Help Support The NLSC!

[Andrew]

In 2016, we were informed by our previous host that they were closing their hosting services. This meant we had to look for a new home, or shut down. We decided we weren't done yet, so we began weighing our options.

Our previous arrangement provided us with free hosting in exchange for ad space. We were not going to get a deal that good in 2016, and thus we had to assume the costs of a dedicated server on a new host. Fortunately, we were able to find a suitable hosting plan with a new provider, and successfully completed a move by July 2nd, 2016 without losing any content, or suffering major downtime.

Because we are a non-profit site and do not (and will not) put our content behind paywalls, we've previously appealed to the community for help in paying the bills. Through generous contributions via Patreon, PayPal donations, and GoFundMe, as well as running our own ads across the site and Forum, we've been able to keep the lights on for the past five years. Fortunately, we expect to be around for a while yet!

At this time, our ads are keeping us up and running, so we haven't seen fit to have any donation drives or really push our Patreon. Advertising revenue can be unstable of course, so we are leaving our Patreon open for now, as well as inviting donations via PayPal if anyone feels so inclined. We've let our GoFundMe campaign expire for the moment, as we found most people preferred to either tip through PayPal or jump on Patreon for a few months.

I'd like to thank everyone who has donated or supported us through Patreon these past five years. It's all helped to pay the bills. On top of that, I'd also like to thank everyone for their understanding of why we were asking for donations and support when it wasn't clear if we'd be able to keep the site running without being out of pocket. I feared there might be some backlash for "e-begging", but the community as a whole was very understanding and supportive when it was feasible. It really was heartwarming to get such a positive, supportive reaction, considering the potential controversy.

As I said, we're keeping our Patreon and PayPal tip jar open for the moment. I'm also open to suggestions for potential Patreon rewards, as that support has basically been out of goodwill so far. I've experimented with a few tiers in the recent past, but I found that a lot of people were signing up and immediately cancelling, or leaving because they weren't getting any rewards before they'd made their first payment. Moving forward, we may just rely on ads and the tip jar, but for now the Patreon will remain open, and again, I'm also open to suggestions as to feasible rewards for Patrons. Again, thank you to everyone who has contributed so far, or simply continues to support the site by visiting us on the regular and enjoying our content and facilities!

I've updated our FAQ below, as the server move is a long way behind us, and circumstances have obviously changed. If you have any questions or concerns, or suggestions for possible Patreon rewards as long we're keeping it open, please let me know. Your continued support, understanding, and generosity has been most appreciated, especially as we look to celebrate 25 years online in August 2021!

NLSC Server Move & Hosting Fund FAQ

Why did you move in 2016?

Our previous host discontinued their hosting services as of July 7th, 2016. As such, we had to find new hosting, and move the site before that date. We did, and so the NLSC lives on!

When was the move completed?

Everything was transferred over and running on the new server as of July 2nd, 2016. Over the course of the next week or so, we fixed up a few glitches that were occurring because a few things hadn't been set up properly.

Was the NLSC offline during the move? Was anything lost?

Yes, there were some interruptions as the move took longer than expected. Because the Forum and Downloads section were offline, nothing was lost during the move that was still available as of the previous week. Our archives are still intact, even articles and bulletins from the week of the move.

Why have you invited donations to cover hosting costs since 2016?

Since moving to a new host, we've assumed all financial responsibilities for our dedicated server, which is more expensive than basic web hosting. Because we're offering file hosting to the modding community, host our own podcast, and have facilities such as the forum, a dedicated server is required. We've appealed to the community for help in paying our monthly hosting costs, as we're a non-profit site. Through advertising and donations/crowdfunding, we've been able to keep the lights on, and expect to be around for a while yet.

Will you ever be charging for any content or facilities?

No! We will not be putting any of our content behind a paywall, charging for registrations or downloads, or anything like that.

Will you be creating or allowing sponsored content?

At this time, no. The only offers we get for sponsored content are for gambling services, and if you've read our articles or listened to our podcast, you know how we feel about mixing gambling with video games! Sponsored content doesn't feel like a good fit for us, and the image/integrity that we're striving for.

NOTE: Due to a compromised account that has since been fixed, some gambling links have previously been inserted into old articles. I believe I've tracked them all down, but if you encounter any, let me know and I'll get rid of them ASAP. Spambots can be quite malicious, unfortunately.

How can I contribute?

If you do feel like chipping in to our hosting fund, you can support us with monthly contributions on Patreon, or make once-off donations (or however often you desire; we won't turn down your generosity!) via PayPal.

What if I can't afford to contribute (or contribute monthly)?

That's OK! Running ads has helped out greatly in covering costs. If a few generous members of our community want to further help us out monthly or from time to time, it's certainly appreciated. We don't expect everyone to dig deep and donate monthly, or at all. Every little bit helps, but really, we mostly hope that you'll keep supporting us by simply continuing to visit the site and enjoy your time here.

