Originally posted by RavelloOK, but new users may be deterred by the increased rate, and judging by the plateau'd number of active users, I'd suggest that new users is what this site needs...
You clearly don't know that the actual users won't pay more,only the new users since 2005 will pay the augmented sub.
Originally posted by RavelloYour courtesy does you credit, Ravello.
well,I'm tired of arguing this,since it has been already decided since some time now.
If you really want to argue this matter go post in this thread
http://www.timeforchess.com/board/showthread.php?threadid=16886
I'm done here.
Originally posted by Ravellojust because somethings been decided doesn't mean it can't be discussed further...anyway i thought you said you had done here
I'm not corteus but you're questioning something it has been already decided and you can't do nothing about it.
Yet you still continue to argue.
Ivan,
I feel your intend is right. You propose a way to increase the benefits of the site for Russ so more people can join for a lowere annual fee. The objections by Wucky and Ravello are also from good intend. RHP has no differences in fee rates and I think most people like that. There is also the problem though of increased costs for Russ to keep non-subs on the site ... and the new Leagues increased the bandwidth use by subscribers.
In the announcement forum Russ has pointed out that an increase for new subs in 2005 is necessary to even out the extra costs. Most "old" subs have pointed out that they are willing to increase there "low" annual fee inorder to keep the new fee lower. I think thats the best solution so far. Compared to other payed chess sites, RHP is by far the cheapest one and is still the best too. When all "old" subs cash in a bit more then they do now Russ can keep the new sub fee lower and still make more money out of it.
A number of subs already do "invest" a bit more then needed by buying friends a subscribtion or send a bit more money when the check arrives.
A proposal like yours is in my opinion not feasable. Although able to pay up for the most expensive subscrition fee I really don't like to see RHP turn into a "graded" site with gold, silver and bronze subscribers and different grades of access to different parts of the site.
If your proposal would be initiated I can easily get me the most advanced subscription, but I would really dislike the unequality of it. I love RHP for its diversity in people. I don't care where somebody comes from or his/her annual income ... its all about chess, and nothing else.
Raise the current sub fees for the present subs and keep the new sub fee as low as possible in which case as many people as possible can benefit from all the goodies on RHP.
The way to look at ony price increase is in terms of the 'opportunity cost' of the additional fee. This handy concept (one of two useful things I learned in three years of an economics degree) is basically the value of other goods and services that you have to forego in order to benefit from the first.
So an increase of $10 a year works out at less than a dollar a month. Or in the UK, that's what? Less than 85p a month or so? Which means that the opportunity cost to an individual of a subscription increase of $10 would be $1 / 85p worth of other stuff a month that you have to do without in order to take a full part in the RHP chess-playing community.
And what the feck can you get for $1 / 85p these days? A can of coke? A Mars bar and a half? There's only one pub in the whole of Mancheser that I know of where you can get half a pint of beer for 85p. And hey, giving up half a pint of beer a month so I can play hours and hours of chess on a faster, more responsive system... no competition.
So: quit griping. Pay your dues. Or, if you don't like it, open a new account and just play the standard six games at once, if that extra half pint of beer a month is more important to you...
Your choice.
I think Russ will charge us whatever it takes to keep the site going, vs. what he pays to keep it going.
If you want to pay more, that is fine. I got my star over at Uchess to send a bit of extra cash his way... and also sponsored a member who went and paid for his second year on his own (I hooked him)
So payment is optional, but Russ picks the starting cost.
P-
Originally posted by Ravelloerrr...hold on a mo...i'll just find me buss pass
Because it's impossible to know who really can pay more and who can't pay.
What are the criteria for choosing who's going to pay more and who's going to have benefits from the users that pay an extra?
Answering your question,this idea has no legs.
What I get from RHP: hours of interesting games, fun conversations, a few new friends, an introduction to a Jazz group I had not previously heard (but enjoy), quite a few belly laughs from comments in the forums and in chat, some sympathy when I had a really bad day, exposure to different ways of thinking about the world and things that are going on in it, fascinating pictures (for which I have not yet thanked the sendor) that are on the screen saver of my laptop, stress relief from my job, referrals to interesting web sites and maybe an improved chess game......hmmmmm...
For all of the above, I pay 5 1/2 cents per day! If the subscription rate goes up...I will still get more than I am paying for...
Russ, if it is time to increase subscriptions....go for it....
BTW....THANKS!!!!!😀