OProjekt is closing at 31/10/2021
- ( 2022-01-05 )
Dear Community,
After more than 10 years of "tenure" as project manager, operator and maintainer of OProjekt, I have decided to resign from my position and therefore no longer operate OProjekt. After I put a lot of sweat and heart and soul into the project in the early 2010s and was able to achieve many improvements for the OP project - including, among others. the redesign, better statistics, integration into the OGame API and much more - my commitment has steadily decreased over the past few years. Not only do I lack the time and the connection to OGame (I had already ended my phase as an active player when I took over OProjekt), I also notice how more and more functionalities "give up their ghost" due to a lack of maintenance. Last but not least, the advertising income can currently no longer cover the operating costs. Unfortunately, all previous attempts to inspire capable programmers for OProject and to keep the features alive have unfortunately failed. It is therefore logical to now draw the conclusion that it can no longer go on like this.
Successor - application possible immediately
Of course, if a capable and willing successor can be found, I will hand over the project to them in order to enable continued operation. Potential successors must meet the following requirements:
PHP programming skills
The ability to run a Linux server with an Apache web server, a MySQL / MariaDB database, and a letsencrypt service
The willingness to take full responsibility for the project after a "trial period" of a few months, including an entry in the imprint, taking over the existing server, the existing domain and the care of the personal data of the users (e-mail addresses)
Sufficient time to tackle the urgent problems (initially approx. 16 - 40 working hours depending on previous knowledge, later approx. 2 hours per month)
The willingness to bear the costs of the project (approx. € 7 / month). The advertising income currently fluctuates between € 0.40 and € 3.00 / month.
The willingness to conduct an introductory interview via video call (and later the induction)
Interested parties can apply to info@oprojekt.net. When applying, please state your age and full name, your previous experience with regard to the above requirements and your motivation, why you would like to take on the project. If you have a résumé, you are welcome to attach it, but it is not a must. I will do my best to answer you within 3 days. If you haven't received any feedback by then, please remind me again via PN in the OGame forum to be on the safe side.
How does it go from here?
OProjekt will initially remain online until October 31, 2021 (the HTTPS certificate has unfortunately expired and cannot be easily renewed at the moment, which is why the website is currently displayed as "Unsafe"; this would have to be resolved by a suitable successor). If no suitable successor has been found by then, the OProjekt main page will initially go down on November 1st, 2021 and instead forward to this post. The user data and the server will not be deleted at this point in time; you will still have the opportunity to apply as a possible successor until December 31, 2021.
If no successor has been found by December 31, 2021, all user data including the server will be deleted on January 1, 2022 and the website will go down completely. If, however, applications are received by December 31, 2021, the user data and the website will be handed over to him as soon as all acute problems have been resolved, so that the requirements for "relaunch" are met.
Can you publish the source code under an open source license in case someone wants to continue later?
Unfortunately, this is not possible because I do not have the exclusive copyrights to the source code and image material. However, if sometime later someone would like to relaunch an OProjekt, they are welcome to contact me via PM in the OGame forum. Basically, a successor could "FOSS" at least parts of the code in order to enable collaborative work by the community - but this also involves a significant amount of effort, since the source code has to be checked and checked in advance.
Closing word
Finally, I would like to thank everyone who worked on OProjekt, especially my colleague Max ("Assimilator"), who has kept the project alive through his active work in recent years - as well as possible without programming knowledge. I would also like to thank again those who have donated something to enable continued operation until today. Ultimately, a website also lives from its users, and therefore I would like to thank you for many years of loyalty. I am sorry that the time of OProjekt seems to be drawing to a close, but as the saying goes: nothing lasts forever :)
Best Regards,
Patrick aka Petty230