Are there any rewards for Patrons?

At the moment we don't have any reward tiers in place, but we're always considering how we can possibly show our appreciation for our Patrons on Patreon. We're also open to suggestions in this regard as to what kind of perks and rewards would be most appreciated. If we keep our Patreon open, we'll certainly look to implement some of those ideas if they're at all feasible.

I don't like that you've asked this of the community. I'm not going to support the NLSC anymore.

We're sorry to hear that. We understand the controversy of inviting donations, especially when we've championed free content for as long we've been around. We made the request as we were uncertain as to how we'd be able to fund our hosting costs, and hoped that we'd built up enough goodwill that it wasn't out of bounds. We remain committed to providing free content and services to the community, and hope people understand why we've set up avenues to help out with our costs, should anyone be inclined to do so.

[JWL3]

Awesome job on the site Andrew! Gave $50. Come on y'all. Dig deep! If all the members gave just $1 a year, I bet the annual server cost would be paid for.

[Andrew]

It absolutely would! Thank you very much for the kind donation, it's very much appreciated.

[goldenstate77]

Happy to donate... appreciate the work you guys do.

[Andrew]

Saw that come through. Thank you very much!

[Murat]

Sir there's a problem with this thread.

It says there are 6 posts but I can see 5

[Jackal]

You can't see the special post that says important stuff about your profile being deleted if you can't see the post? How will you confirm seeing it then?

[Andrew]

Sir there's a problem with this thread.

It says there are 6 posts but I can see 5

A spambot posted in it and the post was subsequently deleted along with the account, which glitched the reply count.

[BPDHoplite]

I love this website and the help,downloads and forums are fantastic! But im still in school so no dough from me for now

[Andrew]

That's OK.

[shadowgrin]

Upkeep of The NLSC (yes, the 'The' is intentional and it should be from now on) will purely be reliant on crowd funding and Supreme Master Andrew's pockets or will it be a mix of those plus advertising $$$?

The NLSC would be missing out on dosh if it won't sell ad space. I won't mind seeing ads on top/bottom of the forums for penis enlargement because I know it's backed by science.

[Andrew]

It's a mixture of both, yes.

[TheAkronFreak]

I'm happy to report that the move to our new host was a success! The NLSC has actually been on its new server for a couple of weeks, but we did experience a couple of teething problems while we made sure everything was set up as before. However, everything should now be working: the main site, the Forum, the Downloads section, our upload facilities, and the Wiki. Thanks go out to the techs who helped us move everything over to our new home!

As I mentioned when I announced the move, we are now paying for our own hosting. Previously, we received dedicated hosting in exchange for advertising space, but such generous deals basically aren't on offer these days. Because we are a non-profit website, we're appealing to the community to help us pay for our hosting moving forward, to ensure that we can continue to provide all of the same facilities as before. This requires us to utilise dedicated hosting, rather than cheaper shared hosting, as the latter does not allow for those facilities.

We're currently paying around $90 US per month for our dedicated hosting. If twenty people are willing to contribute $5 US per month, we'll be able to completely cover the costs and keep doing what we're doing for a long time to come. Should there be any funds left over, I'd like to put that money to use for monthly giveaways, and developing new content.

If you're willing and able to contribute to the hosting fund, you may do so through Patreon or GoFundMe. A huge thank you to the individuals who have contributed so far; your support is greatly appreciated! If you don't have the means to chip in, that's quite alright; we hope that you'll support us by continuing to visit the NLSC on a regular basis, and enjoying all of our features and content.

As previously mentioned, the NLSC will not be charging for downloads or any of our other content or facilities, nor putting anything behind a premium paywall. Because we're a non-profit site, we just need a little help paying the bills, if we want to keep providing the community with file hosting facilities, a Forum, and everything else that we do here at the NLSC.

For more information on the move and the hosting fund, please check out the FAQ below. Thank you once again for your patience and understanding during the move. It took a little longer than I hoped, and we had to fix a few things up once we got to our new home, but it's back to business as usual, and onward and upward from here on out!

NLSC Server Move & Hosting Fund FAQ

Why did you move?

Our previous host discontinued their hosting services as of July 7th, 2016. As such, we had to find new hosting, and move the site before that date. We did, and thus nothing was lost!

When was the move completed?

Everything was transferred over and running on the new server as of July 2nd, 2016. Over the course of the next week or so, we fixed up a few glitches that were occurring because a few things hadn't been set up properly.

Was the NLSC offline during the move? Was anything lost?

Yes, there were some interruptions as the move took longer than expected. Because the Forum and Downloads section were offline, nothing was lost during the move. Our archives are intact, even news posts from the week of the move.

