Set up profit making Arcade

[(am)]

I realise that G&M had not planned to set up the Arcade again but what if it could be used to bring in some cash?

What I'm suggesting is: set up the Arcade again, this time charging £5.00 - £10.00 subscription per year to use it.

The more games made available the more could be charged, i.e. 15 games - about £5 pa, whereas 50+ games would be worth paying £10 pa for.
That's a reasonable amount to pay for unlimited access.

Sellers who played in the Arcade would get their user-id's noticed, probably resulting in extra sales, and having an on-site Arcade would draw new people to eBid and keep existing members here for longer periods.

Recording only the top 5 scores for each user-id for each game would save space, or, all scores could be cleared once a month to keep interest higher.

No doubt some would like a free Arcade but I for one would be happy to 'donate' a few pounds for this facility.

Any comments?

[jongla]

I cannot speak with experience as I was not a member when the arcade was around. However, I think that the main problem with extras like that would be the added bandwidth that would be needed. Any extra bandwidth would need to be added to the auction software server package, and would cost more for eBid. Therefore, it may not be cost-effective to restart the arcade.

[mrscheeks]

Arcades take up bog all as far as bandwith goes ... I have a 60 game Arcade on my site for Subs members only and we have NO trouble at all. Contrary to what G&M have previously said the Arcade is NOT a problem to install, add new games to or anything else, it is a piece of wee wee to implement.

Am guessing that they just dont want it to take over from what the site is all about .... AUCTIONS!!

Personally I think thats a good decision to make ... the forums are enough for members, if you want to play games then go to www.miniclip.com This is an auction site and as such the priorities are to getting buyers and sellers using the site, and that means ADVERTISING. An arcade wont achieve any of that, and frankly I'd rather pay £5 a year to a non-profit company that uses the money for charitable causes.

Vik xxx