Just saw a name on the site that I know I have seen around forever, but they didnt have a star. So I clicked on their profile, a "member" since August 2001....thats soon to be four years, without ever having paid a penny. Maybe you could have a rule that made paid membership mandantory after 2 years, or even 1 year. Before I hear the same old song and dance about some people being to poor to fork out 20 dollars, keep in mind that the rest of us do...and more money for the owner will eventually translate into better and faster equipment for the site. Any thoughts on this?
Originally posted by Bobla45 Just saw a name on the site that I know I have seen around forever, but they didnt have a star. So I clicked on their profile, a "member" since August 2001....thats soon to be four years, without ever having paid a penny. Maybe you could have a rule that made paid membership mandantory after 2 years, or even 1 year. Before I hear the same old song and danc ...[text shortened]... r will eventually translate into better and faster equipment for the site. Any thoughts on this?
I completely agree.
A year it's enough time to decide,on Playchess.com after a month of membership if you can't fork the money they will reset all your games record,rating,username (you become a number like guest123456) and you can't create rated games,hence almost no one will play you.
It was disappointing for me but I understand the business-point of view.
The problem with this is that many non-subscribers will create "last day chaos" They'll be thinking "If I am going to be kicked off tomorrow anyway, I might as well spam the boards or do some other destructive activity before creating a new account."
Banning IP's probably won't work either since some people have dynamic IP's, IP masking software, etc.
Also, what happens if a non-subscriber somehow reaches the top 20? If he/she gets thrown off, the list of top players won't be that credible (hey, player xx is not supposed to be on the list, he only got there because non-subscriber xx got thrown out). If free subscribtions are paid to top members (so they get to stay), this will encourage cheating.
Originally posted by Bobla45 Just saw a name on the site that I know I have seen around forever, but they didnt have a star. So I clicked on their profile, a "member" since August 2001....thats soon to be four years, without ever having paid a penny. Maybe you could have a rule that made paid membership mandantory after 2 years, or even 1 year. Before I hear the same old song and danc ...[text shortened]... r will eventually translate into better and faster equipment for the site. Any thoughts on this?
Bob,
Everyone has paid for the membership at least once. One of the early tactics to get new members was to allow them to be life-time members if they paid the current membership.
I believe that the rule changed in the end of 2002, I believe that there were about 300-400 members who became life-time members.
These include myself and my son.
Originally posted by Bobla45 Just saw a name on the site that I know I have seen around forever, but they didnt have a star. So I clicked on their profile, a "member" since August 2001....thats soon to be four years, without ever having paid a penny. Maybe you could have a rule that made paid membership mandantory after 2 years, or even 1 year. Before I hear the same old song and danc ...[text shortened]... r will eventually translate into better and faster equipment for the site. Any thoughts on this?
Terrible idea. I think they should be able to play for free for as long as they please. Chess is free, don't put a price tag on it. If this site forced people to subscribe or quit I would be out of here in a hearbeat.
Originally posted by hopscotch Terrible idea. I think they should be able to play for free for as long as they please. Chess is free, don't put a price tag on it. If this site forced people to subscribe or quit I would be out of here in a hearbeat.
But you have subscribed?! š
If this site was to have to close due to lack of funds then I think the people who were serious about playing Chess would soon find the very small annual subscription fee to bring it back to life, the rest of the freeloading, spamming, trolls would find another free site to mouth-off on.
If you're here to play Chess then I don't think it's much to ask you to contribute. Ironically, if Russ was to make posting in the forums subject to a subscription fee I think more people would pay to do that than play more Chess! š³
I was a member for more than a year (I was at university) before I subscribed. The 6 games I played against friends etc. was enough for me.
I eventually came to love this site - now I will subscribe every year for the forseeable future.
I just think alienating 'serious' non-subscribers by trying to force them into subscribing might just be more costly than you can foresee and I don't think Russ can take that chance with possible subscribers.
In any case, if someone really didn't want / could subscribe - they would just register another account for the next year.
Originally posted by MooTheCow The problem with this is that many non-subscribers will create "last day chaos" They'll be thinking "If I am going to be kicked off tomorrow anyway, I might as well spam the boards or do some other destructive activity before creating a new account."
Banning IP's probably won't work either since some people have dynamic IP's, IP masking software ...[text shortened]... free subscribtions are paid to top members (so they get to stay), this will encourage cheating.
I agree moo.
I do not know a subsciber who does agree that they have recieved value for money.
Non subscribers also get value for money.
My oiginal motivation for subscribing was to lose the annoying adverts. Only after subscribing was did the true flower of this site begin to bloom.
However there is a large segment of internet traffic who refuse to buy anything on line, but these people still generate income for the site in the same way as readers of free magazines generate income.
Originally posted by hopscotch Terrible idea. I think they should be able to play for free for as long as they please. Chess is free, don't put a price tag on it. If this site forced people to subscribe or quit I would be out of here in a hearbeat.
agreed. Sounds like an idea that you just came up with to please the "I'm a member and you're not so you suck" crowd. non-members are fine. if 6 games at once with no other activities is what they want, then there should be a place like this to do it.
2 Year Rule
31 May '05 15:05
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