ATI to sponsor Rage3d.com

_Kosh_

_Kosh_

New member
Hi Everyone,

I've read the thread I'm sure you've all heard about at the AVS forum, where Mr. Stephen Orr of ATI answered user questions for a whole week. At some point Mr. Orr was asked whether he or his staff were aware of problems users are discussing at the Rage3D forums.

Mr. Orr's answer mentioned that the Rage3D forums "are actually required reading at ATI." Today I've read Mr. Orr's first post here at Rage3D, which seems to confirm ATI's interest in Rage3D's forums. I sure welcome Mr. Orr to the Rage3D forums.

I just had this idea... In addition to revenue from add-clicks, why not talk to ATI about the possibility for them to sponsor Rage3D? ATI would provide the financial support necessary for keeping Rage3D alive and allow it to grow.

That would benefit everybody. ATI would continue to get user support for free from the community as well as more user input; their image would improve because of the gesture, and their seriousness of wanting to solve the problems would gain credibility. That would be excellent PR for them. Rage3D would get more exposure and be able to pay for the resources that make it all possible. The community would be reassured they could continue to enjoy coming here.

In a sense, it's only fair that a site devoted to helping ATI customers gets something in return for it, particularly when its survival is in question. I'm certain that now is the best time for negotiating such an agreement with ATI. ATI is experiencing some financial difficulties but wants and needs to overcome them if they are to survive. Showing that they can deliver on promises of solving technical issues ought to be very important to ATI. Getting involved and sponsoring Rage3D might turn out to be very affordable as one of the tools that help ATI reach these goals.

Who knows, if Rage3D could dare to ask ATI, ATI might reply "we thought you'd never ask!" I believe ATI should be open to a mutually beneficial agreement. Rage3D and ATI: you need each other...

Regards, ../Klingon
 
I'm sure many of the satff have wondered about that, but a direct sponsorship would create a huge conflict of interest and possibly hamper journalistic integrity.

Perhaps a "partnership" would be in order. We will wait and see. But thanks for putting this out there.
 
I owe a lot to this site. As I've stated before the Rageltman driversets saved my laptop from obscurity. I love ATI's card but I think that they should look into sponsoring ( partnering )this site as it has helped so many they have turned away. I have always felt like an ATI refugee since I bought my firt ATI card. It is the fans with the foresight to know that drivers will come, even if they are from unofficial sources. If this site goes down man, I can not afford to ever buy another ATI card. The driver department over there hasn't improved that much.

I guess what i'm saying is that ATI owes its continuing patronage that I give them to this site. It is because of this forum and the issues discussed that I can still consider myself an ATI fan.
 
Thanks... hearing stuff like that makes us all very happy.

But you have to give ATI some credit for their Radeon drivers, and the Nvidia competition has them working harder than ever. Even Intel has had some problems. We'll just have to wait and see.
 
I think ATi's participation in the forums is a great thing, because we can get all problems nailed down faster, or at least see that our bugs are being noted.
 
I have thought about giving up on my Radeon on more than one occasion, simply because I would like the great 16 bit support that Nvidia provides. But I'm still here, and I love my Radeon because of this site and ATI's massive improvement in driver support. Thank you all.
 
We really do have a good group of people here. Hey, ATI, I'm a good troubleshooter (and complainer too!), please hire me for the summer, I need a job. :)
 
Forget the sponsorship.
You should get ATI to replace their gamers page (The i think now-defunt rage conspiracy) With Rage3d.
I think it would be better if you somehow get ATI to host this site. Then they can actually collaborate with the gaming community.

That rage conspiracy page was crap, and like never updated. But i think its gone now. Time to start fresh ATI. And get this on the main page (Now that you are starting to appeal to hardcore gamers, your page shouldnt just have the PR stuff no more)
 
Ogreboy said:
Hey, ATI, I'm a good troubleshooter (and complainer too!), please hire me for the summer, I need a job. :)
Click to expand...
Heh - I could be hired on as a driver tester. It seems like I'm already doing it full time! lol

Sasquach - that is a hell of an idea - the best one I've heard yet

It would really benefit both sides and seems like it would be very feasible.

I wonder who we could talk to at ATi to make something like that happen -
 
Yea, that's a great idea, look how good 3dfxgamers worked for 3dfx. There were always 3dfx people in the forums, enough that you actually felt like you knew them as friends.
 
I don't think some people in this forum will develop such close bonds with any ATI software engineers. A lot of them seem more likely to tear them a new hole :)
 
Sasquach said:
Forget the sponsorship.
You should get ATI to replace their gamers page (The i think now-defunt rage conspiracy) With Rage3d. ...
Click to expand...
I don't agree. I believe Rage3D should remain independent. ATI could simply link to Rage3D from their home page (same perhaps for other ATI fan sites as well) and help those sites in return for their contribution to ATI's ultimate success.

It was not ATI's idea to start these forums, and it probably wouldn't be fair to those who did. It might work in the long run but I'm not convinced we'd enjoy the forums as much if they were controlled, designed and possibly censored to serve the corporate agenda of ATI, whatever it is. The same probably applied to the other ATI fan sites as well.

That doesn't rule out ATI suggesting the addition of forum sections at Rage3D or elsewhere if it is mutually beneficial to them and the forum's audience.

Regards, ../Klingon
 
My take on this, is that you just get ATI to host this site on their servers, and when you click on 'ATI gamers page' or something, it takes you to rage3d.

