Hey, Landon!

[Destinafaroda]

There's been something I've been meaning to tell you for a while, and though I thought about doing this through e-mail or IM, I realized I'd better clear the air, right here in the open.

Thank you.

I don't mean just thank you for tacticsogre.com. I love it and am grateful for it, but that's not the reason why I'm writing. And while I also thank you for the link, that's not what this messages is about. I want to thank you for a choice you made, a tough choice where you were backed into a financial corner. You decided instead of begging for money, you'd instead go for a link affiliation. Most touching was this sentence that you wrote.

I never ask for $ contributions nor do I expect to get any, this site is made by fans for fans.

After seeing site after site put up donation buttons expecting fans to contribute to fan-sites, this is a relief. After arguing with people over the very morality (and lack there of) of putting up a PayPal button, I see someone who actually stands on principle. So many popular site owners have lost sight of the fact that they are fans as well. Thank you, Landon, for doing the right thing. I can't promise that it will be the more financially successful route in the end, but sticking to one's moral conviction is priceless and requires a strength of character I can only dream to have.

[Knight of Lodis]

Thanks for the touching message. I made the choice when I first started after getting 5000 hits a day initially. The affliates actually have sponsored LAN parties I have run and provided prizes for them (my current $20 Func mousepad was a giveaway from one provided by alienware). They are really only there for that reason and because if someone wanted to buy a computer ever they would be donating to the site because of a commission and not fromt their actual pockets. The new sponsor is actually my good college friend. I am trying to help him out and will not recieve any affliation payment for that one. He has also come to LANs in the past. I also put the links in the spots people look least. That was even a tough decision to make but by doing that I could make the LAns more enjoyable for my friends. You are right more people need to realize the purpose of their sites. I have spent hundreds of hours on the site and contributed even more posting on the board and answering emails. Just today someone asked me to use information from the secrets section for a shrine they are making. Now that three years have gone by I have dropped $72 a year between hosting and re-purchasing my domain name (even though my host offers to purchase it for me, if I decide to switch I could get screwed out of my name and lose it so I buy it for safety). So $216 later the site is still running and I am still happy about it. As long as people keep coming I will continue to pay another $216. I see others make these sites and use geocities and other sources to host it for free which just don't cut it. I can understand the bigger sites that have huge monthly fees asking for donations, but this one is so minimal I would rather not ask. You are right that I am a fan. I have been one of this series since the age of 12 when my brother first rented MOTBQ for SNES. Like many people I made this site to support a community I felt apart of and wanted to provide information for a game that many have missed out in playing. My goal of it being the best TKOL site on the net has come true and probably even exceeded that now that I host the best LUCT one as well. I honestly never dreamed that this site would be so big until the first week the game was released my domain was hit 5,000 times a day and my monthly bandwidth was almost exceeded in 7 days (That is the reason I started to pay for hosting). Of course now it is more like 150-200 (unique hits) a day but I still consider that a lot. Unlike most of the fansites that die out, this one is still being updated 3 years later. Check my links section and tell me when the last time another fan site was updated (beside yours of course). I also reached out and saved www.luct.tacticsogre.com for the community. The site run by the Princeton grad said he needed webspace because he was graduating and his school could not host it anymore. My brother contacted him for me and told him we would provide free hosting for him because it would have been a shame for his site to go under. I even gave him one of my only two subdomains because having it any other way would be bad. He does not pay 1 cent to my host nor have I/will I ask him. Now the site gets about 2/5 of the total hits my entire site receives. It was a favor to help the community. I say this stuff time and time again on the site to remind people why I am here and what I have done for them. I thank you again for appreciating my work and for agreeing with me that it is unfair to beg others for money. I have still recieved $0 through the affliation programs, but maybe if one day someone decides to buy an expensive alienware machine and has the curtousy to actually click that link before hand alienware will donate about half my yearly fee. As you said it is definitely not something I count on and I have already recieved packages for my friends for the LANs I used to run back at home so I could really care less. Not everything is about money in this world. I wrote my college essay letter about my experience with it and have defintely learned a lot/gotten a lot out of it personally. I have talked to people all over the world and even had to ask my spanish teacher in high school to translate an email for me. It feels good helping people and giving back to the community which is something more people should do.

[DRottenI]

The thing im gald to see is that you have yet to get sponsors that give the site pop-ups and such, Good Job Landon, even though we might not say it, we appreciate all that you have done for the community ;D

[Locke]

Yes, bravo I say, my good man.

[TreasureFinder]

I think this is one of the most informative sites on any game listed.

Are you going to branch off and do a similar site on any other TO games?

[Knight of Lodis]

TreasureFinder said:

I think this is one of the most informative sites on any game listed.

Are you going to branch off and do a similar site on any other TO games?

Well LUCT is already on here and I considered a MOTBQ but there are already a few good sites out there in the links section. I will say that I may do it on the next Ogre Battle game that comes out in the future.

[Ghosty]

woohoo a Landon appreciation thread ;D

this site is great

[Dark]

Yes, a good job indeed. Keep at it, Landon.

[Mystria]

Good Job Landon!