Forum news:
Got your Warcraft fix?Financial state of Auctioneer project.
I'd just like to make a quick post regarding the ongoing financial state of Auctioneer.
As many of you will know, I host the website and development environment for Auctioneer and Gatherer.
The monthly server costs are around $800, and the monthly donations that we receive (apart from around major patches) are usually only around $300.
Due to recent personal financial changes, I am unable to continue funding this project at this level of personal cost, so effective immediately I will be making changes to try and rectify this.
I have implemented a new "Sponsor" level of membership which entails a monthly contribution level, and also gives you a special status on the forums and the ability to specify a custom "title" which appears with your posts. (see: sponsorship)
There will be some consolidation of servers, which will require migration of services and disruption to the website operations during this process. This will allow me to reduce the overhead of having multiple server costs. We will be replacing the four servers we have at the moment with a modern "super" server, powerful enough to do the whole lot.
Finally, I will be implementing some form of advertising on the site, which I have always been opposed to, but which also appears to be inevitable. I will try to keep it as minimal and as relevant to the audience as I possibly can.
If you have ever considered donating, or becoming a sponsor, now would be a great time to do something about it.
As many of you will know, I host the website and development environment for Auctioneer and Gatherer.
The monthly server costs are around $800, and the monthly donations that we receive (apart from around major patches) are usually only around $300.
Due to recent personal financial changes, I am unable to continue funding this project at this level of personal cost, so effective immediately I will be making changes to try and rectify this.
I have implemented a new "Sponsor" level of membership which entails a monthly contribution level, and also gives you a special status on the forums and the ability to specify a custom "title" which appears with your posts. (see: sponsorship)
There will be some consolidation of servers, which will require migration of services and disruption to the website operations during this process. This will allow me to reduce the overhead of having multiple server costs. We will be replacing the four servers we have at the moment with a modern "super" server, powerful enough to do the whole lot.
Finally, I will be implementing some form of advertising on the site, which I have always been opposed to, but which also appears to be inevitable. I will try to keep it as minimal and as relevant to the audience as I possibly can.
If you have ever considered donating, or becoming a sponsor, now would be a great time to do something about it.
Holidays, Holidays, and more Holidays!
Folks,
No matter if you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Al Hijra, Ashura, Kwanzaa, Yule, Festivus, Winterveil (we all celebrate that one, right?), or just plain Winter, we here at Norganna's AddOns wish you and yours all the best now, in the coming year, and always.
We have had another amazing year of features, enhancements, bug fixes, and user support, all thanks to one of the most dedicated teams of AddOn developers that you will find anywhere. Look for more of the same during 2010!
Stay safe, stay warm, take some time to enjoy your non-Azerothian friends and family, and enjoy the rest of the year!
Nikk and the rest of the family at Norganna's AddOns
No matter if you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Al Hijra, Ashura, Kwanzaa, Yule, Festivus, Winterveil (we all celebrate that one, right?), or just plain Winter, we here at Norganna's AddOns wish you and yours all the best now, in the coming year, and always.
We have had another amazing year of features, enhancements, bug fixes, and user support, all thanks to one of the most dedicated teams of AddOn developers that you will find anywhere. Look for more of the same during 2010!
Stay safe, stay warm, take some time to enjoy your non-Azerothian friends and family, and enjoy the rest of the year!
Nikk and the rest of the family at Norganna's AddOns
Gatherer 3.1.14 Released
Version 3.1.14 is an update to make Gatherer compatible with WoW 3.2.
Version 3.1.14 Change Log:
Version Issue List: http://jira.norganna.org/browse/GATH/fixforversion/10352
- GATH-137: update Gatherer for new Hrothgar's Landing zone added in WoW 3.2
Version 3.1.14 Change Log:
Version Issue List: http://jira.norganna.org/browse/GATH/fixforversion/10352
- GATH-137: update Gatherer for new Hrothgar's Landing zone added in WoW 3.2
AuctioneerDb released.
I am proud to announce that AuctioneerDb has now reached the general availability stage (GA) and is ready for consumption by the wider internet audience.
We do of course plan to continue fixing any bugs that are found, adding new features, especially the premium functionality that I know a lot of you are waiting for, and more importantly listening and being responsive to our users comments and requests.
Being accessible to our users is a big part of what we do here at Norganna's AddOns. We like to assist our users with any requests they have, and we're not just a one man show. We have a dedicated team of support personnel, developers, quality assurance and a burning desire to keep our users as happy as we can. You can be confident when using our products that if you have any problems, we will do our utmost to assist you.
Above all, I would like to thank everyone who has helped out with the development, testing and regional localization work thus far, we couldn't have made it here without you!
