Something Awful

[gigastar]

SA has been running like that since long before most named internet mainstays we can quick fire from memory became popular.

Its terribly unfair, but if one pays in and can adapt to the community, its reportedly one of the best to be among.

I donno, if you have to pay money to post, then people will only join if they are serious, and there is a financial incentive to not act like an ass. Perfect, no, but that sounds like the breeding ground for a happy, functional forum. Its not for every forum, but it seems like a pretty interesting, and ultimately successful, experiment.

In reality its bred two kinds of people, first being the most refined trolls you can find anywhere, the second being the sort of people who went on to create 4chan.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

also, SA does put up the gates from time to time. It acts as a way to drum up demand for new members, since lurkers either have to go elsewhere, or give in and pay the head fee. It will probably go down in a few weeks.

On the other hand, they can also put up the gate to prevent problems from arising. Lurkers attacking Goons on other sites and vice versa is bad for business, as it breaks rules imposed on SA about getting too involved with other sites. They are there to mock from a distance, not to instigate.

 

[FitScotGaymer]

Still seems kinda sucky to me. :-(

 

[Lono Shrugged]

I have been on SA for years, never been banned or probated. I admit the 10 bucks is a bit steep at a glance but the value and sense of community in that place is unmatched in any forum I have ever seen. The charity work, books, movies, games and general hilarity that comes out of the melting pot of creativity in that place is amazing. It has some bad sides (coughswap.avicough) but if you browse their hobbies forums and have an interest it's well worth the cash. They do a great job sifting out the lazy and rude posters and it's jarring whenever I come to another forum.

 

[FitScotGaymer]

Ya see I dont buy that arguement.

That "paying" keeps out the idiots. You can have a good community if you have a good moderating team. You don't need to add a pay ceiling and then justify it as a security measure.

It just seems fallacious and utterly false to me.

It also just looks, given that popularity of LPs has exploded recently and a search for Let's Plays returns the SA LP forum and the LP archive at the very top of googles search results, that they are money grubbing.

At least thats how it looks to me.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

They DO have a good moderating team. They have, what, 17 mods I think? And they can manage over 150 0000 members with ease, because of how well the site can self govern.

 

[Sticky Squid]

I find that the fee is not particularly expensive and it functions well in both of its primary goals in that it helps fund the site as well as keeping out users that could perhaps be considered undesireable.

 

[him over there]

SA has been pay to post for a very long time, nearly its entirety. Is it really so hard to pay ten bucks so you can post on a forum and they can pay their bills? It also comes with the benefit of filtering out fucks since nobody would pay 10 dollars to troll a forum.

 

[NortherWolf]

I used to be very wary of SA, due to how douchy they could come across.

Then I stumbled across their RPG forums and hot damn...I've never seen a better rpg forum in my life.
I go to RPG.net and find myself annoyed at how much they grovel if you just put "RPG designer" in your CV...SA, not so much. I've seen them butcher dickwads like the guys who made the Cthulhutech rpg, and with good right! So yeah, SA is alright in my book.

 

[FitScotGaymer]

As I said guys, that arguement about filtering out the ****s?

It really doesn't wash with me. As I said a good moderating team can encourage a good community without having resort to an odd/artificial barrier for entry.

I lurked for about 6 months and I lost count of the amount of ppl they banned for being ****s. Granted some were, and some werent.

@NorthernWolf

Thats exactly why I don't want to pay the tenner.

I dont want to pay that money to be subjected to douchebaggery. And if I paid id feel compelled to actually post, when I don't want to. I just wanna read the LPs. lol.

I am unemployed at the moment so a tenner is a fairly large additional expense for me. That i can't really justify to myself.

Not with the way they come off.

And I don't really understand how anyone else can justify it - because the reasons I have seen given so far, as I said don't really wash lol.

 

[The Funslinger]

Wonderful standard they're trying to set xD

Only gone to SA for the Slender stuff but that's pretty fucked up if this is the case. Never heard of having to pay for forums.

Incidentally, your avatar is godly.

 

[FitScotGaymer]

@DVS BSTrD

Sadly, it's also the best place for LPs. lol.

 

[Savryc]

Meh. It sucks that you can't get to your LP's but to be honest you're probably better off, I've yet to hear anything good about SA but it's their site. Dems the breaks.

 

[NortherWolf]

As I said guys, that arguement about filtering out the ****s?

It really doesn't wash with me. As I said a good moderating team can encourage a good community without having resort to an odd/artificial barrier for entry.

I lurked for about 6 months and I lost count of the amount of ppl they banned for being ****s. Granted some were, and some werent.

@NorthernWolf

Thats exactly why I don't want to pay the tenner.

I dont want to pay that money to be subjected to douchebaggery. And if I paid id feel compelled to actually post, when I don't want to. I just wanna read the LPs. lol.

I am unemployed at the moment so a tenner is a fairly large additional expense for me. That i can't really justify to myself.

Not with the way they come off.

And I don't really understand how anyone else can justify it - because the reasons I have seen given so far, as I said don't really wash lol.

