Paid member versus Hero member

[CowArt]

Way back in the day (when the water was clean, and sex was dirty), there was no difference in features between being a Paid member or a Hero member. The only difference was the way the membership was obtained. You could purchase a membership for $12 and then you became "green", or make at least 30 posts in the forum and become "orange". Many of us oldtimers were also bumped up from "black" to "orange" on the chat by BTR. The only real difference I ever noticed between being Paid/Hero or a "normal" member was access to the gallery which back then was a real gold mine of pictures and videos.

Since November 1st 2016 it was no longer possible to become a Hero member: https://reallifecamfan.com/forums/topic/2411-membership-policy-change/?tab=comments#comment-51360

@Admin promised that "Current Hero members will retain access to the Gallery indefinitely". Clearly Admin has a different definition of "indefinitely" than I do, because on October 15th 2017, @StnCld316 issued a statement that from that day forward a Hero member that didn't log on for 30 days would lose his Hero status: https://reallifecamfan.com/forums/topic/3163-all-hero-memberships/?tab=comments#comment-68244. From then taking a long vacation was enough to make you lose your Hero status.

Today I noticed that for every RLC apartment a "Paid members only" section has been added, that is not accessible to Hero members. So I would like to know:

1. As of today, what exactly is the difference between being a "Member", a "Hero Member" or a "Paid Member" on this forum?
2. Are the "old" Hero members such a burden on the forum's resources that they should be phased out? If so, why not just say and do so instead of first introducing an expiration date on "indefinitely" and now creating forum sections that are not accessible?
3. Why wasn't there a topic created by the staff of this forum when the "Paid members only" were created? The whole point of creating these sections is in my opinion to sell memberships. Nothing wrong with that of course, but nobody's going to buy acces to these sections if they don't know they exist, or what can be expected to be found in them. From the title alone, I can't judge if I should spend my $12 on acces to the "Paid members only" section or on a couple of heavily overpriced coffees instead. 

[StnCld316]

On ‎10‎/‎5‎/‎2018 at 8:37 AM, CowArt said:

Way back in the day (when the water was clean, and sex was dirty), there was no difference in features between being a Paid member or a Hero member. The only difference was the way the membership was obtained. You could purchase a membership for $12 and then you became "green", or make at least 30 posts in the forum and become "orange". Many of us oldtimers were also bumped up from "black" to "orange" on the chat by BTR. The only real difference I ever noticed between being Paid/Hero or a "normal" member was access to the gallery which back then was a real gold mine of pictures and videos.

Since November 1st 2016 it was no longer possible to become a Hero member: 

@Admin promised that "Current Hero members will retain access to the Gallery indefinitely". Clearly Admin has a different definition of "indefinitely" than I do, because on October 15th 2017, @StnCld316 issued a statement that from that day forward a Hero member that didn't log on for 30 days would lose his Hero status: . From then taking a long vacation was enough to make you lose your Hero status.

Today I noticed that for every RLC apartment a "Paid members only" section has been added, that is not accessible to Hero members. So I would like to know:

1. As of today, what exactly is the difference between being a "Member", a "Hero Member" or a "Paid Member" on this forum?
2. Are the "old" Hero members such a burden on the forum's resources that they should be phased out? If so, why not just say and do so instead of first introducing an expiration date on "indefinitely" and now creating forum sections that are not accessible?
3. Why wasn't there a topic created by the staff of this forum when the "Paid members only" were created? The whole point of creating these sections is in my opinion to sell memberships. Nothing wrong with that of course, but nobody's going to buy acces to these sections if they don't know they exist, or what can be expected to be found in them. From the title alone, I can't judge if I should spend my $12 on acces to the "Paid members only" section or on a couple of heavily overpriced coffees instead. 

In July of 2017 the RLCF Servers got taken Offline by a DMCA Takedown which was the result of RLC Content being Posted to the Open Forum and the Gallery.  After switching Servers and getting RLCF back Online the Gallery was no longer available since it was riddled by the DMCA. Since then over the last several Months we have tried different methods to see what was working and what wasn't working and then decide which is the best way to go moving forward. After all the testing was done the only way to move Forward is the result we have now.

There is a Gallery and a Downloads Tab in the Top Menu Board that the remaining Hero Members can access.  The Paid Member Boards are not Part of the Gallery.

The Paid Member Boards are still being worked on that's why no notice has been placed.  Once I get all the Construction of it complete a Notice will be placed at that time.

Edited October 6, 2018 by StnCld316

[ed2]

On 10/5/2018 at 2:37 PM, CowArt said:

Way back in the day (when the water was clean, and sex was dirty), there was no difference in features between being a Paid member or a Hero member. The only difference was the way the membership was obtained. You could purchase a membership for $12 and then you became "green", or make at least 30 posts in the forum and become "orange". Many of us oldtimers were also bumped up from "black" to "orange" on the chat by BTR. The only real difference I ever noticed between being Paid/Hero or a "normal" member was access to the gallery which back then was a real gold mine of pictures and videos.

