Arber Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 In many open source and mod communities a lot of contributors are allowed to link to a donation page (usually PayPal) in their first post. Would that be something that the forum moderators would allow here? Before you say 'no' please read my following statement in full. If we look at something like Kodi (forum.kodi.tv - not the piracy rubbish found on Reddit), they allow on their forums each Add-on contributor to link once to a personal PayPal.me account. The developer is then not allowed to mention their PayPal again (unless answering a query about it) and is not allowed to specify or demand donations for content in return. This system has worked for over a decade on their platform. It helps to keep contributors motivated and allows users to show their appreciation. We can avoid terms like donation, if need be, and instead call it 'buying a coffee' - by calling it 'buying a coffee' it implies a max donation of about $2.50. There should be strictly no 'Pay Walls' or benefit to donating other than showing appreciation. There should be one link, at the end of the first post, with no maximum donation request. It would then be up to each mod maker, graphic designer, etc. to include a PayPal.me link or not. Is this something that the community and forum mods here would consider going forward? A lot of contributors put a lot of effort and time into their work for this community, allowing other users to show appreciation via donations is a great motivator and has proven to work in dozens - if not hundreds - of other communities similar to ours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 EDIT: What Adam said below, since I can't speak for GDS, especially if there is a chance of any legal action against GDS or content creators for things. Sorry for creating confusion, that's entirely on me. If you want to take donations, have wishlists, etc, that's fine, but you must link to your own sites and have it happen there where it's clearly something you are responsible for and is not related to Grey Dog Software. You cannot have any transactions or gifting happen directly from these forums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tormyb Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 For what it is worth, as a consumer rather than a producer of content on this site, I would welcome something like this. Although I've only recently started posting more on these forums, I've been coming here for mods/graphics for years, and would love the option to give something small in return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arber Posted May 18, 2020 Author Share Posted May 18, 2020 Yup, all very sensible rules. I'm happy with people posting up a little donation thing as long as it's not getting posted everywhere and everyone knows that there are no charges for work. People have asked me a bunch of times in the past if there was a way they could donate me a little something too for things I've done... I guess I should work out something for that myself at some point too cos up to now I've just kinda laughed it off. But I realise things have changed a lot for content creators over the last few years and it's definitely time to make it easier to allow for things like that. I don't even think it's that its changed for the content providers - they still do it because they enjoy it - I think it's the consumer that has changed in many ways. People are happier to show appreciation for good work these days, especially when its optional, and small donations are one way to do it. I've also seen Amazon wish lists in the past but I think they are a little bit of a grey area since then you're asking for specific amounts to be spent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Ryland Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 If you want to take donations, have wishlists, etc, that's fine, but you must link to your own sites and have it happen there where it's clearly something you are responsible for and is not related to Grey Dog Software. You cannot have any transactions or gifting happen directly from these forums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arber Posted May 19, 2020 Author Share Posted May 19, 2020 If you want to take donations, have wishlists, etc, that's fine, but you must link to your own sites and have it happen there where it's clearly something you are responsible for and is not related to Grey Dog Software. You cannot have any transactions or gifting happen directly from these forums. I'm admittedly confused - is something like in my post acceptable or not then, since it's clear the donation is not associated with GDS and is clearly happening on a third party site? http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2429982&postcount=1 EDIT: I think it's important to remember that allowing donations have become such a huge part of 'mod culture' that major publishers like Valve, EA and Epic all allow donations on their platforms. Valve even have a built-in function to allow donations within user created Workshop items (including for games such as Fire Pro and Empire TV Tycoon). While I appreciate and can understand the fear of legal ramifications I also have to say I believe you're being overly cautious - this is a process used in dozens (if not hundreds) of open and closed in source communities far larger than this one who have not been the subject of any lawsuits relating to user donations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Ryland Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 No, that would not be acceptable as it's a clear direct link to giving you payment on our forums. You can link to your own site / social media / whatever and have the PayPal icon there because it's one step removed, but you can't have a direct link like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arber Posted May 19, 2020 Author Share Posted May 19, 2020 No, that would not be acceptable as it's a clear direct link to giving you payment on our forums. You can link to your own site / social media / whatever and have the PayPal icon there because it's one step removed, but you can't have a direct link like that. Ok, I'll remove it. I must express my disappointment, however, for the reasons I listed in my above post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrVillain Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 Adam, would I be allowed to put in my thread that if you feel inclined to pay for my coffee then feel free to shoot me a PM? Is that acceptable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arlie Rahn Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 We just have to be careful from a copywrite/trademark standpoint. We, as a company, have been very clear that we are not paying to have any licensed material in our game. Now, if you guys want to make a post like this, we can setup a thread: Arlie Rahn SubPar Mods check me out here - http://www.websitelink.com And then, on your page, you can put whatever you like. We don't have a problem with that. We just can't have a clear donation link on a forum post involving something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrVillain Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 We just have to be careful from a copywrite/trademark standpoint. We, as a company, have been very clear that we are not paying to have any licensed material in our game. Now, if you guys want to make a post like this, we can setup a thread: Arlie Rahn SubPar Mods check me out here - http://www.websitelink.com And then, on your page, you can put whatever you like. We don't have a problem with that. We just can't have a clear donation link on a forum post involving something like that. Arlie, would I be allowed to put in my thread that if you feel inclined to pay for my coffee then feel free to shoot me a PM? Is that acceptable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arlie Rahn Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 I would prefer it not occur on our forums. So you could have them shoot you an email or link to a website address that has something setup. To use my above example: Arlie Rahn SubPar Mods check me out here (maybe even buy me a coffee) - http://www.websitelink.com or subparmod@myemail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mammoth Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 We're not currently allowed to edit our own signatures. If we contacted an administrator like yourself, would they be able to add the signature for us? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arlie Rahn Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 Actually, signatures could get to be a bit of chore since we would have to manage that. What if we setup an intro community thread where everyone can list their info? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrVillain Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 I would prefer it not occur on our forums. So you could have them shoot you an email or link to a website address that has something setup. To use my above example: Arlie Rahn SubPar Mods check me out here (maybe even buy me a coffee) - http://www.websitelink.com or subparmod@myemail.com So I'm able to link my email on my mod thread then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arlie Rahn Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 Guys, I've setup a thread where each person can provide some info about them and their own site (if they have one): http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=547596 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mammoth Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 Actually, signatures could get to be a bit of chore since we would have to manage that. What if we setup an intro community thread where everyone can list their info? You may have just got a private message from me but obviously feel free to ignore it because when I came back to check this thread, your message had changed. My bad. xD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arlie Rahn Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 Yeah, I tried to find a combination of what gets you guys exposure - as well as respects the rules of our company/site. I think this thread would work the best. Sorry about the confusion, Mammoth. I'm going to close this thread to funnel all the posts to the new thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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