I did it the third time yesterday...
(This is no pissing contest!)
Cees
I know Cees. That is what (Dangerous)Dave already explained earlier. The number of unique donators is dropping, but those who donate do this often more than once.
As I already wrote in an other forum, in the past this was the place where common members met the developers. Over the years we have lost a lot of members and a lot of developers. When you look at the average age, you have to be realistic, that we will loose many members in the future.
I really don't see a youngster of 16 digging up his father's (or grandfather's) CFS2 disks and start a career in CFS2. And when you arrive in Flight simming for the first time, you won't start with FS8 or FS9.
The arrival of MSFS brought some new interest in Flight simming, but to be honest I think the majority of the people in the forum just migrated from the FSX of FS9 forums.
Dave did what he could at the cost side and we already cut costs were possible. In general a lot of things already have become more expensive and without doubt, the costs to run a site like Sim-Outhouse will become more expensive in the future as well.
So this is where we arrived, we will need more money generated by a shrinking community, when we want to keep the Sim-Outhouse.
And I definitely share your disappointment, when I see people who are able to invest in high-end hardware, software and payware, who are very active on this site, but simply refuse to spend some money on the place where they hang out daily.
Huub