73 replies to this topic

[Daryl]

My first and foremost thoughts are with you Alan... your dedication to providing FME with a download home and forum has been greatly under-appreciated by a few members within our community and there is only so often that you can carry the burden, and cost, before it becomes too much to bear.

 

As a Moderator here, you made me more than welcome, and shown me a few ropes too - on a personal level over the years we have spoken, both here, PM messaging and through our dealings with you hosting my website, I have found you one of the nicest guys around, and a friend as well.

 

I do hope that Fruit Emu can be saved on a personal level because of my past love for fruit machine emulation - but I fear, like Fruit Forums, a new owner, should it not be a 'group buy' will impose their own rules upon it, and it inevitably leads to failure and a different direction to what the site has been about.

 

Your personal life Alan mate is just that... I hope that you can resolve in your life what is or has been troubling you and find comfort and peace whatever direction it takes - on a personal level with me, you know where I am at should you ever need to talk mate.

 

Thank you for Fruit Emu and thank you for all you have done to keep it here in the past

 

Take care Alan mate x

[Bencrest]

Sorry to read this, and hope your real life things are sorted out soon

 

I'd never fully understood why files were hosted directly on the website, very few emuation sites do this (apart from specific download sites, which typically have no forums and just stacks of ads / loops to jump through). I would definitely suggest any prospective buyer(s) look at hosting files on BitTorrent or similar, as suggested by Guitar (and I know I've mentioned it in the past).

 

What could also be an option would be separating the forum and download parts of the site, removing downloads entirely from the Fruit-Emu domain and either having people hosting their own collections via say BitTorrent, Google Drives, or similar. If say Mr X released a layout, he would post a link to where he was hosting it. If the link died down the line, there could be a 'request' section (happens on several forums I use) where people can re-post from their own downloaded collection, restoring the link to the file but somewhere else.

 

Same with attachments, a move should be made to encourage (or heck it, force) people to host images on sites like Photobucket / TinyPic or similar. I'll hazard a guess and say the majority of attachments are images?

 

Regarding ownership, it would (in my opinion) need to be someone with enthusiasm BUT someone willing to take a back seat. One of the great aspects of this site was that you stood back and didn't get involved. An owner, not a moderator, if you catch my drift. The owner operates the financial side, and shouldn't be getting involved in the forums unless absolutely necessary.

 

A group buy would be interesting as the financial risk / investment would be split, but we all know that FME in general has a long history of 'fallings out' and so it could be hard to achieve stability.

 

In any case Alan, I wish you all the very best and know things will work out for you, I just hope it's as soon as possible for you!

Edited by Bencrest, 29 January 2014 - 11:29 PM.

[banditboy2006]

i would be instrested in the forum side 

 

but archiving the old layouts

 

and getting rid of the gallery 

 

and clearing any posts or threads from a certain so it frees up a lot of space its easy to link downloads to sky drives as when you fill one up you start another one up

 

and going down the free forum route saves money on the fees as well

[killcrazy]

 

I'd never fully understood why files were hosted directly on the website, very few emuation sites do this (apart from specific download sites, which typically have no forums and just stacks of ads / loops to jump through). I would definitely suggest any prospective buyer(s) look at hosting files on BitTorrent or similar, as suggested by Guitar (and I know I've mentioned it in the past).

 

Yes this is the issue I'm struggling with...  I'd be more than happy to take over the technical and financial aspects of the site.  The problem I've got is that for various reasons I cannot be associated with copyright infringement (even if files were only linked to on other hosting sites).  Unless I could get written permission from SG and the others who now own the rights to the software/artwork then I'm not sure I'll be able to help.

[Bencrest]

The best option for BT would be (in my opinion) one large torrent with at least one seeder covering ALL layouts and ROMs to today's date, and then hosting newer layouts / ROMs either on cloud storage or in individual torrents, eventually updating / replacing the earlier larger torrent to ensure availability. With loads of torrents there is too much likelyhood of 'dead' torrents.

[banditboy2006]

 

 

 

Yes this is the issue I'm struggling with...  I'd be more than happy to take over the technical and financial aspects of the site.  The problem I've got is that for various reasons I cannot be associated with copyright infringement (even if files were only linked to on other hosting sites).  Unless I could get written permission from SG and the others who now own the rights to the software/artwork then I'm not sure I'll be able to help.

