The thought occurred to me - what if I pissed someone off and they wanted to Pit me but I hadn’t paid for it. Would I get a freebie for just that thread?
I still like the Cool Joe Smeghead idea.
The idea of “free to view”/“pay to post” doesn’t take into account the fact that there are at least 10 times more views than posts, meaning the posters would be paying for the viewers. The non-paying people would be using up at least 90% of the server’s resources. Not really fair to posters and might even discourage potential posters.
I have only one question about the idea of making people pay to post for GD, IMHO, MPSIMS, and pay to view and post in the Pit: How many people would anyone pay just to access these particular forums? I wouldn’t. I’d happily confine myself to the areas with free access. There are already plenty of places like IMHO, MPSIMS, and the Pit. GD might attract some people because it has moderated discussions, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
I might as well post my idea: free view access only for a limited time, perhaps one to three days. They’d want to strike a balance between letting people getting familiar with the SDMB and limiting view load on the server. After that, pay for access. And as I’ve said in one of the poll threads, I would pay under a scheme like this.
I’m sure Cecil, Ed, and the Reader will come up with a reasonable plan.
(sigh) Make that “How many people would pay just to access these particular forums?”
Either all subscription or all free posting, that’s my preference. Reading could be free.
We’re not talking about a huge investment here, and I’m sure there could be a way to accommodate those who can’t afford to pay. Are we so afraid that people will take advantage of the rest of us? Are there that many liars out there? I don’t think so.
Peace,
mangeorge
I have to agree that many posters may simply abandon MPSIMS, IMHO and the Pit if they had to pay for it.
I know I would without giving it a second thought. I think if you are going to charge for them, you might as well just delete the forums completely. The big games in MPSIMS probably don’t help the server, and neither do the five-page rants in The Pit. Also, it pretty much contributes nothing to a board dedicated to fighting ignorance. Asking people to pay for those forums would be tantamount of Yahoo! asking everybody to pay for chat. It’s pointless, and there are other games in town.
Also note that not only might people abandon the not-for-free areas, but they might put their posts which should go in those areas in the free areas. If you think people post MPSIMS in GQ too frequently now, wait to see what happens when they gotta pay to post in MPSIMS but not in GQ (for example).
While perusing the Darwin Awards the other day I came across a link to something on amazon.com called ‘honor system’ or ‘paypage’ (some information located here. I know nothing about it but what I read on that link, but it’s one more thing to toss into the discussion (if it hasn’t been already).
It’s a bit odd making people pay to provide content. I would prefer a variant of the volunteer method. Salon.com is trying that at the moment, though I don’t know how well it’s working out.
An ad page, where a single $20 banner could be purchased for your choice of charity (Habitat for Humanity, Amnesty International, GAVI or whomever) might work.
Here’s a thought: you have to pay to either post or read anything beyond the first page of the thread.
I think that this will result in people poting MBSIMS or Pit type posts in GD. Then the mods will have to move them and the OP can’t participate any more. The whole board will have to have the same access or it will be an even worse nightmare for the Mods.
Haj
I found this while looking through some old threads and I realized things could get a lot worse. 