Sorry ...

[Bindu1000]

http://imgur.com/hgPV9.jpg
Sumimasen OS Members


Unfortunately as we come towards the end of our first amazing year of being online, we find that with the joy and celebration comes the need to renew our Main server, our first video hosts and our domain registration and sadly we seem to running pretty low on funds.

We are also running low on capacity in our other video hosts (as you may have realised from all the problems we have been having) which means we will need to buy more space if we are to continue adding videos to our site

So against our own reservations we have no choice but to come right out and appeal to our members - If any of you have any spare change you would like to throw our way, this month and next, pls do think of us.

The other option of course is to add advertisements which while we really, really dont want to do, will only generate money in 2 - 3 months time. We are really hoping it wont come to that.

*Bows deeply* Please help to keep our dream and community alive


~All Hail OS~

Edit : Just for November and December, we have increased our goal to $250 a month

[kitymeow]

Could we receive an estimate on the costs needed to maintain and/or upgrade servers on a monthly biases?

[jadeliciousdk]

Whatever it takes to keep OS going strong.

No need to apologize for asking for financial aid to keep OS up and running, you guys are already doing a tremendous job.

I only wish there was more I could do.

[Bindu1000]

Our server and host cost around $140 a month. However, most were bought and purchased for 6 months or a year and now a few of them are coming up for renewal and since we have not been achieving the target needed every month (its mentioned on the forum page - $150) we are a bit short

The thing is renewal of hosts can only be done for a min of 6 months at a time and even with that = the cost is higher than if we pay for the whole year. In other words - a video host will cost around $12 a month for 6 months, $9 for 12 months and $7 for 24 months. So the more money we have at the time of renewal, we can pay for a longer period and thereby reduce our monthly cost.

[AchronycalChaos]

Unfortunately, I don't get paid until the end of the month and with bills, I'm under a slight bit of strain (I'm literally living off of ramen and soda). But, I think I can help out a little bit come the end of the month.

This is one of those times when it would be nifty if every member would donate $5.

[jadeliciousdk]

Indeed it would be one hell of a relief aid for OS if all of us could band together and each make a small donation. But not everyone is fortunate enough to have the money or the possibility of making a paypal account (there are some minors on the site.. seriously grow up ^^ )
Also one thing I love is the fact that OS unlike *Cough* Crunchyroll *Cough* doesn't charge money for anything.

There are many ways of scraping a few bucks together if you wish to help our beloved OS.

Take a moment to think of a good way to save a few bucks eg. cut back on unnecessary expenses like coke and chips for a month and donate the money saved to OS, not only will you be lightened of a few bucks but perhaps also a few pounds ;)

[KipiChii]

Time to try to buy paypal money off my friends since i have no clue how to get my bank working with it Dx

[Omikaru]

I'll have to see what I can pull off. I'm a bit under strain myself due to holidays and a lot (Yes a lot) of things going on in the same throw.

[otakuq]

i cant donate anything right now, but my birthday and christmas is around the corner, i'll see what i can do after that.. but im only 16, i can only do so mcuh.

[momochan1612]

You can count on me to help I get paid next Friday so I will see what I can do you guys are great

[otakuq]

how much does your host cost?

[GreyIOutcast]

I made a donation of $30, I'm always happy to help keep the community alive when I can, but I don't have much income so I can't make a lot of donations.

I've been thinking of the possibility of playing around and possibly making something for the Android platform, that'd be the only possibility for income for me for awhile, I think. I'm too lazy to get an actual job.

[adiktdtololi]

Give me Your address in The PH and ill send my money via what ever method^^

im not rich or anything but ill help my Fev site^^

Or Bank Number ^^ or bank account or anything ^^ i really dont have a creadit card and my father wont even trust me with the responsibility of holidng his bank book^^

[pikachuwei]

i really want to help but
1. i have no credit card, bank account is under control by my parents
2. parents wouldnt let me pay for stuff online anyways
3. Especially for OS coz they disapprove of my love affair with anime T_T

sigh it sux to be a minor. . .

[otakuq]

pikachuwei, theres a way around this. go to walmart, put some money on a visa gift card, and use that to pay ^.^

[avich]

Thank you guys... http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/20.gif

[AchronycalChaos]

Thank you guys... http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/20.gif

We love you, too. :emh28:

Enough to spare some money, anyway. Looking at the big numbers on the flag counter, I just wish more people would read this thread and take action (or plan to once they'd be able to). But, it's only been up for a while yet. Fellow OS members, I have confidence in all of you!

