# Does anyone sorta still wish the SDMB was P2P? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 4, 2008, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974 "2008-09-04T12:54:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/41 "2008-09-05T02:42:19Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > It sort of undermines their posts if you get me. I get you, but I don’t. Lemme 'splain it like this: In this thread, I have three replies as of this post. That tells you the following: I’ve posted three times and not gotten banned yet. Really interesting information, huh? Back in the day, I had over 15K posts (when that was a lot). For a time, the 10K post club was rather exclusive, by which I mean most people didn’t have the time or logorrhea to bother posting that much. I’d trade 99 percent of my pre-P2P posts for a nice long thread discussion among a healthy Libertarian, Polycarp and David Simmons. Oh, and Persephone, too. Poohpah chalupah would be nice to see as well. (The last three people are dead, and Polycarp abandoned his account something like the day before things went back to free posting.) ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/42 "2008-09-05T02:46:45Z")
> [@iampunha](#): > > You’re so sweet. Are all the men from Pen Island like you? As [a wise man](http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0003609/) once said, “Nope. Just me baby… Just me.”. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/43 "2008-09-05T02:51:58Z")
Nope. I’m thrilled. It’s wonderful getting all these old posters back! They bring “new blood,” but new blood that’s already been well-trained in the ways of the Dope. Plus it’s just nice to see 'em. I agree that the board had gotten somewhat stagnant. New-new posters bring a lot to the boards. Plus, some entertaining wackos need more than 30 days to get warmed up… ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/44 "2008-09-05T02:59:48Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Nope. I’m thrilled. Green Bean! How’re Beansprout and Billdo? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/45 "2008-09-05T03:16:11Z")
> [@iampunha](#): > > abandoned his account something like the day before things went back to free posting.) did he explain why? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/46 "2008-09-05T03:28:09Z")
> [@iampunha](#): > > Green Bean! > > How’re Beansprout and Billdo? Hey baby! Summary: The Sprout is 6 and just had his first day of first grade. (Awwww!) He’s doing great. Bill is also doing great. He’s an old married guy now. We haven’t successfully recruited my sister-in-law yet, though. And in the meantime, I got a divorce and I’m a lot happier. What’s new with you? ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/47 "2008-09-05T03:58:40Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > did he explain why? Not that I saw, at least. The post was linked in the SDMB livejournal community, else I’d still be looking for **Polycarp** (man, these square brackets are cramping my style). It came in a **Sampiro** Pit thread. I’d detail it more but the thread really speaks for itself to the extent that there’s any clear reason for **Poly** ’s quick exit. In the post, he asked that the remaining portion of his subscription be given to **Sampiro** and that he ( **Sampiro** ) knew why. I know of no subsequent **Polycarp** post or other revelatory information. > [@Green Bean](#): > > Bill is also doing great. He’s an old married guy now. Things do change:) Glad to know the kid is still sprouting around. Remember that photo of you with “Beansprout” on your tummy? (I’m positive I’m not conflating anything there. You had two nametags. It might have been for NYCFest 2000.) Stuff with me: married, graduated from college, moved to Texas. Not nearly as exciting as people make it out to be. I didn’t even attend the graduation. The wedding was more a legal formality (on my end) than anything big and special. Texas move was for work (from which I am typing ATM, as there’s a lull in activity). We’re attempting a **punkin** , and if/when that happens, I’ll be bribing **Ed** for admin status so’s I can go back and delete the posts in which I ran nekkid. Can’t let the kids know, natch;) (With my common sense, they’d actually have trouble understanding why it wasn’t OK to do in person.) The last day or so has been interesting, what with remembering people I’d forgotten and having them remember me. Sorta like a reunion. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/48 "2008-09-05T05:13:16Z")
I’m glad it’s not pay-to-post. We need new people to come in for more than a month. And I was paid through April of 2010 or 2011. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/49 "2008-09-05T05:25:57Z")
I don’t care either way. It’s not going to turn into Yahoo Answers 2.0 or anything, the community won’t allow it. In some respects we (or at least certain users) treat new users with unpopular opinions (especially conspiracy theories) and bad grammar worse than 4chan treats “newfags” that don’t fit in. The “worst” that will happen is the influx of new users that aren’t 1337 h4x0rz lol but still used to other boards may get us avatars or images in sigs or somesuch that has been opposed due to the [del]elitism[/del] “exclusivity” of the board in the past, but it’s hardly a major issue and I doubt it will happen given the outspokenness of the admins and several users on the issue. IMO it may even be a net good, certain viewpoints have been marginalized under the guise of “this is a board where we FIGHT ignorance” (regardless of whether I agree with the viewpoint expressed or not I have a personal issue with people who use the motto to attack other poster’s ideas) and it turns into a somewhat boring 1 vs 1000 match in a lot of controversial threads. And people just seemed to leave because they didn’t want to pay to be shouted down, maybe this way people will stick around and post more because there’s no financial investment (however little) required to argue your viewpoint. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/50 "2008-09-05T05:29:52Z")
