Many sites have ways to donate be that buying collectables or just donating. It's there if you want to use it.

I just got an email from a site I'm on trying to get me to donate to the site by joining two other sites. Which seemed to me like the owner is trying to force people who don't donate to, which also made me think 'scuse me it's my choice if I want to donate or not. IF I could donate then I would but I can't.


So do you donate to sites ?

Would you if you could donate ?

Sites trying to force you into donating.

that's pretty shady. Sounds a lot like those "free ipod" or other electronic things. I've donated to Gaia before to get the cool items. I think that's really the only site I've ever donated to. I'm new to menewsha and I don't know if donating is even worth it yet...

When a website tries to stuff down your throat that you should give them money... that's not cool. I agree, it should be you're choice. If they wanted a pay site, they should have made one outright. Not disguised a website as free, but donate and then told you to sign up for some other things for them to get money.

I don't donate because a) I don't want to pay for pixels b) I can't use paypal.. and I don't trust it.

There's twenty of us who've been sent the email. Twenty-one including myself out of 750 users that are there, how many of them are inactive I'm not sure. I think it's incrediably rude to send an email like that to us, asking for us to donate.

I also don't like the way that we're being contacted on our email addresses, without being told that we will be getting emails like that. Seeing as we only knew about getting topic notifications and nothing like that.


That site doing that has put me off ever wanting to donate to them, if I could which I can't because of lack of paypal which I don't need and won't be getting any time soon.

Donating is stupid.You waste like $2.50 on nothing.Its like giving money to a homeless person.

I would never donate to anybody, as a response to something i found in my inbox. I would certainly donate to a site like this, from time to time, if i were able, but only if i really, really liked the item in question.

I really don't see a point of email people to ask them to join two other sites. Just to donate to the site they run. Really they should have enough people donating regularly to the site to keep it going without having to bother people into donating. That email has made a new home for it's self in the junk mail.

I only donate to certain sites. I have to trust that the sites are being run professionally before I donate. And I've been cutting back on donating anywhere because I can't just keep buying pixel things. I've seen a lot of things happen that discourage me from donating. People getting banned on some sites for BS reasons, sites shutting down, sites getting erased, people losing items from errors, and it makes me not feel like taking such a risk. The thing about donating is that these pixels are stuck within this site. They aren't like real items that you buy and take home and can keep with you or keep them from being lost or stolen. If someone feels like hacking you, banning you, or something simply goes wrong with the site, you lose what you paid for and it's not really fair. That being said, I still do donate to a select few sites, but only if I really feel the need to for certain items.

I only donate to sites I feel have earned my money. I'm a yorkshire lass through and through and that means I don't part with my money unless someone has earnt it.

I used to donate to menewsha, but stopped because of...well a lot of things. Mainly certain staffs attitudes to things. And I won't donate again until those things have been ironed out.

One of my other forums doesn't have a donation option on it, but if it did I would donate regulary every month. Not only do I have a lot of friends there and a damn good time, but Ive only spoken to the admins a few times, they don't really interact with us (I think the admin made it for his girl or something) and they've actually bent over backwards to help. I was told to PM the admin on there about getting my name changed, but he was super busy so it would probably take a few days. He did it that day. They re-did the entire site but had the basic forum function back up in two hours. Forum, shout box and profile with a message "We're working on the other stuff still but the forum's active again rather than us keeping it all down and doing it all at once and probably taking days" They've seen the members doing things that there isn't really a forum for...so sneaky sneaky, they add one and wait for us to notice it. Sites like that deserve donations.

That sucks, so far the sites I've been on haven't pressured me to donate at all. If they did I'd probably think about leaving since I would feel a bit unwelcome if I got mail about that.
The site I used to donate to was Gaia then I realized it was pointless if I could come up with gold and wait for the items to go down in the Marketplace. I really don't feel like supporting the site with my money any more. Menewsha on the other hand, if I could donate via cards I could buy in stores then I would do that but sadly I don't use credit cards on the internet. Too much risk. But still, Menewsha I would be more than happy to donate to. ^ ^

that does seem a bit shoddy. Cant you just block communication with them or something?

nope never got anything like that
never donated to Mene either

likely wont be doing so anytime soon

Uhm...no, I seriously think it's a waste of money, if they ban you after, I mean if they do, then you wasted all that money for no reason.
MONEY ISN'T EASY TO GET!...for some people! D<
Plus if they were forcing me to, I would ignore and still go on it. xD

I only donate to sites that I really like and intend to stay with (as long as I have the money to donate of course). You shouldn't feel forced to donate. At the moment i donate mostly to Gaia.They don't send me weird emails trying to talk me into donating like that.

Haha wow, that's really desperate and sketchy.
I used to donate to Gaia occasionally and then I got banned, luls. I donated to Menewsha every month when I first started because I really loved the concept of the site and the community, and I wanted to help get it off the ground.

