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[Calnefoxile]

I've kind of tried to stay out of this argument/discussion/whinge fest *delete as appropriate.

 

But I have 1 question for the chaps at Warners:

 

I do not have Gold membership but am a subscriber to BRM, will that allow me to have access to the, potentially, ad-free version of RMWeb hinted at??

 

Oh and, sorry Andy, I've had to up the security on my Works laptop, through which I view RMWeb when at work, Company policy and all that. And I've also done it on my home machine, purely because the Video Ad was really annoying me by taking me to the bottom of the page whenever I clicked on any comment on any thread as linked from My Notifications. If the Video ad moved with the page as it scrolls down then it wouldn't annoy me as much.

 

I'm sure a happy medium will be found at some point.

 

Cheers

 

Neal.

[G-BOAF]

17 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

 

You as in @G-BOAF

 

 

Except 

 

 

You don't know what the product is, but have already decided not to buy, or even try the free trial...

 

 

I thought you meant modelling products from manufacturers, hence my response.

 

I DO sometime buy BRM, I have also been an attendee at recent Alexandra Palace exhibitions, so in that way am contributing in my own way as a consumer.

What I was saying was that interest generated in the hobby, manufacturers products etc should be used to support RMWeb, and it potentially a large revenue stream (quite how, I don't know).

I guess herein lies the problem of RMWeb being captive to a particular supplier rather than what it started out as which was an independent forum for model railways.

 

Happy to sign up for a free trial (though I can't see this as an option) , so long as it doesn't involve entering payment details and being charged if I forget to unsubscribe (because life is busy enough).... 

[G-BOAF]

9 minutes ago, Mike Bellamy said:

 

 

I thought we had been told several pages back that these are not the actual advertisements but are test videos on a loop so that they keep repeating the same few. I assume that when the test is over we will then get proper adverts with a frequency based on how much has been paid. Hopefully the Silver Membership will be available by then to pay for just RMweb to be advert free.

.

OK, I didn't see that, just saw annoying videos which turned me off completely. For me, a video popup is annoying, regardless of content.

Its how my brain is wired...

[davknigh]

I have decided to use the pop-ups as a test of my peripheral vision and my reflexes. As soon as I notice one I click the ‘x’ to shut it off. I’m getting rather good at it. It would be even better if they appeared on both sides of the screen but I somehow doubt that I will be accommodated.

 

Cheers,

David

[Oldddudders]

3 hours ago, G-BOAF said:

When I joined RMWEB it was not part of BRM, I joined as a community of knowledge and information, not a source of profit!

So you were more than happy to enjoy the facilities paid for out of Andy Y's pocket? Bravo!

[MJI]

Does a BRM subscription help RMWEB?

[Ben Alder]

Will this proposed lite version of Gold have access to the classifieds for signers up?

 

[G-BOAF]

4 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

So you were more than happy to enjoy the facilities paid for out of Andy Y's pocket? Bravo!

Not at all. And I've said I'm happy with banner ads etc. or a small monthly subscription without the BRM bolt ons.

My problem is obtrusive video ads. And yes this has struck a nerve with me, I don't entirely know why, other than my brain does not like it.

 

Also (excuse my ignorance) but how much does it cost to host something like RMWeb (and yes I'm not counting the Mod team's time, which is a separate issue)? 

 

I just looked on Proboards and they offer premium hosting from £50/year. Even if we say this forum is large and complex, hosting in terms of server space can't be more than a few hundred pounds a year. Hence my suggestion of cross subsidy from other areas of Warners or even the industry at large e.g. in return for 'sponsored threads' on products (though these should remain free of censoring)....

Edited October 6, 2021 by G-BOAF

[Pete the Elaner]

8 hours ago, G-BOAF said:

My problem is obtrusive video ads. And yes this has struck a nerve with me, I don't entirely know why, other than my brain does not like it.

 

 

If we all get used to just clicking on adverts to get rid of them, they fail to do their job because they cease to be noticed. The ads therefore become useless & a waste of money for the advertiser.

They then need to be made more prominent (irritating) to have an effect.

 

We have 3 choices: either put up & shut up, stop using the forum or pay for membership.

[MJI]

Irritating adverts actually have the opposite effect.

 

People forget that adblocking only came about due to more intrusive ads.

 

Banner ads in forums have always been acceptable.

 

Random junk ones whick pop up or block are not.

 

But RMWEB does cost a lot to run as it has to include Andys wages, it is his job.

[AY Mod]

11 hours ago, G-BOAF said:

I just looked on Proboards and they offer premium hosting from £50/year. Even if we say this forum is large and complex, hosting in terms of server space can't be more than a few hundred pounds a year

 

We don't use Proboards; this software is of a different and higher spec. You're so massively out there and it wouldn't even cover the usage levels we had 11+ years ago. Our needs are beyond what they include within the corporate price band on Invision software (and those prices are currently being increased). There's a lot of adaptation too which wouldn't fit with that so it requires self-hosting plus significant amounts for image storage.

 

Therefore, your points about cross-subsidy or getting the trade to pay for your free usage are irrelevant so it's not helpful to read wild bright ideas when the reality is far different.

