Thoughts?

[OHNONO]

..... where do I pay ????

[lstucz]

The little white rectangular "Paypal Donate" button in the upper right-hand corner of every LSPN page.

[lstucz]

There are currently 7866 registered members. Imagine, if each of us just donated $10 a year. I doubt that we would need adds posted to cover costs, if everyone co-operated. Triple that and maybe Mark could quit his day job and just run this site.

Regarding making a donation and then having to pay a user fee later on? The way I see it, Mark has done all this work and kept the server going on his own for the past year, now. I think he deserves a little compensation for everything he has done. So, if I have to pay a user fee a month or more down the road, then so what, as long as it is reasonable.

I do not know anyone that owns a computer, whose bank account would be broken because they paid an extra ten dollars. You cannot even play 9 holes in real life for that price, anywhere I have played. Heck, one round of miniature golf costs $5 or more at today's rates.

[Westview]

There are currently 7866 registered members. Imagine, if each of us just donated $10 a year.

So far, only 60 registered members voted on yesterday's poll.
I'm willing to bet at least 7500 of these members are duplicate ID's.

[ErnieB]

There are currently 7866 registered members. Imagine, if each of us just donated $10 a year.

So far, only 60 registered members voted on yesterday's poll.
I'm willing to bet at least 7500 of these members are duplicate ID's.

Hmmm, that works out to about 125 ID's per poll voting member - geez, I need to get cracking I'm about 100 short

[Al_Frescoe]

I believe an annual fee is the way to go, and I would sign up right away. As far as money tourneys go .... please, please, please do not go that route, for your own sake Mark. Can you imagine what would happen when the disconnect demon hits some of these guys and they are DQed? What a headache for you and your crew. Also playing for money tends to bring out the worst in people, it's a sad but true fact I'm afraid.

Make LSPN more of a private club supported by the members, get security up to snuff regarding IP's and multi ID's etc. It really would sort out some of the "riff raff" as someone mentioned.

Great to see some progress in the near future, thanks Mark.

Al

[lstucz]

There are currently 7866 registered members. Imagine, if each of us just donated $10 a year.

So far, only 60 registered members voted on yesterday's poll.
I'm willing to bet at least 7500 of these members are duplicate ID's.

You may be right; but, let's hope not. Even so, that should still make at least 3000 real members. I think the real problem is that most come here to sign up and don't come back in unless they are having problems and looking for help. Some may even give up when they start having problems.

So, unfortunately, I don't see the donate button working. I think for everyone to do their share, Mark will have to start charging a usage fee, soon. I would bet that over half and maybe as much as 90 percent of those registered will not pay unless they have to do so.

Hopefully, your poll will stay active for a whole week. Remember, it was started on the weekend and many people are out enjoying the great weather we have been getting recently, instead of sitting behind their computers.

This weekend is the first time I have come back to the site in two weeks. I am trying to get outside and get some sun and exercise while the weather is good. Winter has practically disabled me, between my tendonitis and arthritis. Besides, we all need a break from routine once in a while.

That poll might attract more attention if it was posted on the front page, instead of in the fora, too.

[Dr_Dave]

Well Jim, as Mark has mentioned, there are probably many players who never come to the forum so they wouldn't know about polls or the donation button. So I'm a little surprised he wants to go that route. But, we have to start somewhere so I'll give it a shot!

[Westview]

There are currently 7866 registered members. Imagine, if each of us just donated $10 a year.

So far, only 60 registered members voted on yesterday's poll.
I'm willing to bet at least 7500 of these members are duplicate ID's.

You may be right; but, let's hope not. Even so, that should still make at least 3000 real members. I think the real problem is that most come here to sign up and don't come back in unless they are having problems and looking for help. Some may even give up when they start having problems.

Yes I think you're correct, many people only go to this forum once in a blue moon. Some may not even speak English

Perhaps 7500 duplicate is an exaggeration, but we all know there are duplicate ID's out there.

[sgt_cook]

Well heres my two cents worth, if you do the monthly/annual user fee route, those who can/will pay will participate and those who cannot will fall by the wayside. I suppose if you went with a user fee, one could require re-registration upon payment and then clean out all the rest and see how many members you still have. The danger is, once you start down this road and then discover you are slowly losing members, you will never get them back.

Its a slippery slope to work through, but I think we all agree, Mark has done a superb job in keep things up and running and he shouldnt have to carry the whole weight of things. As for me personally, I'll wait and see whats proposed and then make my decision one way or the other.

It was said before, but I will say it again. Great thread! Opinions and no nitpicking back and forth.

[duffer123]

I'm another one who never saw the donate button,thanks for bringing it up as there are
probably many of us who never look in corners.The 50.00$ a year only comes to 4.16 a month
Thats not a bad deal

[lstouradmin]

I never noticed the donate button til it was mentioned in this thread but now forsee a problem. What happens if we donate and then there is a user fee instituted? It would seem that some would have donated and then find they also has to pay more above that unless the donation was applied to their user fee.
Personally, I would prefer to see some ads and the donation method given a chance and see if the result generates enough revenue over a set time period. If it is found that it doesn`t then institute a general user fee. On most sites , one of the advantages to paying a fee is it allows the participants to be there without the annoyance of ads , so my vote would be ads and donations or user fees without ads.
If you decide to try the donation and ads ,for say, the balance of 2007 , I`ll make a donation when you make that decision. If you set a user fee, I`ll simply have to make a decision as to whether or not I use the tour enough to warrant the cost.

If I ever institute a fee of some kind I am keeping track of those who donate and their generousity will not go unnoticed.

Mark

[lstouradmin]

Well heres my two cents worth, if you do the monthly/annual user fee route, those who can/will pay will participate and those who cannot will fall by the wayside. I suppose if you went with a user fee, one could require re-registration upon payment and then clean out all the rest and see how many members you still have. The danger is, once you start down this road and then discover you are slowly losing members, you will never get them back.

Its a slippery slope to work through, but I think we all agree, Mark has done a superb job in keep things up and running and he shouldnt have to carry the whole weight of things. As for me personally, I'll wait and see whats proposed and then make my decision one way or the other.

It was said before, but I will say it again. Great thread! Opinions and no nitpicking back and forth.

Thanks to everyone for their support, generousity, and feedback!!

I've been thinking about this some more after reading everyone's suggestions and comments. I think if I were to institute a subscription it would be for advanced features and I would leave a section of the site free. For instance, I would probably leave the arcade a free section of the site. This would also help Links 2k1 users because they will not be able to take advantage of the newer stuff I have in mind anyway.

Mark

[SE_BlackBeard]

Also if you could include in your plans a record of events played in, it would be nice to see a list of tournaments that you have played in like the old days when you click on a certain player.

[Drpinseeker]

To keep this sight up and viable.......Mark.....I would pay a membership or whatever fee.....Not a problem........Keep up the good work....Drpinseeker......