Factorio Forums

I've been paying for the FactorioForum.com domain since 2013. I had loads more time back in 2013 to build something. I don't see the necessary time freeing up soon, unfortunately. I didn't even have the time to seriously evaluate what to do with the domain until recently. I kind of forced myself to make time to go through that. So it's challenging to find time to actually build something myself with this domain.

I offered it to the Factorio developers first. That seemed like the most logical choice that they might want a domain for the forum. I don't see how that deal would have been anything but win win for every party.

In the process I was accused that my holding the domain was "to the exclusion of any useful purpose", which bothered me quite a bit. So if there's a useful purpose, I want that purpose to be fulfilled. Let me not be in the way, but instead do what I can to help that useful purpose.

I've been paying since 2013 already and it expires in August again. If it's a matter that August is so close, that's not a big deal at all to take a risk for one more year. I already have hosting I'm using for other projects, so that makes no difference to me.

Affording a domain from ad revenue of a website is pretty trivial if someone has a good worthwhile idea that they build on the domain. There are lots of people in the world in a position where buying the domain might be harder for them, such as someone young, from a less banked country, in a super hard time, etc... They can build their idea and we make it work to keep it running. I'm happy with any arrangement that's not losing money. Yes I'd be happy to sell the domain too, but honestly not as much fun as helping build a great tool.

There are lots of services with free hosting, especially for a small site. I even used to run one back in 2013. When I started that, it was just by asking another hosting company for a free reseller account which would help ultimately promote them. Later I ended up paying for reseller accounts. It was mostly for passion, usually at a loss, and not a way to make a fortune for sure. My situation today is less ideal because I only have a single account, which involves trust. Most people are honest and decent people so the risk of sharing with one person is worth it. (Not full access but enough to build the site.) So it doesn't cost me anything to let you use that.

I have no idea what will come of this. Maybe it's all meaningless and dry. Or maybe not. There are plenty of things in my past that seemed meaningless and turned out to play a role of future significance. A small seed grows a massive tree. The butterfly flaps his wings to change the path of a hurricane. A life saved by a few words from a stranger. A few minutes to start a reply and most of a night to complete it. At the very least, this experience is teaching me a lot about AI, marketing, and humanity.



I revised this post July 10th. My original post is still below (which ChatGPT seemed to advise was the best approach here).

The name/offer is still available. With such passion for factory building, it's hard to believe there isn't anyone as passionate about building useful online tools, guides, or web applications. I'd really like to see this domain go to good use and maybe meet someone with cool ideas I can help bring to life. Any feedback on the thread or terms?

I think its a cool concept, and it would certainly be useful to have a centralized (and organized) hub of guides, strategies, tools, blueprints, calculators, etc. The best way to get it off the ground IMO is by obsessing over it and adding value to the concept. When other people can actually see your vision and what you want to put together, not only will others be more interested if you ask, but you'll likely have people reaching out to you. It will require on your effort at first, and the hardest part will be the beginning. But with persistence I can guarantee you you'll see your vision realized.

Thanks for everyone's feedback and honesty.

I believe I did this post extremely poorly. Even though I went back and forth with ChatGPT for hours on the post, which is an AI, and AI is apparently supposed to take over the world and everyone's jobs or something, it's clearly falling far short of that. (Or I'm using it improperly or the AI is playing dumb so we won't suspect it's abilities.) Which is why human beings and actual true connections are valuable, and why I'm seeking to work with an actual true human being here. My main issue is that I have extremely limited time, which is why building something myself isn't practical. What I'd be most happy with is to use my expertise/resources to help someone else bring their idea to life.

As for "locking someone in", I don't see it that way at all. There 100% is a cost if you wanted to stop working together and pay for your own domain and hosting, and it may also take you longer if you continue without my help. But that's basically the same cost you'd have to begin with if you started your own project on your own. To pay the domain renewal is no different than what you'd pay if you owned the domain, and you would also have to find or pay for hosting too. It should be easy to find a revenue model that can afford the domain renewal cost. I would be glad to help out with that. It also isn't a huge deal if I need to fund another year for one-time or be the one managing the financials (if you're overseas and can't use certain ad platforms, for example). Just let me know your situation and I'm happy to work with it.

Neutronium suggested "it would certainly be useful to have a centralized (and organized) hub of guides, strategies, tools, blueprints, calculators, etc.". I'm pretty flexible as well if you have any other ideas for what you'd like to build. I can walk you through the process of building a site and help out if you get stuck. I know how to build sites like this, I can test and give feedback to help you improve it, and I'm an excellent problem solver if you get stuck. You can turn your passion for Factorio into something impactful, gain valuable web development experience and skills in a way that's a lot more fun than course work, and try out your ideas with more guidance and less risk.

I've done my best to revise the post and hopefully it's more clear. Please feel free to let me know if there are further feedback or questions. Thanks again everyone.