Absolutely--especially if it helps to offset server costs. I've donated before for that.
Curious what you'd think of a sort of roped off, "free to enter" entry community/instance that would be akin to a shallow pool. Just enough so you understand how it works and see what it would be like, but everything else would have that pay-for barrier. You're right that there's a good benefit to putting a wall up but at the same time we're still small enough that actively discouraging people from joining might not* be wise. I absolutely have turned my nose up to websites and servers that have some kind of pretty splash page and then a "Okay pay to get in!" message. I don't even know what I'm paying for.
Oh hey I was just about to comment that the one time I got morphine in the hospital it absolutely did not make me feel like this. It didn't feel like anything except "thank god the pain stopped, now I can rest." But it didn't make me feel good above my baseline and I was about to wonder if something was wrong with me? Now I just feel lucky.
Definitely how I started, and there is definitely something to be said about playing a game where nobody knows what's going on, as long as everyone understands that's going to be the state of things and are willing to work together. Whenever something came up we weren't sure about we'd ALL dive on the rule books, not just the GM.
There's Peertube but it's a model that requires a lot more people to work well. I tried to watch a video but nobody was seeding. That was my first experience with it.
Absolutely--especially if it helps to offset server costs. I've donated before for that.
Curious what you'd think of a sort of roped off, "free to enter" entry community/instance that would be akin to a shallow pool. Just enough so you understand how it works and see what it would be like, but everything else would have that pay-for barrier. You're right that there's a good benefit to putting a wall up but at the same time we're still small enough that actively discouraging people from joining might not* be wise. I absolutely have turned my nose up to websites and servers that have some kind of pretty splash page and then a "Okay pay to get in!" message. I don't even know what I'm paying for.