petdave -> RE: Pat for CM? (1/25/2008 7:45:25 PM)
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Thing is, i've been on a lot of forums over the years, and noticed a trend: -Free site: modest size, decent signal-to-noise -Free site: membership snowballs, starts attracting more noise, more bandwidth/moderation/general upkeep required -Unobtrusive advertisements added to cover increased expenses -More features added to offset advertisement noise <=== you are here -Site solicits donations/voluntary supporters, usually identified by a banner; most "core" posters contribute the first time, far fewer the following year -"Premium Membership" introduced to remove ads, more obtrusive ads phased in for "basic members", more features added, often in a diminishing-returns sort of way: Some quality members leave on "ain't payin' fer shit!" principle -Basic membership reduced to view-only, or all-but-worthless level, and advertisements are added to "premium membership." "Platinum membership" sometimes introduced, like old "Premium membership", but more expensive -Additional features/hacker activity drawn by income/poor coding bring down site for extended periods, repeatedly: most "core" posters leave -Site either ambles on with poor signal-to-noise, as people pay to join only to find out that it's not worth joining, or shuts down because it's no longer profitable (even though it wasn't profitable in the first place) Because i'm the jaded sort, i don't pay for discussions due to the above... seems like what you pay for usually ends up not being as good as what you were getting for free. The "other side" is a non-issue either way for me... i check in once a day or so, see no messages, check the "who's on" list for interesting names, leave...
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