REQUEST: Here's how you can help support Quarter to Three (and get a CUSTOM TAG doing it!)

I remember the same thing, I think I forgot I even sent it by the time he replied :). I can’t believe how long it has been.

A pledge was a no brainer for me – a great opportunity to recognize the value I get from this site. I had already whitelisted QT3 in my adblocker and will continue that.

Like Malkav mentioned, I’ve had some issues with the front page slowing to a crawl without the blocker on and so I’ve turned it back on a couple of times briefly in order to scroll the blog and reviews. When I did this, I noticed a very large number of ads getting blocked, which didn’t seem right. In the last month, I’ve not had to do this, however. Just thought you ought to know. I would be happy to share more details with the tech folks – just pm me.

Signed up.

Glad you’re making a go of this Tom - to paraphrase Andrew Sullivan when he started up his own independent (if ill-fated site) The Dish - getting readers to pay a small amount for content is the only truly solid future for online criticism. The alternative is what Maria Popova described about her site Brain Pickings Maria Popova: why we need an antidote to the culture of Google | Internet | The Guardian

you ask readers for voluntary contributions. What have you got against advertising?

There’s a really beautiful letter that a newspaper journalist named Bruce Bliven wrote in 1923 to his editor. It was about how the circulation manager had taken over the newspaper, deciding what went on the front page. Today, search engine optimisation is the “circulation management” of the internet. It doesn’t put the reader’s best interests first – it turns them into a sellable eyeball, and sells that to advertisers. As soon as you begin to treat your stakeholder as a bargaining chip, you’re not interested in broadening their intellectual horizons or bettering their life. I don’t believe in this model of making people into currency. You become accountable to advertisers, rather than your reader.

Why do people pay for what they can get for free?

Part of it is that people form an emotional relationship with the site and have a sense of belonging and take pride in being able to support something they enjoy. It’s the same reason people have been donating to public libraries for centuries. But the question of altruism is probably the oldest debate in the history of philosophy – whether we do something because it makes us feel good, or because we want to genuinely and selflessly contribute to something. I think it’s always a combination of the two.

The blue boards date to 2001 so it was going for at least 1-2 years before that.

Tom, I recently signed up for an avatar, and though I had un-whitelisted the site a while back due to some shenanigans the then-current ad network was pulling, I went ahead and whitelisted the site again (which I access the full version of on my Nexus 7 and my desktop–only the iPod touch uses mobile). Let’s hope that’s enough for now–I really love these forums and pretty much live here online. :-)

EDIT: Oops, I guess I wasn’t accessing the full site with the Nexus 7, but that’s been corrected since.

I stopped reading magazines a long time ago, and this site is frankly a much better monthly sub. This site got me into games I never thought I’d ever try (eg: Dominions) and come across some pretty cool people.

Also, I still (and always have) run ads, but they don’t always appear for me. No adblocker, I figure it might be something to do with geolocation. Or I’m insanely boring and the algorithm can not work out what I like.

Triggercut pretty much has it, along with the bit on the Patreon page, which is pretty far down on the page. As for what I was doing previously – and concurrently up until I worked for the Sci Fi Channel – I was freelancing for different sites and magazines. I don’t think that’s a viable way to make a living anymore, but I’ve been out of that scene for a while.

“Can we keep him, Mom? Please? Can we?”

You know, if I’d calculated what books would appear in the frame, I don’t think I would have put West with the Night in there because I wouldn’t have guessed there were any Beryl Markham fans out there. Glad to hear otherwise!

That’s lovely, Sam. Thanks so much for posting that.

-Tom

If there’s anyone deserving of such patronage, its you Tom. Between hosting the forum, the front page material and the podcasts, you’ve created a great gaming community and my paltry pledge doesn’t come close to matching its value to me. Why just yesterday I did two hours of boring yard work while listening to your podcast on introduction to board gaming and it made that time much more enjoyable. Thanks for all you do.

Unfortunately, my finances are more than a little strapped currently, but I have white listed this website. The ads are a small price to pay to keep you and your forum up and running.

I like to consider QT3 as a gaming magazine that I’d be totally buying if it were sold… well, it now kinda is. To me QT3’s frontpage/Tom’s work is unique journalism that I’d like to see thrive… so incl. german 19% VAT that Patreon adds to my contribution…that’s about what I can spare for another magazine subscription. I hope in the near future QT3’s frontpage becomes more glossy so that more people dare to consider it as a ‘product’ that’s worth paying for.

