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  • WorstluckWorstluck Member Posts: 1,269

    I've whitelisted the site...However, please don't call me a pirate again for 'stealing' your content.  I gladly thank you for providing me a place to discuss MMO's and games in general, but I don't like being insulted by the staff.  Thanks.

    image

  • tabindextabindex Member UncommonPosts: 70

    The half naked girls in the ads are one of the draws that keep me coming back here.  Reading the interesting forums and seeing videos and hearing about new games is the other thing.

     

    Also, has there been any thought to requesting donations?  I would donate if it offered immunity from temporary bans for trolling.

  • TheLizardbonesTheLizardbones Member CommonPosts: 10,910

    I do not block ads, but I do have a script blocker. Unless someone can guarantee I will not get anymore automated script root attempts, I do not see myself allowing scripts from untrusted sources.

    ** edit **

    Just wanted to be clear, the scripts weren't loading from MMORPG.com. It was doubleclick or one of the other advertising only networks it was coming from. I don't want to be a thorn in the side of a great site, but there's a limit to how much risk I'm going to take to view a website.

    I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.

  • MikeBMikeB Community ManagerAdministrator RarePosts: 6,555
    Originally posted by tabindex

    The half naked girls in the ads are one of the draws that keep me coming back here.  Reading the interesting forums and seeing videos and hearing about new games is the other thing.

     

    Also, has there been any thought to requesting donations?  I would donate if it offered immunity from temporary bans for trolling.

    LOL! If we ever did a subscription type thing, it would NOT provide you immunity from the banhammer. Sorry!

  • YizleYizle Member Posts: 517
    Originally posted by tabindex

     

    Also, has there been any thought to requesting donations?  I would donate if it offered immunity from temporary bans for trolling.

    Or people who donate can flag/ban trolls for even longer.

  • BillMurphyBillMurphy Former Managing EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 4,565
    Originally posted by VirusDancer

     

    ...well, there's just that feeling that the traffic here is not what it was.

    Well, unless you check out Alexa and see that for at least a 3-month period that the site has been in decline...

    Believe it or not, Alexa isn't the best resource. We were up in 2011 over 2010, and we're up in 2012 over 2011.  Largely because of games like GW2, and SWTOR, absolutely.  In my time here as a member, and as a staff member we've never really been a place for WoW fans.  The community doesn't support the game, like they do say... EVE.  

    A few years ago, 15% of folks used ad blockers.  Now, it's more like 40%.  You can begin to understand why a trend like that might have a site like ours making a kindly proactive request to users who believe in what we do.  And we do thank those who white-list us.  Believe me... my house, car, and food thank you.  :)

    Try to be excellent to everyone you meet. You never know what someone else has seen or endured.

    My Review Manifesto
    Follow me on Twitter if you dare.

  • saylorxisaylorxi Member UncommonPosts: 15
    Originally posted by Tardcore
    Originally posted by Admin
    Originally posted by Worstluck
    I realize you guys make money from ads, however, I would not be clicking on said ads regardless so I block them for safety and just to make the page readable.  Now will I permanently have a big red bar accross the top of the page?

    It does not matter if you click the ads.  We sell ads based on impressions, not clicks/results.  So even if you don't click the ads you hurt our entire site by running a blocker.  Running adblock on a site that supports itself with advertisements is no different than downloading pirated movies, music or video games.  You are in a sense stealing our content that we work hard to create and pay to an entire team to create.

    And a site like yours shirivels up and dies if it does not have a committed community. Its very much a two way street.

    Might want to think hard about that before throwing around these kinds of accusations.

    Without going to far off topic I agree with this post. If you discuss this topic with musicians you tend to hear why exactly attacking consumers who participate in these topics is a bad thing. While content creators (eg web sites, musicians, authors ect) see everyone who uses there content as someone who would have paid for the content if they had not downloaded it. There are many, many people who would refuse to pay for the content (in the context of this discussion they would refuse to visit this site) who support the content in indirect ways such as sampling before buying or advertising by word of mouths/reviews. It is not a black and white discussion, there are shades of grey.

