Top Mud Sites Forum - View Single Post

Thoric · 11-04-2002, 04:34 PM

Unprofitability isn't as big a problem as incurring loses you aren't able to maintain. Although the bigger problem was lack of community support in general -- extremely disappointing was the lack of response from purchasers of zMUD.

I had expected that a good number of the people who were willing to pay for a MUD client would be willing to pay for a MUD magazine. I was sadly mistaken. Of the thousands of free magazines that got sent out, only a small handful ended up subscribing.

A yearly subscription of a quarterly magazine means that you get four magazines per year. It doesn't guarantee that you will get them on an exact date.

The main reason that most of the issues came out late was because we received the articles and advertisements late. I'm sure we could have put the magazine out on time missing half of its content if that is what would have been preferable to the subscribers.

Technically I could mail out a four page leaflet for issue #5 and #6 and still fulfill my obligation. Nothing guarantees the number of pages or quality of the magazine. Even though I say, "Full color cover", I could scribble on the cover with a crayon and not be breaking any obligations.

Very few people have offered me continual support in this endeavor. The ones that have know who they are, and it should be quite obvious by looking at the magazines.

I had a vision of producing something to unite and liberate the MUD community. To give them their place in history in concrete form.

I certainly didn't do it for money, and you'd have to be insane to think that was any part of it. I did everything I could to make both advertising and subscription prices as rock bottom as possible, and had special discounts for non-profit sites.

I provided an outlet for people in the MUD community to show off their talents, be it coding, building, drawing or anything MUD related. I gave people the chance to get their work in print -- something to show their friends and family.

I wanted it to be professional looking, and impressive enough so that people could feel proud to hand the magazine to someone and say, "This is what I do."

As I said, there was no time guarantee. As for what it said on the website, it said, "Mailing starts next week". That didn't say that mailing would be finished that week.

Most people are only out a few months of receiving their magazine. The magazines will be shipped, and in the case that we don't have enough magazines to fill subscriptions (i.e. we don't make any more issues), I will refund the difference.

11-04-2002, 04:34 PM	#33
Thoric New Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Posts: 29	Unprofitability isn't as big a problem as incurring loses you aren't able to maintain. Although the bigger problem was lack of community support in general -- extremely disappointing was the lack of response from purchasers of zMUD. I had expected that a good number of the people who were willing to pay for a MUD client would be willing to pay for a MUD magazine. I was sadly mistaken. Of the thousands of free magazines that got sent out, only a small handful ended up subscribing. A yearly subscription of a quarterly magazine means that you get four magazines per year. It doesn't guarantee that you will get them on an exact date. The main reason that most of the issues came out late was because we received the articles and advertisements late. I'm sure we could have put the magazine out on time missing half of its content if that is what would have been preferable to the subscribers. Technically I could mail out a four page leaflet for issue #5 and #6 and still fulfill my obligation. Nothing guarantees the number of pages or quality of the magazine. Even though I say, "Full color cover", I could scribble on the cover with a crayon and not be breaking any obligations. Very few people have offered me continual support in this endeavor. The ones that have know who they are, and it should be quite obvious by looking at the magazines. I had a vision of producing something to unite and liberate the MUD community. To give them their place in history in concrete form. I certainly didn't do it for money, and you'd have to be insane to think that was any part of it. I did everything I could to make both advertising and subscription prices as rock bottom as possible, and had special discounts for non-profit sites. I provided an outlet for people in the MUD community to show off their talents, be it coding, building, drawing or anything MUD related. I gave people the chance to get their work in print -- something to show their friends and family. I wanted it to be professional looking, and impressive enough so that people could feel proud to hand the magazine to someone and say, "This is what I do." As I said, there was no time guarantee. As for what it said on the website, it said, "Mailing starts next week". That didn't say that mailing would be finished that week. Most people are only out a few months of receiving their magazine. The magazines will be shipped, and in the case that we don't have enough magazines to fill subscriptions (i.e. we don't make any more issues), I will refund the difference.