THE PLEA FOR MONEY - ARE THEY TAKING IT TOO FAR?
The money situation on some web sites have began to get out of control. Many have made a desperate plea to their visitors to donate charitably, or click on their banners. Excuses for this have included lack of money for hosting, and low finances for equipment and supplies. Personally I think that the true meaning of starting a website has been forgotten. Before you decide to stop reading or anything, I’ll just say that this isn’t going to be one of those boring things talking about how we have forgot the religious meaning, or ethical terms of web page creation, so just get into a comfortable position, and read on.
Planet Namek, and Dragonball 3k are just the first of no doubt many sites who will abuse an amazon.com service that allows anyone to donate money. The more charitable people among everyone will give generously, and even help the sites prosper, with them being able to afford their required equipment and hosting. This is all very fine and well, but why do these larger sites see the need for other people to pay for their running costs?
Admittedly, it is true that sites like Planet Namek cost an awful lot of money to run, and it’s not surprising they need help, but surely they could have just found a better advertiser to go on their site, or if the worst came to the worst, demote their hosting program a little, as it seems as though they have a ridiculously good, and therefore expensive one. If hosting costs so much, then would it be so much hassle to find a new one? I believe that they should at least try, as there are a good load of sites who would be happy to host Planet Namek without hesitation.
Don’t get me wrong, I know how good a site the good old PN is, heck, I visit it every single day, and I love their informative content and daily news, but they shouldn’t expect fans to pay for the running of their site. I suppose you could forgive them though, with a little thought, as getting people to donate money to them would be the easiest way out, and the most cost-effective. I give credit where it’s due, and I give it to Planet Namek, for finding this service, and utilizing it to its full extent. No, I’m not completely contradicting myself here, I do have a reasoning for changing my mind slightly. PN deserves to be at the top, there’s very little controversy or doubt at that, but if they continue this donation thing much longer, it’ll ruin it for the other sites who want to use it, and no one will pay any money towards them. I would far prefer them to pay for the running of their own site, but if needs be, fans can contribute small amounts, as long as they have it to spare, and aren’t planning on doing it frequently.
The thing that I really despise about Planet Namek’s new economy increase is the way in which they want people to pay for their DVDs. This is what got me so annoyed in the first place, and made me accuse them of laziness and arrogance without thinking, when talking of hosting costs. That is understandable, maybe not a good solution to the problem, but still understandable, whereas paying for their DVDs is ludicrous. They are a privilege that DBZ fans buy for pure enjoyment in watching them, and should not be paid for by other people. The reviews that Planet Namek give are hardly worthy of us paying our hard-earned cash to buy them the stuff. To my recollection, the DVDs cost a mere $15-$25, which is easily affordable by the people at PN. Maybe they would have to cut back on the number they buy, but so does every other site. It really isn’t on that they are trying to salvage money for gullible fans of the site, to pay for their entertainment.
Websites are supposed to be made for fun, but it seems that Mr E. has forgotten that, becoming a little greedy. My proposal is this – He keeps the plea up, I can bare that, but he uses the revenue of it to pay for hosting, and maybe Daizenshuu’s to scan, but no more, as it would obviously be very beneficial towards him, and not the fans. I don’t think that Mr. E and co. shouldn’t use the money that PN generates to pay for equipment, I’m just saying that they shouldn’t get the fans to pay for it. The other sites use advertising banners, which I know PN has, no I see no reason why they can’t use those for supplies.
Either way, the best DVD reviews are at Daizenshuu Ex, who haven’t yet asked the fans for money, but rather to click on banners, which is definitely acceptable, if not inevitable for all sites.
In conclusion, I would just like to say that Planet Namek shouldn’t abuse the Amazon service and make fans pay for their enjoyment in buying DVDs, and other merchandise, but rather the cost of the running of the site. Really they should get their leisure money from banners and advertising revenues.
Dragonball 3k are an excellent example of this, because as far as I know, they aren’t using the money to pay for things that they want, but rather to pay for their host. Whilst this is more ethical, they are getting far less support, so I ask everyone who is donating to request to Mr. E that your money isn’t squandered on merchandise for him, but rather on the host for the site, so that it continues running.
Thank you for taking the time to read my opinion. I would like to point out that I don’t have anything against Planet Namek, and I think they are easily the best site out in terms of content, news, etc (Not my personal favourite, but I got to face facts). I hope that Planet Namek do manage to raise the money required to run their site, and the same goes to DB3k.