I know it. This place will be a money sucking machine - the ultimate goal of setting up this site in the first place.
It’s like offering free cigarettes; get you hooked first, then charge you!
The fee is minimium at the moment. Watch the inflation!
Capitalism!
I am gonna start my own message board and serve people free forever. No charge, free to read and post.
I hope that won’t take away this board’s readership and writership one day.
-Doggie
Mine is a similar story, Grit. I’m quite the lurker, but even still, this is the only forum that has ever kept my attention.
Who knows, in time maybe they’ll even have enough money to retire the hamsters and buy some, well, guinea pigs, weasels, mink, martins or fishers or something. They’re heavier, stronger and have much more stamina I hear. 
Free smokes and weasels.
Good gad, I love it here.
I’m a teeny-tiny, little baby doper in college who’s been lurking for a long time and figured that if I were ever to get a subscription to this fine message board, now would be the time. Since my dad was the one who got me hooked on Cecil (sort of like cigs, but without all the lung cancer), I’ll paraphrase what he said to me on the day I left for college in honor of him. He said, “Kid, when you go off to college, you’ll be completely astonished by the sheer number of people who are smarter than you. You’ll also be completely astonished by the sheer number of people who are dumber than you.”
So true, Dad, so true. Anyway, my $5 contribution to Ed Zotti’s pockets is an effort to fight off the ignorance with the wit and wisdom that comes out of this board. It ain’t much, folks, for quality banter.
I read the email that went out a week ago and my knee jerked, and I said “how can they make us pay?” Then I realised that was a silly thing to say. And $5 is certainly perfectly reasonable, especially for the regulars.
At the same time, I wonder how many people like me you’ll lose. This is, oddly enough, exactly my 100th post to the boards, and I’ve been a member for more than four years now. I come and go, read a few threads and post where I know something. I like the atmosphere, and $5 is certainly not too much, but it still was a sufficiently close decision for me that I’m sure there are a lot of people like me out there who made the opposite choice. Not to mention all the not-yet-Dopers that will find the $15 cost of entry a bit too steep.
However this whole thing plays out, I do hope that Ed and the others in charge keep an eye on it. If they have recent statistics from the B.S. (er, “before subscription”) era to compare them to, even better—how many people drop by just to browse? How many people post one or two times? How many people actually keep an account and become frequent or infrequent posters? If, down the line, the policy needs to be tweaked to keep the newbies coming, I hope that the administration is able to be convinced of that need. One suggestion I’d like to give extra voice to is the “X days or Y posts” policy—if they’re a high-volume poster right off the bat, make them pay, but if they just post occasionally, give the line a bit more play before reeling them in. 
Anyway, I’m in. See you around.
It’s quite alright for the negligable fees you are charging, 4.95 for the first year. Just too bad I missed out on all the free time, just now being brought around to this site. I know I will enjoy the postings and will be your newest participant here at times, inbetween classes online with Devry, such a wonderful College!
And I suppose I’ll end up looking after 'em… :rolleyes:
Bring 'em on! 
I’ve read this post and some of the responses to it, most of which seem to be from the regulars (I didn’t go through all 13 pages). So here’s a perspective from a non-regular.
I know how these things can grow into communities; I am or have been a member of several such communities, and they are a good and valuable thing. But this is not a community I have chosen to join as such, simply because I don’t have the time to add yet another one.
I have posted here a few times*, in order to make comments on Cecil’s columns, which I thought was supposed to be the purpose of this forum. I read something that inspires me to make a comment or ask a question, and pop over here to do so, which is how I happened to be here today. Now, $5 is not a lot of money; I may go ahead and sign up just for the rare occasion I post here, and because it will say “Charter Member” under my name (I like stuff like that, but that’s just me).
But suppose this had been in effect the first time I came to post. Here I am, I’ve just read the column, maybe it’s even the first time I’ve read the column, and I have some interesting tidbit to add. It says I have to pay $4.95, or else jump through the hoops just to get a guest account that will expire in 30 days. I know it’s unlikely I’ll be posting again within 30 days, so I don’t bother.
You’ve just lost a prospective member, and a potentially interesting bit of information and/or viewpoint.
Now, I understand the need to cover the expenses. But you need to make the forums accessible to the occasional poster or drive-by commentator; that’s the only way you’re going to let people see whether this is something they’re interested in. Perhaps leave the “Comments on Cecil’s Columns” and “Comments on Staff Reports” forums open, and make the others members-only.
