# The SDMB is switching to paid subscriptions **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 18, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724 "2004-03-18T18:26:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/241 "2004-03-19T13:25:27Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > But some people might prefer to just send in mail orders or checks, rather than using Paypal. Will that even be an option? > > Although, I’ve already had an offer of someone willing to pay for me, with me paying them back. Thanks! I’ll keep you in mind. I’m one of those people who would like to send in a check. Deliver the cash in person. Hell, even f\*\*king _carrier-pigeon_ is preferable. We do not use PayPal, we will not use PayPal. Not EVER. (We’ve had serious problems with them in the past can you tell?) I hope there is a PayPal alternative in place. Heck, I’ll be in Chicago end of April and will walk over to the Chicago Reader if I need to. I WILL NOT use PayPal. If “no PayPal” means I forfeit the SDMB avter 3000 posts, then so be it. I won’t be happy about it, but PayPal is not an option. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/242 "2004-03-19T13:34:41Z")
> [@Sofa King](#): > > I’m making a stand here. If you do not allow General Questions to be open to the public–the woefully ignorant public which we are sworn to inform–then I’m gone and I will not come back. The world flocks to the SDMB for free answers to the stupidest questions humankind can devise. > > I’ll pay good money to answer 'em. I won’t pay a dime to intellectually jack off with those who already know them. > > And one more thing. I want my name changed to **Colonel Lingus**. If I’m paying for it, I get what I goddamned want. You _serve_ me now. Or, I leave. That’s the bottom line. I agree with your entire post, including the part about you leaving. 😛 JK I too, think GQ should be open to the public. I was thinking this on page 2 of this thread and was worried about GQ drying up. My other fear is that the board may become overrun with a certain political slant/religious slant/, etc. especially after a major election or world event. Without the eb and flow of posters, the board may become too liberal or too conservative. ---
**Author:** ![Aldebaran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Aldebaran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aldebaran)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/243 "2004-03-19T13:35:59Z")
Eddy TF, Thank you for the offer (which is even more “anonymous” for me then other solutions). So if the SDMB itself doesn’t offer an other way for payment, I shall contact you by mail next week. > [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > I make this offer even though your posts often have me foaming at the mouth with rage. Oh well… take it like this: whenever you get in such a state of rage, your adrenaline runs faster which instantly upgrades your whole system… = the little grey cells included. At the end you can only have a benifit from that, no? > [@](#): > > The Board wouldn’t be the same without you. See above why that is… Oh God, now that I think of it… I am thus upgrading a whole lot of US’ers… This must end in a horrifying drama. Salaam. A ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/244 "2004-03-19T13:38:07Z")
**Sofa King** , by the way, you already have a dubiously creative username (so fucking). Colonel Lingus is less creative in my opinion. Oh, and count me in. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/245 "2004-03-19T13:43:10Z")
Another “I want in, but I have no way to pay” Doper. Could some nice person who is willing to sign me up in exchange for receiving a nice five dollar bill in the mail e-mail me? ---
**Author:** ![Spikesbud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Spikesbud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spikesbud)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/246 "2004-03-19T13:50:15Z")
I guess this is as good a time as any to make my first post. I would gladly pay the proposed fee just to be able to read on this board let alone post. Sure, the board may change over time, but I would hate to think that the people who make this board what it is would give up too quickly. We should know by now that nothing worth having is free, and this board is definitely worth having. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/247 "2004-03-19T13:51:31Z")
I must say that I’m pretty apprehensive about this. I’m one of those that would gladly have paid to keep this free, rather than pay to post. As you can see, my post count is… low… and subscribing would do nothing for my 0.04 posts per day. What I _would_ pay for would be to keep the “life” of the board, especially in GQ, as many people have said, above. In the long term, subscription will also probably affect the influx of new members - a quick browse of join dates show that there are quite a few people who have signed up post-2003. Would they have signed up if they had to pay $15? I don’t know. I’m seriously considering paying up now, just in case I ever get the urge to start posting… half off $15 sounds like a really good deal. Or maybe I’ll just see what happens in a year… ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/248 "2004-03-19T13:54:58Z")
