Would you pay for Fchat?

So, somebody tell me - who has more to contribute in this forum:

You, a self-admitted college student who doesn't own a Ferrari (but sure likes to shoot his mouth off within a site for people who do)

and ME, who actually does own one, works on one, and drives one? Oh, you...because you paid.....that somehow 'gifts' you with a wealth of opinion, experience, and knowledge that the REST of us need to also pay money to hear? Or would even want to? What planet are you from?

Here's an even-better idea - OWNERSHIP HAS ITS PRIVILEGES. If you have a verifiable FERRARI VIN, you get in for free. Period. ALL-ACCESS. Some talk the talk, the REAL MEN walk the walk....wanna 'make the rules' around here, college boy? Go get your daddy to go buy you a car, THEN you get into 'the club'. We'll see how you like the rules when they're written to exclude YOU.

Wanna know how I pay my freight around here? I've bought stuff from vendors who advertise here. The same vendors who line Rob's pockets with cash to have access to paying customers (like, uh, real honest-to-god FERRARI owners who need, uh, 'stuff' for their FERRARIS). Think of it - we dump the VIN-less college kids/trolls, the vendors stay (they haven't lost market share), Rob still gets paid well, and the people who actually have a FERRARI don't have to put up with crap from people who should spend more time lurking than posting.....

 

I fully agree with you and don t known why it s not done already, people pay for movie, go to bar, etc.. and here the system allow anonymity who push them to wrong behaviour. To make the system free is a error as when it s free, people don t care as even if they get ban, they start again with a new pseudo.

If you control the real identity of the members, all the threads will benefit by beeing more serious, less attack and better behaviour, which is what everybody want I believe.
When people known your name and adress, you don t send black mails or wrong comments.

So many times, I saw stupids posts by ghost hidding behind a computer and this behaviour push out good people with good knownledge.

My opinion only

 

Not correct at all, growth come with quality, everybody have 10 or 20 $ per year. When you are not ready to pay a very small fee to be part of a quality forum, then you are not serious at all. Nothing is free, why the forum will be ?

And never forget, then when you pay, you are going to respect the others members also, and you are going to be respected.
Now, as you didn t pay, you defend your position, but as a successfull entrepreneur of internet, I m sure that you have 20 $ in one of your pocket !

 

It seems to me that the hostility level has increased, lately, across society as a whole. Possibly a result of the complexities of modern life, and their resulting frustration. Possibly from other causes. Maybe from exhaust from that new itching powder factory across the river. Maybe it's global warming.

I haven't noticed any particularly high ratio of subscribed or unsubscribed posters among those reaching the flash point.

Unsubscribed users contribute to discussions in the technical, maintenance, and racing areas. And while the "fancy watches", "politicians we hate", and "economy opinions" stuff may be interesting diversions, the "heart" of the forum is ownership and buyer support.

The forum is a valuable resource for those shopping for a Ferrari. People who have just started shopping aren't likely to want to pay to subscribe. And while we may get tired of the "porshe or ferrari" threads, they do provide valuable information to the community.

There are already mechanisms for dealing with the most obnoxious trolls as they happen. You already have to join the site (paying or not) to post. The site works as is. Why mess with success?

I might suggest stressing the "search" feature in an email confirming a sign-up. But not a lot of tweaking seems to be necessary.

There is a part of the human psyche that likes to garnish reassurance from others. That part likes to associate with people who share the same opinions and views, to reassure the ego that "you're right, because everyone in the (small) room agrees". To a degree, that's why we're here, rather than on a "basic transportation" list -- we share a passion for performance cars.

But you learn very little from those who are exactly like you.

Variety is the spice of life. The more, the merrier.


But, in any case, the site should be free for hot babes.

 

If I recall back in the beginning Rob started this site as a hobby. I think somewhere back in 2000 when he bought his Fcar he wanted to get a community of fellow Fcar owners to discuss both technical as well as common themes related to Ferrari's. The initial threads I became involved in was understanding the quirks of owening one of these cars. As I mentioned I bought my car in mid 1999 and was very much interested in various repair practicies. Working through a wheelwell was not in my normal repair background so I was looking for the tricks of the trade. I watched the site for a while and decided to join in Feb of 2001. I only posted in the tech sections to gain some of this information. As the site started to evolve it brought in both potential and Ferrari wanabe owners. As sections started to grow there became hot spots like politics and religion which wrer very heated and brought in a new set of trolls. But at all times it was the technical info that brought me back. There was a great deal of thirst for the 3X8 series cars due to the DYI repairability. Most of us were gearheads and for the sake of costs were looking for ways to find alternate sources for parts and later service. So this was a Ferrari site with Ferrari owners contributing. Rob wanted to expand this as his business and dedicate his passion for Fcars as a business. He started to develop more and more thread areas relating to different models and then to different areas of the country and also to the world. This was all interesting and brought in different opinions on various topics. It also deviated from my initial interest of Ferrari repair. But I continued to share my learning and various experiance with the Ferrari community. The form now is very diverse not but still holds my interest in a few areas. I remember when Rob asked the community if they would pay for a subscription and at that time it 's response came with mixed emotions. But Rob was a business man and forged forward and I assume is doing well with the site. Also the sponsers have helped and I have used them for some of my parts. So I was not for charging admission and always thought that you should be an owner in order to participate. There are times where we see answers to technical problems that are Fcar related and in an area where a non Fcar owner has no appreciation of the problem and tries to contribute. It is hard to relate to a non owner unless it is a typical type of non Fcar problem. So I guess my net is members with a valid Fcar VIN can post and all others can read. If non Fcar folks want to ask car related questions there should be 1 thread for that purpose. So with that said at the present growth of the form this would be impractical. Based on this I believe the form should stay at it's present status regarding payment and let Rob continue to grow it in the direction he sees fit. If I am asked to shut down because I need to pay a subscription then OK and I'll move on. It's not the cost but just my principal. Enjoy the ride , I am.

