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haloman30

CU Updates #25 - New Themes, New Features, an Apology, Monetization, and a Thank You.

Monetization?  

5 members have voted

  1. 1. What are your thoughts on me trying to get CU to a point where it can bring in the big bux?

    • Sounds pretty neato if I do say so myself :^)
    • I don't really mind either way, you do you man.
      0
    • THATS A BUNCH OF BULLSHIT SON YOU BETTER ♥♥♥♥IN NOT


4 posts in this topic

Hey folks! A quick update to the forums - one that's been a long time coming.

 

We have a new default forums theme. Our previous theme was from 2016, and has been the default theme ever since we came back to these forums from the ND merge. The new theme is a modernized version of that theme along meant to look more consistent with the main CU website. It also includes a couple fixes and tweaks from the default theme on the Elaztek Studios website as it's theme is also based on the old 2016 theme. Along with that, we have a dark theme right off the bat to go along with it. You can find both of these in the Themes menu at the bottom of the page. Along with that, the old 2016 theme is still available in our selection as well.

 

Along with that, we've introduced a new server status page where you can check the status of our gameservers and other services. You'll also see some new stuff in the navigation menu, including Search, Staff, and Support in the appropriate spots.

 

Lastly, I want to apologise for yet another year of minimal progress in the CU front. I know I must sound like a broken record at this point, where every single year I proclaim that we're about to start a grand new path and that this year will be the year that CU finally makes its epic return. And every year ends up mostly the same. One or several things happen that get in the way. 2014 was starting up, 2015 was merging with ND, 2016 was unmerging with ND, 2017 was WF - most of you who've been around a while know most of this.

 

So what happened this year?

 

Well, this year most of the setbacks had less to do with CU itself but rather my own personal life - which is a lot better if you ask me. This year was easily much better than last year, though that's not exactly a difficult thing to do. Earlier this year, I graduated high school and since then I've been slowly attempting to transition into adult life. Things such as driving (because I didn't do that back when I was 16 as I had no desire or use for driving), getting a job, and so on. The driving stuff is still underway, but I've already obtained and left my first job at Walmart. As most of you know, I wasn't exactly active - on anything - during those work days. And despite it being a part time job, I suddenly had a fraction of the time I had before just out of the blue. At that point, any time I had I was dedicating to Elaztek - because I was driven by something that is very alien as a driving force for me - money. Now hold on, don't panic. I'm not going evil corporate on you. I mean money as in the sense of "let me do something that makes me money so I can quit this job and just do what I enjoy doing". I had ideas ranging from loans, to crowdfunding, and so on. Most of you already know how that Kickstarter went (if you don't, it went pretty horribly). This didn't last very long, though, as I quickly grew unhappy with driving everything around money (kind of). I had (and still have) a passion project of mine, that will likely take years to complete. Since that point I'd spent most of my time working on that project. But then something happened that made it where I couldn't.

 

For those of you on Discord, you'll know that I managed to completely rip my Windows 7 installation to pieces (and later put it back together again with duct tape and popsicle sticks), and for several days I didn't have much that I could do on my PC. So, instead of sitting around watching progress bars, I fired up Minecraft. And I felt at home. I felt a powerful flame reignite deep within that had been hidden from view by the chaos of entering/leaving a job, trying to find a game plan for Elaztek, and everything else that was going on at the time. I felt happy, but I also felt a sense of regret - regret that I'd effectively ignored CU for several months. Even though I tell myself it's not entirely my fault, it's still something that hurts and I want to try and turn it around. However, I do still have bills to pay as well.

 

I can't share the details yet, because to be honest, I have yet to even discuss this with the team in detail yet. I want to share it with all of you at the same time. I know that some of you will probably scoff at the idea, but I want to try and push CU into something that is able to actually generate revenue. The amount of money that goes into CU every year is absolutely absurd considering how relatively small it is. It's awesome, and I love it, but there is very little money that comes in. So, with that being said, I'm gonna start spitballing some ideas. Understand that none of these are by any means official plans, because as I said, I haven't even talked to anyone else on the team about this before right now.

 

A couple of ideas I had was selling some of my own skills, such as Graphic Design and Web Design services, templates, and so on through the CU store. To have CU be a sort of web e-commerce platform for web/tech-related stuff, maybe.

 

For many years, monetization has been all but ignored on most of our services. Yeah, there's donation ranks on MC, but those are largely remnants of old CU and ND and very few people buy them to begin with. Beyond that, I've focused more on trying to just build up a server, a website, and a community. The issue is, you need two things to do this: money and time. For most of my time doing this, I've had a hell of a lot of time, but not a lot of money. When I had a job, I was slowly getting funds built up, but once I lost that job that fell apart pretty quickly for obvious reasons. Going forward, I want to introduce more ways of monetization. But I want to do it with you guys. I don't want to (and won't) introduce monetization systems that you guys aren't at least somewhat interested in. Additionally, a lot of my ideas are community-centered. For example, web and graphic design services. Services that YOU - yes, YOU - a member of the CU community, could sell through CU. You would benefit by being able to sell things, and CU would benefit by getting a tiny portion of the funds. Things of that nature. Things where both of us win in the end. It doesn't even have to be graphic design or web or anything like that. If you've got a skill you want to offer to the community (and beyond), let me know!

