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The Phoenix of Watchtail
12 years ago
Watchtail is officially dead as you know it. Due to extenuating circumstances, I don't have the source files for the site anymore.
It might not be gone forever, though. You see, I have an idea.
To me, Watchtail was all about getting furry artists together to chat and watch each other draw without having to worry about intrusive ads, restrictions on adult artwork, or CPU-hogging interfaces.
Of course, the nail in Watchtail's coffin was bandwidth. Streaming video to hundreds of users was simply too much for one guy to afford, and it grew faster than donations could supplement it. It self-destructed. And it'll never be able to sustain that ever again.
But what if it didn't have to be video? What if you could watch artists at work, anywhere at all, even on your phones, and not once have to worry about user caps or the bandwidth-heavy strain of live video?
So, I'd replace the video with still images that refresh every few seconds. Or, if you only glance at the picture once in a while while you chat, you can refresh it on demand with a single click or tap on your phone. I know that means no audio, sorry, but it does mean the whole site could be done with HTML5. No more watching from a flash player!
And for those who really want to see someone draw in realtime, or for those without webcams, screencap software, or flash (for broadcasting), there could be an paint chat-style alternative that simply transmits mouse movements.
All of this could happen, but I can no longer do it all by myself. I need your support, I need dedicated coders and moderators, as I don't have the time to devote my life to the site as I used to. Most of all, I'll need financial support. Only after the ball gets rolling with site staff will I launch a kickstarter, though, because I won't make the same mistakes as I did last time.
Are you in?
It might not be gone forever, though. You see, I have an idea.
To me, Watchtail was all about getting furry artists together to chat and watch each other draw without having to worry about intrusive ads, restrictions on adult artwork, or CPU-hogging interfaces.
Of course, the nail in Watchtail's coffin was bandwidth. Streaming video to hundreds of users was simply too much for one guy to afford, and it grew faster than donations could supplement it. It self-destructed. And it'll never be able to sustain that ever again.
But what if it didn't have to be video? What if you could watch artists at work, anywhere at all, even on your phones, and not once have to worry about user caps or the bandwidth-heavy strain of live video?
So, I'd replace the video with still images that refresh every few seconds. Or, if you only glance at the picture once in a while while you chat, you can refresh it on demand with a single click or tap on your phone. I know that means no audio, sorry, but it does mean the whole site could be done with HTML5. No more watching from a flash player!
And for those who really want to see someone draw in realtime, or for those without webcams, screencap software, or flash (for broadcasting), there could be an paint chat-style alternative that simply transmits mouse movements.
All of this could happen, but I can no longer do it all by myself. I need your support, I need dedicated coders and moderators, as I don't have the time to devote my life to the site as I used to. Most of all, I'll need financial support. Only after the ball gets rolling with site staff will I launch a kickstarter, though, because I won't make the same mistakes as I did last time.
Are you in?
Who knows. Maybe you can contribute to Tigerdile if nothing else?
I look forward to seeing what you do with your current idea though : )
You would get more members and at least cover costs.
And with more and more members joining, maybe even make some profit.
I really loved your site. It got some of my commission sales off the ground.
I just wish I could have donated at the time.
Say it cost $300 to run the site each month, then you would only need 30 artist paying $10.
You would be sure to get more artist than that, as most want to get away from over-crowded LiveStream.
Or you can follow the same concept as FA and have ONLY artist Ad's.
2 Banners at the bottom with rotating ad's for some kind of traffic.
It's not ideal but it would help that local furry community and your site.
But please, do the kickstarter through Indiegogo if you can, they allow paypal and most furries only have paypal to use.