Supporting Members

[Steve]

Several years ago I made the decision to allow Supporting Memberships to expire. The logic was why have a Lifetime Membership level when Supporting Membership never expired?

When I made the change, I added two or three years to all Supporting Members to give everyone time to see the change and to have a few years to prepare. Well, about a month ago, a lot of memberships hit that two year mark and expired. And a lot of you called me on it.

I see now that this was a mistake. A big mistake that I truly regret making.

Therefore, I am changing things back to the old model where Supporting Memberships never expire. Give me a few days to implement this, but by the end of the week everything should be back to the way it once was.

Again, I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused anyone.

Steve

[R D]

It was not a mistake Steve,100 percent of the people on this forum spend $100 a month or more on entertainment and communication and they can't donate $10 a year to help with the costs of this site.BS

[Ronster]

I agree with RD here.   There's nothing wrong with a "supporting membership" status with an expiration date attached to it.    Removing expiration date makes supporting members essentially lifetime members who just don't have access to a single sub-forum.   

Setting an expiration date for supporting member statuses is no different than being an "ESPN Insider" on their site.   When you stop paying, you still have access to all the great things that ESPN.com has to offer for free, just none of the insider reports.   I, for one, paid for a one year subscription on the ESPN site, enjoyed it, but decided it wasn't worth renewing.   I still enjoy the site very much for what I am able to access.

Why should this site be any different?   If you give $10 a year, you get access to the supporting member forums.    If you don't, you don't, but you still have access to most of the site, can share information and interact with the other users.   

I'd also like to make a comment about some of the complaints in the recent thread about this very subject were unfounded, unfair and frankly insulting to the moderators here.    The idea that people are "pressured" to donate is nonsense.    It's been said over and over and over again that it's a free site and only donate if you want!   

All the bemoaning about moderators not being friendly and Steve being an absentee administrator was unfair to everyone who volunteers there time here.    Many of the comments made in that string were shameful and hopefully have nothing to do with why this change is being made.

That's just my two cents.

[shedking]

It was not a mistake Steve,100 percent of the people on this forum spend $100 a month or more on entertainment and communication and they can't donate $10 a year to help with the costs of this site.BS

agreed 100%

[dfran]

Well put RD

[lreops]

It was not a mistake Steve,100 percent of the people on this forum spend $100 a month or more on entertainment and communication and they can't donate $10 a year to help with the costs of this site.BS

I agree and think Ronnie brings up a good point. As with everything in life, there are cost involved, whether it be getting the things you need for day to day existence, watching TV, driving down the Interstate, even just going for a walk. It's a fact of life that everything has a cost behind it, in one way or another. And if that's not enough, then comes the cost of maintaining all of these things.

There are probably costs associated with running and maintaining this fine site that many are unaware of. There should be a method to help fund the continuance and long life of this site. Unfortunately though, there is always a percentage of people that expect a "Free Ride" and are the first to complain when their free ride requires them to put a little gas in the tank so that they can continue with what they perceive as their free ride.

As it stands now, those of us that do understand these costs that are involved, made a choice to be a lifetime member. Now, what added benefit does that bring them, only the fact that they realize the need to help maintain this site and the added ability to access Mumbo Lounge. Now I need to ask, how is it fair to these people that someone can only make a one donation of $10.00, again just ONE time, and receive the same benefits of a lifetime member minus the Mumbo Lounge. So, with that in mind, what then is the incentive for anyone to subscribe to being a lifetime member?? Not much.

Therefore, in conclusion, I think Steve was well within his original thoughts of making donations, other than Lifetime memberships, a yearly requirement.

My 2¢ 

[CaptMoose]

I agree with the expiration date which is well put by those above.  I'm not sure I would say that the supporting members "called you on it" Steve, I would say they forgot they were getting an extension of a 1 year membership so there really shouldn't have been any issues.  The terms of use and supporting/lifetime membership options are very clearly stated and simple to understand.

[Ronster]

As it stands now, those of us that do understand these costs that are involved, made a choice to be a lifetime member. Now, what added benefit does that bring them, only the fact that they realize the need to help maintain this site and the added ability to access Mumbo Lounge. Now I need to ask, how is it fair to these people that someone can only make a one donation of $10.00, again just ONE time, and receive the same benefits of a lifetime member minus the Mumbo Lounge. So, with that in mind, what then is the incentive for anyone to subscribe to being a lifetime member?? Not much.

You have a witness in the congregation.

[jack1747]

Back in the day....

The incentive of becoming a Lifetime Member was to donate a amount that you felt you wanted to do and could afford to do.  Some folks have "donated" allot more money then 100 bucks...  Because they wanted to and could.  The Gold Bar and the Mumbo Lounge was a way for Steve to say thanks to those individuals.  There are a few Lifers that are Lifers cause certain individuals gave a 100 buck donation in their name. Etc.

We did not pay a 100 bucks to become a Life Time Member. There wasn't any Life Time Member. The donations came long before there was any status symbols. You need to go back to dirt to truly understand what I am trying to say.  

[jack1747]

Topic locked per Steve's instructions.  Comments about donations should be sent to his bmail...