Nikongear is soon to sail into dangerous and unchartered waters in the new year 2025, in which our 10th anniversary will occur !! 'Dangerous' because the Admin realise there are obstacles ahead which cannot easily be surmounted. Hosting costs have increased dramatically and are followed by price hikes on domain registrations, security certificates, and maintenance. As of now, we're running the server on a heavily discounted introduction plan, but this plan will expire in a year's time.
The participation on NG is stagnating and the number of subscribers has fallen to under the level we need to sustain running the site over time. There is no immediate threat to the site's existence, but unless the situation improves, we will face severe problems later when our hosting plan is to be renewed.
What can be done? On a short term, we can move the forum to a lower-end server, and take the concomitant lower performance in its stride. We can, and will, limit the volume of images uploaded, and consider to restrict posting for non-subscribers. However, such measures are likely to have adverse side effects, so must be implemented very carefully. Non-paying members should consider moving over to being active subscribers. Nothing in life is really free. Somebody foots the bill if you don't.
I wish we were to be bringer of better news to our valuable and faithful community, but sooner or later reality bites. Thus now is time to take stock of the situation.
