Add-on Must I ask? Arcade

Both
Were both ibProArade and v3arcade free ? entirely ?
Was any money generated for the developers ?
Both ibProArcade and v3Arcade were free. I believe v3Arcade generated money through removal of the copyright and ibProArcade was purely based on donations without copyright removal. Although, ibProArcade developer was always updating new releases very often as the vBulletin code changed. Sicne it was the original Arcade port, it gained more followers than v3Arcade that started much later from what I can remember.
 
The model for this apparently popular addon should be:
$5/year, maybe $10/year - Support included, especially for keeping up with core xenforo changes and popular other Addons.
Branding Free: Cost something. Not sure.
developers might get paid to add custom games.
 
Were both ibProArade and v3arcade free ? entirely ?
Was any money generated for the developers ?
The IPB arcade at vB.org is actually a port of an IPB arcade system (hence the name and, not to sound too cynical, but the coding). The person at vB.org who was maintaining the code for a bit was accepting donations but I have no idea what if any that generated for him.

In regards to v3 Arcade, it is freely available for everybody to use. An optional branding free license is available. At the support site people can also make donations if they would like. However, the project has never made a profit during the last few years in the time that we relaunched the project. (The project was initially by John Warwick and was acquired a few years ago by myself with Brian as the lead developer). I am not talking about coming close to breaking even (the biggest expense is the dedicated server for the support site), I am talking about not even coming anywhere near close to breaking even so the project project is a loss every month. But I like working on the project, continue to use it for my own personal sites, and have no plans of changing anything at the moment.

The same will apply to porting v3 Arcade to XenForo in that it will be offered free to everybody who wants to use it.
 
The same will apply to porting v3 Arcade to XenForo in that it will be offered free to everybody who wants to use it.
I think you should reconsider offering it for free. People here pay $140 for their forum. I'm not sure who would even remotely hesitate to pay $5/year to fund something that is really important to them - a good stable arcade.

The lack of funding puts the product ... and therefore everyone's websites at risk.
I'm impressed with your humanitarianism, paying server costs and supporting the arcade ... but ... let's say life's circumstances prevented you from funding everyone else's arcade (as you do now), and you were not able to provide the support and coding any longer.
What's going to happen then ?
John Warwick doesn't seem able to help any longer ? It's logical to predict that your availability isn't a 100% guarantee.
If you don't want to accept the money ... don't. Give it away to charity. or pay the bare minimum bills and give the rest away.
Your time isn't limitless. Say you needed a bit of help updating your Xenforo Arcade ... but needed approximately 20 hours work to update it. Wouldn't some cash on hand to get some assistance help you ?
But I still think people should pay a non-optional $5/year.
I hope you'll reconsider for the sake of the arcade itself.

I would also suggest you have a unique opportunity to support both Xenforo and other Addon makers.
Help Xenforo:
Due to the popularity of "Arcades" ... I think more than a handful of people are not migrating to xenforo due to the lack of an arcade. It might not be the only reason they dont move to xenforo ... but it is an important factor. Xenforo would benefit from having your arcade available as soon as possible. It would be good for bu$iness for Xenforo if your arcade was working. I'm sure you could get your arcade completed faster with some extra money.

Help Xenforo and Xenforo addon makers:
People want a Xenforo arcade. $5/year ... no one is really going to make much of a stink over it. I think the money generated could help you provide more stable support ... which everyone wants. Other addon makers and Xenforo could learn from your experience with this model of development and support. Xenforo benefits A GREAT DEAL from addon makers producing addons.

So if you won't take the $5/year for yourself .... help your arcade, xenforo, and the larger development community !
 
Well, I don't think discussing the money is necessary at the moment, The real question is the stopped convert progress of v3arcade. When the product ready, Let the Kevin and Co to decide whatever they like. We are here to support them in any case.
 
Help Xenforo:
Due to the popularity of "Arcades" ... I think more than a handful of people are not migrating to xenforo due to the lack of an arcade. It might not be the only reason they dont move to xenforo ... but it is an important factor. Xenforo would benefit from having your arcade available as soon as possible. It would be good for bu$iness for Xenforo if your arcade was working. I'm sure you could get your arcade completed faster with some extra money.
I have moved my own 3 vB Forums to XenForo leaving the Arcade behind, and there's no problem at all.
 
I have moved my own 3 vB Forums to XenForo with leaving the Arcade behind, and there's no problem at all.
Excellent.
Very wise to do so.
Xenforo is great.
So that's wise Veer who chose wisely. How would I ask the other 8312 others who said they installed the vB4 arcade ? and the 20,000 who installed it but didn't say and the 20,000 who installed the vB3 version.
How can I get a hold of them .... so you can educate them ?
 
