Well, as we all know, the image server seems to be… well…. uh…
Completely shitting itself in bold and exciting ways. There's a thread for it here. But what's interesting is some of the things I've been seeing, most notably some worrying statements from the admins. Allow me to stir up trouble:
Yup. Images going down… then coming back, then other images going down and other showing, then all coming back again. Blinking on and off lol!
It's shit. :( I was thinking that maybe Volte was working on the bug… Doesn't look like it.
No bugs have been fixed yet to my knowledge, and Platinum still doesn't care about DD.
They are also at least 4 months behind paying people who work for them but aren't present in the office. (Like their artists, writers, and other remote workers.)
I'm not holding out any hope here. I'm expecting them to declare bankruptcy and/or dump DD any month now.
These comments are all linked to due to the fact they are being said in Extermination Station, which is very rarely read by most people on DD. The problem is that these are major site-wide issues that affect all of you and the future of your hosting. We need a real update from Platinum, Volte, or really anyone along those lines who knows anything about this. I don't mean a reply to placate us either, but a real reply that tells us whether or not we should expect to have a host in the near future.
If I had a comic I would like to have a notice on weather or not I should at least CONSIDER looking for a new host, not matter who they may be.
Yeah, I'm glad the admins did make those comments, their opinion shouldn't be dolled up for any reason. Skool, Oz, SpANG, BK, Ronson. Those guys put up with a lot of shit on DD, sometimes it shows, but by the end of the day they're the most honest people here. So I really do want to thank them for not covering their opinion with layers of bullshit like most admins do.
Thanks for putting up with the shit trickling down, and the shit some of us have given you and probably will give you in the past and future.
I've taken a stance of complete apathy really. I'm too tired to care about a site who doesn't care back anymore. The forum posts/health recently reflect that- heck i used to check Tip&Tricks daily to help others, now I'd rather subtly troll.
I've put a good root in SJ and checking out keenspot and comicgen. Not a 'oh noes YTK!' panic thing, I simply don't want the thickest part of the shit to hit me if it flies from the fan. -.-
It might all turn out all right yet :) We're fighting for it. Just have to wait and see. All those other sites work, but they have their own troubles or a lot of people wouldn't have come her to start with.
It might all turn out all right yet :) We're fighting for it. Just have to wait and see. All those other sites work, but they have their own troubles or a lot of people wouldn't have come her to start with.
It's not the end of the road yet ;)
You've been fighting for months and all we've gotten is an ebook offer only valid in America and a broken password change option.
I'm the most pessimistic of the admins right now so I don't think I should say anything else at this point :) But good luck getting an official statement from Platinum or anyone. If they talk to you, it will just be something like 'of course we care about DD, we just need to focus on other things right now'. I'm tired of fighting these battles anymore though, I always hated being in the middle and I'm just not going to do it any more.
The sad truth is that Plat is having financial troubles (this is public record) and is probably putting all their attention into the properties that make them money. They probably won't return to DD until they've got extra time and cash, or DD somehow becomes a moneymaker for them. The initial DD acquisition and upgrades seem to have occurred in a money-spending phase, when there was lots of new growth going on and they were buying a lot of properties, but that all seems to have stopped now, which means they're giving all their attention to the things that have made them money. I doubt they're going to do any more work at this point to improve DD on the hopes that it will start paying for itself because it's a risky way to spend their time and resources compared to things like their comic properties.
It's completely legit from a business standpoint. It sucks for us, but I don't think Plat cares about that. They said they wanted DD for the community but we never heard any specifics about why they really wanted DD. I don't think they'd care if people started leaving DD and it more or less went under- they don't do anything with us as it is (except as a place to post their properties, which they could do anywhere) so I'm not sure a crippled DD would make much difference to them. not until they're in a position to put more money into it, anyway.
I have no doubt that the actual employees of plat want DD and all the other plat holdings to succeed, and there are probably a couple who stay up late at night biting their nails worrying about DD specifically, but business is all about money and the fact is that DD has NEVER EVER in its ENTIRE history as a site made enough to pay for itself. Now, with Platinum, that may become something that DOES happen (dd paying for itself) but I doubt the company is in a position to keep investing on that prospect. We're in a recession now, folks :)
Haha, and I said I wasn't going to say anything…
Edit: This is all info that can be found publicly, and from people who aren't employees of Plat, etc. I'm not spilling insider info here (I don't get much of that anyway, and most of it is boring stuff about people I don't know), a lot of this is just my conjecture from observations anyway.
Platinum's business reasons for buying DD are surely a separate issue. I seem to remember a lot of fuss a year or so back about comic properties they had acquired and never actually published. Looking at some of the great comics brought here under the Platinum banner, we can probably assume that acquiring DD somehow enabled them to honour their contractual obligations in that respect and build a fanbase in advance for those they intended to take to print. Realistically, from a business perspective, that's probably as far as their interest in "the community" goes.
