(First of all, I have NO idea where this belongs; I figured here was the safest place.)
Flipping through the threads, I’ve seen quite a bit of optimism on the change. I’ve also seen a lot of pessimism, like here and here, who believe that the unique experience of the board that we all love, and are willing to pay for, simply cannot and will not exist with a subscription scheme. Indeed, the prediction of a possible 90% drop-off rate quoted in the link is quite grim, especially given that some posters think that no effort was put into any other system before this one was implemented.
So, I’d like to put the question in front of you all while I still can: what are your experiences with message boards of this type (ie pure forums, no other content) that have gone to this system? What’s happened to them?
And more importantly, what do YOU think will happen to this community once the system goes into effect? How many vibrant posters (or stragglers, if you’re one of the more pessimistic ones) would it take to make this place the kind of place it is now after subscriptions come in?
I don’t think it’ll be the last of the SDMB, but it’s a good way to kill it over time.
I run a moderatly successful messageboard as a hobby. I went to a semi-subscription mode a couple of years ago, and it’s done pretty well. In fact, I’d guess a good 75% of my regulars signed up.
Subscribers get access to the extra stuff. User titles, avatars, private messaging, and the ability to attach images to posts. Regular (non-paying members) just get to post, search - the normal stuff.
In my opinion they won’t have a problem getting the regulars to subscribe, and the messageboard should be able to survive for a good while on the initial wave. But over time it could be a problem, as people are reluctant to pay for something up front. Very few of my subscribers signed up within 30 days of registering on my boards. Most had been there for a while, and were comfortable spending money to keep the site going. With the plan the SDMB is talking about - I forsee a very sharp drop off in new members.
You never know though. Nothing on the internet is predictable, natch. The SDMB has a very tight community, and they might just pull this off. I hope they do (even though I’m not sure I’ll be subscribing yet).
I think the people who keep insisting it’ll cut down on trolls and undesirables are deluding themselves. I don’t think it’ll discourage people at all. I think it will encourage them to make a bunch of dummy email addresses and try to take advantage of the 30 day guest time as often as possible. There are also a few more ways I can think of–and if I can think of it, somebody who is a bit more evil with a bit more time on their hands will certainly be able to figure it out.
I don’t know if it’ll kill the board or if the board will change at all. But I doubt very much this is the the Great Answer to All Our Problems some people are trumpeting as…
Well, the last time this came up in a more speculative way, I was one of the pessimists.
Now my addiction is complete, and I think the subscription plan is a damned fine idea – we’ll be able to afford stimulants for the hamsters’ water-bottle at last.
As for attracting new members as the hoary old folks become too arthritic to keep up a lively exchange, maybe Threadspotting can be placed a bit more prominently on the front page, and Charter Members can work at appearing Smarter and Hipper.
I don’t think it will be either, but I’ll tell you one what… something had to change. If this is what they want to do, then so be it. Just like most people, I would have preferred that they had tried something else, but it’s their business and I don’t know the details. So this is what we got.
I’ll be here, and I’ll throw in my contribution to make this work. This place has done too much for me to let it go over the price of a cocktail, or if you count the next two years, a pretty chintzy steak (approximately $12.50). And I’ll throw in for some other people, too, because I may be broke, but I have a few things just about to come through and besides, I’d be much poorer without this place.
I told these people a long time ago that the way to do it is to follow the ArsTechnica model and keep some forums open and others closed to serious discussion. The Straight Dope would not be the Straight Dope if some fool cannot wander by and ask what words end in g-r-y.
I’ll ditch you bastards right now if you keep curious inquiry the province of those who can afford to know. But since I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, I’ll reserve my departure seat for next week.
Don’t worry, fools can still wander by and ask what words end in g-r-y. They just have to look at an annoying message saying, “Oi! You! Subscribe now, peasant!” before they can look at a thread.
This is another one of the problems I have with this decision. For the priviledge of paying to produce the only product this message board can sell, you are not getting anything else for the money but the right to… wait for it… create more product that The Reader can sell. Why does that make me dizzy? There is nothing new that you are getting for that price besides being listed as “Charter Member”. Ooooohhh-aaaahhhh. :rolleyes:
Yes, I believe this will begin the slow death-spiral of the SDMB. I am amazed at how many people are gushing over the opportunity to actually pay to provide The Reader with its product.
I pretty much agree with MrVisible’s take on it in the other thread, in form if not in vehemence. I suspect the initial signup wave will net some good bank, and it’ll all be downhill from there. Could be that’s just cynicism that’ll look silly in hindsight.
More than that–with a subscription model, I would hazard the guess that if rhetorical-you think you see a fair amount of people doing what I call the Jerkline Dance* now, just wait until they’re paying in order to do so. You’ll see a fierce dedication in that black art that’ll astound and awestrike.
