What exactly am I supporting?

[CarbonIS]

I'm really not trying to be a dick here, but this supporting membership thing has me thrown.

I realize that the forum is free and with the supporting membership you get this kinda stuff...

There are a few subscription options available as well as a one-time donation option. The subscription options carry added forum benefits like:
-no Google ads
-added PM storage
-greater attachment capacity
-more garage gallery space
-larger avatar size
-custom user title
-sweet-ass color-coded "Supporting Member" Badge under your username

but in all honesty if I'm going to be a supporting member I want more, like TST industry news (like what they do on LISC),
Forum organized and supported group buys, Forum organized and supported get-togethers,
something similar to the "Nasioc Periodic Review", stuff like that.

Just an idea...I already feel like I am going to get flamed for saying this, but whatever,
I've been an active member on here since April of 05 so I'm not just blowing smoke here
just some more things I'd like to see on this forum that I think would give the supporting
membership a lot more worth.

[CHAOS]

im with you man, you want more for your money. thats understandable. ive also found in my experience that paying for forums isnt the best idea for me.

[CarbonIS]

It's not that I'd be totally against becoming a supporting member, but I don't think its too much
to ask for a little more than a custom user title and more pm space you know?

[CHAOS]

i think thats only fair.

[cmr076]

its like 3 dollars dude... how much were your rims? how much PM storage did they add? sounds like being a supporting member gives more back to you than you wheels.

[ozthunder]

I dunno..wheels have a direct effect while PM space could be saved if you were vigilant.

The fact that there is no sig-image option makes it a bit worthless IMHO, but that's why I didn't pay.

[pearl]

sig images are worthless and make load times terrible.

i also agree that you should get "more for your money", but im just not sure what that would be. i wouldnt mind kicking back something to the admins of TST, but I'd like to see something worth wild on my end.

[CarbonIS]

its like 3 dollars dude... how much were your rims? how much PM storage did they add? sounds like being a supporting member gives more back to you than you wheels.

gayest post ever.

[96Stang]

I think other people are missing what CarbonIS is getting at...he doesn't care too much if HE gets something great out of contributing. He just wants to know where his money is going. (At least I hope thats what he means)

[CarbonIS]

basically what I mean, I mean I don't care if the admins get a little something out of it, they deserve it,
but I'd also like to see some of it going back into the community with things like what I mentioned you know?

It's not that I'm too cheap to cough up a dollar, which I thought was obvious but apparently not with the wheel comment...

[05Accent]

yea i have to agree the wheel comment was pointless.

[The Captain]

How many members are actually going to become supporting members? I think the number makes what you get perfectly reasonable. If we had 500 supporting members, the income would be much more substantial so i could understand wanting more, but here how many people are honestly going to be supporting members? 20-50? Thats not even $200 a month. What do you expect to be done on a $200/month budget? I like the supporting member option, am definitely thing about doing it, and thing the perks you get for what you pay are definitely reasonable.

[namdoogwerdna]

basically what I mean, I mean I don't care if the admins get a little something out of it, they deserve it,
but I'd also like to see some of it going back into the community with things like what I mentioned you know?

It's not that I'm too cheap to cough up a dollar, which I thought was obvious but apparently not with the wheel comment...


Running a forum is not cheap, nor is it easy. Getting small donations from members probably helps Troll immensely with the costs of running the boards.

[CarbonIS]

Running a forum is not cheap, nor is it easy. Getting small donations from members probably helps Troll immensely with the costs of running the boards.

once again, not what I was getting at. Although the costs are not immense, I did say that I understand
and believe that the admins should receive some compensation for what they do.

[Vypurr]

Well it is my opinion (as a long time user) that the supporting member should offer something a little extra. Maybe a private forum? Maybe a signature picture?

I do not feel that it should be required for group buys and such. They should be available to every member, just because it would help drop the whole price.

I am not a paid member because I do not have a need for any of the benefits of being a supporting member. My avatar has not changed for 2 years, I host all of my pictures elsewhere, I do not use my garage or gallery. If the admin (I am not an admin in any way) came out and said that they needed money to keep the site going or it would die in a month, then I would gladly pay to keep it running, but it is my understanding that the site is supported by paid vendors? no?

