Big Wham LLC

[elfish_lad]

The owner of CC is registered, as of August 13, 2013 in the state of California. I assume that it is not a publicly traded company so that it does not need to post a board or directors, CEO, or yearly financials.

Fair enough.

But I'm curious, are there paid staff who help out here with codling, customer service, daily web/forum updates etc?

If not, and I'm assuming not, here are some thoughts oh gentle readers:

1. Back off chewing out the coloured names... they are volunteers.
2. Stop asking volunteers to upgrade software and coding. That's the owners job. Send a note to Big Wham LLC.
3. Stop complaining to volunteers about the lack of things you would like, such as better tablet and phone function. A volunteer should not be doing that work. A paid person should.

All of this has been true since lack owned the site.

If we have serious concerns as consumers then those concerns should be directed to the appropriate spot: the owner or his/her paid representative. It is the only power consumers have. Go straight to the source. It holds the ownership accountable, it puts pressure for positive change right where it belongs, and it helps volunteers remember the chain of command and the governance model and keeps them from burning out and/or making inappropriate promises.

E.

[riskllama]

very well said, lad. bigwham, fix your site - I think it may be broken...

[IcePack]

The only paid staff are the red names, so owner + King achilles as "support staff". Who handles etickets + other necessities (customer service).

Wham does everything else related to the site, that the colored staff do not cover.

[elfish_lad]

The only paid staff are the red names, so owner + King achilles as "support staff". Who handles etickets + other necessities (customer service).

Wham does everything else related to the site, that the colored staff do not cover.

Good to know. Thanks icepack.

So. This is not a fraternal organization. It's not a not for profit. It's not a charity or a nonprofit. It makes money. I'm guessing it makes a good chunk of money (called passive income) compared to what it costs to run. I will bet that this company made its money back (purchase price) easily within the first annum or fiscal year.

Because of the bonhomie nature of its start up, where there was a real sense of community, we’ve allowed current ownership, in my opinion, to be idle with regard to the product offered. I don't even own a lap top or desk top any more. Does ownership have plans to invest capital in CC tech upgrades?

We need to hear from ownership.

E.

[JamesKer1]

Does ownership have plans to invest capital in CC tech upgrades?

Not going to speak for Big Wham, but last I heard CC would continue to be browser based and we won't see a site based mobile app- we have apps available by third parties, but that's the limit of the scope

[IcePack]

The only paid staff are the red names, so owner + King achilles as "support staff". Who handles etickets + other necessities (customer service).

Wham does everything else related to the site, that the colored staff do not cover.

Good to know. Thanks icepack.

So. This is not a fraternal organization. It's not a not for profit. It's not a charity or a nonprofit. It makes money. I'm guessing it makes a good chunk of money (called passive income) compared to what it costs to run. I will bet that this company made its money back (purchase price) easily within the first annum or fiscal year.

Because of the bonhomie nature of its start up, where there was a real sense of community, we’ve allowed current ownership, in my opinion, to be idle with regard to the product offered. I don't even own a lap top or desk top any more. Does ownership have plans to invest capital in CC tech upgrades?

We need to hear from ownership.

E.

From my understanding it doesn't make all that much. As far as being idle, idk how long you've been back but he's probably been the least idle owner since lack.
They upgraded hardware not to long ago, and made significant investments in that area.

As far as mobile app etc goes, last I heard there were some efforts in that area but it was aimed at new people / bringing people to the site and not something "veteran players" would want / use, and CC by nature was difficult to make a functional app.

[Butters1919]

wait, what happened to blakebowling?

[IcePack]

wait, what happened to blakebowling?

He stepped down a few months ago

[Metsfanmax]

The only paid staff are the red names, so owner + King achilles as "support staff". Who handles etickets + other necessities (customer service).

Not naming names here, but in addition to the fact that no one without a red name has been paid by CC before, even some of the people with red names were unpaid at some points. As far as I can infer, there has never been much spare cash flow to spend on staff.

[Army of GOD]

lack used to pay Andy in used condoms


or so I heard

[Dukasaur]

The only paid staff are the red names, so owner + King achilles as "support staff". Who handles etickets + other necessities (customer service).

Wham does everything else related to the site, that the colored staff do not cover.

Good to know. Thanks icepack.

So. This is not a fraternal organization. It's not a not for profit. It's not a charity or a nonprofit. It makes money. I'm guessing it makes a good chunk of money (called passive income) compared to what it costs to run. I will bet that this company made its money back (purchase price) easily within the first annum or fiscal year.

Because of the bonhomie nature of its start up, where there was a real sense of community, we’ve allowed current ownership, in my opinion, to be idle with regard to the product offered. I don't even own a lap top or desk top any more. Does ownership have plans to invest capital in CC tech upgrades?

We need to hear from ownership.

E.

Ronaldhino asked similar questions, and I answered him: https://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=210069&start=200#p4752671

Rather than repeat myself, I'll just leave you with the link.

[elfish_lad]

Cheers.

[Arama86n]

It was an interesting read Dukasaur.

[owenshooter]

Wham does everything else related to the site, that the colored staff do not cover.

WOW!!! happy black history month!!!



just when you think we have come so far...-Jésus noir

[iAmCaffeine]

Does that mean the volunteers are considered like a slave workforce?

