# A Proposal for guest membership name change **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 31, 2009, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-for-guest-membership-name-change/498240 "2009-05-31T05:55:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-for-guest-membership-name-change/498240/41 "2009-06-04T09:56:24Z")
> [@Elyanna](#): > > I want to be a pirate! Please change all admins to “Captain,” moderators to “Crew,” charter members to “scalawags,” members to “mateys,” and guests to “cabin boys.” Also the '99ers should have “crusty” before their title. > > ARRRR Being a pirateninja can be hazardous to your health. Warning: this comic and the one it’s a spinoff to contains violence, semi-nudity, a pirateninja, and very, very geeky roleplaying humor. It is not suitable for younger readers. I am going to break the link for added protection. You have been warned. [http://w](http://w) [ww.goblinscomic.com/tf8.html](http://ww.goblinscomic.com/tf8.html) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-for-guest-membership-name-change/498240/42 "2009-06-04T12:09:58Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > If Jerry is not in a position to devote enough time to the Dope, there have been, if I remember correctly, many Dopers who profess to be suitably qualified in the arcane arts of vBulletin tinkering, and have offered their services for free. Why not take one of them up on his offer? It’d cost nothing, and you’d have happy punters. If you cannot instantly understand why allowing someone who is not a vetted employee to muck around in bowels of your messageboard is an incredibly bad idea from a business standpoint, it is clear you lack the judgement to participate in this discussion. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-for-guest-membership-name-change/498240/43 "2009-06-04T16:14:14Z")
Is that a No True Scotsman argument? 😃 Me, I’m happy with being a pirateninja, if I get the elf girl. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Elyanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5ac83/32.png) [@Elyanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elyanna)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-for-guest-membership-name-change/498240/44 "2009-06-04T16:54:12Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Being a pirateninja can be hazardous to your health. Warning: this comic and the one it’s a spinoff to contains violence, semi-nudity, a pirateninja, and very, very geeky roleplaying humor. It is not suitable for younger readers. I am going to break the link for added protection. > > You have been warned. > > [http://w](http://w) [ww.goblinscomic.com/tf8.html](http://ww.goblinscomic.com/tf8.html) Oh, man. He got what he deserved. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-for-guest-membership-name-change/498240/45 "2009-06-04T18:27:47Z")
I’m perfectly happy to be a guest of the SDMB, so long as they don’t kvetch too loudly when I put my feet up on the coffee table. ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-for-guest-membership-name-change/498240/46 "2009-06-04T22:17:20Z")
> [@Elyanna](#): > > I want to be a pirate! Please change all admins to “Captain,” moderators to “Crew,” charter members to “scalawags,” members to “mateys,” and guests to “cabin boys.” Also the '99ers should have “crusty” before their title. > > ARRRR Ok, I have to admit, if it comes to change, I want this! I could be a scalawag, I’m sure I could. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-for-guest-membership-name-change/498240/47 "2009-06-05T19:13:44Z")
“Members” should be unchanged. Rename “Charter Members” to “Cheap but loyal”. Rename “Guests” to “Parasites” or “Leeches”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-for-guest-membership-name-change/498240/48 "2009-06-12T09:46:43Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > …but right now all you have to do to see this information is click on the name to see the profile information, so it is available to you. This is a remarkable position to take considering there’s _still_ a 5 minute wait between searches as everyone’s all paranoid about board performance. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-for-guest-membership-name-change/498240/49 "2009-06-12T12:56:43Z")
That’s not a search function. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-for-guest-membership-name-change/498240/50 "2009-06-12T20:49:04Z")
And the extra page views don’t at all affect board performance? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-for-guest-membership-name-change/498240/51 "2009-06-12T21:13:55Z")
I have no direct knowledge of vBulletin, but page views are very different from searches. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-for-guest-membership-name-change/498240/52 "2009-06-12T21:49:04Z")
> [@chique](#): > > And the extra page views don’t at all affect board performance? No. If you were doing a gazillion of them at one time probably so but just clicking on a user profile, that’s not a problem. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-for-guest-membership-name-change/498240/53 "2009-06-14T15:42:01Z")
I don’t have much of a stake in tall of the issues in the OP, but I do find it often annoying as a paid member not to be able to guest’s locations as part of their post. There are several times a week where I’ll read a post that won’t make sense in the absence of knowing the user’s location, and of course 99% of the time they don’t think to mention it. This was a much rarer phenomenon before the massive changeover of people to guest status. Listing location seems to be more useful to other posters than to oneself, so it seems odd to me that it is considered a ‘benefit’ of membership when it’s really more of a benefit to the board. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-proposal-for-guest-membership-name-change/498240.md?page=2)