Ohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease can we get customizable titles? Avatar pics would be nice too, and they’d make being a member just that more sexy! 
(Sad thing is, I have no clue what I’d make my pic/title. I’m just curious as to what clever things other people would come up with.)
Ah, okay, then you have no idea what I’m really talking about. Which is okay, because I didn’t even know if my memory was correct.
THIS was the kind of thing I was talking about.
Well of course I’ll pay the $5. That’s a no brainer. But I think you should throw in one of those little monkeys that come in a can.
Because I’d really like to get one of those monkeys in a can.
Oh, now I understand what you mean. That doesn’t look realistic to me. Somehow I doubt I can get one with a $4.95 balance. Also, I’d have to wait until they mailed it to me. It would be far faster, easier, and just generally more efficient to use my local post office, which offers the same service in the form of a money order.
Also, as an added bonus, the post office won’t need my home address to give me a money order.
I’m not paranoid…the whole world really is out to get me.
What? Mailed? From what I know, you can get these at most banks, Wal-Marts, AAAs, etc.
Though you’re right, the minumum balance is usually about $10-15. But it’s still money to spend.
Ed, since you guys are about to come into a bit of money, can I make a request? Kick our humble Mods and Admins some love, even if it’s in the form of a new mug/box of chocolates/nice card. Cause they’re gonna have a lot of crap to put up with before the changeover (I’m anticipating a lot of “You may as well BAN ME ANYWAY, I’m not subscribing!” behavior).
Agreed. Screw that avatar stuff, but Titles?
Really Not All That Bright
BUT THE SEX MAKES UP FOR IT
I can see it now. Right up there above this sentence, in fact.
I don’t actually believe Ed wrote that first post. Notice this-
“Little Ed gets paid, believe it or not.”
Now, its not like I’m offering a Cecil=Ed type of thing… it’s really in the proofreading.
Rules.
Clearly defined rules.
Very Clearly defined rules.
Non-subjective, I’m having a bad day, I’m an ass, I have a grudge against you, you father smells of elderberries, you really are an ass, moderators. ((I love the moderators) I really do!)
Moderators get paid. Not enough to leave their day job but…
Open board. All people are open to membership. (banned members included, see rule # 3)
This is very sneaky of the Admins. They wait until I’m, what?, nine posts away form #1,000 (and they know I’ve got plans for the post), and then they spring this on us so they can make sure I give them $5. Lousy cheap SDMB . . .
Hmm… interesting idea. Guess we shall see if I can do it on no credit card / PayPal. Not that it matters to certain people if I’m gone, but we shall see what happens in a few days or a month.
I’m in. Definitely in. Even though I lurk more than I post these days, I love this place. I just happened to see the title on the main list page, just as I started to scroll down to MPSIMS, my usual first place to check. I would like to add some comments, though.
I agree for the most part with what Aeschines said in his/her post, especially about a free 3 month trial membership. (Or, a guest membership for the first 100 posts/90 days, I like that idea as well.) The chance for a lifetime/Angel membership (I would love to do that, but would have to make payments for something that expensive). I wouldn’t say a guarantee of server integrity and speed; but certainly an improvement over current conditions, with a strong show of continuing to try to improve same (a big improvement would be even better). I definitely like the idea of not only clearly defining the playground rules, but also a means of addressing those who are having a bad day, etc. ie: 2 strikes, then a banning for paid members, while only one chance for guests. Unless it is a minor infraction, then of course the current slap on the wrist/20 lashes with a wet noodle for everyone.
I would love to see more smilies, and at least bring back the ones we used to have. I have no problem with being labeled a ‘charter member’ since that only signifies that I have been here a long time already, or at least that I signed up before April 22, 2004. Avatars slow things down, I understand, so I don’t see any need for them. Sigs, I want to choose for myself to show or not show for any given post. Titles… eh. Don’t really care, one way or the other.
I also have privacy concerns, but I trust the admins and mods; so I’ll wait to see how you plan to address this. I already have PayPal, so no issues there for me really. However, for anyone who is leery of their info getting out, or whatever, I’d be happy to take your money orders, checks, etc, and send it in for you from my PayPal. Just let me know your username, and I’ll take care of the rest. You don’t even have to tell me who you are other than your username. I can also sponsor one or two who may need help.
One question for the mods/admins though: Would you be willing to consider all of us who reply to this thread before Mar 22 to have already subscribed? (I mean of course the ones who state they will be paying.) This is just to help keep everything from locking up on Monday, from all the dopers trying to jump on here and subscribe. We would still have to officially go in and do it, but maybe give us a few more days or something? I hope that made sense. It’s very late here, and I’m getting loopy. I especially like the suggestion that any signing up between Mar 22nd and April 21 give us a renewal date of April 22, 2005.
Ok, I think I covered all I wanted to from all these pages and posts. Oh, yes… RT, you brought up some excellent points, as did Shayna (Hi, girlfriend!), but I also agree that the past is the past, and let’s move on from here.
One more question I just thought of:
What about a family discount? Say, if hubby and the kids all join in addition to myself, do we all have to pay? That will get pricy in this house, especially in subsequent years.
One year of SDMB for the price of a McDonald’s value meal? I’m in!
I guess this is goodbye because I will not be paying to post here. It’s not that I couldn’t afford the $5 dollars it costs but mostly that I think this will hit GQ hardest.
Gaudere wrote:People who supported requiring a subscription argued that it would cut down on trolls, socks, and traffic, improving performance.
