Support NeoGAF

[DeepEnigma]

Wait what? She's asking donations for what?

For suckers.

 

[RoyalLaFlame]

For suckers.

Fuck I had to go to Era to check it. I can't believe she's really asking people to donate to her and getting mad if people don't do it.


What a fucking garbage human being.

 

[Xenon]

This is like watching a slow motion train wreck.

Filled with clowns!

 

[Bullet Club]

She can buy Cyberpunk now.

 

[Lord Panda]

Fuck I had to go to Era to check it. I can't believe she's really asking people to donate to her and getting mad if people don't do it.


What a fucking garbage human being.

how dare you? she’s a woman and no nonsense! She’s entitled to your respect and money!

don’t you know that her volunteering is saving lives and making the world such a better place? Quick, someone call the Nobel Peace Prize committee as well.

Since Cerium isn’t acknowledging her time and effort administering the site, us unenlightened and uninformed saps must do so in his stead, to keep that ‘coffee’ flowing! That echo chamber isn’t going to keep echoing by itself you know.

 

[Longcat]

one post there said "The forum was never left wing, even if the bulk of the users likely identify that way."
Bro they were insta banning everyone that voted for Trump what the fuck are you saying

Yup, they've been saying it for years now. I actually think I literally laughed out loud when I saw it the first time.

 

[Kerotan]

Those poor moderators crunching for years all so one evil overload can get rich.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Shit I missed that. When I was doing MOBA searches I didn't know he's also affiliated with gambling sites.

 

[GHG]

I still don't understand how Era is actually worth 4.5 million? The ad revenue is that good?

Sold for about 7 times annual sales apparently which is quite punchy.

They must have something major planned, if not they will be very lucky to make that money back over the next 5 years considering the exodus this will cause.

 

[RafterXL]

I still don't understand how Era is actually worth 4.5 million? The ad revenue is that good?

It's not worth that much. It makes about 700k a year in ad revenue, but its userbase and pageviews have been declining. The only way this transaction makes sense is if the new owners decide to drastically change things.

one post there said "The forum was never left wing, even if the bulk of the users likely identify that way."
Bro they were insta banning everyone that voted for Trump what the fuck are you saying

These are the same mental midgets that were banning Hillary supporters on THIS site when they were pissing themselves because people had the audacity to support anyone but Bernie. The entire shitbird crew that made this place unreadable back then are who founded that place. The idea that they aren't left wing is laughable.

 

[RoyalLaFlame]

Sold for about 7 times annual sales apparently which is quite punchy.

They must have something major planned, if not they will be very lucky to make that money back over the next 5 years considering the exodus this will cause.

Thing is, with things like Reddit and Discord, how the hell they plan on making that money? Forums are not the money makers they were in the past.

I have a feeling this won't pay off and they will shut down the forum after two years.

 

[MrFunSocks]

Hopefully this means the end of that shitty hivemind forum, just annoying that the ringleader made out like an absolute bandit and has made seemingly close to $7mil overall.

Having said that, I think all the anger about mods etc not being paid is stupid. They willingly signed up to be volunteers. They knew there was no pay. The site making mass profits doesn't affect that in any way. Why would you pay people that are going to do it for free?

I hope EviLore is well enough off where this whole situation of this person becoming a millionaire from his creation being stolen out from under him doesn't bother him too much.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Those poor moderators crunching for years all so one evil overload can get rich.

It's payback time off user's backs too. No balls to get pay from the new owners.

Nepenthe's donation link has about 30 people already at $5 each. And on Reeee he's already ragging on users to amp up donations when he first got it up and running.

 

[Bullet Club]

$2,764.27 per post for Cerium. A tough gig.

 

[TransTrender]

It's payback time off user's backs too. No balls to get pay from the new owners.

Nepenthe's donation link has about 30 people already at $5 each. And on Reeee he's already ragging on users to amp up donations when he first got it up and running.

FYI Neph is furry midget woman and they're going to feed this one to the wood chipper for that kind of sas.

 

[captainraincoat]

holy hell just when i think this cant get any better this is so bonkers. its like everything is revealing itself in the final act of this clown world story.

will the other mods follow? was it always about money? has it always been a scam? LET'S FIND OUT!

Everyone donate 41 cents…

 

[Kenpachii]

Whats does administrator even mean?

 

[alstrike]

Ban incoming

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Oh dude they’re gonna open registration so fast. Going to be like fucking N4G over there. I’m sure they will lose all their insiders. The fact that you can’t just click yeah I want to be here, get banned and make another account the same minute is one of the reasons I think leakers and insiders are willing to share information on these sites. That site is going to be a complete joke in 6 months.