[CarbonIS]

I knew you'd understand Will lol

[CiZiN]

I am right there with you Carbon. I do not see the point other than increasing the profit of the forum. I think running meets and cruises supports the community more than me paying a $1 a month and all I get is hate mail.

[Vypurr]

Haha. Don't worry, I have run a few meets and it seems like a pain until the day comes and everything goes smooth. Nobody realized how much work you put in because there are no problems, and that means that you have done a good job!

[DPancoast]

I like to support forums that have hard work put into them. Im not saying you or anyone is saying that tst isnt built by hard work... Just voicing my opinions...I havent had the extra $$ to actually become a supporting member yet, but i have been doing other things to support the site like putting out the fliers to spread the word and stuff like that...I personally dont care about the perks. Im doing it because i trust that its not wasted time and soon enough, money...I just think that although the perks are small now... Maybe down the road with the way the site has been growing, that more will come back to everyone.

The fact that this thread was made is great though because of will give a chance for people to voice their ideas and concerns and who knows, maybe spark an idea to make the site better...I have a feeling that the staff of tst will respond in a good way. Better to say how you feel rather than just sitting here and not acting on it when it might do some good.

[teh DIRT]

If you don't want to support, you don't have to. This site cost money to run, and cost go up every year a lot.

[CarbonIS]

once again, not meant to be an offensive thread to anyone who runs the site Pete,
I'm just saying that I think I'm speaking for a lot of people that would like to see some
additional perks to the site. Not meant to bash the site, meant to enhance and enrich
the quality of the site.

[Create240]

yea i some what understand what carbon is getting at. maybe tst should do something like njtuners.com..read below

and this premier membership is $25 for 1 year

Premier Membership
NJTuners Premier Section

Premier Members get extended use of the site.

-Premier Plaque below User Title

-User name Highlighted in BOLD

-Access to the Premier Members Forums

-Ability to add Avatar

-Private Messaging (Maximum Stored Messages limit raised to 500)

-Ability to add Profile Picture

-Special Discounts from website Sponsors

-Ability to change User Title

-Unlimited Space for Message Attachments

-Exclusive Website Articles How To's, Featured Rides, Event Coverage and more..

-NJTuners Lanyard

-NJTuners Car Decals 1 Color



Premier membership helps offset time and costs associated with improvements, enhancements, maintenance and hosting of the NJTuners website.

NJTuners does not offer any refunds for premier membership.

Premier Members are still subject to the rules and regulations of NJTuners, and may be banned with due consideration

[namdoogwerdna]

If TST did that, then the non premies would lose their privledge to an avatar, and they would not be able to see the event coverage? No.

However including a sticker or a plate frame with a premium membership is not a bad idea. Club RSX did that a while back.

Premium member "anything goes" section might be cool too..

[Create240]

If TST did that, then the non premies would lose their privledge to an avatar, and they would not be able to see the event coverage? No.

However including a sticker or a plate frame with a premium membership is not a bad idea. Club RSX did that a while back.

Premium member "anything goes" section might be cool too..

yea thats what im saying..the anything goes section on njtuners is awesome..and a sticker or 2 with the purchase of premier would be awesome as well...but non premier members wouldn't lose there privileged for avatars..when i wasn't a premier on njtuners i still had the ability to use an avatar. im just throwing ideas out to the mods, not saying any forum is better then the other im on both equally :)

[cmr076]

basically what I mean, I mean I don't care if the admins get a little something out of it, they deserve it,
but I'd also like to see some of it going back into the community with things like what I mentioned you know?

It's not that I'm too cheap to cough up a dollar, which I thought was obvious but apparently not with the wheel comment...

easy big guy it was a joke, i guess i shouldn't crack jokes about the "murdered out STIs" balls that everyone seems to be swinging on, for whatever reason.

[CarbonIS]

no one is calling it murdered out anymore, and once again ur post is pointless in this thread.

if you have something to add about the topic at hand, I would welcome ur comments. If you want
to talk about my car, I have a member's journal.

