Dear Site Ownership,

(Disclaimer: I make no motions to talk for the community as a whole. What I am posting is my personal and objective opinion of the recent downturn in my faith in the site ownership, despite any wordings I may write that make it seem as if I am talking on the whole for the entire forums)

It has come to my attention that various changes have been implemented that have turned S2K International (hereinafter "the forum(s)") from a fun and open forum to a site that is pushing for memberships.

Don't get me wrong, I know that it takes a hell of a lot of money to keep a site like this up and running for as long as you have, and I commend you on making S2K International a lasting place for all those that love cars and Honda's to discuss and have fun.

My protest comes down to three specific areas, as outlined below:

1) The removal of Avatars and Signatures "except for members"

There was little warning of this, and I believe it to be detrimental as a whole to the "guest" community of these forums. Sure, it's a minor niggle, but to make it a member only thing shows that the site ownership is after memberships, not serving the community. Some of us "Guests" have been around for years and are respected, contributing members to the community.

Now, out of the blue, because a select few people have long signatures, you have changed the availability of both avatars and signatures. It's also now an "exclusive" feature. This, in my opinion, is the sign of a managerial structure that cares about memberships and money, not the community as a whole. There are ways and options for people that don't want to see signatures to not see them.

About 2% of the whole community had long or objectionable content in their signatures... so why is it that we all suffer? Get the bullshit off the table, owners. How about next time asking us, the users, how we feel? We are mostly all mature, opinionated adults that can actually make decisions and pass votes. Use our powers, don't squander them.

2) The "Gold Member" badge

Utterly and entirely a slap in the face. Yes, people pay a goodly amount of money to be a gold member, and I have no quarrel with their support of this webforum or their spending of their hard-earned income to support this site.

But to put a big, glaring, yellow badge in their signatures.... I mean come bloody on. That does nothing but boost their egos and makes us "guests" feel a little underappreciated. A little title under their username was fine, and I think generally accepted across the boards. I personally view the gold member with a little tinge of disgust. Glaring distinctions like that are not appropriate in my book on a forum as large and complex as this one.

AT THE VERY LEAST, give the Gold Members the option of having the badge or not. By forcing it upon them, and upon the forums, you've created a class society, and it's NOT healthy for the board as a whole.

3) The "Immediate Effect"

This is what hacked me off the most. NOT ONLY did you sever our options as guests, and also forced a gold badge on paying members, but you did so with little to no warning. We are not bulls and cows out here that will follow a whip. We are human beings that appreciate a little warning. As far as I know, we had about 12 hours notice of the changes. I'd say we needed at least 72 so we could have the option of expressing our opinions to you, the owners and admins, in a mature fashion.

Some of us will not just lie down and take it. I am one of those that will fight. But I will fight with words and opinions, not immaturity.

One last note: You haven't changed signature options for paying members, and there are still some long signatures out there *AMONG THE PAYING MEMBERS*, but because us guests had them too, we got them cut off with little to no warning. This, basically, is unfair and unbecoming of a management.

I agree that this site does need money to run, but for god

 

That was very elequoant and well put, I wholeheartedly agree with everything you say, the funny part is that guests make up the majority of this site, so this managerial decision makes no sense, but to aggrivate guests that, in some cases, have been here for a long time. Now an immature person may tell management to go themselves, but I think that there will need to be a structured resolution to satisfy both parties, or at least give a justifyable explanation of why these changes are made without feeding BS, it seems like they just want to make more money...

____________
Great People, Shitty Management, Welcome to S2ki


Official Member of PAMA (Pissed At Management Anonymous)

 

I stand with PAMA.

 

That was very well written.

The way I see it, I'm not a member but I do try to help out others around here unlike many paying members. I guess I can't complain though, because it's not good information that keeps a forum going at the end. I can see why they want to remove most of our privileges, but I too only wish there were more warnings in advance.

 

I would have to wholeheartedly concur with Simon's take on the situation. I see many of the changes as more about ego, power and shameless hustling for membership rather than an altruistic desire to do what's right for the community.

It seems to me that if you want guest to become members that the best way to do that is to find out what they (as well as existing members) want the site to be and use that feedback to define policies and changes.

Since I have little hope of being as eloquent as Simon at this late hour, I will simply close with these requests:

1. Please remove my Gold Member badge (I wish to remain a gold member, just prefer not to have the undue attention).
2. Please change the Gold Member title under my screen name simply to Member (again, wish to remain one, just like a lower profile).
3. Please reconsider your recently implemented policy changes regarding avatars and signatures and instead consider dealing with those that run afoul of the standards of this site in private.

 

I dont mind the avatar decision
Understand the sig decision and concur with it
I think the Gold member badge is a bit OTT, maybe something less obvious

 

I think guests should be able to have sigs and custom avatars as it's a way to express themselves and their passion for the automobile, more specifically the S2000. Also the Gold Member badge is terrible in my opinion. I am a gold member because I love this site, and I don't want a badge seperating me from others. Please understand our concerns and take them into consideration. Thank you.

 

with pretty much everything written here. I really do not like the new gold badge either. I did not ask for this mark of distinction, nor do I think it is appropriate for an open forum. This is still and open forum right?

Well I know our ideas are never considered before management makes changes, but I do believe this is still an open forum.

My family runs a successful retail business. If we made autonomous changes without any consideration for our paying customers, or for the people that just wish to browse for that matter we would not be in business since 1974

Please remove my gold member badge, and please consider or at least inform us of such major changes BEFORE they happen next time.

Thank you.

 

 

I think the irony, and something that should be a significant concern to the management, is that several of us that are voicing dissenting opinion are members rather than guests, so the latest changes don't particularly impact us.

If the changes are offensive to paying customers how can there be a reasonable expectation that non-paying customers will view these changes as a in a sufficiently positive manner and decide to pay so they can be equally disappointed?