Does it Cost $$$ To Join ST Now??

[Dustin Wilcox]

Heard from a non-member that it now costs a fee to join stormtrack, is this legit? If so, sure glad I got in when it was free, not sure I'd be able to fork over more than a couple nickels to join. If true, it has me wondering a couple of things, first where is all this money going? With all the donators, revenue from new members and ads, there has to be money accumilating. Secondly, when will someone start a new quality forum that is free and provides a quality disscussion area for chasers?

 

[Jason Foster]

AAhhhh....NO!


Dustin, sounds like you got some "issues" Why not tell a little more.


Oh...and as they say...if you have a problem, you are welcome to start your own!

 

[Dustin Wilcox]

AAhhhh....NO!


Dustin, sounds like you got some "issues" Why not tell a little more.


Oh...and as they say...if you have a problem, you are welcome to start your own!

Um, Mr. Foster my only issue is stupid people....


As for the issue of a cost to join Stormtack, AAhhhh....YEAH! Just logged out and viewed the register page, it does appear ST is now collecting a $5 fee in order for folks to join...

 

[Dan Cook]

It was instated to help pay for some of the server costs.

 

[Jason Foster]

Um, Mr. Foster my only issue is stupid people....


As for the issue of a cost to join Stormtack, AAhhhh....YEAH! Just logged out and viewed the register page, it does appear ST is now collecting a $5 fee in order for folks to join...

Ah...are you calling me stupid...or where you pointing that comment somewhere else. I hope for your sake you were pointing that elsewhere.

I see your point about the fee...never noticed it, and I don't think there was ever any discussion about it here, but I may have forgot. If it was, I'm sure someone will point out the link if so.

But I'd be comfortable with the fee, to cover server costs....many have gone up in the past 12 months...some have gone up more than 50%.

 

[Dustin Wilcox]

It was instated to help pay for some of the server costs.

Server costs really jump that much? Or before was there some behind the scenes funding occurring? I'd just figured with all the donations and what has to be a somewhat profitable Google ad account, there would be more than enough to cover server costs...

 

[Dan Cook]

Server costs really jump that much? Or before was there some behind the scenes funding occurring? I'd just figured with all the donations and what has to be a somewhat profitable Google ad account, there would be more than enough to cover server costs...

IIRC Dave was supporting it and then Tim picked it up after he left.

We also did this to try and limit registrations applications to more hardcore weather people. Some of the apps pre-fees had essays like "i like seeing tornado pix LOL".

 

[Tim Vasquez]

Dustin, ST is a fairly high-volume site, and everyone saw the disaster we had in 2004 when it was on a Dreamhost account. We depend on capacity since another Katrina or 5/3/99 could kill the site in short order, so my policy is not to skimp on server requirements.

Ad revenue has been falling off, I guess because of the economy and the pool of Google Adsense ads being spread thin among more and more bloggers & websites. Donations have been important... they work well at the start of a campaign but then they tend to fall off precipitously.

Whatever the case, ST is going to be a self-sustaining operation and remain on a quality dedicated server, so that's really the bottom line. We're trying out a $5 fee for newbies, which integrates well with the vbulletin software and cuts down on riffraff and approval workload, so we'll monitor that over the remainder of the year and see how it works out. So far I think it's our best option. If $5 is too expensive then I'll be glad to hear thoughts about that.

Tim

 

[Robert Dewey]

Dustin, you could start your own forum... but I have my doubts that it would succeed for a multitude of reasons;

1) Your fighting an established market (ST isn't the only weather / chaser forum)
2) A lot of people have been using social-networking sites for sharing chase-related information
3) Server costs (if you plan on getting big)

As much as people whine about ST needing stricter registration guidelines, I'm surprised that there's people whining just the opposite. To be honest, I welcome it.

EDIT:

As far as server costs go, here's the pricing: http://www.serverbeach.com/

Do I think $5 is too much? Not at all. Again, if you don't like it, you're welcome to setup your own lonely corner of the 'net.

 

[Jacob Ferden]

I, for one, am not whining about it. I personally feel this is one of the best moves ST could have made.

 

[Dustin Wilcox]

If $5 is too expensive then I'll be glad to hear thoughts about that.

Tim

As the one who knows where ST stands and what is costs to run, I'd say your in the best position to make that call; if $5 yields greater revenue than the costs to run the forum and money starts pooling, lower the cost; if $5 a person memebership fee, ad revenue and donations aren't covering the costs, jack the fee up. If managed correctly, I can't imagine a charge (esp. only $5) for new members being of harm to the forum. However if not managed properly I can see this type of system yielding a situation where every new membership request is viewed as $5 in revenue, resulting in no one being turned away and ultimately more poor quality posts. Imagine the revenue if ST had implemented this back when membership was well under half what it is now...

EDIT:

As much as people whine about ST needing stricter registration guidelines, I'm surprised that there's people whining just the opposite. To be honest, I welcome it.

By no means am I whining, I'm 100% for stricter guidelines. Just shocked that this move came due to ST financial struggles, and was curious as to how the money is being allocated. What's it cost in server fees to house the ST empire?

 

[Robert Dewey]

However if not managed properly I can see this type of system yielding a situation where every new membership request is viewed as $5 in revenue, resulting in no one being turned away and ultimately more poor quality posts. Imagine the revenue if ST had implemented this back when membership was well under half what it is now...

Good point. Also, there will be a point at which no more people sign up, and you'll have to find another revenue model. Just something to think about.

 

[Jason Foster]

....However if not managed properly I can see this type of system yielding a situation where every new membership request is viewed as $5 in revenue, resulting in no one being turned away and ultimately more poor quality posts. Imagine the revenue if ST had implemented this back when membership was well under half what it is now...

I also envision that those who paid the $5 fee are less likely to give a larger donation if at all, because they essentially feel they're paying what is needed upfront.

I'm fine with the fee, as long as it doesn't get out of hand. And it should always be a one time fee...never annual, monthly, etc.

 

[Dan Cook]

I'm fine with the fee, as long as it doesn't get out of hand. And it should always be a one time fee...never annual, monthly, etc.

It's a one time deal.

 

[Jason Foster]

It's a one time deal.

I know it is now....but it should always be....because we don't know what future revisions there will be.