BOI Ultimanium - What do you think?

[WebSlave]

But you have forgotten to include the instances where people moaned and complained because I didn't change what THEY wanted me to change... That I allowed this or that condition to exist for far too long.

Pretty much each change was in response to one or more complaints about one perceived failing or another that was looked at as being detrimental to the health of this site. They were attempts to try to zero in on a perfect mix of features, functions, and restrictions that I hoped existed for this site. Obviously that nirvana just does not exist.

Quite frankly, many people hate change of any kind because it upsets their ordered world around them. Many other people hate boredom and stagnation when the world remains static for longer then their attention span. And even more people probably never even noticed most of the changes at all. I bet that if I do close the BOI, I'll still be getting emails three years from then asking why they can't access the BOI any longer because it worked the last time they tried it....

 

[TripleMoonsExotic]

do you have a better solution?

See option three. Leave it and all of it's information as it was intended and available only to those that pay.

 

[RJK890]

Quote TripleMoonExotics:
What happens to the existing BOI? What about all the people who don't use Fauna? This is why suggestions such as that just won't work.

Quote Me:
Of course that would mean that sellers that choose to sell on KS and other websites, and not register here on Fauna, would not be able to have positive or negative feedback posted about them in the trader rating or "Good Guy / Bad Guy" certificate forums.
It would not weed out every scammer in the hobby / industry, but it would police the membership here on Fauna.

Having the reassurance of something like that may also encourage more people to purchase from the classifieds here on Fauna. I know that I am more comfortable dealing with those that have a public record.
That in itself may drive more sellers to register here on Fauna, and use the classified forums.

If the BOI was for paid members only, that signed a liability waiver when accepting the sites TOS, and had feedback only on sellers that were paid members here on Fauna, it would provide a safety feature when purchasing from sellers registered here on Fauna that would not be available when purchasing from sellers on other forums.
That may drive up the traffic in the classifieds sections. Both from buyers that want to be able to find out info on the seller, and be able to leave feedback about their transaction, and from sellers that would like to have the option to check out a buyer before making a sale or trade, and would like to have their customers leave them feedback.
That would be one way to keep the BOI alive without the legal liability, and generate more traffic in the classified forums.
I don't know, just an idea.

 

[TripleMoonsExotic]

Uh huh, and it would force all of the current valuable information to be removed. Effectively killing the BOI and everything it holds for the past 8+ years...Not to mention not holding all of the Bad Guys who hide from the BOI by avoiding Fauna accountable.

I'm sure you can see why that is not a viable solution (Rich already "no'ed" it anyway).

The only option is to raise funds to secure the BOI's future. Rich has already provided a goal of 600-800 Contributors a year, and we're already half way there.

 

[jenneses]

What happens to the existing BOI? What about all the people who don't use Fauna? This is why suggestions such as that just won't work.

If all of the BOI information was to be removed, is there a way Rich could publish the information available (there are tons of ways you can self-publish books and articles these days)? Or would that cause even more legal issues?

Another thing, is it possible for someone to "contribute" to the BOI to keep it around? Someway for Rich to establish a legal fund besides contributorship? Some may be willing (and able) to give more than $25/yr to keep the BOI alive. This may have already been asked and answered, but I didn't see it.

 

[TripleMoonsExotic]

Another thing, is it possible for someone to "contribute" to the BOI to keep it around? Someway for Rich to establish a legal fund besides contributorship? Some may be willing (and able) to give more than $25/yr to keep the BOI alive. This may have already been asked and answered, but I didn't see it.

It's been suggested a donation button be put up...But I haven't seen anything about that for a few days. Their are different levels to the Contributorships too.

 

[jenneses]

It's been suggested a donation button be put up...But I haven't seen anything about that for a few days. Their are different levels to the Contributorships too.

I'd like to see a donate button; the levels of contributorship are a little more than I could afford right now, there is a big jump from $25 to $100. I'd like to see something around $50 so that when I renew my contributor status, I could chose that option, otherwise I'd have to wait until I get some extra cash so that I could jump to the $100 level.

Even then, it's not specific to the BOI, but to the site as a whole. IMO (and I could be wrong), more people may contribute directly to something marketed for the BOI, but not something to the site as a whole due to them only using the BOI and not the rest of the site. I know I rarely use the discussion forums or classifieds, but the BOI is the main reason I come here.

 

[MedusaCoils]

Yeah, I suggested it. Something with a blank field, so I can donate any amount of money that I wanted, like $5, $10, $20 or whatever and it directly benefit the BOI. I was suggesting something separate from the Contributorship.

I would still contribute every year to Fauna, but I wanted to make a seperate donation to benefit the BOI.

Wayne

 

[TripleMoonsExotic]

If Rich would pop into PayPal (hint hint ) and set one up and made the code available, I'd stick it on my website.

 

[RJK890]

But...

What would happen to those donations if Rich were to decide that he wanted to drop the BOI forum for any reason?

Would he be obligated to keep the BOI forum if he accepted donations specifically to "help keep the BOI alive."???

Maybe it would be better to keep the BOI supported my memberships to the site as a whole. That way should Rich decide at any time, for any reason, to let the BOI die, no one will be able to say "what about my donation?" As long as the site remains, they can continue to be members.

Of course there would still be some that said they only became contributing members to keep the BOI alive, but there would be no ground for a refund.

 

[MedusaCoils]

What would happen to those donations if Rich were to decide that he wanted to drop the BOI forum for any reason?

Would he be obligated to keep the BOI forum if he accepted donations specifically to "help keep the BOI alive."???

Maybe it would be better to keep the BOI supported my memberships to the site as a whole. That way should Rich decide at any time, for any reason, to let the BOI die, no one will be able to say "what about my donation?" As long as the site remains, they can continue to be members.

Of course there would still be some that said they only became contributing members to keep the BOI alive, but there would be no ground for a refund.

If that scenario played out, I wouldn't have a problem with that money transferring over to support Fauna, but hey, that's just me!

Great Idea Stephanie! I would do that too!

Wayne

 

[Twizted Paths]

Crap. I wander off for a bit and this is what I come back to.

I'm a laid off single parent and I managed to pony up. It's just $25 dollars, look at the money we spend on/for our herps and the failure to contribute is just more pathetic.

To those who think the BOI is ineffective -

The BOI saved me from bad choices more than once, potentially saving my entire collection. At the very least it saved me a ton of vet bills, because I am the type of idiot that will spend an arm and leg fixing a sick animal rather than send it back. I'm also paranoid enough to have tests run on the rest of my collection despite quarantine just to be safe.

It's also helped me when I've had problems because I could see how the seller handled issues in the past so I was much calmer when I dealt with them.

If it goes I will be limited to only dealing with people I already know or closing my collection. I may as well close it since there's only a few people left I already trust enough that I haven't purchased from yet.

It's not ineffective to me, it's invaluable. If it goes away I will be sad and angry every single time I want to check somebody and can't.

I understand why it might have to go but I don't like it.

Even if it goes today I wouldn't regret contributing.