kilcher

I agree. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of reasons to be offended around here but I don't think that's one of them.

johnglass

Didn't you hear? She's a writer, her words mean more than everyone else's.


I dislike the ads as well, but to be outright offended by them and to take your ball and go home if you don't get your way is ridiculous.

UWSarge

While I don't care for the ads much, I can deal with it. Like others have said, maybe having them on the side vertically would be nice.

Anyways, I'm hoping for paid membership to get them totally removed.

greg9x

I dislike it also.... they keep trying to find ways to shove an ad in your face, but that makes me more likely to ignore it or purposfully never click on it.

SunMonkey

intra-ads

but...

hot-linking every other word in a post

In other words, it could be much, much worse.

The Cow

Ads don't bother me much, I can accept it, and I use them. The over-use of CAPS and 's (and such) in posts, however...

Mazje

Don't worry, even if she's not posting, she can still lurk and get good deals. So it all works out.

But seriously, I don't have a problem with the ads or their placement, but I do have an issue with some of the content. As someone pointed earlier, some of them seem to indicate that some of the ads are for bootlegged movies. I know there are bugs being worked out, but that's the kind of thing that could hurt DVDTalk moreso than the ad revenue would help. And no one at DVDTalk, Miss Peach included, wants to endorse bootlegging.

Also, as for paid memberships, I think it's a great idea, if for no other reason than to get some direct revenue to support the site.

FinkPish

I wonder if changing the background color of the advertisement would help to separate it more from the rest of the thread. That way no one is under the impression that the OP is somehow pimping something.

Miss Peach, ads are a fact of life in this society and maybe it is something to start getting used to. If you wrote articles in a newspaper, there would be times that your article would be completely surrounded by ads. This wouldn't imply that the article writer is trying to get you to go to Victoria's Secret Semi-Annual Sale, it is just something the paper does to generate revenue.

Actually, I'm curious to see how we can get the funniest ads to appear in a thread. It seems to scan the text in the first post and generate ads based on that, so maybe someone should try inserting random words into their post and hope the ads pick up on it.

Tarnower

MISS PEACH, please don't leave. I have thoroughly enjoyed your posts since you first came aboard last December. Many of your thoughts expressed have put big ol' smiles on my face. You're a very clever and witty writer.

I do understand and empathize with you on this matter. I respect your opinion, and realize it is based on principle. However, with that said, I do think that the above-quote from FinkPish makes a lot of sense. It's perhaps one of the most logical to appear in this thread. Maybe it'll help put this matter into a different perspective on your part.

Jackskeleton

You really shouldn't be apologizing. You guys took down the boards, brought them back to life and even though some changes aren't going to be easy on some. Change is never easy. You guys have had a long day/night and if users are going to be so fickle and, in this case, jump the gun and become drama queens, by all means, let those leave. I realize you want to have viewers on the site because it's another click for ad space, but you need to see that those clicks are worth the hassle.

Miss Peach, You are being a drama queen and are jumping the gun and down right being annoying when you call the forum out on items that are in the early stage. The door is right there on the top. You see that X, close the window and log off dvdtalk. No one needs to revoke your membership. You have full control from day one if you come visit the site or if you don't. You don't own a thread. You agreed to the ads the day you agreed to sign up. My suggestion is you find another forum that fits your need.

Clearly, this is a situation where you can't please all the people all of the time. I may not like some of the changes, but I either have to adapt to change or move on. If a pay option is in the future, I will gladly pay into it. I don't see why people think this is free for some reason. You pay for it one way or another. If it's by ads, then by all means don't complain about them when they need to be shown. Either that or put your money where your mouth is and pay for the site.

Either give it a shot or just leave. I think the forum could use a lot less folks who aren't willing to give the forum leaders a chance to shape this place into a site that is done for the users by feedback instead of just jumping to a conclusion based on tweaks that are ever changing.

Original Desmond

Miss Peach, the fact that you are NOT posting pics of your boobies i find DEEPLY OFFENSIVE!

Sloth911

I think the ad boxes are fine. I am not, in any way, offended by them. In fact, I would PERFER ads as opposed to paying for a premium service.

