DoFSource.com brings you new exclusive shots

[LiTos456]

Hello everyone.
You might all know me as the guy from the forums but I'm also the owner of one of first DoF fansites, Dawn of Fantasy Source.

First of all I'd like to generally promote the site. We offer plenty of features for creative people, as well as a forum very similar in features to this one.
Our site is capable of hosting user fanart, screenshots and other images. Aside from that we aimed for creating a site to be the best source for Dawn of Fantasy downloads (mind the name itself) - mods, maps, tools, and official files and patches. Any of this can be submitted to the site by members and then as it is approved by an administrator it will become public.
We also have a video gallery, although we do not allow direct uploads. In order for your video to be placed on our site, you must upload it to any other website such as youtube, and then give us the embed code. We have disabled direct uploads to save space and prevent any possible server slow downs.

Now that you know what the site is about, let's get to what we've got to offer so far.
We have 7 exclusive never seen before shots, 4 of which have been up for a while on DoFSource, and members of DOFS could have already seen it. Today, we have received 3 more fantastic screenshots featuring an epic battle scene under the rain and the cover of night. I'm positive that all of you my favorite DOF fans are interested.
You can view the screenshots at the exclusive screenshots gallery section.

If, however, you are interested in signing up for the site, all you have to go is go to dofsource.com, and make an account. There is no email verification required for registration either, so it's fairly easy and not annoying.

Thank you everyone! We hope to bring more and more exclusive content to you as we go, and perhaps even a new unofficial trailer with never seen before video footage. The things we can bring you can possibly go all the way up to beta keys, although I don't know if that'll be possible yet.

Cheers mates, and happy DoFing!

[Ovocean]

Commercial speech blabla commercial speech.
Good job with the site, even though for now it looks really overloaded and the delimiter bars' repetitive textures don't help. But for major sites like you aim dofsource to be I prefer them to be made by a gathering of people from the community and open to changes in an approximate democratic way than a one-guy initiative who will feel he's the king.

[Andy Joslin]

I haven't even seen these before now, they're very nice.

[LiTos456]

Originally Posted by Ovocean

Commercial speech blabla commercial speech.
Good job with the site, even though for now it looks really overloaded and the delimiter bars' repetitive textures don't help. But for major sites like you aim dofsource to be I prefer them to be made by a gathering of people from the community and open to changes in an approximate democratic way than a one-guy initiative who will feel he's the king.

Actually it's exactly what you're saying it is.
To this time we've already made a few changes that were suggested by the members on the forum.
And if you hadn't noticed I use "we" so I'm not the only one who was working on the site.
We don't have a large community yet... because most people are here.
And do you not expect me to use commercial speech? I do need to let people know about the site in a way, so I'd rather do it in a mature, organized way.
It's funny how you didn't even comment on the screenshots themselves.

Oh and Andy - yeah, DoFs is the first place to have them.

[Alex Walz]

Sounds nice.
*registers*

[Ovocean]

Originally Posted by LiTos456

Actually it's exactly what you're saying it is.
To this time we've already made a few changes that were suggested by the members on the forum.
And if you hadn't noticed I use "we" so I'm not the only one who was working on the site.

Then I apologize. And for my rudeness too, I'm just being irritated by anything that relates to commercial-marketing spirit.
The "we" cannot be an indication of wether you where alone or not, it's a constant of commercial speech.

Originally Posted by LiTos456

And do you not expect me to use commercial speech? I do need to let people know about the site in a way, so I'd rather do it in a mature, organized way.

Commercial speech = language tricks and techniques to make people do something that will benefit you. In practice it means exploiting other people. So, yes, It sounds off for a free iniative to avoid speaking in perfect simplicity and honesty. Not that all your post was a "lie", but I don't feel like you have a candid approach to promoting DoFSource. Using screenshots exclusivity is very strange in its own. Why inventing that ? It looks like it's just to motivate people to create an account, which is slightly pathetic. Can't you just promote the real speficities of dofs ?
I'd like to see the marketing frame of mind erased from planet Earth, it spoils human relations. It's a plague.

