Why do you care who pays?

[Cervaise]

@RickJay

The whole “Charter Member” thing is ridiculous. Honestly, guys, you aren’t in fourth grade anymore; you don’t have to be on Jennifer’s “Best Friends” list, you know the one Andrea showed everyone at recess and Tina wasn’t on it and OHMYGOD, to have a sense of self-worth and dignity, as if you need it anyway to post on a semi-anonymous message board.

Jennifer’s a slut.

[Siam_Sam]

@Cervaise

Jennifer’s a slut.

But would you date someone who paid her?

[mhendo]

You can have my Charter Member label when you pry it from my…limp, uncaring hands.

Seriously. Count me among those who doesn’t give a shit about the Charter Member status thing. If you’re really obsessed with knowing how long someone’s been around, look at their join date.

I’d be much happier if the performance and search issues were fixed, and if this board started to function as efficiently and as glitch-free as other boards of similar size.

Lib, i get what you’re saying about it being a promise made, but we’ve had so many promises from the Admin folks about this board that i’m losing count, and i’d prefer that they deal with the ones that actually relate to board performance.

[Liberal]

@mhendo

Lib, i get what you’re saying about it being a promise made, but we’ve had so many promises from the Admin folks about this board that i’m losing count, and i’d prefer that they deal with the ones that actually relate to board performance.

A fair point. But if a man can’t deal with a simple thing, how will he deal with a diffcult thing?

Besides, it seems to me there’s a disconnect here. I don’t want **RickJay ** to be forced to have Charter Member status if he is offended by it as he seems to be. I just don’t want his vote taking it away from me. They can remove his if that’s what he wants. It’s a simple thing to do. Uh oh.

[Boyo_Jim]

@Siam Sam

Actually, my “Moocher” versus “Holier Than Thou” suggestion was a lame attempt at humor that got mistaken for sniping.

But you’ve omited the “Charter” group.

Charter Moochers?
Charter Cheapskates?

For he charter group that opt to keep paying:
Chartier Than Thou?
The Divine Charterians?

[Siam_Sam]

@Boyo Jim

But you’ve omited the “Charter” group.

Charter Moochers?
Charter Cheapskates?

For he charter group that opt to keep paying:
Chartier Than Thou?
The Divine Charterians?

Chartists?

[Astroboy14]

@RickJay

We have Charter Members who are, to be perfectly frank, total jackasses whose absence would add to the enjoyment of the SDMB.

HEY! :mad:

Do not.

[Skywatcher]

@Boyo Jim

But you’ve omited the “Charter” group.

Charter Moochers?
Charter Cheapskates?

For he charter group that opt to keep paying:
Chartier Than Thou?
The Divine Charterians?

Charlatans?

[danceswithcats]

And the ad at the bottom reads: Incontinence Info
Somebody gave a shit.

[Drunky_Smurf]

@neutron star

The only opinion I have on the linked thread is that this was pretty funny.

Great catch Neutron. That totally slippped by me.

[flight]

@Sarahfeena

It’s a false distinction, I think. We are ALL going to “earn” our participation here, either by looking at ads or by paying. Paying isn’t going to mean you’re a better Doper, it just will mean that you are someone who thinks it’s worth 15 bucks not to see ads.

Unless you are me, who will likely not pay anything and continue not to see ads.

[Man_With_a_Cat]

@flight

Unless you are me, who will likely not pay anything and continue not to see ads.

I was thinking this too, there those Things of Which We Dare Not Speak that are very helpful.

[Sarahfeena]

@flight

Unless you are me, who will likely not pay anything and continue not to see ads.

I think that’s kind of beside the point, though. The point is that I personally don’t think that paying $15 is a mark of someone who is more committed to being a contributing member of the SDMB. At this point, seeing as how the paying members won’t get anything but lack of ads, all it is is a mark of someone who is more committed to not wanting to see ads.

As far as I can see, talk of what the paying members will “get” or attempts to talk TPTB into giving these paying members some other kind of perk is just an attempt to make paying membership more than it is clearly intended to be. I don’t know why there is this desire to stratify the membership into “I’m better than you are” groups, and I think it’s misguided and detrimental to a message board community like this one. I belong to another board that has custom titles (surprise-bestowed by moderators, the way Tuba did Boyo Jim’s) and “levels” based on post count. It works there, because it’s a happy little community where moms talk about their kids and everyone gets along, and they don’t allow talk of politics because it caused fights and a lot of hurt feelings an election cycle or two ago. That is, a totally different kind of board. Methinks this isn’t the type of board where we want to give people more to be contentious over.

Not to mention WhyNot’s point in the linked thread, that TPTB are not necessarily trying to encourage paid membership, and are only planning it in order to appease a certain segment of the population here. I’m assuming they aren’t going to continue it unless it continues to offset lost ad revenue.

[Mooch]

I would totally pay to have Moocher under my name. Or not pay. Whatever.

[BlankSlate]

It would be funny if everyone used ad-blocker, forcing the owners to go back to paid subscriptions.

[kaylasdad99]

@Mooch

I would totally pay to have Moocher under my name. Or not pay. Whatever.

I bet that so would someone with the username of Minnie.

ETA: or Moose, for all us Charlie Parker fans.

[RickJay]

@Liberal

I don’t want **RickJay ** to be forced to have Charter Member status if he is offended by it as he seems to be. I just don’t want his vote taking it away from me. They can remove his if that’s what he wants. It’s a simple thing to do. Uh oh.

Boy, did you miss the point.

[Celyn]

@Blank Slate

It would be funny if …

I *think *we are not supposed to discuss such things publicly, but you cannot be expected to know that just yet.

Oh, and welcome to the boards.
Me I wonder if I could somehow be a charioteer instead of a charter. Ach no, I’d have to pay extra for the horses. Oh well.
Edited to add - haha you really do NOT want to live through a re-run of the whole "paid subscriptions " debate. That was fun

[Guinastasia]

Wouldn’t those who pay the higher fee be MORE entitled to Charter Member? I mean, if you think about it, they actually contribute more, so…

[MikeG]

I joined in 99, was one of the first to subscribe, let it slip and I could give a flying rats ass.