Mit summed it up pretty well. I'm happy that everyone supports the affiliation so far, too! However, I should probably lay out the differences between a standard affiliation, and 1-Up World being the official MFGG server:
Affiliation
An affiliation would mean listing MFGG (site, server, and banner), in our #affiliate channel. It's definitely a good source of traffic for the curious, and it'd help keep MFGG relevant.
The full list of benefits include:
•MFGG affiliate listing
•1-Up World opens up #mods-and-fangames
•Occasional cross community events
•MFGG staff are given the Ambassador role
In return, 1-Up World is listed under affiliates.
1-Up World becomes the Official MFGG Server
Official partnership, while more complicated, would attract far more users to MFGG. We'd integrate everything we can from the forums and the test server: twitter updates, competitions, your favorite roles and emotes, and of course, the staff team. It's a lot more encouragement for people to participate in the forums; it can even revitalize the site.
The full list of benefits include:
•All of the affiliate benefits
•A new news channel is opened up for the MFGG twitter feed
•Full competition integration (including comp rewards)
•A cool, new private channel for forum members to hang out in (#mfgg-verified?)
•A public channel to discuss events surrounding MFGG, such as competitions. (May be integrated into the channel above)
•MFGG roles are created for 1-Up World. These will reflect status on the main site and the forums.
•MFGG staff are made admins / mods of 1-Up World.
In return, 1-Up World is put on the sidebar, under the forums link.
The first option is easy to agree on, but the second option will be far more impactful. While 1-Up World may have more activity than you can track, that doesn't have to be a bad thing. This energy can flow back into MFGG, and give it the breath of fresh air it really needs. All of this comes at no extra burden to the MFGG staff; we already have an amazing staff team to moderate the chat. All we need is your consent.