Join the Club
My dear friends njscfan and Mister Guy seemed upset that I suggested to singleinaz that he post a few reviews before asking for more detail information on what happens in the VIP. I find their willingness to offer a complete stranger the benefit of their experiences extremely charitable.
But, IMHO, some level of dues payment and contribution to the community of knowledge is essential to keeping a board like this vibrant. Maybe I am just bullsh*t, but I much prefer giving back to those that have contributed than answering those who do not care to contribute nor to do their own research.
Anyone care to tell me where I am wrong?
{quickly ducks head under desk}
But, IMHO, some level of dues payment and contribution to the community of knowledge is essential to keeping a board like this vibrant. Maybe I am just bullsh*t, but I much prefer giving back to those that have contributed than answering those who do not care to contribute nor to do their own research.
Anyone care to tell me where I am wrong?
{quickly ducks head under desk}
Got something to say?
Start your own discussion
15 comments
Some people don't mind freeloading, and some get away with a LOT of freeloading.
On the other hand, consider that with his slightly "freeloading" question, singleinaz started one of the BEST threads I have eer ready. Just look at the huge number of posts. And some of these posts have a lot of good content in them. I have really enjoyed reading that "VIP" thread. (Keep up the good work, guys.) Furthermore, now that singleinaz has been exposed to this wealth of information about the VIP, maybe he will decide to try one out and let us know how it went.
Probably an accident it turned out so well. Go figure.
The kind of one-off questions I find most annoying come from people who seem to regard the board as an info dispensing service that owes them an answer. They aren't interested in joining a discussion. They act as though our only reason for being here is to sit around waiting for somebody to come along with a question, whereupon we spring into action. I guess you could say there was a hint of that attitude in VIP guy's post (and the fact that he never followed up), but I'd say that's a stretch.
I think it's kind of petty to check a poster's reviews before deciding if he's worthy of a reply. For one thing, that's buying into the question & answer service mentality. A reply on the discussion board isn't just a one-on-one deal. It's potentially a benefit to anyone else who reads it. Or it could be the start of an interesting thread involving several posters. So, I think it's good to have no barriers to joining the discussion other than the ability to type something intelligible and click 'send'.
Afterall, that's the way Founder set it up. If he had wanted a review resume to be the required dues payment for participating in the board he could have made it that way, as he did for accessing the full reviews. I'm glad he didn't, and I think the fact that he chose not to makes it especially silly for posters to try to enforce that through peer pressure.
Likewise for the idea that posting to the board without contributing reviews is freeloading. Posting to the board contributes to making the board better (well, ideally), and a vibrant discussion board in some small way makes TUSCL better. Reviewing and discussing are different activities that attract a somewhat different set of people. There's overlap, but only a tiny portion of reviewers ever post here. In my opinion, Founder's formula for encouraging reviews with the reward of full access has has been highly successful. People post reviews mainly because they get something in return, not out of any selfless allegiance to "the club". How many more reviews would he get if board participation were added to the reward? Not many, I'd bet. Most likely, adding such a barrier would only kill off the board, making any reward moot.
Don't get me wrong, I don't deny that it's fun to ridicule posters who are full of expert pronouncements about strippers but don't have any credible experiences of their own to share. Just be careful what you wish for.
I would add that when we have intelligent discussions on the board, and/or share useful information, we all benefit even if it is information some of us already know. To the extent we succeed in raising the collective knowledge of the consumers in this market, the better off we will all be, because it will force providers across the board to deliver more honest, higher quality service. Thus, even though I've been doing this for a while, I am ultimately better off as a consumer if every newbie goes into a club with the benefit of full knowledge.
I will agree that MANY want "I think if we were all more courteous and welcoming we'd have a better overall discussion board.", but there are those that seem hell bent on being a PITA.
BTW, like I pointed out to you in that other thread, singleinaz DID post a few reviews, which is more than a few people on this board can say with any truth. I would think that someone with a dozen or so views in over *5 years time*, like CarolinaWanderer, would think twice before casting stones at others.
I think CarolinaWanderer must have wandered into a lamp post as a child. The resulting brain injury shows in his posts here at TUSCL. It is obvious that on the rare occasion he reads through a thread before offering his childish opinions he dosen't understand the subject. Just leave him in his football helmet to wander around the internet generating bad will for morons everywhere.
Arbeeguy, you have convinced me that to enjoy this board MisterGuy should be on ignore.
Very difficult. :) Sometimes opinions need to be expressed vulgarly, but that should be the exception, imo. I like the sentiments, in the quote supra. :)
IMO, the posts that start with: "Anyone know of some good clubs in..." are often symptomatic of a freeloader. The kind of focussed & specific info these folks really want to know can only be found in review section, which requires paid membership, or submitting a certain number of reviews over a period of time.
Last time I looked, its the same way @ TER, which, btw, nj-fan wishes to model tuscl after. Yes, the reviews there are candid & descriptive, but can only be viewed with paid membership,or submitting reviews.
That said, I think VIP thread OP asked a good legitimate broad based question that could (and did) generate a good ammount give & take discussion.