EQInterface/Ogaming Merger
 

As posted on the front page we have merged with Ogaming. Let me tell you a bit more about what this means for the site. Here are some Frequently Asked Question. Maybe this will help pre-answer som questions

Q. How does an affiliate join The OGaming Network?
A. Affiliates are assets of The OGaming Network. Under the terms of this agreement, EQinterface becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of The OGaming Network, and the MMOG user interface modification sites it operates become affiliates of The OGaming Network. The EQinteface sites – EQinterface.com, EQ2interface.com. and WoWinterface.com – will continue under existing management to autonomously provide the same rich content, independent opinions and fan forums that community members currently enjoy.

Q. Will the content or services provided by EQinterface change?
A. No. The OGaming Network exercises limited control over the content and services offered by affiliate members. OGaming believes that the real value of both free and subscription-based fan sites – such as EQinterface.com, EQ2interface.com and WoWinterface.com – stems from their organic growth and their unique and compelling role in the game play experience of MMOG ethusiasts.

Q. How does The OGaming Network affiliate status of EQinterface.com, EQ2interface.com and WoWinterface.com benefit users of those sites?
A. The users of EQinterface.com, EQ2interface.com and WoWinterface.com will benefit from those sites joining The OGaming Network, as they will now have direct access to a unique set of proprietary database tools, free guild hosting and other OGaming features offered on the network.

Q. Does The OGaming Network now control EQinterface.com, EQ2interface.com and WoWinterface.com?
A. While in principle The OGaming Network does maintain ultimate responsibility for the content and management of its affiliates, full autonomy is strongly encouraged and excercised. The OGaming Network rarely gets involved in day-to-day affiliate operations, and EQinterface will continue to operate its user sites with existing staff and a minimum of OGaming influence.

Q. What does this mean for long-time, loyal users of EQinterface.com, EQ2interface.com and WoWinterface.com?
The OGaming Network was created by gamers and for gamers, and that remains the mission of the network and each of its affiliates. EQinterface.com, EQ2interface.com and WoWinterface.com will retain their current character, management and lively perspectives, ensuring that they remain the pre-eminent user interface modification sites on the web.

Hope that helps answer some questions. In short, we are still here, we are not going anywhere and we only see the site(s) growing with our new found support.

Sounds great! thanks for keeping us informed :)

Congrats. :D

If it makes the [insertgame]interface.com sites better, it's great and I'm really happy.

Sadly I've seen many of the "gaming network" sites takeover independant sites like the varies [insertgame]Interface.com sites and wreck them. Turning popular content into pay only, etc....
Of course it would be hard to do that here since the content is made by users and submitted.

So I watch with a critical eye but I'm also hopeful. I'm sure this will take a lot of stress off the staff for some stuff (not sure exactly what OGaming.com will be providing). So I hope it makes your lives a little easier and maybe you can even get paid or get a T-shirt or something. :p

I did have one question. Is OGaming.com going to require you to change the website for whatever reason or just add their logo somewhere?

Anyhow, grats again and I hope the [insertgame]Interface.com sites keep going strong!

6

Doesn't OGaming.com do that bloody "ad splash screen"? As long as these sites don't follow suit, I'm cool with it. I hate ads and hate them even more when they block me from trying to get to the site I want to get to....

Nope ogaming doesnt do the full screen ads and they dont plan to. Thats IGN and Gamespot your thinking of.

I hate those full screen ads too.

Sweet! I knew a few gaming sites did, but wasn't sure on the exact ones. Thanks. :)

We all love these sites and just know that if it was gonna do something like that, we'd have rather closed the doors ;) You'll barely notice any changes... well cept some upgrades that Dolby has in the works because he rocks like that ;)

*insert random "lousy t-shirt" joke here*

Like I said.. things should be pretty unchanged... we'll have our affiliation with them posted of course (Dolby is workin' on integrating their logo, so we know it'll look good), but beyond that it'll be the same ole site ya know and love!

