So how are we going to keep it fresh?

[Diemen]

I signed up for the premium member status without a 2nd thought, but I'm a little concerned about the future of this forum under this new payment plan.

Like it or not, to the total newbie or random surfer, anything that requires a membership fee to post is a BIG turnoff, no matter how small the fee. And so I think that while the forum will go on for a while after the initial shock of December 1st wears off, I fear it might stagnate for lack of new blood coming in.

I'm sure (and/or I hope) that it's already been looked into, but I think if this site wants to keep alive we're going to have to let new people experience Interference w/out restrictions if we want to attract new members...so that leads to the possibility of an introductory offer.

For 2 or 3 months, newbies get full access to interference - all the priviledges of a full member, for free, so they can get a feel for the place and also get used to the people and (hopefully) get comfortable. If they like it, then they can sign up for a full year's worth of Interference, or choose the month by month. If they decide not to, well then, they haven't taken up too much bandwidth and we'll wish them on their merry way . It would look good if this introductory offer was advertised prominently on the home page of the forum (and interference.com) so upon visiting the first thing they see isn't "You must be a member to read and post in this forum" but something more inviting like "Like what you see? Sign up for our introductory offer and get unrestricted access for the first 3 months - FREE!"

Of course, I think it still might be a hard sell if the only feature we really have besides the forum is a (sparsely populated) chat room, so maybe Elvis and the mods could cook up some specials of some sort or another that would go beyond your typical vbb board.

Any thoughts, comments, suggestions?

[KhanadaRhodes]

are you saying like for 2-3 months after december 1st there should be an introductory period, or for 2-3 months for whenever a newbie would sign up?

cuz if it's the latter, then we'd have the problem of people abusing that and signing up for another handle as soon as the other one expired. but if it was the former, i dunno if elvis and/or sicy would want to do that, but it'd be easier to control since it'd be another cut-off date for everyone, but then there'd be the whole discrimination thing.

what i mean by that is that those of us who are already members, some may feel upset that they'd felt forced to either pay up or leave. those who have paid would be upset that some are still getting a free ride, and those that chose not to pay would be upset that they felt forced to leave, but could've stayed anyway for this free offer.

but i dunno...i'm not the owner, i don't pay the bills, but i just thought i'd weigh in.

[daisybean]

I know in that big ole EYKIW thread there is mention of doing some type of preview thing...

[Salome]

Originally posted by Diemen
so maybe Elvis and the mods could cook up some specials of some sort or another

even more special than my already wonderful posts
those are already worth $50 per year at least

[Sicy]

Khan is right.

BTW.. people with 0 posts have already paid. What I'm saying is.. its possible that even being able to see all the forums but only being able to post in lets say 2, it would make new users want to sign up.

I'm also going to start auctioning off Salome's posts.. $50 is a steal..

[Diemen]

Originally posted by KhanadaRhodes
are you saying like for 2-3 months after december 1st there should be an introductory period, or for 2-3 months for whenever a newbie would sign up?

cuz if it's the latter, then we'd have the problem of people abusing that and signing up for another handle as soon as the other one expired. but if it was the former, i dunno if elvis and/or sicy would want to do that, but it'd be easier to control since it'd be another cut-off date for everyone, but then there'd be the whole discrimination thing.

what i mean by that is that those of us who are already members, some may feel upset that they'd felt forced to either pay up or leave. those who have paid would be upset that some are still getting a free ride, and those that chose not to pay would be upset that they felt forced to leave, but could've stayed anyway for this free offer.

but i dunno...i'm not the owner, i don't pay the bills, but i just thought i'd weigh in.

well, I'm not saying enact it right away so people can sign up now and get 3 months free, I'm saying after some time, after the forum has settled down and, most importantly, if in fact we do have problems getting new people to sign up.

As for people abusing it and signing up for different handles after their offer has expired, like Elvis has already said, it's quite easy to track a person down via IP addresses, etc, so people abusing that and signing up for extra handles could/should easily be identified and prevented from doing so.

[Diemen]

Originally posted by Sicy
Khan is right.

BTW.. people with 0 posts have already paid. What I'm saying is.. its possible that even being able to see all the forums but only being able to post in lets say 2, it would make new users want to sign up.

I'm also going to start auctioning off Salome's posts.. $50 is a steal..

Yeah, but these people w/ 0 posts have been able to read the entire forum, not just a select few parts of it. Right now we already have logins required to read virtually all different parts of the forums except the 5 ZooTV ones, and I think we can all agree that those first 5 aren't where the action is at on the forums. After December 1st, the ones they can read and post will be knocked down to 2 or whatever, so that would seem to really reduce the exposure newbies would get to the full forum experience.

Correct me if I'm misunderstanding something here.

[Sicy]

Actually, you need to log in to read anything as of right now.

Its still yet to be decided which forums will be free.

I've been trying to convince Elvis to let them all be free.

But we'll see what happens. We cant speculate until Dec 1st. Things can always be changed yknow.. with the touch of a button.

[KhanadaRhodes]

Originally posted by Sicy
Things can always be changed yknow.. with the touch of a button.

exactly.

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

Originally posted by Sicy
Things can always be changed yknow.. with the touch of a button.

Mmmm, buttons....

[Bonochick]

Sorry this is off-topic, but this subject line says "fresh" and the thread below it says "cookies", and now I am craving some fresh baked, chocolate chip cookies.

Damn you all.

[Elvis]

Like Sicy said.... with the touch of a button.

I'm still deciding how many forums, and which, will be totally open for registered (free) members.

I also have other ideas in the fire presently and need to see how they turn out prior to making any decisions.


As I've said b4, I have no intention of completely cutting off new blood... but at the minimum forum registration (free) will be required. It seems to help the server...

[martha]

Originally posted by Bonochick
Sorry this is off-topic, but this subject line says "fresh" and the thread below it says "cookies", and now I am craving some fresh baked, chocolate chip cookies.

Damn you all.

I just made chocolate chip scones. I used raw sugar on top, so they're a little crunchy on top, and then perfectly baked in the center. I know. I suck.

[Tip Top Prince]

Originally posted by Sicy
its possible that even being able to see all the forums but only being able to post in lets say 2, it would make new users want to sign up.

or, looked at more realistically, non-premium users will post all their posts in those 2 forums. So much for everything in it's place.

[Angela Harlem]

Thats what moderators are for Tip Top Prince. If it is off topic, it wont stay there. I guess some might try it out of ignorance or to be a pain, but its counter productive for the user to post irrelevant threads in those free forums when they will just get moved.