# Is it worth subscription? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 16, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428 "2006-12-16T20:38:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Stout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stout)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/21 "2006-12-17T15:23:58Z")
I’ve been wondering the same thing for the past couple of months, and I’ve come to the conclusion that yes, indeed, this board is worth the money. The only hesitancy I have in committing to the SDMB is the fact that I may have to leave the board I’ve been using and enjoying for the past three years. The only problem with it is that most of the members are British, and killing time at work, and I’m in western Canada, ie 8 hours behind, so by 10 am, my time, my other board is dead for the day. It’s a time thing really, I won’t have time for two boards, but the one thing I’m having time adjusting to is the sheer size of this board. On my other board I can get up in the morning, put on the coffee and basically cover the whole board in one sitting, maybe go do some work ( self employed, work from home ) think about and formulate my response(s) , return to the 'puter, and post. Here, on the other hand, I never seem to make it out of IMHO…not that this is a bad thing but I’m always wondering if I’m missing something… What I’d like to see are…Avatars, a personal message system, some sort of gallery setup, so we can upload photos to our profiles to share with others, a way to tweak the visual of the board so I’m not reading small black text on a really light grey background. I do, however, appreciate the lack of signatures, especially those stupid banner type signatures you see on other boards. In terms of content, I haven’t found a board that even comes close to this one. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/22 "2006-12-17T17:01:08Z")
totally worth it (said the guy who hasn’t yet ponnied up). $15 is what? 3 lattes? for this stew of intellect? quite a steal, my friend. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/23 "2006-12-17T17:03:32Z")
[QUOTE=Stout] Here, on the other hand, I never seem to make it out of IMHO…not that this is a bad thing but I’m always wondering if I’m missing something… [/QUOTE] No, not really. Czarcasm, your Friendly Neighborhood IMHO Moderator 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/24 "2006-12-17T17:09:43Z")
As perhaps the most beloved and respected member of the SD community, I don’t believe I exaggerate when saying that **my** postings alone are worth the price of admission. There are, of course, a lot of other SD members (many, to my chagrin, with zany screen names). These _“other”_ members often string words together into somewhat coherent sentences in this forum. Occasionally, and perhaps accidentally (in the same vein as an infinite number of monkeys typing _Othello \* while approaching the event horizon of a black hole…{how does the rest of that little simian anecdote go?}), these sentences coalesce into proto-paragraphs extolling some sort of a “point”. While the “point” is most often uninteresting and of little intrinsic value, reading it exercises your optical muscles and can therefore be appreciated as something of **value** to your visual health. So, right there, you’ve gotten something for your money. Now, think of the unadulterated glee to be felt when, after drudging through this seemingly endless procession of well meaning though hopelessly tedious posts, you stumble upon a **Dr.PoopiePants** post? (Actually, “post” seems too pedestrian a term for that which emanates from my keyboard_—“keystroked treasure”\* seems more accurate). My posts may make you laugh; they may make you cry; they may inspire you to greatness; they may humble you to submission. What ever they do, they will make you a better person. Your paltry yearly subscription allows you to read my posts, respond to my posts, search my posts, print out my posts, collate my posts into a book of worship, if you so desire. You may profit from my posts spiritually, you just can’t profit from them monetarily, or take them in vain. All in all, though, you will find us Dopers to be a modest community of self-effacing nice guys, certainly worth 15 bucks. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/25 "2006-12-17T17:13:28Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] Czarcasm, your Friendly Neighborhood IMHO Moderator [/QUOTE] I thought _I_ was the good cop. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/26 "2006-12-17T17:57:02Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. PoopiePants] My posts may make you laugh; they may make you cry; they may inspire you to greatness; they may humble you to submission. [/QUOTE] Or not. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/27 "2006-12-17T18:23:54Z")
Depends on your free time. I’m stuck in a lot of airports and hotel rooms, and a good message board’s worth ten times the subsciption price when you’re sitting alone in some Holiday Inn in Upper Butthump, Wisconsin. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/28 "2006-12-17T18:36:22Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] Depends on your free time. I’m stuck in a lot of airports and hotel rooms, and a good message board’s worth ten times the subsciption price when you’re sitting alone in some Holiday Inn in Upper Butthump, Wisconsin. [/QUOTE] I read your post and thought I had posted to this thread. Bang on. ---
**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/29 "2006-12-17T18:49:27Z")
Not really worth it. I signed on for the first pay year at a discount, skipped the second pay year as not worth it, signed on this year as a luxury item, but will drop it if money gets tight again next year. ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/30 "2006-12-17T18:57:38Z")
