# ... nobody's bitching? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 28, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952 "2008-07-28T18:10:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/1 "2008-07-28T18:10:12Z")
Okay, I’ll start. In the announcement thread, Jerry tells us he **finally** fixed whatever the hell happened and he’s ever so graciously offered us a three-day subscription extension to compensate for the loss of posting over the weekend. So here’s my question. What ever happened to free posting? The idea was first brought up in [**March**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=461088), for Christ’s sake, and in [April](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9717853&postcount=26), when everybody thought you guys were just making a play for one last round of subscriptions, Ed tossed out a “June or July” time line. So why in the world does Jerry think it’s meaningful at all to offer me three days of posting when my subscription doesn’t expire until **next year**? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/2 "2008-07-28T18:17:49Z")
Yeah, I demand _satisfaction!_ Oh wait, I am satisfied. Whaddya want? Seppuku? ---
**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:** [July 28, 2008, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/3 "2008-07-28T18:23:41Z")
I’ll tell you one thing; I would have preferred no talk of free posting to talk of free posting that doesn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/4 "2008-07-28T18:23:47Z")
Give me your 3 free days, if you don’t need 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/5 "2008-07-28T18:27:17Z")
I agree with **Silver Fire**. ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/6 "2008-07-28T18:29:26Z")
Jerry’s the tech guy, he’s not the one who is making the decision about free posting. I’m pretty sure there’s nothing more he can do than that. Well, that and get the board back up quite quickly this morning. While I’m in favor of going to free posting\*, I wish that they hadn’t announced it in advance. Despite all the hedging Ed did in his announcement, I knew people would complain if it happened later than expected (and these things always do). In my opinion, it would have been better if they had held off the announcement till there was a firm commitment and timetable. \*don’t get me wrong, I’d pay a heck of a lot more than what they are charging ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/7 "2008-07-28T18:29:29Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Mudd] Whaddya want? Seppuku? [/QUOTE] No, you fucking mental deficient, I want to know why, in light of the “free posting any day now!” talk from last spring, a subscription extension for **next spring** should matter. I hear they’re ass-kissing over in ATMB; maybe you should be there. ---
**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:** [July 28, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/8 "2008-07-28T18:33:15Z")
And in other news, **Silver Fire’s** a bit tetchy today. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/9 "2008-07-28T18:34:23Z")
Not everyone is a charter member. There are plenty of member whose subscriptions run out during the year, and they **will** enjoy the three-day extension. And I’ll believe the “free posting” when I see it, anyway… ---
**Author:** ![bufftabby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bufftabby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bufftabby)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/10 "2008-07-28T18:39:17Z")
My complaint about the whole thing is this: when Tuba made her first amendment to the posting announcement, saying posting had been disabled, she said something along the lines of: “we asked you to stop posting, but you persisted, so we disabled posting”. Why does that irk me? There were several people in the Pit communicating via thread titles, as that was all that would show. Not only that, but there was a sticky in the Pit from Rico saying we could continue to do so, prior to Tuba’s announcement that posting was disabled. So, it seems to be that we were being chided for posting in the only way possible, a way which had been endorsed by a mod of the forum in which we were doing it. Of course, she changed that part of the announcement this morning. I’m not all, “OMG Tuba sucks!” It just irks me to be chided for posting on a board that we pay for, in the only possible way at the time, in a manner we were given permission to use. Or am I missing some details here? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/11 "2008-07-28T18:44:16Z")
If we exted subscriptions for three days, are we also extending the suspensions of suspended members? ---
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/12 "2008-07-28T18:44:40Z")
[QUOTE=Noone Special] Not everyone is a charter member. There are plenty of member whose subscriptions run out during the year, and they **will** enjoy the three-day extension. [/QUOTE] This. Also those of us who do intend to continue paying if/when the board goes free, will also enjoy it. And those Charter Members who intend to stop paying will also get three advertisement-free days come April, even if the board goes free before then. After all, still you are a paying member for the duration you paid for, even if the board goes free tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/13 "2008-07-28T18:52:01Z")
