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May 18, 2013

Upcoming changes on FTR

Hello everyone,

this is something that's been on my mind for a few weeks already. Simply put, FTR started to take too much of my time and considering I never got anything for it at all, it's not really sustainable anymore.

Wot-news.com and other big blog sites have some income from ads, which I can't really put here, since it's running on blogger.com and moving to my own website is way beyond my IT skills and time possibilities. Another factor is that I will be spending some time abroad and I doubt I'll be able to work on FTR there, but that remains to be seen.

Some of you noticed I made several hints on quitting altogether. Frankly, there was a point I was pretty much decided I'd quit, but then again, I guess that would be a shame, so here's what will happen:

- I will most likely not write many (if any at all) historical articles for FTR (other authors are not limited in any way, they have full access to post anything they feel like whenever they feel like)
- I will also most likely not respond on e-mails, unless it's really important - I get roughly 30 per day and I try to respond (at least with 1 sentence) on all of them, but this is very time consuming
- FTR developer translations will be made as they were now, but I will cut off SerB's trolling completely in order to save time, unless I specifically have some time to kill
- it's possible news will be posted with more delay, I won't be checking the usual sites/forums so often (I am not sure how everything will look).

To sum it up: I am tired of WoT (I hardly play at all) and at this moment, FTR feels more like a second job than a hobby. I don't exclude there will be other changes, if the stuff above doesn't work for me either. We'll have to see.

Offtopic PS: I removed the WG lawsuit post, because it was really pointless without the original lawsuit text itself, which I got asked not to publish.

103 comments:

  1. Thanks Frank!!... IMO FTR has been great, but understand about it feeling like it's become more of a job than something for fun... been there and done that as well...

    Whatever you do, thanks again for all you HAVE done already!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have to agree. I'm very thankful and wish you best luck

      - subaluigi -

      Delete
  2. Replies
    1. WG is suing the owner of the Chinese copycat at an American court and the wording of the lawsuit got leaked or published, I don't know which one.

      Delete
  3. Well, at least you are still here and didn't quit. Thank you for your efforts so far.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This should be interesting for you, and it isn't anymore, so just quit it. I love FTR but I hate when my websites become too much of a burden for me, and I just ignore them. Don't let this fade slowly, just kill it while it's at it's prime!!!

    Thank you for all!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You had 2 milion views in two months. Try to add a donate button or a bank account to transfer people money that like you and your job here because it is a job and want to stay the blog like it is. I think people who pay 10 or 20 euro the Month for premium account consumables etc can give 2-3 euro. If 100 donate there is 200-300 euro if 1000 there is 2000-3000 euro a month. Personally I will. I see this blog 5-6 times a day and I really admire your work and I want to stay like it is

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. +1 here. As the almost only reliable source for WoT news, I'll be eager to donate some cash to cheer you up

      Delete
    2. If you want to donate, what prevents you from sending me WoT gold? :)

      TBH I don't even think such buttons are legal on blogspot, I'd have to move to another hosting, make the webpages there etc etc etc.

      But thanks for support anyway

      Delete
    3. Write your bank account on faq or something else and if someone wants to support you will deposit money. I can spare some euro for that a blog. I used to spend 20 euro a month for gold in wot. And I think the cash will help you more than wot gold. :p

      Delete
    4. I will think about it when I get back from that trip I mentioned.

      Delete
    5. Nice to hear about that. Hope it will works so you can continue this amazing job without concern so much about your work and money. All the best of lack

      Delete
    6. @Frank
      Maybe Paypal account address too - some people would like to do it this way...

      Delete
    7. Off topic: where are you going to? And why?

      Delete
    8. I'd imagine he would have specified if he were OK with revealing it... -Platypusbill

      Delete
    9. let's just wait for serb now to investigate and leak info about silentstalker's trip. 3ug3n.

      Delete
  6. Don't quit Frank, you're blog is the best WoT-news source.

    Hell, u should be the EU community manager!

    ReplyDelete
  7. It has been great to read articles and translations on Russian Q&A and FTR,we all can understand that this is very time-consuming, so:

    Whenever time lets you dedicate to FTR, we will be happy to read it in the future.

    Best of luck abroad (which country btw?).

    Steiner011

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sad to hear that, I liked your blog. :(

    ReplyDelete
  9. Frank make your hobby,your job. Give us the oppurtunity to support you somehow. You make a work and you make it very well.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sadface, indeed!

