Is the Off Topic section really Off Topic?

[MCassle]

I see that my thread on the French was wiped ... I figured of the hundred different sections on DRN, that the Off Topic forum would be the place for it.

Are topics of politics not allowed on DRN? We cannot discuss current political events? BTW that French thread was a spoof, a joke, meant to bring a chuckle from those who follow the 'situation'. What a shame that the censoring is so prolific here, even in a supposed Off Topic section. Really makes me want to cough up $$ to participate in this forum. I’d be using a rolling eye smiley if it was an option, but that went to the way side along with my ability to PM other members & edit my own posts.

Feel free to edit & lock this thread too. As a matter of fact, why not just delete it?

Matt

 

[Rich Rohrich]

It's always been the same. No Politics and No Religion. Sometimes enforcing that is a judgement call and some leeway is given, other times not.

If your skin is really this thin, you'd be well advised to invest your money in something like Motocross Action. ;)

 

[Okiewan]

When you registered on DRN, you were presented with the forum rules. Here is what it said;

DRN is a Private Club. This is NOT a public forum. Everyone is welcome to join the "club" as long as you are willing to abide by the rules set down by the Administrator. Our goal is to provide a family environment that can be enjoyed by all. Obscenities, Racial comments, threatening statements, personal attacks, etc., will not be tolerated. Political, Religious and Racial Topics are NOT permitted. If you don't like the rules... Sorry. Go with it, or go elsewhere.

Spam will be removed and the member banned from the site. This is not a venue to hawk sales. No warnings.

> If you agree to the terms, please press the Agree button at the end of the page. Note: By pressing the button you declare that you are over the age of 13. Those persons under the age of 13 can not join.

Although the administrators and moderators of DRN will attempt to keep all objectionable messages off this forum, it is impossible for us to review all messages. All messages express the views of the author; the owner(s) or agents of DirtRider.Net will not be held responsible for the content of any message.

By clicking the Agree button, you warrant that you will not post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, racial, sexually-orientated, hateful, threatening, or otherwise violative of any laws.

The owner(s), Admins and Moderators of DRN have the right to remove, edit, move or close any thread for any reason. The owner(s) Admins and Moderators of DRN have the right to remove access to the site from any user, for any reason.

Apparently, the moderator that closed the thread made the determination that it wasn't within the rules.

 

[James]

:silly:

This rolleyes?

That's not "censorship" and it isn't "prolific" here.

 

[MCassle]

No thin skin here, just looking for answers & clarification. Okie provided those answers, (where as the motocross action comment served no purpose but to boost ones ego) Thanx ;)

I only ask because I visit upwards of a dozen forums on a regular basis, and would guess I’ve been to nearly a hundred forums over the years, all of various subject matter. This is the only forum that does not allow the discussion of politics. I understand the religion & racial comments, but politics? Anyone here watch the news?

btw the smiley comment is due to the fact that I now have no 'box-o-smileys' to chose from, but if I know the character combo to make a smiley, the vB software as it is set up here @ DRN, will allow that. Why allow smiles but not give me the option of seeing the 'box'? Another way to encourage members to give money? Does the advertisement alone not cover the expenses? Last I checked vB ( http://www.vbulletin.com/order/) the 'owned license' software cost $160. Not sure what DRN server space is, but I imagine it is large due to membership numbers & the picture uploading. I moderate at a forum with only 4500 members, and current database size is 79.83 MB. I can see a rather large monthly expense with this site due to the size...but again, how much can it be? Advertising alone doesn't cover that?

Disclaimer: none of my comments above are to disrespect the owner/moderators of this forum, not to incite any flame wars, not to cause any rifts. My questions are aimed at answering my own reservations about giving a website money to gain access to full forum features. I have never had to do this before, and again I am only looking for clarification. If my comments above offend anyone, then I would reckon that you have thin skin ;)

Matt

 

[Jamir]

Number one, Rich is the last person to need an ego boost for he has the biggest ego around anyway! ;) Plus he has forgotten more about motorcycles than most of us will ever know! Number two, I see a box-o-smileys. If you don't, maybe it is because you are visiting for free, in which case maybe you should couch up a few bucks to support the site.

 

[MCassle]

Did you not read my post right above yours? That is exactly what I'm talking about.

 

[Jamir]

No.

 

[Jamir]

Hey man, no one says that you HAVE to pay. No one HAS to pay. It is an option. Just this morning I was trying to come up with a way to shell out some extra cash to upgrade to lifetime member. No one is making me. I don't even care about the title. I just want to support the site. Why? Because I have gotten a lot of use out of this site. I have more friends than I know what to do with. from this site. I get lot's of info....most of which from Rich. Do I care where the money goes? No. I trust that Okie is not getting rich off of this site and you know what, if he is, so be it! He has done great things for the community. Hell, this site has done great things for me. So here is my advice. If you don't like the way things are done here, stop coming here.

 

[MCassle]

Okay Thunder33, you are completely missing the point.

