ENWorld Liberation Movement - The Elitism must end

[Femerus the Gnecro]

New users like this guy certainly do

I think you may have misread Talwyn's post, or maybe you didn't read the entire thread?

Well I most surely believe that you have good reason for making people pay for the search feature.

That statement, to me, seems as though Talwyn believes that paying for extra features is justified. I have to say, I agree.

The idea that community supporters are given extra perks may seem 'elitist' to you, but has there really been any kind of backlash against the people who *haven't* donated to the site? Honestly, I don't see what's prompted this post. The idea of 'elitism' has a very negative connotation, and I think it's a little insulting to imply that everyone with a custom title is an 'elitist.'

'Control, rule and domination' indeed.

-F

 

[Piratecat]

Darrin, you could change your title to "Untitled Bum." That would confuse people.

Please note that a Community Suporter account gives access to certain features, not to special treatment. When two people have different cars, that isn't elitism; then the police give a ticket to the person with the worse car, then it is. We're modelling the former example, not the latter.

 

[barsoomcore]

I think I liked it better when I was an untitled bum. Now I have responsibilities and street cred, which creates a lot of pressure to live up to the expectations.

That's okay, Bar, our expectations of you are VERY low. Don't worry, dude.



More seriously, BFG, I disagree. I'm in favour of a certain amount of elitism -- we did pay, and therefore we should get perks. If people want perks, people can pay.

I don't even see how you can call this elitism -- is a shoe store elitist because it only gives shoes to people who pay for them? Not at all. This site provides a service -- an immensely valuable service -- that many people are willing to pay for. Given that people are willing to PAY for this service, it seems foolish to me to just give it away. That will only degrade the value of the service itself.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

It's Quid Pro Quo.

We paid out to help support the site, ergo, we get to use schnazziness. Not saying other people are jerks for not, but it's an incentive; if you want custom titles, PMs, and Search functions, then donate to help keep the site running.

The concept of Quid Pro Quo defines the existing condition of elitism.

Let me ask you this: Would you still have donated to ENWorld or bought a CS if you already had the ability to use the search function?

I'm betting you and most others would answer this question "Yes".

Because you love this site, the access to data you enjoy, and the spirit of comraderie with your fellow posters.

If ENWorld can earn more than enough money to pay for server upgrades that can handle more traffic & queries, and all other expenses (bandwidth, ENnies etc...) through an annual fund raiser, then why should anyone ( new user, cash strapped student etc..) be denied any of the boards functionality?

 

[Morrus]

In order for ENWorld to prosper in the long term, new users must join the fold and utilize the resources here. Otherwise they just won't stick around. For every lurker who has posted regarding the search function, I bet there have been many more who just left in frustration.

What use is a shiny avatar, when all you want to do is quickly get some DM tips or rules based help? Avatars and signatures are only important to the most frequent messageboard posters. Infrequent users don't care about these much. They ceratinly don't want to hear a "sales pitch" on their first attempt to locate something in the archives. After bookmarking ENWorld, they will come back if they found the site useful.

Have you some evidence that I don't have that EN World isn't "prospering", usercount-wise? Because the figures I have say otherwise. I'm really not sure where you're getting these conclusions from.

 

[Grazzt]

e·lit·ism or é·lit·ism
n.

The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources.

The sense of entitlement enjoyed by such a group or class.
Control, rule, or domination by such a group or class.

What's wrong with that?

 

[blackshirt5]

I have to admit that I probably wouldn't have donated unless the site was in trouble, BFG; I'm a procrastinator. And even when I did, I had no clue that I was getting a CS out of the deal.

 

[Femerus the Gnecro]

I don't get it.

You're saying that Community Supporters are 'elitist,' but that we also enjoy

a spirit of comraderie with [our] fellow posters

Is that a non sequitur?

-F

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

Have you some evidence that I don't have that EN World isn't "prospering", usercount-wise? Because the figures I have say otherwise. I'm really not sure where you're getting these conclusions from.

The point I was trying to make is that even more poeple would use ENWorld if they had access to the search function, not that ENWorld is not doing well now. ENWorld is very healthy now.

But, with that said, any good venture should look at ways to improve, instead of resting on it's laurels.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

That's okay, Bar, our expectations of you are VERY low. Don't worry, dude.



More seriously, BFG, I disagree. I'm in favour of a certain amount of elitism -- we did pay, and therefore we should get perks. If people want perks, people can pay.

I don't even see how you can call this elitism -- is a shoe store elitist because it only gives shoes to people who pay for them? Not at all. This site provides a service -- an immensely valuable service -- that many people are willing to pay for. Given that people are willing to PAY for this service, it seems foolish to me to just give it away. That will only degrade the value of the service itself.

Administrators have said in the past that the search function was a drain on resources, and thus reserved for CS's. Administrators have also said that purchasing a CS account was not buying the ability to search, but that this was a reward for become a supporter.

It has become clear that CS accounts alone will not support ENWorld, and that an annual drive is required.

The money will be there to support a server that can handle the extra searching.