We do of course plan to continue fixing any bugs that are found, adding new features, especially the premium functionality that I know a lot of you are waiting for, and more importantly listening and being responsive to our users comments and requests.
Being accessible to our users is a big part of what we do here at Norganna's AddOns. We like to assist our users with any requests they have, and we're not just a one man show. We have a dedicated team of support personnel, developers, quality assurance and a burning desire to keep our users as happy as we can. You can be confident when using our products that if you have any problems, we will do our utmost to assist you.
Above all, I would like to thank everyone who has helped out with the development, testing and regional localization work thus far, we couldn't have made it here without you!
AuctioneerDb now at Beta stage
AuctioneerDb (http://auctioneerdb.com) is a searchable auction prices database for World of Warcraft™ realms. It provides detailed historical price information for recorded World of Warcraft™ auctions, including many different breakdowns of auctions between bids, buyouts, stack sizes, factions, realms, days of the week, and historical prices. AuctioneerDb's aim and primary purpose is to improve the game experience for World of Warcraft™ players of all calibers from the basic player who knows nothing about the auction house and just wants to "sell their stuff" to experienced arbitrageurs who play the trading game to buy low and sell high. By allowing free access to detailed auction information, we hope to up our game, level the playing field and stabilize the markets as Auctioneer has been doing now for many years, but at a whole new level.
I'd like to thank everyone who has helped this last year on the AuctioneerDb project, whether it's to provide advice, development support, debugging assistance, improvement suggestions, or just merely using the product while it was buggy and uploading data.
We've finally reached that point where the whole thing is ready for public consumption. Up until now, we've been trying to keep things under wraps a little to keep the user base small and manageable by only mentioning it on the Norganna's AddOns websites. However now we think it's finally ready for the general public and as reflects the Beta status, we will start promoting it a little more generally out in the wider internet.
I'd like to thank everyone who has helped this last year on the AuctioneerDb project, whether it's to provide advice, development support, debugging assistance, improvement suggestions, or just merely using the product while it was buggy and uploading data.
We've finally reached that point where the whole thing is ready for public consumption. Up until now, we've been trying to keep things under wraps a little to keep the user base small and manageable by only mentioning it on the Norganna's AddOns websites. However now we think it's finally ready for the general public and as reflects the Beta status, we will start promoting it a little more generally out in the wider internet.
Gatherer 3.1.13 Released
Version 3.1.13 is a more comprehensive update to make Gatherer compatible with WoW 3.1. It includes updated node translations as well as custom icons for most of the Northrend gatherables.
Version 3.1.13 Change Log:
Version Issue List: http://jira.norganna.org/browse/GATH/fixforversion/10319
GATH-104: update object name translations for the new names of Northrend ores in WoW 3.0.8
GATH-90: fixed stuttering HUD for fps >= 100
- GATH-128: added custom icons for Northrend Ores and the most common Northrend Herbs
Version 3.1.13 Change Log:
Version Issue List: http://jira.norganna.org/browse/GATH/fixforversion/10319
Gatherer 3.1.12 Released
Version 3.1.12 is an update to make Gatherer compatible with WoW 3.1. Expect 3.1.13 to follow soon which will include many missing node translations, among other things that I haven't been able to test yet.
Version 3.1.12 Change Log:
Version Issue List: http://jira.norganna.org/browse/GATH/fixforversion/10322
- GATH-127: update to a WoW 3.1 compatible version of Astrolabe
Version 3.1.12 Change Log:
Version Issue List: http://jira.norganna.org/browse/GATH/fixforversion/10322
- GATH-127: update to a WoW 3.1 compatible version of Astrolabe
AddOn and general UI guidance/policy document
Greetings All,
Since we have been asked- and to clear up any rumors that may be circulating...
Auctioneer, Gatherer, and Enchantrix all follow the guidelines published by Blizzard at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/policy/ui.html , according to our understanding of the policy.
We have never solicited donations in the actual game environment and have never, ever charged for our offerings.
We do request donations on our primary site, http://AuctioneerAddOn.Com , via the link in the upper right corner, from those who find our AddOns to be helpful. Those donations primarily help to offset the costs associated with our development environment; a couple servers and their Internet connectivity.
With a volunteer staff of about 30, usually 5-10 active at a time, spread in different parts of the world, such tools are indispensable to our ability to develop, test, and provide decent products.
All that said, the donations usually come out about even, with our primary Administrator, Norganna, making up the difference out of his family's bank account on the months that donations do not meet the monthly expenses. There are some rare months where donations exceed the monthly expenses, but that overage is needed to repay the "loans" from previous months.
Although some on the team would welcome the opportunity to make a living from development of such complex products, we currently release them under V2 of the GPL.