[TurboTagTeam]

I agree that the supporting members should have a special forum or somthing like that.

I donated a dollar a month or something stupid like that. It's trivial. And if it helps Troll take care of the site then I'm glad to help.

We spend STUPID amounts of money on our cars (especially you bill :mrgreen:). I run our shops site and it costs a good deal of money. And we have nowere near as much bandwith as TST. I know this site has to cost a pretty penny.

[cmr076]

^ what i was trying to say, just less eloquently i suppose.

[CarbonIS]

ugh once agaiiiiiiiiin it's not about the amount of money!

[CHAOS]

+1 for forums... iwsti has donating and platinum member forums... no one posts in them tho lol

[ozthunder]

sig images are worthless and make load times terrible.

i also agree that you should get "more for your money", but im just not sure what that would be. i wouldnt mind kicking back something to the admins of TST, but I'd like to see something worth wild on my end.

That's funny, every website I'm on with sig pics runs fine? :roll:

[namdoogwerdna]

ugh once agaiiiiiiiiin it's not about the amount of money!

not to be a dick Bill but I don't think people are understanding the point of what you are trying to say. People are taking it as "what is my money going to by being a supporting member" and again and again we are telling you that you are supporting the existence of TST, because evevn with the vendor ads TST is expensive to run. The donations help run it, that's what you would be supporting. I think you are just asking the question the wrong way.

As far as your actual question, the premium option is a brand new thing, I know you would like to see more of it, and with some good suggestions to Troll and Pete I'm sure that they will consider adding more (Premium only section, sig pics, something) to make it worth the few bucks.

[EvlEgl]

That's funny, every website I'm on with sig pics runs fine? :roll:

Agreed...I already made a post about this in the original thread explaining the supporting member thread.

My DSM forum allows sigs and it works fine...You would obviously limit the size of it and what they do on DSMtalk is actually post the sig one time in a thread and every post after that if you respond it doesnt show up so its not on every post you have just your starting post or first response...It saves space and load times are fine.

And I agree with Carbon...It'd be a waste of money for me all I'd get is the option to change my user title...I host pictures on an outside source and if I need more room in my PM box they made a Delete button for me.

Give us a special section on the boards and sig pictures and I'd drop the money in a heartbeat.

[Sincere]

Everyone keep sayin that it cost a ton of money to run TST. What is that amount? Maybe it would help people(me) understand. Just ballpark it. Is it like $250/year or $2500/year? Is TST a non-profit organization?

[EvlEgl]

Non profit for the users, all of the vendors in the vendor section are paying money to get there ads up and the word out about there companys...While the money isn't astronomical...its still money. But theres also fees that Troll has to pay, Yearly subscription to the Forum database, bandwith etc etc

[teh DIRT]

...and i need a new car and a gt3076r :)

[SilverBulletRL]

I used to run the server this forum was on. Basically, it used a few gigs of storage (and continues to grow as the forum database grows) and about 1.5 - 2.0Mbps (Mega bits per second, NOT Bytes) during daylight-to-evening hours. Aside from that info, a forum this size will use a significant amount of CPU utilization. Google some hosting companies to get a general idea of how much it costs to run a server for a site like this.

[Honduh]

So if you don't like it, don't support. Whats the big deal? Let those of us who are giving the site a few bucks worry about where its going.

[BlackBulletTSi]

The supporting member feature is really dirt cheap and its just a way to help pay for what you get here. Yea it might not be much right now but it could add more in the future. As Pete said either pay and support or not. Its not like Troll is asking for 20 dollars and you only get to do little things. Every little bit of money given helps to keep this site going.

[streetAssasin96]

...and i need a new car and a gt3076r :)

Pete i also need a gt3076r and about 37 bigmacs and then ill be good. I will become a supporting member after i fork over hundreds of dollars of my money for my hockey league

[TROLL]

OK, where to begin. I'm categorizing this since it got quite long... read it all or just what you like...