Since November 1st 2016 it was no longer possible to become a Hero member: 

@Admin promised that "Current Hero members will retain access to the Gallery indefinitely". Clearly Admin has a different definition of "indefinitely" than I do, because on October 15th 2017, @StnCld316 issued a statement that from that day forward a Hero member that didn't log on for 30 days would lose his Hero status: . From then taking a long vacation was enough to make you lose your Hero status.

Today I noticed that for every RLC apartment a "Paid members only" section has been added, that is not accessible to Hero members. So I would like to know:

1. As of today, what exactly is the difference between being a "Member", a "Hero Member" or a "Paid Member" on this forum?
2. Are the "old" Hero members such a burden on the forum's resources that they should be phased out? If so, why not just say and do so instead of first introducing an expiration date on "indefinitely" and now creating forum sections that are not accessible?
3. Why wasn't there a topic created by the staff of this forum when the "Paid members only" were created? The whole point of creating these sections is in my opinion to sell memberships. Nothing wrong with that of course, but nobody's going to buy acces to these sections if they don't know they exist, or what can be expected to be found in them. From the title alone, I can't judge if I should spend my $12 on acces to the "Paid members only" section or on a couple of heavily overpriced coffees instead. 

Well, we paying members ought to have some privilegies, in my not so humble opinion.

Now I joined RLCF after these changes, and I can only see this system as totally fucked up! I did complain to @StnCld316 about this last year. How was this even thought through? No one can no longer become a Hero member, while the old Hero members were allowed to keep their status, seemingly for indefinate time. Let us say a member who made 30 posts like 5 years ago, or worse, just made friends with BTR on the chat, he/she will still have the same privilegies today, without having done anything, but I, as a post-Hero-member, can post 1000 posts on the forum, I will never get the same options without having to pay for it. How unfair isn't that?

Either keep the Hero memberships achievable to all, or abandon it entirely!

[Bandit]

Bad enough the chat has become a laughing stock, some of you want to remove the Hero members. Most of the members that keep this forum entertaining and worth visiting are Hero members. FYI was nothing to do with being friends with B.T.R.

[Plank]

What the fuck has happened to this friendly forum?

Not sure if I'm going to go off on an epic rant or start packing?

Create an account to see this content!

 

[StnCld316]

1 hour ago, ed2 said:

Well, we paying members ought to have some privilegies, in my not so humble opinion.

Now I joined RLCF after these changes, and I can only see this system as totally fucked up! I did complain to @StnCld316 about this last year. How was this even thought through? No one can no longer become a Hero member, while the old Hero members were allowed to keep their status, seemingly for indefinate time. Let us say a member who made 30 posts like 5 years ago, or worse, just made friends with BTR on the chat, he/she will still have the same privilegies today, without having done anything, but I, as a post-Hero-member, can post 1000 posts on the forum, I will never get the same options without having to pay for it. How unfair isn't that?

Either keep the Hero memberships achievable to all, or abandon it entirely!

As most can remember what happened in July 2017 when the RLCF and Cam Caps Servers got Shutdown a lot of extensive work has had to be put in to come up with a Viable Solution to move the Forums Forward in the best manner possible. I have tried many different variables over the last several Months and the only way that would work was to make the Paid Member Only Boards. I myself would love to have the Hero Membership participate as well in those Boards as well but under the current situation and circumstances it's just not physically possible to do so at the present time.

[StnCld316]

1 hour ago, Plank said:

What the fuck has happened to this friendly forum?

Not sure if I'm going to go off on an epic rant or start packing?

 

It's still a friendly forum and everyone is welcome to participate.   That message is only received when clicked on a Paid Member Area.

I would love to have the Hero Membership Participate in those Paid Boards as well but under the current circumstances it's not Physically Possible.   If the current situation changes then the Hero Membership can be allowed to Participate in those Boards as well.

[ed2]

8 hours ago, StnCld316 said:

As most can remember what happened in July 2017 when the RLCF and Cam Caps Servers got Shutdown a lot of extensive work has had to be put in to come up with a Viable Solution to move the Forums Forward in the best manner possible. I have tried many different variables over the last several Months and the only way that would work was to make the Paid Member Only Boards. I myself would love to have the Hero Membership participate as well in those Boards as well but under the current situation and circumstances it's just not physically possible to do so at the present time.

You didn't really answer to my post.

I think most of us understand that the galleries had to be taken down, and that you had to try and find new sollutions. And creating a Paid Members Area is a totally legit solution, hadn't it been for the dilema with the Hero members. My critique was of the Hero membership in itself. Why did you decide to ditch it back in 2016? And why on earth were the old Hero members allowed to keep their status? It sounded like a really stupid decition, and that is the sourse of your dilema now. And I repeate: Either you should've kept the Hero memberships achievable to all members, also those who joined after 2016, or you should abandon it entirely, not keep it in this sort of half way possition! That is just unfair to everyone! (Also to the Hero members, who were promissed that they would be able to keep their status).

