(Potential) Frequently Asked Questions


1. Q: What's going on here?
A: Due to a number of factors outlined on the front page, we're unable to continue operations. Multiple avenues of maintaining the site were investigated, including donations, acquisition, and even assistance from Microsoft. None of those worked out.
2. Q: How long have you known that you would have to close the site?
A: While I had doubts on the future of MyGamerCard for most of 2010, it wasn't until early fall that it really hit me that it wasn't prudent to continue trying to support it alone.
3. Q: The site hadn't seen any updates in quite a while. Were you out of ideas?
A: Absolutely not. I have/had no less than 5 different projects that I wanted to introduce to the site, including a general redesign. Being that I'm only one person, especially one with very limited frontend web design capabilities, it was hard to build the enthusiasm to develop them, since I couldn't release it without visual polish.
4. Q: I would pay a small subscription fee to use your site! Would that help?
A: Your generosity has been very touching! Unfortunately, my agreement with Microsoft and the Xbox Community Developer Program states that I cannot directly charge for use of basic functionality of my application (in this case, GamerCards).
5. Q: So if you can't accept direct payment, what about donations?
A: Funny thing is that MGC had a donation button/section for a year and a half between Spring 2009 and Fall 2010. It was highlighted, but I've tried to steer clear of overly obnoxious advertising/'begging', and perhaps that didn't call enough attention. My eternal thanks for those who did donate during that time.
6. Q: You claimed you were getting 13 million hits a day, how does that not pay for itself?
A: The 13 million figure was for GamerCards - the images and interactive widgets you see on forums, blogs, etc. It's not something that inherently generates revenue, unlike most website hits.
7. Q: Can I buy the code/site/domain from you?
Note: I don't like this question, and I don't think it belongs here, but this has popped up too much to ignore. Hoping I can answer the vast majority at once.

A: Probably not(?). One of the things that matters most to me is the integrity of the project and identity that was my life (quite literally!) for the past five years. I couldn't just sell the domain to someone, as that would seem like they're only capitalizing on the page rank and/or its familiarity.

As for the site itself, MGC absolutely wouldn't have made it this far without the incredible partnerships I had (see the "Thanks to..." page). The odd conundrum of MGC is that while the site started as a 'community-minded' hobby, it ended up becoming far too high-demand for hobby-level financing, especially for one person to bear. The resources and upkeep required are not trivial, so I couldn't allow myself to give it up to anyone I didn't think had the resources to make it work. Shifting it to another party only to see it go down a few months later would be tough to bear, let alone witnessing the community fallout.

Therefore, with the amount of sweat- (and financial-) equity put into it, any offer on the site (or any part thereof) would need to be made to match that, along with assurances of proper respect to the site and to the community. After all, if you think of GamerCards simply as images, that part of the site is quite literally a mini-Photobucket. If there's an entity that has the resources to make it work, then obviously I'd want to be a part of that, too, and I welcome the opportunity to discuss it further. Otherwise, I'm content with keeping things as they are.
8. Q: So then can I have your code so that I can host GamerCards myself?
A: Erm, I'm not sure that's an appropriate question, but the shortest, most civil answer is that my code relies on my private XCDP information, which cannot be publicly distributed, or otherwise used without the express permission of Microsoft (and me, of course).
9. Q: What will happen to my user account?
A: While not a whole lot of hugely personal information was ever provided - we take your personal data very seriously. In the (unlikely) event that our hardware or database is transferred or purchased by a third party, your account information will not be. Similarly, such information - in single or in bulk - will NOT be sold, given, donated, or otherwise provided to any other party. In the event that MyGamerCard returns to service, we may contact you about its return.
10. Your question here! Send a message to [morgon [at] mygamercard [dot] net] if there's a (relevant) question you think needs answered.