Individual responses
CarbonIS... I guess this is constructive criticism? Careful with the way you word things, wouldn't want anyone to take things the wrong way...
And everyone will have opinions on what they like and what they don't but to me at least it almost sounds like you're saying "here's this gold and silver, diamonds, volk wheels, arc radiators... and thats ok, but i really want to see some potting soil and used motor oil."

And to Create240... pretty awesome that we let everyone have signatures, avatars, profile pictures, and so on isn't it? :). Don't think its necessary to take some of those features away from users in order to only allow paying members those features.

There is no premiere forum because I just didnt see the benefit. I don't feel like anyone should have special access that they can buy into, and I'm not sure what the point of the forum would be, especially with about 8 whole people who can access it at the present time. If there's stronger demand for it and a good case can be made then it is certainly an option though, so let me hear what you think.
And I also don't see the logic behind a limited access group buy either.


Talking Money
I really don't think anyone should be worrying about the finances of TST. All you need to know is that the forum requires a fair amount of money to run, and it requires A LOT of time... possibly as much as my full time job at this point.
TST provided for free for anyone to use and all that we require is that you conduct yourself properly by following the rules. We aim to server our members and our number one goal is to continually support and improve the great community that has grown here.
Hopefully you all know by now I'm not in this for the thanks or the money... its just a project that I put a lot of myself into and I'm proud of where it has come.

I have seen other forums claim that they need donations or the forum is going to go under (NASIOC in its early years as well as RS25 not long ago), and that is not the case with TST.
TST Vendors pay a fee to advertise to our growing member base. They benefit from being able to reach out to a diverse and local community, and at the same time their fees help to cover the costs of keeping the forum running. These vendor fees are necessary for the life of the forum, Supporting Member fees are not.

On Supporting Members
Supporting Member fees are not needed to run the site and they're not required to take advantage of your membership here. This forum offers many features that others don't and nothing is asked of its members in return.
The Supporting Members option was created at the request of users who appreciate what they get from the forum and wanted to give back. In my mind its not about PM space or custom user titles... its about recognizing that you spend 1, 10, 100 hours a week on this site and that its really beneficial to you and you want to show your support and appreciation by giving back.

I feel pretty confident that this forum is very beneficial for a lot of people, and I'm afraid that many of them may be taking it for granted. From saving money on smarter modding at better prices, knowing better tuners and shops to go to, buying and selling personal items, and even making great friends that you wouldn't have met otherwise... its pretty cool what TST has grown into so I hope that people realize and appreciate that.

Conclusion
To conclude... I'm not asking for anyone to become a Supporting Member... there is no obligation and there is no pressure. Its just one of the many requested options that we have added to the forum over time, and its there for those who want to make use of it.
If you don't feel that this forum is beneficial to you, or even if you do and you don't want to become a Supporting Member... thats fine, there are no expectations.
If you're more interested in the benefits given to Supporting Members and you like what we have to offer then great, I tried to do what I thought was best. If there are other things you'd like to see, as always, your feedback and constructive criticism is always welcome.

Hope this clears some things up, it was hard to touch on everything I wanted to but hopefully its a satisfactory response to most who have posted here.

Thanks to those who have become Supporting Members, and thanks to everyone else as well for your support as a contributing member to this great community.

-Bryan

[Create240]

Troll basically summed it up, I understand completely. I was just trying to throw some ideas out there.

[CarbonIS]

Nothing I said Bryan should have been misconstrued or perceived as anything other than what it was.
I worded it fine and I'm sorry if it came across as offensive, but honestly I could have put it in much
worse terms.

All I was asking was what the money was for basically other than extra pm space. I don't know why
my choices in mods or how much money i make or how much money I spend should even be added to
the equation. I could bring up certain things that I notice about people monetary situations and how
much they spend and what they have but I didn't and I won't. I just think its bull**** that my personal
situation had to be brought into the conversation.

I was merely trying to point out things that I have found myself and other users wanting if they were
to support the site with a monetary amount. Thats it.