    Take me for example, I would pay to  have and ad free site, but I would not come to this site at all if I had to see the ads. I am constantly referring people who do not use an adblocker to this site. So while they may not collect revenue from me directly, they are getting profits indirectly from people I refer who would not otherwise come here.

  • PsychowPsychow Member Posts: 1,784
    Originally posted by MikeB
    Originally posted by tabindex

    The half naked girls in the ads are one of the draws that keep me coming back here.  Reading the interesting forums and seeing videos and hearing about new games is the other thing.

     

    Also, has there been any thought to requesting donations?  I would donate if it offered immunity from temporary bans for trolling.

    LOL! If we ever did a subscription type thing, it would NOT provide you immunity from the banhammer. Sorry!

     

    :-(

  • reb007reb007 Member UncommonPosts: 613
    Originally posted by tabindex

    The half naked girls in the ads are one of the draws that keep me coming back here.  Reading the interesting forums and seeing videos and hearing about new games is the other thing.

     

    Also, has there been any thought to requesting donations?  I would donate if it offered immunity from temporary bans for trolling.

    Can I donate to get ads that only show half naked girls?

    Joking of course image

     

    Seriously though, how bout some Victoria's Secret ads?

  • RocSekRocSek Member UncommonPosts: 59
    Originally posted by Admin
    Originally posted by Worstluck
    I realize you guys make money from ads, however, I would not be clicking on said ads regardless so I block them for safety and just to make the page readable.  Now will I permanently have a big red bar accross the top of the page?

    It does not matter if you click the ads.  We sell ads based on impressions, not clicks/results.  So even if you don't click the ads you hurt our entire site by running a blocker.  Running adblock on a site that supports itself with advertisements is no different than downloading pirated movies, music or video games.  You are in a sense stealing our content that we work hard to create and pay to an entire team to create.

    This is flat out wrong. If you want to "Stop people from stealing your content" then make all the infomation password protected, and charge people to access it. But to say we are stealing your content because we choose to block ads is ridiculous. And who ever typed this behind the anonymous "Admin" account should be fired.

    All I heard was... "Well aren't you just a little lolly pop triple dipped in psycho."

  • saylorxisaylorxi Member UncommonPosts: 15
    Originally posted by gigat
    Originally posted by tabindex

    The half naked girls in the ads are one of the draws that keep me coming back here.  Reading the interesting forums and seeing videos and hearing about new games is the other thing.

     

    Also, has there been any thought to requesting donations?  I would donate if it offered immunity from temporary bans for trolling.

    Can I donate to get ads that only show half naked girls?

    Joking of course image

     

    Seriously though, how bout some Victoria's Secret ads?

     

    Haha! Apparently the marketing department just has to shift there focus and we all would be happy.

  • boobitsboobits Member Posts: 27

    Sorry but turning it off turns the site into a mess. Ads everywhere. I don't mind the site but I'm slowly being drawn away to other websites with a cleaner look and I find myself coming here less and less anyways. Your layout is outdated and far too messy IMO.

     

    I also suggest  running the Noscript addon.

  • AdminAdmin Administrator RarePosts: 5,623
    Originally posted by gigat
    Originally posted by tabindex

    The half naked girls in the ads are one of the draws that keep me coming back here.  Reading the interesting forums and seeing videos and hearing about new games is the other thing.

     

    Also, has there been any thought to requesting donations?  I would donate if it offered immunity from temporary bans for trolling.

    Can I donate to get ads that only show half naked girls?

    Joking of course image

     

    Seriously though, how bout some Victoria's Secret ads?

    Classic :)  Likely not, but I think there are plenty of sites out there you can "donate" to in order to see half (or fully) naked girls ;-)

    - MMORPG.COM Staff -

    The dead know only one thing: it is better to be alive.