Why are you asking for donations?

We are asking the community to help us out in paying for the new hosting. Our previous hosting agreement gave us free hosting in exchange for advertising space. Deals like that just don't exist these days, so we must now pay for hosting ourselves.

Why can't you just pay for it yourselves?

For twenty years, the NLSC has been a non-profit website. We don't have content behind a paywall, or fees for any facilities that we provide, which would normally cover things like hosting costs. We want to keep providing those facilities free of charge, but we need to explore avenues to cover the costs without being out of pocket. One of those avenues is crowdfunding/support.

Will you be charging for any content or facilities?

No! We will not be putting any of our content behind a paywall, charging for registrations or downloads, or anything like that. We want to keep doing what we've been doing with as little change or interruption as possible. We just need some help paying for the services that will allow us to do that.

So, nothing will change?

The only possible changes might be that we require users to register an account to download files, but that's something that's been considered even before this move. Either way, you would not have to pay to register an account, and you would not have to pay to download files. Our plan is to keep doing what we're doing; we just have to move to new hosting, and pay for it ourselves.

How can I contribute?

You can support us with monthly contributions on Patreon, or you can make donations via GoFundMe.

What if I can't afford to contribute (or contribute monthly)?

That's OK! We're hoping a few generous members of our community can help us out, but we don't expect everyone to dig deep and donate. We hope you'll keep supporting us by simply continuing to visit the site and enjoy your time here.

Similarly, if a once-off donation is all you can afford, we still very much appreciate that. Every little bit helps!

Why did you choose that amount for GoFundMe?

GoFundMe requires a goal amount to be entered. We've chosen an amount with a high ceiling, in the event that we can raise enough money to keep covering hosting costs for years to come, as we want to be around for a while yet.

Why is the GoFundMe amount in Australian Dollars?

The funding is being handled by NLSC Webmaster/Administrator Andrew Begley, who is located in Australia. More information on exchange rates can be found here.

Are there any rewards for backers?

We're looking into offering some kind of rewards for community members who generously donate to help with our hosting costs. At present, we're intending to give backers who have registered Forum accounts a badge, the ability to change their username colour, and the ability to set a custom title (if they haven't already qualified for it). We'll also be looking at other ways to show our appreciation, which we'll reveal once they can be arranged, as well as explore the possibility of early access, special content, etc, for different tiers of patrons on Patreon.

I don't like that you're doing this. I'm not going to support the NLSC anymore.

We're sorry to hear that. We understand the controversy of asking for donations, but we also feel that we've been around a long time and supported the basketball video game community well, so it's not out of bounds to ask the community for some support in return; especially as it's being done in order to pay for services that will benefit the community. This is the first time we're asking for donations in the twenty years we've been around, and it's not a decision that we made lightly. If you still feel that we're acting inappropriately despite all that, then that's your call to make. We certainly hope that most people will understand.

Can I make a donation to you directly, eg. via PayPal?

Yes, if you would prefer. Please email andrew@nba-live.com for more information if you would like to arrange that. Thank you for your support!

Something isn't working properly after the move.

Please let Andrew know if you encounter any difficulties or errors. We believe everything should be working fine now, but if there's something we missed, just point it out so that it can be fixed ASAP.

I have other questions or concerns about the move/situation.

Please let us know, and we'll answer them as best we can.

Ummm I will donate 40 Aussie Dollars for that

[Andrew]

Any donations are gratefully received, if you feel so inclined.

[Andrew]

It's been almost five years since our server move, and thankfully, we've been able to keep the lights on since then! A big thanks to everyone who has chipped in here and there over that time, either through PayPal donations, Patreon, or GoFundMe.

I've updated the first post because a lot of the information was outdated. For example, I've let the GoFundMe campaign expire, and I've experimented with tiers on Patreon, but for the most part it seems people would prefer to make once-off donations through PayPal, which is understandable. I've also found that a lot of people cancel on Patreon because they haven't received anything immediately before they've been charged for anything, and for a while we were also getting people signing up and immediately cancelling without explanation. Also, for much of the time we've been relying on goodwill and generosity with our Patreon, where it's been a donation out of the goodness of people's hearts. As such, we may move away from having one in the future. While we've got it though, I'm open to suggestions for Patron rewards. I'll certainly consider implementing any feasible ideas!

For the moment though, running ads on the site is paying the bills, so I'm not looking to do any big donation drives at this time. I'm leaving our Patreon and PayPal tip jars up for those who want to chip in because every little bit helps (again, I'm open to suggestions for rewards on Patreon if we can implement tiers or offer some form of thanks in general). For the moment however, we're managing to cover our costs.