[cmr076]

CarbonIS, i think you missed the entire point of what bryan said. It is obvious he and the other mods put a lot of their time, and i am sure in his case money into TST. not only do they (the mods) go unthanked, they go un-compensated for what they do. I personally have no problem Donating a few bucks in order to keep TST around and running as it has been (with obvious plans for improvements in the near future). Hell, i would even donate if i didnt get the extra PM space!

Sometimes its about showing appreciation for what you have and clearly take for granted. Without TST you would only have what, Nasioc and IWSTI to post member journals that you bump twice a day when you have half a thought about changing your valve stems to a different compound of rubber (or anything else equally trivial for that matter.)

Its not about what you make, where you work, how you got your job, who pays you at your job, or what you spend on your car. you clearly love your car and it shows; its really nice. Now try giving back to a place that lets you show off what your so proud of and get so many compliments on (even if it cost you a few dollars you wont get anything substantial back for).

***NOTE*** i am by no means speaking on behalf of troll or the other mods, instead i am giving my opinion (just as you all have).

[TurboTagTeam]

I dont know about everyone else...but it's worth becoming a "supporting member" just to be able to say stupid stuff under my user name.

Troll can use the money on strippers for all I care....more power to ya :mrgreen:

[sisforsurfing]

this is all so super cereal.

I thought it was just that if we wanted to give the forum a few dollars for whatever reason we now have the ability to. I, personally, spent my extra four dollars on coffee today, but maybe next time i'll ease up on the tip and throw a dollar towards Bryan. If there's nothing good on lifetime I can just sign in here for my drama.


(i am in no way trying to offend anyone, just think it's funny.)

[cmr076]

I dont know about everyone else...but it's worth becoming a "supporting member" just to be able to say stupid stuff under my user name.

Troll can use the money on strippers for all I care....more power to ya :mrgreen:

or the super sweet altezzas he wont stop PMing me about ordering for his suby :roll: what a ricer.

[TROLL]

I think some of the other guys posting here have it right... its not a big deal either way and I'm not imposing on the way you spend your time here at all. If you want to spend a few bucks on Starbucks, more power to you. If you want to donate a few bucks here, sweet.
Its really nothing to get worked up over either way though, so hopefully no one is.
And I've already added some extra perks that were requested for Supporting Members like no Google ads for Gold Members, bigger avatars, etc. I'm obviously pretty flexible with this... its new and I'm trying to feel it out.
Believe it or not we, the moderating team, are here for you, the forum user. We are always open to feedback as long as it is presented in a respectful and constructive way. PLEASE give us more feedback... we'll take all we can get.



Nothing I said Bryan should have been misconstrued or perceived as anything other than what it was.
I worded it fine and I'm sorry if it came across as offensive, but honestly I could have put it in much worse terms.
how and why? i dont understand the animosity... why you felt the need to preface your original post with 'dont mean to sound like a dick / i'll probably get flamed' in the first place, or why you feel the need to say this now.
i've merely provided you with another option, and i have taken nothing away... its one of a dozen or so additions we've made to the forum in the past few months... some you'll love and some you wont use, but they're there for those who want them.


All I was asking was what the money was for basically other than extra pm space. I don't know why my choices in mods or how much money i make or how much money I spend should even be added to the equation. I could bring up certain things that I notice about people monetary situations and how much they spend and what they have but I didn't and I won't. I just think its bull**** that my personal situation had to be brought into the conversation.

You quoted a pretty lengthy list of features beyond extra PM space, but if they're not for you then they're not for you. Like I said, I tried to add some features I thought people would enjoy and of course they're not going to be for everyone, so it just is what it is.
Just for clarification, I didn't bring in your money or your mods... its got nothing to do with anything. In case you though my volk/arc reference was toward you it wasn't at all, i was just trying to make a point comparing nice stuff to undesirable stuff in general. Hopefully that wasn't confusing but in case it was there's the explanation there.


I was merely trying to point out things that I have found myself and other users wanting if they were to support the site with a monetary amount. Thats it.
Again, I really didn't intend for it to be strictly based on what you pay vs. what you get, but if the situation appeal to you then thats totally fine, continue using the forum as you have been.

