What would you pay per-month for an Ad-Free ATS?

a reply to: SkepticOverlord


No, I wouldn't pay a dollar, I thought we were like family.

Well, I've read through all 8 pages of this thread, and there are a lot of good points presented here.

For the last 6 months or so I have spent a huge amount of time here on ATS. It has become very important to me and I very much appreciate this well managed site. How much profit is being made is irrelevant to me. But I do believe that it is worth a few dollars from me to keep this site functioning at full efficiency.

I think a $5 fee is about right. I'm not using and Ad Blocker on ATS. But, I don't get too many adds right now, although I do block Flash content because it slows my machine and occasionally causes my browser to crash. So having the privilege of blocking ads is not necessarily appealing to me.

On the other hand, people who are charged for bandwidth may find this a useful feature, depending on how much their data allowance costs.

I was initially thinking that having some kind of badge of honor in my profile would be kind of cool. But based on some good points made by other posters, I think that might create a subconscious ad hoc class structure. There are already some signals that indicate one poster is more worthy of respect than others. But those characteristics, like longevity, post count, rank, etc. are all earned. They are not purchased. Respect can't be purchased.

Being able to purchase gift subscriptions also seemed to be a good idea. But as others have indicated, that could lead to some collusion that would skew how content is perceived. Right now, that perception is based on the strength of the argument and its supporting evidence. I like that.

In summary I would say that allowing those who prefer no advertisement to pay a monthly fee is fine. But rewarding that payment with anything other than an advertisement free experience would be problematic and diminish the authentic feeling of freedom of thought that I'm currently experiencing.

-dex

a reply to: Rabb420

This is the point. It's almost like some kind of scam. I pay for a subscription to the ABA and other journals, but to pay to go to a website where there are no paid employee's? That sounds like a scam.

originally posted by: Trueman
a reply to: SkepticOverlord


No, I wouldn't pay a dollar, I thought we were like family.

Hey that's how things work in my family We always be hittin' each other up for cash.

That's why I am estranged from my family now..


Having said that, who's going to gift me a subscription???

Here's an idea!

Any member with a minimal thread count who wishes to avoid ads needs to...

GET BUSY!!!

Many on here are smarter than they think and just need a little encouraging and practice. Repetitive researching, reading and writing will help refine your skills and help build the courage and confidence needed to share your ideas.

For example, I haven't even begun to tap into my own philosophical views on life and have a plethora of ideas I will eventually share pertaining to myself and how I navigate the world.

I don't just come here to beg for scraps of conspiracy oriented content, I generate it. Everyone here has the ability to share and connect with a lot of people here. Be the change. Bring ideas that will highlight and expose your beautiful mind.

Lets "make ATS great again!"

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

Although I understand the need, I wouldn't be able to afford monthly subscriptions, nor do I want something else draining the bank account.

I could see a yearly one time subscription though, that might be doable, for me anyways.

It kind of bums me out that ATS might have to go to paid subscription,
but I would probably pay it...

lol

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

How about making it advertisement free with a donation of "X" amount?

a reply to: eisegesis

Many on here are smarter than they think and just need a little encouraging and practice.

Unfortunately, that motivation is quickly sidelined by immediate attacks, scorn and ridicule. I won't post anything anymore.

a reply to: Darkblade71

It kind of bums me out that ATS might have to go to paid subscription, but I would probably pay it...

C'mon man, don't be cheap. This site must pay a small fortune simply storing your 11,000 posts, for crying out loud.

a completely ad-free site

it's to late for that now... I"ve acquired an emotional attachment to the Ads & bonded with them after surviving a traumatic Pop-Up event, concordantly contracting the "AdSense Syndrome"...

originally posted by: Eilasvaleleyn
a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

The two tier system arises from the proposal of "subscribers only" forums.

RATS is arguably something similar to that, but all people can access it relatively quickly, and it's not exactly highly used anyway.

That feels like irrational fear.

For pay content is something that is part of our daily life. The people who saw the latest Star Wars (or any other for pay entertainment) aren't exactly a different class of people. Well....not that THAT way.

Surely people can pay a buck a month.

I just don't think that many people will.

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

Here's my answer: I already apparently have enough participation credit to not see any ads.......which is groovy......

so - if you implement this, would it change my status?

