They are the men and women who are interested in supporting the Street Fighter Online game and its community. To show their dedication, they have donated an amount of their choice in order to keep the game free for everyone, but also to make sure that the game is not terminated due to a shortage of funds.

As many of you know, SFO is a FREE and INDEPENDENT project. It generates ZERO revenue, and is provided FREE for everyone with no hidden costs or charges. The creators behind the game have been funding the project out of their own pockets since August 7th, 2001 and will continue to do so until the bitter end.

Aside from development and time investments, the game generates tremendous maintenance costs. Old equipment has to be replaced, new servers have to be purchased/created, in order to sustain a fast growing user database, and hundreds of dollars are spent each month on bandwidth costs. As of August, 2001, the community gained over one MILLION registered members, and is currently generating over 50,000 unique hits per week. Intern, this generates HUNDREDS of megabytes of transfer every HOUR. For example: During the first 6 days after SFO was re-opened on October 31, 2003, it has has generated over 75,000 hits and close to 1000 gigabytes of traffic.

Finding the Internet Service Providers and individuals who are willing to offer such bandwidth, all within the low/limited budget of the project, has and always will be a problem that we are trying to conquer.

Those who choose to be “VIP Members” feel that they are willing to contribute a donation to help the game and its community. No matter what happens, the donations are never used as “profit” for the makers, rather, they are used to bring down the costs of hosting and maintaining the equipment/servers needed for the game and its community.

No VIP donations have ever came close to covering all of these costs, thus, no matter what heppens, the project still (and will always continue to) make(s) NO money, and will costs thousands of dollars for those who maintain it.

How do I know if should be a “VIP Member”?

If you are interested in the SFO community (what goes on behind the scenes) and NOT just the game itself. If you are interested in helping out the development of the project (testing, debugging, promoting, etc) as well as you feel that you are willing to devote extra time (and money) to make sure that the project is not terminated because of internal maintenance costs, you are probably right for the role of the “VIP Member”!

I think this whole thing is a huge scam!

If this is your opinion, then do NOT even think about donating! If you have doubts, feel free to go back to playing SFO (which has and always will be free) and forget about being a VIP Member.

No one should feel obligated to help us, especially if they might have regrets after doing it.

Before you tell me all the perks, how much money do I “need” to donate?

You do not “need” to donate anything. In fact, if you do not feel that you have even $10 to spare, do not even think about donating. We do NOT want to make anyone feel “obligated” to help financially (even though it is our main problem). There are still lots of other ways you can help the community (sometimes that may matter more than ANY donation).

We are always looking for dedicated people to help the cause. Those who want to enrich the game with their ideas and efforts. This may include supporting the forum, running and maintaining a “fan web site”, or helping out in other ways that we can’t even imagine at this point.

These are the people ultimately make the “Moderators” and the “NWO” (on the Forum and in-game chat). They enforce the law, and devote a lot of their time to the game. After a while, the “gameplay” factor no longer interests them, and the only thing they care about is the “SFO community”. If you feel that this is the road you wish to follow (and you think you have what it takes) then perhaps becoming a “VIP Member” is NOT for you.

However, those who feel that they do not have the time (or energy) to devote dozens of hours of work EACH week towards the project (without enjoying the gameplay, and the “fun factor” of the community) but still want to help keep the game alive and FREE for everyone, are probably perfect for the rank of a “VIP Member”.

The donations they make are determined by them. The “what you can spare” philosophy applies here.

We do however ask that a donation of at least $5 (USD) be made in order to join the ranks of VIP’s.

If it is anything less, it is just not worth the hassle (you might as well find other ways to help out the community). If the donation is made, the ONLY thing we ask is for a ONE TIME donation. Once you are a “VIP Member”, that status will NEVER be taken away from you, and you never have to donate again!

What if I decide to donate more than $5? Will I get something “extra”?

Since there is no “set” donation requirements, there is no “price range” that you must meet in order to obtain “certain perks”. We will however do our best to be fair. We will always make sure that those who offer more, GET MORE (like: the ability to sponsor other members).

What does it mean to “Sponsor” someone, or to be a “Sponsored VIP”?

Basically, “sponsoring” someone means “making a donation on their behalf”.

In the game, there is no difference between “Sponsored VIP” perks, and regular “VIP” perks.

One thing we do ask is that you do NOT ask to get “sponsored” on the Official SFO Forum, or the in-game chat servers (since such actions are quit annoying to everyone, and will most likely get you banned).

I heard of a new group of members called “Elite VIP’s”. How can I become one?

Basically, a top percentile of regular VIP members was chosen to be belong to the new group of “Elite VIP’s”. These are the people who have supported the SFO community for quite some time (above and beyond all other SFO players) while asking for absolutely nothing in return.

In short (no one can really “ask” or “donate” a set amount to obtain this position … it is simply given to the selected few)

What will I get for being a “VIP Member”?

As our token of appreciation, the following features will be added to your game account:

1: A”VIP Member” status will ALWAYS be displayed beside your name when you enter chat, the forum, or start playing the actual game.

2: All “VIP Members” will gain a special color to ALL of their in-game characters (colors: “Black” and “Green”) as well as the ability to select and PLAY special/hidden “VIP ONLY” characters and helpers inside the game.

3: You will always have maximum “Rage Factor” points, which will allow you to selected the special “TLF Helpers”. (see the “Help” and “Helper Codes” sections of the game for more info)

4: You can use your unlimited “Rage Factor” to transform into alternate versions of your character during the game (from “dark”, to “normal”, and then to alternate “green” versions) in real time.

5: All of your characters will gain extra moves and effects (such as the Raging Demon, and the “Motion Blur”)

6: You will have the ability to create and use custom “outro” messages (which will be shown to your defeated opponents, during the countdown screen, after you win a match) (see the “Help” section for more info).

AND MUCH MUCH MORE!!!

But what is even more important, is that you will be closer to the SFO Development Team (also known as “dev team“)! This means you will hear about new and exciting events before anyone else, as well as (from time to time) get a chance to test/play the latest versions of the game before the rest of the users in the community! When this happens, we will either contact you via email, or, post the info in the “VIP Only” section of the Official Forum.

How long does it take after I donate before I can enjoy these “perks”?

The minute we receive your donation/email, we will change your in-game status to a “VIP Member”, so that you can enjoy these and other perks the next time you login to the game! (ie: within 24-48 hours)

How can I send in my donation?

For now, the ONLY way to donate is using PayPal (which is considered to be the fastest and most secure way to send funds via the internet!) To find out more about PayPal, visit www.paypal.com

If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out on our discord!