And yet, you keep coming back. 
My smilie is “confused,” just in case it wasn’t evident.
I stopped giving the Dope my money for a reason and that reason still stands, so NO!
Unclviny
Damn, he’s a lucky guy! 
I dunno. I guess you still get the half off Charter Member price for life after the first two years, but on the other hand, I don’t know what benefit there is. Back when I was originally a Charter Member I did it because, well, you had to pay to post. Now that I don’t, I don’t know why I should. Plus I’m poor.
Posting a me too.
The board’s no longer P2P, I feel no need to have Charter Member under my username, I don’t post very much at all, and I have different priorities for my rather limited funds.
Just messaged xash to find out the procedure. I’m quite happy to pay the SDMB for its years of fine service.
Me, four.
Ok, so I’m a little confused. Whatever the board crimes, how is it that the crimes are substantial enough that you won’t pay your fair share to pay the rent or contribute to the financial stability of the community, yet not so substantial that you actually leave?
Whats up with that? I mean, the atrocities you’ve experiened you’re still experiencing, right? Whatever hacked you off is till happening, right?
I just don’t get it. Are you masochists?
Or just users? Because it seems to me that its one or the other. (or…a measure of both…) If there is something of value here------enough that you keep coming back-----than that value should be paid for.
If you go to a restaurant and don’t like the meal, complain. The manager will comp the meal. The internet (and message boards) is the only business model that allows you to eat in this restaurant daily and still expect the meal comped because you didn’t like it.
If it is so unfair that you feel compelled enough to not pay and leave, I can understand. But to stop paying and still post looks a little hypocritical to me.
The SDMB is free to post. If the administration thought non-paying posters didn’t “pay the rent or contribute to the financial stability of the community”, they’d remove their right to post. (And this was the case at one point, remember.) So it’s not hypocritical to not pay and still post on the SDMB. It’s entirely within the rules.
Within the rules, and what is right are 2 different things.
And the business model requires revenue from different sources. One source is advertisers, and that is driven by head counts/post counts/ clicks etc.
Removing posting privileges -----and the subsequent drop in site traffic------would be detrimental to the ad revenue TBTP could expect.
The Dope needs both----subscribers and ad revenue----and they are tied together. If you haven’t joined it is true that you are not contributing. The Admin doesn’t need to think it; its a fact.
Don’t subscribers see no ads? If so, and if you’re correct that both subscribers and ad revenue are needed, then it stands to reason that the SDMB needs non-subscribers as well.
Now it is true that the SDMB needs subscribers, which is why the administration is trying to entice former Charter Members into joining again by offering the title in exchange for resubscribing for two years. I haven’t seen any indication that they consider it a moral duty to pay to post. The SDMB is after all a for-profit venture, so if they want us to pay more they have to offer more. That’s what they’re doing now, at least for former Charter Members. (I can’t be one so it doesn’t apply to me.)
Oooo I’m in. Thanks for this thread because I didn’t even know about this. I lost my charter membership when I was having trouble with my debit card at the same time my renewal came up.
I’ll do it. I dropped my Charter membership back in the day so I could contribute more (or so I tell myself), so why not throw more money at the problem?
You seem more than a little confused; you seem downright angry.
Check my posting history over the past year and tell me if I’m a “user”?
And funny how the forum allows guests free posting, since their presence provides revenue through the advertising we have to see, yet you call us hypocrites? Because we won’t pay extra to have some words under our name?
Weird logic, that.
People who don’t pay money “pay” by seeing ads. So I don’t see how that’s freeloading or anything immoral.
I’d consider getting my CM status back if I hadn’t spent all of last year without income. We’re still digging out of that hole. I could spend the money, but it’s not enough of a priority (so nobody take this as an invitation to pay for me! It ain’t!).
Surprised Skald hasn’t chimed in yet.
Those who aren’t reupping, care to explain why? [Idly curious-note I am still a guest, still mulling over the custom title thing].
You’re kidding, right? Not paying for years of inadequate service and management disdain is tantamount to stealing? Paying $30 bucks for no other privilege to add one small word to your title is now the decent and moral thing to do? Conmen dream of dupes like you, who’ll merrily eat shit and tell themselves it’s brown sugar.
Nonsense.
The thing the Dope (or any message board) needs: more than mods, more than admins, more than subscribers and more than revenue…is content.
If you post, you’re providing content. Anyone who does that does contribute. Without content, none of the other stuff matters.
I wish people would stop acting like an inability to understand someone means that there is a deficiency in that person. The deficiency is in you for not being able to comprehend.
But I’ll try again: if you offer something for free, you don’t have the right to complain about it if people take advantage of that. It sounds like raindog also has a problem with the administration letting these “freeloaders” post.
Not me - $30 is a lot of money just to appease my own vanity, and I already did that once this year with the custom title.