For me it’s like having almost instant access to experts in most fields. Notable exceptions: medical and investment. There’s no guarantee I’ll find out what I want but the odds are pretty good. For instance, a coupleof days ago my SO and I were thinking of ditching our credit card and just using a debit card so I asked about it, and within an hour I had all the info I needed to decide to keep the credit card. The other stuff is pretty good too. I don’t have the time that other members have so there’s a lot of stuff I never get to. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/31 "2006-12-17T22:20:07Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. PoopiePants] As perhaps the most beloved and respected member of the SD community, I don’t believe I exaggerate when saying that **my** postings alone are worth the price of admission. There are, of course, a lot of other SD members (many, to my chagrin, with zany screen names). These _“other”_ members often string words together into somewhat coherent sentences in this forum. Occasionally, and perhaps accidentally (in the same vein as an infinite number of monkeys typing _Othello \* while approaching the event horizon of a black hole…{how does the rest of that little simian anecdote go?}), these sentences coalesce into proto-paragraphs extolling some sort of a “point”. While the “point” is most often uninteresting and of little intrinsic value, reading it exercises your optical muscles and can therefore be appreciated as something of **value** to your visual health. So, right there, you’ve gotten something for your money. Now, think of the unadulterated glee to be felt when, after drudging through this seemingly endless procession of well meaning though hopelessly tedious posts, you stumble upon a **Dr.PoopiePants** post? (Actually, “post” seems too pedestrian a term for that which emanates from my keyboard_—“keystroked treasure”\* seems more accurate). My posts may make you laugh; they may make you cry; they may inspire you to greatness; they may humble you to submission. What ever they do, they will make you a better person. Your paltry yearly subscription allows you to read my posts, respond to my posts, search my posts, print out my posts, collate my posts into a book of worship, if you so desire. You may profit from my posts spiritually, you just can’t profit from them monetarily, or take them in vain. All in all, though, you will find us Dopers to be a modest community of self-effacing nice guys, certainly worth 15 bucks. [/QUOTE] \ ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/32 "2006-12-17T22:52:05Z")
[QUOTE=Plan B] For me it’s like having almost instant access to experts in most fields. Notable exceptions: medical and investment. [/QUOTE] Notable **exceptions**?! Did you, perhaps, mean notable examples? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/33 "2006-12-17T23:24:13Z")
[QUOTE=Stout] I’ve been wondering the same thing for the past couple of months, and I’ve come to the conclusion that yes, indeed, this board is worth the money. The only hesitancy I have in committing to the SDMB is the fact that I may have to leave the board I’ve been using and enjoying for the past three years. The only problem with it is that most of the members are British, and killing time at work, and I’m in western Canada, ie 8 hours behind, so by 10 am, my time, my other board is dead for the day. [/quote] Come on aboard. We need more Westerners here. 🙂 > [@](#): > > \ > What I’d like to see are…Avatars, a personal message system, some sort of gallery setup, so we can upload photos to our profiles to share with others, a way to tweak the visual of the board so I’m not reading small black text on a really light grey background. Oh, god, no. Every thread 50 posts long, with 3 inch avatars in every other post? No. Nononononono. > [@](#): > > I do, however, appreciate the lack of signatures, especially those stupid banner type signatures you see on other boards. We do have sigs, but we don’t have pictures/blinking lights/flashing signs/banner sigs. In terms of avatars and sigs, we’re here for the content, not the pretty pictures and blinking lights. > [@](#): > > In terms of content, I haven’t found a board that even comes close to this one. Absolutely. ---
**Author:** ![gfloyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d2c977/32.png) [@gfloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gfloyd)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/34 "2006-12-17T23:32:51Z")
I hesitated and hesitated when the board went to paid subscriptions, signing up with about 15 minutes to spare to get the cheaper membership. I enjoy being able to search a lot, and while I don’t post all the time, I go through spurts. And there are of other, more expensive things which I get far less enjoyment from. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/35 "2006-12-17T23:33:40Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] Oh, god, no. Every thread 50 posts long, with 3 inch avatars in every other post? No. Nononononono. [/quote] Beat me to the punch, 'lou. I ran into that a lot during my firewall-imposed exile from the Dope (stupid, STUPID work firewall!). What _is_ it about normal human beings when gifted with the ability to add a picture? Save me from ever again having to shade my eyes from the sparkly image of a 3" opalescent unicorn with animated eyes on a purple background. Stout, you can change your browser settings to change the background and text colors. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/36 "2006-12-17T23:39:22Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] \ [/QUOTE] Huh? What’s all that? Was he talking about…about…\*_us_? \*That’s a collective “us” ---
**Author:** ![Stout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Stout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stout)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/37 "2006-12-17T23:56:34Z")
Featherlou, I was thinking more along the lines of say 80 by 80 pixles, or some such small ones like that. I’m just used to them at all. I have been on boards where posters avatars and signatures make the board IMO unreadable. Just a thought… Oh look… a penny. Where was I ? oh yes. Maureen, I can change my browsre settings ? thanks I’ll look into trying to figure out how to do that . Currently I’m using IE7 but if what I’ve read on The Dope is accurate ( and why wouldn’t it be ) I’ll be switching to Firefox because it has a built in spellchecker. I’ll refrain from asking how to change my settings until I’m set up,and stuck trying to figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![Stout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Stout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stout)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/38 "2006-12-17T23:58:40Z")
Oh yes, the ability to edit posts would be nice too. That oh look a penny in my above post looks really stupid without the comments on avatars and distraction that was meant to go with it. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/39 "2006-12-18T15:11:58Z")
We can’t have an “edit post” feature - have you _seen_ how we argue and nitpick here? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428/40 "2006-12-18T15:29:14Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] I thought _I_ was the good cop. 😕 [/QUOTE] Sorry, Frank, you’re the one that’s gotten a couple Pittings so no. _hands Frank some chocolate goodness for consolation_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-subscription/384428.md?page=1)