Catalyst Gaming

General => General Discussion => Topic started by: JF on May 27, 2014, 05:52:58 PM

Title: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: JF on May 27, 2014, 05:52:58 PM
Ever since I resigned as admin a while ago, I've been in the background, coming on the forums to see what's what and to post on the odd occasion. I've also been inadvertently observing the slow decline of players. This doesn't just appear to be the normal fluctuation in active player numbers. I think it has been slowly declining for a while. People don't post as much any more and if they do it's generally in Spam, and even then there aren't that many posts.

This isn't a rant thread because I'm not criticising anyone. I'm just concerned because I still like this community and I really don't want to see it decline, or worse; disappear.

Am I just being paranoid in thinking there has been a steady decline in player numbers, and it's not the normal fluctuations? Or is anyone else thinking the same thing?
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: Nicknero on May 27, 2014, 06:08:16 PM
Easily explained.
We used to have 3 major player bases for 3 major servers. HRP, HL2RP andd OCRP.
Ever since OCRP died and HL2RP was put down those two player bases left or are lurking in the background just like you do.

I'm sure we will recover. CGRP is in development, HL2RP just had a bad time of the year to relaunch and HRP2 will soon enough go into development.
Once we got all servers running and the time of the year is right, we'll be back in business.

<::[[ Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 using Tapatalk 2 ]]::>
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: Pirate Robot on May 27, 2014, 06:17:19 PM
No it's just less and less people actually going online or posting or even being part of the community. The community is only growing stronger  ::)

Hence my profile image.


But seriously, this is the only community I've actually stuck with and I'm happy to still be here even though I don't give it much time nowadays or post much. I  may not have made any friends hahaha, but I don't care about friends. Man if only HL2RP could come back to life, then just maybe....maybe...this community won't die!

Who were those guys....YankeeSamurai and Burning Bullet....those guys made HL2RP CCA amazing!!! I totally forgot about them..
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: JF on May 27, 2014, 06:55:36 PM
Once we got all servers running and the time of the year is right, we'll be back in business.

<::[[ Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 using Tapatalk 2 ]]::>
I hope you're right. Until that time though, what happens? Rofl had to basically whore his areshole out just to pay for the box this month. Will that keep going on until all the development is done?
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: Somone77 on May 27, 2014, 07:07:48 PM
Alright, I'll take a minute to respond to this on behalf of Catalyst-Gaming.

We do understand the concern for CG's future, player count is obviously lower than history. This is troubling to our members as well as the staff. Catalyst-Gaming is going on 4 years old soon; arguably one of the longest running communities based on Garry's Mod. We have had our down periods, and this is one of them. Catalyst-Gaming is confident in our ability to perform in these situations and perhaps a level of transparency is good about now.

You all probably know about our efforts with CGRP and HRP2. Our development staff is hard at work trying to get these gamemodes out the door, however work can only happen so fast. You have probably also seen Roflwaffle asking for extra donations towards the end of every month. It should be obvious, but if it's not, Catalyst-Gaming is a bit short on funds due to the decreased player activity. We are beginning to feel the pressure of maintaining our overhead costs while at the same time trying to expand and develop new games. It's important to bear with us while we try.

With that said, I feel I need to stress the fact that Catalyst-Gaming is not in danger of shutting down, however we have had discussions about downsizing while we attempt to bring down costs. You can play on our servers confident that your hard work and digital items won't be made worthless in the foreseeable future.

As a final word, I'd like to speak for myself. Believe me when I say that we're working very hard to ensure accessibility to our services and game servers. We have backup plans in case we really can't make a payment. I assure you that the website will never be shut down and we will find ways to keep services online even if we have to sacrifice a bit of luxury or performance.
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: JF on May 27, 2014, 07:13:43 PM
Alright, I'll take a minute to respond to this on behalf of Catalyst-Gaming.

We do understand the concern for CG's future, player count is obviously lower than history. This is troubling to our members as well as the staff. Catalyst-Gaming is going on 4 years old soon; arguably one of the longest running communities based on Garry's Mod. We have had our down periods, and this is one of them. Catalyst-Gaming is confident in our ability to perform in these situations and perhaps a level of transparency is good about now.