  • IchmenIchmen Member UncommonPosts: 1,228
    Originally posted by RocSek
    Originally posted by Admin
    Originally posted by Worstluck
    I realize you guys make money from ads, however, I would not be clicking on said ads regardless so I block them for safety and just to make the page readable.  Now will I permanently have a big red bar accross the top of the page?

    It does not matter if you click the ads.  We sell ads based on impressions, not clicks/results.  So even if you don't click the ads you hurt our entire site by running a blocker.  Running adblock on a site that supports itself with advertisements is no different than downloading pirated movies, music or video games.  You are in a sense stealing our content that we work hard to create and pay to an entire team to create.

    This is flat out wrong. If you want to "Stop people from stealing your content" then make all the infomation password protected, and charge people to access it. But to say we are stealing your content because we choose to block ads is ridiculous. And who ever typed this behind the anonymous "Admin" account should be fired.

    i quite agree with this.  because the admin account just called me a pirate for reading game reviews/game content provided by 3rd party game studios  i will not be whitelisting mmorpg.  i use adblocker for youtube and some facebook crap ads.

    should mmorpg find another source of income that does not require me to disable my adblocking (as i view all adware as hazerdous and quite annoying) i would have no issue whitelisting them for its access. should they not throw out insulting comments as "you pirate our content by adblocking". 

  • saylorxisaylorxi Member UncommonPosts: 15
    Originally posted by RocSek
    Originally posted by Admin
    Originally posted by Worstluck
    I realize you guys make money from ads, however, I would not be clicking on said ads regardless so I block them for safety and just to make the page readable.  Now will I permanently have a big red bar accross the top of the page?

    It does not matter if you click the ads.  We sell ads based on impressions, not clicks/results.  So even if you don't click the ads you hurt our entire site by running a blocker.  Running adblock on a site that supports itself with advertisements is no different than downloading pirated movies, music or video games.  You are in a sense stealing our content that we work hard to create and pay to an entire team to create.

    This is flat out wrong. If you want to "Stop people from stealing your content" then make all the infomation password protected, and charge people to access it. But to say we are stealing your content because we choose to block ads is ridiculous. And who ever typed this behind the anonymous "Admin" account should be fired.

    While I completely disagree with the comment posted by the Admin, I can almost see there position as it is hard for them to change there business model to keep up with the change in consumer habits. It really comes down to a much broader morality debate that is being had with the advent of the internet. It is impossible for authors (using this in a loose sense) to charge for content on the internet as a free to pay model. A drop in revenue to a site like this means they have to change there tactics to draw consumers to support them.

    This is no different than how the music industry was reluctant to change there models from forcing users to buy compact  discs to downloading invidual songs. The authors can try to fight the consumer but like anything, when you attack someone they may end up resenting you. The model they use must change and they are doing the first step in it by asking people to turn off there ad blockers. Eventually they may require users to do this to access their content. Who knows, one day perhaps we will have preloaded cards that take transfer a few cents to the pages we access in order to keep them running. Sort of like a f2p model where each website we go to is a cash shop item and we purchase access rights.

    Either way attacking those who effectively pay there salaries is not really a good idea, but I think that they are smart enough to be dimplomatic about it in the end.

  • AdminAdmin Administrator RarePosts: 5,623
    Originally posted by RocSek
    Originally posted by Admin
    Originally posted by Worstluck
    I realize you guys make money from ads, however, I would not be clicking on said ads regardless so I block them for safety and just to make the page readable.  Now will I permanently have a big red bar accross the top of the page?

    It does not matter if you click the ads.  We sell ads based on impressions, not clicks/results.  So even if you don't click the ads you hurt our entire site by running a blocker.  Running adblock on a site that supports itself with advertisements is no different than downloading pirated movies, music or video games.  You are in a sense stealing our content that we work hard to create and pay to an entire team to create.