[StnCld316]

11 hours ago, ed2 said:

You didn't really answer to my post.

I think most of us understand that the galleries had to be taken down, and that you had to try and find new sollutions. And creating a Paid Members Area is a totally legit solution, hadn't it been for the dilema with the Hero members. My critique was of the Hero membership in itself. Why did you decide to ditch it back in 2016? And why on earth were the old Hero members allowed to keep their status? It sounded like a really stupid decition, and that is the sourse of your dilema now. And I repeate: Either you should've kept the Hero memberships achievable to all members, also those who joined after 2016, or you should abandon it entirely, not keep it in this sort of half way possition! That is just unfair to everyone! (Also to the Hero members, who were promissed that they would be able to keep their status).

RLCF stopped accepting any further Hero Members because at the time there was 1037 Hero Members.  Then after the Servers got taken Offline the decision was made to start reducing the Number of Hero Members which was done by an Account Inactivity Process. No others will be Removed at the present time. We didn't want to reduce the number but we were left without a choice.  If at sometime the current situation improves where our Objective is Obtained then we can add some of the Hero Members back in. At the present time that's just not physically possible.

I hope this explains it better.

[ed2]

10 hours ago, StnCld316 said:

RLCF stopped accepting any further Hero Members because at the time there was 1037 Hero Members.  Then after the Servers got taken Offline the decision was made to start reducing the Number of Hero Members which was done by an Account Inactivity Process. No others will be Removed at the present time. We didn't want to reduce the number but we were left without a choice.  If at sometime the current situation improves where our Objective is Obtained then we can add some of the Hero Members back in. At the present time that's just not physically possible.

I hope this explains it better.

Well, if I add what you told me last year, you have partly answered my question. If I understood it correctly, the number of Hero members were getting too high. People would just become Hero members, and there were too few Paid members to actually pay for the upkeep of the site. The site were in danger of getting closed. By "locking" the Hero memberships, you ensured that more of the growth in memberships would come in the form of Paid members.

Then back to the part no one has explained to me. Maybe @Admin can answer? When the decition was made to "lock" the Hero memberships, why was it decided that all those who already had a Hero membership should be allowed to keep their status? For seemingly for all future? Why weren't all the Hero members turned back into regular black members? I can imagine that would have caused abit of an uproar amongst some of the older members, was that what you were trying to avoid? But I guess you never concidered how unfair this sollution would be to the post-2016 members? In principal, and in practice, this sollution meant that it is mostly the post-2016 members who pays for the upkeep of this site, with its galleries and evrything, and we will have to pay for our access for all future, just so the pre-2016 Hero members can access it for free, indeffinately.

[ed2]

On 11/17/2018 at 4:39 AM, Bandit said:

Bad enough the chat has become a laughing stock, some of you want to remove the Hero members. Most of the members that keep this forum entertaining and worth visiting are Hero members. FYI was nothing to do with being friends with B.T.R.

I have nothing against the Hero members, there are alot of great, and some less great people amongst the Hero members too, just like everyone else. My critique is solely about the membership policy. I could go on a rant about the Free members too.

I know you belong to the growing group of members that are very disspleased of what the chatbox has become. A thing I have noticed, and that kind of bothers me, is that some of the very most active users on this site are Free members, and I think most of these guys only come here to use the chatbox, they don't really care about anything else on the forum. Just brainstorming, but maybe the chatbox is a feature that could've been made Premium, so that only Hero/Paid members could write on there.

But anyway, wether we are Hero or Paid members, it has become a fact, that since the galleries were taken down, it is very little difference between us and the Free members. There is not much I can do now, that I couldn't do as a Fre member too. It is very few advatages with being Premium anymore. I have been a Paid member for 2 years now. My sub runs out in a couple of days, and I'm in some serious doubt about wether I should renew or not.

[ed2]

Sorry that I seem to have couped your thread @CowArt

[Johnny]

If you only allowed Hero/Paid members to use the chat would be even more dead than it is already. Doesn't bother me but would maybe give others a chance to voice their opinions without being disregarded. 

[Scorpio 22]

No-one is being forced to pay and if your not happy don't. 

[iloner]

 

8 hours ago, Johnny said:

If you only allowed Hero/Paid members to use the chat would be even more dead than it is already. Doesn't bother me but would maybe give others a chance to voice their opinions without being disregarded. 

Johnny also said: Question is who is more boring, the tenants or the people watching them!! (Some even stupid enough to pay for it) 

But if some of us were not willing to pay for Johnny's pleasure in calling us stupid there would be no site for him to abuse us on.

Those of us who do pay perhaps have more appreciation of what is on offer and the effort that goes into it.     

Though sometimes mindless abusive immature postings are fun, and we would miss them.     But even without their inanities RLCF is a bargain.   The original complaint was about unfairness.   My view: make everyone pay.

BTR had some succinct phrases;   WHINGEING FREELOADERS comes to mind.