Um… how do I sign up?
or did i miss that part?? :o
I’m in.
This is–why. it’s…totally–[sputtering sounds]–it’s absolutely OUTRAGEOUS!!!
(where I come from–the 1960s–“outrageous” is a term of praise.)
Count me as one of those people mentioned by Musicat–no credit cards or PayPal. I do have chickens, but I am not willing to part with little Louie and Elmo for the privilege of posting here. And it has been a privilege, one I’ve appreciated immensely during some dark and lonely times or just when I’ve felt like having a little fun. While I’m aware that I’ll burn in hell (and deservedly so) for my participation in a few of the game threads, I hope that I’ve also posted one or two things that were informative, helpful or amusing over the past two years. I doubt that my absence will register so much as a blip on the SDMB radar and I know I will not be missed by any of the longtime frequent posters, but I will certainly miss these boards. Perhaps it was time to move on anyway.
Well, about 10 years ago, I would have reacted to news like this with a screaming, foaming-at-the-mouth rant. 5 Years ago I would have left with a disgruntled farewell post. 1 year ago I would have sighed and just walked away.
The idea of paid subscriptions on the internet doesn’t sit well with me. There are so many free forums that no one needs to pay anything.
But SDMB is different. I will happily pay $5 to remain active in a community I not only find interesting, but useful.
Yes, I said useful. SDMB is second only to Usenet for providing answers to tough questions. And usenet is much less easy to use, for several reasons.
Count me in.
Is there any way we can pre-subscribe?
I would expect the opposite. Since they can’t search, they can’t find out if it has been discussed already or not.
“This has been discussed a million times already, jar-knob!! Pay up and join so you don’t make stupid posts like this one!”
It also seems like there will have to be extra work for somebody just to keep track of the guests whose account has expired and who log in again under a different name. IPs would help reveal this, but who wants to spend the time?
Yay!
Jingly christmas, that’s cheap.
Could you please make this a sticky in all the forums? I only saw it because of the thread referencing subscriptions posted in MPSIMS (I hardly ever read ATMB).
Count me in as another person who will happily pay $4.95 to be a member. Before I started reading this thread, I was thinking it would be more like $24.95…and I would have paid that!
WOW - the thread title scared me in a big way. I sort of assumed that it would be impossible to affoord, O the HORROR! But …sigh of relief…everything cool.
Now, apart from paying certain bills through my bank’s internet service, I have so far had no experience of paing for thigns over the net, eg Hotmail storage or whatever. Mainll cos I am not sure how things can be done, or how things can be trusted. Also, I admit to not knowing how to pay in US$ from the U.K. Yes, I know that is pretty pathetic - generally I don’t have any spare money to provide the tempation, but I can’t do without SDMB, so I think I’m not the only one needing a "Payment Guide for Dummies"
To reiterate, the general idea is great, if it keeps the hamsters fed - 'tis just the practicalities I need advised about.
(And right now I am pancically (yes, a new word) making notes everywhere - March 22 register for SDMB, April 21st deadline. Hmm strikes me I have not noted in my diary - April 21st Mother’sbirthday - perhaps I should reexamine priorites>)
Hell, I’d pay $4.95 just for the search function, to see what you wise people have come up with in the past ! That page is my first (well, second, after google) point of reference for more questions than I can remember …
Celyn: you should be able to use your credit card with no problems. I’ve done that from England to Canadian $$, and vice versa.
Well worth it. Plan on getting my $5 on March 22nd.
There’s always The Fabulous Forums of Fathom. Opal, are you still free?
I haven’t read all the replies, so I don’t know if it will be paypal. If not it’s a damn good job I changed my Bank acccount cos there is NO QUESTION that I will subscribe, and my old card might not have done the job (visa electron, translation: shite)
I am in two minds - no immediate perks (img code, avatar etc) but cutting the ‘dead wood’ and keeping this place going .
You can’t register until March 22. They have to do the software change first.
Well, I for one will NOT be subscribing. Not because I am too cheap, or because I think information should be free, or because I’m going away mad. No, I will not be subscribing because I have been spending WAY too much time on the SMDB, and this will give me a much-needed excuse to take a break.
Credit cards are not a problem; I’ve bought stuff from Canada and my mom has from the UK with credit and it’s not been a problem.
Five bucks for a year is dirt cheap.
No, really, I think the basic structure is good: a free trial period, followed by an inexpensive subscription. I’ll definitely be forking over my $4.95, and calling it a bargain.
My problem with it is the same #1 concern I’ve always had: new blood is important to a board like this, and IMHO we won’t be seeing as much of it after April 21.
Two things here. First, a month really isn’t very long: I registered in May 1999, and it took me until at least September to climb above the 100-post threshold; by November I would surely have forked over my $14.95, but probably not much sooner. I’d have probably just wandered off.
I’d recommend either a longer guest membership (60 days, anyway) or a guest membership based on posts: maybe 100 or 200 posts allowed as a guest before you’ve got to pay.
Second, I think the $14.95 threshold is a bit steep for a newbie, and will cut down on the number of new posters who stay. (Yeah, I know it really isn’t much; it’s the psychology of it, though.) Magazines and stuff offer low trial subscription rates to get you in the door, and I think that makes sense here. If not that, then maybe dump the renew-at-50%-of-the-newbie-rate deal, and have all subscriptions and renewals alike after 4/21 cost the same, say $9.95.
One thing I’m especially sorry about is that the past two-plus years weren’t used as a laboratory to try some more voluntary approaches, such as free basic service, with paid membership getting you a bundle of advanced features; or selling classified or banner ads to members; or selling SDMB (as opposed to SD) merchandise. Two things are obvious here: (1) neither we nor the CR will never know what revenues some combination of these approaches would have generated, and (2) instead of getting any of that revenue over the past two years, the SDMB raised zero. Those potential revenues are gone and not recoverable, which is a shame.
Anyhow, if some people who have neither credit cards nor PayPal want me to sign them up and reimburse me by check later, please email me at the address in the profile.
About time - even though I was worried it would cost more. I’ve wasted more money on less, and I don’t see this being a waste of money.
I’ll be paying up once it’s available…and after I get out of class on the 22nd.
What are the odds of getting the “edit post” function enabled for paying members?
I’m signing up no matter what, but I’m curious if this is a possibility.
I think the poster meant that people should voluntarily cut down on their “We’ve already discussed this!” posts in the new SDMB, or that there should be a rule against them, not that prohibiting guests from searching would stop such posts from happening.