NeoGAF had much higher insider engagement before the Blue Haired Mini Mouse Avatars took over. It's pretty telling how there's only maybe 1 or 2 real insiders there and they never leak shit anyways.

You also have a few rare company-men shills from some studios but again, nothing really valuable gets posted.

Insiders left, and they basically found Twitter was a better platform for their narcissism.

 

[EviLore]

If I had taken an acquisition offer back in the day I definitely would’ve spread the love around to the team.

Cerium needs all $4.55 million for his mental health, though.

 

[Bullet Club]

We all know what Nep is really going to spend her money on:

White baby sandwich!

 

[Virt McPolygon]

What a world this is. A cesspool selling for millions.

 

[Kerotan]

$2,764.27 per post for Cerium. A tough gig.

I see he's a fan of the former from control.

"Former is an extradimensional being originating from the Astral Plane, implied to be a former member of the Board. Former possesses the power to control the nature of Altered Items and, by extension, is able to bestow paranatural abilities similar to those granted by binding Objects of Power."

 

[Moon Grape Donut]

This Nepethe guy must be raging so fucking hard inside. I guess this "comedic" side he is using now is just a mechanism to try and not explode in a million pieces.

 

[Lord Panda]

If I had taken an acquisition offer back in the day I definitely would’ve spread the love around to the team.

Cerium needs all $4.55 million for his mental health, though.

Must be mentally draining for him to laugh so hard at everyone.

 

[RAÏSanÏa]

Calling Nepenthe a cop is wrong, it should be pig.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

This Nepethe guy must be raging so fucking hard inside. I guess this "comedic" side he is using now is just a mechanism to try and not explode in a million pieces.

Cerium: 4 years. Barely posted. $4.5M sell out + 4 years of annual profits to boot

Nepenthe: 4 years. Tons of posts. Mod. $140 in donations all done in the past 90 minutes

I wonder which guy made out best. lol

 

[farmerboy]

She can buy Cyberpunk now.

And some idiots donated.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

And some idiots donated.

$140 in 4 years.

Well, if it'll shut him up for a change, it's worth the 10 cents per day.

 

[Xaero Gravity]

And some idiots donated.

I donated 20 times in hopes of getting some nudes. Still waiting.

 

[nush]

If I had taken an acquisition offer back in the day I definitely would’ve spread the love around to the team.

Cerium needs all $4.55 million for his mental health, though.

and if I remember correctly you were at the time making charity donations anyway.

 

[MrFunSocks]

Thing is, with things like Reddit and Discord, how the hell they plan on making that money? Forums are not the money makers they were in the past.

I have a feeling this won't pay off and they will shut down the forum after two years.

Didn't we just find out that it was making $700k a year in ad revenue? That doesn't count as being a "money maker"?

 

[nush]

Mods:

 

[nush]

What a world this is. A cesspool selling for millions.

when it's a money laundering scam. Just wait.

 

[bender]

I donated 20 times in hopes of getting some nudes. Still waiting.

 

[MrFunSocks]

Mods:

The mods chose to volunteer knowing they wouldn't get paid, not because there was no money but just because it's not a job, it's a hobby that they're volunteering to do (and most likely enjoy having some power on the forum). Why is everyone saying that now they should get paid just because the site sold?

 

[Virt McPolygon]

Resetera integration with The Last of Us 2 multiplayer is all I'm thinking of now.

The mods chose to volunteer knowing they wouldn't get paid, not because there was no money but just because it's not a job, it's a hobby that they're volunteering to do (and most likely enjoy having some power on the forum). Why is everyone saying that now they should get paid just because the site sold?

This is why you don't do shit for free.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Didn't we just find out that it was making $700k a year in ad revenue? That doesn't count as being a "money maker"?

That part is swept under the rug.

The latest year is $700k at 80% margin before taxes. So $560k before taxes. I dont know what US corporate tax rates are, but he probably pulled in a good $400k. Other years who knows as Reee had to ramp up, but surely he made money too in years 1-3. I'd estimate in totality, he banks $1 million net profit just on operations. Might be more, but I'll assume the earlier years were much lower.

And this operational profit is what could had been used to pay some mods. The final buy out price out of nowhere is technically different, but he'd surely be scoping out offers the past year and had an ide what he would make selling it off. But looks like he was a cheapskate to the final minute. Although to be fair, the mods didn't seem to want to get paid. Maybe Cerium offered, but if they put their hands back in their pockets, then he'd be like.... fuck it. I offered.

The $4.5M will get taxed. So it might be ballpark $3.3M net if he loses 25% to tax. So I'd estimate he's made a net profit of $4.3M or so after everything and all taxes paid.

Assuming I got my rates kind of right, he probably made out a net profit of somewhere between $4 - 5M.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Resetera integration with The Last of Us 2 multiplayer is all I'm thinking of now.