[Create240]

pssst look under my user name cough ...coughh :)

[Sincere]

CarbonIS, i think you missed the entire point of what bryan said. It is obvious he and the other mods put a lot of their time, and i am sure in his case money into TST. not only do they (the mods) go unthanked, they go un-compensated for what they do. I personally have no problem Donating a few bucks in order to keep TST around and running as it has been (with obvious plans for improvements in the near future). Hell, i would even donate if i didnt get the extra PM space!

Sometimes its about showing appreciation for what you have and clearly take for granted. Without TST you would only have what, Nasioc and IWSTI to post member journals that you bump twice a day when you have half a thought about changing your valve stems to a different compound of rubber (or anything else equally trivial for that matter.)

Its not about what you make, where you work, how you got your job, who pays you at your job, or what you spend on your car. you clearly love your car and it shows; its really nice. Now try giving back to a place that lets you show off what your so proud of and get so many compliments on (even if it cost you a few dollars you wont get anything substantial back for).
***NOTE*** i am by no means speaking on behalf of troll or the other mods, instead i am giving my opinion (just as you all have).

You may just be talkin about CarbinIS here(which i still don't agree with), But i just have to say that a lot of people on this site give back to the community in much better ways than a couple of dollars. I.e. Tech info, Member ran meets, or just nice pics for the rest of us to look at when there's nothing else to do(including Bills). It just seems like you're sayin if you dont throw in a couple of bucks, you're not supporting.

[TROLL]

Sincere, I totally agree... I'd much rather people contribute by making the effort to add and organize tech info, help others out with what they can, set up awesome meets, and just be friendly decent people to make this a great community.

[CarbonIS]

CarbonIS, i think you missed the entire point of what bryan said. It is obvious he and the other mods put a lot of their time, and i am sure in his case money into TST. not only do they (the mods) go unthanked, they go un-compensated for what they do. I personally have no problem Donating a few bucks in order to keep TST around and running as it has been (with obvious plans for improvements in the near future). Hell, i would even donate if i didnt get the extra PM space!

Sometimes its about showing appreciation for what you have and clearly take for granted. Without TST you would only have what, Nasioc and IWSTI to post member journals that you bump twice a day when you have half a thought about changing your valve stems to a different compound of rubber (or anything else equally trivial for that matter.)

Its not about what you make, where you work, how you got your job, who pays you at your job, or what you spend on your car. you clearly love your car and it shows; its really nice. Now try giving back to a place that lets you show off what your so proud of and get so many compliments on (even if it cost you a few dollars you wont get anything substantial back for).

***NOTE*** i am by no means speaking on behalf of troll or the other mods, instead i am giving my opinion (just as you all have).



I don't think it's me that's missing the point...and nothing that I've said in this entire thread
has been a personal attack on anyone, yet you continue to personally attack me and my car,
which is fine, it just shows everyone that you're a huge immature dick.

I by NO MEANS take this forum or its uses for granted, and Bryan can vouch for that as well.
I have been an active member for YEARS, bringing members to the forum, introducing vendors to the forum,
attending tst functions, hell even planning some!
What exactly have you done for the forum other than pledging a dollar a month?





And Bryan, Let me apologize, I thought those comments that u mentioned had some fire behind them,
and thanks for clarifying what you meant by them, I misinterpreted. All I was saying with the original post
was yeah it's cool that you have that technical stuff available, but I (and other members as well) would just
like to see some money generated through the supporting membership fees go into something less technical
and more tangible, like maybe using the money to do some research to find technical information about different makes
and creating stickies in the specific make forum and creating something along the lines of a "Tech Bank" for information,
or partially forum sponsored dyno days, cook-outs, stuff like that. It was an honest attempt to generate ideas
for bettering the forum and the community. I prefaced with "Not to sound like a dick" and "i know i'm going to get flamed"
because I knew there'd be people like cmr who would miss the whole point.

[TROLL]

cool well with that said I hope everyone enjoys where we are at now with the forum in gneeral and the Supporting Member option, and if you have any further suggestions I encourage you to let me know because we are flexible and we are interested to work with people on delivering exactly what you want...