(a glossy frontpage and an anachronistic and somewhat nerdy forum - maybe another unique selling point! ;-))

Pledged (and disabled both add blockers).

Can I ask a somewhat personal question? Tom, you mentioned in one of your post that you wouldn’t want to produce a game, so I’m guessing that it’s a viable option for you.
Why not? I mean we all know it wouldn’t be all fun and games, but still to create something new as you would like it…

Mainly because my creative impulse is geared towards verbal communication. Writing and talking. Game design is fascinating to me, but more as a consumer than a creator. It’s like someone who’s content to watch movies without necessarily wanting to make one. I mentioned being a producer, because if I were to ever go into the industry, the absolute last thing I would ever want to do is work in PR. That would be my idea of hell.

That said, I do have two game designs I might try to pursue someday. Probably tabletop, since I don’t really have the resources to create a videogame. So I guess I’m like the guy who says he doesn’t really want to make a movie, but he’s still writing a script anyway. :)

-Tom

Greg Kasavin successfully managed to transition from video game journalist / editor / site runner to game writer and designer, so it can definitely be done, and done well. I think I’d really enjoy seeing the results of your efforts, Tom!

Oh, and I donated what I can currently afford as a grad student. As soon as I’m done and back in the workforce, I’ll certainly up my contribution. Thanks again for creating and managing all that Qt3 has to offer!

Tom this site has always kicked ass… I’ve been a lifelong viewer with out an ad-blocker - and plan on continuing to do so. I know you do know there are some of us out there based on your numbers but just wanted to shout out and mention that those of us that aren’t explicitly donating still really appreciate your dedication in providing this forum™

I first found this site while in the middle of a significant (some would say debilitating) Everquest addiction circa 1999-2000. Somewhere along the line I began looking up maps and other info online and stumbled across Lum’s old site which led me to Old Man Murray and QT3.

5 Girlfriends, 8 Different Residences, 1 Useless Graduate Degree, 20 (ish) PCs, 3 failed attempts console gaming, a three legged dog, and 2 perfect children later; here I am still checking QT3 more days than not.

As you can see I am more of a lurker than a poster but I very much appreciate the community you have built and worked hard to maintain. A pledge through Patreon is the least I can do.

-John

Just curious: would making the front page of Qt3 my start-up page help significantly in terms of registered visits and add-revenue?

As for add-blockers: never had them on, wouldn’t even know how. And yet I don’t always see adds (no adds while writing this, for example), so I don’t quite know how that works. Sometimes they are there, sometimes they aren’t…?

Sure, starting on the front page definitely helps! Thanks for asking. Every visit counts. Not that I want anyone going to any extra hassle. I mean, I have a bookmark straight to the forum like everyone else. But it would be cool if folks checked once a day just for the heck of it.

And there should always be an ad visible at the top of the page, unless you’re using the mobile skin or using Tapatalk. There are times we have what’s called unsold inventory, but I’m pretty sure they still serve an unpaid ad. It should never be blank. Maybe it’s a browser issue. Of course, since when did the internet always work like it’s supposed to work?

-Tom

And of course the reminder that using http://smile.amazon.com/?&linkCode=wsw&tag=qt3-20 as your default Amazon bookmark should A) give Tom a small kickback for most purchases, and B) also have Amazon donate a small amount to a charity of your choosing when you buy.

Ever since we discussed that a few months ago, that’s what I’ve always been doing. Though it’s not always easy to find that link. It should be in a prominent place somewhere where I can find it. (I stopped using bookmarks ever since Yahoo bookmarks stopped working in Firefox, and I discovered I can live life just fine without bookmarks).

I also haven’t disabled ads here at work, and whitelisted it at home. Though I do have the front page blocked at home since it slows down my browser too much. The front page is always my first destination at work too.

I haven’t signed up for the Patreon yet, since I’m currently not in a financial state to be able to help just now. But hopefully that will change and I’ll re-evaluate at the appropriate time.

Well, I can still use my bookmarks to the forum after I’ve started on the front page, so that’s no problem: consider it done.

As for the adds not being visible: that is a problem: I definitely see adds sometimes, but by no means always. Is there any way for me to check if this is accidently caused by something on my end? Preferably someway simple enough for me to understand? Edit: and solve?