RPGWatch - Falling for the Evil Ads Empire?

Like all the other respondents (so far), I have no problem with ads, especially considering the criteria you have stated you intend to apply to any ads you may include with the site.

Unlike Dajjer, however, I am willing to pay for an annual subscription to the site if that would help minimize the number of ads needed and simply to help keep the site going.

Just don't get in bed with Jolt again, OK?

First of all, it's your site and you have the right and power to do exactly what you wish with it. I don't believe you owe us anything, just as I don't believe we owe you anything in return, except gratitude towards you as a host.

Personally, I would never support advertisements unless I was absolutely sure it was a beneficial thing, as in actually making a positive difference. For the same reason I would never act or appear in any commercial - given the choice - unless I was convinced the product was exactly as advertised and worth every cent. But I'm weird in that way, and I'm even more weird as I'm never motivated by material wealth in anything I do.

The concept of making your product known is fine, and I fully support the ability to do just that. What I despise is the way it's put into practice by 99% of the market forces. The way it's become fully accepted to lie and deceive, and to buntly disrupt whatever you're trying to watch/read - simply to push your product on any potential target - regardless of actual value or relevance, is fully incomprehensible to me. I know of no more efficient and prevalent facilitators of greed that are so fully dominant in our lives as advertisements.

Originally Posted by kalniel
I don't mind, but I think it limits what you can review/talk about so much in the forums - if anyone from RPGWATCH posts anything positive about GOG now it will look like their view is being influenced by advertising money, and independence is one of the best things about RPGWATCH.

I'm sure this will come up at some point. The reality is that this makes no practical difference to our editors - to date, Myrthos has borne the site costs and (in the main) other volunteers provide the content. From a purely selfish perspective, it makes absolutely no difference to me: I neither paid nor received money before, and I neither pay nor receive anything after.

@Prime Junta - we were never "anti ad". The costs were manageable and we had bad experiences before, so we simply didn't bother about it. Along the way, a few offers have been made that we didn't think were worth the hassle or fit the theme of the site until now.

I have no problem with simple ads especially if game-related.

Yep, it's not that we're anti-ads, but rather we'd been ad'd to death at the old Dot and decided to subtract ourselves!! (Apologies for the terrible pun, but I couldn't resist)

I don't mind the ad, I noticed it before, but since I'm probably not going to buy games anytime soon (still playing M&B full-time now that the new version of the mods are coming out) I'm sorry I'm not going to be giving you any money …

Originally Posted by Korplem
I think that our particular brand of anti-ad culture comes from the days at RPGDot when it got out of control.

Some of us probably still remember the Fable ad.

Please…..NO…NO….NO!!!!!!!!! Argh……….. That was the one reason I didn't even consider buying that game!!

It is scary what the internet does to the young people of today. I did not notice this add at all, my eyes just ignore ads automatically, I never see them on any website! I was acctually shocked when I looked and saw the ad there, and thought like how could I not have seen that?? hehe.

Either way to have an ad for GOG is great! It is helping this great cause.

However if you started having ads for individual games like:
Buy Eschalon book 2, and the game at the same time got a rave review… I would start having my doubts. Besides I think this site advertise these games in the best way it could by its coverage and exclusive previews.

Like others, I don't really mind, but I've got a tiny request: would it be possible to center the ad? It's really ugly as it stands, IMHO. Or, heck, add another to the right, just make it more symmetrical somehow!

I dont like it but i dont want this site to go.
I knew it was a matter of time before it would happen.

A small suggestion : Can you make it smaller and put it more to the right?

You know.
I noticed right away but didn't dare speak up.
I found this thread and just couldn't hold back anymore.

Anyway.

I love this site.
You guys are doing a hell of a good job.
Keep on going!
That's all I ask of you.

Peace be with you. M'kay?

Reading between the lines suggests if this ad is a success there could be more later ?

Trying to look ahead, is there a method of deciding "acceptable" limits of ads ?

I also personally don't like any ads.

Seasons Greetings.

I didn't even noticed and I only saw the add when I was on pae 2.
As long as it doesnt become as annoying as with the dot, wich wasn't your fault anyway, I can live with it.

I have to agree with GothicGothicness: my brain is so used to ads that simple adds like this don't even get noticed anymore

VPeric, enodenroH: I had the same problem; Myrthos informed me that it's because my browser was caching an old version of a stylesheet. Just ctrl-shift-reload the page once and it'll sort itself out.

The only ads I have a problem with are the ones that pop up an ad based on your mouse accidentally hovering over keywords inserted into an article. That drives me crazy and is offensive.

Originally Posted by Wulf
Reading between the lines suggests if this ad is a success there could be more later ?

There might be more than one ad rotating at the same location. As to more banners at the same time; the design we have now doesn't take multiple ads into account (and we are not planning any redesigns)

The good thing about ads is that you can:
ignore
or

them.

Originally Posted by Prime Junta
VPeric, enodenroH: I had the same problem; Myrthos informed me that it's because my browser was caching an old version of a stylesheet. Just ctrl-shift-reload the page once and it'll sort itself out.

Ah yes, it looks fine now (even without the forced reload). Yep, it honestly doesn't bother me at all now.

I'll make a point of reading the ads and carefully considering those products and services.

How's that for brown-nosing?

Personally, I would never support any advertizement unless it produced income for me.

But I didn't even notice and had to scroll up just to see what this post was about. Who cares? Yahtzee said that he considers advertizing on the site from a game he's reviewing to be a sort of challenge.