B.O.I. participants play favorites?

Originally Posted by WebSlave

Sorry Ophis, but it's not my job to teach you history and marketing theory. You are on your own with those topics. You'll just have to do your own digging for the answers you seek. That is if you REALLY don't know them as you are inferring.

_"Suprise, Suprise, Suprise!"- Gomer Pile

Originally Posted by WebSlave

People only have to pay if they want to contribute input, either for feedback for their own purposes, or to give other people some information that could be of value to them in their decision making. Without paying, they can still TAKE the information that other people have paid to be able to provide. They are just choosing to not give back anything in return, it seems.

I have no problems with the $10 fee. I feel like it was a good move to check on people and see that they are legitimate. I don’t view the $10 as a requirement. I consider it a donation. A donation to keep a great site going and to say thanks to Rich for making it happen. Why should I expect Rich to keep covering all the expenses? I use bittorrent for downloading anime and I donate to the sites that provide the subtitled anime. Why should they do all the work and provide the server for nothing?

I DONATED money to Rich to say thanks and to let him know I appreciated the site.

Yes, I can post on Kingsnake for free, but I prefer this site. Would you like to know why?

Because this site feels like family, not just a business that throws you away. We not only discuss the business deals, the animals in our lives, but our ups and downs, our feelings and the events in our lives. We can write about current events, computers, jokes and so much more. Can I do this on Kingsnake? Not that I have seen.

Faunaclassifieds not only provides us information, but it allows us to make friends. I have made friends that I count on here. There are certain individuals that I look for their posts in particular. Why? Because I know I can count on them. I know they provide me the knowledge I need and I can trust them. I used to watch for Daniel’s posts on the uromastyx forums. I knew I could trust Daniel. We seemed to be a very small “clique” that enjoyed them. I miss that Daniel.

Fauna gives us the freedom to disagree, to laugh together and to cry together. Rich is one of the few webmasters that lets this happen. Geez, go to some of the yahoo groups (Free), see how many of your posts get deleted!

This forum gives me much more enjoyment than I can ever begin to pay for. Just wish I could give more back to it. Where else can a $10 donation buy you that?

Maybe if I were in a business, I would view it differently. To me, it's not just to post on the BOI, it's to give us all support.

My thanks to all that have given me joy, knowledge, and help. My thanks to Rich for making it possible.
Candy

Originally Posted by Ophis

_"Suprise, Suprise, Suprise!"- Gomer Pile

Exactly........ You are not looking for answers, you are looking for conflict. Window glass, Ophis, you are window glass.......

This is a worldwide forum of members. You will find all different types of people here. Some are well meaning individuals, some are plain jerks, some are educated, some aren't, some have an axe to grind, some want to express positive feelings about a recent sale/purchase, some want to do the opposite, some know what they are talking about, some have their heads where the sun don't shine and some are all of the above.

Yes, I do think that there is some "You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours" going on here.

But, I also think that this forum is a very valuable resource (personally), because you can decide for yourself what the truth is. After all, the individuals involved (usually) have an equal chance to state their cases. Just because a bunch of people are of the same opinion, does not NECESSARILY make it gospel.

If you need to be told what your opinion should be, there is no shortage of people here who are willing to do that. If you want to get as much information as possible, then separate the pepper from the fly **** yourself, this is the the place to gather that info.

Originally Posted by WebSlave

Exactly........ You are not looking for answers, you are looking for conflict. Window glass, Ophis, you are window glass.......

Your wrong Rich. I was looking for an answer. You don't want to discuss it thats fine, but don't hide behind that "looking for conflict" crap. Besides conflict is the life blood of this site. You should welcome conflict Rich.

Originally Posted by Ophis

I was looking for an answer.

"My question then Rich is how does it work for Kingsnake then?"

Duh, Aphid? Why don't you go ask THEM???...

Originally Posted by lucille

"My question then Rich is how does it work for Kingsnake then?"

Duh, Aphid? Why don't you go ask THEM???...

Nice!......(Actually sad really)

I'm asking Rich why the route Kingsnake takes to gain revenue wouldn't work for him. I Your Skull maybe fairly thick Lucille, but I'm sure even you can figure out that Rich would be the best person to address that question too.

Originally Posted by Ophis

Nice!......(Actually sad really)

I'm asking Rich why the route Kingsnake takes to gain revenue wouldn't work for him. I Your Skull maybe fairly thick Lucille, but I'm sure even you can figure out that Rich would be the best person to address that question too.

I can figure out that it is true that you are looking for conflict, dramatic conflict, just like the last time you swished out of here at Lent.

Fly away, Aphid......

You are wrong on that point as well, although I can understand that a person such as yourself would jump to that conclusion. You are the one who is creating conflict by responding to my posts in the fashion that you are choosing to respond. You go girl!!!

Besides conflict is the life blood of this site.

Not in the context that you're referring to. The biggest draw of this site is the BOI, which isn't really about conflict based on personal opinions; it represents conflicts which result from bad business transactions. Not exactly the same thing as what you're hounding on here.

This brings up the obvious answer to the question you repeatedly keep requesting the answer to. KS is best known for ads; that is why they charge for classifieds. The downside of that is that their forums are not strong, and are certainly influenced heavily by those that pay the most in advertising fees. If you aren't certain of that, try making an inflammatory (but accurate) comment about someone who pays some big bucks for advertising and see how long your posts remains for others to read. Not an ideal system, but that too is a privately owned site and people can choose whether or not they wish to be part of it.

Why would Fauna attempt to compete with KS on the advertising front? In my opinion that would have been a ridiculous choice.

Yes, there are levels of membership here, but $10 members can (and do) post more on the BOI than many $250 members. How is the level of membership swaying the opinion of the forums?

There are other options for sites that don't charge for anything. Most of them have limited membership, and their own "cliques" or quirks. That limits the amount of good information in the forums, the amount of response (and therefore sales) to classified ads, and opinions. Those things qualify as flaws to most people, but everyone has a right to choose their involvement.

In another thread, I brought up a reference to other organizations having a paid membership base as an example. You have to pay money to join the Better Business Bureau. You have to pay money to join a Chamber of Commerce. Businesses have to pay money for memberships in organizations that represent a good standing within their industry. Does that mean their credibility is in the toilet? Nope. It means their credibility is valued, and therefore people are willing to join those organizations, abide by their standards, and have that sort of reputation associated with their business.

I work for a dietary supplement company. We pay some big bucks to be members of an association that assists the FDA in drafting regulations for our industry. That doesn't alleviate our responsibility to maintain the standards set by the industry; if anything, we are judged more harshly than others because the association does NOT want us to tarnish their reputation.

Does that answer your question, Ophis?