Or is this just for brand new sign-ups until they reach a certain post or flag or star count or whatever point?

Am responding to the OP, so haven't read through to see if this has already been answered.
No need to reply if it's been addressed.......I'll find it.

I find it odd that many thoughts are geared around trying to find a way of avoiding paying. You do realize this is S.O's business, right? His work. How he makes money. His occupation. When he is on ATS he is at work. You get that, yes? And it is obvious it is more than that. He genuinely cares about it.

The other thing is it will still be free. Be a subscriber if you want, if you don't then continue the status quo. It seems he's testing the water to see how many people would be interested. I don't see why people can't say yea or nay without being an ass about it. He's asking a question.

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

I would rather pay a yearly charge. I dont like repeating charges.

I could swing 50 bucks a year or something.

a reply to: markosity1973

Maybe you could have extended benefits for those who do subscribe to make it attractive?

Like perhaps longer time to edit posts, access to exclusive content (Maybe a RATS reinvention) and a reintroduction of levels of content contribution IE rust, silver gold contributor or whatever it was you used to use.
edit on 1-3-2016 by markosity1973 because: (no reason given)

That, or access to a chat room?

originally posted by: Domo1
So I want to preface this by saying that I'm not at all trying to be snarky, and am genuinely curious/asking politely.

How are there so many other forums out there that don't have these funding problems? ATS is a lot more polished, and I don't have any real grasp of running a site, so it's always sort of confused me. Can someone explain it thoroughly and as if I'm about 12 years old please?

As a small time forum owner maybe I can answer this. I pay for my forum out of pocket, depending on your bandwidth needs it can actually be quite inexpensive. Many medium sized forums are also paid for out of pocket, but then hold periodic donation drives to supplement operating expenses.

I don't know of any offhand, but I bet a lot of forums are starting to go down the Twitch route as well (which does a lot of live streaming and video storage... not a cheap thing to offer freely), where users are able to subscribe and gain extra's like special emoticons. I think the real issue here is that the owners are trying to also pay for a living out of ATS and from what I've seen the vast majority of forums don't really have that type of potential to be monetized, it's mainly a world where you're a huge success if you can just break even.

In my opinion, ATS shouldn't be offering subscriptions to prevent advertisements because that's wide open to abuse but rather for other improvements. For example: A set of subscriber emoticons, an easier time at getting threads to the main page (a flag bonus or whatever metric it uses, high enough to make it more common but low enough that unsubscribed members can still hit it), some additional website themes, a better inbox, and so on. I've seen some forums even completely fund their operating expenses by doing something as simple as optional donations that changed the color of the posters username and giving them an extra title under their name that said "forum supporter".

On another small forum I frequent, none of us wanted to pay for the hosting, so what we did was we set up an Amazon buy link and when people make online purchases we occasionally use the link which gets the site a small kickback for the sale and that was enough to cover the annual hosting/domain/etc costs.

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

I have no idea how the subscription mechanics are set up. I'm familiar with a few well known talk sites and was down to one (that is only worth its salt when there is a guest host) and have dropped it in favor of another.

For me, the best of both worlds would be a situation where, like the other site mentioned, I could plan ahead for when my year was coming up and the default was a renewal with an option to cancel with reasonable advance notice.

I'll be interested in what the final consensus is, but I will do my best to support this forum as best I can. Since I can no longer work and the majority of responses I'm able to get from my wife are the equivalent of, "You don't say..?", I place a premium on intelligent conversation.

originally posted by: donktheclown
a reply to: eisegesis

Many on here are smarter than they think and just need a little encouraging and practice.

Unfortunately, that motivation is quickly sidelined by immediate attacks, scorn and ridicule. I won't post anything anymore.

Teach them.

Make them "see the error of their ways" by consistently setting the example. Many here feed into it than rise above it. If everybody chose to ignore rude and ignorant comments, we could easily have a discussion while they sit on the sidelines an whine about how no one is responding to them. I do it all the time. Any rude, stupid, shortsighted or bait-like comments, I completely ignore. Let them be invisible.

a reply to: Klassified

Can we have our old emoticons back? Damn, I miss those.

Right?!?! Me, too!!!
That and the chat room.