I got a lot of funny looks ten years ago when I started talking to people about the Let's Play Archive. Mostly because LPing didn't really exist, but I knew it was only a matter of time. I hope you've been enjoying what we're doing here at Archive Central©—and if you haven't yet browsed around then I urge you to do so now—but I'm afraid I'm going to have to lower the tone for a little while now.
No, I mean I'm going to have to talk about something serious. What did you think I meant?
My friends, truly do I hope that in a scant few years we can look back on these times and laugh. I hope we will sit happily in our socialist, communist and marxist paradise, and just throw back our heads and chortle at how quaint things were back in the quaint capitalist 2010s. Sadly, that time has not yet arrived. Right now, websites with a large amount of traffic cost money to run, and the Archive is no exception to that rule. Believe me, we've tried to get out of paying—we even tried convincing our hosts that the archive actually uses bundwidth, a considerably cheaper alternative to bandwidth, in the hopes that they'd lower our bills. Instead they laughed at us.
This page is here as an open letter from me to you. It's in no way a demand or a bill—I'm certainly never going to put the entire archive behind a paywall or anything—but some things must be said. As they say, needs must as the devil drives a hard bargain and the deep blue sea, and I'm certainly between that and a hard place!
So we come to the crux of the matter, the business that brings us here: in the past the Archive has relied on the generosity of its readers to help support it and that remains the case today, growing ever larger as we are. If you find yourself in a position to send a few dollars our way, we would be hugely grateful and the burden would be eased that much more. If you're able to donate, the following clicky buttons should guide you in the right direction.
I really cannot stress enough that this is only a humble request. If you do feel you would like to help, to pitch into the effort, this is the way to do so.
There we have it, a simple if unpleasant request for a simple if unpleasant hurdle. Once more, please do not feel pressured or hassled, but know that you have my sincere thanks for any help you can offer - the archive remains here and entertaining in part down to every one of you.
-baldurk