Senior Membership Guidelines

[Nobody Home]

Jackson,

I have enjoyed this forum since the early days and was bummed when it went away. I forgot about it for so long and was happy to find it made a comeback. As a guide for your changes, you might want to check a music forum called The Velvet Rope (velvetrope.com). They have moderated and un-moderated forums. My suggestion is make moderated forums for new and regular menbers until they "earn" Senior privileges and have an un-moderated forum for those who are of senior tenure. Just my opinion. Keep up the great work.

Hi Nobodyishome,

That's an interesting idea. I'll add it to the list of possible options for re-designing the website.

Thanks,

Jackson

[Mistapenus]

A few thoughts about the possible 'phuture' of the Forum, senior members' responsibilities, etc.

I believe that the future lies in continual improvement (up to infinity). This is a task for all of us 'dedicated members' and not only for Jackson.

A senior member ought to have not only privileges but responsibilities as well. As a 'senior-member' please assist by actively observing an enforcing the following:

1./First of all, it's amazing how much garbage is mixed with real useful info. To set up a 'chatroom' as Jackson has proposed (somewhere) could possible clean-up some of the useless chit-chat.

2./Members could be encouraged to post 'useful' info in the main area and carry on their one-to-one conversations in the 'chatroom' or similar convenience.

Whoring indeed is a time-consuming activity and one would rather save some time from shifting through junk before finding something worthwhile.

It could be one of the responsibilities of senior-members to adhere to this.

Can I suggest one dedicated window in the log-on procedure to inform members what a useful posting is required to be like?

Eg: -We don't really care... who u are

-....where you come from

-.... how much u earn

-....who your family are

-.... etc.

If you don't realize the necessity of this, then look at the Cambodia/Phnon Penh link right now! It's real crap.

A possible list of posting guidelines could be:

...If it does not refer to the subject then leave it out! Please!
...Ask as few questions as possible ( or go to chat-room).
...Convey as many experiences as possible.
...If you want to just chat, then go to the chat-room!
...Think:"MEANINGFUL Posting!"

If you can't adhere to these than your postings are useless and should be downgraded back to the 'kiddies'.

Can I also suggest a VIP room for accomplished members if possible (eg. over 100 postings). These individuals may have some more in common than the 'novices'.

How about an 'Executive Lounge' for those with over 500 'meaningful' posts or so?

Thanx.

[Almighty]

Question to Jackson......

I went back and re-read the propsed senior membership stuff.

I'm still a bit unclear about one thing concerning those of use who do already HAVE sr. membership status, but don't have a conforming name (such as mine).

Do I need to change my name, or are our sr. membership status' going to be grandfathered in?

[Stoner]

Adding a voice, yet again...you can't please everyone all of the time. Some won't post cause its free, many won't post if its not. The hardcore will remain, but for how long before they wander to the plethora of other very established pay sites.

IMO...you have a niche --- exploit it. So far, this niche has done excellent on all accounts and can only get better. Being a clone means jack. If you need donations...you need only ask I'm sure. A little link to paypal...I'd gladly add a few dollars to the plate.

BTW...*******...I remember you're post on wsg.org. ;) you've come a LONG damn way.

[OttoGraham]

Originally posted by J.G.
I disagree with moondog and Jackson.
This forum is OPEN and FREE. That makes it great and unique. Moondog seems to propose that this should be another "paid private" forum. Don't we have some of those forums in place already? What is so special about having one more?

I think that this forum's best feature is its cost. However, somebody has to pay the bills. At a minimum, I think advertising by way of pop-ups or banner ads is therefore appropriate.

I have subscribed to other forums such as Club ****** and Captain 69 in the past. I subscribe to none, currently. Why? There is no doubt that on occasion those places have provided me with useful information. However, the best value for your hard-earned money is sitting right here in front of you on your computer screen.

I also think that more stringent guidelines for the privilege of making instant posts by way of "Senior Membership" are appropriate. The greatest failing of the forum is the lack of participation by 90%+ of its readers. This, of course, is due to same factor that gives the forum its greatest strength. No real solution for this short of charging, unfortunately. And by instituting charges, there would be little to distinguish this forum from all the other paid ones.

My humble two cents.

-Uncle Otto

[Party]

I suggest that if a member has posted 10 posts which did not need to be moderated or corrected for one reason or other, shall be made full member i.e. his post will be visible immediately. This shall be given as a previlige and not as a matter of right. If he breaks the guide line he shall be warned twice & then this previlage taken back and to get it back one shall fulfill the condition above twice.i.e. 20 posts.

Ask for payment & you will see everyone disapear from here including the information.

