The ENDLESS Forest? - If you love our Forest Please Read!

April 17, 2009 - 7:33pm — LighttheSky

.... because I really want to know!

Update: April 20th - Project Greenleaf has been founded! Go here to check it out!

Lately I've been starting to get a little worried.... and I'm wondering if anyone else has the same secret fears?

I love the Forest - even though I had to be away for a few months last year I couldn't help myself coming back. I will always come back. The Forest is my sanctuary and resting place... it's where I go to relieve tension, break out of the stress of life, become someone/something other than what I am stuck as... I stretch and breathe and it brings ME back to life again every time.

But lately we've been having more and more glitching issues as things are moved to new servers (why new ones? Because we lost funding for the old hosts - I think...?) The founders are having to move on to other projects and we are not getting updates/fixes for issues we have now...

Now, I can live with the Forest as-is and not mind. I'll miss the live map, but if it never comes back I would stay. I can live without new pelts or new actions, or new scenery, my Forest is perfect already if I need it to be and I can be content. < What I can't live with is the idea that we could ever possibly LOOSE the Forest due to the lack of funding. I can't say that I really would want to have to PAY to play here... I might consider it if it was a small amount and would keep things going... but I think it would take away from the feel of things in our world, it would destroy some of the feelings of peace & freedom that we have now.

So there are several things that I am wondering now... 1.) how much DOES it actually cost to keep our forest going? 2.) How many people are worried about this issue as well? and 3.) How many of those in the forest would be willing to put forth a little bit of effort in order to see our Forest continue?

I'm not talking about making everyone PAY to play... as I said before that just ruins an aspect of our Forest that shouldn't be lost. But Mystress' pendants for sale did give me a thought... I know there are a lot of artists/crafters here and I've noticed that people really DO want artwork of their favorite deer; pendants with their pictograms; plushies of their alter-ego's; and many other such items. We even put together a calendar for the Forest! *missed out on that one as she was gone while it was being put together*

So how many of you who do artwork/crafting would be willing to charge a fee like Mystress is, and go a step further by donating a portion to the Forest? How many of the users would be willing to purchase items ad if so what kinds of items/things would you most be willing to buy? Paying to play even though you get to PLAY doesn't always give you something PHYSICAL to connect to - but the thought of having something you can own always seems to help motivate people a little bit more.

I for one would be willing to donate my time/abilities to help fund the Forest, even if I can only manage a little bit each month. I paint/draw, sew, carve, sculpt, and have many other random skills that could easily be put to use. I'm just one person, and I'm not sure how much I could raise each month to donate back to my beloved Forest, but I really want to try. And I'd like to know if there are any other's who might want to 'join forces' with me in doing so?

Maybe this has been tried before... or maybe it's a bad idea... but it's been on my mind lately and I can't shake it... so I'm posting in the hopes of finding understanding. <3

UPDATE: April 20th, 2009:
Project Greenleaf has been founded! Go here to check it out!

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April 17, 2009 - 7:47pm — Seele

Raises hand I had been

*Raises hand*
I had been thinking about this so many times before too.. I can draw, and I hope to get better at making plushies soon, and maybe I can make some small sculpted deer too. But drawing is for sure! I think it's a very good idea, not a lot of people are willing to donate, but maybe it'll be easier when they get something in return

--Stays a lonely Seele

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April 17, 2009 - 8:08pm — celticmystress

I will be taking a portion

I will be taking a portion of the money I recieve from what I make with my pendants, and will be donating to TOT-- but what I'm afraid of, is that it'll go to something other than what we're trying to save... THE FOREST...

edit: A long time ago, Quad had a cool idea to gather up all the stories people have made of TEF, and sell them and give all the money to TOT... Didn't fly very far unfortunatly...

