EDIT: This note is now out of date, please see this thread for details.
I hear there are rumors going around that we're going to start charging for access here on Pocket-Monkey soon.
Well...yes and no, both in terms of charging and in terms of "soon". :-)
This thread from a few years ago is still a pretty accurate summary (amazingly). I'll just rehash a couple of its points:
We will always have some level of free access here on Pocket-Monkey. We just don't think Pocket-Monkey would be Pocket-Monkey if that weren't there.
And yet, Pocket-Monkey still loses a lot of money every month. A lot of money, well into four figures every year just on server costs and such, excluding personnel time. The ads, store, and sponsorship stuff don't even begin to cover it. That money comes out of our pockets. That has to change, it's just not sustainable.
I suspect the reason you're hearing this rumor now is that I'm really, really trying to get the new DHTML (dynamic HTML, e.g., non-Java) games done and on the site, with new game graphics I've commissioned from a freelancer. (I'm no artist.) More on that closer to when they're ready, but those new DHTML games will fix the many and varied issues with the existing DHTML games (players using those games can't accept a draw, for instance). The new DHTML games will have all of the functionality of our current Java games, but without requiring Java, which is a hassle for some folks.
When the new DHTML stuff is live, that will cross off the last major item on my "do this before adding paid access, advertising, and doing a membership push" list. I drew up this list years ago. Some highlights from it are vacations, tournaments, an ignore list, color themes, better in-game graphics, upgraded notifictions, first-class DHTML games. (The list was actually a lot longer than that.) I didn't want to start advertising Pocket-Monkey and doing a membership push until those things were in place, and I've been slowly ticking them off that list. It's taken years, but as you can see, the only item left is the DHTML games. It's not the last thing to do overall -- not by a long chalk! -- but the last thing on that "before" list.
So the next phase of Pocket-Monkey, once those are on the site and working well, will be to introduce a level of paid membership (or something) and to actually advertise (we've essentially never advertised). This is part of why Pocket-Monkey moved servers recently, to add capacity for growth. The hope is that we'll bring in enough to fund my actually spending dedicated time on Pocket-Monkey instead of stealing hours here and there; time to do things from the 300+ list of Things To Do, like dice games, card games, communities ("Biker Bar" vs. "Sewing Circle", so people can hang out with like-minded folks), private clubs, other social features, live chat, etc., etc. You get the idea.
We want to grow quickly, but at the same time maintain our essential Pocket-Monkey-ness, whatever that is. :-) I think it's a friendly, playful attitude that we're all here to have fun. And also a responsive site, not something that gets bogged down when lots of people are online.
We haven't decided exactly what form that charging will take. We've thought about donations only, membership levels, a'la carte features, a mix of things. We'll be working through these options as we go forward.
So there we are. Pocket-Monkey will always have some level of free access, but someday we'll introduce a way for it to start paying for itself, or possibly even funding its own improvements in hopes of doing them faster!
thanks for open update and informing us,...i think the post was well said and thought out,.. what a balance of heart in the right place, great purpose and thought,.. at the same time being realistic and practical,..
I should say, though, that that post is out of date (see the edit at the top); this thread is more up-to-date. -- T.J. Crowder First Primate Pocket-Monkey.com
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