:)

Excellent, thank you for the update.

Strangely, I do have faith in you guys but I felt the need to Devil's Advocate a little. I know it probably came off a little pessemistic, but the rate at which really good sites go bye-bye, I hope you can understand my skepticism.
I'm just happy it wasn't IGN. *shivers*

Again, congratulations. As I said before, hope it makes all your lives just a tad easier.

I look forward (and I always do) to Dolby's latest doo-dads. :)

6

Umm, isn't Ogaming owned and operated by IGE? Or at least IGE's parent company, or something similiar. The link between IGE was established when people started questioning Thottbot and Cosmos, and how it was connected to Ogaming, which, in turn, turned out to be owned by IGE.

Now, I know IGE is a big advertiser and sponsor of yours, so I don't really expect a truthful answer about this b/c I know you won't badmouth the people that pay your bills. But how do you feel about what they do?? IE. contribute to cheating, and ruining the economy of servers and other such things?

edit: that sounded a bit harsh, and I don't mean to take shots at anyone's characters as I personally know that everyone involved with EQInterface and it's sister sites truly love the games they play, and the communities they serve.

Well I'd hoped they would cover this in their statement but they didn't so here is how it was explained to me, because trust me, I made the exact same complaint ;)

Basically Ogaming was founded with IGE money, but since then they have become their own company and don't have anything to do with IGE. All their funding and stuff comes from their own profits.

Again, this is how it was told to me, so bear that in mind if I don't have all my facts exactly right ;). I trust the person that told me this info so unless they were misinformed too, then this is whats up. Personally, I'm okay with it as long as nothing that I'm doing is going back to IGE or supporting them in any way, which its not.

OGaming is a Delaware Licensed LLC, It was orginally founded through IGE, but has since emerged into it's own company. You will notice there will not be IGE ads or links on this site. as we are owned by OGaming.

/bow

Congratulations
 

Ok, as i said I apologize if my post sounded harsh. It was late when I saw this and I got kind of nervous because the ***Interface sites have always been such a great place for thier respective communities and I don't want to see this change. When I first read the announcment red flags went up in my mind and I saw plat and gold selling threads, advertisments and links going all over the site :P

I am very glad to hear that Ogaming has broken off from IGE, and that is was them who you will become a part of and not IGE's "network".

So, now that that is cleared up, congratulations. Dolby, Kudane, Cairenn and Remy, you guys have been leaders in the UI community for so long, and have put so much hard work and dedication into your sites, you deserve much of recognition and praise. I am glad for you all and consider your merger with such a large network as OGaming to be a fitting tribute to your work and dedication. I look forward to seeing how this merger plays out, but I am sure that will bring only more improvment to your already great sites. :)

It's perfectly understandable to be nervous. Heck, we've been nervous about how this is all going to work out. But, we have been assured repeatedly by OGaming that they have no intention of changing how anything works on our sites. They wouldn't have wanted the sites if they weren't impressed with what they saw. The sites are the way they are because of who we are and the communities we build. Take us away, change how things run, and the sites aren't the same. They might continue to prosper, but then again, they may not. The names EQInterface.com, EQ2Interface.com and WoWInterface.com have the respect of the MMORPG UI modding community. But so do the names Dolby, Kudane, Cairenn and all the wonderful help we've had over the years at the different sites - Remmy, Bela, Inokis, Guice, Bikther, Lueamdar, taco-man, Deathbane27.

What this really boils down to, so far as we (and hence you, our community) are concerned is that we can now concentrate on the running of the sites themselves, instead of worrying every 6 months that we are going to have to close our doors because we weren't able to get an advertising contract. OGaming owns the sites. We still retain control over running them.

Ahhh, my name was mentioned. I feel so special. :o

Tell them how much they paid you...
 

...for other people's work?

For those that don't know, OGaming is owned by IGE. IGE has been buying up fansites for a while now and are spending HUGE sums of money for sites. I can imagine they paid Cairenn 6+ figures for the XXXinterface.com sites. They've paid other fansites 6 figures for far less.