Putting the business rationale aside, though, do we really have that much to complain about? Maybe Platinum hasn't brought any great benefits to DD but has it really done any great harm? The site does have glitches but it did before and the other free hosting sites are not exactly glitch-free, either.
With or without Platinum, DD is essentially a place where creators can show their work for free and where readers can enjoy it for free. As long as Platinum doesn't start interfering with that, I can't see we have much to complain about, no matter how annoying the bugs are.
The gist of it is about social networking, which is one of Drunk Duck's power points. Comic Genesis was the first place I used to host Super Temps because it was the starter host of several other comics I was reading at the time, but it doesn't have the ability to generate feedback like I see on DD.
Since our story, major investors and corporations have focused on the profit potential of social sites. Like Baron's Twitter crowd writ large, they promise relationships, millions of them. Such media could be worth a fortune. Strike that: They'd better be. Over the past three years, tech and media companies have been opening up their checkbooks for these properties. Google gobbled up YouTube for $1.65 billion; NewsCorp (NWS) bought MySpace for $588 million; and Microsoft (MSFT) bought a pricey slice of Facebook that put a $15 billion valuation on the company. Venture firms, meanwhile, have been racing to fund socres of social media startups.
For many of them, the business plan remains blurry. Even giants like MySpace are struggling to figure out the financials. And there's no guarantee that Web masses will stay loyal for the long haul. If investors lose faith in these new ventures built on relationships, all hell could break loose. This could convulse Wall Street, deepen the recession, sink pension funds�you name it. But you know what? The next day, we'll be back on the blogs and social networks, checking up on each other, uploading our analyses, and sussing out opportunities in the storm.
Even if the bubble bursts�and we predict it will�the power of social media to transform our businesses and society will only grow.
That applies as much to DD as it does to Facebook and MySpace. After all, what is Drunk Duck but a central location to self-publish and comment within a community?
If Platinum wants to see some returns, maybe it's time to look at the DD community instead of some flagship items. Granted, some of us are poor. But we're all essentially working for free to promote our projects, and as they're hosted on DD by extension we're promoting it as well. That's a heck of a lot of free labour, isn't it? What's more effective: paying for advertising, or having an entire community go out there and try to bring people to the site that showcases their projects… for free?
Yes, there's advertising on the site. But what if, as a comic creator, you were able to choose your own sponsors, and it was up to you if you wanted any at all? Let's say I wanted to have Workopolis (because Super Temps has being 'super as a regular job' as part of its theme), a local coffee seller Has Beans (due to Skiv's constant coffee drinking), and the company I work for (Response Generators) all as my sponsors? The sponsors do practically nothing – all they do is give me permission to link them, and maybe provide me with a banner. They pay some piddly amount for click-through.
But the power – these aren't just random ads. These are specific companies I want to represent my comic as much as they want my comic to represent them. It's saying "I like these companies" because I have selected them and they approve of my work.
After all, which would you listen to more: A random ad spewer, or someone you know recommending something?
The heart of this thread seems to be DD's problems. DD needs attention from its backer to fix these problems. Well, if DD can turn a profit, it will get attention. Then it gets moved to the priority front. Then things get fixed, and they get fixed FAST because failing to do so costs them $$$. And what I think the powers that be just need to see the sheer volume of dedication, time and community that is just waiting to use its potential.
You guys should read the Admin Forum. We're YELLING, and nobody is listening.
I just hope PS wises up before DD dies a horrible death. DD has already become a shadow of its once great self as far as the community aspect goes. Man, you newbies should have seen it! Cool contests, a Real Featured Comic system. Prizes. DD bucks. Platinum Service (no relation). Trophies, etc.
God help me, I tried to be positive. I would look on the bright side and think "Hey things have to get better, right? I mean, PS wouldn't let DD go down the tubes, RIGHT?"
2 Years later…Nothing has been touched. The forums still suck, there are bugs everywhere. So, yeah. I'm there with you now, APC. I doubt that makes you feel better though.
Still, I can still run my brother's comic with almost no problems. And DD still gets a LOT of traffic. So that's something.
If DD fixed its problems it would get more attention. Not the other way around.
I meant DD would get attention from Platinum if it turned a profit. And by "attention" I mean "funding". People tend to not want to work for free, after all.
I just hope PS wises up before DD dies a horrible death. DD has already become a shadow of its once great self as far as the community aspect goes. Man, you newbies should have seen it! Cool contests, a Real Featured Comic system. Prizes. DD bucks. Platinum Service (no relation). Trophies, etc.
I think I may have caused all of this. I remember DD having all that stuff. Wasn't many months after I got here the trophies started acting up… then everything kept snowballing.