[JimmyDR]

There should be a vouching system of some sort. I have met a few 100 mongers so far, either in NYC and or The Dominican Republic. It just would be that a certain poster has mongered with other posters and not is a spammer. Maybe under your handle, would list a few others that have met you. I would vouch for some that I have mongered with many a night.

This was the second site I ever posted on. WSG.org was the first.
I am not on that one any more.

Regarding pictures. If you want to post pictures, set up a yahoo club, link it and post away. I have done that and now have 1,810
members. Its free to create and free for all to see.

[TjMax]

A short note about the proposed changes...

I have a sugestion...

Encourage members to post pictures WITH posts

A) Seinor members can view pictures in posts for free

B) Standard Memebers can view pictures for free for one month after submitting a post with embeded picture or attaching a picture to a post no more that 14 days old.

C) Standard members PAY TO VIEW EMBEDED PICTURES

D) Cheap voyers can still use the forum as always


This proposal adresses several posted concerns:

1) Pictures cost money to support on a BBS
2) It encourages everyone to improve the value of their posts with pictures.
3) It recognizes the Seinor members for their continued contributions.
4) It provides Standard members with a way to avoid paying to view pictures by submitting high quality post with photo content.
5) It allows the voyers to pay to view the pictures like they do everywhere else...

And remember the Pic's can be of important stuff like:
a) Maps
b) Picture of the front of a building
c) Picture of a Hotel and or room
d) Monger Language Guide :)
e) A ripoff provider :(
f) A layout of the best spots inside a building

At the end of the day I will support anything Jackson decides on...
His continued comitment and efforts make him the best person to way all the problems against all the benefits...

And he has done a great job!!!!

-Max

The goal is to continue to improve the value of each post to the members.

[Almighty]

Well, as someone who doesn't really "travel" that much, here's my perspective, for what its worth, from someone who's already a "senior member"......

I feel I've contributed a fair amount of information about what I know, in my small corner of the *world.* I think I'd have the "10 post" limit thing covered. Although its all basically limited to one specific area of the country, that doesn't really have a huge hobby scene.

But with regard to the "pay for content stuff."
I was a member of a "pay" site for some time, and it was one of the biggest/most respected/whatever. And i'll be honest. The review/hobby info for my small corner of the world, sucked. MONTHS would pass without any new information being posted. I think at one time, I had posted about 80% of all the reviews that were even close to where I hunt. Now, the scene is not exactly jumping where I am, but I DO know it exists, and there should have been info available. But paying 19.99/month for info that would only get added to once every 3 months (except for the info i updated it with), was, imo, a waste of $$, so I cancelled it.

But here, there is info on my little area updated by several individuals on almost a daily basis. And this is free. To me, the info I've found here, is about 1000x more relevant and useful than about 99.9% of the stuff I've paid to access.

So, I guess I'm saying, at least where I'm concerned, there is absolutely NO need for a pay system. That discourages those who have maybe one or two bits of info to post. Consequently, if you make it a pay site, you'll end up with the same 5 dedicated guys, all talking about the same 10 pieces of tail. The "freeness" of the system allows those who don't have enough info/or hobby experience to feel justified in sharing. If you make it pay, those little nuggets from the one or two timer, will disappear. Those nuggets, imo, are what keep the info flowing.

Not everyone is in this to take trips to costa rica and pattaya. Some just want to know, where they can drive in the next county over to find some tail for sale, whether that means on the streetcorner, in a strip club, or from some escort agency. And, I think you'll find the latter group is much more common than the former group.

That said, as someone who's already a senior memberI guess I'd just like to petition or whatever to get my name changed to Almighty, instead of almighty, to conform with the "name" requirements.

[Member #4239]

I disagree with moondog and Jackson.
This forum is OPEN and FREE. That makes it great and unique. Moondog seems to propose that this should be another "paid private" forum. Don't we have some of those forums in place already? What is so special about having one more?
Supposedly the fact that the forum is open may discourage some people from posting. I am not sure if that is entirely true, but so what even if it were true? Is their privacy better protected if they get a monthly bill on their credit card from the "world sex forum"? On the other hand, how many good contributors will we lose if the forum were to go "private"?
Bottom line is that some people will just not post. They will use the forum, but they will contribute nothing. That's life. We have plenty of good contributors already and there will be more with time.
I enjoy reading the posts and posting as well, but I would not pay to be a member here. For most destinations that I am interested in, a ten minute chat with a well informed taxi driver or a hotel staff can give me more information than what's in the forum pages. That is not an insult to the forum, it is just a statement of facts.
My worst nightmare is to pay 29.99 for membership, go in the site, click on the first report and see the name "Nibu" come up.
Then I will surely know that my money has been wasted.

[Barista]

I agree with Prrogman in that your reqquirments are more than fair; I would disagree on the amount of posts needed for one to maintain thier status.