Well I am sad they've gone Pay to View too, because I loved their Obscure RPG's-thread. However, I also enjoy the naked honesty they had so I don't agree with your assessments.
To explain my earlier example; the Tabletop RPG Chtulhutech is pretty much one of the msot offensive pieces of shit ever put on paper. It's juvenile, racist(all muslims are fanatics. Space Negroes want to live in the Caribbean.), sexist as hell (a warehouse full of rape-victim women in boxes? Check. A monster that lets men get the sex of their lives but if the PC is female she'll have a monster baby chewing through her womb?). It's youtube atheist, creepy (they have a section of one book detailing the sexual habits of 10-12 year olds).
When on of the designers popped up on rpg net some people wanted to know about all of those things, and why it used rape as a very recurring shock method. A shitload of people were banned for asking why.
On SA however, those same questions were asked and then people tore through the game and it's shitty arguments. So the "oh no they ban people at whim" you bring up I could just as easily bring up for "respectable" forums.

 

[Admiral Stukov]

As I said guys, that arguement about filtering out the ****s?

It really doesn't wash with me. As I said a good moderating team can encourage a good community without having resort to an odd/artificial barrier for entry.

I lurked for about 6 months and I lost count of the amount of ppl they banned for being ****s. Granted some were, and some werent.

@NorthernWolf

Thats exactly why I don't want to pay the tenner.

I dont want to pay that money to be subjected to douchebaggery. And if I paid id feel compelled to actually post, when I don't want to. I just wanna read the LPs. lol.

I am unemployed at the moment so a tenner is a fairly large additional expense for me. That i can't really justify to myself.

Not with the way they come off.

And I don't really understand how anyone else can justify it - because the reasons I have seen given so far, as I said don't really wash lol.

Speaking as an SA member, SA is probably better off without you. The registration fee evidently does a stellar job of keeping people who end sentences with "lol." out.

The 40k thread over there is much better than any dedicated 40k forum like Warseer or Dakka, and that's just sad.

True, goons often comes off with a smug superiority, but they are friendly amongst themselves.
And yes, the terms for getting a probation might be harsh, but they are fair. If you don't contribute, don't post. Simple as that. And unlike the moderators on this site SA mods are consistent.

Oh, and what the fuck is "****s" supposed to mean? "Forks" maybe? Writing something like that makes you look like you're 12.

If it's such a miserable place, you're better off without it.

All I can see when I look at your avatar is

which kind of makes your post smell slightly of hypocrisy.

And a protip to anyone who wants to read LPs when SA is restricted: lparchive.org

 

[FitScotGaymer]

As I said guys, that arguement about filtering out the ****s?

It really doesn't wash with me. As I said a good moderating team can encourage a good community without having resort to an odd/artificial barrier for entry.

I lurked for about 6 months and I lost count of the amount of ppl they banned for being ****s. Granted some were, and some werent.

@NorthernWolf

Thats exactly why I don't want to pay the tenner.

I dont want to pay that money to be subjected to douchebaggery. And if I paid id feel compelled to actually post, when I don't want to. I just wanna read the LPs. lol.

I am unemployed at the moment so a tenner is a fairly large additional expense for me. That i can't really justify to myself.

Not with the way they come off.

And I don't really understand how anyone else can justify it - because the reasons I have seen given so far, as I said don't really wash lol.

Speaking as an SA member, SA is probably better off without you. The registration fee evidently does a stellar job of keeping people who end sentences with "lol." out.

The 40k thread over there is much better than any dedicated 40k forum like Warseer or Dakka, and that's just sad.

True, goons often comes off with a smug superiority, but they are friendly amongst themselves.
And yes, the terms for getting a probation might be harsh, but they are fair. If you don't contribute, don't post. Simple as that. And unlike the moderators on this site SA mods are consistent.

Oh, and what the fuck is "****s" supposed to mean? "Forks" maybe? Writing something like that makes you look like you're 12.

If it's such a miserable place, you're better off without it.

All I can see when I look at your avatar is

which kind of makes your post smell slightly of hypocrisy.

And a protip to anyone who wants to read LPs when SA is restricted: lparchive.org

And posts like this is why I am wary of SA.

Thank you for proving my point so very nicely.

EDIT:
I should say that i posted this thread with a genuine confusion about the policy, and a genuine wish to have it explained to me.
Because as I have said I LIKE the LP section. And I would have considered paying the fee had someone been able to make a convincing and compelling arguement to me about SA, the pros of joining it, and a good explanation for the fee.

It was a genuine desire to understand, and perhaps have my mind changed.

 

[lacktheknack]

I think you're the last to know about this.

This has been in place for years as a response to troll threads. Worked like a charm, I believe. Ten bucks isn't much if you really want to join in, and if you don't, why bother?

 

[Soviet Heavy]

The 40k thread over there is much better than any dedicated 40k forum like Warseer or Dakka, and that's just sad.

Hey now, I'm having a blast on DakkaDakka picking apart fourteen year olds delusional attempts at writing fluff and thinking they will get paid for it.

I just avoid the TT Rules section and stick to Background, General and Fiction. Its the only parts that interest me anymore.

 

[FitScotGaymer]

I think you're the last to know about this.

This has been in place for years as a response to troll threads. Worked like a charm, I believe. Ten bucks isn't much if you really want to join in, and if you don't, why bother?

Lol seems so.