A message from ezboard

[ezjeff]

I'm sure many of you are aware of what is happening in the internet world these days. Without additional revenue, ezboard will simply not exist in six months. We have gone from 40 employees in September to 15 now. In that time our user base, and server and bandwidth costs have more than doubled. Also during that time, the amount that advertisers pay for running banner ads has dropped from about $2 CPM to about ten cents. What it boils down to is pretty dire circumstances for a lot of companies, including ezboard.

The internet consists of "the three C's": Commerce, Content, and Community. ezboard is a big player in the Community space, and we think that what we do is important. I personally think that an internet without a vibrant community experience would be a dry and boring place.

So I'm posting on some of our bigger, boards to encourage you all to become CSC members. To learn more about becoming a Community Supporter visit this link: www.ezboard.com/promotions/csc.html (http://www.ezboard.com/promotions/csc.html)

Let's keep this space alive. ezboard needs your support now! Not next month or next year. Please do what you can.

[ezjeff]

Any feedback, positive or negative is welcome.

[Hart Kenobi]

I can't say you took us by surprise, but I really hope that the worst case scenerio doesn't occur.

[Leeloo Mina]

Damn..

[Anakis Moreven]

It was just getting fun too...I'm gonna miss RPGing with everyone...

[Aura Munroe]

This sucks...

I'm in England, and I don't have a credit card... I can't just mail money to the US!..

Psh. Sucks.

[ReaperFett]

if ezboard goes under, the entire community aspect of the internet will take a hammering

[Jedi Master Kyle]

Can't let this happen! Where the hell else are we gonna talk star wars???? I just applied for a credit card. Hurry up dammit!

[GuardPiett]

Hmm, I was wondering. Whats the difference between an 'Admin' community supporter and a plain old community supporter, costs set aside?

[Darth Turbogeek]

www.coruscantcity.net if you want to talk Star Wars.

Remove sig
For Great bandwidth.

Sorry. I promisenever to say such a bad joke again

[Dyne Darkforce]

@#%$.

[ezjeff]

Right now, the only difference between a $15 and $7 supporter is the color of the icon. Starting very soon (next week I think), admins will be able to designate a board that they want to receive CSC benefits. Those boards will be immune from the pop-up ads and other very ugly ads that we will start serving in the next week or so. In other words, if a board has a CSC admin, it will still have the small banner ads we currently serve, but it will not have the very hideous ads we will begin to serve soon. Does that help GuardPiett?

Right now, subscription numbers are not meeting expectations, so we need folks to step up soon, or things will get ugly. Instead of sitting around and moaning about losing your boards, you should be signing up for CSC membership and rallying some other users to do the same. Some leadership from you folks could mean the difference between success and failure for all of ezboard.

[Darth Turbogeek]

But jeff, I cant join by the looks of it. No credit card and I'm not American. Does that mean I have no choice? What's my alternative?

The other problem I see is that for your basic CSC is $30US, right? That sounds okay, right? Well, for me that equals $70 AUD. Factor in conversion fees, trans fees and I am looking at $75.00 AUD for what I think are the basic services. If I want admin, that is what $99 USD? $220.00 AUD? I might be on good money here, but I baulk at that.

Even at $15 USD ($40 AUD) for features I wonder if that's worth it. Probably is, but then again, if there are no alternative payment methods, I cant, can I?

[Eminy Xaviery]

Is there a way to pay more than $15? A friend really wants to help out.

[Ogre Mal Pannis]

From what I saw and did the General CSC User option was 7$ US for six moths while the Admin option for the same duration was 15$ Us. It looked as if they had several options for method of payment.

I suppose I'm lucky bein in the US and I do enjoy Ezboard's product so I forked over for the Admin option, to help show my support. :)

[ReaperFett]

its around $7-£16 I think for me. But I doubt I would be able to pay in US fees

[rangersfan]

Perhaps it is time to move this forum to it's own server before ezboard goes under? vbulletin.com can import all of your posts but the user's would have to register.

[YadsLH 2]

It would be a big commitment. The software's about $200; the webspace required would be substantial, and it's a real chore to bother installing and upgrading to vb if ezboard is still (seemingly) well afloat.