So, how much of that are you going to divvy out to the mod/ui authors, Cairenn? How much you going to share with the people who volunteered to help you with the site?

That's what I thought. Good riddance.

Actually, you are incorrect. OGaming isn't owned by IGE, as stated previously in this thread:
And, in case you missed it previously, I'm an admin at all the sites. I'm not an owner, never was. I can tell you, I certainly didn't get any 6+ figures out of this.

Cairenn does not now, nor did she ever recieve a 6+ figure salery. Hell Dolby, Cairenn and I all put together would not clear 6 figures in several years.

Dolby and I were the partnership that owned the site. Cairenn has been a VOLUNTEER on the sites for over 3 years.

But that being said. let me straighten a few facts out..

IGE Was the chief investor of OGaming.com which is now its OWN LLC. Nothing on this site will ever "support" IGE or its buisness practices. ogaming is a stand along company who's cheif investor was IGE, starting OGaming (along with some of the site IGE had bought previously). But I promise you our sales contract says "OGaming.com Network, a Delware LLC". It does not list IGE.

With that cleared up, please understand this site is FREE to download without limits, and FREE to upload without limits. It is a place that authors can post their work FREE and get feedback and improve thier work.

All of that may sound like a "phat paycheck" but the reality is a very "phat bill" that we now do not have to worry about paying and we can concentrate on improving the site.

So please try to remember that we are here for the community, and if selling the ownership of the name to OGaming helps us be here for the community, then it is worth it!

/bow

Kudane

Our decision was based upon survival and the need to keep doing what we love most. If you knew us from any of our other interface sites you would know we (including staff) love helping people and working on the websites. If you don’t know us I’m sure you’ll have trouble believing what I say and I doubt there’s anything I can say to change that.

It's not you guys I doubt, its the sincerity of O-gaming that I doubt. What happens after 6 months when they decide, "hey these are our sites so thx for building them but now you all have to go."

While I can not give details, this was one of our concerns and was VERY well addressed and covered before we would agree.

So trust me when I say "we are not going anywhere"... =)

Dolby,
I was an avid user of EQInterface while I played EQ. The concern we all have is that OGaming was an IGE front (and likely still is). IGE is spending a TON of money this year alone in purchasing websites.

And my question still stands (even if Cairenn can't answer it). How much of the money that XXXinterface.com received is going to the volunteers who helped run the site? To the mod/ui authors who MADE the sites what they are?

Or are you guys just gonna take the money and hold it, while the people who make your sites get nothing for their work you will have basically "exploited"?

As a mod and an previous author at EQInterface, I don't expect anything, nor should anyone else. Whatever profits they make are their's. They created the sites for ppl to host mods, they run the sites forking out the dough to keep the servers up, and doing the work needed to keep the contracts up to date for their funding. Secondary staff and modding were voluntary acts (without pay, pro bono, etc...).

/agree and I'm speacking as a previous mod/author. I was old school back when EQInterface first started up. I was EQI's first mod. :D

You're kidding right?

I really hope you are b/c what you are saying makes absolutley ZERO sense. OGaming didn't buy the work that is on the site, they bought the site itself which is just a database of user uploaded content for the public to use which is managed by a few people. Just b/c you may have uploaded work here dosen't entitle you to anything except the credit for the work that you have done, and the communities thanks for contributing.

No one has exploited anyone, or anything. And for you to even suggest this is simply ludicrous. Why would you think you are entitled to some of the money recieved to purchase the site? Dolby and Kudane built this site for the community and have NEVER asked for donations or really anything from the community. They self funded the site for awhile and then sold advertising space to keep things going. Now, they don't have to worry about advertising anymore as they are part of a large network.

