Setting up a NEW home for the SC.com

Jaxel · #1 5th Aug 2008, 01:36

Back when SoulCalibur.com went down and was taken away from us by Namco, I was in the process of putting together a new place for the Soul Calibur community. I even bought TaleofSouls.com for the move. However, WCMaxi returned and set us up this home at caliburforum.com before I got the chance to put all my plans together. Unfortunately, only half a year later, WCMaxi is once again lost to us and this community requires a lot more maintenance than he is willing to invest.

So it looks like once again, we need to find a new home. Here is what I want to do... I want to set up a personal virtual private server account at ASO (http://www.asmallorange.com/services/vps/). Why ASO over other hosts? I've done a lot of research on hosts, and I've even used many of them myself; ASO is the only host that I have never heard anything bad about. Yes, they are possibly the most expensive host; but I think this community has come to the point where we are no longer willing to mess around with less than the best.

So a personal virtual private server account is $50 a month (and we can upgrade if we ever need to). So right now, I'm willing to accept donations in preparation of putting together a new forum. However, I will not begin setting it up until I get enough donations to cover a FULL YEAR of hosting, and a vBulletin License code. You guys know me, as much as I hated SC3, I never left the community. so I will most definately be around to maintain and upgrade the forums as needed.

So what do you guys think? As well, I'm looking for some peopel to come up with some UNIQUE vBulletin designs for the new forum.

Dlent · #2 5th Aug 2008, 01:39

I think I speak for everyone when I say "I like this idea!"

shauno · #3 5th Aug 2008, 01:42

Good idea, but what happens after a year if money is an issue? Support for forums ebbs and flows with updates and new releases, but it'll be $50 a month regardless. So it won't be a financial burden for the mods, maybe a cheaper site would work fine?

I still support the idea.

Jaxel · #4 5th Aug 2008, 01:48

Quote:

Originally posted by shauno
Good idea, but what happens after a year if money is an issue? Support for forums ebbs and flows with updates and new releases, but it'll be $50 a month regardless. So it won't be a financial burden for the mods, maybe a cheaper site would work fine?

The only thing cheaper than $50 a month, are SHARED hosting accounts (instead of Virtual Private Server accounts)... And I can tell you from experience, you CAN NOT adequately run a vBulletin forum on a shared hosting account.

Admiral_TvS · #5 5th Aug 2008, 01:50

Jaxel's idea will do for now, cuz the matter is quite urgent.
I am sure among all those members on this forum, especially the veterans, there are plenty enough to financially support this. I would have no problem donating $50 per year to keep this community alive.

SC 2 AI · #6 5th Aug 2008, 02:12

How do I donate? Since I want this fixed quick.

Zoop · #7 5th Aug 2008, 02:18

Quote:

Originally posted by SC 2 AI
How do I donate? Since I want this fixed quick.

Likewise. I may be a nobody here, but I do have some cash in my paypal account that I wouldn't mind putting forward for the purpose of doing away with the database errors, etc.

DancingFighterG · #8 5th Aug 2008, 03:39

Yo, this is DancingFighterG. Jaxel, here is a better idea. The NVGA can create an addition to our boards for Soul Calibur. We can make all the sections and sub sections that we need. We handle the cost of the boards because it our main base online. We know our host works fine. Simple and two the point. The only thing that we would need is to make a skin for soul calibur but that's not hard but takes some time.

Rico · #9 5th Aug 2008, 03:39

Set something up and I will definitely donate.

I can't guarantee it'll be a lot, but I will help with what I can.

DancingFighterG · #10 5th Aug 2008, 04:04

Yo, this is DancingFighterG. Hey guys, I just talked to me skin guy and we can have a skin ready for the SC site by Friday. Making the sections is quick and we would have a seperate domain name just for this section of the site. We would recreate all the sections from here with a name change so we are not breaking anyones copywright and we would just have to copy and paste a lot of the information to the other site. I would like to get the moderators of each section here and move the info. I would give you moderator access to this.

So pretty much were are ready to provide a new home if people want it.

Keldon Creep · #11 5th Aug 2008, 04:24

DancingFighterG the community not only wants it, it needs it. We need a server admin who's in it for the long haul. If you're willing to take that responsibility just do it. Don't wait for the community to respond, we can be slow on things that require action. Just look at our Nationals thread.

we gotta hold this community together if it's ever going to ammount to international recognition. And having WCMaxi holding us back isn't helping anything.

Jaxel · #12 5th Aug 2008, 05:04

As much as I like the idea of DFG just setting up shop for us at NVGA, I cant help but think about all the things we would lose, by being just a division of another forum. DFG's route is definately the cheapest (free), and they have proven servers that we know can handle our traffic... As well, NVGA is handling Nationals for us, so that would make it even easier on them.

However, at the same time, I dont know how people would feel about such a thing. For my own opinions, I would rather have a place we can call our "own", instead of just part of NVGA. As well, being on NVGA restricts our ability to be "more" than just a forum. But thats just my opinion, so I would be happy to hear what people want.

Until we decide what we want to do, I'm not setting up a donation link.

Trissnorton · #13 5th Aug 2008, 05:11

Im willing to donate a couple of bucks per month for this to happen.

Maybe Namco could support some? This forum is worth a lot more than $50/month for them.