Or, you could just move the whole thing over to UseNet. There’s a misc.facts.straightdope which looks like about 99% spam, but you could set up some moderated groups. Then you have virtually no hardware or bandwidth expenses, and just have to pay the mods unless you get volunteers.
Just some things to think about. For myself, I guess I’ll pay the $5, but I sure wouldn’t have hung around if that had been there the first time I came. “Hm, that’s interesting, and I know for a fact that [blah blah blah]. Hey, here’s a link, ‘Comment on this answer’.” click “Huh? I have to pay to contribute my little bit of wisdom? Neh.”
*I’m not sure how many; I think I posted under a different name a few times, but lost that login information.
My 'net access is at the public library, and once in a while at Kinkos or a Internet Cafe. The board loads so slowly at these locations, it uses up too much time out of any given session…I’ve loved using the board, but there are too many FREE sites out there that run a lot faster. It’s been fun…
Well, I’m not a newbie, but I’m also not a regular poster, not anymore anyway. I have no current plans to subscribe, since I don’t log on often enough to make it worthwhile. I might change my mind at a later date, and if so I’ll happily pay full whack for my subscription.
But for the time being, yo homes, smell you later.
Awright, I haven’t posted here in a while, but I wanted to come back to the boards when I heard about the subscription model. I’ve been missing for a while, in part because I’m working hard on building my own company. One of the major projects I’ve been working on is converting a previously-free community into a paid one, so I can sympathize.
I feel as if I owe a LOT more than $4.95. Allow me to explain…
I learned how to debate here. That is, I learned how to express myself in an online community without allowing my arguments to devolve into flames.
I made some great friends here. While I haven’t posted in a while, I’ve met some interesting people on this board. Some have crashed at my place after NYC Dopefests. Others have willingly engaged in snugglebunnies with me at said Dopefests. Still others have taken time out of their days to give me advice, point me in the right direction, support me, point out flaws in my arguments and, on occasion, simply offer their sympathy.
I’ve gotten great advice here. There have been several times when I was confronted by immense challenges in my personal and professional lives and have received great advice, sympathetic ears, new angles on situations that I hadn’t considered, and understanding from people who are kind and considerate.
Most of all, I’ve experienced the truest meaning of the word “community” here. This place is really special, and even if I never post again, I’m happy to pay the fee for what has been an unbelievable several years of being a member here.
Thank you.
Everyone who is claiming that this place with whither away are being proven wrong. I have been pleasently suprised at how many “Charter Members” have April 2004 registration dates. I think that we’ll continue to grow.
Haj
I’m inclined to wait a few more months before making a judgement on this one, since we’re probably getting a disproportionate number of hitherto lurk-only folks in the first month, and the price is going to go up. But I agree that it’s definitely a good sign, and far better than I had feared.
I have nothing to add to this thread, I just like seeing, “Charter Member” under my name.
Well,
Given that I’ve been a member for some odd years now and barely have over a 100 posts, I certainly can’t justify paying for something I barely use or visit. For those who put board.straightdope.com as their homepage - I imagine that $4.95 is very well spent. Don’t get me wrong, $4.95 is a damn cheap price; however, if I were to pay, I would feel obligated to use the service - which I can’t envision myself doing. Maybe if I posted and read straightdope more often, I would be on board, but considering I don’t, I guess I’m a new lurker.
Depends on what you mean by “proven” and “wrong”. Obviously, a prediction of “withering away” can’t be proven wrong in less than a month. “Withering” implies an effect over a relatively long time.
It does look a bit to me like the withering process is starting. Over in GQ, the most active threads used to have 100 or more messages. Now, most of the recent and most popular threads have only 20-30 messages. And the quality has gone down a bit. The most popular recent thread is about feeding sperm to your fish.
I won’t call this “withering” yet, but it’s fitting the pattern.
Some of this can be attributed to the fact that participation typically drops around the time of major holidays. If they’re not on vacation they’re often busy with other obligations.
Historically, the most popular threads have always been the strange off-the-wall ones.
That’s why I love this board.
Have you been a member for some even years, too, or just 1999, 2001, and 2003? Yuk yuk
Sorry. Consider my post count. And my registration date. Almost 5 cents a post. More if you adjust for the renewal fees. I’ve barely ever contributed my .02, and now you want .05?
Enjoy your board. I know I did.
-Plavacek, signing off.
Could it be that the reduced number of posts in GQ is because the question often gets answered quickly and well? As well, I think that there has been a slight reduction in the number of silly, off the wall, and “I don’t know anything about this, but…” answers. Just a thought.