No avatars, dang it. This board loads slow enough as it is. If you try to cut down on traffic and then add the overhead of image processing, you are trying to go in two directions at once. I have seen a lot of Dopers say they want to subscribe because they like to **read** the posts. None of them say they want to subscribe to look at the pretty pictures. And no editing. As was mentioned, typos are mostly ignored, and if they can lead to misunderstandings, a mod can fix it. And **Sofa King** - GQ **is** going to be open to the general public. They have a question, they get a guest subscription, they post the question in GQ, and they get snowed under with answers from people with a Ph.D. in the subject, hyperlinked to the official website - and they’re hooked. And they begin turning tricks and selling their blood plasma to come up with the $14.95. And they addict their friends, and their neighbors, and their co-workers, and spend every waking moment on the board, and their spouses leave them, and their children grow up strangers and join weird cults in Oregon, and they smell bad and develop carpal tunnel and are not found until three weeks after they die, and their cats have eaten about half of them. The SDMB - sort of a cross between heroin and Amway. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/249 "2004-03-19T13:56:18Z")
I haven’t seen this mentioned yet in this thread, but what about payment by minors, who probably don’t have credit cards? I don’t know if PayPal is available to them, but if you allow a mail-in payment, you will cover ALL possibilities. Yes, I know it is a hassle to handle compared to the automated online procedure, but it will make a lot of grumpy people happy. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/250 "2004-03-19T14:04:15Z")
Can we switch to a fine-based system as well? Fines would be issued for such offenses as quoting the entire post just above your entry. A surcharge should be issued to anyone opening things like another SUV bashing thread. And now that I have to pay a fee for the priveledge of using these boards, \*\*I expect all of you to bring your best to the table. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/251 "2004-03-19T14:06:38Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > It’s a shame, really. I feel worst for the teens living at home who don’t have checking accounts or credit cards of their own and either don’t want to or can’t ask their parents to fork over even $15 for an internet habit, and the people outside the U.S. who I suspect will be less likely to stick around if they have to pay to play here, and even the casual poster who only jumps in once in a blue moon when they feel they have someting interesting or relevant to add, but who don’t do so often enough to justify paying for the privilege of doing so. I think we’ll end up losing a lot of diversity and perspectives that go towards making this forum what it is. ☹ My contribution to the boards is nothing to brag about, but I know the SDMB helped me out a lot. I signed up as a high school student with no money and no credit card… and there was no way I would have asked my parents for this… they’d have known what I was posting and reading about and that would have been a disaster. My concern is with the rate of influx of new posters, and with the types of posters who will be most likely not to join us anymore. Like teenage me. I’ll pay now, though. I’ve moved away from home and got myself a credit card. And the SDMB has become very valuable to me. ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/252 "2004-03-19T14:07:23Z")
Would management be willing to consider a higher, one time fee for lifetime membership? I would probably be willing to pay more up front to avoid annual renewals. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/253 "2004-03-19T14:15:08Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > On the ability to edit: Yes, it might be possible to allow a time-limited editing function. However, we think it would still be inadvisable. Take a look at this thread, and at how many posts are made in (say) a five-minute period. If you could go back and edit a post within five minutes of posting, there’s still room for lots of damage being done by revisionism. Honestly, I’m still not sure I follow this. An edited post would clearly be labeled as such. The only real danger I can see is someone posting something in Great Debates something like, “ **Dorkness** , you’re a screaming ninny, and I just wanted you to know that, but this message will self-destruct in three minutes,” and then coming back and editing their post to read, “ **Dorkness** , I respectfully disagree with your conclusions.” I don’t see the great danger that this would cause. Especially when compared to how nice it would be to be able to edit coding errors in posts. But I very well may be missing a place for real mischief. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/254 "2004-03-19T14:17:03Z")
