More news about FTB's Future. (Important announcement)

Status
Not open for further replies.

slowpoke

Administrator
Team Member
FTB Founder
Jul 29, 2019
328
14
1
I have written many threads in the past, this is probably going to be the most controversial one I have ever ever written though. So I am going to break this down into 3 parts in order to help me get the information across in the best way I can.

So first the change. At some point in the next couple of weeks FTB will change from being a purely volunteer led enterprise into a legitimate registered Business. This is being done to allow us to start to do several things that we are currently unable to do. The first being it will allow us to sell FTB merchandise through our website. The second will allow us to also give mod developers the opportunity to sell their own merchandise through the FTB shop. Moving on from this we are also exploring the possibility of adding a second sponsor onto the FTB launcher. Finally it will give us the opportunity to add some very limited advertising onto the website.

So why are we doing this and why now? The honest answer is this is something that it is something that has been discussed for a fairly long period of time and I have always been highly reluctant to actually let this happen. The mentality I have always add is we were never in FTB for the money, we did it for the love of the project.

So what has changed? The reality is that FTB has grown far larger than any of us ever expected and it continues to grow. We also have several opportunities that were just not around when we started. As an example, invites to conventions and chances to do panels and events at these conventions. I have been fortunate to have received personal funding to go to a couple of these, however I would also like to give this opportunity to other members of the team. Revenue from merchandise and sponsorship may enable us to do this. There are also other areas that we want to look at like expanding into other games and trying to bring a much higher quality product to everyone.

Finally the running of FTB has almost become a full time job for some members of the team and whilst I dont expect to generate enough revenue to start hiring people, at the very least I may be able to help them out a little bit.

But. profiting off the mods and all that. This is something that we have looked at and also spoke to several mod developers about. Firstly we wont actually be including any specific mods in our own merchandise. This will be more about the FTB brand and as an example the artwork on our site and launcher. Secondly, we will be opening a shop as part of our website and all mod developers will be given the opportunity to sell merchandise relating to their own mod through the shop.

So launcher sponsorship. Right now there is currently a sponsorship deal in place and their always has been. This is the sponsorship deal we have with Creeperhost and is one that has been of benefit to both parties. We want to look into the possibility of adding a second sponsor onto the launcher.

On the subject of the launcher, there is one thing to be made very clear.

People will never ever be asked to pay to use the FTB launcher, to download any mod pack or for any updates.

This is sacrosanct. The launcher is the heart of FTB and we have no intentions of doing anything that forces anyone into actually paying for anything.

So what happens next, the first step will be the opening of the shop. We expect this to happen in the next couple of weeks. Samples have already been made and you can get a rough idea of what we are looking at here

Unleashed Hoodie
Ultimate T-Shirt

One thing that should be of note, whilst working on the samples for these items is the insistence that the actual T-Shirts and the printing should be to the highest standards. We have deliberately gone for premium t-shirts and a premium printing option. I want the levels to be of as close to collector quality as I can get.

The minimal amount of market survey that we have done for this has shown the level of demand for the t-shirts etc to be quite high so initially over the first week or 2 we will have a staggered release to ensure that the printers can physically keep up. On day one the plan is to take orders for 250 t-shirts/sweatshirts hoodies. If there is a need after that we will then probably start to take pre-orders. Right now it is impossible to say how large demand will be, but there are plans in place in case there is a larger than anticipated demand.

Finally, I understand that there are people who will get upset about this or wont be happy. I totally accept this and in some ways I agree. But I also know that if FTB is to continue to grow and get better beyond what it is now, then changes need to be made in order to help facilitate that.

(This thread will be left open for a bit for comments. Please feel free to post negative comments if you wish, however I would ask you to moderate those comments and remember that we have people of all ages reading this site :).


Finally although I have said this once, we should again make the point that we are not now nor ever going to ask for any form of payment for either use of the launcher or downloading of any pack.
 

MRHeavyMetal_SIR

New Member
Jul 29, 2019
146
0
0
i like that you are going to try and hire people that spend alot of time moderating etc and i think its a good move forward to ensure the future of FTB
 

Devilmixer

New Member
Jul 29, 2019
57
0
0
sound cool, it might even mean a better (I know it is already a briliant launcher) produckt.

Hope you guy have Wind in the sails ;-)
 

McNoobly

Active Member
Jul 29, 2019
9
0
26
I'm okay with this. Also, is there or will there ever be a place where you can upload/download custom modpacks? Tekkit has a similar feature on their website and i would love to see some the custom packs that people have put together (with mod pack permissions of course).
 

Hanse00

New Member
Jul 29, 2019
11
0
0
I don't have anything bad to say about this at all!

Bring on the awesome funding of people that do hard work, and all the FTB T-shirts!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ralnick

kishok

New Member
Jul 29, 2019
1
0
0
I'm fine with this, you should consider using kickstarter to fund the next FTB insanity map -- I'd go in on that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CS_iVenus

allout58

New Member
Jul 29, 2019
3
0
0
I appreciate how specific you were about exactly how you plan to get money and exactly where that money is going to go. I feel like this is a wonderful step and I hope it blows over well with the people who don't like it. Good luck and keep up the good work!
 

Wild1145

New Member
Jul 29, 2019
17
0
0
As i said on the twitter, and i will here. What do the developers of the mods that you use think, as they have agreed to allow you to use the mods, however by converting to a actual business, they may not like it. I understand that you allow them to sell there produce, however some may not want it to be that people can make money from there development, or that they want to be able to get part of the money you raise.
 

Shizz0

New Member
Jul 29, 2019
10
0
0
This is totally fine. I think everyone should know that most things in this world arent't for free (like Servers...). So in that case... good luck with the business :)
 

patrick371213

New Member
Jul 29, 2019
5
0
0
I personally support it. So long as the use of the launcher is still free (which you clearly indicated). I will now just be able to buy merchandise supporting my favorite minecraft mods/launcher. We can all see how much FTB has grown (if we've been with it since the beginning). Its no surprise that such a change is necessary. As for a second sponsor, why not? I don't see why these changes would be controversial at all.
 

b0h

New Member
Jul 29, 2019
88
0
0
Money is needed, that's not an option.
I think it's fair. You guys need money to keep on going , so this form of founding is the most user-friendly you can adopt.
I'm ok with it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jirajha
Status
Not open for further replies.