# Who's staying on the SDMB? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 18, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090 "2004-03-18T21:26:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Reader99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df788c/32.png) [@Reader99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reader99)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/61 "2004-03-19T00:37:56Z")
i’ll stay. but can’t you just make the official price $5? i would think straight dope, of all people, would resist the standard “$4.95 is SO MUCH LESS than $5” marketing ploy. (question for cecil: is there real evidence that people really buy a lot of stuff for, say, $19.99 that they wouldn’t pay $20 for?) ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/62 "2004-03-19T00:41:04Z")
I think the Amazon link should be included as well. And a massage. All dopers with over 6,500 posts get a daily massage. What? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/63 "2004-03-19T00:42:28Z")
I’m definitely staying. I gave up fast food for Lent, so I’ve already offset the cost of a charter membership. As for what will happen to the tone of the boards…Well, it will definitely cut down on trolls. Then, as far as the projection that we won’t get any “good” newbies, look at it this way. If we don’t have to battle trolls all the time, the boards will be more appealing to the people we want to stay! This is why the better clubs have high cover charges and minimums: to discourage the yobbos. In the absence of drive-by troublemakers, a month may well be long enough for a well-spoken poster to get hooked. ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/64 "2004-03-19T00:42:28Z")
Count me in. I am considering sponsoring a few people. Ideally I would like to pay for some low post count fence sitters. The established posters can figure it out. I want to help people I don’t recognize in the slightest. Should help with the new poster problem, that and my evil quest to draw them in until they are helpless to leave. ---
**Author:** ![jacksen9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jacksen9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacksen9)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/65 "2004-03-19T00:44:46Z")
> [@Reader99](#): > > i’ll stay. but can’t you just make the official price $5? i would think straight dope, of all people, would resist the standard “$4.95 is SO MUCH LESS than $5” marketing ploy. (question for cecil: is there real evidence that people really buy a lot of stuff for, say, $19.99 that they wouldn’t pay $20 for?) Only if they get free parachute luggage, a set of steak knives, and free long distance calls. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/66 "2004-03-19T00:50:47Z")
> [@hybrid\_dogfish](#): > > It will change the place, and no doubt some will leave, but at that price I will certainly stick around to see what happens. What the fish said. Yeah, this is kind of a gamble. It remains to be seen whether this will cut off the board’s air supply, condemning us to a slow, stupid death, or whether this will be exactly the trimming of fat that turns us into a lean, mean, ignorance-fighting machine. To me, it’s certainly worth five bucks to stay and find out. So I’m staying. Besides, my five-year anniversary was two days ago. Wait a second. Five… _years._ Damn. Anyway, yeah, hell yeah I’m staying. > [@ZebraShaSha](#): > > Man, the horrible, innocent times one has as a teenage youth. Heh. It could be worse. Two hundred years ago, your parents would be handing you a large maggoty tuber and sending you out to scare off the mountain lions. I think you can deal with a little credit card blackmail. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/67 "2004-03-19T01:25:58Z")
> [@Reader99](#): > > (question for cecil: is there real evidence that people really buy a lot of stuff for, say, $19.99 that they wouldn’t pay $20 for?) I remember an (anecdotal) story in my psych class. They set up two bins with the same merchandise. One was marked “4 for $1.” The other was marked “25 cents each.” At the end of the week, the 4 for a dollar bin was empty, the 25 cents each one barely touched. Moral: Never underestimate the consumer. ---
**Author:** ![BF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5ac83/32.png) [@BF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BF)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/68 "2004-03-19T01:28:16Z")
Yeah, I’ll bite. I’ve received a tremendous boost in discretionary income by giving up beer for Lent. So 5 bucks 'tain’t nuthin… ---
**Author:** ![Sylkyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@Sylkyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylkyn)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/69 "2004-03-19T01:33:36Z")
Definitely staying. It would never occur to me not to stay. I’d go outta my mind (not saying I have much of one in the first place) if I couldn’t be here. I am not a big-time poster, but it’d just kill me if I wanted to and couldn’t. Hell, if I can fork over the $10 for SA (where I never post, just lurk intensely) I certainly can fork over $5 for the greatest boards on the net. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/70 "2004-03-19T01:35:52Z")