> [@Sofa King](#): > > And one more thing. I want my name changed to **Colonel Lingus**. If I’m paying for it, I get what I goddamned want. You _serve_ me now. Or, I leave. That’s the bottom line. Tell me. How’s that attitude work out for ya when you try to get a pork chop at a vegetarian restaurant? What’s that, you **can’t** get a pork chop there - no matter how loud you shout about it? Or a Volkswagen at the Caddy dealer? Weird, ain’t it, how everything you want isn’t available everywhere? The simple fact is, organizations offer a selection of services/products which they think they can make a profit. You, as the consumer are free to choose among the offerings. Sure you can _ask_ for that pork chop, but the seller isn’t obligated to provide it. Your choice then, is to have a damn salad, or go elsewhere. You seem to not have even the most basic understanding of a market economy. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/255 "2004-03-19T14:20:42Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I haven’t seen this mentioned yet in this thread, but what about payment by minors, who probably don’t have credit cards? I don’t know if PayPal is available to them, but if you allow a mail-in payment, you will cover ALL possibilities. Yes, I know it is a hassle to handle compared to the automated online procedure, but it will make a lot of grumpy people happy. PayPal will work fine for minors with checking accounts. For minors without, add my name to the list of volunteers who will receive snailmail and provide registration services and maybe even donations (Someone should start that list and post it somewhere…). Maybe we could even start a donation pool. I’ve used PayPal since it opened (four or five years now?) and I’ve never had any problems. That’s not an endorsement, but if you’re apprehensive because you’ve never used/heard of it, it’s just like a regular bank. It will do international funds, checking accounts, debit cards, and credit cards. I also use my credit cards quite freely on the 'net (to buy… erm… damnit, porn). No problems. There are other services like Yahoo! Pay, so even the PayPal-averse can access very secure online banking. I don’t know if the CR will take them, but it might be an alternative to the mail order thing. I trust the internet far more than the US Postal Service. Walking into the Chicago Reader offices and handing them a check is definately the most _fun_ idea. 🆒 But barring that, I’ll be PayPaling away in a few days. ---
**Author:** ![Pebbles131](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/eada6e/32.png) [@Pebbles131](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pebbles131)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/256 "2004-03-19T14:33:14Z")
I am not a minor, and I have a Visa card. Unfortunately it has no money on it until the 26th March ☹ Ah well, guess I’ll pay the $14.95. I’m not a big contributor here but it is a truly valuable part of my life. It’s my window on the world which is a godsend to a stay-at-home mum like me 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Pebbles131](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/eada6e/32.png) [@Pebbles131](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pebbles131)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/257 "2004-03-19T14:34:38Z")
Doh! Its APRIL! I KNEW those pesky kids were frazzling my braincells!! ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/258 "2004-03-19T14:35:08Z")
> [@Rysler](#): > > I’ve used PayPal since it opened (four or five years now?) and I’ve never had any problems. I, on the other hand, have had nothing but problems. And as I mentioned in MPSIMS, PayPal has had almost 2900 BBB complaints filed against them in the past 36 months alone. Oh, and I like **SuperNelson’s** idea. Though with technology changing as rapidly as it does a “lifetime membership” might mean nothing in a couple of years. You know, when we have the fancy telepathy machines. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stranger\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@The\_Stranger\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stranger_1)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/259 "2004-03-19T14:39:54Z")
I suspect there will be the inevitable attrition of long-time posters, and I believe the influx of “New-Joins” will drop to such low levels that the best we can hope for is a population plateau; but more likely we’ll get a declining death-spiral. Regardless, I’ll be signing up; if only to watch the decline of Western Civilization…errr, I mean the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/260 "2004-03-19T14:43:28Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > The SDMB - sort of a cross between heroin and Amway. May I humbly suggest that this become the board’s new official motto? Daniel [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724.md?page=14)