It's funny how you didn't even comment on the screenshots themselves.

I wasn't interested in this part of your post. I'm not fan of DoF enough yet to chase after a few screenshots. If they were posted here I would have looked at them and commented them. ^^

[Alex Walz]

You have a rather pessimistic view on advertising, my friend.
Litos here is indirectly advertising our new favorite game, Dawn of Fantasy. You may not have noticed, but nobody outside this little group really knows about the game, so he is doing a very good thing. As for commercial speech, it's another necessity. I usually try and issue a somewhat format press release for something larger that I do and, like Litos, I constantly use 'we,' even when writing primarily about something I published individually. This isn't because I have split personalities, it's because, as staff, I'm representing the entire fansite community. One thing I'm not sure I agree with is making visitors register to see parts of the site. Yes, I did register but mostly this has an inverse effect as visitors are more likely to leave rather than keep lurking around the instant they see a registration screen. Most sites have somewhere around a 90/10 ration where 90% of the visitors lurk but never register and only 10% register and contribute, so I always like to cater to that 90%. But good job on securing the shots all the same.

[LiTos456]

Thanks for backing me up Alex.
There are a few reasons why I need people to register. First of all, I obviously need members. Maybe a portion of those who registers to look at the exclusive shots will actually stay around.
Second, it is benefitial for them to register - they get exclusive shots not available anywhere else, and also even if it was my idea in the first place someone from Reverie also suggested for me to do that.
And even if users do not stay, when DoF comes out and after some time they make a map, and they wonder where to put it up, they'll think and say "Oh wait, I remember I have an account on that site where I can upload things!" and then he comes to the site and hopefully, there is a lot of content up by then and he's excited to share his and find some other interesting things to download.
It all doesn't work instantaniously. Yes I also do hate commercial speech and I do love honest things, but I decided to write honest things in commercial speech because it seemed more solid, elegant, and professional. If you take a look at the website itself, you will surely find that none of what I said doesn't exist.
And besides, how could someone lie about the features of a website? It isn't a commercial product advertised on TV, no, and it's not one of those "Make my computer fast in an instant" sites.
I apologize that forcing members to register to see the exclusive shots is unreasonable, but in the very beginning of the site, when barely anybody knows about it - let alone the game itself (as alex said, not many outside this little group know about DoF) - at this time, I have to do more of this kind of promotion. Later, when the game is out, when there are more people knowing it, it should all eventually come around by itself and I won't be doing this anymore.
And just FYI, to confirm Alex's thought, the way I advertise DoFs on other gaming websites is that I make a thread about dawn of fantasy and then at the end of the post I actually mention the website. That way, I'm really advertising our beloved Dawn of Fantasy instead of my site.
Cheers!

PS: I cannot believe this thread ended up being an argument. On nearly every forum, there's always one person who would jack a thread just to flame on or hate on the creator of it. So 1-1, we're even, because that seems unreasonable. You jack my thread, and I make you register to see shots. Viola.

[Neotyguy40]

I agree with Ovocean...

This 'speech' looks like it is truly wanting to become 'the' site for DoF, and although I like fansites, one that needs to register just to see something is very poorly made. Most fansites, like RS fansites, WoW fansite, TW fansites, etc. let people view the site however they want to help themselves, or something to that point. But DoFS needs to register to view... Pics? I am not that desperate to view something for DoF when screenshots are only for people who give some info away. I do not want to be part of a website that does not say they won't 'sell my e-mail', or anything like that.

Sorry, but I am tempted to register with a fake email and post the pics on photobucket myself just to keep others from having the urge to do that. Fansites should not have to need to register to view anything, maybe to post on a forum, but not to view screenies...

[Alex Walz]

Neo makes a good point. You might want to put a watermark on those exclusive screenshots if you want them to remain exclusive.