 

 

simples somebody else hosts a free site with the links but dont advertise that here just post infomation about the layout and the game is played there if you catch my drift

[Daryl]

to be honest if you are going down the route of dissecting Fruit Emu into different forums then it will, quite literally, die a death... we might as well let it go the way of DAD's because once you start segregating what has become the key and core aspects of Fruit Emu itself, then it won't be Fruit Emu anymore.

 

That is how I see it anyway, and I won't change my mind on that - splitting the sight into different forums and sections will inevitably be its end, because that isn't what Fruit Emu is about.

[hold the bells]

Can you explain how much this places costs to run per month now? Also how\where is the site run from now? A online webhost or something else?

 

Web Hosting etc is not really my strong point, but looking at this below, you could maybe run this place for £10 a month (using the Blue Hosting Package)??

 

 

http://www.ukushosting.com/cart.php

[ady]

 

Unfortunately it's not the hosting costs as the site pays for itself.  I need a bulk sum of money basically to sort out some short term problems whilst my situation is resolved.

 

I think we need to get back on track guy's.

 

I quoted Al as this point may have been missed.

[duplu]

Can you explain how much this places costs to run per month now? Also how\where is the site run from now? A online webhost or something else?

 

Web Hosting etc is not really my strong point, but looking at this below, you could maybe run this place for £10 a month (using the Blue Hosting Package)??

 

 

http://www.ukushosting.com/cart.php

 

It currently costs around $75 a month to host on a Virtual Private Server (VPS).  It has previously been hosted on a dedicated server but the costs are too high.  The site won't run on shared hosting package such as the one you have listed as the resources required would get the site shutdown quite quickly - believe me I tried in the early days and some of you might remember the problems.

[killcrazy]

I'm currently seeking advice and possible permission.  Unfortunately whatever the outcome it's not going to be quick I'm afraid (good few weeks at a minimum).  

[superbank]

Sorry to hear about your problems Alan - I hope you get things resolved soon.

[Pook]

Thanks Al for all you've done for Fruit-Emu and myself personally, FME would've died years ago if not for this site and will surely die quickly if it's not maintained.

I'll up for pitching in a one-off payment for a group buy to help you out of your (hopefully short term) difficulties. I'd love to see a known member (or a duo) with passion for FME take over with lots of people stumping up donations for the initial bulk purchase, with no further input. By that I mean I'm happy to chip in but that's where my input would end, but some people might assume they are shareholders and want a slice of the action.

So I think we need to be careful of too many cooks, on one hand I'd hate to see this place die, but on the other if things go tits up (and we know they can, flyers buy anyone?) I'd hate to see this place fracture and fall apart, all the good work done over the years will be tainted.

Anyway, I'm waffling, but I hope your get the gist.

[ady]

Thanks Al for all you've done for Fruit-Emu and myself personally, FME would've died years ago if not for this site and will surely die quickly if it's not maintained.

I'll up for pitching in a one-off payment for a group buy to help you out of your (hopefully short term) difficulties. I'd love to see a known member (or a duo) with passion for FME take over with lots of people stumping up donations for the initial bulk purchase, with no further input. By that I mean I'm happy to chip in but that's where my input would end, but some people might assume they are shareholders and want a slice of the action.

So I think we need to be careful of too many cooks, on one hand I'd hate to see this place die, but on the other if things go tits up (and we know they can, flyers buy anyone?) I'd hate to see this place fracture and fall apart, all the good work done over the years will be tainted.

Anyway, I'm waffling, but I hope your get the gist.

 

I read that 3 or 4 times and I see what's being said.

 

Count me in.

[banditboy2006]

give me a couple of weeks i will throw a 10r in the pot if needed

[vectra666]

How much is needed I'm willing to donate can maybe make a donation thread like the thunderstorm topic so people can donate easily without the worry of PayPal unlike the thunderstorm link we ALL need to put in to save the site needs to be done within days

Edited by vectra666, 30 January 2014 - 07:43 PM.

[brucegeorge]

I am happy to put in aswell like what has been said above thanks for all you have done mate and I hope you get it sorted soon

[vectra666]

Fme community needs to pull itself together or lose it as said make a link asap

[ady]

Fme community needs to pull itself together or lose it as said make a link asap

 

This isn't about the FME community.