Fenix is in Trouble

As most of you already know, Fenix has been dying slowly but steadily for these past few months. This is mostly due to my inactivity, and lack of attention to the server. I would like to explain why this inactivity has come about.

1: I am going to 2, sometimes even 3 colleges simultaneously. I spend a good part of my time studying, and sitting in classrooms. Needless to say I'm gone on an education binge. I spend a good part of my day every day almost, sitting in a classroom, or sitting in a library studying.

2: I have two part time jobs, and a third one is looming on the horizon. While these two part time jobs don't take much of my time, they do take enough for me to be busy a good part of the time I'm not studying.

3: When I'm not studying, or working, I'm generally tired out, and just wanting to relax and do pretty much anything that doesn't involve work or thought.

Fenix was a hobby for me when I didn't have too much going on. When I made Fenix, I was attending an online college and had nearly the entire day to do nothing. I've always enjoyed programming, I've always enjoyed minecraft and gaming, and I've always enjoyed making something like a server. Therefore Fenix was born as something to take time off my hands, and make something that you all enjoyed. It is my pleasure to see all of you smile and be happy over Fenix, and I definitely enjoyed my time in which I worked on it as a hobby.

However... anymore I really do not have time for a hobby. As you've seen from my list above, any time I had previously for Fenix is pretty much taken up, and what time I could spend on Fenix I don't really feel like doing much in the line of thought.

I have been thinking for the past few weeks of ways to either incentivize me into working on the servers more, or a way to rescue the servers in any case, and so far I have come up with the three options that follow.

1: Leave the server as it is.
We have enough donations for the server to run... I'm going to estimate about 6 more months at it's current rate. However as many people have commented, the server is basically dead, with very few people playing on it. I have had dozens of people message me on skype wanting the server to come back to life again, but simply put I do not have the motivation to do it right now.

2: Hand the server over to someone.
It is possible that I could hand the ownership of the server over to one of the Fenix community. However then we come up against the problem of "Who?". To manage a server such as Fenix, it takes a lot of technical know-how, as well as a lot of time, and especially, willingness to do it. Also we are concerned about keeping the Fenix legacy. Fenix is known for being one of the only servers that have not succumbed to the corruption that power brings. That is why we started with three owners, Me, Owl, and BeeAngel. Between us three we managed to keep each other in check, and the server has run smoothly, and very well comparatively speaking.

3: Make Fenix an investment.
I have to admit, I am somewhat hesitant to put this option here, however it is one that I have talked over with both Jul, and xGR8N3SSx and they both think it's the best option of the three I have been able to come up with. Gr8ness is in fact our top donator, so I respect his opinion greatly on this.
Seeing as Fenix is no longer a hobby for me, a thought I had was to make it an investment, where 50% of all future donations would be considered profit for me and my time and effort I put into the server, and the remaining 50% would be put towards server expenses. This change in the way we handle donations would be a great incentive, inspiring and motivating me to work hard on the server, and try to get more people into the server. This option would effectively bring me back into Fenix as an owner, and updates would start moving along more effectively as well, as I would be looking at Fenix as an investment, more then simply a hobby.

This forum post is essentially a request for your input, as well as your opinion on which direction Fenix should go. I have included three options in the poll above.

1: Leave it as it is.
Don't do anything.

2: Change ownership, and if so state below who.
I will ignore this poll unless a suitable member of the community is specified.

3: Make Fenix an Investment.
Make it so that 50% of all future donations would be considered profit for the owner, and the other 50% as maintenance on the server. Providing the owner with motivation to work on the server to maintain a steady stream of people, which will of course in it's own term maintain a steady stream of donations.

If you have different suggestions or ideas please post them below, any comments or suggestions also post below.

I like the idea of making it an investment a lot. You work hard on the server to make it fun for yourself, and everyone else. You deserve a reward such as 50% for that.

Thank you for that sentiment Gr8ness.

I would like to add that I'm going to be watching this poll till Wednesday, at which point I'll make my decision. I'm currently on break from school, which is why I'm so interested in doing this asap.

If it means the server can live, you deserve the money

I have been known for working hard on my investments.

haha

#VoteToSave

I shall cast my vote for option #3. With your dedication, Juran, I believe you can & shall make this a successful venture.

1. - Leaving it be will essentially do nothing to help the server and will likely inhibit its growth. The server would likely go down in 6 or so months (or whenever the funds run out.)

2. - Changing owners. This has a possibility of offering change or renewing to the server, but only a possibility. The new owners could become corrupted by power, their possible lack of technical knowledge could cause harm to the server, or a myriad of other reasons. Or, as stated above, changing owners may still do nothing for the server.

3. 50/50 - My choice. For me, splitting the money 50/50 could help to motivate the owner to continue putting time and effort into the server, while still providing enough funding to allow the server to run. This is the best chance in my eyes to allow the server to stay alive, and, hopefully, grow and flourish once again.

Yeah Juran you have devoted alot of time and money to the server you deserve it i vote option 3 lets keep fenix alive for everyone =)

Considering there's 11 unanimous votes for option 3 (Already! o.o), I'm going to go ahead and implement option 3 in that case.

I expect to have several rank benefits setup on the island server before I go to bed tonight!

I know the voting is over but I still think this is worthy of a reply

In my opinion, if the server was to continue running as it currently is I think that the server would eventually die out (sorry)

Fenix is a fantastic gamemode that reminds me of what the Eldin experience was once like for me. It's hard to find another server similar to Fenix which such a supportive and friendly community. I dont want to see Fenix go down in flames due to inactivity and that's why I'm voting for option 3.

The work that the staff put into making Fenix an enjoyable server for everyone is amazing and you guys should receive atleast some profit for it.


Thankyou

Juran i say option 3 butttttt..... But you are going to work hard on the survival server right? like not that there will be a lot of work on the island server and not much changes on the survival one (which i prefer best in my opinion) great job on doing this!
-liamkoos

Yes the voting may already be finished on this thread but we still enjoy seeing your comments and how you feel about the decision! After all it's a very big decision!

Thank you for those kind words Emslayer, it's good to see that the people enjoy what I work so hard to provide!

Liam there is indeed also going to be work on the survival part of Fenix, I am currently in the process actually of figuring out how Fenix 3.0 is going to work out.

Great to hear great job! can't wait can't wait!!!