I feel that the situation you've described is really unfair to the users of the website in question; is anyone able to ask the one responsible for that action why they did what they did? In a way it seems as though your e-mail is being supplied to third-party sites, and though that may not truly be the case, there's a hint of the stench of such an idea.

I don't agree with websites and/or people that help themselves to your services in the way you've suggested. I would report the e-mail as spam if you're not interested in seeing anything like that again, and if possible, try contacting the one in charge of deciding this change and offer your opinion. :)

As far as donating to websites goes, I honestly don't do it all that much; mostly though it's because I'm between jobs and I haven't got the money for this luxury. I have spent money both here and at Gaia, though only in small amounts as of yet. I feel I could definitely donate to Mene again in the future simply because the site really is a promising project, and I know its owner has had his share of business successes, so I trust him. Not to mention the rest of the staff do a bang-up job with their tasks and other responsibilities, and that really makes me feel as though this place is a worthy cause to put my money into. ;)

Menewsha is the only site I have ever donated to in the entire time of being online. Even on Gaia I was unwilling to actually donate.. but of course that was the time that you could buy the letters at 2k each. That's besides the point however...

That's downright shady for a site to be emailing out to people for donations.. as you said it's a choice to donate and though it helps the site improve and pay for what they need be it larger servers, or money to pay artists/coders. But it shouldn't be an obligation to donate and shouldn't be outrightly asked of someone to do in such a way!

I thought it was down right rude to email asking everyone who recived the email to join two sites to donate to that one. If it was a PM I wouldn't be so bothered because I'm on another site which PMs you when they have a new compertition up or any other important news, but on an email. I'd rather not receive emails like that from sites and I can't block that email address because it's the one mainly used for topic notifications.

I don't like sites that try and force one into donating, and as for donating, I can when I can, it all depends on my mood and my budget.

I haven't ever felt pressured to donate to site, but I don't really donate because I'd rather just save up the site's currency instead and then buy it. If it's not too expensive, I'll occassionally buy something, but I don't really like to. Some sites also put up some really expensive items that I can't ever imagine buying, like a single item for $10-100. That just seems ridiculous, especially for something virtual. If you do choose to buy such items, that's nice.... But it's not something I'd go for. ^^;

I personally think donating to sites is a waste of time and money.

I used to be the kind of person that would donate to any online game or forum, just to gain an advantage over other people. I guess I still do sometimes really..
Donating isn't really donating when you think about it.
''Donating, giving something for nothing, meaning you don't receive anything at all for doing it.''
Loop hole: Your paying for the items that have been Priced, there for your paying for items that they have wanged a price on. That's not really donating. ._. That's how I see it anyway.

I used to donate to gaia a lot. I was an '03 user. Donated at least once a week, and not a small amount either.
Only to go back to gaia this year, get to know new people and such to find out I get banned for a BS reason.
Forums that just hand out bans and then add a stupid excuse for it, even when you prove you've not done anything of the kind, and ask to see the evidence yourself. Forums and avatar sites that just take your money and then ban you like that. It's awful.
And, what makes it worse is that they don't talk to you about it. You don't get an email asking about it, you don't have any member of their staff talk to you. It's just an instant ban.

Now that, is what you call a waste of money and time.
And, it's not much different from other avatar sites either.

If they have prices on items, and want you to ''donate'' just remember the loop hole.

I'll admit, I donated to Mene as soon as I got on here. Because I thought It would give me a slight advantage and boost. But I was wrong.

Because mene, is like Roli in a way. Donation items are dirt cheap, and their not worth you spending real money on them, when their that cheap you can just save up.

But yeah. All in all. I think donating to forum avatars is a big waste of money and time.
If it was a real online game. And I mean a real online game not forum and avatar based, then it's fair enough.

There's no point in blowing a load of cash on pixels that wont be there forever, let alone that you can't touch or hold.

I donate to Gaia and I have donated to Zantarni in the past. I may donate to Menewsha; just waiting for an item I like. ^^

Originally Posted by icandiee

Uhm...no, I seriously think it's a waste of money

its your hobby

you spend money on entertainment.
it shouldnt particular matter how much as long as you enjoy yourself.

if i can spend 2 bucks on a pack of candy
giving it to a site (that has people working on it) is nothing

but i just dont feel the need at the moment.

I wouldn't belong to a site that tried to force me to donate. I think that donating should be done when you want it. Donations are not payments so I don't think that a site that wants to market itself as "free" should push users too hard to donate.

Personally, I don't always have money to donate. I don't donate as much as I would like to to Mene at least. I agree with the fact that if a site is so worried about money that it should make the site a pay site instead of a free one.

I usually only donate if I really want an item... I donate to gaia and I probably will sooner or later to menewsha, but I can't right now because I'm a broke college student XD... I have to pay for tuition and credit card bills... >_>

as for a site emailing you to donate like that is sad... and seriously it is up to the user whether they should donate or not ...