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The problem is that few people want to read ads, except for secondary reasons, such as supporting a site, or if they happen to be looking for a particular product. But in those cases a search on pricewatch, google, usenet, or other such places gives more impartial information anyway.

Yes, I agree that supporting independent journalism is a noble goal. I'm just pointing out the fact that in most cases ads are distracting and annoying.

So what could be an alternative?

I don't know. Perhaps ads is an necessary evil for some sites. Certain community centered or otherwise useful sites could live on a donation model. Lum The Mad and Penny Arcade are examples of two sites that seem to be more or less working with this method. Sites like these can also sell T-shirts and similar, this way fans get something tangible and feel that they support their favourite site.

Other sites could try to get sponsoring from some suitable corporation or organization, in these cases some 'hosted by' -logo is often reuired, but it is often much less visually distracting than pop up ads.

I suppose this will still leave a lot of high traffic sites that need some alternative way to make income.

But pretending that ads are enjoyable just because they provide a living for some possibly good sites is self-deception and will not help solve the problem.

Well, that's my 0.05 €

Just published today in fact, a nice little piece about Cal Ripkin, Jr.

"Cal Ripken eats his vegetables"

For an irreverant look at Lineage, hop over to a review done by LtM a few months back ...

see the discussion already in progress at Lum the Mad's website.

And to add to the on-topic discussion: it's interesting to see what can happen when the majority of 'net users don't actually own their machines but rent them by the hour at the cafes. Get your character ganked 'cross-country, can't do a thing. Sitting next to the guy, or a few blocks away? Maybe you'll rough him up.
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Neocron: Also SciFi, more FPS style of gameplay.

WW2 Online: Realism-heavy Land-Air combat in a World War Two setting.

Sovereign: Massively Multiplayer RTS, think Total Annihilation in a persistent universe with hundreds of players (like a modern version of the original Empire, if you can remember it, the one you played by Telnet).

Jumpgate: Space Sim.

There's others, ranging from a driving game (Motor City Online) to persistant universe, massively multiplayer versions of Black and White or The Sims. Lum the Mad keeps a collection of the ones that have gotten any significant attention or backing. The one I'm working on is a fantasy RPG, but the choices will be branching out soon.

Some, like Anarchy Online or DAoC, will be out in a few months, others are a year or more out.

--Dave Rickey

lumthemad.net has been covering this for a while ... this article dicusses a rumor that Garriot has obtained a controlling interest in NCSoft which is currently developing a game called Lineage

The article is here ...

Secondly, it looks like he'll be charging a bit for his next online game (maybe as much as $30 a month) ... that's here.

_f

lumthemad.net has been covering this for a while ... this article dicusses a rumor that Garriot has obtained a controlling interest in NCSoft which is currently developing a game called Lineage

The article is here ...

Secondly, it looks like he'll be charging a bit for his next online game (maybe as much as $30 a month) ... that's here.

_f

lumthemad.net has been covering this for a while ... this article dicusses a rumor that Garriot has obtained a controlling interest in NCSoft which is currently developing a game called Lineage

The article is here ...

Secondly, it looks like he'll be charging a bit for his next online game (maybe as much as $30 a month) ... that's here.

_f

Waitasec... They can't even afford to pay their own affiliates!!! How the hell are they supposed to have the money to buy another company?!!?!?! Look here for more info on the vile UGO network.

I'm not a webmaster in the "community proprietor" sense, but I've been very interested in how Tip Jars are evolving.

It's my opinion that the smaller, agile, and useful web sites will survive via people throwing them a buck or two every so often. I did this just for the first time the other day, at a little site called MikoDocs, and man did it feel good. I found his site through Google and PayPal-ed the guy for saving me time. He sent a thank you response. Very fulfilling, way better than responding to a plea to click on an ad.

If the site you oversee is truly valuable to your users, and has an active community, I don't think you'll have any problems collecting money to cover costs, if that's your goal. Lum the Mad (whose site I can't get to at the moment) did a cool thing in sharing the balance sheet with his usership (expenses vs. donations). Very cool feedback that I think would encourage more people to donate. He even caps his donations when he covers the month's expenses.

I think it's time to smack down these parasitic "ad networks" and kick off the next wave -- Tip Jar Meritocracy (sm).

Please visit eFront.com to get your site hosted and use a banner ad payment system. That really works!

In order to have rights, a creature must also be responsible (this is why talk of animal rights is so much crap.

Likewise, children are clearly not responsible, so human rights do not apply to them. The U.S. Already recognizes this to some extent (children cannot vote), but we must take further steps to further this fundamental principle. First, we must repeal the child-labor statutes. Second, we must explicitly legalize the beating of children. How can children expect to avoid punishment for all of the myriad inconveniences they cause because of some liberal concept like "children's rights". No, it is clear that until children can get a job and support themselves, they do not have the right to protection from beatings and the like. Free Tony Lamont Bragg Sr.!

< /bitter sarcasm >

EverLore got a hold of the Sony PR monkey who gave three brief reasons for the request for eBay discontinue the auctions: "Potential for our players to be defrauded, it poses an unfair advantage to a select few and finally, it breaks the End User License Agreement."

Dawn is almost certainly vapourware. If you follow the decent MMORPG sites (e.g. Lum's) you'll have seen them take quite a pasting from most neutral observers and even some of their own fansites.

According to The Rantings of Lum the Mad, EQ Vault restored an *old* backup of their newsfiles.

Verant backed down and does not scan people's computer for 'unauthorized' programs.

Verant are still evil, but his particular evil episode happened almost 6 months ago
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Don't suppose that's Rune Conquest you're working on? :-)