1FF up for sale? [Latest Developments]

[NorfolkWomble]

Why don't you ask your momma & Papa if you can buy TB's share?

Sadly the pretty much universal thing called the student loan won't pay for that.

I'd rather the site is burnt to the ground than Mordon own it.

Then you'd have literally no friends to talk to and die alone.

 

[Martino Quackavelli]

Wow, that was uncalled for.

I'd like to veto the 'Mordon's mummy and daddy buy the forum for him' proposal, on the grounds of Mordon being a massive cunt. Good-day.

 

[NorfolkWomble]

Wow, that was uncalled for.

I'd like to veto the 'Mordon's mummy and daddy buy the forum for him' proposal, on the grounds of Mordon being a massive cunt. Good-day.

I've never actually proposed this, either way I've got much better things to spend my parents money on, thanks Ian xx

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

I'm not sure many people are arguing against making money out of this, fair play to them for it, they've put the hours in and made something of it. I have an issue with the devious way of getting people to donate money to "help with the upkeep of the site" when it's making more than enough to keep this place running for years through advertising. They don't need those £5s but they've made it sound like they do.

If they had been up front and people still paid, that's fair enough. Doing it as they have, I don't like.

Last contribution to this thread from me but I think this is the crux of it really. I've posted on a fair few forums and TFF and its successor are the only ones which have had a premium membership model, so it's far from typical (the others have relied on advertising or occasional requests for donations in order to meet running costs). I do appreciate the work that goes into this place and I don't want want to believe the worst in people but taking money from members when it's not actually necessary to keep the site afloat (the only rationale for running with this kind of model) seems fundamentally dishonest - it's this, coupled with the lack of transparency, that makes it difficult for me to take Admin at face value.

 

[Abertawe]

They never asked for contributions on the specific premise it was required to keep the site afloat.

 

[TractorBoys]

I'm happy to accept people have differing opinions, and as a result, yesterday the following change for account upgrade descriptions was put in place to make things crystal clear, leaving no room for ambiguity, and to bring the matter to a close. The following is what you pay for, should you decide to;

Supporter
Browse 1FF completely advert free resulting in faster page loads and no annoying advertisements. Also have your username appear blue, be shown publicly as a site supporter and get granted access to the 'Supporters End' which is a private section for premium members only.

FYI- Paid memberships on forums is common practice, in all types of niche & industry. Hence why pretty much all forum software's now have subscription upgrade & payment functionality built in. Suggesting it's far from typical is just wrong, I'm sorry to be blunt. Either way, it's not really the point. They are entirely optional and if you don't agree with the premise of them, don't utilise the offer.

Cheers,
TB

 

[Pilgrim Meister]

Okay, I understand that Tractor Boys wants out and should be rewarded for the hard work he puts in.

I would like to query the supporter upgrade though. I put a meagre £5 a year to go ad free and it's good value for money. However there's an option to pay more and I'd guess that a fair few have done just that in the belief that they're helping to finance the forum. In reality, the advertising income would appear to render that unnecessary.

I'd welcome admin's comments.

Also, is there anyone in a position to take over Tractor Boy's technical role?

I have the skills set to do it IT wise but due to other commitments I would not take an active role in moderator activities. Also as it's a time consuming role I would want time compensated.

In reality a new owner would have a tethnical team behind the scenes who would handle back end tasks and get paid for it out of the revenue.

So no I won't be applying or registering my interest if it arises.

 

[Murphy]

So no I won't be applying or registering my interest if it arises.

Thank you for answering a question that no one asked of you.

 

[epic73]

TB is leaving?

 

[Leo]

TB is leaving?

Read the thread Epic.....it kinda gives you an inkling mate....

 

[Richard Cranium]

TB is leaving?

Check the thread

 

[Martino Quackavelli]

You better check the thread before you wreck the thread.

 

[Benito]

But were will Benito lurk and occasionally post in future Ive still got Jew jokes that Ive been saving

but yeah what happened to all admin of TFF did they ever make another forum or did they finally get a life ?

I signed up to TFF in 2005 FFS.

 

[smat]

But were will Benito lurk and occasionally post in future Ive still got Jew jokes that Ive been saving

but yeah what happened to all admin of TFF did they ever make another forum or did they finally get a life ?

I signed up to TFF in 2005 FFS.

TomF shot himself in his server room during his final days. Villaboy was captured and executed shortly afterwards.

Pagnell made it to Argentina and is now all "I was only following orders."

Just kidding, although I do hope that TomF and Villaboy are actually dead.

 

[Abertawe]

I'm offended

 

[G-Dragon]

 

[Hurrikeen]

Out of curiosity, are us members still being advised that 100% of our "donations" are being reinvested into the site to ensure its continuous improvement?

It was only last year we were told that server costs were ever increasing, yet according to the sales pitch on Flippa costs have been a steady $80 a month since Oct-15, yet profit has continually raked in?

 

[TractorBoys]

Sunday response covered it;

I'm happy to accept people have differing opinions, and as a result, yesterday the following change for account upgrade descriptions was put in place to make things crystal clear, leaving no room for ambiguity, and to bring the matter to a close. The following is what you pay for, should you decide to;

Supporter
Browse 1FF completely advert free resulting in faster page loads and no annoying advertisements. Also have your username appear blue, be shown publicly as a site supporter and get granted access to the 'Supporters End' which is a private section for premium members only.

