if there were a link on HQ where i could donate whatever i wanted via paypal, i'd donate a couple of bucks here and there, sure. i wish ben would do the same thing with the org.

I'm not against paying for services. I'm a paying member of the NPG site. I think the idea of asking for donations sounds better though. Then people don't think that they have to "get something". I'm not personally a fan of the housequake site, I think it's to confusing to navigate, but if they were to up-grade the sight I'd be more than willing to "donate".

I really wish people would read the whole thread instead of just the first post before they reply. It has been stated by Chastity (HQ mod) that HQ is going to return, is going to remain a free site for all and that any donations would be just that - voluntary donations.
(HQ has had a paypal donation button on the front page since at least March this year - some have donated, most haven't.) There have been enough positive responses to the question of donation/subscription that hopefully this will speed up HQ's return and ease the strain on Aaron's pocket.

Lest we forget the reason P.Org now has google ads on the forum pages - these sites costs are borne by the owners, and inevitably as popularity and usage increases, so do the costs. Many members are more than willing to donate $$ to help keep them running. It is an option, as is google ads.
And yes, the word "subscription" appears to be the cause of the confusion, but hopefully Chastity's posts have cleared that up.

Chastity said:

Agreed - although there has in the past been talk of a Pay Pal donation button here also, I certainly think it wouldn't hurt - after all, every little helps, and Ben pours his all in2 this site.

Just thought I'd point that out too, just in case anyone in the future happens 2 claim we're copying others ideas etc!

don't get me wrong I'd have NO PROBLEM whatsoever donating...when I can...but not ona regular business....HQ deserves something because they provide an invaluable service, no doubt.

SquarePeg said:

Absolutely.

Anxiety said:

Gosh I guess I am cheap. I think $25 per year is more reasonable... my mag subscription to ebony, jet, essence etc are about $25 per year... npgmc is $25 lifetime. I think $60 is too much. Also maybe make part of the forum free and say the video and pic download forum be the "premium" section. Otherwise, sites like prince.org is much better and for free.

SquarePeg said:

Thank you Squarepeg, much appreciated. We worked hard and around the clock to make something special out of Housequake.com, and I must say, it simply saddens me when there are still folks here in this thread, that loves to see Housequake.com go down like the titanic.

housequake said:

But we won't let that happen, Aaron!!
Never !!