It's getting expensive to allow everyone "unlimited everything", and on top of that, we desperately need some money coming in. I'm proposing we do this for $10 a year.

WBO Subscriber Account Permissions

Unlimited PM Quota (regular users will only be able to keep 50 PMs)
Able to upload avatars (regular users must host offsite)
Able to change custom user title (regular users will lose their custom titles)
Able to use images in signatures (regular users cannot have images in signatures)
Able to delete own posts (regular users can only edit)
Unlimited attachments (regular users will have 5 MB limit)
Entered into site-wide contests FIVE TIMES instead of once
Entered into subscriber-only contests

Totally not against this idea whatsoever.

I was already planning on donating, and some of those upgrades are pretty good to have!
(I've spent around $40 on SA for account stuff, paying for privileges really isn't that bad. If it keeps WBO running for a bit longer, I have no problem.)

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Non-subscriber members not being able to have images in sigs sounds a bit over the top. Instead of adding functionality for users who pay, your taking functionality from users that don't.

Non-subscriber members not being able to have images in sigs sounds a bit over the top. Instead of adding functionality for users who pay, your taking functionality from users that don't.

We've gotten $0 in donations since we opened. Frankly I don't want to do this at all but if I have to provide incentives by taking things away, so be it. To be honest, I wouldn't mind not seeing so many terrible signature banners anymore.

Seeing as I was going to donate anyway this is great for me.

I feel kinda bad for the others though. :\ I mean, I wouldn't be pleased if I wasn't planning on donating and suddenly I couln't change my user title and stuff.

Have donated my $10 =D.

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|| BeyUK.net archive project || Number one source for BeyMedia ||

Unfortunately, this is probably the best way to go about getting money for the WBO. Even though some people won't like it, it has to be done if we ever want to push forward as an organization.

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I had every intention on dontating before this was mentioned, it just seems right to do so.

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|| BeyUK.net archive project || Number one source for BeyMedia ||

Well, seeing as I never had a picture in my signature in the first place, I don't think I'll be too badly effected...but if I manage to somehow get my hands on a job next month when I finally turn 16, I'll be donating as soon as I can!
I still think we should be able to buy t-shirts...I want my WBO t-shirt

I still think we should be able to buy t-shirts...I want my WBO t-shirt

I haven't forgotten, but it's expensive to start that up.

:@Well..
Please let me keep my awsome Sig
I will donate in the future but not; im strapped 4 cash @ the moment
u love my sig tho

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Thanks to Ellz for my Face :)

I like my signature =( and I won't be able to donate until atleast this summer. The other things are reasonable, though.

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Thanks, Kai-V, for my banner

The signature proposition actually really bothers me, and I suppose it would bother any member who would join for the first time. Plus, I told two people I would try to make them signatures, which I was planning to do as soon as possible now.

I still think we should be able to buy t-shirts...I want my WBO t-shirt

I haven't forgotten, but it's expensive to start that up.

hmm...guess that's true...but maybe if enough donations are made, some of it could go to making t-shirts or other types of things.

All is fair in love and donations.
If it's the only way to get money for the WBO. Then I'm game.

Ok I've been thinking about this, and while I will be least affected by whatever decision is made, I have some thoughts I'd like to bring up.

First off, I completely understand that you need some way to monetize this site in order to fund the events and such you'd like to do. However, I do not think this is the right way to go about doing it.

If the site were newer and with a smaller userbase who weren't already accustomed to having all the features you'd now like to charge for, I'd be totally for the idea. However, that's not the case -- we have almost 800 members now, many of whom have been here since the site started. Taking away PM storage, signature rights and such seems arbitrary to me -- most of us don't save more than 50 PMs anyhow. Signatures and custom usertitles are nice but they aren't necessary. What I'm getting at is that the things you'd like to charge for really aren't necessary for most members at all, which leads me to think that very few people will actually pay the $10 to become a sponsor/subscriber/whatever.

There's also the fact that most of the members here are younger kids without jobs, who may have no way to finance the $10 fee, even if they wanted to.

So, I guess ultimately what I'm saying is that this whole idea likely will not turn out to be very lucrative. There will be very few people who care enough to pay $10 for rather unneeded privileges on the board, and certainly not enough people to really give you enough money to do anything with.

