Quoted from badbilly27:I respect your opinion and reply. Respectfully, do you attend Expo, MGC, or PA event? Do you pay for admission to those events (or quite possibly bring games)? My quick point, to run those events costs money. Those events provide a venue for hobbyists to come together to talk, give free things to each other, provide tech tips, all things you mentioned in your reply. Why is a virtual site considered different?
Trust me, me loves free, prefers free, and agrees with MANY of your points. However, a small hobby that is growing and a site that makes it a more user friendly global meeting place may require some money to cover operating costs. RGP is free but user interface and reach is limited.
I understand what you are saying, but virtual and real are apples and oranges. In the virtual world, the costs aren't nearly as great as some think they are, but then again, they can be depending on how/where the site is hosted. I have zero idea what the traffic is on this site, but have to maintain/host about 25 other sites, and have a decent understanding of actual hosting costs, bandwidth, etc. The true cost to this site is Robin's time. Look at this place, it's very pretty, and very functional, but adding these things is costing him his time (and there is clearly a ton of time put into this place), more so than additional money.
Real shows need a physical presence. Unfortunately pinball machines are a little larger than stamps, so the venues often need to be very large, and the costs reflect that. I am not super big into shows, as my schedule doesn't allow for it. I bring a couple of machines to MGC every year (wasnt able to last year), and don't even attend the show (I do go to the afterparty). I don't bring games to Expo, mostly because of distance/schedule, but also because the vibe is very different for that show. Dan at MGC makes it very clear that he appreciates the time and effort everyone puts into contributing to the show, I don't really get that same vibe from Expo.
Again, I know there are costs associated with this site, and I see nothing wrong with trying to recoup those costs, especially now that Robin has gone from this being a hobby to a need to provide for his family. But with these costs coming into play, the implementation of them needs to be revisted, as now there is expectation as a paid service that wasnt there when it was voluntary.
Sullivan, WI
