Crowdfunding new features?
 

So we know Mene is kind of stuck in a negative feedback loop. No new features > People lose interest > Less money for Mene > No new features

But there are still people dedicated to Mene who want to do something to help it turn things around. So... what about crowdfunding some new features?

Now, yes, that's technically what buying CIs is in the first place. You give money to Mene and it makes stuff with it. But the way it is now, there's no real... sense of progress. If I give Mene $5 right now, what's going to happen to that $5? Will it be set aside in a special fund to create a new feature? Is it going towards the server cost? Is it paying people? Idk man, I just got my pixels, that's all I know. Whereas with crowdfunding tools like kickstarter, gofundme, etc. there's a set goal and you know exactly how your money is helping. It's encouraging!

So what if we set up something like that? Figure out what new features/updates would best push the site forward, figure out how much they would cost, and then launch a crowdfunding initiative? You can still give mennies and other items as rewards, just like crowdfunding things generally do. It could fail spectacularly, but it could also get the site some much needed TLC.

I hate to be a party pooper, but I'm very sure that Menewsha's donations aren't going towards new features. They're going towards keeping the site up. Pretend Menewsha is an apartment- Maybe the apartment would be nicer if you could buy some new furniture, but you only make enough money to pay your rent. You have nothing left over to buy the furniture.

I like your idea, but its putting the cart before the horse. Maybe people would be more willing to donate if they knew their money was going towards a cool new feature- But if we reserve that money for furniture, then we can't make rent... Well, what's the point of having furniture if you get evicted, you know?

Yeah, I know that realistically CI purchases are not going to features right now. I was mostly just saying that to preemptively counter someone who would inevitably say "but you can donate to Menewsha right now!!!"

And honestly, I don't have any reason to believe that CI purchases are covering "rent" right now anyway. We're coming out of someone's pocket, and it's not the regular users'. Something shiny and new is the only way to try to stop the downward spiral we're stuck in. Waiting and hoping hasn't worked.

So basically, maybe we're not making rent and shouldn't be buying furniture... but if we don't get the place looking nice, the landlord is going to evict us anyway? To continue the analogy in a poor way. [lol]

I'm just worried that people will start focusing their donations on only the new features. Then that money is locked on to that new feature and that new feature only- And it might force Inso to pay even more rent out of pocket. And I'm worried that if it gets any worse he'll just drop us for costing way too much. [gonk]

I mean, he's stuck with us this long right? [lol] Better to take a risk that could ultimately lead to us no longer being (such) a money sink than to just keep on as is until we wither and die. That's my reasoning, anyway. But I could also see why someone wouldn't want to take that risk. I just feel like Mene has one foot in the grave, and I'd really like the site to make it.

For paying the artists... couldn't they just have users contribute? Donate their art so to speak?

There is a double edged blade when it comes to kickstarter. I've been following a game which has accumulated over 7 million dollars, but they had a lot of people demanding that what they wanted X or Y because they donated some small amount.
Items and rewards would have to be pre-planned so that people would know exactly what their money is going toward.
On the other hand, kickstarter is full of people who often times will toss a donation or two at random things.

I think ideally, to make sure we don't get people demanding their way, we should limit the rewards to maybe 3 tiers. $1, so that even the little guys can donate something. A dollar isn't much. Just some pocket change. Even a kid could scrounge up that much to make a small contribution, and encourages outside people to contribute just a little bit.
From there, you would need a second tier, maybe $5, which if you linked it with your mene account you could get a special item like the "I <3 Mene" tag below avis on a shirt or something.
From there we would afterwards need a tier for the bigger spenders, which could be something like $25.

But getting events coded again would definitely help the site the most I think, on top of maybe some code cleaned up. The simplicity of the site itself has always been a winning point for me.

Improvement, it is the goal of life's search.

At this point it might be in the site's best interest to crowdfund some advertising for... somewhere, really. If we really want Menewsha to have a future then we really just need a larger community. Seems half the forums are dead as a general statement. :/

I agree with Pkero: (love the if statement under your username) re: need for advertising.

Reasonable incentive ideas for crowdfunding may include:
- an exclusive item or two (not too many; minimize the extra work for artists)
- an old CI or EI of the donor's choosing
- some amount of gold or event currency
- guarantee that the donor's idea or sketch will be incorporated into a future item
- guarantee that the donor's idea will be incorporated into a future Mene event
- access to the Dream Avatar Creator if they don't have it already
- a Mene t-shirt (if enough people donate, certain merchandise can be ordered in bulk from somewhere to lessen costs)

(Donation minimums to be determined)

I think the admins have always been pretty steadfast about not re-releasing CI's/EI's (although I know there used to be a thread were some recovered from derelict accounts were given away?), but exclusive items for crowdfunding usually work out pretty well. Or at least some recolors to make them distinct. I think event currency or mennies might work out better than just handing out gold; it's kind of hard to break an economy this small but growth could change that pretty rapidly.

If it's a matter of just keeping the value of the items intact as opposed to the visuals, Dota 2 does an interesting thing where items sold before a certain date are given a quality in the name, so the first batch of items is always ranked 'Genuine' and thus given more value in the marketplace. If old items were to be re-released, creating 'Common' versions might work. More users get access to the items and the old ones retain most of their value.

I think the biggest thing Menewsha has going for it in regards to crowdfunding is that the community and culture are already established; no one's trying to make something new, just revitalize something that's already been here. [yes]

Edit: (thank you :D)

That makes sense, Pkero :) And good point about too much gold's effect on the economy...wouldn't want hyperinflation.