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Sonic Retro Fundraiser 2011

Discussion in 'Announcements' started by Scarred Sun, Sep 30, 2011.

  1. Scarred Sun

    Scarred Sun

    Be who you needed when you were younger Administrator
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    Look, here at Sonic Retro, we can't all be cool guys. Other members of the staff pal around and have fun and do cool things, because they're cool guys. This is not to say that I'm not cool—from getting in big gay fights with the Westboro Baptist Church to popping wheelies on a motorbike, I've had my share of misadventures. I'm fun to go drinking with. Really guys. Really. However...

    As the head of Retro, I have to be the boring Lane Pryce of this operation, and that involves doing all the coding, troubleshooting, support e-mailing, peace-keeping and book-keeping for the site.

    Because those things aren't fun, we only bring this up once a year: we are a fully member-supported site. We rely on your donations in order to continue bringing you news, making cool features and being all-around badasses. Running a site this large runs up a lot of charges, from the electricity powering our server and our licenses to the ability to go get things no one else will, For example, we've been working on getting various Mega Drive games that still haven't been dumped from around the world and will be releasing those in a pack later in the year. You guys have felt the annoyance of us running on a shoestring budget: we had to cut our music service because of our outgoing bandwidth metering. We're looking to raise enough money to bring those MP3s back, among many other things. Although everyone on staff volunteers their time for Sonic Retro, we can only do what our resources allow us to do.

    We choose a donation model over advertising or other revenue streams not only because those things are annoying, but because this is the point of Retro: we're all in this together. I'm an old codger of the Sonic scene and I remember well the time when it was cool to be a jerk and when people who didn't like what you liked were to be shunned. We're somewhat famous because we actually let people yell at each other and get upset, because they're going to do it anyway and it helps reach a healthier consensus. The dozen annoying guys in the Generations thread and the hackers and the researchers and artists and musicians and guys who write apologetics for Big the Cat (hi, David!) are all under the Retro banner because, at the end of the day, it's Sonic that draws us all together. We can disagree about various things (and outside people can latch on to our shout down of one person about "green eyes" and turn that into some dumb attack), but we're all here striving to make change in a way that no other video game community does. Other places bitch; we correct. We do. We help out. It only makes sense that we'd also pitch in together to keep this thing going.

    We're doing some new things this year: while we have things to mail to our top donors, we're also going to be giving all our donors a shoutout at the beginning of every month and are allowing for causes and services to donate for recognition. To get the lowdown on everything, please visit http://www.sonicretro.org/donate. Thanks for your time, and we hope to see you on the donor list. And just so you don't feel like you're going out of this post empty-handed:

    [​IMG]

    Yup.​
     
  2. PsychoSk8r

    PsychoSk8r

    PsychedelAnt | Tone Turner Oldbie
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    30 Day Project: Revisited.A New Release!
    I'm currently screwed for money for the duration of october, every penny is accounted for already, what with the Sonic Retro UK Piss-up at the end of the month, and Generation's collectors edition at the start of the next. November's a different story though, should easily have enough spare and I'll gladly send it your way. =P
     
  3. Selbi

    Selbi

    The Euphonic Mess Member
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    I might be able to donate $5 as a one time donation, but that amount of money feels so embarrassing to donate, that I'm probably not going to do it. :/
     
  4. GeneHF

    GeneHF

    SEGA-ier than you'll potentially ever be. Site Staff
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    $5 is better than $0. That's one way to think of it.
     
  5. I donated last time around, and will be donating again this time. I may not be that much of an active member, but I enjoy reading the many technical topics here. Next time I get paid, expect a donation anywhere between £10-£30. (Variable due to lack of stable income).
     
  6. Scarred Sun

    Scarred Sun

    Be who you needed when you were younger Administrator
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    Welp, this.
    Sorry, I didn't see that had happened (or, for that matter, that I clicked delete instead of quote—need to fix that to get a better check on that.)
     
  7. SteelBrush

    SteelBrush

    603e Member
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    Tramadol, Tamazepam and finding a reason to exist.
    I have one suggestion. I would prefer to make a monthly donation in my own native currency. If I were to donate $5 dollars a month the amount being taken from my bank account would fluctuate each time, where as if it was £5 the amount would be constant. I'm aware that it may only be a difference of cents but I think it would be more convenient for non US donators.
     
  8. Scarred Sun

    Scarred Sun

    Be who you needed when you were younger Administrator
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    Yeah, I can probably write something that will do that—I'll just need a little bit of time.
     
  9. Flygon

    Flygon

    Member
    I don't even get paid at all until the 7th of this month. Is that alright?
     
  10. Lobotomy

    Lobotomy

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    Tell me why I should donate when I still didn't get my damn pins from last year. Where are my pins SS.

    ?_?





    But yeah, I'm gonna donate. :v:
     
  11. Glitch

    Glitch

    Tech Member
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    Hah. It's good to know that I wasn't the only one having an off-day :). Thanks for fixing...*subscribed*
     
  12. This is my first post (I've been allowed to post for a while but haven't really had anything too interesting to say yet ^_^) and I'll definitely donate. In part because I've just had my student loan through, but mostly because I love this place.
     
  13. Infiniti

    Infiniti

    ↑ & ↓ & ↻ Member
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    Ok I just worked out my money for October, and I'd be more then happy to donate $50 (or more). 32 quid ain't gonna bankrupt me. Your gonna have to wait until the 14th though...
     
  14. Mercury

    Mercury

    His Name Is Sonic Tech Member
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    In addition to always being strapped for cash, other (extremely stupid) circumstances have always prevented me from donating.

    That will all change later this year, thankfully. I can't promise anything but I'd love to finally make a sizable donation.

    I'm only sad that I won't get a "best member ever" achievement icon since those seem to be gone ever since the move to the new forum version... :v:
     
  15. Lyrica

    Lyrica

    (Formerly: Donnyku) Oldbie
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    I also intend to donate, but would it be okay if we did the one time donation each month instead of subscribing? I hate having money taken out of my bank account without me knowing/remembering about it as it happens :E
     
  16. Guess Who

    Guess Who

    It's a miracle! Oldbie
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    lol
    Sent $50 and a $5/month subscription. Hope it helps.
     
  17. Scarred Sun

    Scarred Sun

    Be who you needed when you were younger Administrator
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    Welp, this.
    That should be fine—people usually just prefer the subscription thing for that exact not needing to remember thing.

    Also if you are owed pins and haven't received them, drop me a line—granted, I don't have a ton left thanks to E3 but I should have about two dozen still available.
     
  18. Flygon

    Flygon

    Member
    Do we do it via email?
     
  19. Selbi

    Selbi

    The Euphonic Mess Member
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    Isn't the actual problem that pins don't exist at all? Unless you are not talking about those achievements that used to be below each member's post; I kinda miss them and it would encourage me to actually donate something. Without them, it's a little meh (S2HD Staff, Winner of Hacking Contest Trophy XY, etc.).
     
  20. nineko

    nineko

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