Yea.....I kind of would like maybe just a small red line that says "Supporting Member" similar to the "Supporting Vendor"......The General Patton thing with the stars kind of screams at you.....How 'bout it moderators?????????

 

Small price for good info and a few laughs.....

 

But WHY do the old stars have to go away???? I'm all for the concept, but now I can't tell one of you from the other based on your posts.

 

.....

 

I also agree Bring back the old starts with a supporting member under it !

 

The small stars should also stay.

 

Yep, I think so too.

 

Worth the money. Already saved multiples of the cost from forum member deals to say nothing of the great info!

 

Kept me sane while my car was on order. Much cheaper than psychiatry. Tremendous amount of good information and entertaining as well!

 

Made out the check this AM. This site has been more fun and informative than any other place on the web. Long live the COREVTTE FORUM!!

 

I will be sending mine out this afternoon...

 

Started my support yesterday. The savings alone from Fitchner have easily been worth the donation. I have a short attention span, so if I am still enjoying this as much next year, I will make a lifetime commitment. (hope my wife doesn't see that comment)

 

I'm trying to be open minded, but must say that I have not made a decsion yet. Yes, I get value from the forum, and yes, paying for that value may have merit. But let me share some issues I have with it.

Cost: I think $25 a year is too high. I could give you reasons why I think that, but it doesn't matter what my reasons are, I just feel that way.

There are three different forums that I look at every single day. And in the past two years, there were two other forums that I looked at every single day. But I sold the cars that I owned pertaining to those forums. This could get real expensive if every forum adopted this policy.

I have bought several thousand dollars worth of products from forum vendors over the past three years. That is how the forum has been funded in the past - by US through our indirect dollars.

I am not smart enough to understand the wording of what "features" come with the fee. I currently have a web-site on the forum, and I have my "signature" with a picture that I attach to most of my posts. Am I going to lose both of them if I don't pay? I just don't know. If the fee pays for new features than I had before, I understand that. But if I lose features that have been free - I do have a problem with that.

Troy says the reason he has to do this is because there is so much traffic on the forum. That is his leverage to bring in more supporting vendors, which brings him more dollars to run his business (just like a radio station does).

Understand that I am not so much throwing stones at the concept as I'm trying to understand it. I also know that I am in a very, very small minority of people who actually stay active on a forum for more than about 18 - 24 months. I've been on this forum for four years, and I can assure you that there are very few people who have stayed on (and active) in that time. That is another reason why I question whether this will work or not. If you pay $100 for a lifetime membership, and lose interest in a year or two, that's going to be a very expensive year or two.

No flames, just my .02.

 

I will be sending a check this weekend for a lifetime membership. I don't think the small amount of money will come anywhere near what I have saved in the past 5 and one-half years of membership. I've purchased three Corvettes during that time period, bought GMPP's from Ken & Dennis, bought parts from Bob and Gene @ Beans, searched for the right bra, exhaust, wheels and everything else. I've certainly saved much, much more than what Troy has set for supporting membership. I always thought that this Forum would get to a point where a small fee would be required. I think for the service and the information it is but a very small price.
This is the most popular Corvette website as far as I can determine. I want to participate in any way possible to show my support for all of the years of pleasure I've received involving my Corvettes!!

 

I feel exactly the same way. But I do relate this situation to paying for cable TV and having to put up with commercials on the cable channels that I pay for. I may kick something in in the future though. I'll just have to wait and see.

 

Jim, buddy I see your point. Mine comes from a different angle. And that angle is the annoyance that we get from trolls. By making membership required, we eliminate 100% of the trolls on this site. We reduce traffic substantitally, which solves 75% of the problem with the servers being overloaded. I remember the earlier days when membership was much smaller. Members were MUCH more courteous and your thread didn't sink off of the first page in a matter of hours. People didn't act like anonymous keyboard warriors nearly as much. There are benefits to a large forum, i.e. you get answers to technical questions quickly. The downside is that questions posed on the OT board can slide off of the first page in 20 minutes. So I agree, my proposal isn't perfect, and maybe some sort of hybrid solution would be better. I believe if memebership was required, it could be for $15 to $20 a year. Remember, the traffic reduction would solve the problem with over worked equipment.

Myself, I will pony up the $ for a membership. I get a lot of enjoyment out of this site, not to mention saving significant $$ on extended warranties on my C5 and our new Tahoe because of knowledge gained here. I bought my first Corvette and then found this site a week later. I am a gearhead/ car guy and that is why I bought my Corvette. I had no idea how much pleasure I would derive from the "social" aspect of the car. This forum has made that possible. I don't mind paying a small fee to keep it going. In addition, I will save big bucks on my C6 and extended warranty based on knowledge gained here.

 

Yeah, easy for you to "pony up". You don't even have a Corvette. You sold yours and have all that money burning a hole in your pocket! Myself, on the other hand, has spent money on toys that you have I have not even talked about (see my sig - notice anything different recently?). I'm one broke SOB!!

For those of you who don't know, "need for speed" is a very good friend of mine. I'm just pulling his leg. For an Engineer, he actually makes some good sense

 

Jim, I do believe General Motors has a solution for that burning sensation in my pocket. The draining of the pocket should occur this fall

I did notice the bikes the other day. I knew you bought 1 bike. Did you buy one for Cherl too ? What a Prince !!

 

One of them is my "Saturday" bike for running hard with the guys. The other is my "Sunday" bike for taking the little lady out riding. BTW, she is quite a sport. She has been on back at 110mph on the 1300, and just over 100mph on the Goldwing. She even likes going around curves at a somewhat spirited pace! She has only told me to slow down once, and I probably deserved it!

 

I agree.I was on an Audi forum for many years, it was free. I purchased from the Vendors there. I have all ready purchased from many of the vendors here .I also purchased a car for one of the sponsors on this forum. Vendors here make money off this forum. If the vendors pay to advertise here, I will continue to support them. I surf many forums and you can pick up the same information on each one. It is nice to see what is going on with the Cars, but it is not a necessity of life. I do not care if they let me post or if I have a picture next to my name. I can just read and move on .I ‘m not paying a fee so I can post my opinions or some information. I support the sponsors and vendors on this site .I do not plan to pay because this forum is so successful and you have growing pains .That is a good thing, now sell it to the Vendors. The people make this site and if enough people move on so do the vendors and the flow of information. As they say ,this in not the only game in town .