The suggestion that the ads are "deeply offensive" is absolutely absurd. If it bothers you that much, i think you should leave the forum.

Ad's on the internet a FACT of life, and IMO, this website is very, very good, having LESS direct advertisement like BIGGER sites such as yahoo and cnn.

Mazje

Well said, JackSkeleton.

Dah-Dee

I really don't have a problem with the ad bar; it's separated from the first post, contains only text, not *that* disruptive to my forum experience, pays the bills

SMB-IL

Wow, lots of complaining from Miss Peach about a forum that hasn't cost her a dime and yet provides her with so much! First the Avatars issue (http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=399025) and now this one. I'm usually not one to call someone out on an issue and this is in no way a personal attack, but I find Miss Peach's "problems" here ridiculous.

Again, not a dime to be here and post and be heard and get great information.

She's not a political or religious figure and no one who has been on the internet for more than an hour will not recognize that the ads below the first post aren't affiliated with the OP -- give me a break with this nonsense! I read the entire thread and still just can't get next to the idea that Miss Peach's words are so much more important than anyone else's that they should be accidently mistaken with being associated with the ads below them -- even if she IS a writer.

What really SHOULD be happening is that people should be THANKING Geoff for the continuing improvement of the forum (again, did I say FREE forum??) -- thanks Geoff!! -- and not pissing and moaning so as to force Geoff to APOLOGIZE -- Ugh! I'm with Jack on this one, no apologies necessary....

If Miss Peach has to leave the forum over this issue then we'll be sorry to see her go, but the reason for her departure will probably only be valuable to her.

MISS PEACH

Mr. Kleinman . . . look, let me try to state this without being patronizing:

I'm not a DVD collector — in fact I'm a book collector, who enjoys good DVD bargains, and as importantly, derives enormous pleasure in sharing any deals I find with friends, including friends on this forum.

I emailed you yesterday to request you cancel my membership in the forum because, after reading some of the replies to this thread, it has become apparent to me that numerous DVDTalk members embrace the concept of a Fee-Based Membership, because the value they derive from the (excellent) technical information, in particular, distributed on this forum is of separate value to them. So much so that they are willing to pay for it.

I'm not — but not because I don't appreciate the talent on this board, it just isn't enough of a priority for me to pay you money for it. A book forum, yes; a DVD forum, no. I imply no value judgment you see. I now understand why the forum is headed to a subscription-based format. It genuinely surprised me to see how many people actually want a Fee-Based Membership, but then — I've been coming here for Bargains you see (and occassionally movie chat) and never perhaps understood the Mission of this forum.

If I understand your prior comment, the AD-BAR will remain in place until we pay you money to remove it.

May I make one suggestion? Disable this AD-BAR from the BARGAINS forum — that's all. Insert it in all the other forums' threads — those forums, after all, are geared to your more hard core DVD collectors, the Membership base that will likely pay a subscription fee because the technical intelligence being distributed to them (probably exceeds) the cost of a Fee-Based Membership.

Let me explain why placing ads within the threads are so obnoxious to me. When I enter a thread it is the equivalent of entering someone's living room where a conversation is taking place. Bear with me here: We are all there, standing around and talking — sharing ideas, arguing, contributing, notifying et al. — when in walks a SALESMAN. He isn't here to help me; He isn't here to advantage my financial state; He isn't here to be witty, to chat with no other ulterior motive than the sheer joy of sharing our common humanity; no. He is here to sell to me. His presence is in my face; he interrupts my enjoyment of the Conversation I am having with my other friends; he has an agenda and that agenda is to obtain money from me.

It has nothing whatsoever to do with "Free" Speech, and . . . in some ways it doesn't even have to do with Speech per se, but rather, how we are conducting our speech (a conversation) and the basis for it — summarized best perhaps by what it is not: ADVERTISING with no other motive than to obtain money from Members. This is where deals that Members post in the BARGAINS forum differentiate from the motive of ADVERTISING: We post deals to help each other save money, and because we are gratified to be helpful.

Placing an AD-BAR inside a thread is bad enough; placing it inside a BARGAINS forum thread — where we are trying to save money, not spend it; where some kind soul took the time out of his/her day to post a code or a bargain, with no expectation of monetary reimbursement, and only the generosity of spirit and the kind motive of wanting to help others — is positively insulting to me. And I am further insulted on behalf of others because their efforts are being manipulated. I'm sorry, there is simply no other way to phrase this Mr. Kleinman.