    You should really consider the donation option. As has been said before:

    Best source on WoT-related news there is! Thank you for all the hard work!

    -Laton44

    ReplyDelete
  11. IMO we all have to thank you the amazing job you have done so far. This blog almost completely ereased the problems of lack of informations. You sacrificed your freetime, you risked your account, and you was not a jerk, even when the anonymus unicellular lifeforms started to swarm your site just to tell you that they are not interested in your personal opinion.

    I find skipping Serbs bullshit a good idea considering his controversial posts

    You really did a lot for us, and personally I would not be bothered by some ads. I don't know much about the capabilities of google AdSense, probably you should give it a try.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, you can't, unless you have your own hosting and domain.

      Delete
  12. Ahem, dude you can monetize it. Getting ads on it is piss easy.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I was wondering when this day would eventually come along :-)
    Regardless, you have done an astounding job in the little time you have along with a full time job. Much better than our precious EU Community have ever dreamed of doing.
    Will still come here at least once a day to see what has been posted when you have the time to do so.
    Thanks for your hard work and great coverage.

    ~salute broeder~

    P.S Where you going out of pure interest?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's how life works - you can do your hobby only to some extent, after that either you have to limit it (or drop it), or make it your job.

      Delete
    2. i bet you could make money off of it, this being your job i be you could do it

      Delete
  14. All we need are the translations of meaningful posts. SerB trolling is neither funny nor intelligent, so skip that if you can!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well said, please just ignore that... Yeah.

      Delete
  15. Can't somebody else do the translations?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yes you can.......i can do them either , but i dont speak russina

      Delete
    2. Coming up with a random SerB Bullshit © is pretty easy.
      Typical SerBisms:
      - It's historical
      - Join the Army if you want realism
      - It's done for balance
      - It's doing fine
      - We have fixed it
      - We have fixed it
      - Now we really fixed it
      - It will be fixed soon
      - It will be fixed in the distant future
      - It can't be fixed
      - WoT already uses 2 CPU cores
      - XY map is balanced
      - etc.

      On the other hand, the relevant stuff is really dificult to get and requires a lot of forum-mining, and that job can't be done easily.

      Delete
    3. Continue: when it's done is done, want justice go to Hague tribunal,when buffing Russians : it's for historical reasons, when nerfing Germans: it's just a game

      Delete
    4. I speak russian, but I really don't care about people so much to take this job.

      Delete
    5. You forgot the leather belt/cold water and dry bread diet.

      P.S I bet most western people did not get the mening of the leather belt :)

      Delete
  16. SS, I don't recall how I found FTR but it quickly became my most significant source of info for WoT for the last several months. Thank you so much for the work you put in to the translations. I enjoyed your historical articles as well. GL in the future.
    IJP

    ReplyDelete
  17. No matter how it turns up, you are doing an AMAZING job!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Give us donate button/bank account/pay pal or anything.. we can donate you to make it worthawhile for both you and us :)

    few euros a month won't be much for us but it will mean something for you [:

    Hajvanho

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. +1 here totally aggred. We can spare some euros the Month for that a cause. Add something of the above or all of them or what about creating a website and earning money from both advertisments and donations? In conclusion we will support you whatever you do and we will be both happy. Do your hobby your job and you will success my friend be sure

      Delete
  19. Wordpress is a free website for blogging just like blogspot and Google AdSense is allowed there! So it would be really easy for you to open a blog there. There are existing AdSense plugins for it.
    Maybe you should give it a try.
    http://wordpress.com

    A step by step guide:
    http://www.greenhostit.com/company/green-blog/51-make-money/280-make-money-wordpress-google-adsense

    It would be really cool to know you are getting some money out of this. You're doing a great job.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adsense is allowed on blogger, don't know why Frank don't usecit but im using it on my blog via the blogger control panel

      Delete
  20. I understand and thanks for everything you done an amazing thing! Cant be fun though when you feel like its a job and a job you get no money from.

    ReplyDelete
  21. yes frank give us your bank account number and password XD , i would happily donate money as you put a lot of work into it and present it in a nice way. gl in your real life

    ReplyDelete
  22. Well, you are posting ridiculous amounts. Several posts a day is bound to burn anyone out. Good luck on your trip!

