It was for all practical purposes, until I decided to spend time to figure out a technical solution. TPTB saw it as an important priority, and they gave me access to parts of the system that mods and admins have never had access to in the past.
It took considerable effort, and I now have a solution. TPTB decided to make it available to our members who have supported us through the years.
-xash
Administrator
Depends on how you define “impossible”. Given that vB can be modified with back-end PHP hacks, there’s very little that’s actually impossible by the strictest definition. Then too, there’s a whole mess of stuff that’s far, far more trouble than it’s worth.
If the previous explanation for why they were unwilling to do this was true — I’m too lazy to look up the specifics right now, but it involved a scripted procedure that automatically dropped users into their preassigned usergroups every so often — I can see where it would require a not-insignificant amount of work to restore CM status to users.
You could probably make a case for calling the statement that the modification is “impossible” a lie, but I don’t think they were implying (or expected anyone, least of all this group, to buy) that there was literally no way it could possibly happen. Personally, as someone who routinely gets asked by my workplace’s PTB whether it’s “possible” to make pipe-dream modification X to some ancient labyrinthine proprietary system, I can sympathize fully with the use of the looser “impossible” in this situation…with the time and resources currently available to us, it ain’t happening.
At that point, it becomes a question of what it would take to make doing it a possible consideration. Ed and company have apparently decided the answer to that is 30 bucks a pop.
So, no, I wouldn’t call it a lie (or prevarication, or what have you). As always, YMMV.
ETA: Or what xash said, but taking many more words to say it. 
Roland Orzabal is spot on. Nothing is “impossible” in software, it’s just a matter of limited resources and/or expertise. Just to give you an idea of how non-trivial the Custom Title for Charter Members thing was (which was a much simpler problem), take a look at my discussion at the vBulletin forums here:
-xash
Administrator
They didn’t decide to “make it available”, they decided to sell it to people who already paid for memberships back when the place was desperate for money. I’ve never gotten the foofaraw over people who wnated to keep their Charter Member titles, but selling someone back something they’ve already paid for is a dirty scam and I hope nobody is dumb enough to take you up on it.
I think it’s a fair balance between Charter Members who never let their membership lapse, and Charter Members who did, but that’s my personal opinion. Offering it for free to the latter group would be unfair to the former group. Unfortunately, there were some Charter Members who lost their Charter Membership subscription through no active fault or intent on their part, but (leaving aside practical issues of determination) I think this is a fair compromise even for them, as it gives them 2 years of membership at the current Member price and gives them back their Charter Membership.
Huh. Maybe you guys should have taken Seven up on his offer of help last year because apparently it’s really not hard at all and shouldn’t require even a little effort let alone considerable.
Or, if it really does take considerable effort then Seven is a genius without peers when it comes to software because not only did he figure out how to change titles, he figured out how to let an entire messageboard of people change their own as many times a day as they want to.
:: ding :: The more you know! :: cartoon starburst ::
Which is also available on the SDMB, but has no relevance to the specific issues related to Charter Member subscriptions, php scripts and billing system integration.
*Theoretically, of course. *.
I think this is a nice gesture. There are a lot of people who really seem to like the title. And they finally figured out how to do it.
And I wouldn’t call them greedy. They need to provide an appropriate consequence to not paying your bill on time. Otherwise, the title would mean nothing.
And it’s not like they’d bother offering this if there wasn’t demand. And if nobody takes them up on it, so be it. What harm does it do you?
What BigT said.
Several of us offered to pay more (including paying full price every year, in perpetuity, as well as paying a surcharge for the title change). They found a way and the price doesn’t strike me as unreasonable.
I think you ought to go the whole hog and sell indulgences against moderator warnings: $5 lets you call someone an arsehole with impunity, $10 bucks is worth a “fuckhead”, and $20 gets you a “cunt”.
I"d suggest starting your own complaint thread instead of shitting up this one.
Thank you for the offer, but no. I deliberately lapsed, and the reason for the lapse has not changed.
Yeah, but then they couldn’t charge for it and what would we do then?
Scissorjack is my hero for the day.
Thirty dollars for one extra word? Jesus wept. :rolleyes:
ETA: and yes, I still have my charter membership. I keep it up merely for the discount. Otherwise, I really don’t care – in fact, I really, really do NOT understand WHAT the big deal is over the whole thing. Seriously.
Fair enough, and I can certainly understand your reasons.
My hope, however, is that enough of members who see value in this board will continue to support the board through the purchase of this and other subscription options, and my goal is to remove any technical limitations that might have been a factor previously from making this happen for the board and its members.
This is a limited time and optional offer for those members who wish to reclaim their former Charter Member status and are willing to pay $30 to get 2 more years of membership along with getting back their Charter Member status, making the effective premium a nominal $15, and making a lot of them very very happy.
From the responses that I have gotten so far in email and PM, I can say that there has been tremendous response for this offer.
You do know that you can post without paying at all, right?
It doesn’t make sense to me, either. But that doesn’t mean I wish ill will towards those to whom it does mean something, and to the people who provide it.
When I first saw this, I did think it was a good money making idea. I just don’t think all attempts to make money mean that you are being greedy. I don’t think they intentionally dropped people’s status just so they could make money later. Now that WOULD be greedy, and I’d be joining ScissorJack in protesting it, (albeit in it’s own thread.)
I don’t like the method of ScissorJack’s protest, and I don’t like the allusions to the corruption of the Catholic church. This is a business. There’s no obligation to pay. Providing something to be sold that won’t affect anyone who doesn’t buy it is perfectly fine.
I LOL’d. How about you guys?
I’m aware of that – I just happen to like some of the perks of membership. However, as far as being a “charter member” or whatever, I really don’t give a shit. In fact, once through a glitch, I was listed as a regular member, and everyone was pointing it out to me. I didn’t get the big deal.
If people want to pay for it, that’s fine. But I still think it’s ridiculous.
I agree with Guin. (Wow, that is strange.) 
I don’t understand the allure of titles under usernames. Besides, one can look at a join date and pretty much figure out who the “charter members” are.
Not worth 30 bucks for damn sure