Excellent.
Very wise to do so.
Xenforo is great.
So that's wise Veer who chose wisely. How would I ask the other 8312 others who said they installed the vB4 arcade ? and the 20,000 who installed it but didn't say and the 20,000 who installed the vB3 version.
How can I get a hold of them .... so you can educate them ?
LOL :p
No doubt XenForo is great and that is why we can't wait to move.
 
Some of your items I have actually thought about before. :) To address at least one of them...
The lack of funding puts the product ... and therefore everyone's websites at risk. I'm impressed with your humanitarianism, paying server costs and supporting the arcade ... but ... let's say life's circumstances prevented you from funding everyone else's arcade (as you do now), and you were not able to provide the support and coding any longer.
What's going to happen then ?
In the case of v3 Arcade for vBulletin, if I get hit by a bus on my way home from work then I will gives rights to the project to Brian at vBadvanced. He has full admin access to the support site currently and is the official Lead Developer for the vB version. If I don't get hit by a bus but decide one day that I've had enough of the online life and need to take a break, then the same thing would apply.

Now when it comes to the XF port of v3A, I imagine at the moment that I would likely have something similar in place to ensure continuation of the project in case I get hit by a bus.
 
Well, I don't think discussing the money is necessary at the moment, The real question is the stopped convert progress of v3arcade.
Why not ? That's when projects need the money the most ... at the beginning.

.. in case I get hit by a bus.
OK. sounds good we can cross of the "get hit by the bus" worries.
Kevin ... as much as I love your Mother Teresa "I code, support arcades for 'free'" attitude.
I think you should consider being a pioneer in the Xenforo Addon community for the mutual benefit of xenforo, developers, site admins, and your arcade itself.
Do it for the kids man.
 
Why not ? That's when projects need the money the most ... at the beginning.
... and up to a point I am willing to fund it. Just need to find a reliable coder.

OK. sounds good we can cross of the "get hit by the bus" worries.
Kevin ... as much as I love your Mother Teresa "I code, support arcades for 'free'" attitude.
I think you should consider being a pioneer in the Xenforo Addon community for the mutual benefit of xenforo, developers, site admins, and your arcade itself.
Do it for the kids man.
Charging for an XF add-on, when previously it was available for free, doesn't seem like much a of a "community" thing to me.
 
:)
How about we hash out some pluses and minuses before we make an firm commitments, sound OK ?
I'm not sure what's best either.

I do know that people will pay 99 cents for something in the APPS store ... they know they'll only use twice.
Like that iphone is a beer and if you pretend you are drinking the beer by tilting the iphone ... the level of the beer actually goes down !

I did say $5, right ?
Sorry ... was there a typo and I typed $50 ?

Update: Nope. I double checked. No typo. $5.
 
... and up to a point I am willing to fund it. Just need to find a reliable coder.

Charging for an XF add-on, when previously it was available for free, doesn't seem like much a of a "community" thing to me.

I have seen him Pushing every Developers here to charge for their Products lol but it would be better to Release Add-on for free and keep Branding Free option with it :P
 
I have seen him Pushing every Developers here to charge for their Products lol but it would be better to Release Add-on for free and keep Branding Free option with it :p
He gets pretty annoying, ya know with telling everyone what to do with their projects, and ignoring that his input means very little to anyone but him.
 
$5 = server costs for approximately 6 days.

He gets pretty annoying, ya know with telling everyone what to do with their projects, and ignoring that his input means very little to anyone but him.
Cheer up Forsaken.
As opposed to vague slander, I think myself and everyone could use your ideas to better understand the topics at hand.
 
I have seen him Pushing every Developers here to charge for their Products lol but it would be better to Release Add-on for free and keep Branding Free option with it :p
That's his hobby, don't worry he is a doctor also :p ;)
 
$5 = server costs for approximately 6 days.

They really don't need to do that :P I have donated for every Add-on's that i am using right now even for styles with branding free option . One just need to come up with good Add-on there are many supports who won't hesitate to donate for their work .
 
They really don't need to do that :p I have donated for every Add-on's that i am using right now even for styles with branding free option .
Awesome.
One just need to come up with good Add-on there are many supports who won't hesitate to donate for their work .
Actually. that's appears not to be the case. Even with ultra popular addons.

I am not talking about coming close to breaking even (the biggest expense is the dedicated server for the support site), I am talking about not even coming anywhere near close to breaking even so the project is a loss every month.

As much it is great you support addons .. too few people respect and support the work.

How about we just let the add-on developers decide themselves whether to charge or not? They're the ones in the best position to make any decisions regarding charges.
Of course addon makers must choose what is best for themselves and their addon.

I think most people would LIKE to contribute to Addons ... and $5/year from everyone is a bargain for everyone involved.
vBulletin addons suffered the same problem Xenforo is getting into. No money ... support dies ... the addon dies ... and everyone is unhappy. I'm not saying $5/year buys 24/7/365 support. I'm saying it helps.
 
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