The Back Alley Archives

GC is now charging a $5 fee to register for a basic forum account.

Basic Registration ($4.97)
Register an account on Gator Country so you can participate on our forums, polls, and more...

In an effort to recruit more serious message board posters (and also to eliminate "drive bys" from rivals and troublemakers), we are now charging a one time $5 fee for basic registration.

If you eventually upgrade to an annual subscription or buy an item in our soon to come GC Store, we'll give you a $5 off coupon! Make sure your email address is valid to receive this coupon.

I was going to register a couple extra aliases, just for fucking with them. But there is no way in hell I'm giving them money.

You have got to be kidding me.

that's absurd. fuckers better not try charging me to keep my 'free' account open.

are we grandfathered?

existing usernames look to be grandfathered

^^^Yes, existing usernames are still okay.

I've seen other forums do this, particularly MetaFilter and SomethingAwful. It does serve to keep out the riff-raff, but those are pretty much one-of-a-kind communities.

If GC keeps it up, they're gonna lose posters to GatorBait.net and maybe even Scout or Rivals.

In an effort to recruit more serious message board posters (and also to eliminate "drive bys" from rivals and troublemakers), we are now charging a one time $5 fee for basic registration.

i'm assuming if i login 5 different names and pay my 25 bucks i'll be allowed to do it right?

and what if i only login 1 name and pay my 5 bucks, will they refund me if they ban me? will the ban police be more lenient?

In an effort to recruit more serious message board posters (and also to eliminate "drive bys" from rivals and troublemakers), we are now charging a one time $5 fee for basic registration.

i'm assuming if i login 5 different names and pay my 25 bucks i'll be allowed to do it right?

and what if i only login 1 name and pay my 5 bucks, will they refund me if they ban me? will the ban police be more lenient?

Keep dreaming. They'll have some kind of provision put into their terms of service or something (and if they don't, they'll do it retroactively) that gives them the right to ban anyone for any reason with no refund. I would.

seriously doc, want me to get on the chat with growl tonite and sort this bullshit out once and for all?

Ray just announced it over at TCU's place: http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=360&f=12 ... &t=1671544

That's a good point Rad...can you imagine the hassle it will be for them when they want to ban them? They are going to have to give their $5 back or risk a big ol' mess. So silly. I have not gone over there at all other than to just read and it surely isn't worth $5! eesh.

seriously doc, want me to get on the chat with growl tonite and sort this bullshit out once and for all?

Don't to anything on my behalf. I am done with any serious contribution to their community.

I've got an alias ready to go that I may build up some good vibes with before I go crazy with him, but that's all just for laughs.

They've been doing that for several weeks now. Figured you dudes knew that. It's not a bad idea really. Keeps down on the idiots that want to post stupid stuff on SG.

They've been doing that for several weeks now. Figured you dudes knew that. It's not a bad idea really. Keeps down on the idiots that want to post stupid stuff on SG.

Dang, I thought it was done in response to us!

Keeps down on the idiots that want to post stupid stuff on SG.

I resemble this remark.

naw, more like the tOSU and Noles

Hmmm....I didn't know about this and I post over there. Guess I missed it.

This probably would have kept me from signing up. It was good for me to be able to go there for free to see if I liked it. After a few months of lurking and then posting, I decided to pay for all the fun I was having.

Are they going to let people do any "trying before buying?" If not, I think it could keep some good posters away, especially students on very fixed incomes, etc. [img]{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_sad.gif[/img]

Is there a thread or an announcement where I can comment? I'll go look later.

Hmmm....I didn't know about this and I post over there. Guess I missed it.

This probably would have kept me from signing up. It was good for me to be able to go there for free to see if I liked it. After a few months of lurking and then posting, I decided to pay for all the fun I was having.

Are they going to let people do any "trying before buying?" If not, I think it could keep some good posters away, especially students on very fixed incomes, etc. [img]{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_sad.gif[/img]

Is there a thread or an announcement where I can comment? I'll go look later.

Well, one can read the forums before buying. And it looks like it's a one-time fee, so the hit to the pocketbook is pretty small.

I didn't see any announcement thread.

I don't remember them announcing it Pam. I just remember seeing a post from Solari, probably in the mod's forum over there.

isn't that what mods and admins are for?

to take out the trash?

I'm guessing that they couldn't find any more Swamp Gas mods that wanted to deal with the crap rad. I agree that it would be their job though and that is why I quit being a SG mod long ago, cause I didn't want to deal with all the chit going on in there.

This sounds like a pretty bad idea to me... Honestly, some of the fun about forums like GC is reading the completely asinine opinions of others and laughing smugly to yourself about what an idiot they are...

Also, I thought that Ray et al operated on a "any traffic is good traffic" mentality. This maneuver seems to be a great departure from that position...

It could backfire in their face. I agree that it certainly will stop many from joining, especially those that just want to post a comment or two. I mean, you don't start posting on GC with the thought you are going to be going there everyday, multiple times a day. You start by posting a comment or two in some interesting threads and get sucked in that way.

doubt i would have ever started posting there or ultimately be here if this policy were in effect 5 years ago.