Ways to support LoversLab and keep this site up??

[Vel W]

Hey, 

 

As an average user/enjoyer, I'm creating this thread to discuss whether there are ways for any of us to help keeping the site up and running smoothly.

 

Some of you may notice that this site has become sort of slow lately. Being someone who worked in web application development, I suspect it may have something to do with the site being unable to meet its previous financial maintenance costs. And it has had to downgrade the server. That's why we're now having a slower LoversLab. It certainly has gotten slow enough to have me worried.

 

I can't speak for you, but this site has helped me in more ways than one since I started modding Skyrim and now Fallout 4. I imagine you people also have your own favorite games to mod, and your own reasons for being here.

 

Thing is, if nobody supports this site somehow, none of us will get to enjoy it very long, if it were to go down one day.

 

One thing I can think of is to turn off the Ad Blocker app on the browser. I keep it up for most sites, but this would definitely be one of those places where I make an exception. It's a free thing to do, and at least the ad providers can continue providing.

 

What do you think? Are there ways that you know of or would like to propose so that all of us here can do our little part to support the site??

[HexBolt8]

Well, there is that Help Support LoversLab link at the bottom of each page.  A few dollars a month won't break most budgets, and it's a good value if you consider how much content the site offers.

[ugrena]

1 minute ago, HexBolt8 said:

Well, there is that Help Support LoversLab link at the bottom of each page.  A few dollars a month won't break most budgets.

OH dear god, I'm blind, lmao. Thank you for this.

[Guest]

I'll think about it.

[HalcyonAndOn]

Ads don't do squat for a site's revenue unless you're clicking on them (unless things have somehow changed in that regard). Also the site has ups and downs in connectivity, always has (though not as severe as the past 24 hours, in my memory anyway). Think about the time of year, combined with the current state of affairs in many parts of the world. Not surprised it's getting overwhelmed. May just be a layman's take on it, but this is the worst I've seen the site in as far as connectivity. But it still comes back. Don't stress too much, but definitely look at tossing them a coin if you also enjoy what is being hosted here.

[tirem12]

After the recent banning of ColonolNutty, with zero evidence presented, no code snippets, etc., I'm expecting the site to die within a year anyways. How long until SexLab, RimJobWorld, Sexout, KinkyWorld etc all get removed for the same real reasons his work did? I.e., not "stealing code" because that was nonsense, but because they are inclusive and have nonconsent content? I know I canceled my LoversLab Patreon over the ColonelNutty affair, I'd expect a lot more to follow. I'm not paying for a free distribution platform for WickedWhims-I used Devious Desires bc I didn't want to support money going to a millionaire who exploited the free nature of this site to make his riches and then paywalled crap.

The site isn't dying, it's committing suicide.

[Ashal]

7 hours ago, tirem12 said:

After the recent banning of ColonolNutty, with zero evidence presented, no code snippets, etc., I'm expecting the site to die within a year anyways. How long until SexLab, RimJobWorld, Sexout, KinkyWorld etc all get removed for the same real reasons his work did? I.e., not "stealing code" because that was nonsense, but because they are inclusive and have nonconsent content? I know I canceled my LoversLab Patreon over the ColonelNutty affair, I'd expect a lot more to follow. I'm not paying for a free distribution platform for WickedWhims-I used Devious Desires bc I didn't want to support money going to a millionaire who exploited the free nature of this site to make his riches and then paywalled crap.

You know absolutely nothing. Just because no code snippets were made public doesn't mean there wasn't any. I have no responsibility to provide said code snippets either, it's not my place to publish another mods decompiled code. The evidence was provided to me, I verified it on my own, a punishment was decided on as a result.

 

I was given MANY code samples from the original author with comparisons between their code and CNs, the evidence was heavily damning. Whether you want to believe me or not is your own call, I don't care. Not to mention it was a 2nd offense, and CN openly admitted to copying code on the 1st offense after he was warned about it. Hell, from what I hear he's even openly admitting to stealing code in this case to, just trying to claim it was fair use under the other mod's license, which it wasn't.

[Vel W]

Gotta say, I did not expect Ashal the man himself to grace this thread of mine.

 

It seems there was an incident I am not aware of. But it also seems it has been taken care of, somehow?? I just want to say you folks are doing great work here and I'm having great time browsing this site. So, thank you. I~~~hope all of us here get through this hectic and difficult time safely.  

[La Nitro]

On 1/2/2021 at 10:30 PM, HexBolt8 said:

Well, there is that Help Support LoversLab link at the bottom of each page.  A few dollars a month won't break most budgets, and it's a good value if you consider how much content the site offers.

After looking at it, this site rakes in about $1200 a month from Patreon. I have no clue how much it costs to keep the site up per month, but that alone sounds like it should cover most of the expenses.

[Ashal]

5 hours ago, Milkjetstream said:

After looking at it, this site rakes in about $1200 a month from Patreon. I have no clue how much it costs to keep the site up per month, but that alone sounds like it should cover most of the expenses.