I'm looking for Okie's reply to my post above ... please leave out all the 'hey man if you don't like this site then leave' crap. Pointless. When did I ever say I didn't like this site? Would I come here if I didn't like this site? Just because you shelled out money to access options on this forum does not mean that I will blindly do the same. I want some answers to justify the expense. Please reread my post above, I'm not looking to argue with any 'full time' members here. Sheesh.

Matt

 

[MrLuckey]

Matt - Keep in mind I don't know for 100% but NO I don't think advertising alone even begins to cover the costs. In addition to the sheer size of the site you should also consider the availability of DRN (almost never down, and only for a few minutes on those rare occasions) and also the amount of speed/bandwidth required to allow 200-300 of us all on here simultaneously. I am sure there are other hidden costs that I am clueless about. Hopefully you like it here and decide that $12/yr is worth it. I can't imagine someone not thinking this place is worth $1 a month but its each person's individual call to make. Hope to see you around here in months/years to come :thumb:

PS ignore T33 ^^^^ I think he just realized he "STILL" can't beat me even with that fancy new ride he got :p lol

 

[dirty~d~]

(where as the motocross action comment served no purpose but to boost ones ego)

And your comment serves no purpose except to provoke a flame. Yes, I read your disclaimer and in my experience "disclaimers" are used in situations where you know you are guilty of something and you need some way of covering your butt. :)

I only ask because I visit upwards of a dozen forums on a regular basis, and would guess I’ve been to nearly a hundred forums over the years, all of various subject matter. This is the only forum that does not allow the discussion of politics. I understand the religion & racial comments, but politics? Anyone here watch the news?

I see. So out of all of those forums that you subscribe to, how many of them have rules that you MUST read before becoming a member? And out of that number, how many did you actually read? You've been a member here since 2001 and you're just now asking about the rules of this forum? Uh huh. :think:

btw the smiley comment is due to the fact that I now have no 'box-o-smileys' to chose from, but if I know the character combo to make a smiley, the vB software as it is set up here @ DRN, will allow that. Why allow smiles but not give me the option of seeing the 'box'? Another way to encourage members to give money? Does the advertisement alone not cover the expenses? Last I checked vB ( http://www.vbulletin.com/order/) the 'owned license' software cost $160. Not sure what DRN server space is, but I imagine it is large due to membership numbers & the picture uploading. I moderate at a forum with only 4500 members, and current database size is 79.83 MB. I can see a rather large monthly expense with this site due to the size...but again, how much can it be? Advertising alone doesn't cover that?

Disclaimer: none of my comments above are to disrespect the owner/moderators of this forum, not to incite any flame wars, not to cause any rifts. My questions are aimed at answering my own reservations about giving a website money to gain access to full forum features. I have never had to do this before, and again I am only looking for clarification. If my comments above offend anyone, then I would reckon that you have thin skin ;)

The owners of the site aren't forcing you to be a paying member. If you WANT special options... email, smilies, pms, etc... then you CAN, if you WANT to, pay a membership fee. Simple. Since this is a private forum the owners have the right to do what they feel is necessary to guarantee the survival of their investment... and by investment I mean of their time, brainpower, energy and on occasion, finances. With all of the hard work they put into giving YOU and the rest of us a place to 'call home' they deserve a reward, don't you think?

As for thin skin... I've never noticed if I have it or not. My tolerance for pain is too high. :p

 

[MCassle]

Amazing ... I ask for some simple reasons & explanations to justify paying money to access so called 'special' features (which are free on every other forum I have ever visited), and receive a reply such as yours dirty d ... nice. You are doing DRN a disservice by chasing off potential new ‘full-time’ members.

Again, looking for Okie's reply. I would PM him, but that is no longer an option for me. As a matter of fact, I can’t do anything but post, so that is what I am doing.

I was once a member here when all these 'services' & ‘features’ were available to all. Now I have been striped of these, and am simply asking some questions to justify paying for them. Again, NO forum I have ever been to charges money.

And the whole $12/year is not alotta money argument is mute. I don't care if it's $50 a month or five cents. I once used this forum and it's special options for free, now I must pay. I believe that I am not out of line for asking the questions above, and they are aimed at Okie, who is the owner of this site. My questions were not rude. But many of the replies to this thread are.

Matt

 

[Okiewan]

Couple of things:

1) I don't feel the need to discuss the financial situation of this site with anyone.

2) You assume to know "what is" because you moderate a small forum? When the owner starts pushing 170+ GIG's a month, come back and we'll talk about costs.

It's pretty simple really. Use the forum all you want, pay zero. But do me a favor, do not question my motives, time investment, profitability or financial situation. You certainly have no clue.

End of story.

 

[XRpredator]

Personally, I hope Okie's becoming a millionare off this site.

Unfortunately, he's probably having as good a luck at it as I am with the Lottery.

okay, maybe marginally better luck

 

[Okiewan]

This thread is being closed...
Not becuase I don't want MCassle's reply, rather to avoid the certain pile-on that's coming.

Last point:
Being a mod, take a few seconds to look at the features that are now part of the subscription. What do they all have in common? The use bandwidth, bandwidth that is not necessary to post and read threads. The whole idea is, that if a member wants to use the full capability of the software (thus additional bandwidth) they can subscribe. For those that don't care about said features... they pay zero.