Also, server costs do not include the Sucuri firewall which we've had to implement since the site came to a grinding (and sustained) halt 6+ months ago. This is listed in the P&L on Flippa as a cost, separate from hosting.

 

[last request]

I'm going to back the admins while they're still here and then slag them off when they leave.

Great stuff and well deserved if you can make the sale, Admin team

Typical TFF war criminal stuff.

 

[Hurrikeen]

Sunday response covered it;



Also, server costs do not include the Sucuri firewall which we've had to implement since the site came to a grinding (and sustained) halt 6+ months ago. This is listed in the P&L on Flippa as a cost, separate from hosting.

OK.

So, hypothetically, if somebody was to "donate" anything between £5-£15 tomorrow, would 100% of that donation go straight into the "site development pot" or would it go down as profit?

 

[TractorBoys]

OK.

So, hypothetically, if somebody was to "donate" anything between £5-£15 tomorrow, would 100% of that donation go straight into the "site development pot" or would it go down as profit?

Anyone who chooses to become a site supporter should be aware that they are doing so in return for the benefits listed in the previous post. It's always been listed as site supporter, not a donation. From all revenues sources our costs are paid and profits are generated- but if you're asking whether site supporter payments alone would cover our costs then no, they wouldn't.

Irrespective, it's an optional user upgrade and if you upgrade you're doing so for additional features and ad-free browsing. As a result, it doesn't matter whether the monies raised goes towards site running costs or profits as you're paying for an upgrade. (I'm not being difficult- I've answered your question in the paragraph above, If you don't, unless you run adblocker we make the money via ads. The wording was probably ambiguous in the past so that's been amended, but we never went as far as to say it was purely a donation, it was always to unlock additional forum features & benefits, too.

 

[SF_]

Don't see why people have a problem with a website making a profit, it's an active forum and is likely to stick around for a good while.

Plenty of sites have premium member options, don't see the point in becoming one myself but I don't think the owners of 1FF have ever come cap in hand?

 

[Hurrikeen]

Don't see why people have a problem with a website making a profit, it's an active forum and is likely to stick around for a good while.

Plenty of sites have premium member options, don't see the point in becoming one myself but I don't think the owners of 1FF have ever come cap in hand?

TBH I don't think I've seen many people here complain that they're turning in a profit. I think they've taken umbrage at the fact that whilst owners have seemingly been making so much profit for a good 18 months now, they've been under the impression that paying to be a premium member was for much needed funds to keep the site up and running and for continuous improvement, as opposed to avoiding the odd advert here and there.

 

[SF_]

TBH I don't think I've seen many people here complain that they're turning in a profit. I think they've taken umbrage at the fact that whilst owners have seemingly been making so much profit for a good 18 months now, they've been under the impression that paying to be a premium member was for much needed funds to keep the site up and running and for continuous improvement, as opposed to avoiding the odd advert here and there.

If it was worded in a way that made it sound like the donations were helping the site keep afloat then fair enough, that's a bit shady.

 

[Bobbin']

Don't see why people have a problem with a website making a profit, it's an active forum and is likely to stick around for a good while.

Plenty of sites have premium member options, don't see the point in becoming one myself but I don't think the owners of 1FF have ever come cap in hand?

Agree with this.

I paid originally to help the site out. When it expired I wasn't going to bother renewing but the adverts were starting to get on my nerves so I paid a fiver. Really don't care where it goes, it's worth it just to stop the adverts.

Only question I do have. The '1FF challenge ' where fans bet against each other and pay their debts to the site. This was originally started to help contribute towards running costs but seemingly now it will just go into the owner's pockets? I don't think that's right but ultimately don't care enough to have a hissy fit, start crying over the Internet and then leave in a tantrum.

 

[SF_]

Only question I do have. The '1FF challenge ' where fans bet against each other and pay their debts to the site. This was originally started to help contribute towards running costs but seemingly now it will just go into the owner's pockets?

Aye, that's a good point, that should go to a charity.

 

[TractorBoys]

Agree with this.

I paid originally to help the site out. When it expired I wasn't going to bother renewing but the adverts were starting to get on my nerves so I paid a fiver. Really don't care where it goes, it's worth it just to stop the adverts.

Only question I do have. The '1FF challenge ' where fans bet against each other and pay their debts to the site. This was originally started to help contribute towards running costs but seemingly now it will just go into the owner's pockets? I don't think that's right but ultimately don't care enough to have a hissy fit, start crying over the Internet and then leave in a tantrum.

As far as I'm aware- this has never had any staff involvement nor encouragement whatsoever and I'm more than happy for it to go to charity.

 

[JaseTheVillain]

Yeah, myself and Munkiki had a challenge bet last season for money to charity. (He for some reason thought Norwich were going to finish bottom....)

 

[Leo]

the adverts were starting to get on my nerves so I paid a fiver. Really don't care where it goes, it's worth it just to stop the adverts.

Only post I've made on this thread as I'm not bothered either way but I agree with this. They (ads) got so bad that I was pulling my hair out at times. So, yep....the money I paid is worth it to me.