Ad-Free Apolyton: THE POLL

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by DrSpike
MWIA:

There is no good way I can think of to make something 'worthwhile' available when Mark and Dan wish to keep content free. All they can offer are nice bonuses. Ultimately it will be about contributing to the site we all enjoy I think, not getting real value for money.

Mark/Dan:

Going on from that, I don't think you will have a huge take up of such an offer. However, I commend the decision to keep content free, and probably in the long run it is the correct decision.

Since I have no idea how much ads bring in from one average poster over 1 year I can't say exactly how much the subscription with benefits 1 to 2b should cost. However, since IMO it will mainly be taken up as a contribution to the site I suggest it is set at around $30 per year in order to attract as many contributors as possible.

I would pay that, and pay it glady for the benefits discussed, even though I don't think they are worth that much. That's why I think you need to re-emphasise supporting the site a little more at this stage, and de-emphasise thinking of benefits worth a higher price, since IMO there are not any whilst the content remains free, as it should.

Mark/Dan: If you make the reemphasis I suggested you might cut out at least some of the predominantly unuseful posts suggesting there is no point to paying for the benefits discussed.

[pchang]

This may all become moot since IE is incorporating pop up blocking into its browser as a default option. (I think some time this summer)

[SpencerH]

Good point. That may mean the return of larger banner ads across the web.

[alva]

You really think Microsoft provides this (pop-up blocker) without an altenative (pop-up) allready beeing availlable. Microsof is looking for some good PR here, they aren't IMHO, looking at giving (computer illitered ) people an easy mean to get rid of them.

EDIT : forgot to type many, many words , hope it's more clear now.

[Snowflake]

I support the idea of paying annually, and life time membership, if possible. I'd be happy to pay $20-$25 per year. Don't have to see any additional benefit, the site itself is worth of this much at least. But if you want to throw in some benefit, no popups and larger PM box sounds good to me. Don't care about size of avartar or +1 OT posts at all.

[SpencerH]

Confusing post Alva.

I'm not computer illiterate and I dont use one. I'm just wary of adding any functionality to IE that may make my system unstable (virus checkers, pop up blockers, etc). If MS add it to its OS then its likely to be reasonably stable (at least by the time I update).

[BigFree]

Originally posted by Bloody Monk

There is no "free" on the internet; someone has to pay for site upkeep.

There's plenty of 'free' on the internet. I dunno where you surf, you might have to 'pay'; but I usually don't.

You want the use of these boards, but you don't want to help the Owners keep the site open, which is the upshot of your pratling about your "right" to use a popup blocker. Surely you don't think Mark and Dan owes you a free ride. In this context, use of a blocker is akin to theft of services.

Monk

So, next time I'm on the the road and I purposely don't look at a billboard, am I stealing from the advertiser as well? What if I skip through the commercials of a recorded TV program? There are VCR's that are designed to do just that! Yet, I have not seen them declared illegal.

Mark or Dan don't owe me jack; I never said they did. They can shut down this site...ban me...edit me...censor me...it's their site, they can do what they wish. That said, they do have to do and allow cetain things on this site in order to keep people visiting this site and attract others to keep doing so as well.

Apolyton, as a site, has a relationship with it's members that require the members to contribute to the growth of the site and the site, in turn and in direct relation to the success of this site, has to provide the tools for the members to provide that beneficial content neede fopr a successful site. We need each other.

I help keep these forums alive by posting "content." That's the theory that runs every forum. If you have no "content" you don't have a useful forum. Which equals a dead forum.

I have no problem with the banner ads. If the owners neeed to ull in a little cash to keep the site running, that's fine. If they want to make a little extra cash with their ads that's fine as well. But, when the ads get too annoying and the benefit of the content doesn't counter the negative aspects of having advertisements shoved in your face, then I will stop visiting this site. Pop-ups are just one of those very annoying things to me. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks so. Oh well.

And, please, quit saying I'm a "moocher" or a "thief." Nothing is further from the truth.

[FlameFlash]

I'd be semi-interested so as just to support 'poly, but currently the only way I support 'poly is buying stuff through the Amazon link as my browser blocks the pop-ups.

/me shrugs.

[Bloody Monk]

Originally posted by BigFree

There's plenty of 'free' on the internet. I dunno where you surf, you might have to 'pay'; but I usually don't.
/////

And, please, quit saying I'm a "moocher" or a "thief." Nothing is further from the truth.

Just because there is no direct exchange of money does not mean you have not paid. If you avoided paying by, for instance, blocking the site's method of generating revenue, then YOU, by your action, did not pay. But it wasn't free. To claim so is being naive; which, surely,you are not.

I don't need to say you are anything; your words speak for themselves.

Have you perhaps heard the phrase, "You can't handle the truth."

The good thing is that if this plan works, then freeloaders will no longer be a problem and the use of a popup blocker will be unnecessary.

Monk

[Lorizael]

I would pay ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

Unfortunately my checking account says I'm short by about $999966.90.

But yah, I'd be willing to pay something like $20-30 a year for Poly.

[Andemagne]

Yes, but don't have a credit card.


Dollar or two per month.

[mrmitchell]

Why can't we just get Asher to throw us a few billion?

[SpencerH]

I seem to be getting a wave of annoying pop-ups tonight. Is this Mark and Dans idea of a marketing strategy?

"I'll pay anything, just dont let the weatherbug get me"!

[JellyBean]

I disabled my popup-blocker to take a look at these pop-ups that are the focus of so much debate. Looking at the source for the first one that appeared, behind a set of images of britney spears, I saw:

a href="http://www.gamblingresource.net/search.php?search_word=free+casino&rid=145909" onMouseOver="window.status='http://www.britneyspears.com'; return true"

For those who haven't used html much, this scrap of code means that when you click on the picture, you'll be taken to www.gamblingresource.net, but the little window at the bottom of your browser that usually displays the url that the link leads to will instead show www.britneyspears.com.

It's fairly clear that this is intended to trick people into clicking on the link, expecting a 'Britney Spears Image Gallery' as the text in the image indicates, only to be taken to a list of internet gambling sites, with no Britney at all.

It isn't a major inconvenience - it only affects the tiny minority who click on pop-ups - but it's still a scummy thing to do, and has reaffirmed my lack of faith in the advertising industry. My pop-up blocker is going back on.

[DanQ]

SpencerH: Earlier in this thread I said that "[t]he subscription service is targeted for extras and non-access as well as non-content related additions/permissions" ( within [ http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...58#post2763158 ] ). Markos has already addressed the issue you have cited more directly and is quoted on it above on this page of this thread.

Let me expand on it by affirming that preferential server access during excessively high traffic periods will remain in effect for all registered forum users as is the policy now regardless of whether or not they are a paid subscriber.

---------
Dan; Apolyton CS