I think that any member who is a serious hobbyist can manage to post more than just one or three times a year. Once every couple of months, for a total of six times a year, sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

[Bruno68]

Jackson

As always you have put a great deal of thought and effort into trying to put together a system that is workable for everyone. I think you plan for Senior Membership looks fine.

I would only add one point: You are right to observe that Senior Membership seems to have taken on more meaning. To that end you might want to consider a 3 tiered system of membership.

New Member: someone who has only recently started posting. After such a member has made a small number of posts and it is clear that they are not a spammer, upgrade them to Regular Member in the same way your currently upgrade folks to Senior.

Regular Member: Have proven that they are not spammers (evil scum who should die a lengthy and painful death) but do not have any requirements about how much they must post. They are, in every sense of the word. "regular" members

Senior Members: Former Regular Members who have posted numerous detailed messages (not just questions) Senior Member status indicates that the poster has been a member in long standing and has provided valued information to the board. If you want to minimize the work on your part, you can require a Regular Member to assemble copies of his previous posts to make his case.


All of this is just a suggestion; your plan seems fine too. Either way, thank you for your work.

[MoonDog]

Originally posted by Buster Highman
As to why Moondog thinks he should NOT post a great report precisely because anyone can read it is beyond me. This does not seem reasonable to me. Great reports should be read by all.

Buster,

Yes, informative reports should be read by all, all those who have an interest in pursuing this hobby that is. Right now, WSG is far too open for any of us to post any photos.

If any of us puts together a good report with a lot of information and photos, we will graciously share it with others who are involved with this hobby, and those who give back as well. But why should we put together an informative post and report just to have it read, and distributed freely by those who do not contribute anything. We post information to help other hobbyists, not for the public.

If a person is truly interested in this hobby, he will share information, and keep his mouth shut to friends, neighbors, and co-workers. If he has no information to share, as he has not taken a trip yet, or does not want to post, he should contribute $$ to the owner in order to avail himself of the reports and information.

CH, TSM, WSA, XTN, are all pay sites or are by invitation only. Everybody contributes either dollars or reports, or they do not read. The quality of reports on those sites is far better than what is posted on WSG, and the reason is that these sites are private, not generally available to snooping chicas, wives, and anybody else that wants to cause harm. Yes anybody can buy a membership, but few do who are not fully involved with this hobby.

Jackson is a great guy, and he runs a great board with a lot of information on it. But it is too accessible. I personally know two good friends who's lives have been made miserable recently because of public access to WSG, and neither of these guys hardly post any more. They used to give quality reports, but now do not because anybody can access WSG and make their lives miserable again.

Until this is made a private and pay site, you will not see the quality reports that are on the other sites posted here as nobody wants to give the information out to the general public.

I like a free deal as much as anyone, but I do not think a person should get a free ride at our expense. We travel, gather information, tell the other guys about the cool girls that we have seen, and places that we have gone to. This is to share information with fellow hobbyists, so that they can "enjoy the life." If a person is not contributing either by dollars or reports, why should he have access to the information?

Moondog

At the risk of sounding self-serving, Moondog isn't alone in making this observation. I've heard exactly the same reasoning from other multi-forum posters that I've met personally, and who I've tried to convince to post in the WSG.

Jackson

[JPF]

I think that your categorizations and advancement criteria are very good. Two additional comments:

- if you can find moderators that you can trust I advocate using them to lessen the time you have to spend on reviewing so that you can spend your time on more useful activities: both on the website and with the chicas

- please keep the website free. It fills a different niche than the pay sites and in my opinion is better for it. I had a 3 month membership to CH but did not renew because I did not see additional value compared to WSG that justified the cost.

[One Man]

Jackson,

As a regular member, Senior membership means that I can usually take that individuals recomendations and advice to the bank. It is an almost automatic endorsement. Therefor it confers both honor and responsibility.

Toward that end, I think that a single international posting is not sufficient, although I do agree that 5 international postings is sufficient. Or possibly some mix where 2 US postings = 1 international posting. Someone who has had only 1 posting even if it is someplace strange like the ukraine may have earned my admiration, but not my trust.

Like others I see a day coming soon when the work of reviewing all of the regular posts becomes too much for even one as capable as yourself. So at a level even higher than Senior membership, I see a need for moderators coming sooner rather than later. Like a board of directors, the number of moderators should be kept small to be effective....perhaps one per continent or 2 for really busy continents. Those moderators could assume the responsibility for reviewing posts from regular members and could vote up/down on admitting someone to Senior membership or taking away that senior membership.

The current structure of senior/no-review vs regular/review has worked very well to weed out the spammers and that makes this one of our most valuable resources.

just my $0.02