Response to Russ' Front Page Letter.

[Morrus]

Well, for example I'm up right now at 2.20am trying to help one of the hosted site people with some things to do with their forums (despite the fact that I have to be up early tomorrow/today). I'm also, as I have done many times late at night, fighting with various settings and files, trying to get things working right.

I don't know why I feel the need to tell you that; as you say, it doesn't matter to you, and that's cool. I've never asked you for anything, and I'm not asking you for anything now. It's just that you asked.

As for "secrecy" - well, I haven't seen your bank statement recently, either! How about we leave it at the fact that the Community Supporters don't cover server costs; where I make the shortfall up from isn't important.

You know, I can't help but wonder why this matters to you so much? It certainly has no effect on you, in terms of time or money. Can't you just accept that you have this free website to use and leave it at that?

Anyway, if you have any more questions, how about we take it to private email? I may or may not be willing to answer all your questions, but I don't think that this is the place for them.

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

Morrus is escaping! Seize him!

(motions for Imperial Guardmen)

 

[ashockney]

What have you done?

News?

Providing new information; information previously unknown; recent happenings

Community?

Any group living in the same area or having similiar interests; a sharing in common

Friends?

A person whom one knows well and is fond of; an allly, supporter, or sympathaizer


Which do you think you've created? The answer for me is all of the above. Congratulations on a wonderful accomplishment. Truly a marvel to behold.

As others have done, I offer thanks not just to Russ for all the work he's done, but to all the people who've invested their time, money, blood, sweat, and tears into this community.

If I might be bold, I'd like to also offer a suggestion for consideration. There comes a time in a businesses' life cycle, where the processes, people, and resources of the business will grow beyond the vision and resources of one man. This is typical and normal for a business. In some instances, business owners may consider offering the future stewardship of their business's vision to a group of shareholders. The shareholders are comprised of investors into the vision or idea. The investment is typically financial, but it doesn't have to be. The offering of investment into shareholders can be done "publicly" or "privately". The shareholders can then elect a board of directors from among their ranks, to lead the business into a whole new paradigm with the resources available to it. Should you choose to pursue such a course, it may offer you the opportunity to take on whatever role you should desire: principle shareholder, director, member, or simply member of the production staff. As far as my suggestion goes, as is always the case, this is your show Morrus! You've taken it this far, and we've enjoyed watching.

Good luck in your future work endeavors. Please do not hesitate to use your significant networking resources through this community to help you. I'm sure there are no shortage of people who could provide professional advice on career hunting, resume writing, mentoring, and networking contacts/hiring managers in your geographic area and desired fields.

 

[Greybar]

Good Luck Morrus!
I certainly understand the need for a solid job and solid income (and regular hours!)
Hey, if InkTank is to be believed, Blizzard is looking for someone to coordinate the Warcraft Community ... you've got the expertise in spades!
Heck, with that job I could see how you wouldn't even need to move to the Northwest USA.

In any case, good luck and thank you thank you thank you.

john
p.s. darn, they do want someone to move to California.

 

[Rel]

I want to offer a message in contrast to what reapersaurus posted. I want to be clear that I'm not suggesting that his view point is invalid, but it is certainly not universal (nor do I think that he thinks it is).

My own use of the site is somewhat parallel to his in that I rarely make use of the other features outside the forums. Once in a while if I'm contemplating purchasing a particular product, I'll check out the reviews on it. More often I'll just post about it or read what others are saying on the forums.

Regardless, to me, the forums alone are worth the cost of being a Community Supporter. When I posted above about being sorry that I hadn't gotten off my lazy butt to do it, I did so in a kidding manner, but there was a kernel of truth to it too. I'm going to remedy that today.

As far as where the money goes, my first inclination is to say "I don't care". But that is false. If I had my way about it, Morrus would be getting bloody rich off of this site. Everything I've seen indicates that he is a great guy who made a pretty ballsy move in taking up the reins of this site when Eric felt that he needed to walk away. I wish him nothing but prosperity as a result.

To me it is as simple as this: ENWorld (the forums anyway) is a tremendously valuable resource to me. If I had to attach a dollar figure to it, it would be a number considerably higher than the cost of a Community Supporter account. It has a value much greater than that provided by my FLGS and yet I'm constantly seeing threads about how I should spend extra money (in the form of paying more for books there than I would at Amazon or Walmart) to support them. It has a value to me greater than a Dragon Magazine subscription.

Others may feel differently. They may feel that there are plenty of other places they can go and talk about D&D and not feel like they need to spend a dime on this site. The fact is that you DON'T have to spend a dime on this site and that's what I've done for my whole tenure here. But I think it is analagous to a great piece of Freeware. Nobody is making you spend money to support it. But if you feel like it has value to you and you want to express your thanks to the developer, then maybe they'll keep producing more great products. At very least your gratitude will be made known.

So anyway, I'm going to put my money where my mouth is today and send in the cash for my Community Supporter account. I don't know what Morrus will spend it on. Maybe it will help pay for the costs of the forums or maybe he'll buy a D&D book he's been wanting. I wish it were padding his already full bank account.

Most of all, I hope he will consider it a small, and long overdue, token of my gratitude for the great service he provides.

 

[Pielorinho]

Thank you, Morrus -- you've done an awesome job. The fact that you've done it withouth prior professional database training makes the job you've done even awesomer.

Daniel

 

[Henry]

Just one other quick thought I'll throw into this thread, as well as previously elsewhere:

Morrus running the site as a for-profit business venture was not a secret. I knew about it two years ago, early in 2002, before I ever became a mod here; and in fact Eric Noah mentioned it in a public thread long ago, complimenting Russ on his resolve to run it as a full-time business, when Eric himself chose not to do so.

That was, I'll assume, the purpose of the Community supporter accounts, the EN publishing venture, the forum banner ads, and other sources of revenue; that of full-time business, with himself being an employee.

So, I'll leave it at that; it just wasn't a secret.

 

[haiiro]

I was worried when I started reading The Letter, but by the end it was clear that you're making a good decision, Morrus.

Thank you for everything.

 

[Truth Seeker]

The Escape...

(Click)...waaaaarrrrrummmm....[lightsaber on....]

Go...Morrus, find shelter...I will stop this wretched guard that will TRY to deny you the freedom that you deserved...

Go....and don't look back (Saying this while facing the incoming enemy during this time.)

May the Gaming be with you....always.

(Sounds of metal screaming and cries of pain are heard after that.)

 

[BrooklynKnight]

Looks like my other post never made it through.

I have a question Morrus.

Since you're no longer gonna be taking profit from Enworld to help pay for IRL expenses, will this money be redirected into ENworld itself?

Or will you simply shut down the things that make that money?

You had every right, in my not so humble opinion, to use profits from this site to pay for your living expenses. Since you'll no longer be doing that i'm hoping to see that money used on a new server or ISP....or perhaps a more streamlined hosting service for RPG sites or something like that.

eek, i guess i'm starting to go into ways that enworld could be more of a buisness when you want to step away from that. sorry.

but with that in mind. Since YOU wont be running the buisness parts. Who will. Jason is your partner for EN Publishing. Will it be him? Or will he remain doing only ENP work.

Im just curious is all. You dont owe me any kind of answer or explination i'd just like to be informed if thats possible.

Edit: i do plan to get a community supporter account eventually i'm just short on money now :-D