I wouldn't mind some Google ads or something similar on the site if it could help bring in some cash.

Dreamkiller · #14 5th Aug 2008, 05:29

DFG - Its nice, but no. We're FINALLY gonna end up working together to get a real good site, and it'll prolly be alot better for us, and the more people who will eventually join if were more than an "addition" on some other site. It wouldnt be the same. We need our own site. Jus something like this site right now, only a trillion times better.

-We've lasted this long with this crappy site, cause no one wanted to do anything about it, Jaxel's steppin up, We'll jus donate towards the new site until it comes up. Besides, it's not like Nats or it's qualifiers are starting tomorow anyway. From here, till then we should have a good site.

Admiral_TvS · #15 5th Aug 2008, 05:30

I think the offer is really nice of DancingFighterG, but I have to agree with Jaxel on this one. My gut is telling me that losing our independence is not such a good idea . . . that should only be a last resort. Let's first try it the donate way.

Keldon Creep · #16 5th Aug 2008, 05:41

upon further thought, it would be better for the community to have it's own well maintained site. Links to achievements and contributions of the community on the main page. It'd be almost a reversion to the old Guardimpact.com site (2hectic you're the man)

If you guys are sure you're up for it, i'm on board. But just know that i'm gonna be riding your ass the whole way through.

Shen Yu · #17 5th Aug 2008, 06:14

I'd definitely support this. I do wonder if we're going to try migrate all the data/posts over though. I imagine without direct access to the database that's going to be hard.

Jaxel · #18 5th Aug 2008, 06:48

Actually, I can extract the database... I just cant run commands on it... But either way, this 10 year old version of vB wouldn't be compatible anyways. So either way, we gotta start from scratch...

So we have choices... I have selected three:

vBulletin (definately the most modifiable forum out there, if it cant do what you need, chances are someone has written a mod for it that will)
- http://www.tekkenzaibatsu.com/
- http://www.shishi-rendan.com/

Invision Board (One of the smoothest and best running forums. However, it lacks the mod development communities of other forums)
- http://www.nvgaonline.com/

UBB.threads (UBB is the most "complete" forum, it has what most forums have from the start, without the need for modifications)
- http://www.ubbdev.com/
- http://www.virtuafighter.com/

I've had the most experience with vBulletin, and if you ask me, it runs like shit. I used to use UBB back in the late 90's when it was still running on Perl and it was great. (almost all forums are in PHP now, Perl is so much better!)

#19 5th Aug 2008, 06:50

Hey, tekkenzaibatsu has the 'contributor' thing going on. Twenty bucks a year gets you a glowing name, a listing as a contributor, etc... Could we do something like this, Jaxel? I guess I'm asking if you can do something like this.

Anyway, I'd be perfectly willing to shell over twenty bucks a year to keep up a badass site.

But with a cooler domain name.

Just saying.

(contest!)

Shen Yu · #20 5th Aug 2008, 07:07

I'm sure there's converters available to translate the old posts/forum structure/users to a new format. I think most forum software actually comes with tools for this. As for forum software, I'm kinda partial to Invision and SMF. But I think sticking with vB might be the best choice here.

Jaxel · #21 5th Aug 2008, 07:08

That is a GREAT idea... (I myself am a contributor member on SRK)

I know for a fact that vB supports this (I did it on my own forum), right now I am looking into finding out whether or not UBB supports subscription services as well...

Also, we need a LAYOUT. I'm not very good at design; so would someone out there be willing to come up with a VB or UBB layout for us?

As for a new domain name... email or AIM me your ideas (DO NOT post them here on this thread)... Right now I have "TaleofSouls.com", but I guess we need something better. I also have "CaliburNationals.com".

SH · #22 5th Aug 2008, 07:13

Given my limited knowledge of the situation, I like DFG's approach.

- up and running in a week
- identical layout
- fast server
- no cost
- no hassle

The quick startup (e.g. low resource investment) and no sunk cost are key. If NVGA doesn't work out, the opportunity cost to switch to something better is negligible.

DFG has been consistently positive and less of an attention whore, and I have more faith in his ability to do what is right for the community.

In summary:

1) DFG starts work on prepping the NVGA site
2) we move next week
3) re-evaluate the situation over the next few weeks and consider alternatives as necessary

***

Edit: And we should get HeartNana to weigh in on this before finalizing anything.

Alex.J · #23 5th Aug 2008, 07:47

I fully agree with SH

Funked · #24 5th Aug 2008, 07:54

I think if we do decied to depart from this forum, it should be a seperate forum, not a division of another forum. We need to stand out as a community.

I think the members deal is sweet, and could have great bennifets. I can try and talk to WCM about the server and see what he can do for us, who knows if anything. I know he is in Japan, and isn't really going to be set up for another month or so.

Moving to a new site that can handle the traffic may, increase player base as well.

Zoop · #25 5th Aug 2008, 08:02

Having your own site with your own forum and database affords you infinitely more freedom than being a mere subdivision of another person/group's existing forum. There is a lot that you can do with your own space that wouldn't otherwise be available to you. Not only that, but I think a dedicated Soul Calibur community site would be much more apt to grow as time goes by.

I've been here for close to no time at all, but I can say that if a community is organized enough to hold tournaments and the like, they should be organized enough to pool some cash for hosting and the like.