    And really, you can't just slap some ads on here? There's an option for it under the Earnings tab in Settings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've got a few extra ideas but they need to be discussed privately, possibly with as many article posters as possible.
      Do you have any IM I could contact you on?

      Delete
    2. SS has my Gmail, and presumably for all the other writers too.

      Delete
  23. There was no need to post SerB's trolling anyway. It's not usefull info and it's not funny. Its just annoying as hell.

    His troll attempts for most of the time aren't witty, they are simply ignorant, retarded, and plain stupid in every respect.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm fine with troll answers in general, but not when he uses them on valid questions. Like concerns sbout arbitrarily ovetpriced shells. -Platypusbill

      Delete
  24. will the other post keep posting!?!?!?!??!?!? i love this too much

    ReplyDelete
  25. Good luck in whatever you shall do in future. Your value and accomplishments are not to be denied, and you will be missed.

    jahrain

    ReplyDelete
  26. Yea WoT is really tiring game and it's end is near.
    you learned a lot from this experience even if it didn't got you $, you will be make money very soon...

    good day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Yea WoT is really tiring game and it's end is near"

      -50 tanks still not in-game (could be even WAY more)
      -Havok physics
      -destructible surroundings
      -different daytime of maps
      -different weather effects for maps
      -ranked MM for companies (W: like WoW dungeon finder)
      -reworked CW
      -upcoming first end-game stuff
      -other spectacular stuff I don't remember
      -WT? I think it won't be as good as WoT

      Please explain how WoT is close to an end.


      Yup, thought so. Go hide your stupid asshead back from where it came.

      Delete
    2. As a Warthunder Alpha tester, I find that statement funny...

      Delete
    3. WT alpha as in the tanks version? because planes is in beta, so you should be testing tanks then, tell more tell more

      Delete
    4. NDA. But I can still laugh at WOT vs Warthunder comments.

      Delete
    5. I can still laugh at comments featuring "video game comparison".

      Delete
    6. @Woras

      Now filter out the stuff that is either:
      not possible because of the engine
      won't come because devs are lazy
      won't come because devs are incompetent
      won't come because devs think isn't needed
      won't come before War Thunders tanks come.

      Done?

      Now think again.

      Delete
    7. Out of the things Woras mentioned nothing is going to be filtered out, so stfu&gtfo. If you're not interested in wot then go back to playing my little pony online and post bullshit on their forums instead.

      Fuck you very much.

      Delete
    8. What's the problem, you didn't get your daily vodka dose from uncle Serb?

      Cry me a river. My points are still valid and standing while you are just an ignorant troll wannabe.

      Delete
    9. Your points? What points? That bullshit about features in development\already developed that were mentioned by Woras will not be implemented? Bitch, please... You must be sooo butthurt about war thunder tanks (or you were just raped in the ass, who knows) - I can already see all the "me wuz one shutted by tiger, they op - nerf tiger ffs!" LOL.

      Anyway - you don't play wot/don't care about it -> gtfo & suck your moms cock. One less 300 eff/45%wr retard is always good news.

      Delete
    10. Now you are just embarassing yourself friend. If you can't see what's in front of you then you cannot be saved.

      Delete
    11. Oh, I see "wg devs suck, russian bias, they just destroy wot!!!11 They implement bugs not features!111 SerB is a dick11111111111111! Imma goin' to play wt nao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111111111"

      LMAO.


      "World of tanks' end is near - brace yourselves" my ass. Especially since retards like you talk about "THE end" every time new patch is released. Now go back to your cave mr prophet.

      Delete
  27. STEIGE AUS DEM BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETT ............ DREH DEN SWAAAAAAG AUF.... SCHAUE KURZ IN DEN SPIEGEL SAG WHAT UP.................. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH IAM GETTING MONEY OOOHOOOHOOOOO

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh shit! I think he says he comes from a future where writing in German and caps is compulsory.

      Brace yourselves, humans!

      Delete
  28. Can understand this, hope you'll enjoy life a Little bit more.
    Have worrys because of WoT isn't right at all.
    -Mppol

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hm.....perhaps you could ask people that have a good proficiency on Russian and English to help you with the translations and distribute some labor.

    Of course after so much time it must have been tiring, so I can understand it might feel like quitting totally from WoT activities.