You all probably know about our efforts with CGRP and HRP2. Our development staff is hard at work trying to get these gamemodes out the door, however work can only happen so fast. You have probably also seen Roflwaffle asking for extra donations towards the end of every month. It should be obvious, but if it's not, Catalyst-Gaming is a bit short on funds due to the decreased player activity. We are beginning to feel the pressure of maintaining our overhead costs while at the same time trying to expand and develop new games. It's important to bear with us while we try.

With that said, I feel I need to stress the fact that Catalyst-Gaming is not in danger of shutting down, however we have had discussions about downsizing while we attempt to bring down costs. You can play on our servers confident that your hard work and digital items won't be made worthless in the foreseeable future.

As a final word, I'd like to speak for myself. Believe me when I say that we're working very hard to ensure accessibility to our services and game servers. We have backup plans in case we really can't make a payment. I assure you that the website will never be shut down and we will find ways to keep services online even if we have to sacrifice a bit of luxury or performance.
I think every member of CG appreciates how hard the development and administrative staff works. I am certainly one of them. Though it's good to know that even if shit hits the fan, CG will still be standing. :)
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: rBST Cow on May 27, 2014, 07:33:30 PM
Alright, I'll take a minute to respond to this on behalf of Catalyst-Gaming.

We do understand the concern for CG's future, player count is obviously lower than history. This is troubling to our members as well as the staff. Catalyst-Gaming is going on 4 years old soon; arguably one of the longest running communities based on Garry's Mod. We have had our down periods, and this is one of them. Catalyst-Gaming is confident in our ability to perform in these situations and perhaps a level of transparency is good about now.

You all probably know about our efforts with CGRP and HRP2. Our development staff is hard at work trying to get these gamemodes out the door, however work can only happen so fast. You have probably also seen Roflwaffle asking for extra donations towards the end of every month. It should be obvious, but if it's not, Catalyst-Gaming is a bit short on funds due to the decreased player activity. We are beginning to feel the pressure of maintaining our overhead costs while at the same time trying to expand and develop new games. It's important to bear with us while we try.

With that said, I feel I need to stress the fact that Catalyst-Gaming is not in danger of shutting down, however we have had discussions about downsizing while we attempt to bring down costs. You can play on our servers confident that your hard work and digital items won't be made worthless in the foreseeable future.

As a final word, I'd like to speak for myself. Believe me when I say that we're working very hard to ensure accessibility to our services and game servers. We have backup plans in case we really can't make a payment. I assure you that the website will never be shut down and we will find ways to keep services online even if we have to sacrifice a bit of luxury or performance.


i remember you or rtlk told me back when CG was at it's "top" that cg made over 1k a month from donations, combining HL2RP, OCRP1.5, and HRP.

i know for a fact that keeping a server up does not cost 1k a month

where did all the money go? roflwaffle spent it for his own well being?
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: alaskan thunderfuck on May 27, 2014, 08:13:13 PM
i know for a fact that keeping a server up does not cost 1k a month
you'd be suprised. server bill, vps for the website, dos protection, taxes etc adds up to about 800$ a month. that doesn't include paying devs
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: wakeboarderCWB on May 27, 2014, 08:52:17 PM
It's not a secret that CG is at a low point right now. I know that there hasn't been a HRP update in a long time, and believe me when I say that I work on the next one when I can, but these past few months life has been hitting me hard. Expect the next update soon since school is out.

We've been through this many times. We're not going anywhere.
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: rBST Cow on May 27, 2014, 10:27:49 PM
i know for a fact that keeping a server up does not cost 1k a month
you'd be suprised. server bill, vps for the website, dos protection, taxes etc adds up to about 800$ a month. that doesn't include paying devs


"paying devs"



holy shit



you are a jokster mr roflwaffle


that legit made me laugh im not even kidding


thank you for that, thank you  :-* :-* :-* :-* :-* :-* :-* :-* :-* :-* :-* :-



It's not a secret that CG is at a low point right now. I know that there hasn't been a HRP update in a long time, and believe me when I say that I work on the next one when I can, but these past few months life has been hitting me hard. Expect the next update soon since school is out.

We've been through this many times. We're not going anywhere.