And I count down the days until the 30th so I have something to contribute as well.

[Deenz]

Any other ways we can donate money other than through the internet?

[kaifox]

damn i hate being a minor.. i cant even have my own money.. im finding a way right now on how to help OS in this trouble...

[smokescreen]

Hey guys i kno its not much but you know im gonna give what i can to the cause.

~Hail OS FOREVER~

[Othos]

i know i get payed the third of each month ill see what i can spare after i get groceries and pay my bills

[Alexa]

Hi,
How much is needed before we reach the goal and by when it has to be achieved? This is my favourite anime site and I don't want it to go down!! I will try to help!!

[avich]

You can check on the forum index page (http://otaku-streamers.com/community/index.php).

Goal amount for this month: 250 USD, Received: 215 USD (86%)

Thank you for all your help and support!!

[otakuq]

Once again everyone, you can go to walmart, get a visa gift card, and donate that way! or get a friend with a visa to do it and pay them the $ up front. and HOLY CRAP we've already raised $215 this month! im gonna probably drop a $20 in come my birthday. (which is December 3rd)

[kaifox]

otaku how to get a gift card?? help me please... ill try my best.. my Birth day is also upcoming so maybe i can help..

[OUSAMONYN]

I haven't been quite an avid participator community wise, but I do love otaku-streamers and hope that you will continue bringing quality and greatness.

That is why I've donated 35 usd :D

I have a question though. I have already received a confirmation, but it doesn't show in the donations box.
Should I be worried?

Greetings OUSAMONYN

~ ALL HAIL OS ~

[jadeliciousdk]

I haven't been quite an avid participator community wise, but I do love otaku-streamers and hope that you will continue bringing quality and greatness.

That is why I've donated 35 usd :D

I have a question though. I have already received a confirmation, but it doesn't show in the donations box.
Should I be worried?


Greetings OUSAMONYN

~ ALL HAIL OS ~

No you shouldn't be worried, it always takes a couple of hours for the donation to actually show in the box. I don't know if it is because it has to be manually changed or whatever :?

I don't know exactly what the actually goal is for this month with all the upcoming host renewals etc. but it seems to be looking pretty good at least compared to the average months.
Goes to show how much people actually care about this site :D


All hail OS

[GreyIOutcast]

I would be surprised if the community wouldn't want to help support this site.

Free anime and all other sorts of things, good quality videos as well, and tons of series.

I've found so many new and interesting series through this site, and it saved me when crunchyroll died out.

Whoever spammed the comments on crunchyroll with links to this site, thank you so much.

[Bindu1000]

I would be surprised if the community wouldn't want to help support this site.

Free anime and all other sorts of things, good quality videos as well, and tons of series.

I've found so many new and interesting series through this site, and it saved me when crunchyroll died out.

Whoever spammed the comments on crunchyroll with links to this site, thank you so much.

If it was December 2008-Feb 2009 the spammer was Jim. If it was more recent then it was me :18:

Thanks for you kind words and your support

[yankfreak23]

You can check on the forum index page (http://otaku-streamers.com/community/index.php).

Goal amount for this month: 250 USD, Received: 215 USD (86%)

Thank you for all your help and support!!


I'm just a tad confused about something. Earlier, Bindu said it took around $140 a month to keep th server and host running, but why is the goal $250?

I just want to clarify...not that i doubt you guys or anything. Thanks

p.s. And i still plan to donate

[SushilovesNori]

I feel the same way as Grey does. I went through a lot of crap on crunchyroll. I didn't find out about OS on there but instead from someone I know. It IS a lifesaver. The community is nicer, mellower. Even though there are people who have different mindsets and backgrounds, I have never witnessed anyone bother to flame anyone here, and I've never felt the desire to get annoyed at anyone either.

Right now I only work two days a week but even so, when I get paid, I'll try to help out. I genuinely like it here, I like the lack of ads. I like the environment. I think the staff is good at what they do and don't pull power trips.

This is all definitely worth supporting 110%

[Ryuji]

how much money do you need now?

[kaifox]

i envy you guys that you can help OS this much.. despite being a minor i still want to help in other way.. I also love OS so much because it has the stuffs i like the most.. back at that time im still watching anime in different sites but when i look at the comments in crunchyroll there's a comment "you can watch this series in otaku-streamers.com" try visiting it.. i dont really remember who was that but thanks...

im really shy that i cant help OS because being a minor all i can do is ask money below 25$ but it depends on the situation.. ill try to find a way to help the only anime site that i love ~OS~!!

all hail ~OS~

[valkyrie06]

i really don't want this site to go down.. this is the best site.. yay!!
er- i'm somewhere in the philippines..
i don't know how to donate.. ><

[jadeliciousdk]

I'm just a tad confused about something. Earlier, Bindu said it took around $140 a month to keep th server and host running, but why is the goal $250?