I have an idea of my own. I'm not saying its better, but I'm going to post it here anyway to see what you think. I think, rather than charging $10 for privileges, you should charge a $10 membership fee to the World Battle and Ranking System. This is obviously the large draw of the site and I think you should try to capitalize on that rather than on board features. Charging for the system may deter a small amount of people from joining, but I'm sure the promise of the events you'd like to host with the money from the memberships would persuade a lot of them to pay. Charging a small fee to use the Battle and Ranking system might even help alleviate the recent issues with cheating.

Anyway, that's all I've got. Hope you'll give it some thought.

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If the site were newer and with a smaller userbase who weren't already accustomed to having all the features you'd now like to charge for, I'd be totally for the idea. However, that's not the case -- we have almost 800 members now, many of whom have been here since the site started. Taking away PM storage, signature rights and such seems arbitrary to me -- most of us don't save more than 50 PMs anyhow. Signatures and custom usertitles are nice but they aren't necessary. What I'm getting at is that the things you'd like to charge for really aren't necessary for most members at all, which leads me to think that very few people will actually pay the $10 to become a sponsor/subscriber/whatever.

There's also the fact that most of the members here are younger kids without jobs, who may have no way to finance the $10 fee, even if they wanted to.

So, I guess ultimately what I'm saying is that this whole idea likely will not turn out to be very lucrative. There will be very few people who care enough to pay $10 for rather unneeded privileges on the board, and certainly not enough people to really give you enough money to do anything with.

I have an idea of my own. I'm not saying its better, but I'm going to post it here anyway to see what you think. I think, rather than charging $10 for privileges, you should charge a $10 membership fee to the World Battle and Ranking System. This is obviously the large draw of the site and I think you should try to capitalize on that rather than on board features. Charging for the system may deter a small amount of people from joining, but I'm sure the promise of the events you'd like to host with the money from the memberships would persuade a lot of them to pay. Charging a small fee to use the Battle and Ranking system might even help alleviate the recent issues with cheating.

Anyway, that's all I've got. Hope you'll give it some thought.

We realize this, but to be honest, I think it is the best way. It may not be necessarily fair to those who have been hear from the start, but for the most part, the things offered in this proposition are just bonuses. To me, I would think of it more as a thank you for donating to the WBO, instead of having an "account upgrade". And to add to this, they would be entered into the contests that Brad mentioned.

I also have a few other ideas for privileges in this proposition, but I'll refrain from posting them until I speak with Brad myself.

In theory, your idea sounds good actually. The only thing though, is that there would have to be a steady flow of WBO events being hosted around for it to be justified. For somebody who only has a couple friends near them to Beyblade, and rarely makes it out to tournaments (due to their location, or otherwise), they would not really deem it necessary to gain access to the system. It is something to consider though.

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you should charge a $10 membership fee to the World Battle and Ranking System.

I cringed when I read that...
Would it just be a one-time fee? Or would it be a yearly fee?
And what about the people who want to be part of that, but then when they join no tournaments ever happen in their area and then they had just payed $10 for something that was never used...like how it is for me right now.

EDIT: Didn't see Kei's post, but it did kinda mention a couple things I was worrying about.

While I do agree that charging for a World Battle Ranking 'membership" would REALLY help against cheaters, I do agree that it would suck for the people who do want to be a part of it, but don't exactly live in an area where it'd be in much use.

I think the account upgrade idea is a much better idea in terms of a incentive to get some donations. True, to many users, $10 is kind of a lot of money to give away. All I can really say to that is "Well, they ARE optional features, not necessary to using the forums".

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ok take off no sigs and replace it with no sigs on site like The avyys

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Thanks to Ellz for my Face :)

$10 fee for the World Battle Ranking, or for features seem lke your best option at the moment. You could also charge like $15(arbitrary number) at tournament events if you don't already. Since you do not need to pony up to go see the rest of Anime North, paying to participate in the tournament is perfectly legitimate. Prizes do not come out of nowhere.

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Thanks to Kai-V for the avatar and signature!

Yeah, having people pay at least $10 to participate in tournaments sounds reasonable...
I'm still not gonna be too happy if a fee is charged to be part of the World Battle Ranking...

Yes Arjun has a gr8 idea too.

Thanks for all of your input. I'll be thinking about this over the upcoming weeks.