[QUOTE=bufftabby] My complaint about the whole thing is this: when Tuba made her first amendment to the posting announcement, saying posting had been disabled, she said something along the lines of: “we asked you to stop posting, but you persisted, so we disabled posting”. \ So, it seems to be that we were being chided for posting in the only way possible, a way which had been endorsed by a mod of the forum in which we were doing it. Of course, she changed that part of the announcement this morning. [/QUOTE] That is the only part of this that really irritated me in any way. I understand that tech problems happen and I don’t demand irrational levels of perfection on internet message boards, even if I am paying to use them. Shit happens, you know? But **Tuba’s** initial response was kind of condescending and seemed to be blaming us for the problem. I was enjoying the silliness in the Pit just fine and then that announcement went and put a sour spin on a situation I viewed purely from a lighthearted perspective. Perhaps she realized that and this is why she modified the announcement almost immediately. I’m not really a grudge-holder either. I’m just backing you up. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/14 "2008-07-28T18:59:20Z")
[QUOTE=Noone Special] Not everyone is a charter member. There are plenty of member whose subscriptions run out during the year, and they **will** enjoy the three-day extension. [/QUOTE] How’s this for irony- my subscription expired on Friday, meaning my three-day-extension was eaten by the Board being down all weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/15 "2008-07-28T19:12:08Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] How’s this for irony- my subscription expired on Friday, meaning my three-day-extension was eaten by the Board being down all weekend. [/QUOTE] [Prof. Pangloss]Think of it this way – if you renewed today, you sat out for free while others sat out on their subscription time. If you renewed on Friday, you’ll still get the extension if they don’t go “free” within the next year… [/Pangloss] – and I’m not so sure they really will, either! ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/16 "2008-07-28T19:12:16Z")
Was the board really down all weekend? I saw posts being made on Saturday. (Hmm, then again, maybe they weren’t new threads though.) As far as **Tuba** ’s post goes … yeah, she’s usually condescending, even when shit like this _isn’t_ going down (sometimes the attitude I get from her as an admin is that she’s barely tolerating our presence – not always, certainly, she can be friendly too; it’s just … sometimes she really seems like she can’t stand to answer questions from us peons). But in fairness, I can well imagine she was plenty irritated/frustrated with the situation. It _is_ annoying to clean up dozens of meaningless posts, and the Pit stuff was pretty stupid. Still as others have said, **Rico** gave us permission to vent using that forum, and people did, so her snark wasn’t justified. Glad she deleted it. To the topic: I dunno, I paid up and probably will continue to contribute to the board even after free posting, so the extension is a nice enough gesture. (Especially since that wasn’t no three day outage.) That said, I do feel sorry for the people who took Ed’s mention of imminent free posting as gospel, and thus let their memberships lapse. Seems a shame to have lost those posters. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/17 "2008-07-28T19:15:33Z")
What’s the point? They are not going to do anything. With that knowledge, you are free to do as you wish. As for me, I don’t try to teach pigs to sing anymore. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/18 "2008-07-28T19:17:50Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF] What’s the point? They are not going to do anything. With that knowledge, you are free to do as you wish. As for me, I don’t try to teach pigs to sing anymore. [/QUOTE] This. Not only that, but I spent the entire day framing a large window in my dining room, which needed to get done for a very long time. I vote that the SDMB goes down every weekend! My wife would love it. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/19 "2008-07-28T19:21:37Z")
[QUOTE=Silver Fire] No, you fucking mental deficient, I want to know why, in light of the “free posting any day now!” talk from last spring, a subscription extension for **next spring** should matter. I hear they’re ass-kissing over in ATMB; maybe you should be there. [/QUOTE] Lighten up, Francis. So what if the subscription extension is meaningless? Currently, we’re paying for posting. We “paid” for three days’ posting that we didn’t get. Anticipating any grumbling about contractual obligations, we are gracefully extended a nickel’s worth of extra service. So some people may not receive the full benefit of that nickel because the subscription model may be discarded. Who the hell cares? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952/20 "2008-07-28T19:22:43Z")
All I wanted to say is that none of the free messageboards I post on have ever gone down. Shouldn’t I expect a better product/service out of something I’m paying for than something I get for free? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobodys-bitching/457952.md?page=2)