** the Jerkline is the hazy shifting border of “being a jerk” whose crossing results in banning. The Jerkline Dance is the art of skating just on the non-ban side of it, drawing occasional warnings, subterranean rumbles of irritation, regular Pit threads, etc., while never actually having the ban-hammer drop.*
I really have no idea whether this will be good for the long term health of the Boards or not.
But i’ve been here for almost three years and almost 3,000 posts now, and i’ve have heaps of fun, so giving up $5 to go along for the ride seems like a reasonable gamble.
I’m not a particularly prolific poster, but I enjoy this place, and I think that $5US is a more than fair price to continue using the boards for the next year. On the other hand, I know that I never would’ve signed up here if I had to pay $15US for the privilege, and I suspect that a large number of potential newbies would feel the same way especially if, like me, they’re students. When you’re on a tight budget, $5 is easy to rationalise, $15 not so much.
I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what happens. After all, if it’s obvious the boards are dying a year from now, I just don’t have to renew.
Uhm, just for clarity’s sake: Any one can read threads without annoying messages, forever. Guests can also post, and get an annoying message each time, for 30 days.
I’m a frequent browser an infrequent contributor. Won’t be subscribing and I guess a lot of others won’t and I doubt the board’s unique charm will survive the loss and become a place where a small number of dedicated people fight the same fights incessantly. hope i’m wrong though (it happens with alarming freqeuncy).
Yeah, but all that means is that people on a budget so tight that just over a dollar a month matters won’t be posting. I remember when I myself was on that tight of a budget, and frankly people that bad off, instead of posting, would be much better off working to improve their circumstance. In other words, charging a subscription will free them up to take care of what they should be taking care of anyway.
I look forward to a smaller group of people who are a bit more fiscally responsible. Hopefully, forums like Great Debates will increase in importance while MPSIMS will decrease. Announcements about members’ plights and accomplishments, as well as interesting games and puzzles and the occasionally interesting “Ask the…” threads are all I go to MPSIMS for. The rest of it is jejune chatter that simply doesn’t rise to the level of SDMB. Even the Pit itself has fallen so far below its former glory that Lynn has had to take rather desperate measures in an attempt to resurrect it.
I think it’s a good idea, and in cases where a solid contributor (in my opinion) cannot afford to subscribe, I and others (exercising their own opinions) will be happy to help out. It’ll be good to have more people who understand that this is a place of privilege, and fewer who believe that they are owed something to which they are entitled.
That got to me too. There’s nothing to tantalize me to sign up. I only make 4 to 5 posts a day. They’re not that important and easy to stop doing and browse instead. They’re not trying to challenge my dislike for the idea of paying to provide content. If they allowed more things like avatars, editable member titles or (and this one would really entice me) ability to post pictures then I might be so inclined. Something to make this seem more like the wild west it was rather then the gated community I think it’s going to turn into.
I also question how worth it this is going to be. How many people are going to sign up? Most of those 45,000 people are already gone. I’m thinking there may only be about 200 to sign up. Maybe 300 max. That’s not a lot of money nor alot of people.
It’s not like an irrevocable change is being made. The people that run the place have decided that a change is necessary, because things couldn’t continue the way the were. They’ve considered this for a long, long time, and picked the change that they thought was best.
It may turn out that what’s being done is “good”, or it may be “bad”, using whatever criteria that are being used to judge. If it turns out to be “bad”, then further changes may be required. No big deal.
FWIW, I’m prepared to cough up the tiny amount of cash that’s being asked for.
And BTW, what is the third word that ends with “gry”?
This board isn’t run on hamster power. It is run on brainpower. Free access to view and comment by as many brains as possible makes this board what it is. TSD added a socio-economic barrier and has damned this board to bourgeois elitism. It will become an isolated system of redundant ideas espoused by redundant self-important people. TSD has eliminated every possibility of interesting anomalies and incursions by new brains with new knowledge that is the lifeblood of SDMB.
SDMB has become a good “product” now and will take on the sameness and redundancy of a “marketable product”.
I go to a library because I can’t afford to go to a bookstore, same reason I come here. I believe in free contribution and dissemination of knowledge. I mistakenly thought that was the prime directive here as well, as evidenced by TSD creedo “Fighting ignorance since 1973.” -C’est la vie…
Charging for this board is a bad idea, because it is a restriction rather than an expansion in brainpower, which, when one strips it all down, is all that really makes SDMB unique and viable as a message board. Popularity and usefullness of this board is predicated on “The Teeming Millions” (not the “Paltry Hundreds”.) This new policy leaves many behind.
The new SDMB will become old very quickly.
