Please share ideas on how you think BotB can stay funded.

-Schwag T-shirts, hoodies, etc...
-Silly, pay, vanity features? (As seen in MMORPGs.) Pay for advantage features debatable.
-Pay to sponsor/host compos?
...

Ideas and concerns...?

I think I'd be willing to pay to start up a major battle or to be able to determine which type we get next. (and always pick 3xTheme!)

i could also use a BOTB mousemat

t-shirts and hoodies oh yes yes yes yes. haha that would be cool. also i wouldn't mind -Pay to sponsor/host compos? either. all for a good cause!

yes 2 pls for merch ^^

Merchandise would be great, pay to host major compos sounds like a nice idea, pay for advantage would probably be a bad idea though, everyone would ditch for traditional compo sites from how horridly unfair that is.

It is time for me to start thinking about the annual server bill again. That being said, I've been working on an online store to distribute products from my other projects (and possibly friends' stuff too). It's all very complicated because it takes me a long time to do anything and I'm building on several fronts.

I have an invite to http://www.kickstarter.com/ and it might be the best way to raise the money. You can setup gifts based on size of donations. If the goal is not met no money moves. So now we have to decide on a goal and what the gifts are.

The server bill is ~$250 for the year. I can get t-shirts made at ~$6 each (could also get mousepads locally screen printed), still have hundreds of BotB 7", and could also put together a data DVD-R overflowing with BotB entries (I think they add up to 4.9gb or something). Shipping also must be considered, we need a balance between USA media mail and international shipping.

Yeah, so the problem with these gifts in this thing is : I could easily spend half the money on manufacturing and delivery.

The other option is I foot the bill and make a store.... :D/

puke7: Do us all a favor and keep your production efforts and costs super limited. We don't want a stressed out and bummed admin. We'd all love t-shirts or hoodies. zanzan's mousepad idea is also good. But you should check with us BotBrs first to see if we will help you pay off a limited run of shwag first before setting up an idling store. Compare your costs to profits and see if that's something we really wanna set up.

A couple of us have used that donate button before. We gotta find a way for more people to have incentive to use it. People that have excess amounts of money usually like to flaunt and are vain. An icon next to their name with a money bag might be neat if they donate $20+ for the year. (BotB *IS* a good cause and nobody should feel guilty giving or receiving money for this wonderful system we all use as a community.)

Do us a favor and make a donation progress bar too.

Other such interesting ideas would be a wall-of-fame/wall-of-shame for those who have donated the most or least. Remember, everything here is a battle.

Other ideas? Comments?

Altruist points for dollars donated!

i really like b00daws idea for vanity items. not only does it fit perfectly into the botb theme, it wont effect the outcomes of battles. maybe custom auras could be pay for?? ;D or when we finally get around to items, make them really boon expensive and then have a pay for boon option like 1,000 for $10 or something.

first thing i would want to throw money at is clothes though. since we dont know what the turnout for something like that would be though, it would be best to do that with a service that doesnt have any upkeep charges. something like cafepress could do the trick. that site seems pretty easy to use, though im not sure what the quality is like.

if anybody knows what their quality is, or knows a better service please speak up!

im up for anything, i just dont have the entusiam right now to do anything. BUT count me in.

About the t-shirt, as i comment you before i would love to do a design for a t-shirt.

cafe press is crap!

maybe merch lackey?

http://www.merchlackey.com/client_services.php

have a feeling they would be too expensive, but i can vouch for the quality

merchlackey looks like they got the quality
but I think my buddy has them equal on the quality and beats their price...

friendsofbeards inc. ???