I’ve been trying to decide whether or not to join. Pay, in other words.
I’ve lurked for years…I like a lot of things here. Cecil and the Staff reports are great. My father gave me a “Straight Dope” paperback when I was a kid in the 70’s. Like many, I was hooked. Cecil does the Q and A like no-one else. Tis the shit.
But the long-time members here are eating eachother up like the Donner Party. It’s such a turn off. And it will only spiral down as membership, inevitably, decreases.
One of the great things about the “free” boards was the brotherhood of members. I really liked all the good things Dopers did for their board friends. It seemed more of a community then as opposed to now. Newbies got welcomed or smacked down. Usually on merit, but sometimes for sport. But those newbies are gone, except for the occasional guest like me. It’s changed, and I don’t like the way it’s going.
So I’ll ponder. I have a few days left and it is inexpensive for what you get in return. I’m just wary of joining a sinking ship where the the survivors are climbing over one another to reach the life boats.
BTW, it’s incredibly fucking stupid not to allow guests to search. It’s worse than cutting off your nose to spite your face. It’s like to cutting off your dick to spite your balls.
I mean, COME ON!. Talk about discouraging new members.
Oh, and the talk about hamsters? It’s really not too fucking cute. It’s 2006. The century of broadband. Your hardware or your techs are sorely lacking.
The Dope is, among other things, a collection of information. The search function is worth the price of subscription alone because on virtually any topic, you’re likely to find “peer reviewed”, well cited discussions.
I’m gonna second what tiny ham said about the hyperbole. As to your second point- eh. A paying membership here doesn’t get you a whole ton of privileges beyond ‘continuing to post,’ and I know I use the search function a lot. Doesn’t strike me as a big problem.
It’s just a bunch of people arguing mostly anonymously on a message board. Calling it “eating each other up like the Donner party” is taking it way too seriously.
I guess I should elaborate. I think either way, you are probably not going to be seeing a whole lot of action down there anymore. Might as well go with the option that at least lets you look normal in public and won’t cause breathing problems.
Thank you for your random, unsolicited suggestion about an internet site with which you have never previously interacted, and with whose operation you have no clear vested interest. I will be certain to give your comments all the consideration they are due, and I am sure I speak for the board at large when I say that.
Where, in GQ, CCC, CSR, and MPSIMS? If you don’t like the conflicts, don’t go in the Pit. And it’s really no different than it’s been for the last 5 years. If anything, I perceive much less conflict between long time members. Back then, you didn’t lose $15 if you got banned, so behavior in general was worse.
Bullshit. There are newbies here all the time.
If your perception of this place is that different from reality, it may be best that you do leave.
Plus incorrect, the stuff I have read is more like a Hannibal Lector party. Good wine, properly prepared meats, (sear first then lower the temps to keep it juicy), a wide variety of delicious side dishes. None of the Donner-style “chunk-o-leg over an open fire” crap.
What am I missing? All I see is Updike gone and Mr Moto asking for pleas for him not to leave.
This is the fake SDMB, isn’t it–you all moved the party on me and left me on deck of the Titanic. I hate when that happens.
Somewhere in cyberspace there is a vast collection of intelligent smartasses, clamoring for more of the same. Here-we watch paint dry and call it good. Or something like that.
(are guests supposed to come in and criticize? Seems churlish to me)