 

Seems to me that limiting the site to paying members may have some deleterious effects...

I like the site for its technical info, and the commaraderie amongst folks who are goal/success orientated. There really is no similar site on the net. This site is about as "mature" as they get.

Limiting it to paying members will:

1) Decrease posts...giving paying members less to read...way less.
2) Cut down on the entertainment level.
3) Cut down on the hits that sponsors get, whether real or not

Why not REWARD people who pay??? Rather than limiting access for those who do not???

Perhaps t-shirts/caps to subscribers?

Access to technical articles for subscribers only?

Sponsor discounts for subscribers?

Etc...

There is a reason major sites remain free...they need content. SO does fchat...

 

Toby, if you can't read about and decide if you want a Ferrari based on all of the content available to non-subscribers and the search function, I'm sorry for you or potential owners with more money than brains. I don't buy into the potential owner argument nor do your forum admin credentials change my opinion. If you can't decide what you want based on the wealth of Ferrari related information on the web, why is it our responsiblity to change your mind? If you want to daydream about owning a Ferrari one day, by all means.

I suggested using a referral system, not name, rank, social, and a down payment. Chill out, kitten.

 

He's just the only one that's said anything. You've been here 4 whole months and want to change the world?

 

Rob is doing fine....... with all the sponsors and google ads......................if the traffic were to decline so would the advertisers/sponsors....................the high traffic is one reason this forum is successful................

Though no matter what, there will always be annoying posts..................and I do understand the frustration......

 

I know exactly what you are suggesting. You posted an idea, I posted why I didn't like it...sorry if I hurt your feelings, kiddo Aside from reading posts (and books) there's also questions that people have and to get them answered they need to be posted. Nobody is in charge of my mind and swaying it one way or another except for me so lose the attitude.

My last paragraph was not directed at you. I was simply stating that FChat isn't any different. And some people think credentials add credibility.

 

I think the only trolls you're gonna eliminate with a minimal charge are the ones who come in, post a quick ad or three, and then run away. WE knock those guys out of the box pretty quick anyway, so there's really no need to stop them. Everyone is good at hitting the "!" on those posts.

On the other hand, guys who want to stay and be pains in the butt will be happy to pony up $5 a year once they settle in. SO a 3 or 6 month wait where they can post will not help that either.

I think the only way to kill trolling is to kill trolls. Rob's working on that. Adding mods, working through the TOU and a bunch of other issues, ALL THE TIME to make it harder for trolling, and better for conversing.

I tend to let trolls who are not selling anything alone. The ones who post nonsense, or marginal posts, or who NEVER post anything car related. But I can see where a more vigilant approach to non-contributors (or trolls if you prefer that term) would perhaps result in a better quality of life for the rest here. (The ignore button works for this too.) Only problem that I've seen is sometimes you kill a troll and he's back 20 minutes later as a re-named troll. Blocking the IP will work, but that is cumbersome too. There's no perfect solution.

I'm sure Rob is taking all of this into account as the site grows.

No BS, there is not another Ferrari web/chat site on the planet that comes close to the user content we have here. I visit the other ones maybe every couple of months and many of the posts I saw on page one at that time, are still there three months later. They just don't get any action. Doesn't do any good to post a technical question and have to wait four months for a reply, which happens there all the time. Here, generally I have a good answer, or six, within a couple hours of my original post.

I would not want to do anything to dampen that spirit of cooperation and contribution, and I think mandatory subscription fees would do exactly that.

DM

 

Currently I am not subscribed.

Been around for 6+ years.

I would pay a fair amount of $ for a "NO BS" tech/historical/parts-service type of site.

In the early years of F-chat I recieved lots of great info/tech support/help that would have cost me major $ and time in other places.

For now, I view the "discussion areas" as entertainment and the "tech" areas as the only real value to the site. Many posters/members are around just to talk smack, BS, raise hell and dilute the true value of F-chat (tech). Overall F-chat is still a tremendous recsource and it benifits current owners, would-be's and future owners.

Again....

I would pay fair $ for a tech only site. Where either/only owner's, PO's, tech's or mechanics with skill and/or kowledge to help the Tifosi would be allowed.

JMHO.

 

I think it is short sighted to believe that making the site a pay site would get rid of trolls. What, they don't have $5 bucks? If five bucks is what it takes to get in someone's knickers then I doubt they stay away anymore or less than the rest of us. Bothering people is what they do for fun.

If I were to pay for entry into this site and then get blasted, I'd really be upset. As it is now, I haven't had a problem. Would I pay to join? No, I don't think so. There's plenty of free sites for me to use without paying.

I think Rob has the right idea. Give those who subscribe an extra incentive to pay the money. Those who don't want to pay can stay on the public forums. That works for me.

Bob Wassam

 

You basically mentioned ricer forums, i don't attend them so maybe you aren't looking hard enough....

 

and i enjoy the wisdom of some of the older contributor's, however the other 90% of highschool/old men, no thankyou. To say that my age group doesn't contribute is a bit misguided.

touche'...

 

Rob, I'm curious how an owners forum would work? Anyone can find a VIN on the web... would the users have to be vetted by other members of the community or would they have to submit insurance cards or tittles? And would non-owners be able to view the section? Just curious how it would work.

 

+1 Once i get a decent job I will subscribe. I've not really investigated subscribing, but I'm pretty sure i need a credit card not a debit card to subscribe + not familiar with paypal. In all honesty though, this is the best forum and i've learnt so much interesting stuff that i just couldn't elsewhere.