Cause I'm not a human being who has to pay rent, health insurance, or other bills while running this site as my fulltime job?

 

Monthly costs for the site are around $1400 for the record. But I do, in fact, also have to live and survive by buying food and stuff and other such things to continue living.

 

Without getting to specific, here is a rough estimate for running the site each month:

• Web Server 1: $250
• Web Server 2: $250
• Database Server: $300
• Transactional Email Provider: $325
• Elastic Search Servers: $210
• S3 Server backups: $30
• Total: ~$1335

 

Ads on the site do in fact make up the difference between cost and what the site brings in from Patreon. But it's not exuberant by any means. Point being, the Patreon helps, a lot. 

[Psalam]

5 hours ago, Milkjetstream said:

After looking at it, this site rakes in about $1200 a month from Patreon. I have no clue how much it costs to keep the site up per month, but that alone sounds like it should cover most of the expenses.

I'm no economist but 12 months x $1200 per month is $14400 per year. The 2020 US Federal Poverty Level for a couple is $16910. If I were Ashal I would not think that this was anything like sufficient to cover my expenses.

[Tlam99]

Running a site, keep it clean..I don't want to do this.

I like to use this site and even Ashal becomes a millionaire it would not make me jealous.

 

 

[La Nitro]

3 hours ago, Ashal said:

Cause I'm not a human being who has to pay rent, health insurance, or other bills while running this site as my fulltime job?

 

 

Judging by your profile pic, I thought you were a passive-aggressive pickle man.

[Ashal]

44 minutes ago, Milkjetstream said:

 

Judging by your profile pic, I thought you were a passive-aggressive pickle man.

Exxxccccuuuuuusssssseeee me? I'm a passive-aggressive cactus man, I'll have you know. The character is clearly a Cactar, and I demands answers.

[Psalam]

33 minutes ago, Milkjetstream said:

 

Judging by your profile pic, I thought you were a passive-aggressive pickle man.

You know, it is always easy to pick on others but some people, like me, have no interest in seeing/hearing this. Beside the simple lack of courtesy involved here and apparent lack of empathy you are also in violation of a number of site rules.

 

#1:

Spoiler

The biggest and most important thing of this community is that the modders come first. They are the ones who make this community worth coming to, they are the ones enabling you to even play these mods.  Meaning if you don't like the way a mod is going, don't be a jerk about it, they can take the mod in whatever direction they want. Don't like it? Then make your own release and put the work in yourself. Find a bug or issue that needs to be fixed? Don't be a jerk about it and raise your concerns and feedback in a constructive manner.

Please remember that besides being the site administrator, Ashal is one of the modders. None of my mods, for instance, could be done without the work that he did first.

 

#2:

Spoiler

Don't be a jerk. Seriously, does this really need to be said?

Is all of what you have been saying really necessary?

 

#8:

Spoiler

1. Bickering, drama queens, or publicly calling out a fellow forum member will not be tolerated. Posts/threads perpetrating any sort of attack or drama will be removed on sight and warnings given to involved parties. This is a forum for helping each other build and mod, leave the drama at the door.
    

Finally, what you have been saying runs quite contrary to the stated purpose of the OP. Sure, you've managed to get someone upset (me, at least) but the point of rule #8 is to try to avoid that sort of thing. In what way have your comments been about helping people?

 

Normally, I would have simply notified a moderator and made these points in private. However, in order to make it clear that I am the person, not Ashal, who takes umbrage at your remarks and in the hope that you appreciate this site enough that you might be prepared to play a more constructive role in the future I have decided to post this here.

[gregathit]

Notice how Ashal just listed the monthly digital costs.  I'd bet that you can add at least half again of that for all the hardware and some of the software.  Server hard drives get worn out (and don't forget have to be added as more content comes in) and so on.  Not to mention that THE MAN had to dig in his pocket many times to meet these costs due to unforeseen circumstances or lulls in giving/advertising.

 

Next time, have some idea of what you are talking about before you start slinging mud.  Just friendly advice.

[27X]

7 minutes ago, gregathit said:

have some idea of what you are talking about before you start slinging mud

I DO WHAT I WANT

 

 

[gregathit]

8 minutes ago, 27X said:

I DO WHAT I WANT

?

[MonVert]

23 hours ago, Milkjetstream said:

pickle man

 

Cannot un-see.... At least that makes him delicious. ?

[firepunch1]

As it appears that some posters in this thread seem to have been unaware that there even was a patreon despite browsing the site themselves you could maybe consider making the link slightly more prominent, it's especially easy to miss for newer users who've never seen Ashal's posts and signature, as the only other way that I know of is the tiny link at the bottom of the page.

 

I doubt anyone would take issue with it having a dedicated button or something as long as it's not a pop-up with flashing colors and promises of extra RAM, if you'll excuse my MS Paint mockup I think something like this would ensure more people were aware without it being intrusive:

 

 

 

 

Then again that's just a suggestion from someone who doesn't run a site.

