Rokslide subscription, premium access

[Manosteel]

Rob you guys are doing it right, keep up the great work. And trust me when I say your sponsors make money, all of my major gear items have come from the companies you mentioned and I admit that if it wasn't for this site I would probably still be wearing under armour, cabales gear and badlands packs ( not that they are bad but their are way better options)

 

[2ski]

Yep , always new guys wanting to have a conversation , wanting to talk about pack weights , ect. Good thing a forum is an open and continuing conversation and not a bound reference manual sitting on a shelf. So many feel the need to reference old threads because they have already participated in the topic and I believe feel it's been talked about so it's all settled. Just because you are bored with the topic doesn't mean the next guy should just read old threads and keep quiet. It's fresh for each successive wave of new members and their conversation is just as relevant to them as it was to you the first time you discussed it. If the topic is old news to you then don't participate but when some asks a question they should be treated with respect and not dismissed with a link to an old thread.

Dude. This has to be one of the most insightful posts I've ever read here. And I don't know how it could be put any more eloquently. Great job...now stop. This is a hunting site. We don't want people thinking we're smart or anything.

Seriously though, that puts it more succinctly than I was going to. This is such a friendly site, and I know its the moderators that make it such. They don't let anything get out of hand. Rokslide and a football forum dedicated to the Montana State Bobcats are the two sites that I frequent the most(FTG, just kidding any griz fans. But that's the point too. I shouldn't put that on a post but I could do it on the MSU and UM sites until you know where freezes over. It'd be like me posting F Acme. As Matt said in his post, they won't let me do that here.) The football site sees a lot of traffic from me during football season, spring practice, fall practice, and national signing day. I check it weekly the rest of the time. I check Rokslide daily because its such a friendly place. Hunting season is a short time, and if anything this place seems to be busier during the off season. And that to me is amazing. That a hunting site is just as busy or more so during the off season. I could be wrong, but it seems like everyone is out hunting, not posting. The mods here are the bomb.

I've only been on BPL once to look at an article that someone posted here that he had written. I couldn't read it since I don't pay to be there so I haven't been back. Its too bad too, because I'm pumped to get out and do some backpacking trips this summer. I get the info I need here for that too.

Here on Rokslide, it seems its the people posting that give a lot of the reviews and I would have an issue paying to see my fellow Rokslider's reviews. And it does seem the high end sponsors know that this is a place to advertise. Noone here says they're looking to pay cheap for something, they ask what is something cheaper that I can buy until I can afford whatever expensive brand. You never see a thread like, "I love the Columbia clothing system I put together"

 

[fair-chase]

If it was deemed necessary to charge a fee due to lack of sponsorship funds, I would much rather have a fee for the blog than for the forums. An exclusive paid membership to the blog would be something I personally wouldn't mind. I would hate to see the forums go to a fee based system. But any fee based subscription should come with some added bennies. You could make perks exclusive content, discounts on gear, testing gear prototypes, or just plain old gear giveaways. I know a lot of the "perks" I just listed are already being done here on the forums, and Rokslide seems to give back more to their members in terms of quality gear than any other outdoor site I know. Just saying that I would be fine if a few (very few ) of those things were set aside for people who contributed monetarily to keeping this site up and running.

As far as moderation goes, I love it just the way it is. I know I've said some things that would have sent (or continued) a thread on a downward spiral; and had posts that didn't properly communicate what I was trying to say. It happens. I like that it gets cleaned up from time to time. Keeps things on track and gives us more of what we want....real reviews and experiences.

 

[jm1607]

I like what my other hunting forum does.. You can "sponsor" the site for certain fees like $15 for 1 year, $40 for 3 years, $150 lifetime (I just made these numbers up). If you are an active sponsor you get a little badge by your Avatar saying so. You also get a few little freebies in the mail, like a coozie and a t-shirt or something.. Think you get something a little extra nice if you're a lifetime member. Just a way to donate and let others know that you donated.. Getting a little badge by you're name will give people an incentive to donate

 

[voidecho]

Another forum I'm on recently implemented "Premium Members". For a small fee you could become a premium member with the following perks...

The upgrades and additions you will receive are as follows:

5000 Maximum Stored PMs
1000 Maximum Album Pictures
10 Maximum Created Social Groups
Unlimited Forum Attachment Space
15GB @xxxxxxxx-forum.com Email Address
Larger Custom Avatars
Custom User Title
Send PM to Users Who Have Reached Quota
No Advertisements

Not being a Premium Member doesn't take anything away from what you already have, it just adds to it. I did it just for the extra PM space as I'm more active there.

 

[SHTF]

I'm a member of a landcruiser site and they offer a program to be a star member its like 20 a year. It doesn't really offer many benefits( increase pm box, more avatar options, ect.) in the forum but for me it feels good to support something I benefit from.

You nailed it I just mentioned this in another post on here.