[QUOTE=neutron star]
Get out of here, ya rabble rouser! 
ETA: the real reason I Pitted you is that every time I see your username, this (video link) gets stuck in my head and that’s really kind of unforgivable.
[/QUOTE]
I’m sorry. 
NOT!
That’s okay. I secretly think that song is awesome.
What? Did somebody say something? Nope, nobody usin’ words 'n such in this here post. Move along now, nothing to see.
[QUOTE=neutron star]
Quite often “new users” who have something to say about the way things are run are actually banned members coming back incognito. If that’s not what you are, then I apologize.
[/QUOTE]
Nope, haven’t been previously banned (yet). But no worries - since I am a fellow uncool kid, I suspect we’ll probably get along ok 
[QUOTE=neutron star]
Get out of here, ya rabble rouser!
ETA: the real reason I Pitted you is that every time I see your username, this (video link) gets stuck in my head and that’s really kind of unforgivable.
[/QUOTE]
If this is a rickroll I’ll…
…wha…
…bleh…
…hmmm.
[QUOTE=What Exit?]
I think the vBulletin software is considered a minor part of the IT duties at the reader. There job is probably concerned with helping to make the paper, the main website, Customer Service, shipping, AP, AR and payroll. I am guessing SDMB is low on the list as in the end, it concerns one column.
[/QUOTE]
All fine and good but we’re fucking paying for it. If this is such a low concern why charge us? And if you are going to charge us make the service a bigger priority.
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright]
I’m not. I pay $15 for the content, not the software. Would I like it if the Boards were more reliable? Sure, but I’m not leaving over it. YMMV (and obviously does), but I urge you to reconsider because for me you’re one of the people who adds value to my subscription.
[/QUOTE]
Thank you. 
I’d hate to leave, and $15 a year is really of little difference to me, but really, the thought of paying money to people who obviously don’t give a crap about their customers irks me the more I think about it.
No no no! Hazel don’t you go!
Hey hey hey! Hazel won’t you stay!
(What’s up? How have you been lately? Feels like I haven’t talked to you in forever.)
The thing about the Dope, customer service issues aside, is the depth of information available here. Being connected to so many people with so much knowledge is very useful to me. I can google anything, but the human interface is so much more effective and efficient for finding stuff out. That’s worth more than $7 a year to me.
[QUOTE=Don’t fight the hypothetical]
All fine and good but we’re fucking paying for it. If this is such a low concern why charge us? And if you are going to charge us make the service a bigger priority.
[/QUOTE]
A very valid point, to be sure (at least, I think so). But, this is all the more reason why a message sent to the people actually controlling this board would in fact be a good thing. Please understand that I am not disparaging anyone’s discontent in any way… merely stating that there are better focal points for said discontent.
[QUOTE=featherlou]
Don’t fight the hypothetical]The thing about the D.ope, customer service issues aside, is the depth of information available here. Being connected to so many people with so much knowledge is very useful to me. I can google anything, but the human interface is so much more effective and efficient for finding stuff out. That’s worth more than $7 a year to me.
[/QUOTE]
Wholeheartedly agree. The content on this site is such a refreshing contrast to the cesspool of crap that can at times consume the internet. The value is really our fellow posters. It is a pathetic reflection on me that I cannot afford $14.99 to be able to continue interacting with everyone, but a stunning reflection on the other posters here that (if I could) I would so love to be able to extend my ability to be part of the various conversations that crop up here.
Again, just the two cents of a relatively new poster…
.
What featherlou said.
I spend 15 bucks seeing two movies in theaters. That’s maybe four hours. Eh, call it five. Five hours of entertainment is worth $15 to me. Even if I’m sticking solely to Netflix, I’m getting maybe 10 or 20 hours of entertainment for fifteen bucks. I’m not even going to start on what I spend on coffee, booze, cable tv, my telephone, music, concerts, entertaining friends, going out to eat . . . I’m not profligate, but all of those are more than fifteen duckies a year.
The boards could be completely down for ten months out of the year and I’d have my money’s worth.
Seeing how rarely there actually are any problems, I’m quite satisfied I have much more than my money’s worth on content alone.
I’m honestly having difficulty not thinking of those who disagree as complete whiny wankers. But I’m tryin’, Ringo.
.
[QUOTE=andros]
Seeing how rarely there actually are any problems
[/QUOTE]
Actually, does anyone have a decent estimate of actual annual downtime? I’m convinced it’s quite tiny, but would like to know.
.
unstrung, there are people here who will sponsor a membership for those in need. Oh - in searching for the thread, I see you have already posted there. Good show, old chap!
[QUOTE=featherlou]
unstrung, there are people here who will sponsor a membership for those in need. Oh - in searching for the thread, I see you have already posted there. Good show, old chap!
