Donations¶
In case you just want to donate, click here to be taken directly to our Paypal donation link.
Starting from July 2018, we started accepting donations to host our own server. In this article, we will describe in detail why we decided to accept donations and how this will improve our work.
Why donations?¶
Since the group started, with Higurashi (Ch.1 - Onikakushi) back in May 2015, our work has grown about three times in size, and the number of supported games is getting bigger every year, with not only patches but also full translations from console exclusive content. Consequently, we had to optimize our patches as much as we could so they would fit inside Github's limitations. This was extremely difficult because Github is not meant for storing big releases as we needed.
With that in mind, we wanted to keep a friendly relationship with Github and avoid abusing the system, so we decided to start accepting donations to cover our server expenses.
What are the advantages of hosting our own server?¶
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For you, the user:
- Downloads will be a lot more stable and faster (say goodbye to broken installations because of connection timeouts).
- Patches can now go beyond 2gb without being split into multiple files (Umineko had five 2gb parts in Github, in our server it has only one).
- Patch structure remake will make the installation take fewer steps if you are installing it manually.
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For us, developers:
- Patches can now be deployed and updated faster (because we don't have to push the big binaries to Github anymore).
- We can deploy collaborative tools to work on translating exclusive console content easier.
- We can extend our installer even further using the server to run specific tools (such as updating your patches with minimal interaction).
Of course, this is all very new to us so you can expect more and more things to happen in the future. This is only the immediate effects of having our own server.
How much do you need to keep this server running?¶
As of 2023, our yearly running costs are about $400 or more depending on usage. Since we first signed with our ISP, there have been multiple increases to hosting and bandwidth due to the current world circumstances (energy crisis in the EU, inflation, etc). We also pay extra for bandwidth almost every month, since we get about 15 terabytes of data transfer monthly.
Do I get any special perks if I donate?¶
Other than a sense of pride and accomplishment, no. Our goal is to offer a good experience for all users, without ads, timers or anything that should be considered a hassle. Just click and download, with the best speeds we can offer at the moment.
Donors should also not get any special Discord perks, but this is up for discussion since it doesn't influence how we deliver the patches. Please let us know if you have any suggestions!
How do I know if the money is being used right?¶
In this section we have a small summary of the total donations received, but in the end, it is all about how much you trust us.
Last donation: March 08, 2024
Last update: March 11, 2024
Donations total (2024): $77.91 (after Paypal donations tax)
What if you get way over your goal?¶
Supposing we can still stay above our goal consistently by the time the current server is due, there are plans to invest the extra money into migrating our server to a more powerful one.
What happens to open-source?¶
Nothing! Our code is still freely available and is not going anywhere.
Donate!¶
Click on the image below to donate:
You can also click here to be redirected to our Paypal page.
In case you prefer to donate in EUR, you can use this link instead.
Disclaimer: since we're not registered as a non-profit on Paypal, donations go directly to the server admin's Paypal. Donations are then sent straight to our ISP and kept as account balance, and finally deducted as invoices are generated. This disclaimer was only added for transparency, this is how donations have worked since we started taking them.