Stephanie Brim
Mental Experimental.
Cross posted from the other thread:
I think that this is getting blown out of proportion by some people. All this is asking is whether or not it is a good idea to have people log in to the forum before they can view the classifieds. This is not trying to come up with some elitist plan to disallow new members to do anything. Everyone needs to take a step back, take a deep breath, and re-examine the original intent of the post.
Having to be a member before you view classifieds isn't going to be a huge deal, really. You have to be a member before being able to PM the people to ask about the items anyway and there are a *lot* of cases where an email option isn't offered. It isn't going to be that much different. It will bring more new people in (hopefully) and allow all of us (buying and selling alike) just a bit more fraud security. It may or may not also help a bit with those people who register just to buy something and then never talk again. They won't be able to base their membership decision on the classified section anymore, but on the actual posts of the people here. I find this a good thing; the more people we get here with an honest interest in rangefinder photography the better the site will become.
As an aside for this thread only, I can see where Joe is coming from. I think that the real time for concern will come when we start putting restrictions on posting for new members...but I don't see that ever happening. This is a very close, tight-knit community. We help each other out considerably and rely on the opinions of those here. We agree and disagree like any good family and this is what makes this place special. I'd just like to say that this is the place I've been looking for the entire 7 years I've been on the internet. This is home to me. I've been treated well here, newbie or not, and I don't see that changing with this new rule. I think what really matters is that we keep the homey, close feel of this community and the willingness to help others. As long as a few little changes here and there don't change *that* about us, this forum will never become anything other than it was meant to be.
And that's my five cents worth.
I think that this is getting blown out of proportion by some people. All this is asking is whether or not it is a good idea to have people log in to the forum before they can view the classifieds. This is not trying to come up with some elitist plan to disallow new members to do anything. Everyone needs to take a step back, take a deep breath, and re-examine the original intent of the post.
Having to be a member before you view classifieds isn't going to be a huge deal, really. You have to be a member before being able to PM the people to ask about the items anyway and there are a *lot* of cases where an email option isn't offered. It isn't going to be that much different. It will bring more new people in (hopefully) and allow all of us (buying and selling alike) just a bit more fraud security. It may or may not also help a bit with those people who register just to buy something and then never talk again. They won't be able to base their membership decision on the classified section anymore, but on the actual posts of the people here. I find this a good thing; the more people we get here with an honest interest in rangefinder photography the better the site will become.
As an aside for this thread only, I can see where Joe is coming from. I think that the real time for concern will come when we start putting restrictions on posting for new members...but I don't see that ever happening. This is a very close, tight-knit community. We help each other out considerably and rely on the opinions of those here. We agree and disagree like any good family and this is what makes this place special. I'd just like to say that this is the place I've been looking for the entire 7 years I've been on the internet. This is home to me. I've been treated well here, newbie or not, and I don't see that changing with this new rule. I think what really matters is that we keep the homey, close feel of this community and the willingness to help others. As long as a few little changes here and there don't change *that* about us, this forum will never become anything other than it was meant to be.
And that's my five cents worth.
