What Is Whyville Worth?
Bigfoot Bill
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Times Writer | |
Happy Almost-Halloween, Whyville! Bigfoot Bill here again, hiking my way through the same mysterious maze as last week: how to pay the bills!
As many of you know, Club Why was our first big effort to raise money for Whyville; lots of people have joined (1290! Pretty awesome!) but not enough people have paid with dollars (70. Hmmm.) to make it a real success.
We're working on advertising and sponsors, but the fact is, the internet advertising bubble has popped, and advertisements don't bring in enough money to keep a company healthy, and sponsors come and go. So what now?
I asked City Hall this very question earlier, and she said:
"The only way to sustain Whyville is for all Whyvillians to chip in real dollars and support our town. Otherwise, we'll always have to depend on other people, relying on the kindness of sponsors and the state of the economy. We'd never be self-sufficient. And I know that at least some Whyvillians agree with me. Here's a Y-mail I received from a citizen:"
I have an idea! Okay...you know how you have like 97152 whyville
members...Maybe you can charge everyone 50 cents to one dollar for being a
whyvillian so that whyville...will become faster. Because when i just want
to buy a face part to upgrade my *whyville* face...I can never make it to
the place! or when i go to whyville sqaure, I can't chat because *no
offense* whyville is too slow! Charging 50 cents or 1 dollar or even 75
cents from every whyvillian for a month...I don't think it's too much to
ask for from you guys! I know this is a free website...maybe some people
*if they want...like me* want to donate some money to make this faster!
maybe you can...i don't kknow...it's your choice..because whyville..no
offense..is just too slow...
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And I must say she has a point. Isn't it just like life in Whyville? If you don't get a salary of your own, you'll always be going around begging from other citizens, which is a lame (and unreliable!) way of staying alive.
So now it is up to all of us. Do we want Whyville to get bigger and better
-- think pet store, beach, more plots! -- or do we want to give it up? What is Whyville worth to us? More importantly, what is a BIGGER, BETTER Whyville worth to us? My hope is that we will all stand up and say, "YES!!! I WANT MY WHYVILLE!!! HOW DO WE HELP?"
City Workers will launch a new system next week for us to buy or bid, with real dollars, a Whyville Pass. Having this Pass will guarantee that you will NEVER see that annoying "Sorry, we're too busy" message again. As a special bonus, the Pass will also include an invitation to the upcoming Halloween Party. Yes, Halloween Party!
With enough people deciding this, we'll be able to buy new servers, which will immediately speed up the whole site. Believe me, we're *all* looking forward to that day!! Heck, I'll be able to spend time in Whyville myself!
Like all transactions on the net, this will require a credit card or a check. So
now is the time to get your parents ready for this! Go let them know how much this means to you and to YOUR town, Whyville.
Stay tuned to the Times for more announcements on this burning issue, and for more on the big Halloween bash! In the meantime, you can email us at ideas\@whyville.net to share your thoughts.
Coming to you from the revolutionary hotbed that is City Hall,
Bigfoot Bill
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