Founder of The Lightbringers

April 17, 2009 - 8:20pm — Rutilus

-raises hand- I agree with

April 17, 2009 - 8:41pm — Terabetha

I would be entirely willing

I would be entirely willing to start up commissions for digital work, giving the profits to TEF...though first I'd have to make sure people would actually be interested in paying for higher end work (loads of artists on this site give out free work as is, I'll come back to this point.) and second I'd have to make a paypal account or something because you can't mail money.

Anyway, about the free art; I fear that the mindset might develop where "why should I pay _____ to do it because I could ask ______ to draw me something for free"...I hatehatehate saying that because I would never want to interfere with someone else's art, but still, why pay when you could get it for free.

If this idea takes off, I'd gladly open Human Bust commissions (not many artists on here seem to do human art, so there might be a niche for it!) and donate profits to TEF

April 17, 2009 - 8:42pm — onyxsoulclaw

I asked the sma sort of

I asked the sma sort of thing on the forum, and there are several answers there, it sounds like the site needs bigish grants to run so donations only cover small things i think. I wish i could win the lotto and help.

April 17, 2009 - 8:54pm — celticmystress

Tera, I've had bunches of

Tera, I've had bunches of people send me money in the mail! It's called a Money Order... I think... but it does get confusing-- as sometimes if the people don't go DIRECTLY to the post office, and just set it in an envelope and set it in their mailbox, the mailman might get some nasty thoughts... and then when you say you didn't recieve it-- (expecially when it's $15 and higher) it starts to look fishy to the other person...

Paypal would be best, I think you're right...

Also, guys, if a bunch of us do this-- donations won't cover "just a little", it will be a lot of money for them!! I think we should make sure they know that we are TEFers, and want help with THE FOREST.

Founder of The Lightbringers

April 17, 2009 - 9:00pm — Terabetha

Ooo ok, I didn't know about

Ooo ok, I didn't know about Money Order, I just know that it is never a good idea to send money via snail mail

but yeah, Paypal is a) way quicker and b) much more secure, and then the money could be sent to TEF from Paypal as well!

Mystress is right guys, this could be a great way to generate some money to help out the Forest. Especially if everyone does something slightly unique (I know we all have our own styles and all.) like how Mystress is doing her glass pendents and I'd be doing human busts. If we all just did deer pictures, there would be less people interested in buying from multiple people!

April 17, 2009 - 9:03pm — Tuhka

Well, i got some of my

Well, i got some of my pictures included in this year's TEF calendar.
I was really happy I was able to help gathering money that way and I'm definitely ready to do more to keep our dear forest going.

April 17, 2009 - 10:15pm — LighttheSky

Mystress - Yes, that has

Mystress - Yes, that has been another of my concerns about the concept of donating... that the money won't go directly to our Forest but instead will fund other things. So frankly creating a "society" of sorts that focuses on something like this might make it stick better - and make more of an impression. I know that they know we love our Forest... but I wonder if they realize just HOW MUCH we love it?

onyx- Ugh. I know it must cost quite a bit to keep the forest running, servers, bandwidth, time to fix the glitches... and that's not including the idea of actually updating things now and then, plus the cost of equipment that breaks. and the more users there are the more money is needed to keep things running smoothly. Which is also why I worry over donating because just one isn't enough to make even a dent in that - though it might buy Michael a really good sandwich and a cup-o-tea every month. *lol* But Mystress is right, one + one + one + more really does add up! (just balance out my grocery list every week and you'll see proof *dies* *lol*)

Terabetha - I also agree about the issue of commissions - there are a lot of artists that do them for free. Things like plushies/jewelry though are a lot harder to come by and those I'm sure would be something that would be of interest and if the artist does good enough quality work some people would probably still be willing to pay for it on occasion...

hmmm... this obviously requires some serious research & development to make it work on a long-term basis... *pulls out her sculpting tools and makes a fast trip to the hobby-store for clay & pricing materials* *becomes a ninja-deer*

~ < ^.^ >

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| Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. ~Maori Proverb |

April 17, 2009 - 10:31pm — Paralda

<3 i'm totally

<3 i'm totally agree!

