I just lost my charter status and therefore also my post count. I was gonna renew, but I had to go through paypal which is a pain because I don’t have an account so I didn’t. Its not so bad and now people can’t see how little I post.
Having said this I will admit I like post counts as it is some proxy for whether a wierd post is from a sock, or someone who has been around long enough to know the rules.
You didn’t really lose your post count. You can still see it when you or anyone else looks at your profile.
Yes, I remember all that. I even paid a couple years to keep this place going.
But now all it means is you don’t know how to use an ad blocker.
I’d like to point out that I actually did join in 11/99, but my username was deleted during the Winter of our Missed Content. When they fixed the problem, it said my join date was 2000. And I’ve been pissed about it for almost a decade. Well, maybe not pissed, but a little annoyed that I’m missing out on chocolate.
I was a Charter Member, but I chose not to renew for a variety of reasons.
However, the title was important to me because that was the agreement. If I joined up at the beginning and kept up my membership, I got the title and lifetime renewals at half price. The title means no less and no more than that.
If some think the title isn’t important, that’s fine for themselves. However, when I make an agreement with someone, I hold up my end, and I expect the same from the other party.
Is it really so hard to understand the concept of not changing the terms of an agreement while it’s in force?
If there had been no special title, I would’ve subscribed at the time anyway. But that was not the agreement.
And as long as I’m here, I’ll say I have little sympathy for people who simply forgot to renew on time. Again, the agreement was to renew on time or lose the title and discount permanently. I took this seriously. I set Outlook reminders to make sure I wouldn’t miss it. The irregularity of e-mail reminders confirms the value of this precaution.
Don’t forget that charter members have access to the you know what. I would say more but talking about it in front of members and guests gets you downgraded. Aesiron knows all about that…
Whoa, calm down there.
(Actually, I decided not to re-up. I’m broke and I don’t need the title. Actually, I need to wean myself off this crack…)
I’m prouder of my join date and my member number (157). There’s not a whole lot of people left here that joined before me. If they had a status that said something like “been here since the AOL days” I think that’d be cool.
Then again, I suppose it doesn’t really matter.
Can you explain why it’s a big deal to you? Big enough to start a thread asking about it?
Yeah, it lets me be "more knowledgeable than thou, which is about all I’m good at. It’s why I’m a teacher. Kinda sorta really.
I won’t speak for anyone else, but for me it’s the free hookers and blow.
Until I got the renewal email last week -I hadn’t even visited these boards in about 6 months. Obviously, I don’t get my money’s worth, but what the hell…
Spoken like a true Whiney Niner.
I can’t speak for the OP, but I opened this thread because I have wondered the same thing before.
Most people don’t seem to care one way or another, but every so often somebody loses their title and you’d think someone had smacked their kid and kicked their mother in the snapper. It becomes a VERY.BIG.DEAL. Much whining and gnashing of the teeth.
So, curiosity. Is that really so hard to understand, or did you just feel like being uppity?
What ads? 
Charter membership = discounted subscription, that’s it for me. This board has the contents and contributing members to make a subscription worthwhile. And if I’m going to subscribe why not give myself a discount in the process? If I should ever miss a renewal date and get bumped to a mere Member, I can live with that. But I’ll never be Guest!
Holy shit.
It all makes sense to me now.
I was wondering whose Wheaties I urinated in this morning.
And you’re right, it was a pretty big deal to start this thread. I had to call in late for work, compose several drafts, pass copies off to my lawyer in triplicate, and go over 500 pages of research. The posts in this thread may have contained the answer to free, renewable, non-polluting energy and a cure for global warming - but you had to go fuck it all up.
When your grandchildren ask what it was like to have polar ice caps, live above ground or pay under $500 for an ounce of oil,… just remind them how it is ALL YOUR FAULT!
Me too!
(unless you aren’t a teacher and that was snark at me for talking about teaching all the time. In which case, wow that came out of nowhere. )