 

[ULTROS!]

She can buy Cyberpunk now.

Lol, if anyone can do it, Ultros can:

https://ko-fi.com/ultros1111

 

[nush]

splinter GAF forums pay well, invest now.

 

[SegaManAU]

Man I miss the old reset era thread that was closed on here...hahaha this is great.

 

[BadBurger]

The mods chose to volunteer knowing they wouldn't get paid, not because there was no money but just because it's not a job, it's a hobby that they're volunteering to do (and most likely enjoy having some power on the forum). Why is everyone saying that now they should get paid just because the site sold?

What's funny is that any semblance of community there - the detailed and rich OT's, the community threads that someone curates results for weekly or monthly to keep people engaged, the occasional thoughtful post - all persevere despite the mods, not because of them. The mods don't contribute in a positive way to any thread. Meanwhile they gleefully ban long time members who do actually provide value over petty personal reasons.

I'm glad those mods got grifted and will all be gone soon enough once this MOBA company moves forward with their plans. B-Dubs and the rest are delusional if they think any sane company would keep them around in any kind of deal. They can find unskilled volunteer labor to moderate for them, people who aren't emotionally fragile bullies at that.

Edit: I mean look at this, posted by nush:

Does anyone really expect a serious business to keep this aggressive, lacking in basic character person around to help run their new investment? Or Hecht or B-Dubs, who encourage such childish behavior? They're all going to be gone.

And honestly I don't mind Nepenthe trying to grift (she lacks the intellect or charm to really pull it off beyond a one-time collection of maybe several hundred bucks) - those users there deserve it for feeding her sensitive ego.

 

[MrFunSocks]

That part is swept under the rug.

The latest year is $700k at 80% margin before taxes. So $560k before taxes. I dont know what US corporate tax rates are, but he probably pulled in a good $400k. Other years who knows as Reee had to ramp up, but surely he made money too in years 1-3. I'd estimate in totality, he banks $1 million net profit just on operations. Might be more, but I'll assume the earlier years were much lower.

And this operational profit is what could had been used to pay some mods. The final buy out price out of nowhere is technically different, but he'd surely be scoping out offers the past year and had an ide what he would make selling it off. But looks like he was a cheapskate to the final minute. Although to be fair, the mods didn't seem to want to get paid. Maybe Cerium offered, but if they put their hands back in their pockets, then he'd be like.... fuck it. I offered.

The $4.5M will get taxed. So it might be ballpark $3.3M net if he loses 25% to tax. So I'd estimate he's made a net profit of $4.3M or so after everything and all taxes paid.

Assuming I got my rates kind of right, he probably made out a net profit of somewhere between $4 - 5M.

On the bolded - sure, it could have, but why would Cerium pay them when they're happily doing it for free and volunteered to do it for free? Would it have been nice of him to give all the mods a bit of a little payout as a gesture when the buyout happens? Absolutely! The mods are however not owed a cent. They chose to work for free. They volunteered their time, no one forced them. They don't deserve any money simply for doing it.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

The mods chose to volunteer knowing they wouldn't get paid, not because there was no money but just because it's not a job, it's a hobby that they're volunteering to do (and most likely enjoy having some power on the forum). Why is everyone saying that now they should get paid just because the site sold?

Many of them are trolling the mods to make them feel like they got had by Cerium. lol

 

[RoyalLaFlame]

Didn't we just find out that it was making $700k a year in ad revenue? That doesn't count as being a "money maker"?

I mean, Era was created 4 years ago. Most of its users are already established. You don't buy a forum for 4.5 million and expect it to return always the same (700k). They will want the space to grow, but even though there's a lot to lurkers, most people don't actually care enough to create an account in a place that doesn't accept free emails. Not only that, but someone posted the decline in users there. Things are not looking too bright.

700k a year is good, but if I bought it for 4.5 million, I would want more in the next 5 years. When I said forums are not money makers, I mean this, how can they compete with Discord and Reddit, places where most users are moving to? How can they grow the forum to make even more?

 

[Topher]

If I had taken an acquisition offer back in the day I definitely would’ve spread the love around to the team.

When I said I'd give you a steak dinner at Sizzler for the site I didn't know you were going to bring the whole team!!

 

[Saber]

She can buy Cyberpunk now.

"Support Nepenthe"

When I though they couldn't get lower. This might be stupidest, dumbest thing I ever read, really.

Donate money to homeless cockroaches, it looks more money worth than this shit.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

This is why you don't do shit for free.

I do the occasional pro bono job here or there but generally I don't do shit for free for those making $100,000s per year either.

 

[nush]

She's starting to lose her shit. Again. The money is going to

a) Pay off her extortionate car loan
b) Buy a new fursuit.

Either a or b are actually a joke.