Quote myself from a OF praising post I wrote earlier:
"I have been in this hobby for a while now and I have seen the rise and fall of some sites. It often comes down to the moderators/owners loosing the humor, giving up on individuality and last but not least - they end up letting personal gain come first."
All I know is, you Arkansas State fans were partying up a storm in NOLA before the bowl game. (Maybe slightly more subdued after? No problem, you'll get 'em next year.) Nothing wrong with a little school spirit -- among consenting adults, of course!
Quote myself from a OF praising post I wrote earlier:
"I have been in this hobby for a while now and I have seen the rise and fall of some sites. It often comes down to the moderators/owners loosing the humor, giving up on individuality and last but not least - they end up letting personal gain come first."
Problem is forums need to be owned by someone, and they put out $ every month to keep it running. Those costs need to be covered somehow. Don't know of any that are truly for the free exchange of ideas and opinions since the owner/ operator and their moderator team will typically have a range of acceptable (to them) content. I'm on some car forums, knife forums, a camera forum, etc. and in no instance is the free exchange of ideas and opinions part of the terms of service. And they all solicit donations to keep running, even the ones that also allow vendors to sponsor.
So as a new boy here, could someone explain to me who pays for this site. Clearly there are costs and time involved. There is no advertising. Are there some fabulous philanthropists out there? Or is it just watch fairies at work?
No time to read threads when you're on a speed posting mission; 36 posts since joining today.
As a moderator, I love to muck around in the mud with a pig for a while. It's a good reminder of how nice it is on the other side of the pen and a little public humiliation puts on a show. Lets the few others that were on the fence about being asshats see exactly what happens. Plus, I don't mind if members give the offender a few jabs too - sort of like hockey where the players police themselves and the ref only steps in for egregious penalties. However, I do eventually tire of it. Other than spammers, I don't think I've axed anyone here. There was one member banned several years ago for making crazy violent insinuations to me, but I wasn't the one who pulled the lever that made the blade fall.
Problem is forums need to be owned by someone, and they put out $ every month to keep it running. Those costs need to be covered somehow. Don't know of any that are truly for the free exchange of ideas and opinions since the owner/ operator and their moderator team will typically have a range of acceptable (to them) content. I'm on some car forums, knife forums, a camera forum, etc. and in no instance is the free exchange of ideas and opinions part of the terms of service. And they all solicit donations to keep running, even the ones that also allow vendors to sponsor.
