+Erik 1,812 Posted June 29, 2008 Hello Everyone; I'd like to take a few moments to announce some new opportunities and features here at CombatACE.com. Before I talk about the new features, it is important to outline some history and facts. Just a short year and half ago when MK2 decided to step up and provide for this community, our membership hovered around 3,000. Today it is nearing 30,000. In the early days of our community it was common for us to provide five to six hundred Gigabytes (GB) of data transfer each month. Currently, in line with our continuing growth in the community, our consumption demands have grown exponentially and are now measured not in GB but in Tera bytes (TB) (1TB = 1000GB) each month. We're pleased with the growth of the community and the popularity of all the available downloads and site wide features and assets. We would like to continue that forward momentum with an idea geared toward member support that will work seamlessly with the daily download limits currently in use. As I mentioned, CombatACE has been solely supported by a single benefactor, MK2, for over a year and half. Our monthly expenses average roughly 500.00 USD and in total over $11,000.00 USD have been invested toward the continuation of the community. That said, it should be no secret that the major expense here at CombatACE is the bandwidth and physical demand incurred by our download section. The download section itself is stocked with releases from the modding community and have a combined download count over 2.5 million transfers. With that in mind, please take a moment to sign our thank you thread for MK2 ::LINK TO POST:: In the past we provided ad space which in theory should have covered the expenses, but the reality is quite another picture. Internet advertisers, even for the biggest sites, like to barter away exposure instead of paying for it. There are some exceptions but they are far and few between. For this reason our ability to offset costs with revenue generated from ads simply hasn't happened. More recent and for the past few months I'm sure you've all seen ads on the site for American Express, CompUSA, Match.com, and more. Those ads were part of our link share program we tried out as a way to generate some revenue. The basic design of this program allows for advertisers like those mentioned above to pay for actual sales instead of ad space. Using our site as an example we cluttered up the user space with banners in the expectation members would find the content interesting enough to click through to the advertiser's site and buy whatever they were selling. During our attempt at generating revenue through link share we gave away over a hundred million unique impressions, had 9,329 click throughs to advertisers, but $0.00 in sales which generated $0.00 in revenue. We've since discontinued our advertising link share program. When we rolled out the daily download limits they met with some stern objections from our members. We knew then that as a temporary solution to limiting our exposure we'd need to come up with a plan to allow members the option to upgrade their individual accounts. Our new member subscriptions fill that need nicely in an affordable way to not only give you unlimited access to downloads but provide you with an opportunity to show support for your community. Subscription Plans offer: Unlimited access to downloads Larger storage limits for onsite images and files More flexible member benefits for posting and board access More profile features Member badges and identification identifying you as a proud contributor and supporter Today's new release of member subscription accounts won't affect our non-subscriber accounts. Everyone who has joined or will join our community starts with a free non-subscriber account, and those free accounts will retain the download limits. On top of this, we will now offer paid subscription accounts that will lift all the download restrictions. The new subscription accounts are easy to purchase and are handled through PayPal for secure, private, and convenient access. Member subscriptions are available in 1 month, 6 month, and 1 year plans. Designed to allow our members access to more site features, more storage, and more downloads it's a perfect fit for the CombatACE in you. Click the banner below to go to your subscription area and sign up for a plan today. Support the community that supports you! UNLOCK YOUR DOWNLOADS CLICK HERE Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
column5 63 Posted June 29, 2008 w00t! Premier member now! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Syrinx 13 Posted June 29, 2008 w00t! Premier member now! Ditto ! "Just doing my part, Sir!" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MigBuster 2,884 Posted June 29, 2008 Ditto ! "Just doing my part, Sir!" Hmm - why has it changed your status - no one will know you are a Moderator now! Tell me what to do will you Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
super61 0 Posted June 29, 2008 It is great to give back! I'll get grief from the Mrs., but this is one battle where I consider the crying and screaming worth it (not sure what the wife's response would be though). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kesegy 5 Posted June 29, 2008 glad to support the best site for the best sim. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+ordway 23 Posted June 29, 2008 I just did my part...and added a new cockpit! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Syrinx 13 Posted June 29, 2008 Starship Troopers anyone? Join CA, get exclusive access to great new mods...would you like to know more? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Muesli 2,161 Posted June 29, 2008 If I was to have an alternative method of payment (I have no credit card, no PayPal because I have no money ) I would gladly become a member for infinite time, providing I am allowed to continue uploading the meagre stuff I uploaded in the past! I applaude the initiative, but I want to know what I will notice if I stay a non-paying member. Will some downloads be off-limits? Will there be specials I do not get access to? Well, we'll see won't we? Keep it up! Muesli Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Erik 1,812 Posted June 29, 2008 The fundamental idea is to include more membership perks while still providing for the free segment of our community. Modders have perks that paid and non-paid members do not. So keeping in line with that philosophy paid members have perks that free members do not. Another way to look at our new community based model is that our modders give to the community with their contributions and our paid members give to the community financially. Both segments are required to keep the site open for EVERYONE to enjoy. If we had stayed with the 100% free community model by next month we would be shutting the doors. We fealt that wasn't an agreeable position for anyone knowing everyone would loose out. Of course some wealthy billionaire might hang out here and endow the site with a massive cash infusion to ensure it's continued operation but so far we've not met up with one of those. If you happen to know any please send them our way. Our new model is based on a simple design of the more you give the more you get. It's the fairest 100% community driven, supported, and maintained structure we could come up with that would allow access to all segments of viewers. Stay tuned there's more to come with the new ideas we're fostering behind the scenes to refine an organizational plan that will allow CombatACE and the community a bright foreseeable future. Show your support for our efforts subscribe today. Erik Thompson CombatACE.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Icarus999 70 Posted June 30, 2008 (edited) Count me in, this site and all of the modders who share their works here have improved my games so much that I would feel like a total jackass if I did not give something back to this community. Thank you all. Edited June 30, 2008 by Icarus999 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Buzz73 0 Posted July 1, 2008 Will a download 'Resume' feature be enabled for those of us still on dial-up? (I use download managers, none of which have worked with combatace .rar downloads, occasionally with combatace .zip downloads.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Longestpants 1 Posted July 1, 2008 Will a download 'Resume' feature be enabled for those of us still on dial-up? (I use download managers, none of which have worked with combatace .rar downloads, occasionally with combatace .zip downloads.) Isn't pausing/resuming a download a browser feature? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firehawkordy 34 Posted July 1, 2008 Did my part, about time I was able to give back. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
topcat II 6 Posted July 1, 2008 Did my part glad to give back!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Typhoid 231 Posted July 1, 2008 reporting for financing - or something like that. Looking at this as having several more flight sims (based on the originals) a low cost investment. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Jug 99 Posted July 1, 2008 Did my part, about time I was able to give back. Jug's in! About time we have a change to help support our best habit......... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Dave 2,322 Posted July 2, 2008 Man you guys are great. We can't thank you enough. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+DoctorQuest 125 Posted July 2, 2008 I'm in. Sorry. Had to wait for payday. You should also be proud to know I am using part of my economic stimulus funds for this. Is this a great country or what???? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+drdoyo 2 Posted July 2, 2008 Been busy with work, but I'm in too now. Thanks to Eric and the rest of the staff for their support to keep the community going!! I can't imagine what it must have been like to come up with any kind of workable solution. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SandyC 2 Posted July 12, 2008 Thanks for an easy way to support a great site. Without CombatAce...well. it doesn't bear thinking about! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