Payment, for me, is not the issue. Five bucks is a pittance. But I have, so far, avoided putting any credit card numbers online, and I don’t much care to do so now. Non-electronic payment, on the other hand, I could work with. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/71 "2004-03-19T01:41:21Z")
Of course I’m stayin’! If the pool gets up, I might just throw some cash in it, too. “For only ten dollars-the price of a handjob- you can help two people post to the SDMB, instead of cheating on your wife with a transsexual hooker.” ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/72 "2004-03-19T01:44:53Z")
> [@Master Wang-Ka](#): > > But I have, so far, avoided putting any credit card numbers online, and I don’t much care to do so now. It’s actually much safer using your CC online than it is in real life. In a typical online CC transaction, no human ever sees your card number. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/73 "2004-03-19T01:51:18Z")
You betcha, now that I can **finally** get on-line again (yay!!!). ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/74 "2004-03-19T01:54:28Z")
> [@ZebraShaSha](#): > > Since I am not 18 (which means no credit card and no pay pal) I will have to convince my parents to use theirs. No, it is not the monetary value. I have 4 5s in my pocket now. It is just that I have no idea how I can explain to them just what I want to use it for. They are afraid to use google even. It took me a good month to convince them that amazon was not going to steal their identity. If I told them that I would like to use the credit card for the very reason why I am online constantly, that gives them more power than anyone should ever even fathom owning. > > So, it is all up in the air… > > Man, the horrible, innocent times one has as a teenage youth. **Zebra** , you’ve brought up an important point. One thing I like about this board (among the many) is getting to know teens and young adults and hear what makes them tick, which is an opportunity I don’t get much IRL. I also feel proud, if that’s the right word, that the adults here are able to give insight and guidance of the sort I wish I’d gotten when I needed it. As such, I hope the new policy doesn’t effect a change in age demographics. Furthermore, I’ve decided I’m not going to tell Mr. Rilch about this. Because he will laugh. And laugh. And laugh some more. I can see him now, flat on his back, pointing up at me. And I’m glad, now, that Friend doesn’t live here any more. There was a time when every time I went upstairs, even if it wasn’t to go on the net, he would start slapping his arm, in imitation of a junkie trying to bring up a vein. Not that any of this would dissuade me from subscribing, but I’d just rather not hear it. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/75 "2004-03-19T01:56:02Z")
> [@GMRyujin](#): > > I remember an (anecdotal) story in my psych class. They set up two bins with the same merchandise. One was marked “4 for $1.” The other was marked “25 cents each.” At the end of the week, the 4 for a dollar bin was empty, the 25 cents each one barely touched. Moral: Never underestimate the consumer. I think you mean never _over_estimate the consumer. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/76 "2004-03-19T01:58:11Z")
I’m staying, as long as I figure out a way to pay that does not involve giving a credit card number to a source I don’t or can’t completely trust (including PayPal, which I’ve read many horror stories about). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/77 "2004-03-19T02:13:17Z")
Are ou kidding? This place is more addictive than porn. Safer at work, too. ---
**Author:** ![BabaBooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@BabaBooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BabaBooey)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/78 "2004-03-19T02:13:53Z")
If I get a job by the 22nd, I’ll probably fork over the $5 to stay. I have a feeling it will be a one year thing, though, considering the amount of new members will definitely decrease significantly. I know for a fact that I would have never have joined this board if I had to pay from the beginning… ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/79 "2004-03-19T02:18:52Z")
I’m staying. Like other posters have remarked, I’ve received an awesome education on a myriad of subjects on this board, the value of which far exceeds a measly $4.95. Besides, who else would take me? ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090/80 "2004-03-19T02:21:00Z")
\ I haven’t spent the last four years of my life here just to walk away now because they’re asking me for five bucks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-staying-on-the-sdmb/235090.md?page=5)