    This is flat out wrong. If you want to "Stop people from stealing your content" then make all the infomation password protected, and charge people to access it. But to say we are stealing your content because we choose to block ads is ridiculous. And who ever typed this behind the anonymous "Admin" account should be fired.

    The Admin account is not anonymous.  I am Craig McGregor the President/CEO of the company and the co-owner and founder of the site.  

    The trend in AdBlock is concerning for me, not just on our site here, but on the Internet as a whole.  It is a growing problem and I feel it will eventually lead to the end of the "free Internet" that we all know and love.  If sites cannot stay afloat from advertising sales they have few options left: a) start charging for access to content b) start doing really unethical tihngs like Advertorial content c) syndicate into large networks with pay access like Cable TV "packages".  Personally I like the advertising model both as a site operator and as a user of hundreds of free websites.

    - MMORPG.COM Staff -

    The dead know only one thing: it is better to be alive.

  • reb007reb007 Member UncommonPosts: 613

    I don't even pay attention to the ads.  I was using an ad blocker recently because the ads themselves weren't displaying correctly.  Other than that, the ads have never bothered me to the point where it made me want to rage quit the website.

     

    In a systems analysis class I took several years ago, MMORPG.com was used as an example of how to design a good interface (I showed MMORPG.com to my instructor because I was curious what he thought of it, and he later showed it to the class).  Regardless of the ads, it's a very well-built website.  It's attractive, good colors, easy to use, great content.  I approve of MMORPG.com, and the crazy amount of mostly-relevant ads :)

  • MikeBMikeB Community ManagerAdministrator RarePosts: 6,555
    Originally posted by gigat

    I don't even pay attention to the ads.  I was using an ad blocker recently because the ads themselves weren't displaying correctly.  Other than that, the ads have never bothered me to the point where it made me want to rage quit the website.

     

    In a systems analysis class I took several years ago, MMORPG.com was used as an example of how to design a good interface (I showed MMORPG.com to my instructor because I was curious what he thought of it, and he later showed it to the class).  Regardless of the ads, it's a very well-built website.  It's attractive, good colors, easy to use, great content.  I approve of MMORPG.com, and the crazy amount of mostly-relevant ads :)

    Wow! That's really awesome. Thanks for the kind words!

  • FrodoFraginsFrodoFragins Member EpicPosts: 5,898

    I'm only here for the forums.  I don't really care about the articles, especially considering they rarely hold MMO developers/publishers to task.  It's more of an MMO news aggregator and hype machine.

     

    I do disable the ad blocker here but it's mainly because the website is unreadable otherwise.

  • spookydomspookydom Member UncommonPosts: 1,782
    Never had a problem with the ads here. They are pretty relevant to the subject mater after all...........Once in a while I even click on one because it's about a game I may be intrested in shock horror! If you guys started advertising stuff like weight gain 3000 or haberdashers I may have a few bones of contention, but even that is a small price to pay if it keeps this place afloat.
  • RocSekRocSek Member UncommonPosts: 59
    Originally posted by Admin

    Originally posted by RocSek
    Originally posted by Admin
    Originally posted by Worstluck
    I realize you guys make money from ads, however, I would not be clicking on said ads regardless so I block them for safety and just to make the page readable.  Now will I permanently have a big red bar accross the top of the page?

    It does not matter if you click the ads.  We sell ads based on impressions, not clicks/results.  So even if you don't click the ads you hurt our entire site by running a blocker.  Running adblock on a site that supports itself with advertisements is no different than downloading pirated movies, music or video games.  You are in a sense stealing our content that we work hard to create and pay to an entire team to create.

    This is flat out wrong. If you want to "Stop people from stealing your content" then make all the infomation password protected, and charge people to access it. But to say we are stealing your content because we choose to block ads is ridiculous. And who ever typed this behind the anonymous "Admin" account should be fired.