[/QUOTE]
Right on. Now, I guess my task is to convince someone than I am worthwhile to sponsor…
[QUOTE=andros]
Actually, does anyone have a decent estimate of actual annual downtime? I’m convinced it’s quite tiny, but would like to know.
.
[/QUOTE]
Why should there be any downtime, what-so-ever? I pay $15 a year to access the message board when I don’t feel like doing work. I don’t care what percentage of the time it’s down, if it’s down when I want to use it, I’m pissed off. Even when the board is “up”, half the time it takes an age to open a thread (don’t give me any “it’s your connection that’s at fault” bullshit, I’m on a university connection).
This message board isn’t a paragon of software complexity. It’s membership numbers aren’t in any way impressive, despite claims to the contrary—it seems we get about three new users a month, one of which will inevitably be chased off. There is absolutely zero excuse for the board being down all weekend—that’s outrageous.
[QUOTE=Don’t fight the hypothetical]
All fine and good but we’re fucking paying for it. If this is such a low concern why charge us? And if you are going to charge us make the service a bigger priority.
[/QUOTE]
You know what, I am not defending this. I am just explaining it. I think the board should be a higher priority. This shit sucks. I am sorry I am not expressing enough outrage over the situation but I do think it stinks too.
We timeout more than any board should. We are far, too far behind in the software releases and the search function is a bad joke and always has been. We are made vague promises that rarely happen in a timely fashion.
On the other hand, I still manage to enjoy the board and get good information off of it. I would love for the board to get upgraded, get the small infusion of money to resolve the issues, maybe get a consultant in long enough to straighten out the database issues and for the board to begin to grow again.
So I usually don’t complain, where I saw some tech related issues, I just tried to explain things from an IT standpoint.
Jim
I also post on another MB that uses vBulletin version 3.7.0 (I just checked), while The Dope is using 3.0.7. Why hasn’t this board been upgraded to the newer versions yet?
The Other Board is free, but does have Google ads and unobtrusive banner ads (no blinking or drop-down ads, and no between-post ads like guests here see). That board loads quickly, never has time-outs or total-board crashes like this one. There is a 2 or 3 day period once a year when the whole place is shut down for maintenance, but it’s a small price to pay for keeping the board running smoothly. That maintenance period is always announced well in advance, and no one bitches at all.
So again, my question would be, why the hell hasn’t the SD upgraded yet? They’ve got our money, they’ve got ad money. What gives?
[QUOTE=Capt. Ridley’s Shooting Party]
It’s membership numbers aren’t in any way impressive, despite claims to the contrary—it seems we get about three new users a month, one of which will inevitably be chased off.
[/QUOTE]
Only one? I’ll do better next month, I promise…
[QUOTE=andros]
The boards could be completely down for ten months out of the year and I’d have my money’s worth.
[/QUOTE]
That is such bullshit. Since you like your entertainment analogy so much, that would be like going to watch a movie and only have the projector run for 20 minutes before crapping out. You going to be happy with 17% of a movie?
[QUOTE=Argent Towers]
Look, I just don’t get it. First of all I have no interest in the mod-politics and the feuds of this site. I like all the moderators, I have nothing against any of them. I’m also sure that Jerry, Ed Zotti, and all these other higher-up guys who are supposedly in control of this forum have the best of intentions. Actually I’m not so sure, but I’m trying to be diplomatic here. Anyway, the bottom line is, there are other message boards - FREE ones - that use VBulletin and never crash, and don’t make you wait 20 years between searches, and also don’t have bizarre time-outs all the time for no apparent reason. For God’s sake, do what needs to be done to update the programs so that they work efficiently and properly.
If free forums can do it, the SDMB can do it.
**DO IT ALREADY. **
Sometimes I think of this message board as an old, tired yak, struggling up the side of a mountain. Its hair, no longer lustrous and thick, is now stringy and matted with perspiration, and it snorts and grunts with every creaky step it takes. Its handlers continue loading it down with pack after heavy pack, hoping to Buddha that it can make it, spinning their prayer wheels and waving their prayer flags and burning incense and slapping the yak’s testicles with a leather whip - anything to make that goddamn yak move up the mountainside just a little bit faster. But to no avail. The tired god-forsaken creature simply cannot take any more of it, and its four legs collapse underneath it and its hairy, stinking body slides down the mountain trail, crushing its handlers to death.
Do you get the picture?
[/QUOTE]
That shit is funny right there, I don’t care who you are. Nice visuals, Argent. Especially the testicle slapping part.
Yaknow, the only reason I hope we go to free subscriptions soon is so that people can quit whining about how they “pay for it”. With all the threads we have about how paying for a product doesn’t allow the customer to act like a raving lunatic, it seems almost hypocritical.