I just want to clarify...not that i doubt you guys or anything. Thanks

p.s. And i still plan to donate

The goal was 140 each month in order to have enough for renewals costs, but usually the goal isn't reached. And now it is time for the main host and domain registration fee to be paid.
Also the more money OS has whenever a host is up for renewal the better because you can save a lot of money by paying for a longer period at the time (just like when paying for mmorpg's ^^) .
The scale went some like 12$ a month for 6 months, 9$ a month for a year and 7$ a month for 2 years.
So if you look at a total it comes to 72 for 6 months, 108 for a year or 168 for two years.

Btw I'm just summarizing some of Bindu's earlier posts ^^

[Bindu1000]

What Jade said :1:

Basically - we have one dedicated server for our main site and around 7 video hosts. For all of them we cannot pay per month, we have to pay a min of 6 months at a time. Therefore, we need to collect around $140 a month.
If we pay for 6 months at a time - we pay a higher rate (around $12 a month) but if we can pay for say 24 months, then the hosts give a cheaper per month rate(around $7 per month), plus some throw in a couple of months free. We generally renew for 12 months at a time for the video hosts and 6 months for the dedicated server (which is almost 5 times the cost of a video host :2:)

If we had been achieving our target every month, we would not have needed the extra cash, the money collected would have been more than enough to pay. Unfortunately we dont have enough saved up.

As we keep adding more videos - we need to purchase more hosts as there is a limit of the number of vids we can add to one before the host gets all anal and disables us temporarily for taking up too much bandwidth or space or some other dumb reason. We have been adding our own cash plus pulling from the till to get the new hosts.

However, next month, we complete one year in operation and suddenly we find that there are heap of hosts coming up for renewal plus our dedicated server, plus other fees such as domain registration, and our MU premium account. We also need to buy another host. All in all - we need roughly around $740 between November and December

Thereafter, we can go back to not bothering our members which to be perfectly honest we are feeling very bad about

That said - we are very, very grateful to all you guys for your help and once we hit our $500 we will reduce our monthly goal amount again. We have been over-whelmed by the kindness of some of our usual donators and some new ones ... the month is barely halfway there and we have achieved our goal- its been more than we expected

THANK YOU EVERYONE - EVEN THOSE WHO CANT DONATE, WE KNOW YOUR HEARTS ARE WITH US ....

I THINK OS HAS SOME OF THE BEST ANIME FANS AND MEMBERS ON THE WEB ... A REAL BUNCH OF NICE PEOPLE AND WE ARE PRIVILEGED TO KNOW YOU. ITS GOOD TO KNOW THAT WITH ALL THE BAD THINGS IN THE WORLD, THERE ARE SOME REALLY GOOD PEOPLE TOO.


THANK YOU!!!

[avich]

What Bindu said :)

Thank you guys for all your support. We will do our best to improve OS and keep it healthy.

Again, thank you everyone!

[Capone3830]

i know why people keep supporting OS. its the Community. I was on countless sites to watch anime till I found this...

you know all these sites were good for watching anime... but OS is special :P

and and now that im at that topic: We need more members. And I think I know how it works.

The first time I visited here was like: "uuuh seems like a nice page... lets see.. 'streaming'...

oh! I need to register -.- I will search another site!"

so what i want to say is: If people can actually wach anime without registering they will stay for sure(!) because of really good quality videos and fast updates, and some day, they will register in the forums and write something there.

[Bindu1000]

i know why people keep supporting OS. its the Community. I was on countless sites to watch anime till I found this...

you know all these sites were good for watching anime... but OS is special :P

and and now that im at that topic: We need more members. And I think I know how it works.

The first time I visited here was like: "uuuh seems like a nice page... lets see.. 'streaming'...

oh! I need to register -.- I will search another site!"

so what i want to say is: If people can actually wach anime without registering they will stay for sure(!) because of really good quality videos and fast updates, and some day, they will register in the forums and write something there.