 

I've been itching to try new things with Chaotic United for a long time, both inside and outside of the gaming world - but I want to make sure you guys are okay with it. I started CU back up as a service to the community, and I refuse to do anything that goes against that. If you guys hate the idea of me trying to utilize CU and its assets to try and generate revenue, then I won't. I'll find another outlet to try these experiments. Back in 2014/2015 when things were just starting back up, there was a common misconception that Aly and I started CU back up with the end goal of just trying to make a quick buck. Back then, I didn't understand the logic.

 

I still don't. But I also don't want this post to seem like a confirmation of some kind of ridiculous nonsense, "oh!!! halo finally admiTS it! he just wants the moNEy!!!!!!11!". That's why I made a nice and simple poll.

 

You tell me what you think of this. I'd love to hear any and all comments and responses to anything I've said, be it positive or negative. I also ask that anyone who sees this votes either on this poll or on the equivalent poll on the Discord announcement to go along with this topic (or both if you want). If you guys don't like it, then I'll continue to steer clear of monetization the way I have been thus far.

 

 


 

 

But, that's not the end of this topic. The title of this topic ends with "and a Thank You" for a reason.

 

As much as I may feel down at times, or unhappy with what seems to be a lack of progress, the new Chaotic United isn't a failure.

 

This year not only has been virtually drama-free, but our player counts have been regularly held up ever since we brought the folks from The Den under our wing. I want to start by just giving a huge thank you to @DownTown and @lipinskip123 for being some of, if not the most active staff on our MC server this year. Not only that, but in doing so, you two have helped to boost the overall player counts. We were getting relatively higher numbers the other day, and I want to thank you both for helping make that happen - and hopefully continue to happen.

 

But along with that, I want to thank all of you. Every single person who has ever set foot into Chaotic United's doors. Whether you joined and played for five minutes in 2011, whether you've been here through every iteration of Chaotic United over it's 7+ year lifespan. From the original Chaotic United run by Killerteddy from 2011 to 2013, to Nuclear District from 2014 to 2016, to the current CU from 2014 and onward. I want to thank everyone who's ever registered on this forum, who's ever joined our Discord, or our Minecraft server - even for just a moment - for being part of this journey. I want to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to stop by and say hello. Most of all, I want to thank those of you who have been dedicated. Those of you who've been around for years and years. Those of you who've stuck around through CU's worst and it's best. You guys are the reason that I started this project, and you give me the drive to keep going. Every time I feel a little down or a little unhappy with CU's progress, I look at you. I think of the people who have been here by my side since the very beginning. You are the reason I started, and you're the reason I'm still here doing this.

 

Before I close off this topic, I want to make a promise to all of you. I promise you that one day, whether it be within the next year, or the next five years, or even ten years, that I will bring Chaotic United back to it's status - and beyond. I can't promise it will be on Minecraft, I can't promise that it won't be a bumpy ride there, but I promise that I will get us there or die trying. Along with that, I want to reaffirm that despite how busy I may get, despite what other stuff I might be doing with my life in the future, that I won't do what so many others have done and just pull out and leave it abandoned. Chaotic United is, has been, and always will be something near and dear to my heart. It ignited a flame within me back in January of 2012, and that flame still burns as bright as it did on day one.

 

I just...

 

I love you guys.

 

Thank you. ❤️

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Wow, I'm amazed at the overwhelmingly supportive votes! Virtually everyone voted either neutral or in favor of these ideas - which is kind of amazing considering I didn't really have much to share in terms of concrete ideas. But then again, the poll was more of just the idea. In either case, I'm absolutely thrilled that you guys are cool with this - sometimes I forget that we aren't living in 2015 where every eye is staring intently and questioning my every move looking for some deep evil intent. I'm gonna have some talks with the staff on some of these ideas, and what may end up happening is a lot of these might kick into play all at once.

 

What I do want to do, however, is clarify a couple potential concerns that some of you may or may not have. For all I know none of you are really worried about this, but in case someone out there is, let me clarify the following:

  • Our MC server will NOT be impacted by any of these other ideas.
  • We will continue to put quality first, as in, we aren't going to turn into some greedy mega corporation like EA or Activision or whoever. We are here first and foremost for you - the community. And keeping a healthy and happy community comes before absolutely everything.
  • MC will not be pushed aside and forgotten by these various ideas.

If you do happen to have any particular concerns, feel free to either reply to the topic or speak up on Discord (or pm me on either if you don't want to do so in public)! Expect to see a variety of new stuff coming up soon!

 

And once again, thank you - all of you - for being here, and continuing to be here over the years.

 

Here's to many more years to come.

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Ahem you are welcome for suggesting that they are great staff members 😂😋

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