Although I feel that it is a shame that it has come to this I do agree with al of the points raised. One thing I would like to be considered is that although there is a wealth of experience on this site, often people (wannabes like me) benefit from realising that there are people who have none. It’s a lonely decision to make to join the armed forces. Very few of your mates are interested and you rarely meet people in the same position as you. I was desperate to find out if other people were doing through the same gamut of emotions as me and if I was doing the right thing. If you take away the opportunity for wannabes to share their experiences, I think this site will lose a lot of its magic. We can often help each other with up to date information and new developments that the more experienced members may not be aware of. Perhaps having a Wannabes only section annexed from the main area may stop the rot and rejuvenate the faith in the exasperated wiser gathering and would benefit both sides.
To reiterate, I understand the move and think that £5 is a absolute bargain for the wealth the be gleaned, but don’t cut off your nose to spite your face. Just an opinion, not a provocation.
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Proposed Improvements to Military Forums
As a new member of the forums (though I have been reading them for a while) I have to say I haven't really experienced the problems mentioned to any great degree so my comments may not be entirely accurate...
As far as a public and private forum goes I would certainly be happy to pay £5 or whatever to join but I do think bishamten has a very valid point about the forums as a source of information for many people. In addition I'd agree with bishamten's point about limiting access potentially limiting opinions and thus maybe even limiting the forums and this is something you'd have to keep an eye on I guess...
Having said this, if the problems are getting bad enough to be causing responsible members to leave then obviously something needs to be done.
With this in mind, and in the spirit of compromise suggested by Archie, I'd like to add a further suggestion for consideration...
Much of the most useful information on many varying topics often appears in posts not necessarily in the correct forums or under obvious titles. Perhaps you could have a split situation with some public and some private forums but at the same time allow all the boards to be publicly viewable and searchable. In this way new users seeking information could have access to the wealth of experience available on the boards and would hopefully be encouraged to join them and participate responsibly.
But then it's only my opinion and as I said earlier I may not be in full possession of the facts; in the end I'll trust the moderators to make the right decision...
As far as a public and private forum goes I would certainly be happy to pay £5 or whatever to join but I do think bishamten has a very valid point about the forums as a source of information for many people. In addition I'd agree with bishamten's point about limiting access potentially limiting opinions and thus maybe even limiting the forums and this is something you'd have to keep an eye on I guess...
Having said this, if the problems are getting bad enough to be causing responsible members to leave then obviously something needs to be done.
With this in mind, and in the spirit of compromise suggested by Archie, I'd like to add a further suggestion for consideration...
Much of the most useful information on many varying topics often appears in posts not necessarily in the correct forums or under obvious titles. Perhaps you could have a split situation with some public and some private forums but at the same time allow all the boards to be publicly viewable and searchable. In this way new users seeking information could have access to the wealth of experience available on the boards and would hopefully be encouraged to join them and participate responsibly.
But then it's only my opinion and as I said earlier I may not be in full possession of the facts; in the end I'll trust the moderators to make the right decision...
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ExCrabMate
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- Location: West Sussex
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mutley2002
- Member
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- Joined: Sun 06 Apr, 2003 11:12 am
- Location: my house in the midlands!!!!when i can find it
in or out
oh dont exclude us ex qaranc people and us who help the lads over the seas in iraq etc please dont cut the cord on us we want to staySisyphus wrote:I shall be walking through the "Ayes" lobby!
But El Prez, where are those 'interesting and intelligent' threads you were talking about??
Only one query - about how you decide who's in and who's out? Just ex Royals/svcfolk in? Whatabout the valuable contributions from some of the 'non-combatants?
Sorry, I'm sure you're on the case!!
you never know when you might need us 
In life you can be like a mushroom kept in the dark and fed lots of shit
don`t let them do it to you
don`t let them do it to you
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Deniable_Operative
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anglo-saxon
- Guest
I just thought of a different system, how about just allowing members who've reached a certain member level thing, say you can only go into certain parts of the forum if you have a "member" status level? Just incase you can't figure out or it's just too much hassle to use the pay systems.
"This far and no further" - Britain, World War 1 & 2
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Jason The Argonaut
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- Location: London, England
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How about splitting the site in two. One side would be for people looking to join the armed services and civvies. Then the other side would be for serving and ex-serving members of the armed service including TA soldiers. The ex an serving members could post on both sides, there for there would be no need to charge. 
I fight for my corner and secondly I leave when the pub closes. - Winston Churchill [img]http://www.world-of-smilies.de/html/images/smilies/teufel/smilie_vampire.gif[/img]