First - appreciate if you pls dont mention other sites on our forums - its does seem a bit unfair, dont you agree? :4:

Second - your gonna start off Chiva again - we have this constant argument. He agrees with you, Jim and I dont

The value of a site and its potential marketability depends on its members. CR still markets itself as have 5 million plus members which technically it doesnt have anymore, but it uses this buying power to sell itself to investors, advertisers etc.

Additionally - making a membership not only adds to the value of the site, but it helps us to keep tabs on our growth.

For example Jim is constantly monitoring the number of people streaming, etc., so that if there is a sudden surge in bandwidth usage we have ways to reduce other functions to help our members not have any interruptions. We also know that after a certain point, we are going to have to upgrade our dedicated server, to the next level server.

Also - if anything happens and the site crashes (like it has done once or twice) we have a way to inform our members so we dont lose our community

New members can see the titles on the streaming page and if they want to watch the titles we have advert free for the rest of their life (or until we are shut down - whichever comes first :tongue:) becoming a member is such a small step.

[jadeliciousdk]

First - appreciate if you pls dont mention other sites on our forums - its does seem a bit unfair, dont you agree? :4:

Second - your gonna start off Chiva again - we have this constant argument. He agrees with you, Jim and I dont

The value of a site and its potential marketability depends on its members. CR still markets itself as have 5 million plus members which technically it doesnt have anymore, but it uses this buying power to sell itself to investors, advertisers etc.

Additionally - making a membership not only adds to the value of the site, but it helps us to keep tabs on our growth.

For example Jim is constantly monitoring the number of people streaming, etc., so that if there is a sudden surge in bandwidth usage we have ways to reduce other functions to help our members not have any interruptions. We also know that after a certain point, we are going to have to upgrade our dedicated server, to the next level server.

Also - if anything happens and the site crashes (like it has done once or twice) we have a way to inform our members so we dont lose our community

New members can see the titles on the streaming page and if they want to watch the titles we have advert free for the rest of their life (or until we are shut down - whichever comes first :tongue:) becoming a member is such a small step.

Is that what is called leading by example :emhh04:

Sorry just couldn't help busting your chops :)

While it is true that the act of registering is a small step in order to view the videos or post on the forums, in fact it is a big physiological hurdle for a lot of people who are used to being able to stream videos without having register.
I think it is mainly fear that it is somehow a hoax or people are just too lazy.

Of cause you already know this and has weighed the pros and cons. And honestly I agree with your decision on having people registering before being able to view vids. However when doing this you should also make the site more accessible so will be able to overcome the physiologically hurdle of having to register. I remember thinking twice about it before registering myself *Ducks shamefully*
Some suggestions could be:
- Allowing people to stream 1 video a day without being registered
- Making people able to stream recently added without being registered but not anything else

This should get people hooked while not putting too much of a strain on the hosts
That was all I could come up with just now :(

[adiktdtololi]

Darn it i wish i could help T_T....

"thinks to myself~ "Come on man Think!!!".....


Go Brain POWER!!!

!!! ill be back when my Brain Finaly Explodes from over use!!

[Capone3830]

First - appreciate if you pls dont mention other sites on our forums - its does seem a bit unfair, dont you agree? :4:

Second - your gonna start off Chiva again - we have this constant argument. He agrees with you, Jim and I dont

The value of a site and its potential marketability depends on its members. CR still markets itself as have 5 million plus members which technically it doesnt have anymore, but it uses this buying power to sell itself to investors, advertisers etc.

Additionally - making a membership not only adds to the value of the site, but it helps us to keep tabs on our growth.

For example Jim is constantly monitoring the number of people streaming, etc., so that if there is a sudden surge in bandwidth usage we have ways to reduce other functions to help our members not have any interruptions. We also know that after a certain point, we are going to have to upgrade our dedicated server, to the next level server.

Also - if anything happens and the site crashes (like it has done once or twice) we have a way to inform our members so we dont lose our community

New members can see the titles on the streaming page and if they want to watch the titles we have advert free for the rest of their life (or until we are shut down - whichever comes first :tongue:) becoming a member is such a small step.

mhm.... I thought about what you are saying and think that all is certainly right.
Now my suggestion is to insert something like a "test period" or however you want to call it =D people new to this site may stream *insert period of time here* (e.g. 2 weeks / 5 days) until they need to register.