All ATI really needs to do is host the site, and link it. Then the rest, well, just remains with the users.

See, rage3d will remain completely independant from ATI control. They can just allow you people to do the web-stuff/forum management (Plus they could pay you for this, because once they assimilate the site, it becomes a TRUE ATI affiliate, and you can be considered web-page management. Of course, they probably wont, but hey, you can debate cant you?).
All they'd do is read the forums, join every now and then, participate, and fix things. They dont need to set the rules. You just moderate and try to keep everything in check.

The rest of their site can be left to their own web-management guys. This way, those guys (seeing as they probably dont play games) dont have to worry about a gamers page, which they know very little about. You guys will do it, and you do whatever you want.

Its not like they did anything with the rage conspiracy page anyways.
 
I had sworn off ATI untill I found this forum
I am Canadian and therefore when I can prefer to support a Canadian company (ATI).
my old 32mb Rage Fury which I payed through the nose for was nothning but problems from day one..incompatibilities and not capable of the graphics I had read I would get..I also bought a tv-tuner later on and again nothing but problems, I wrote ATI tech support on several occassions where they gave me the same instructions I told them I had just finished trying..and not just once did they do this but a few times. I was furious and had given up...then radeon...I wanted one as soon as I had seen Toms review I thought great finally a good ati card..but didnt wanna buy one because of my previous "fun" with ATI tech support..then came across this forum..tech support in real time almost :-P
so I decided one more shot for ATI...this card so far gave me a few problems at 1st, but now its fantastic and I may just decide to stick with ATI next upgrade..as long as things continue as they have so far..
I think ATI needs this forum..and they should be reading this stuff...I know I'm not the only customer whos on the edge of swearing off thier products and I also have 100s of people asking what I recomend because I upgrade so often..so its not just me they would lose but all the people who ask my advice
keep reading ati!!!
make us all happy and you'll make alot more after us happy too

Wolf
 
Anyone wanna see how a message forum benefits even a small company?

Here in Calgary, there is a computer store located NE i think. Its called Firestorm. I dunno how i came across it (i think through an ad in a computer newspaper) but i got to the website, and found a forum. They talk about a whole crapload of stuff there, giving tips on whats products are good/bad, and even the staffers get involved. Quite a hefty involvement too (I think they are there everyday). I asked them some stuff before i upgraded my comp, and they gave me the answers. Very good, almost like talking on a phone.

www.firestorm.ab.ca
if anyones interested at taking a look.

Oh yeah, this site, was created by some guy that's not affiliated with the company. It was because the company spent less and less time on website management, so they gave this guy the go ahead to create their site for them. How nice is that? IT became more user friendly because of this.
 
Ogreboy said:
I don't think some people in this forum will develop such close bonds with any ATI software engineers. ...
Click to expand...
Hummm. I believe what I suggested really has nothing to do with ATI software engineers. At least not directly. It's ATI's management who I thought should consider integrating some way of ensuring the ATI fan community gets supported. Customer feedback ought to be important to them.

Having a web site, posting software upgrades and using e-mail for technical support are a bare minimum. ATI could simply open their own forums to improve things. It shouldn't be so expensive. But I doubt they would learn as much that way as they probably do now by reading independant forums. Knowledge has value. If they opened their own forums they would still need the information they get from independant forums.

My suggestion was one that I hoped to be the most cost effective to ATI (biggest bang for the buck). Rage3D already has a 'family' of frequent visitors and contributors. It takes time to build that and it has a value. Employing people is way more expensive than just paying their salary.

As I see it, Rage3D doesn't have a revenue stream coming from the sale of a product, but they provide value to both ATI and ATI's customers, which in the end serves ATI rather well. Unfortunately, providing the service costs something.

My whole point was: since ATI benefits from Rage3D's activity and Rage3D's own success meant increased expenses they appear to have some trouble with, then why not suggest ATI helps itself by helping Rage3D continue to do what it currently does, at least in these difficult times.

Regards, ../Klingon
 
I have serious doubts that ATI would ever go for something like this. Have you ever heard the phrase "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?" That is exactly what is going on.

Quote from Klingon's post:
Mr. Orr's answer mentioned that the Rage3D forums "are actually required reading at ATI." Today I've read Mr. Orr's first post here at Rage3D, which seems to confirm ATI's interest in Rage3D's forums. I sure welcome Mr. Orr to the Rage3D forums.


See what I mean. Mabey they would post a link, they would get more free milk that way.

But one thing is for sure, I would not be a radeon owner today if not for rage3d. If you ignore the fact that ATI isn't Rage3d I would say ATI easily has the BEST tech support for any product on the planet.
 
synk said:
"Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?"
Click to expand...
No I hadn't heard it before, you've added to my culture.

I've read several posts from people saying they are clicking on ads to help Rage3D. That seems to suggest there are reasons to buy the cow other than its milk being free. Or it may suggest that the milk only appears to be free but isn't.

Whatever the case, I agree that we shouldn't expect ATI to ever make such a move. Anyway, I hope they read this and find it in their best interest to go for it one way or another.

Regards, ../Klingon
 
Hey, I wish I could work for ATI too. But unless ATI decides to start up a venture capital arm like Intel, the only thing I'm qualified to do for them is technical services.

And we all know how fun it is to replace 200 token ring adapters, don't we? <shudder>
 
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