Lightbringer

April 17, 2009 - 10:38pm — IoRez

I have always supported this

I have always supported this idea, and any idea that will keep TEF truly alive forever. To me, this means an official release of TEF 4.0, which would require substantial funding. I think we should start seriously considering all ideas - fundraising, merchandising or what have you - to make it possible.

I also think M&A should charge a one time cost for the download of version 4, assuming it is ever released. I think the game is popular enough that most of us would not mind paying (especially considering all of the free use we've had of it until now) for continued access, but I think a monthly subscritpion fee would run off most of our casual players and many of our regulars.

my two cents.

"Fragments fall and reflect the Light. Dust slowly covers my thoughts." - Yorres, Lightbringer

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April 17, 2009 - 11:03pm — Anzel

What I honestly wish for is

What I honestly wish for is to be able to donate money directly to TEF. I'd be willing to, even if I received nothing in return. Not even the ability to play. :/

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April 20, 2009 - 8:15pm — 1273

Well,i love our forest! *is

Well,i love our forest!
*is shy*I could Draw?I'm not that bad at drawing (in REAL life Not on my laptop)And maybe i could sell them for 2-5 $ each?i want to help our forest
-flees-

you can get your own at Oshilene!!!

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April 20, 2009 - 8:19pm — Terabetha

I think that's a great idea

I think that's a great idea Rishawyn! Smaller, less expensive drawings would defiantly appeal to some of the people who don't/can't spend loads of money!

~----------------------------------------------------------------------~

Interested in commissioning me? Check my blog!

April 20, 2009 - 10:02pm — xhunter

never thought of it before

but you make a lot of sense on your poeint. :<

inspirer writing and poems //// if you like dragon eggs you can look at mine. at http://dragcave.net/user/xhunter

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inspirer writing and poems //// if you like dragon eggs you can look at mine. at http://dragcave.net/user/xhunter

April 20, 2009 - 11:35pm — Serynn

I agree fully, Io Rez. A

I agree fully, Io Rez. A one-time fee would be wonderful; I want to feel like I'm doing something to help, but not monthly. That would ruin it.

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April 20, 2009 - 11:37pm — Tuhka

(No subject)

April 21, 2009 - 12:39am — bubblywums

Okay, lots of things to say.

Okay, lots of things to say. I've been following The Endless Forest for a long time now and the same thing always gets brought up! I wouldn't worry about losing the forest, the server is actually being hosted for free (as I understand it) right now.

Quote:

We're lucky enough to have been supported by the Museum in Luxemburg all this time. But with the server problems lately, we've been looking at other solutions, like hosting the server ourselves. But frankly, we couldn't afford to pay the monthly fee that would require

However ToT's funding has been denied for the second year in the row, which means they can't do any upgrades or add new content, but they can still host the game and keep it running. If you guys want to know about how much it costs and the numbers, please read this thread from the forum: http://tale-of-tales.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3052

I will most likely be organizing a 2010 calendar, don't worry about that! It will be run through The Endless Forest club on deviantART like last time.

In regards to the book making, I recently found this really cool website called Blurb.com where you can create your own book for free and then sell it. I was thinking maybe people could create art books and story books and sell them, and then some proceeds could go towards ToT? Just a thought!

Without money coming in, the game will be at a stand still. I think it's a wonderful idea to start this project to help out!

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April 22, 2009 - 12:43am — Anzel

Hey Jen...do you know any

Hey Jen...do you know any way I could donate money to TEF, out of curiosity?

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April 22, 2009 - 12:52am — bubblywums

Hey Anzel! Yes I do, Tale of

Hey Anzel! Yes I do, Tale of Tales has an account in which you can send money directly to them. The link is actually on The Endless Forest page (tale-of-tales.com/theendlessforest), or the direct link is:
http://tinyurl.com/ctjmxh
(had to make it a tinyurl because it's so long)

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