I dont know what are the technical necessarities for it, and if its actually doable for OS but it would be a way to convince new members =)

ah, and for "the registration is only a small step" ... dont you know this? =) theres an escalator and some stairs. Wont you just take the escalator (if you assume you need the same time, no matter if you pick the one or the other) because its _easier_ ? same is here. Sure. The difference between registering and just watching it online at some other site isnt big, but choosing the random site is Easier =)

[ranmachua]

Wow! I've been away for just a week & when I came back I didn't know this 'problem' has been solved!!! It goes to show that there are many people who cares deeply about OS. Let's keep it that way. Thank you everyone for your support.

ALL HAIL OS FOREVER!!!

[ranmachua]

mhm.... I thought about what you are saying and think that all is certainly right.
Now my suggestion is to insert something like a "test period" or however you want to call it =D people new to this site may stream *insert period of time here* (e.g. 2 weeks / 5 days) until they need to register.

I dont know what are the technical necessarities for it, and if its actually doable for OS but it would be a way to convince new members =)

ah, and for "the registration is only a small step" ... dont you know this? =) theres an escalator and some stairs. Wont you just take the escalator (if you assume you need the same time, no matter if you pick the one or the other) because its _easier_ ? same is here. Sure. The difference between registering and just watching it online at some other site isnt big, but choosing the random site is Easier =)

I feel it's better to register & log in to watch videos on OS since registration it's free. Besides, if streaming without registration is allowed, even if it is once per day, it would be hard to keep control & might take a lot of bandwidth. Remember how people bypass Megavideo?

In addition, being able to view videos by not logging in would have a higher chance to lead 'other parties' sending OS DCMA notice to remove videos, something which I feel was what had happened to Crunchyroll eventually.

[STATIS]

Well I don't know if this has been mentioned as I don't even have much time to read the whole thread so feel free to disagree :P But I actually would think it would be better if there were a couple advertisements on this site(google adsense?). I know you all try so hard to keep this place ad free but know that some of your members can and will donate, but they can't do it every month. Donations are totally inconsistent as much as they are welcomed and unfortunately with this type of site that uses SO MUCH BANDWIDTH... in the end it will lead to too much nitpicking over the last bit of cash needed (every time I see the monthly cost not reached, I really feel horrible). I can donate pretty soon here (getting a credit card to make it easy) but I do not see myself having the funds to do it every month and i don't think anyone else can at least to reach the mark all the time...

The ads might not be a welcomed idea but I'd rather stare at a 15 second ad (dont have to go that far! :P) than not being able to support the site financially(hell i might click that ad a bajillion times to score you some ad hits!). To me... It's enough that you have made a site that allows it's users to come here for nothing and receive so much. I don't mean make ads dominate the site... but something like text advertisements along the bottom of the video box--something little to at least take care of some of the funds AND lower the amount needed to be donated. Anyway I understand going against it; just know that at least I wouldn't care:emh21:

I could go on with my incentives but really I just don't want all this effort you all put in to be this stressful for everyone in the end. Say sorry?!?! You're apologizing to "US"!?!? :emhh15:

Keep up the awesome work guys. All hail OS

[Bindu1000]

To be honest - we do know there will probably be a time when we will be forced to put ads on OS if we are to survive and if it comes to OS survival or ignoring adverts, then of course OS will always come first!!

That said - we do have a few reasons for our seeming hestation to make this a commercial site
- We really want this to be the only ad-free, paid membership-free site with equality to all. We have survived for almost 1 yr now, so we are really hoping we will survive a bit longer
- Most advertising companies are not too keen to advertise on sites like ours. We need to have about 5000 unique hits per day to make it dynamic and attractive to advertisers. We barely hit that number only on weekend.
- Also net advertising doesnt pay that much. To really make money you need to bombard our site with a lot of pop-ups, re-directs, etc. Adding one or two adverts will probably make about $5 - $10 a month. Giving up our dreams for such a small return is too high a price to pay

We learnt this lesson with OmouKajuu.info (which is a bit neglected at the moment) which we put up solely as a downloading site without any membership required and where we could put up advertisements. After 4months, I think we made around $16 :2:

Our only recourse is to hope we get more members because right now, if even 1% could donate just $5.00 amonth, we can survive another year.

It may sound naive, but I would like to keep faith in our members that they will all help us to make it, even if it means donating just $5 once a year!! :1: They have come through for us in the past and I am sure they will do it again. This world is so full of commercialism where people are treated deferentially according to how much wealth they have. Lets see how long we can make this the only site that truly practices equality to all!!!

(That said - we love our donators and will treat them as kings of course :tongue:)

We also are blessed with a genius admin who knows how to tweak bandwidth and balance our host servers in just the right ratio to manage with just $150 a month. Now that is true genius that should not be wasted :18: