Remove the ads

[ShawnFuzz]

Please remove the ads that pop up and interrupt my attempt at responding to somebody's heartfelt posts for discussion purposes.

I don't blame anybody for trying to make some money, but don't lose the heart of this forum, where members can come together over a common game!

Remember who we are.

Ads make things commercial, and we all lose our identity.

 

[Millysaurusrexjr]

I mean... Bell Tree's gotta be able to cover the costs to run this website in some way ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I imagine it's not cheap

 

[ShawnFuzz]

I don't know if it's cheap. I don't know how it works. I am probably out of date. Running a forum used to be a group effort, but not money.

Maybe it all costs money now and the bosses need the ads to keep the site going. If that's the case, then I am sad for the world in general, where we can't discuss a video game without ads, or the forum we love may go under.

 

[Aquilla]

I also wouldn't want staff (who do this on a voluntarily basis I assume) to have to pay physical prizes and shipping etc out of pocket all the time, during contests and fairs. Its expensive :"> manufacturing merch is no joke!

I personally think the ads are very few and far between. I don't even see or notice them at all tbh. Its not like there are massive flashing banners on all sides of each thread/section so I can live with it

Edit: for some reason I've never encountered the huuuge ad banners I've seen some people post for reference even once - I think my WiFi must be coming with an integrated ad blocker. I am definitely on board with those being way too large!

 

[ShawnFuzz]

I see where this is going... everyone loves our staff and will automatically support them. I don't disagree! I love them too! But I fear the site will turn from a community, to a commercial.

You are lucky... the ads are suddenly very obtrusive for me. I start typing, and my screen changes to an ad. I need to recenter before the next ad takes over.

And over.

Make money, I get it, but I feel like this is where we start to lose true community.

 

[Chris]

I'm not sure if you've seen the announcement regarding this, so I'll link here: March 2025 Mainenance and Other Updates.

We are trying out these new ads due to the previous ads not generating enough income to cover the costs it requires to run the website. All money generated from ads goes towards maintaining and upgrading the site - our staff team is not profiting from this.

I can say though that Jeremy is working on getting the large ones that appear at the top of the forum on mobile removed, as we realise these ones are especially disruptive to the browsing experience.

 

[ShawnFuzz]

@Chris thank you for an explanation. Sorry for being a jerk in questioning the system. I just despise advertising when it's not asked for. Maybe there is no fight against it. I just want a place to discuss things without ads.

I am dreaming I guess.

Post automatically merged: Apr 13, 2025

 

[Seastar]

I think this is about the ads that aren't banner sized like they're supposed to be, such as the one posted above me. Those shouldn't be there.

 

[-Blue-]

@Chris thank you for an explanation. Sorry for being a jerk in questioning the system. I just despise advertising when it's not asked for. Maybe there is no fight against it. I just want a place to discuss things without ads.

I am dreaming I guess.

Post automatically merged: Apr 13, 2025

View attachment 618503

That's way too huge compared to what Jeremy mentioned how big the ads should be.

 

[SkyKnight03]

This sounds like it's just a request to move intrusive ads (not remove ads all together) which is totally valid.

Especially in the case of older lower end phones that slow down from such advertisements.

 

[xSuperMario64x]

yeah the small banner ads aren't really a bother to me, but the large ones that make the entire page shift down are pretty intrusive and annoying. hopefully Jeremy can figure out how to restrict the ads to the smaller ones.

 

[seliph]

I've never had an ad on here interrupt me while I'm typing a reply, only the ones at the top of the page. And honestly while the huge ones are a little annoying it's not a big deal having to scroll a little more.

 

[nightglow]

I haven't had an ad disturb me making a post. I am in favor for having ads on the site however. Everything costs money.. including this site. Without ads we'd probably have to go into paid membership which many in the site's targeted audience wouldn't really be able to do.. not to mention I'm not sure how much that would be stepping on Nintendo's IP toes. This site has very minimal ads, and honestly could do fine with a few more without it being super distracting impo.. I know others may not feel that way. I just look at it as a "this or that" situation.

 

[Oblivia]

Hi! I just wanted to pop in and reiterate what Chris said above - we are currently investigating the huge ads and these will not be a permanent fixture. We understand the annoyance with these ads in specific and are taking steps to remove them.

That said, any ad revenue only pays for a portion of the server costs alone. The remainder of this, forum software expenses, domain renewal, add-ons, and any other costs associated with general site upkeep are paid for by Jeremy at an annual deficit. This isn't taking into account any physical prizes we offer throughout the year(s) as we're happy to cover these expenses ourselves.

I'd also like to debunk the misconception that there was ever a time when running a forum (or any website!) was possible without any associated cost. Domain registry and renewal is an expense in and of itself, and any forum as large as TBT would also incur server costs at a bare minimum. I hope this doesn't come across as an obnoxious "well ackshually" moment; I just hope that sharing this info grants an understanding and perspective regarding our reasons for ad usage that may not be immediately obvious.

 

[tazmily menace]

feel like setting up donations would still be better than having ads plastered everywhere though. kinda like this

don’t gotta if you don’t wanna of course. usually i just forget the ads are There but they’re still kinda annoying to scroll past. this is just a suggestion
edit: im blind i didn’t see you have a ko-fi

 

[Aerith]

If it really bothers you to that degree, there are extensions you can download to block ads I don't know what browser you use, but there's bound to be something if you Google "how to block ads on _____"

I don't like ads either, but the site really needs them to offset some of its costs. It would be great if we could all come together every month and crowdfund the expenses, but that isn't realistic unfortunately.