Well I'm looking forward to HRP2. The current HRP kinda just lost my interest so hopefully HRP2 will really spice it back up. Keep up the good work :)
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: Statua on May 27, 2014, 11:49:23 PM
Look at the players who post on a daily basis here. Cow, Nicknero, Abbott aka Teitoku Ippan, myself, and many others. We've all been here for 2-3+ years. We know things are really quiet right now with not much life. But we all still post and talk about shit like its any other day at CG. As long as we stick around and new players come and go or better yet, stick around too, we still have a community. A community doesn't just die. The owner gives up and that's something I know waffle wont be doing anytime soon.

So yes, when you look at the other communities we've known in the past years such as Orange Cosmos or Pulsar Effect, it does look like CG is dying. But its not because CG is different. That's why I'm still with this community and make maps for it without commission because its FUCKING AWESOME!

P.S. Nobody other then CG gets maps for free. Too many people ask for shit then never need it so I have half completed projects out of the wazoo in my archive. Money usually makes people think twice and commit.
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: putin on May 28, 2014, 09:08:09 AM
If rofl quits i'll just buy CG. i got this guys
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: Stevob21 on May 28, 2014, 10:03:25 AM
CG simply isn't dying, this community is massive and I've been with it since way before the free GOLD member period.

There has been a few times when we have dropped to a point where donations are barely covering bills but we spend time on minimizing the bills and pushing through, It takes dedicated staff members to keep this going and that is what we have got.

The majority of paid developers are doing things for free currently as we are dedicated to keeping our members happy, I for one was contracted to make CGRP but I offered to keep my work free until the community is in a far better stance when the game mode everyone wants releases; CGRP.

I'll come out publicly and say that CGRP's planned release is before UK summer holidays, this will be the best time to release a gamemode and the sheer hype will bring everyone back.
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: Jeff2307 on May 28, 2014, 10:08:11 AM
As Nick said, the gamemodes in development will probably bring a lot of players back to the community... I hope at least  :D

Also, I didn't know the box actually costed about $800 a month... mind = blow, 10/10
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: rBST Cow on May 28, 2014, 11:28:21 AM
CG simply isn't dying, this community is massive and I've been with it since way before the free GOLD member period.

There has been a few times when we have dropped to a point where donations are barely covering bills but we spend time on minimizing the bills and pushing through, It takes dedicated staff members to keep this going and that is what we have got.

The majority of paid developers are doing things for free currently as we are dedicated to keeping our members happy, I for one was contracted to make CGRP but I offered to keep my work free until the community is in a far better stance when the game mode everyone wants releases; CGRP.

I'll come out publicly and say that CGRP's planned release is before UK summer holidays, this will be the best time to release a gamemode and the sheer hype will bring everyone back.


And when is the UK summer? For Muricans we get out in early June(for the most part, some get out at June18th), for example I get out on June 4th.
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: Sambolinski on May 28, 2014, 12:21:37 PM
CG simply isn't dying, this community is massive and I've been with it since way before the free GOLD member period.

There has been a few times when we have dropped to a point where donations are barely covering bills but we spend time on minimizing the bills and pushing through, It takes dedicated staff members to keep this going and that is what we have got.

The majority of paid developers are doing things for free currently as we are dedicated to keeping our members happy, I for one was contracted to make CGRP but I offered to keep my work free until the community is in a far better stance when the game mode everyone wants releases; CGRP.

I'll come out publicly and say that CGRP's planned release is before UK summer holidays, this will be the best time to release a gamemode and the sheer hype will bring everyone back.


And when is the UK summer? For Muricans we get out in early June(for the most part, some get out at June18th), for example I get out on June 4th.

For our school and most in the UK we start summer holiday in late July.
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: Statua on May 28, 2014, 12:34:47 PM
I don't care when it's released, just as long as it's good. They say you can choose two of three things from a developer. Fast, cheap, and quality. Right now we have cheap and quality for everything. We want good shit but don't exactly have the ability to pay the devs to get them done asap. So when i see wake or Stevo relaxing doing something else, it doesn't bother me cause they're basically just volunteers right now.
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: Teitoku Ippan on May 28, 2014, 01:40:56 PM
CG simply isn't dying, this community is massive and I've been with it since way before the free GOLD member period.

There has been a few times when we have dropped to a point where donations are barely covering bills but we spend time on minimizing the bills and pushing through, It takes dedicated staff members to keep this going and that is what we have got.

The majority of paid developers are doing things for free currently as we are dedicated to keeping our members happy, I for one was contracted to make CGRP but I offered to keep my work free until the community is in a far better stance when the game mode everyone wants releases; CGRP.