I'm sorry but even the question of "how much are the mod authors who MADE the site what it is going to get" is just so fundamentally wrong it isn't even funny. Mod authors certainly have contributed to the site, but it is Dolby, Kudane, Cairenn and the other moderators that made the site what it is. Basically the ***Interface sites are a place for players of the game to come and get UI mods FREE OF CHARGE, that are made by mod authors and uploaded for people to download, not buy. If you want to sell your UI mods go somewhere else. You aren't entilted to any of the money, the owners of the site are.

I just can't even believe how selfish and wrong your comments are. Worrying about IGE's interferance is one thing, but you are suggesting that by uploading mods you somhow are entilted to a piece of the site. These sites are for a community of people, and always have been

QFT and well said!

We'll trade you free hosting for your UI mods for the past X amount of years. Fair? ;) Oh and speaking as one of those volunteers, seeing a site grow and become a useful tool for the community is a lot of payment in itself.

I think others have said it better than I can, so thats the last I'm going to say on this subject. Please remember to keep the conversation civil everyone ;)

bull****. As the guy (yes, me) who created OGaming (back in 2000), there was no IGE when I created ogaming. Hell I created it because I just liked SubSpace (www.subspace.net, which I still own). OGaming was definitely *not* founded with IGE money. It was off of my own money. The only reason I ended up selling it was because I couldn't afford it anymore (after losing $50,000 it gets a bit not worth it).

In regards to IGE owning or not owning OGaming - I will leave that fun tidbit for you.

Tell JM I said hi, and remember its 'OGaming' not 'Ogaming'

Thats a relief.

The day I see gold selling ads and nonsense on here is the day I pull my mods. I hope you guys stick to your guns on that, I like this site.

Barbarian - thank you

Sathanas - count on it. :)

Well like I said it was explained to me like it was explained to someone else like ... etc.. you get the picture... so there was a chance I got some of the details wrong, but I'm guessing that something happened with some ige money to bail out the network, and then they became a seperate entity afterwards. All I know is that I was assured that the site (being owned by OGaming now) doesn't have anything to do with IGE. (Or I'd not be here right now)

Also, I've always been bad with capitals, but I'll keep that in mind when I type it out in the future :)

And that's the part that pisses me off. Who the hell is spreading such crap?

You left the Tidbit upto them, so they "filled in the blanks". ;)

I an curious, however, about all that. You did not state that they did or did not own OGaming at any time. You just stated OGaming was not started by or on IGE funds.

*Edit:
Im going to throw in a quick edit here on a hypothesis on how this rumor could have gotten start:
Again, I could be COMPLETELY wrong in all of this, but just an assumption on how a person could very easily get that rumor started and how "you fill in the banks" can quickly spread faulse information. ;)


This assumption of mine is clued in by two factors:
One - Barbarian said he DID sell his site and his site was NOT founded by IGE
Two - Dobly & Kudane were told the site was branched off by IGE. I don't see the current owners of OGaming lieing to Dobly for the *Interface sales.

I put two and two together and came up with my hypothesis.

While IGE founded the Relaunch of OGaming, I have been told that when OGaming became an LLC (several months ago). That it is now standing on it's own legs. While I am not Nieve(sp) enough to assume that some of the profits don't get back to IGE. I can say that all of the meetings I have been in have been discussions on how to grow OGaming and become the premier content site, and none of it involved discussions on how to grow IGE.

So while some people will always assume OGaming and IGE are one and the same, others may start to see that OGaming is breaking out from under the shadow of IGE and is really standing on it's own.

At this point there is not much more any of us can say to convince the skeptics that we are telling the truth. So we will let actions speak for us. Watch over the next 6 months to a year, and you will see what we have been saying become more and more clear.

To that end I am locking this thread. I see no reason to continue to have back and forth debates over the same information. I will post a "return" to this topic in 6 months and people can say if they have seen good/bad/etc since this thread.

Please note: This topic is closed for discussion at this time, any new threads on this topic will be removed as we are working to look forward and make the site and the community stronger not debate what has already taken place. Sorry if this sounds "harsh" but we simply will not drag this out forever.

- Kudane