    The Admin account is not anonymous.  I am Craig McGregor the President/CEO of the company and the co-owner and founder of the site.  

     


    Then you should be ashamed of yourself and how you represent your company. To make such a statement that calls, I would guess, a majority of your user base thieves and pirates is not a way to gain more support for this site.

    All I heard was... "Well aren't you just a little lolly pop triple dipped in psycho."

  • BillMurphyBillMurphy Former Managing EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 4,565

    I've always tended to just ignore ads.  Here, TV, Radio, magazines.  Unless it's something I actually care about, I ignore them.  I'll give that the flashy ones are harder to ignore.  But I still do.  

    Regardless, all of our content here is FREE.  The ads make sure we can support our families, pay our rent, and buy our food.  We're not asking you to click them.  Just, if you believe in the work we do, please don't block them.  

    Also, Craig is "Admin". He's the President and CEO of the site.  He started it more than ten years ago. It quickly became his full-time job.  You can read more about him and the rest of our staff here - http://www.mmorpg.com/bio.cfm

    That's literally all of us, minus the incredible core freelancers we hire for reviews and other content by the article or video.  We're not Gamespot, or IGN, or even Curse.  We don't have investor money feeding us.  It's all done in-house, and we all work remotely across the country and even the globe (for some writers).  

    Anyway, I'm rambling.   Just wanted to give you guys some feedback from a worker's point of view.  I also work full-time at a hospital. Obviously, one job definitely does a lot more "good work" for society, but I love this one far more. It's a dream job. I'd do it for free.  But then I'd probably have to sell my house and I'm not sure my wife would appreciate that.  :)

    Try to be excellent to everyone you meet. You never know what someone else has seen or endured.

    My Review Manifesto
    Follow me on Twitter if you dare.

  • BurntvetBurntvet Member RarePosts: 3,465
    Originally posted by FrodoFragins

    I'm only here for the forums.  I don't really care about the articles, especially considering they rarely hold MMO developers/publishers to task.  It's more of an MMO news aggregator and hype machine.

     

    I do disable the ad blocker here but it's mainly because the website is unreadable otherwise.

    Same.

    And for largely the same reasons: the writers on this site hype up every game, and largely ignore the shortcomings most of these games, especially those released last 5 years.

    It is not an accident, that if you go and look at the official review scores on this site, with one exception that I saw, the official review score is/was higher than the player review score for "major" mmo titles (F2P clone crap, who cares.). BY an approximate average of .6-.7 or so. That is not a small bump.

    Almost every single one.

    That is not an accident, its policy.

     

    With such an abject lack of objectivity, the reviews are utterly worthless to me at this site.

    And the "features" and "previews" and "inside looks" and all the rest of that stuff, are the hyped up crap, that I mentioned before. So likewise, worthless.

     

    The forums are the only thing of use here.

     

  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • reb007reb007 Member UncommonPosts: 613
    Originally posted by MikeB
    Originally posted by gigat

    I don't even pay attention to the ads.  I was using an ad blocker recently because the ads themselves weren't displaying correctly.  Other than that, the ads have never bothered me to the point where it made me want to rage quit the website.

     

    In a systems analysis class I took several years ago, MMORPG.com was used as an example of how to design a good interface (I showed MMORPG.com to my instructor because I was curious what he thought of it, and he later showed it to the class).  Regardless of the ads, it's a very well-built website.  It's attractive, good colors, easy to use, great content.  I approve of MMORPG.com, and the crazy amount of mostly-relevant ads :)

    Wow! That's really awesome. Thanks for the kind words!

    You guys do a great job of making the content accessible.  There's always room for improvement though.  The basic layout and functionallity is great, but the site could use some new artwork.  Specifically the main navigation bar could use an update.  Something like RTSguru.com, but with the MMORPG.com colors.

     

    Oh and the mobile version of MMORPG.com needs an update.  At the very least you gotta put the recent forum post tracker on there ;)

This discussion has been closed.