I'll come out publicly and say that CGRP's planned release is before UK summer holidays, this will be the best time to release a gamemode and the sheer hype will bring everyone back.


And when is the UK summer? For Muricans we get out in early June(for the most part, some get out at June18th), for example I get out on June 4th.

for me, i finish on 2nd july for college but the last day of college here in general is july 4th so around that time
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: Stevob21 on May 28, 2014, 02:07:07 PM
Well I am from the UK so that means Mid/Late July for me.
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: Teitoku Ippan on May 28, 2014, 02:16:32 PM
Well I am from the UK so that means Mid/Late July for me.

i am from the UK too
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: Constable Strelnikov on May 28, 2014, 02:56:29 PM
Even now, posts are becoming more and more frequent. Activity in both the HRP and CGRP boards, and HL2RP seems to be awakening again.
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: Keskjer on May 28, 2014, 03:49:35 PM
Another CG dying thread. How cute.

Well if you look at all the other threads and see that CG is currently not dead, you can pretty much answer this question like all the rest.
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: JF on May 28, 2014, 04:18:53 PM
Another CG dying thread. How cute.

Well if you look at all the other threads and see that CG is currently not dead, you can pretty much answer this question like all the rest.
This isn't just some thread complaining about people or servers like the usual one's. I was actually concerned that CG was going downhill. I'm just a long-standing member that doesn't want to see this community go. That is all. So if you think that's cute then good for you <3

Generally communities go through dry periods. This one just seems to be lasting longer than usual.
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: Teitoku Ippan on May 28, 2014, 07:49:52 PM
Another CG dying thread. How cute.

Well if you look at all the other threads and see that CG is currently not dead, you can pretty much answer this question like all the rest.

maybe reading the contents of the thread will come in handy next time instead of making yourself look like a dick
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: knoxed on May 29, 2014, 04:03:50 AM
gmod is dying, thats what it is

people are only interested in ttt and darkrp nowdays
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: BltElite on May 29, 2014, 09:17:17 AM
Its the same as every year, just a bigger hit this time around.


Every year when its this period of exams everybody goes, with people coming back through july (most uk&american schools finish at the start or end of July) and everyone comes back at that point. Same will happen this year.
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: Adam S on May 29, 2014, 10:05:24 AM
Quote
With that said, I feel I need to stress the fact that Catalyst-Gaming is not in danger of shutting down, however we have had discussions about downsizing while we attempt to bring down costs. You can play on our servers confident that your hard work and digital items won't be made worthless in the foreseeable future.

you'd be suprised. server bill, vps for the website, dos protection, taxes etc adds up to about 800$ a month. that doesn't include paying devs

With both of these said someone77 your answer is very hollow.  Why do i say this?  HRP is being used as a life line for a bill that wont be paid off in donations alone.  Currently its a major rely on the more active part of the playerbase to throw cash into the ship.  However 800$ a month is an insane price to pay for almost nothing.  What im getting at is when roflwaffle starts telling us we are short on the bill it gets worrisome for some of us. 

gmod is dying, thats what it is

people are only interested in ttt and darkrp nowdays
HRP runs off DarkDM.

Its the same as every year, just a bigger hit this time around.


Every year when its this period of exams everybody goes, with people coming back through july (most uk&american schools finish at the start or end of July) and everyone comes back at that point. Same will happen this year.
Except last year CG was still heavily populated at this time regardless.

Also just throwing this out there, no intents to diss stevo:
Do not rely on CGRP to be the savior of CG.
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: ??. McBullet on May 30, 2014, 02:08:32 AM
hey guys

cg.exe

this place "dies" at least twice a year.
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: JF on May 31, 2014, 02:21:33 PM
hey guys

cg.exe

this place "dies" at least twice a year.
I understand people generally jump the gun and say it's 'dying' (or just want to bitch about staff or game modes etc), but you also can't ignore the fact that this slump that CG has been having has gone on longer than usual. Quite a lot longer imo.
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: Somone77 on May 31, 2014, 10:12:26 PM
Quote
With that said, I feel I need to stress the fact that Catalyst-Gaming is not in danger of shutting down, however we have had discussions about downsizing while we attempt to bring down costs. You can play on our servers confident that your hard work and digital items won't be made worthless in the foreseeable future.

you'd be suprised. server bill, vps for the website, dos protection, taxes etc adds up to about 800$ a month. that doesn't include paying devs

With both of these said someone77 your answer is very hollow.  Why do i say this?  HRP is being used as a life line for a bill that wont be paid off in donations alone.  Currently its a major rely on the more active part of the playerbase to throw cash into the ship.  However 800$ a month is an insane price to pay for almost nothing.  What im getting at is when roflwaffle starts telling us we are short on the bill it gets worrisome for some of us. 