[Psalam]

52 minutes ago, firepunch1 said:

As it appears that some posters in this thread seem to have been unaware that there even was a patreon despite browsing the site themselves you could maybe consider making the link slightly more prominent, it's especially easy to miss for newer users who've never seen Ashal's posts and signature, as the only other way that I know of is the tiny link at the bottom of the page.

 

I doubt anyone would take issue with it having a dedicated button or something as long as it's not a pop-up with flashing colors and promises of extra RAM, if you'll excuse my MS Paint mockup I think something like this would ensure more people were aware without it being intrusive:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

 

Then again that's just a suggestion from someone who doesn't run a site.

Since I am always willing to "blow my own horn," let me point out that anyone who actually read my Navigating LoversLab blog would have seen:

 

Spoiler

The red rectangle with curved corners on the right says "Help Support LoversLab." If you click this you will find yourself on Patreon. You can then, if you so choose, make a donation to support the site. Two things you should know about this before I drop it. One, this is the ONLY method to financially support LoversLab. While the issue is often raised in threads I have seen no movement towards making another pathway available. Two, this is the only way to get rid of the ads on LL. You may have wondered why my screenshots are blessedly empty of the ads you see on your screen. It is because I am a supporter. If you want to get rid of them too - sign up now!

 

which can be found here:

 

 

or here

 

where it has been pinned. As is often the case here on LL, the information is there, you just need to look for it.

 

[firepunch1]

43 minutes ago, Psalam said:

The red rectangle with curved corners on the right says "Help Support LoversLab." If you click this you will find yourself on Patreon. You can then, if you so choose, make a donation to support the site. Two things you should know about this before I drop it. One, this is the ONLY method to financially support LoversLab. While the issue is often raised in threads I have seen no movement towards making another pathway available. Two, this is the only way to get rid of the ads on LL. You may have wondered why my screenshots are blessedly empty of the ads you see on your screen. It is because I am a supporter. If you want to get rid of them too - sign up now!

Yeah, that's the link I mentioned here:

1 hour ago, firepunch1 said:

as the only other way that I know of is the tiny link at the bottom of the page.

 

Your blog is informative, but it doesn't fix the issue of visibilty itself which is demonstrated by posters missing the link further up this very thead, hence my earlier suggestion.

[sshar22]

yup, i'd recommend moving "View Community Rules" and "Help Support LoversLab" at the top of the page frames instead of the bottom

 

Cheers

[Mehmeme]

2 hours ago, firepunch1 said:

As it appears that some posters in this thread seem to have been unaware that there even was a patreon despite browsing the site themselves you could maybe consider making the link slightly more prominent, it's especially easy to miss for newer users who've never seen Ashal's posts and signature, as the only other way that I know of is the tiny link at the bottom of the page.

 

I doubt anyone would take issue with it having a dedicated button or something as long as it's not a pop-up with flashing colors and promises of extra RAM, if you'll excuse my MS Paint mockup I think something like this would ensure more people were aware without it being intrusive:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

 

Then again that's just a suggestion from someone who doesn't run a site.

Spoiler

 

But seriously, it took me a few years to notice there was a patreon, I'd put it somewhere a bit more visible too.

[La Nitro]

On 1/6/2021 at 11:31 AM, Psalam said:

You know, it is always easy to pick on others but some people, like me, have no interest in seeing/hearing this. Beside the simple lack of courtesy involved here and apparent lack of empathy you are also in violation of a number of site rules.

 

#1:

  Reveal hidden contents

The biggest and most important thing of this community is that the modders come first. They are the ones who make this community worth coming to, they are the ones enabling you to even play these mods.  Meaning if you don't like the way a mod is going, don't be a jerk about it, they can take the mod in whatever direction they want. Don't like it? Then make your own release and put the work in yourself. Find a bug or issue that needs to be fixed? Don't be a jerk about it and raise your concerns and feedback in a constructive manner.

Please remember that besides being the site administrator, Ashal is one of the modders. None of my mods, for instance, could be done without the work that he did first.

 

#2:

  Reveal hidden contents

Don't be a jerk. Seriously, does this really need to be said?

Is all of what you have been saying really necessary?

 

#8:

  Reveal hidden contents

1. Bickering, drama queens, or publicly calling out a fellow forum member will not be tolerated. Posts/threads perpetrating any sort of attack or drama will be removed on sight and warnings given to involved parties. This is a forum for helping each other build and mod, leave the drama at the door.
    

Finally, what you have been saying runs quite contrary to the stated purpose of the OP. Sure, you've managed to get someone upset (me, at least) but the point of rule #8 is to try to avoid that sort of thing. In what way have your comments been about helping people?

 

Normally, I would have simply notified a moderator and made these points in private. However, in order to make it clear that I am the person, not Ashal, who takes umbrage at your remarks and in the hope that you appreciate this site enough that you might be prepared to play a more constructive role in the future I have decided to post this here.

 

Save your breath for someone else. Moderator or not, I'm going to speak my mind to whoever.