If you wish to donate to the ongoing costs of operating the Raven Mythic and Radio Free Norrath web sites, simply click the donation links on the main page of either site. You'll see a familiar button that will take you to PayPal, where you can either use your PayPal account, or a credit/debit card to make a donation.
Why the Raven is Taking Donations:
Well, after a lot of soul searching (and a good number of people recommending I do so), I've finally decided to add a donation button to the Raven Mythic and Radio Free Norrath sites. The Raven's been a labor of love for me, a personal project, and something I've never had a problem spending my own money on. However, there is a limit to just how much I can afford to spend right now. I have a new house, and a new car, and all of the expenses that go with it. Neither of those were really something I did by choice, but circumstance forced me into.
Over the lifetime of the RM, and RFN, and including RFN back in EQ1, guild sites, and donations to other players in need, I suspect that I have spent, well, a lot. And, technology-wise, we're doing OK right now. But, I am in place where I'm forced to admit that if people want to donate, I'd be stupid not to take the money.
Here's a breakdown of what I'll be spending any donations on:
Ongoing Costs:
- Rough $50 a month gets spent on buying new music that then is made available for all of the DJ's to use.
- Maintenance and upgrades on the three primary RM/RFN servers comes to about $150. That doesn't get spent every month regularly, but there's bursts of spending, like software licenses for the ShoutBox, new power supplies, new hard drives, etc.
Projected Ongoing Costs:
- At some point I would like to move RFN to a 50-100 user server. This means leasing space on one of the commercial streaming server sites, adding a new monthly bill.
- Depending on my job status, the Raven may need to be relocated to another hosting source. This will mean a monthly fee that is determined by bandwidth. I doubt I'll get as sweet a deal as I have now.
- Eventually, I'd like to get a server powerful enough to replace all three current servers. Some big multi-core, muiti-terrabyte, 16 gig of memory monster server. That's going to cost plenty, but will be needed if I'm going to ever have to move the Raven, which seems inevitable.
I'm really not thrilled with the idea of asking for money on a game site. On the flip side, I do think the Raven offers a lot of services to the community, and I guess it's not too trashy of me to shill for a little money. Obviously, I'm not expecting anyone to do anything, and I won't know who is donating anyway. If you wish to take credit for a donation, please let me know. And, as always, I thank you for the tremendous community you have all helped to create.
