In case anyone was wondering, TVeblen is female, DrBiere’s comments notwithstanding. Somewhere online there’s a picture of her to support that.
Alas, she is not wearing a black string bikini.
If you guys staying see me slinking back in come august go easy on me, ok?
Well, I don’t like sending money to people I’ve never met, regardless of how secure it may seem. There’s always the variables that could arise between my hands and the SDMB’s hands. Granted, it’s only USD$5 a year I’d be losing, but far worse, I’d be losing the access to the boards. I just don’t trust the concept.
That was supposed to be Gaudere. She should post em as an incentive for everyone to subscribe. 
i will be leaving.
I reserve the right to panic and pony up before the deadline on the cheaper rate but as of now I am not subscribing.
You could always make some kind of arrangement with the sponsor-person that you choose, if you’re worried about the payment being lost in the mail. Like to donate $5.00 to the local branch of that person’s favorite charity in return for them paying your subscription on their credit card or with their Paypal account.
Would never even think of paying for sex let alone paying for a bulletin board, message forum, chat room, email, etc., on the Internet!
I am not subscribing right now. I am 17 and a high school student and am therefore not in full control of my finances. When I go to college and turn 18 in September, I will subscribe if the board is a place that is still worth subscribing to.
Master Wang-Ka, you are one of my favorite Dopers, and if you don’t subscribe I, for one, will be sad to see you go. If, in September, you still want to subscribe and you haven’t yet and still can’t due to issues about the options available, I will gladly subscribe for you, and I will pay for it too if you don’t want to. The SDMB will not be the same without you, and it will not be without you for long if I have any say in it.
Thank you** Jervoise**, for a very gracious post.
As Kate pointed out, there are various arrangements you could make such as donating $5 to a local charity for that person, etc. Also, as various threads in ATMB will testify, many people are offering to pay for dopers with no recompense at all.
YMMV. FWIW.
(Anyhow, aren’t you the captain of the SDMB pirate ship? Ask yourself… what would Captain Jack Sparrow do?)
I was on the verge of paying the five bucks- I said as much in another post- until I saw the banning of two folks here for expressing their opinions. This is really making me think about whether this place will be worth it.
I guess that means me, too! 
That’s sweet. FWIW, I know your pseudonym, as well, and will miss your posts, too.
Oh, well. They say for everything, there’s a beginning, a middle and an end. I guess this IS the end of the Straight Dope.
Just take what you’ve learned here with you and make other online communities as rewarding as this one has been.
I see a pattern here. Salon was free, it was a great community, they started charging, and it was downhill from there. Same will probably apply here. So move on to the next thing, whether that’s fuckedcompany.com or generalmayhem.com or an ezboard.
I’ve really enjoyed it, and I’m grateful to the Chicago Reader for the “free ride” and hope the Straight Dope continues to fight ignorance.
Athelas:
Email me. I wouldn’t mind floatin’ the 5bucks. I remember parents and no job and no allowance quite well.
Seriously.
I want an email from you in my inbox (since you do not have an email public) by Tuesday. Got it? Good.
/S
They weren’t banned for expressing opinions, one was banned for being a sock and a jerk, the other was banned for being a jerk.
I bet I could express the exact same opinion as them in such a way that I wouldn’t get banned. It’s not what you say, but how you say it.
I’ve kept that photo for private viewing only.
I’m not going to subscribe, even though $5 wouldn’t be much of a hit to my wallet.
I like the SDMB primarily because of how useful and interesting General Questions is, not for any sense of community I get from the other forums (although Pit rants are always fun to read).
Since I don’t think GQ can remain as good as it is after the subscription period starts, I don’t see a reason to stay.
i am not subscribing either. it’s not because i am being cheap, if i was in here posting a lot i probably would pay, but as seldom as i post, i wouldn’t be getting my money’s worth. i don’t know that i think there is anything really wrong with charging vs not charging. hey they gotta do what they gotta do.
I can afford the $5, but I’m undecided about staying. The ‘don’t let the door hit you on the way out’ attitude of many of the regulars/high count posters is really turning me off.
I’m a mom. I can be ignored and despised for free. 
I shan’t pay. I don’t post often enough to make it worthwhile to join, especially since said money could be spent on better things, i.e. alcohol.
There is so much good stuff available for free on the 'Net, why pay money to talk to people I will probably never meet in real life? And, frankly, I wouldn’t want to meet some of you pukes in real life.
Lurking is free.