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MUSHclient

General

Bulletin board traffic / registering

Bulletin board traffic / registering

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Posted by

Unregistered user (72 posts)

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Date

Mon 14 Aug 2000 (UTC)

Message

*pindrop*
Quiet in here.

Well, since I'm here, might as well voice a nontechnical curiosity;
About what *is* the userbase of MUSHClient anyway? And the registration rate of that? Percentage ratio of registered-to-unregistered users?

Anywho, it's not really critical that I know this as it's really none of my business, but at least it's a question relating to MUSHClient.

-KuraiFox

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Posted by

Nick Gammon Australia (23,042 posts)

bio Forum Administrator

Date

Reply #1 on Mon 14 Aug 2000 02:06 AM (UTC)

Message

It *is* quiet isn't it.

Until recently only the beta-testers have known about this forum. I'm hoping that it will become more popular (and therefore more useful) when it becomes better known.

There are over 700 registered MUSHclient users, with new ones registering at the rate of around one per day.

As for the unregistered ones that is impossible to know, of course, but as a guess, based on the rate of downloads to registrations, that between 1% and 10% of users register the program.

For example, I recently spoke to someone here in Melbourne, Australia, who said that "all my friends, and I, use MUSHclient". He admitted that none of them had registered it. I have only had about 8 registrations from this part of the world over the last 5 years.

- Nick Gammon

www.gammon.com.au, www.mushclient.com

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Posted by

Unregistered user (72 posts)

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Date

Reply #2 on Tue 17 Oct 2000 (UTC)

Message

I think it's perhaps a testiment to the shareware business model as a whole. I know the initial start-up delay was THE most annoying... perhaps irritation is the reason people register it, but then again you may get more registered without said delay. I've never sold software in this way myself, so I cannot honestly guarantee anything regarding this suggestion.

If ASP allows it (it's been several years since I've reviewed their policies), you could research radiate.com. It is an advertisement-serving site that you can plug into programs, new and current. Though this may be more irritating to some than the delay it would ensure you get at least a moderate amount of revenue from even unregistered versions; like GetRight, a purchase-version would be ad-free.

I've personally downloaded the SDK and it's very easy to integrate even into existing projects, as it's simply a couple DLL calls. MUSHClient uses space wisely and internet users are already choked with ads anyway, but if registration rate is really a problem, experimenting with other or similar business models might do you well.

Regards,
-KuraiFox

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Posted by

Nick Gammon Australia (23,042 posts)

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Date

Reply #3 on Tue 17 Oct 2000 03:55 PM (UTC)

Message

I gather you are talking about some kind of banner ads for unregistered copies.

It's a nice idea, but I find ads so annoying in general that I won't do that. We seem to be surrounded by them - painted on football ovals, plastered on the sides of stadiums, worn by sportspeople, incessantly on TV (even on pay TV in Australia).

As far as I am concerned one more ad is one more too many.

As for the initial delay for unregistered copies, I know it is annoying, and I know that some people will be so annoyed they won't register, on principle.

However, having said that, a while ago I had a couple of ShareWare products that had no initial delay, but just "asked nicely" for the registration fee. How many registrations did I get from them? About one or two a year.

You can't please everyone all the time, but the (fairly short) registration delay for unregistered copies seems to be a fairly good compromise. You can always leave the copy running for days - it shouldn't crash. For instance, I have a connection running right now that has been up for 6 days.

- Nick Gammon

www.gammon.com.au, www.mushclient.com

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Posted by

Unregistered user (72 posts)

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Date

Reply #4 on Fri 20 Oct 2000 (UTC)

Message

I understand.

I registered it because I finally had the money to, and I believe it's a bit of software worth registering, considering I started at version 2.13... even when I knew work-arounds to the initial delay. Yeah, it took me that long to get $20USD. Sad, ain't it?

- KuraiFox

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Posted by

Unregistered user (72 posts)

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Date

Reply #5 on Tue 24 Oct 2000 (UTC)

Message

I tried what must have been a truckload of MU** clients before finally coming across MUSHClient when it was in its initial stages. At the time it was easily one of the better programs to use out there... and once the 2.00 series came out, I definitely had to register. I use the program whenever my computer is running... I think heavy usage like that is worthy of some cash. And just as a side note: I've never, ever, had a version of MUSHClient crash on my in any way... nice track record.

- Kaeru

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Posted by

Nick Gammon Australia (23,042 posts)

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Date

Reply #6 on Thu 26 Oct 2000 (UTC)

Message

Glad it has been so reliable. :)

As a matter of fact *I* tried quite a few MUD clients before I started *writing* MUSHclient.

Although some of them have improved recently, a few years ago I found that most of them were too slow, hard to use, and in some cases crashed quite often.

Hence, MUSHclient was born, which has turned into a bigger project than I initially expected.

- Nick Gammon

www.gammon.com.au, www.mushclient.com

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Posted by

Unregistered user (72 posts)

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Date

Reply #7 on Wed 08 Nov 2000 (UTC)

Message

I don't know if other people share my concern, but part of the reason that I have not registered Mushclient is the way that you have to pay for it. IMHO, you should look into having some kind of online company deal with your credit card orders. There are several such companies that will handle your customers. That is how I paid for Zmud, and it was very easy and appeared much more secure and professional than the way that Mushclient registration works. DigiBuy, Kagi, and ShareIt all seem to be companies that participate in this sort of activity.

- bleys2002

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Posted by

Unregistered user (72 posts)

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Date

Reply #8 on Fri 10 Nov 2000 (UTC)

Message

Well, the title says it all, more or less. ;)

PayPal has now (since about a week back or so) started taking international orders, and apparently a lot of people have been using them with quite good results. Perhaps that's a reasonable option?

I do admit I was slightly worried when I used my credit card to purchase MUSHclient on-line, since its hard to get a good grasp of which payment methods are safe and which aren't. All went well, though. :)

- Linda

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Posted by

Nick Gammon Australia (23,042 posts)

bio Forum Administrator

Date

Reply #9 on Fri 10 Nov 2000 02:53 AM (UTC)

Message

I agree with the comments above - the registration process is somewhat cumbersome.

I am actively investigating moving to an online registration system, where you can pay via credit card using a secure server, and receive your registration number immediately (well, within a couple of minutes).

I also plan an automated system for emailing lost/forgotten registration codes to users who supply their name and email address. This will make it easier for users whose hard disks crash, or have other problems.

There are also plans afoot for more "dynamic" web page content, where you can search for bugs/FAQs with a query page.

Check out the MUSHclient web pages over the next few weeks, and you should see some of these enhancements in action.

- Nick Gammon

www.gammon.com.au, www.mushclient.com

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Posted by

Nick Gammon Australia (23,042 posts)

bio Forum Administrator

Date

Reply #10 on Mon 29 Jan 2001 (UTC)

Message

You can now register MUSHclient using an online service, that immediately sends you a registration code upon completion of the formalities (ie. after you pay).

To register, visit this link:

https://secure.element5.com/register.html?productid=138736

If that doesn't work, go to:

http://www.shareit.com and enter product id 138736

- Nick Gammon

www.gammon.com.au, www.mushclient.com

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