    -imperiumgraecum

    ReplyDelete
  30. Dayum shame. But hey, as long as I get muh leaks and less Serb shitposting, I'm ok with this.

    ReplyDelete
  31. I'll be sad to see your blog go SS, thanks for all the good read so far.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Thank you SS for all of the effort and time you and others have put into this blog. I am certain that many people will miss it. Also, if you want to move to a dedicated site, I bet there is some WoT player with IT skills who might be willing to host it for you.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Make a paypal donate button... i'm waiting to donate :-)

    ReplyDelete
  34. I'll like to add my sincere thanks for all your efforts.

    I fully understand how these things can gradually take up more and more of your time until you suddenly realise there are other real life things you want to do instead!

    Cheers and thanks for all the fish!
    Grimdorf

    ReplyDelete
  35. How can I spend money for your time?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As he said, you can donate gold to his WOT profile.

      Delete
  36. Make a donation button. I bet people will donate money to you to get fresh information about WoT and compensate you for your lost time. Think about it.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Glad we don't loose you or the other author completely.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Be very sorry if you do give up the excellent work Frank, my entire clan follow your great work here, and it will be really missed, if you do indeed have to give it up somewhat.
    I can understand it has grown larger over the months, do you not have any people who could help with the translation workload?

    Hope it all works out well for you

    ReplyDelete
  39. We totally understand you mate. It's your right to do everything you want, when you want. I suggest you move to a website or something and use adsense. Or put a DONATE button somewhere here.

    ReplyDelete
  40. :(

    PANTHER1421 [NA server]

    ReplyDelete
  41. I would donate, just saying.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Many thanks for the good work.

    You seem to have quite a bit of traffic - I would assume that getting help to go through the trouble of setting up a site where you can make a few $ (or € or whatever your preferred poison is) off ads should be doable. Heck - set up a youtube channel and ask us all to have a look at your videos :)

    How the EU community has not offered you a job is beyond me (ok, I understand the history, but still - think of the traffic and buzz if this was on the official WOT site)

    And as mentioned above, I'd chip in on a donate/whatever button.

    Alternatively set up a kickstarter for a year of FTR or something.

    - Butter_ball

    ReplyDelete
  43. I would say that your departure would be a big, if not even godddamm sized loss to the community.

    But as said, one should not do nuthing if one does not have heart to it. Life´s too short for that.

    If you will take the hiatus/leave/absence/hike, nothing but
    the best for you!

    Respect, Kotkot

    ReplyDelete
  44. I will gladly donate gold to you SS.
    Is it Silentstalker(_OK_) ??

    Don't want to send it to the wrong person lol...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Done and sent :-)

      Delete
    2. THANKS Gradius I would have done the same thing if I had gold on my account.

      Frank Davis, I seriously suggest getting someone else to do your website for you.

      Delete
  45. Sad to hear this, i am a new here just from 2-3 months ago but i appreciate u effort and time. Plz try to find help get a site (domain) put some ads and give us your account to donate

    ReplyDelete
  46. Paypal Donation Button?

    But thats only money, money cant beat fun and time.

    ReplyDelete
  47. asked not to publish them?!
    by who and why

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Relax, no conspiracy. By the guy who sent it to me, because of "copyright". I have no idea what copyright has to do with that, but I generally respect people's wishes, when they send me stuff.

      Delete
    2. copyright!? the fuck
      or did he buy the documents from RFC Express ?

      why everytime I post here .. woo conspiracy

      Delete
    3. Because you're a known troll :)

      Either way, yes. He did I assume. The filename and the number of pages match.

      Delete
    4. oh, right I'm the troll now ... funny :))

      ps: the number of pages will always match since it's a court document

      Delete
    5. Well, they are publicly available for roughly 7 dollars, you can get them yourself if you want to

      Delete
    6. neah ... for 7USD I would buy Deus EX: Human Revolution that's on sale right now on STEAM
      it would have a lot more entertainment value

      I'm just curious on WG's claims

      Delete
  48. I asked him not to publish as I was unsure if there were restrictions after purchase. There is no conspiracy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. did I said anything about a conspiracy!??! the hell people

      the restrictions if any (and I doubt they are), would be on Frank's shoulders, if he chooses to publish

      Delete
  49. I am reading your blog almost everyday. I think it is the best source outside the russian community (thanks to google translate:p)

    ReplyDelete

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