No sorta about it. While I’ve enjoyed seeing and PMing some familiar [del]faces[/del]usernames back, I’m dreading the number of teens and not-missed former members and posters from other boards who have no idea what “Cite?” means because they’re used to shooting their mouth off without getting a tab who’ll be coming in. Plus the disabling of search is driving me nuts (here’s you a security token right here…)- when are they going to fix that? Will banned Dopers be able to rejoin? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/51 "2008-09-05T06:10:57Z")
I’m thrilled to be back to free-to-post. Frankly the boards reached an embarassing level of groupthink during pay-to-post. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/52 "2008-09-05T06:26:09Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > I’m thrilled to be back to free-to-post. Frankly the boards reached an embarassing level of groupthink during pay-to-post. We disagree with us, this may be a problem. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/53 "2008-09-05T08:39:51Z")
No. I like it this way. Shit, my husband might start posting again! He’ll make me look _normal_! I love you! And you’re _totally_ normal! ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/54 "2008-09-05T08:53:39Z")
> [@Queen\_Bruin](#): > > Shit, my husband might start posting again! He’ll make me look _normal_! > > I love you! And you’re _totally_ normal! See, that right there … my wife is never posting here. For one, I’d have to get her into it. For another, she really doesn’t need more drama. For a third, it’s exceptionally difficult to make me look normal. My father says that if he is not the strangest person in a room, he high-tails it out of there. (And considering his health, that’s a nontrivial feat sometimes.) I’m not quite there, but living with someone who made me look normal would be a challenge for all concerned. (Not both: ALL. That’s what it’d take.) In other news, my ex posted in a different thread here. (I didn’t have to get her into this place. I met her here.) ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/55 "2008-09-05T11:12:49Z")
Nope, I love seeing all the new and returning posters. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/56 "2008-09-05T11:22:50Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > I’m thrilled to be back to free-to-post. Frankly the boards reached an embarassing level of groupthink during pay-to-post. I’m with you on this… it’s like a breath of fresh air. One thing I find slightly disconcerting is the number of people who showed up **immediately** Tuesday morning saying “Hey, I’ve been away but now I’m back”. Were they really just sitting here for 3 years silently lurking, waiting for pay-to-post to end? Were they playing sock games that whole time, or are they new socks of existing paying members? Or did they just get a nicely worded “welcome back” message from the management? It just concerns me a bit that there were so many so quickly, makes me wonder what’s going on. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/57 "2008-09-05T11:38:32Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Plus the disabling of search is driving me nuts (here’s you a security token right here…)- when are they going to fix that? Soon as it can be done. > [@](#): > > Will banned Dopers be able to rejoin? No. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/58 "2008-09-05T11:51:15Z")
> [@iampunha](#): > > Not that I saw, at least. The post was linked in the SDMB livejournal community, else I’d still be looking for **Polycarp** (man, these square brackets are cramping my style). It came in a **Sampiro** Pit thread. I’d detail it more but the thread really speaks for itself to the extent that there’s any clear reason for **Poly** ’s quick exit. > > In the post, he asked that the remaining portion of his subscription be given to **Sampiro** and that he ( **Sampiro** ) knew why. > > I know of no subsequent **Polycarp** post or other revelatory information. **Polycarp** has [continued to post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10150355&postcount=12). He’s posted four times since the lost weekend, and was on last night. It’s possible that, given that his exit post was posted in the Pit on a weekend when people were posting all sorts of crap that they didn’t actually mean, he was less than serious. ---
**Author:** ![Theologue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@Theologue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theologue)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/59 "2008-09-05T11:55:03Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > I’m with you on this… it’s like a breath of fresh air. > > One thing I find slightly disconcerting is the number of people who showed up **immediately** Tuesday morning saying “Hey, I’ve been away but now I’m back”. Were they really just sitting here for 3 years silently lurking, waiting for pay-to-post to end? Just this, actually. I’m sure that a lot of people like me have been reading along and are current on all the latest happenings on the board. This place can be fun; it has breadth as well as depth. Some of us just don’t want to have to spend money to generate content for it. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974/60 "2008-09-05T12:21:42Z")
Toss me in as another ‘the more the merrier’ guy. It’ll be fun to have a steady flux of new talent coming through the door. The thing about P2P was that it made us _comfortable_. There were a limited number of posters and you generally knew what each would say/do/feel about any particular topic or issue. That’s the very definition of stagnant, in my book. New posters, and old ones returning, are the very lifeblood of an interesting and changing diversity of opinion. Given the mission statement here that should be our priority. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-sorta-still-wish-the-sdmb-was-p2p/461974.md?page=4)