With such a diverse group, there are those who help as a way to "give back" to the world to those who are looking to polish their resume with some real world experience. As a whole, we do not begrudge those who have decided to depart from producing AddOns, due to what ever reason(s), and support any company's right to protect its property. This current period is quite interesting as numerous laws are being enacted and tested in different courts to determine the future of software development, and only time will tell.
Those who feel strongly, one way or another, should contact Blizzard and their elected officials, directly, and express their opinions. Demands, comments, or requests on websites only go so far, and most often not to those with the authority to make the desired changes. Luckily most of us live in areas where making such opinions known is not only possible, but encouraged.
We look forward to providing products that enhance our users' experiences, and our own, for now, and into the future. Should there ever be any internal or external decisions that do affect our products, we will endeavor to keep everyone informed, to the greatest possible extent.
In keeping with our usual spirit of openness, the new guidelines may affect the future of the AuctioneerDB program, which is in early beta status, but no decisions have been made as of yet. We will post with more details, once they are available.
Happy Adventuring,
Nikk and the rest of the Norganna's AddOns family
Since we have been asked- and to clear up any rumors that may be circulating...
Auctioneer, Gatherer, and Enchantrix all follow the guidelines published by Blizzard at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/policy/ui.html , according to our understanding of the policy.
We have never solicited donations in the actual game environment and have never, ever charged for our offerings.
We do request donations on our primary site, http://AuctioneerAddOn.Com , via the link in the upper right corner, from those who find our AddOns to be helpful. Those donations primarily help to offset the costs associated with our development environment; a couple servers and their Internet connectivity.
With a volunteer staff of about 30, usually 5-10 active at a time, spread in different parts of the world, such tools are indispensable to our ability to develop, test, and provide decent products.
All that said, the donations usually come out about even, with our primary Administrator, Norganna, making up the difference out of his family's bank account on the months that donations do not meet the monthly expenses. There are some rare months where donations exceed the monthly expenses, but that overage is needed to repay the "loans" from previous months.
Although some on the team would welcome the opportunity to make a living from development of such complex products, we currently release them under V2 of the GPL.
With such a diverse group, there are those who help as a way to "give back" to the world to those who are looking to polish their resume with some real world experience. As a whole, we do not begrudge those who have decided to depart from producing AddOns, due to what ever reason(s), and support any company's right to protect its property. This current period is quite interesting as numerous laws are being enacted and tested in different courts to determine the future of software development, and only time will tell.
Those who feel strongly, one way or another, should contact Blizzard and their elected officials, directly, and express their opinions. Demands, comments, or requests on websites only go so far, and most often not to those with the authority to make the desired changes. Luckily most of us live in areas where making such opinions known is not only possible, but encouraged.
We look forward to providing products that enhance our users' experiences, and our own, for now, and into the future. Should there ever be any internal or external decisions that do affect our products, we will endeavor to keep everyone informed, to the greatest possible extent.
In keeping with our usual spirit of openness, the new guidelines may affect the future of the AuctioneerDB program, which is in early beta status, but no decisions have been made as of yet. We will post with more details, once they are available.
Happy Adventuring,
Nikk and the rest of the Norganna's AddOns family
Gatherer 3.1.11 Released
Version 3.1.11 is an update to fix a bug introduced in 3.1.10 which was causing lose of drop rates data. Please note that node location data was not effected by this bug. I would like to apologize for the loss of drop rates data.
Version 3.1.11 Change Log:
Version Issue List: http://jira.norganna.org/browse/GATH/fixforversion/10320
- GATH-111: fixed a problem with the drop rates conversion code
Version 3.1.11 Change Log:
Version Issue List: http://jira.norganna.org/browse/GATH/fixforversion/10320
- GATH-111: fixed a problem with the drop rates conversion code
Gatherer 3.1.10 Released
Version 3.1.10 is an update to fix some minor problems and update some node names.
Version 3.1.10 Change Log:
Version Issue List: http://jira.norganna.org/browse/GATH/fixforversion/10292
GATH-102: Add Northrend areas to the Gatherer Report Search window
GATH-106: adjust old statistics to bring them close to the "reality" for the WoW 3.0.8 mining changes
GATH-105: support esMX locale by using esES object names as they are currently the same
GATH-55: Display notice about gatherables window in confirm popup.
GATH-100: Gatherer will no longer cause errors if SlideBar is not present
- GATH-104: update object name translations for the new names of Northrend ores in WoW 3.0.8 (only enUS, zhTW and deDE locales have been updated)
Version 3.1.10 Change Log:
Version Issue List: http://jira.norganna.org/browse/GATH/fixforversion/10292