 

Conveniently you isolate the costs of moderation but there is also technical management; who was up overnight twice last week working to get things back on track so that service could be restored asap? The same bloke who always ends up sorting out user issues at weekends and when I'm on holiday. Phil moderates too and our IT department carry out certain functions but there's a lot that sits at this desk and nowhere else.

[AY Mod]

On 06/10/2021 at 01:35, G-BOAF said:

c) am I alone in believing some of the 'payment' for RMWEB is in the info, opinions, knowledge and content that us, the members, spend (often many) hours writing....?

 

Although this point is a repetition of some previous ones (and therefore possibly unnecessary) I have given it further thought. We could have a low Silver Contributor rate for ad-free access to those who provide levels of useful content or input and then a higher Silver Consumer rate for those who don't to the same degree. I'd have to manually assess what rate would be appropriate for each user (I'm sure they would disagree with my assessment); as an exercise I've looked at your Topics and Posts and would regard you as a Consumer.

 

I think we'll just keep it simple.

[Not Jeremy]

7 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

 

Although this point is a repetition of some previous ones (and therefore possibly unnecessary) I have given it further thought. We could have a low Silver Contributor rate for ad-free access to those who provide levels of useful content or input and then a higher Silver Consumer rate for those who don't to the same degree. I'd have to manually assess what rate would be appropriate for each user (I'm sure they would disagree with my assessment); as an exercise I've looked at your Topics and Posts and would regard you as a Consumer.

 

I think we'll just keep it simple.

What sort of service could I expect as a total berk..... 

 

 

[AY Mod]

7 minutes ago, Not Jeremy said:

What sort of service could I expect as a total berk.

 

The usual. 

[Oldddudders]

16 minutes ago, Not Jeremy said:

What sort of service could I expect as a total berk..... 

Actually, as a purveyor of desirable and relevant objects (books), I suspect the recent complainant believes you should pay a regular tithe to RMweb to enable him to avoid noisome ads. It is odd that his forum name is an emblem of cost-no-object living (few paupers were regular Concorde patrons, I imagine) while £1 a week is too much to pay to enjoy this place.....

[melmerby]

3 hours ago, MJI said:

 

But RMWEB does cost a lot to run as it has to include Andys wages, it is his job.

Don't forget his Roller and Penthouse in Miami.

[AY Mod]

11 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

the recent complainant believes you should pay a regular tithe to RMweb to enable him to avoid noisome ads

 

A note for the complainant - Monsieur Titfield does contribute, as do Accurascale and Revolution specifically as well as some other advertisers which is recognised and respected at this end of the soggy string.

[AY Mod]

3 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Don't forget his Roller and Penthouse in Miami.

 

Rollers are vulgar, if it's a new car I'll go for a Bentley but would settle for a genuine GT40 but I can't fit much gear in that.

 

And can I have a dormant volcanic island please; fewer people.

[woodenhead]

3 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

 

Rollers are vulgar, if it's a new car I'll go for a Bentley but would settle for a genuine GT40 but I can't fit much gear in that.

 

And can I have a dormant volcanic island please; fewer people.

You'll need Tracey Island, so you hop aboard Thunderbird 1 when required to turn RMWeb off and back on again at 2am.

[Nick C]

13 hours ago, G-BOAF said:

I just looked on Proboards and they offer premium hosting from £50/year. Even if we say this forum is large and complex, hosting in terms of server space can't be more than a few hundred pounds a year.

I have a small virtual webserver (i.e. a small chunk of an actual real server somewhere in a datacentre in London) - just big enough to run a personal email server. This costs me £15 (+vat) per month. That's not including anyone's time, or any software licencing costs, just the hosting. A big site like this will need multiple servers, a seriously large database, the content delivery network (cloudfront), plus all the bits to tie it all together, 2-3 people's full time wages (plus NI, pensions, etc), and licencing costs. It'll be well into 6 figures annually.

[Not Jeremy]

51 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

 

The usual. 

Well, I must say, that seems very fair

[Phil Parker]

1 hour ago, AY Mod said:

I'd have to manually assess what rate would be appropriate for each user (I'm sure they would disagree with my assessment);

 

I think we could probably set something that automatically categorises anyone who types "There's nothing in it for me" in any announcement thread...

[woodenhead]

15 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

 

I think we could probably set something that automatically categorises anyone who types "There's nothing in it for me" in any announcement thread...

Can you not add that and variants of it to the swearlist?

 

Then when there is a Farish announcement all the usual suspects will post is ####

 

Or even better replace with 'Lovely, happy to see this announcement, I am sure those who model that era will be very pleased.  Looking forward to the release date"

[MJI]

1 hour ago, AY Mod said:

 

Although this point is a repetition of some previous ones (and therefore possibly unnecessary) I have given it further thought. We could have a low Silver Contributor rate for ad-free access to those who provide levels of useful content or input and then a higher Silver Consumer rate for those who don't to the same degree. I'd have to manually assess what rate would be appropriate for each user (I'm sure they would disagree with my assessment); as an exercise I've looked at your Topics and Posts and would regard you as a Consumer.

 

I think we'll just keep it simple.

 

Using that method you would have to pay Tony Wright for his contributions!!!!

[chris p bacon]

2 minutes ago, MJI said:

 

Using that method you would have to pay Tony Wright for his contributions!!!!

Eeerrr he already does paid work for Warners/BRM