I guess that’s admirable, or something.
Actually, I pity the poor moderators.
I am sure things were a bit easier when they knew that most of the people on the board knew the rules about putting some comments in the Pit and others in Debates etc.
I am not saying new posters will not follow the rules - most will - but there will be a lot who simply don’t know the rules, others who don’t give a damn about rules, or are just joining the board for a single agenda and will fire off comments that will not exactly be helping to fight ignorance.
But hey, I joined when it was free - and learned how to play nice (well, except during election years). I think the addition of new members will help the board become even better!
Personally, I would have made the SDMB free, but still require a one-time $5.00 minimum donation to any one of a short list of charities to sign up. It would show some social commitment and ensure smart ass fly-by posters would not just sign in to spew garbage.
I forgive you for making rash comments because I suspect you are young and somewhat impetuous. From your tone it’s clear that you feel threatened by so many new (to you) usernames. Either that or you feel like you are no longer a big fish in a small pond. I don’t know, you tell me.
Still you have to admit that your comment was derogatory to every one posting free. I admit I was a bit annoyed by your tone so I called you on it . I’m over that now.
Being witty and friendly and contributing posts that people really want to read is what makes you belong to a board, not the act of paying less than $15.
What in the blazes are you talking about?
I joined this board in June 2000 after having lurked for some months, at the least.
While I have been posting here, we have never had a serious problem with people whose idea of stimulating conversation was that quotation you provided.
Given that when the doors were open to all, there was no problem, what evidence do you have that suggests this problem would suddenly materialize here with the doors again open to all?
Noob.
Legume.
Sorry, that was a great reply.
Gasp!
It seems to me that “fighting ignorance” is somewhat “elitist”. So what? And it seems to me that so far getting rid of P2P has not been all that wonderful. New blood is one thing. Old home week is quite another. Talk about cliques! Maybe we can all get back to fighting ignorance one of these days. And Dmark is right about the difficulties of so many new people and not knowing or caring about the rules.
Or maybe rules are elitist?
What do you think of the change? cool, eh?
Anyway, I’m glad you’re back to posting–awesome seeing you again.
Wow.
Your tone in this post doesn’t come off as elitist and pretentious? Pot, meet kettle. You suspect I am young and impetuous? Get over yourself.
Since this isn’t the pit, I’ll stop here.
[sub]Doesn’t it usually come out the other end?[/sub]
Came off to me as the opinion of someone who was amused at a newer doper talking about riff-raff while lacking three years’ board experience – and thus not knowing that this place polices itself pretty well. People who have no interest in intelligent discourse get, at worst, worn out very quickly by the standards we have even in the social fora.
But since I am one of the people back because I don’t have to pay to give Creative Loafing free content, I’m obviously part of the potential problem;)
Apologies. I didn’t think this thread had legs when I originally posted, so I just said somethin’ kinda silly. I’ve kept up with it (And giggled, too. Points to punha for the Legume comment!) and will say this, if the SDMB had always been P2P, I would understand some fears or concerns over “opening the floodgates,” as it were.
But since the board started as a free venture and it was the quality of the community whilst the whole thing was free that made TPTB think it was viable as P2P…I have to ask, knowing all that, where does your concern come from, Agent Foxtrot?
Well, for one thing, I didn’t create the OP to state “Hey, free posting sucks and I’m totally against it.” I just wanted to see how others felt. I started off with a feeling that P2P was somewhat preferable, but I was never married to the idea of P2P.
As for my “riff-raff” comment, it was never intended to mean lurkers or anyone who some high-and-mighty deems intellectually insufficient to post on the boards. I don’t care who joins the SDMB as long as he/she doesn’t make a nuisance of him/herself and can mostly avoid raping the English language. Those who can’t or don’t are those I was referring to when I said “riff-raff”.
To The Mermaid: You seem like an intelligent individual, so consider the hatchet buried. I felt you were oversensitive about my OP since I wasn’t really trying to make a case for the supposed intellectual superiority of the boards… I was asking the dopers their opinions… nothing more. We just rubbed each other the wrong way.