Yes it will cut the traffic probarbly by redusing the real content of this site. The person that will be leaving isn’t one with 5000 posts in MPSIMS, it’s the person who’s been a member for 4 years and made 30-40 very good posts to GQ. If this board was about fighting ingnorance I know who I would want to stay. And if they want to cut the traffic what about getting rid of MPSIMS, IMHO, CS, the Pit or GD?
And how this will cut down on trolls and socks I don’t know, they rarely plan to stay long so 30 days is more than enough.
Some predictions about the future of the board:
Since guests can’t search they will forever ask questions that have already been answered in GQ.
The members won’t bother to talk much with guests because most likely they will soon be gone.
Few new members and even fewer of them from other countries than US and Canada.
The board will be hardest hit in GQ where many questions are answered by people who only read GQ and seldom posts and more questions will be left unanswered. Example: A few months ago sombody asked a question about a triangular ship in a Kursk documentary. I knew that it was a Norwegian spy ship but how many other dopers knew, 1 maybe noone?
If this board is about fighting ignorance then this is a bad idea, if it’s about making small talk in MPSIMS then this is a good idea.
Maybe I’m wrong but I don’t think this will improve the real content of this board.
Since this probarbly is my last post I’ll thank the Chicago Reader for having this board and the mods and admins for their work, I hope CR buy you some new cups now that they make money off your work.
Yes, you are very right. As I said, this board will get no more than 1/10 of its current members to sign up (if it’s lucky), and there will be very little left to incent new members to sign up thereafter. In fact, there’s a good chance that the board will be DOA after the change.
*Have any calculations been made as to what is critical mass? Can the board actually function as it does now with 700 paid posters?
I truly find these quotes scary:
The board ran reasonably well after our server upgrade in November 2002, when we had 3,500 current members - that is, people who had posted within the last 30 days. We now have 7,000 current members and the board runs slowly - OK, it crawls - during peak times. The practical capacity of the board, i.e., the largest number to whom we can provide decent service, is somewhere between those two figures.
Look, either a paying customer on this board will cover her/s bandwidth with the payment or not. The logic above is some of the worst and most shameless I have ever seen in business. This is not hyperbole, this is literally the degree to which I am shocked and angered by the above. What is the correct thing to say? “We’re making a profit on everyone who signs up and can buy more server space/bandwidth as necessary.”
It seems certain that the number of current users will decline after we switch to subscriptions, and that board response will improve as a result.
This is like a supermarket saying, “If the number of customers decline, the shopping experince will be better for those who remain.” So, let me get this straight–you WANT posters to decrease? You DON’T want lots of people to sign up and give you money? Shame on you! With such rhetoric, we can only surmise that your real interest is in killing the board.
But who knows? Maybe subscribers will start posting twice as much. We’ll just say this: If board performance improves, we won’t be surprised.
Yeah, who knows, who cares? Can the person who wrote this honestly say that s/he is not ashamed? Perhaps s/he has no choice–perhaps s/he is not getting the support from the Reader needed to produce a truly excellent product. In that case s/he has my sympathies. Truly. But it’s still a disgraceful way to talk to would-be customers.
Frankly, I’ve worked in Japan long enough to know a truly disastrous business situation when I see one. This is one. The more I think about it, the sadder I get. This is a great website. I will pitch in my $5 for the funeral, but this board will be dead in one year at most. (“Dead” defined as no longer functioning as a genuine source of answers and as a site for true debate. There may remain longer, as some have suggested, a group that treats it simply as a club.)
The good news is that you can fix this situation now if you are not too stubborn to admit you are undertaking this without the proper planning. Let me ask you this: Have you plotted various options and scenarios on Excel, considered your chances of success with each, and the expected monetary outcome of each? If not, then you have NOT done your homework.
*Will that $3500 got from going paid (with 700 on board) really make a difference? Were they to charge $150 for a lifetime membership, the same amount could be made with only 24 subscribers.
How can I find out where the accepted payment methods are? As in, will I need to use a credit card, or can I mail in a check or post office money order?
I think those are some pretty bad arguments and analogies, Aeschines. What’s wrong with making a profit? And yet you call it shameless and scary. Making a profit is a good thing. Also, this isn’t like a grocery store. It’s like a library in which you can’t find the good stuff because of all the crap stuffed into the shelves and aisles. And thinking of posters as customers is rather strange. We’re artists who are paying to have our work shown in the gallery.
Marvellous idea. I’m totally in.
Please, please, please don’t give us post-editing, images, or avatars. Don’t screw this board up that way.
Try reading my post before typing. I said that the Reader SHOULD try to make a profit. It SHOULD treat SMDB like a serious business venture. It SHOULD aim to succeed.
Reread my post. Blush. OK, you’ve learned your lesson. As for your comments about artistry, well, having read some of your posts, the less said the better…
In my opinion you made very suggestions, ** Aeschines **.
As for the server-speed: You have of course a good point that the service towards paid members should be a concern, but I think this is a problem that only can be adressed when they have enough revenue.
Of course, posters like me who are mostly in an other time-zone then the vast majority of the members, have not much problems with the current server “speed”. Although I’m an internet-nighthawk and thus now and then also affected by this, I can change that habit easily 
Salaam. A
Sure I’ll subscribe for the first year. After that the SDMB will become an inbred circle-jerk, and I’ll finally be sick of the place once and for all. It won’t be the same and I’ll leave; but I’ll have a year to figure out my new place.
It is truly sad that over the years legitimate offers for help, as well as other obvious solutions (banners) have been refused that could have kept this free longer.