I'm sorry everyone :cry:
Don't put a dirty spin on my snowballing statement ozone >: (
Ok man, keep it cool and we can keep this thread here, ok?
Honnestly, I would hate to see DD become nothing more than some dag end hanging off Plat's pet project comics- Hero By Night, lesbian Space Pirates etc. Comics that got their audience and start from DD and it's community comics. Because what I see there is them eventually moving off DD altogether and the rest of the site sinking lower.
I'm going to go ahead and take some offense to that. Hero By Night didn't GET it's audience from Drunk Duck, in fact, I brought audience and traffic here from my other comics. If it would have been up to me in the first place, I would have hosted on my own– (ask Platinum!) I've done a lot to bring NEW people to Drunk Duck and encouraged people to signup here to host their own comics– So I don't appreciate being pigeon holed like that. I've spent MY OWN MONEY on advertising bringing more traffic to the site
– I will be moving Hero By Night off on it's own because it's what I wanted all along– I can't stand all the ads and the wonky coding here. It's nothing against the community or setup– I've done all I can to promote Drunk Duck publically and I'll still suggest it for beginners or people just starting out.
If Platinum really wanted to REALLY take advantage of Drunk Duck, they would have done like I proposed and had updates on the main page for when Platinum had new books in Previews Catalog for comic shops, but to their defense there they didn't want to upset the community here. I thought that would have been totally fair though.
Anyways, any beef you might have with Platinum– please don't lay it on our personal properties. Believe me, a lot of people are frustrated right now. You know, Megan from Lesbian Pirates has quite an audience she's brought to the table here, and that has nothing to do with Drunk Duck giving her an audience either– she's brought in more readers for everyone here— That comment just really pissed me off.
Ok man, keep it cool and we can keep this thread here, ok?
Honnestly, I would hate to see DD become nothing more than some dag end hanging off Plat's pet project comics- Hero By Night, lesbian Space Pirates etc. Comics that got their audience and start from DD and it's community comics. Because what I see there is them eventually moving off DD altogether and the rest of the site sinking lower.
NOT as some dag-end , redundant drag on Plat's parasites that have sucked their host dry, but as the strong comic host force that it was and SHOULD still be! :gem:
so yeah, DJ and I have done nothing but talk up Drunk Duck, its community and comics, to creators at shows, online and in emails we BOTH get since Hero By Night started running here. As DJ mentioned, all the advertising online that has been done has been out of HIS pocket, not Platinums. If the fact that the site runs slow and has problems with bandwidth is because of the comics in the top 10, you need to lump Charby in there too (which as been here forever and been #1 most of the time over the last 2 years) That's not Platinum related at all.
Drunk Duck has helped the audience for HBN, but it didn't GIVE HBN an audience. DJ was doing pretty okay for himself as an indy webcomic creator BEFORE he ever started HBN. We've brought in plenty of readers by talking with fans in a one on one scenario at conventions over the last 2 years, the advertising that has been done independent of Platinum, the fans that have followed DJ from his other ventures, and other marketing and advertising we've done, magazine articles, the fans of mine from the print industry that follow my work. It does grate against the ears to hear someone say that DD brought HBN its audience in that regard. Our readership tripled for a week after Free comic book day, and I'm pretty sure lots of those readers had never even heard of DD before. DD has helped HBN in some ways, but it didn't bring it its audience. I'm pretty sure when we move it to its own site, our numbers are only going to GROW.
Maybe you didn't mean to come across as slamming all the stuff related to Platinum, but it came across that way. Believe me when I say, there are those of us who have busted our @ss#s just as hard as everyone else, and there are a select few of us who bust our butts on a regular basis and produce more work in a day than many would think possible. Just because you're not being paid, doesn't give you a built in excuse to not have a large audience or to keep working. It costs you nothing to publish online, or next to that. If you want to make money and be successful with webcomics, all you have to do is put in the work and put out a product people care about and will follow WHERE EVER its hosted. Those that work the hardest will be the most successful in the end. If I tallied up the hours I have put in the last 10 years in comics to get to where I'm at today, hours that I never got paid for, it would boggle the mind. I STILL put in hours a day that I see no money for.
Just because a comic has a publisher, doesn't mean that translates to every creator being rich and having no worries in the world.
if DD goes down i'd probably stop webcomiking, since i don't have the time and energy to start creating an audience again.
It's not the views/audience… it's the people I have grown fond of. All the members will be split off from this site and many won't be seen again.
It really hurts thinking of the friends I have made and work with, all the people I'll lose contact with. It makes me want to go on a "give me your email" spree so I can keep in touch with them.
Not to mention all the influential comics I read here that entertain or teach me on various levels.
I mean, this is pretty much all I do and the only place I go to. The very thought of it going under hurts on many many levels for me. I just wish there was something I could do to help.
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