I say that because if we ever can't pay we aren't just going to say "Whelp!" and close shop. We have fallback plans in case we need to keep this place running on $0, it just wouldn't be ideal for anyone. We're determined to keep our services available and will do anything to do so. It's important to remember that while most of you may not have faith in our staff, one thing we're not is stupid. We've been doing this for a long time now, we know how to keep doing it.
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: rBST Cow on May 31, 2014, 10:14:12 PM
Quote
With that said, I feel I need to stress the fact that Catalyst-Gaming is not in danger of shutting down, however we have had discussions about downsizing while we attempt to bring down costs. You can play on our servers confident that your hard work and digital items won't be made worthless in the foreseeable future.

you'd be suprised. server bill, vps for the website, dos protection, taxes etc adds up to about 800$ a month. that doesn't include paying devs

With both of these said someone77 your answer is very hollow.  Why do i say this?  HRP is being used as a life line for a bill that wont be paid off in donations alone.  Currently its a major rely on the more active part of the playerbase to throw cash into the ship.  However 800$ a month is an insane price to pay for almost nothing.  What im getting at is when roflwaffle starts telling us we are short on the bill it gets worrisome for some of us. 

I say that because if we ever can't pay we aren't just going to say "Whelp!" and close shop. We have fallback plans in case we need to keep this place running on $0, it just wouldn't be ideal for anyone. We're determined to keep our services available and will do anything to do so. It's important to remember that while most of you may not have faith in our staff, one thing we're not is stupid. We've been doing this for a long time now, we know how to keep doing it.

Wait, how would CG run on 0$? Is that even possible?
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: Tyrex on May 31, 2014, 11:30:50 PM
Quote
With that said, I feel I need to stress the fact that Catalyst-Gaming is not in danger of shutting down, however we have had discussions about downsizing while we attempt to bring down costs. You can play on our servers confident that your hard work and digital items won't be made worthless in the foreseeable future.

you'd be suprised. server bill, vps for the website, dos protection, taxes etc adds up to about 800$ a month. that doesn't include paying devs

With both of these said someone77 your answer is very hollow.  Why do i say this?  HRP is being used as a life line for a bill that wont be paid off in donations alone.  Currently its a major rely on the more active part of the playerbase to throw cash into the ship.  However 800$ a month is an insane price to pay for almost nothing.  What im getting at is when roflwaffle starts telling us we are short on the bill it gets worrisome for some of us. 

I say that because if we ever can't pay we aren't just going to say "Whelp!" and close shop. We have fallback plans in case we need to keep this place running on $0, it just wouldn't be ideal for anyone. We're determined to keep our services available and will do anything to do so. It's important to remember that while most of you may not have faith in our staff, one thing we're not is stupid. We've been doing this for a long time now, we know how to keep doing it.

Wait, how would CG run on 0$? Is that even possible?

god forbid they put personal money into it, afaik rofl has an actual job so if it comes down to it he can pay for it/anyone else who wants to
Title: Re: Is CG 'Dying'?
Post by: Adam S on June 01, 2014, 01:10:19 AM
I say that because if we ever can't pay we aren't just going to say "Whelp!" and close shop. We have fallback plans in case we need to keep this place running on $0, it just wouldn't be ideal for anyone. We're determined to keep our services available and will do anything to do so. It's important to remember that while most of you may not have faith in our staff, one thing we're not is stupid. We've been doing this for a long time now, we know how to keep doing it.
The only staff member i ever had much faith in was you because your the only one who has managed to keep their sense in my time at CG.  And wasting personal money to continue to run CG would be silly.  Honestly if it falls through i agree to just close shop.  Maybe start again some other time.  Communities do not last forever, and CG has gone through its course.  But who knows, i can be mentally insane.
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