[TheForgivenOne]

Does that mean the volunteers are considered like a slave workforce?

Probably. We weren't whipped to my knowledge though. I don't think that was KA's thing

[xroads]

I look at CC like I do FB.

If you want it, it is absolutely 100% free. You have no real right to bitch about something you get for free.

Now if you want the advanced stuff, you pay for it. But really $25 a year hundreds of hours of pure torture is a pretty good entertainment deal.

Do I bitch, alot? Yes I do.

But because I love CC, and would love to see it flourish and become huge again.

I also know what it is like to own your business and work 60+ hours a week every week, so I can give BW a bit of a break.

[Silly Knig-it]

Thanks for this posting and thanks Duk for the history of the site. I will stop my complaints about lack of mobile support. I was one of those taken in with vague suggestions of things to come/return. I will just modify (well it is pretty well modified) my game play to have time for complicated maps at home on my desktop.


This has been a wonderful refuge during the past eighteen months of my wife's cancer and demise. Thanks to all the wonderful people who populate this site.

And to all the volunteers who make it go.

Now if somebody just had a programming for dummies that I could learn in a couple or three days. I have a good foundation in basic and programming with the tape with holes in it. And I do know what a 5 1/4" floppy drive is. My first machine had 2, 128k each, to go with the 54k of on board ram. (No I did not typo)

[GoranZ]

1. Back off chewing out the coloured names... they are volunteers.
2. Stop asking volunteers to upgrade software and coding. That's the owners job. Send a note to Big Wham LLC.
3. Stop complaining to volunteers about the lack of things you would like, such as better tablet and phone function. A volunteer should not be doing that work. A paid person should.

Volunteers usually do things when they have time(and to save their time in the future), and only features they want or consider good. On the other hand payed programmers do things when they are payed regardless if they want it or not, or consider it good or bad.
CC is based on LAMP stack, standing for Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP, and vast majority of the work on those software products is done by volunteer software developers. From my point of view volunteer software developers help them selves by making contributions. After all, the code contribution they will make will most likely be used from them a lot so its makes a sense to make that contribution. Based on that although CC is proprietary software it draws the ideas(and part of the code) from the community.
When it comes for mobile web world, some things are being made already, there are things still left to be made, but eventually probably they will be made. I dont think that there will be a mobile app from CC any time soon, simply because it would require at least another payed developer just for mobile apps on different platforms. As a contrast volunteer developer would probably invest time in fixing/upgrading the mobile version of CC(this is so it would be easier for you to understand the difference).

[elfish_lad]

Thanks for the replies. Not too many sophomoric ones thus far.

I have some thoughts about small businesses with limited liability as well as the comparison of CC to Facebook, but I'll have to come back to it since I'm on the run.

And just to be clear, I'm not in complaint whiney mode here dukasaur nor was I chummy in the least with lack. Never had contact with him at all. It's about clarity and clear expectations.

Small businesses and their paying customers enter into a social contract to support each other within certain limits. To be healthier this relationship needs to be clearer in a place (read site) where there is no face to face accountability (like stall twinkies at the corner shop) or personal contact (like Amazon).

E.

[elfish_lad]

The Facebook comparison, although there are a few similarities, falls apart gravely.

1. Facebook is a publicly traded, billion dollar company, therefore subject to all federal laws governing such as we'll as disclosing, through its annual report, its financials for its stock holders.
2. In no way, shape or form are there volunteers creating content, dealing with the public etc, like CC.
3. Facebook follows a busniss plan created by its CEO, or CFO, approved by its board of directors, and, again, shared with the share holders.

CC? By far very messy with regard to structure.

Dukasaur? I know how it feels to be overly invested in CC. In fact? Tonnes of people do. Other than a nearly silent and invisible KA? When I returned to CC this past Christmas? After two years away? There isn't a single rainbow coloured username that I recognize. Not from playing in 3500 games before I left, not in reading the forums and posting over 800 times, not from spending hours in chat. They are all ghosts.

What does that tell us? The model of CC where volunteers have signifant say in dealing with the public might be great for the owner but sucks for the volunteers, and I might add, in my opinion, sucky for us as paying AND nonpaying patrons.

E.

Edit: and don't forget, nonpaying CC patrons also generate passive revenue through advertising, where, depending on the package used, the higher the traffic (paying or not) the higher the advertising fees.

Second Edit: I'm going to assume Dukasaur that your comment about the owner spending "14 hours a day" and the site is hyperbole or just misinformation. If it is fact? Then he/she is in the wrong business or has a lot of extra time on his/her hand.

[AndyDufresne]

lack used to pay Andy in used condoms


or so I heard

Filled with peanut butter and maple syrup.


--Andy

[elfish_lad]

lack used to pay Andy in used condoms


or so I heard

Filled with peanut butter and maple syrup.


--Andy

That? Really, really weird Andy. Really weird.

Heh.

E.

[BrutalBob]

lack used to pay Andy in used condoms


or so I heard

Filled with peanut butter and maple syrup.


--Andy

That? Really, really weird Andy. Really weird.

Heh.

E.

Yeah its really creating more questions than its answering. Just trying to put it out of my mind

[elfish_lad]

The problem for me BB? I can't unthink it.

But I'm trying. I'm really trying.

E.