I really appreciate all the generosity over the years, as well as the lack of backlash we had when we asked for donations back in 2016. I was worried about asking because I realise the controversy surrounding "e-begging", but I hoped we'd built enough goodwill for people to understand why we were asking, and it appears we did. Things were very uncertain at first, but thankfully, we expect to be around for a while yet. Again, any donations are gratefully received because they do help out and also allow us to budget for giveaways and the like, but for now I am letting the GoFundMe campaign expire, and I'm also holding off on any big donation drives for the moment. Continuing to visit us regularly, making use of our facilities, and enjoying our content, really helps out as much as anything else. It means a lot to me.

Again, thanks to everyone who has chipped in so far, and thanks in advance for any future donations. Most of all, thanks for being a part of our community and checking out what we do here. Once again, feel free to suggest ideas for Patreon rewards as long as we have it open. I'll post a further update if and when they're implemented, or if we decide to move away from Patreon altogether and just stick with the ads and tip jar. Any other questions or concerns, as always, please let me know. For now though, thanks for sticking with us and supporting us as we look to celebrate 25 years online as of August 2021!

[Uncle Drew]

I have supported this site (financially) in the past. But what I'm currently upset about is the ads that bombard the site after each click. I can't navigate different topics without getting these ads. Now Andrew, I have spoken to you via DM, and you said you were going to look into it, but you never responded. Other's have suggested adblockers, but they obviously don't work. Now is this some agreement that this site is paying for these ads or what? The ads really take away from my experience of enjoying the site.

[Dee4Three]

I have supported this site (financially) in the past. But what I'm currently upset about is the ads that bombard the site after each click. I can't navigate different topics without getting these ads. Now Andrew, I have spoken to you via DM, and you said you were going to look into it, but you never responded. Other's have suggested adblockers, but they obviously don't work. Now is this some agreement that this site is paying for these ads or what? The ads really take away from my experience of enjoying the site.

This site has hosting costs associated with it. It is not cheap to keep it up and running.

And while the site has tens of thousands of members, it gets hardly any support in the form of donations to keep it going.

Gaming sites that have had far more advertisements on their pages have had to shutdown due to not being able to afford hosting costs any longer.

My guess is that the ads you see on this site are a minor, but necessary inconvenience in order to keep the site up and running.

[Andrew]

Just to add to what Dee said, there are no other arrangements beyond featuring the Google ads that support our hosting costs. I've elected to stick with Google because the ads are safe compared to other providers, and its a well-established service that I can rely upon to help pay the bills.

Those ads are only supposed to appear once per session. If you navigate away from the site or close the browser, it will consider it a new session when you next return, and one of those ads will be displayed. I do remember you mentioning the issue to me and I did look into it. However, all the settings appear to be correct and the ads are displaying once per session for me as they're supposed to. I thought I'd gotten back to you with a further update after those investigations; I apologise if I neglected to do that. Unfortunately, I wouldn't have been able to provide any further information beyond the fact that everything appears to be set up properly, and everything should be working as far as those once-per-session ads. I'm not sure why they're constantly displaying for you.

I can continue to monitor the situation, but it's difficult when I can't replicate the issue from my end. In the interim, I understand that you've got to do what you've got to do as far as your browsing experience. All I can say is that I'm not trying to make the site frustrating to navigate on purpose, and so far I've not been able to determine the cause of the issue you're having with it constantly being displayed. As Dee said, the ads are keeping the lights on, so I'll keep looking into it, but I've come up empty so far. If anyone else is experiencing issues where those ads you need to close are coming up more than once per session, then shoot me some screenshots and any other info you can think of, and I'll take it from there. I apologise again for the inconvenience, but so far, I haven't been able to find a cause for that issue from our end.

[Uncle Drew]

I appreciate all you do Andrew in regards to this site. And I understand that the bills have to be paid. But it's ironic that until this year, there was never this many ads between clicks. Like right now as I'm typing this, I'm looking at a ad for Walgreens and Whole Foods at the bottom of this page. If nothing concrete can actually be done, I'll just have to deal with it. But as said earlier, these ads are showing up more often. I remember a time when there was no ads. But I realize it's unrealistic to expect that now.

[Andrew]

Are you talking about the ads that take up the whole screen and you have to close, or other ones? There are some that will show up on each page, but it's been like that for a long time. There have been some changes from Google's end as to how certain ads are served, which may be the differences you're seeing.

[Uncle Drew]

Are you talking about the ads that take up the whole screen and you have to close, or other ones? There are some that will show up on each page, but it's been like that for a long time. There have been some changes from Google's end as to how certain ads are served, which may be the differences you're seeing.

MB22 suggested Adblock Plus, so I d/ld it and it's working so far !! Had to give a donation, but if it keeps them away it's well worth it. thanks...

[reaubno]

I appreciate this community, is the best one!

[Andrew]

Glad to have you here!