I understand Binary. You probably have a good point. I think I momentarily lost it when I counted how many threads were going (and mine was closed). I think I’ll stay out of the Pit for a while. Wouldn’t want to say something I’ll regret.
Jeebus, people, it’s just five bucks, get a grip.
I think the General Questions forum should remain free, and the rest of the more SDMB-community-based forums be part of the paid subscriptions.
GQ would be the worst hit by the switch to subscriptions. It thrives on having alot of casual posters who view it, who have a broad array of knowledge in some very specific areas. Thus it would be damaged by a couple factors:
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less people; even if the subscription-board is a moderate success, it will still mean less people viewing and posting on the boards, and thus less cumulative knowledge to answer General Questions
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shifting board demographics; the people who I suspect are most likely to pony up for the subscription-board initally are those who are part of the SDMB “community”, the folks who hang around and chatter in MPSIMS, or get in lengthy recurring debates in GD, or participate in weekly TV threads in CS; GQ thrives on those who post less frequently on those other boards, and it may be some lurker with 30-something posts in two years who has a couple good answers
Also, keeping either GQ and/or Comments on Cecil as open forums would help give a tie in between the only actual content on the website and the forums. For instance, SomethingAwful uses the free content like Photoshop Phridays and Comedy Goldmine as a tie in to the forums, where the content originates, thus drawing in more subscribers.
I agree. GQ and the Comments on Cecil’s Column and Staff Reports.
I agree, but not as strongly. Mods, you will have to get us extra features. An Edit button is a must have. Avatars (plus avatar uploading space) should also be on the list. I know bandwith costs money, and I can understand it when the board loads slower than a Commodore 64 on Valium. However, I do expect that the bandwith problem go away. If you need more time to get it all done, I can be patient, but if the slow loading problem ain’t fixed by September 2004 at the latest, I won’t re-up.
The standard for Internet message boards is free, no cost. If you expect us to pay, you’d better deliver more than standard.
The way people argue semantics around here, an edit button would be a disaster.
Avatars? What, so people can tell us their favorite basketball team, or that they think JLo is hot? Please.
It already does. Most of us value quality of discourse. They start putting up avatars, they’re aiming for the junior high demographic.
Having lost my job last month, and not much prospect in this town for another that will pay what the last one did. This couldn’t have come at a worse time.
I love the boards and while I don’t post much, But when I do it is heartfelt and precisely what I have to say. Gonna miss that right…
The idea of allowing some forums “free” was discussed at length. We concluded that it would just mean that people would post in the wrong forum – if someone wanted to post the story of their recent battle with their mother-in-law, they’d put it in GQ or in CoCC, rather than pay to put it in MPSIMS. That means more work for mods, and what do we do? Move it? Close it? Delete it?
So, it was easier to make it all-or-nothing.
Let me repeat, for those who really and truly can’t afford the fee, or have no credit cards, or whatever: There’s a thread in ATMB where people have offered to help out. Find someone you know who has so volunteered, email them, and presto!
I know this sounds callous, but when was posting here ever a right?
I will not be subscribing. Glancing at my post count, you can probably guess why. I casually come by, occasionally post something every couple of months, and really don’t make this message board a daily event. I just happened to notice the announcement.
Many, many of my posts have been answering people’s GQs. In fact, I’ve never been to cafe society, IMHO, and MPSIMS. This is one of my rare forays into the pit. Oh well. I’m sure there are other patent and copyright attorneys out there who are willing to subscribe and answer questions. I’m just not one of them.
Of course, my absense will hardly be felt by anyone. After all, since I only came by sporatically, I was only able to answer questions once in a while.
However, I do wonder if the majority of answers to GQ are made by people like me, or people who have post counts in the thousands. I have a feeling it will be GQ that is the hardest hit by the change. Best of luck to the Chigago Reader.
Only problem - the SDMB isn’t providing the discourse. The members who will now be paying for the priviledge to post here are.
I’m with MeanJoe on this one.
I’ve called it the reduction of the teeming millions to the sluggish hundreds.
Perhaps this factors from the fact that Cecil hasn’t put out a new book in years.
Wouldn’t that help pay for this MB?
(Some of his last book was SDMB stuff!)
…musn’t…project…anger…on…the…master…
Sorry, I’m with Pencil Pusher. The GQ forum will definitely suffer from a serious downsizing of input.
The problem of people posting in the wrong forum is probably more work for you mods, but not as much as a problem that you probably make it out to be. I have no sympathy for that argument.
You could also just open a “public forum” and do random drive-by moderations, but that is beside the point.
It is funny how everyone expects everything on the Internet to be free, but no one expects The Washington Post to be free, or Time magazine, CNN, Fox News, etc… If you want them, you have to pay for them. Information is NOT free, it never was, nor will it ever be.
You just have decide what your willing to pay for it, 5, 10, 100? For me, $5 is nothing, thats two coffee’s at Starbucks. Will I renew for 15? eh, maybe. Not because $15 is alot, its just more than I would pay for the privlege of posting. Although I would continue to lurk!
I just dont understand how anyone who has spent time around here wouldnt at least pony up the first $5. This board is one of the best around, and if you have been around you would know that.
For those leaving: GBGLMBWFM!
The above statement pretty well sums it up for me (from the OP).
Gah! notice that my whole sig is displayed now that I’m in Guest status. WTF???
I’ll be a lurkin, but I’ll bet it won’t be the same. 
Ah, WTF, the die is cast. May as well be predicting the weather for next year.
We shall see what we shall see. Personally I hope that this subscription stuff enhances the board, keeps out the riff-raff and all that. No more of these 25 cent rants, I have paid $4.98 and I expect $4.98 rants.
Dude, you got robbed. I only had to pay $4.95!!
Well I’m leaving… can’t bother to abuse the guest membership beyond the first 30 days. If I ever need a specific question I might make up a new email in order to use GQ in the future.
I figure SMDB might not die… but it will suffer a lot of losses.
This is a shame, but I guess it’s just a tweak of the code to make GQ, CC and SR free if the decision is later reversed.
I hope enough time is freed up elswhere (no trolls, fewer new users making mistakes, no banned posters to hunt down, less sheer quantity, etc, etc.) so that more Mod hours can be focused on the GQ forum allowing it to again be free.
It remains the soul, as well as the engine, of this board.