Removal from Discord & ZK Advertisement

Hello all.

After coming back from a long ban, I re-joined the Zero-K discord with a refreshed intent, one to behave properly and perhaps talk to the community every so often. A few days went by and there were people asking about advertisement in the Zero-K development channel, and I mentioned that I feel that the developers have a mixed/unsure desire to promote the game. Shortly after this, I also exclaimed in the general channel that the game was half-dead at the time (there were 10 people online). This landed me the boot and I was out just as soon as I came in. I can't say that I was too bothered, but I felt as if saying the truth shouldn't have received such a harsh reaction. This led to me question the developers' motives and mentalities for this game in general.

To backup my points about advertising & playercount from the Discord:

This game has existed for over 10 years, and over this time, about €24897 have been pledged in total donations. That's €20564 in the ZK server funds jar for 2009-2019 and €4333 in the support ZK jar. Since I'll be using these figures, I'll have to account the server funds jar for up to and including 2023 (as the current jar is only for up to 2019). Let's assume the costs are up by 50% from 2019 (€1060 * 1.5) and it's been 4 years since then. That's an extra €6360 needed for server funds which leaves us with:

€4224 surplus in the ZK server funds jar alone when accounting for every single year from 2009 up to 2023 inclusive.
€4333 surplus just as general donations from the support ZK jar.

This is over €8557 euros which are not being used for anything in the current moment.

What's the purpose of keeping such an amount of money locked away, with no purpose at all but just to sit there? Sure, you could argue the server funds are meant to just sit there, as they're for the server. But that would still leave us with over €4333 available for purposes such as advertisement, art, whatever you can name. Players donate to the game for a reason, they love the game and wish to see it thrive and grow. I see it as an enormous waste of potential and saddening that the funds the players have given to the game are not being used to solve a common game problem such as playercount. I have also heard from a player that the low playercount has meant a lack of competitiveness in the game.

This also goes back to the beginning, to where I stated that the developers have an unsure attitude when it comes to using donations -- I think this shows it.

To round it off:

As I have said in every other long post; ZK is a game I enjoy and love, the economy system and lob pots especially. For the game to get anywhere, I believe that the developers must make their stance on advertisement clear. This is so that there is no false hope amongst players and they know what to expect with their money (even if it's nothing).

This post was not meant to harass or insult. It's an honest take at what I have felt, seen & heard from a few others. I genuinely hope this game gets more active and enjoys a larger playerbase in the near future.

KIBO

quote: A few days went by and there were people asking about advertisement in the Zero-K development channel, and I mentioned that I feel that the developers have a mixed/unsure desire to promote the game.

Basically KIBO, I don't care what you feel that I think. I don't want to telling others what you feel that I think, because it is easy for people to get confused and end up thinking that I think what you feel that I think.

Whether you were truly saying what you feel that I think is irrelevant. You have a long history of trolling, baiting drama and harassing people - to the point that talking to you is a waste of time. So perhaps you have just ended up with a warped view of what is going on, but correcting it would be a herculean task, and I doubt you would even contribute anything if you did actually know what I think.

So anyway, a potential volunteer comes along, and you say something that implies the developers aren't actually interested in any improvements to the website. What am I to do? Talking to you is pointless, we've already done that. But the volunteer doesn't know that. They might end up talking to you, or even take your warped account of what is going to heart. So I banned you from Discord. Every other approach seems like one where I, and the whole ZK project, loses. I don't see any reason to ever reinstate you.

Simply put: Your behaviour history + Anything that makes it even slightly harder to talk to real volunteers = Goodbye

Finally, I would like this to be the last half-hour of my time that you waste. I could have done something useful. I have spent ZK-mana on this. So take this as an invitation for an open-ended response. Don't spread your new thoughts on what I think.

quote: I'd like to hear from the devs on this. Since they have the money stats, and also the options of what to do next.

Pure money gets us nowhere (well, at least without a ridiculous amount of it). Someone has to formulate an advertising plan, talk to people, put together art. This falls on volunteers, as everyone involved in developing Zero-K is a volunteer. But worse, the current core developers are not advertising people and don't have the time or inclination to become advertising people. So someone with the time and determination to see it through needs to step up and do something (aptitude is secondary, and can come from time and determination). This could be anyone, and it is why it is so important to not have KIBO sabotaging the process (intentional or not).