The suggestions section is there for a reason... and thats all it is - a suggestion.
No one has to do any more free work, but russ does want to know what people would like to see happen to the site. Surely if there was a problem with non-subsribers posting suggestions they wouldnt be able to?
Maybe - unlike some - russ is open to suggestions from the non-paying users of the site.
Again, I agree with your point to a certain extent. Feedback should be encouraged from all users of the site. The subscription fee gives you unlimited games, access to tournaments and the opportunity to start or join a clan. The non-subscribed access is significantly limited to offset the non-payment.
However, non-subscribed members that have notched up thousands of moves and clearly are heavy users of the server, ought to be encouraged to sign up. My fear is that if the up-take of subscription continues to be low then the current subscription fee will be forced to increase. If more of the many unsubscribed users could chip in then everyone would be a winner, Russ and Chris included.
I can see your point, but in my opinion this site is one of the few sites on the internet where the makers/designers are not in it just to make money, and people who do not pay have the opportunity to use and enjoy the site. I think this is something that can not be found many places and i am sure (I do anyway) that non-payers have a respect for the site and people who run the site which is unique from members of other sites that force a charge for use.
Yes the site needs as many paying members as possible, and i would ask anyone who does not pay and could to do so - but for a lot of the non-subscribing members i am sure there are reasons they do not pay the small fee. And while this site is being ran how it is, i do not see how subscribers have the right to treat non-subsribers any differently. Non-subscribers have limits on this site, subsribers dont - and that is what you get for your money.
(sorry if it isn't very well written)
Originally posted by Darius07Bottom line is that without subscribers this site couldn't exist in the first place ... No-one can argue with that ...
I can see your point, but in my opinion this site is one of the few sites on the internet where the makers/designers are not in it just to make money, and people who do not pay have the opportunity to use and enjoy the site. I think this is something that can not be found many places and i am sure (I do anyway) that non-payers have a respect for the site an ...[text shortened]... ribers dont - and that is what you get for your money.
(sorry if it isn't very well written)
Bottom line is that some non-subscribers have very valid reason for not being able to subscribe - but these users are the vast minority. The majority are too stingy to cough up 20 bucks a year and that's a fact...
I don't care much for non-subscribers that have played 2000+ moves, as they by then know how this site works and also know how important it is for Russ to get paying members... Everything else are just feeble excuses of people I don't want to play anyway - As I said, I do agree that they are few exceptions that really can't subscribe but they are rare and Russ accepts almost any paying method, e.g. my friend Knightshift doesn't have any credit cards, so he send him a cheque (as far as I remember correctly) ... If he can do that so can you
Boris
I for one don't know the stats, and from that position am in no position to ascribe majority / minority of non-subscribers as being able but unwilling to pay, or unable for one reason or another.
There are a whole host of reasons for unable: cash being the root of them all. We're an international community and $20 is a lot of money in most of the world. Its just us western 1st world that sees it as a bargain.
We have kids on pocket money onsite. OAPs on pensions that should shame us all. Learners who might take up the game if we give them encouragement and breathing space, not a bill.
We the subscribers are evangelical by our actions onsite (sorry freethinkers... well no actually, it was deliberate!). How we act towards each other and the non-subscibers will encourage / discourage the non-subscribers that can to take the pawn-star plunge. Like we all know they want to...
Originally posted by Darius07This started as a free site, and the last I heard, the administrators have stated that it will always offer a free membership option. There are expenses involved with operating and maintaining the site and it is the paying members who are making it possible to keep the site available for everyone to enjoy.
The suggestions section is there for a reason... and thats all it is - a suggestion.
No one has to do any more free work, but russ does want to know what people would like to see happen to the site. Surely if there was a problem with no ...[text shortened]... russ is open to suggestions from the non-paying users of the site.
So yes, you are just as welcome as anyone else here!
regards, Marc
<added> ..... A short history of RHP....
Making this site available has never been 'free'. Russ and Chrismo used their own funds and resources to put RHP on the internet, and continued to fund it with their own time and money until the membership grew to the point where it became necessary to ask for voluntary donations, and eventually brought us to the point where annual subscriptions are now necessary to keep the site working.
Originally posted by ToeIf 20 $ are a lot,well,I don't know what all of you think of Gameknot which gaves the same (if not less) features for the cheap annual subscription of 89 $!
I for one don't know the stats, and from that position am in no position to ascribe majority / minority of non-subscribers as being able but unwilling to pay, or unable for one reason or another.
There are a whole host of reasons for unable: cash being the root of them all. We're an international community and $20 is a lot of money in most of the world. Its ...[text shortened]... ge the non-subscribers that can to take the pawn-star plunge. Like we all know they want to...
I challenge everyone to say that Rhp isn't the best in terms of quality/price.
The guys who continue to ask changes or new features without being a subscriber should better pay or play their games in silence.
I can't hear people say that 20 bucks it's not cheap:as Boris said everyone who owns a PC can cough 20 bucks,but htere are a few exceptions.
A) people who play from work and not at home,so they don't care to subscribe.
B)people who play everyday for free and is happy with their six games,so they don't care to subscribe.
C)kids that haven't a credit card or their parents don't want them to subscribe here because when they see ''Red Hot'' they think it's a porn site.
D)people who is subscribd to other chess sites,so they don't care to subscribe here.
I don't believe there's some Bangladesh kid who says:''I want to play chess onRHP but 20 £ it's too much'' for the main reason that unlucky people have more serious problem to deal with that caring of playing chess.
What I wanted to say is that it's hard to find here someone who's deadly poor and can't afford the 20$ sub due to REAL economic disease,sure there are some,but the others who say 20 $ is a lot are saying bollocks.
Sure,non-subscribers are always welcome, but the spinal column of the site are all the guys who pay for it.
I will say one thing... anyone who doesn't pay has all the rights of any pawn star to suggest ideas.
Any star that wants to ask them to get a star is ok too.... but these users have every right to offer ideas.
If Russ didn't want them to voice their ideas, he'd ban them from Help and Site Ideas.
These users are just as important to Russ as us stars. They tell a friend what a good time they have here... their friends come... and the ones with cake will jack-out the cash for a star.
Leave them alone, don't make them feel less than a star. They are welcome at RHP, and so are their ideas.
P-