I'll check back with you in a week or so to see what the verdict on this is — I respect Members' opinions, again I'm only here for bargains — but there is really no point in keeping my membership open unless, at a minimum, this feature is disabled in BARGAINS.

Sorry this was so verbose but I couldn't find any other way to express my soul on the matter. Best of luck to everyone.

PEACH

twikoff

wow
its getting really deep in here.. that basically is the definition of a drama queen.. no offense, but why go through the hassle of emailing geoff and asking him to delete your account. This is a free forum, if you want out. Then leave. If the thought of supporting a site that you gain value from using, is such an imposition to you, why do you bother? You say that ads should not be in the bargain forum. I disagree completed. Viewing the ads is a free way to support this site. The people using the bargain forums, are definitly getting a service from this site. They arent here just for the good of the community, they are here to serve their own needs and try to find some deals.

I was shocked that Geoff actually felt that he needed to post an apology to you. I dont see how you, or anyone else that complains, deserves any such treatment. Geoff has not forced any money from your pocket, he is not dragging you back to this site daily. He is doing nothing more than running a website that services a large array of people. Believe it or not, there are great expenses associated with this and those bills have to be paid one way or another. The ads are one solid source of revenue. If you tuck them out of the way, they will get ignored even more than their current placement. As you can see, most people here actually value their experience with dvdtalk and are more than willing to contribute and support the site. Especially when it is at absolutely NO COST to them. If this minor imposition is such a terrible thing to you, I would suggest disconnecting your computer and leaving the internet. Because you will not like what you see, when you realize that ads are a large part of all websites. The ones here are not even close to as intrusive as many sites.

As far as the fee based system. There are alot of people that really value what we get out of this website, and are more than happy to help offset the costs of running it. The premium membership will be 100% optional. The premium membership will be much more than the ability to view the site without ads, many people are excited about the other benefits that will be included.

redinger

Unless something has changed since the original posts were made - I can't see the problem. There's a big heading that indicates, hey this something different than you were just reading. There's text that says 'Sponsored Links'. And the format is different from user posts. I'm fine with that.

And, it's only on the first page. It's not going to take long to get used to reading the first post, and scrolling on down to the second post, skipping the ads altogether.

And I like the idea of pay for ad removal. Then those that want to pay, can do so and get a nice bonus for paying. And cheapskates like me can continue ignoring the ads, and even feel less guilty about it, while we leech the info here!

And why make a big deal about asking for your membership to be removed? Why not just stop logging in?

Edit: What if they added a disclaimer to the ad that said "No endorsement implied by any poster in this forum."?

mkdevo

newsflash: some kind soul took the time out of his life to put this site on the internet, purchase the license for the forum software that you are posting on, and pay for the bandwidth that you and everyone else takes up with their posts. i, for one, am thankful for that, and even go so far as to take a whopping 30 seconds out of my day to click on a bunch of the 'offensive' ads. it's called 'doing my part'. it's completely optional. no one is forcing me to click on the ads (or even look at them for that matter), but sometimes i just like to be a little unselfish. you should give it a shot.

chanster

If you want out, leave. Don't come back. Don't post aching for attention missives on why you are personally affronted.

You don't need Geoff to boot you because you want to be some martry for this. Good grief!

You didn't seem to bother about posting when you posted a complaint about avatars. Seems like the Burden of having a stupid link box underneath your first post didn't prevent you from complaining about that.

Mazje

I honestly don't get why your account needs deleted either, Miss Peach. As countless other people have stated, it's a free forum. And despite what you think, your analogy of having a conversation in someone's living room doesn't hold water. We aren't in someone's living room, we're on an internet chat board, provided to us free of charge by Geoff, with certain things in place that help keep this site alive. And if keeping this site alive means losing you in a big attempt at either martyrdom and believing your "words" are more important and useful than anything else on this site, so be it. Don't let the free door hit you as you resort to lurking.

bfrank

slow down.

That is not what he said at all. We have been discussing the fee idea for over a year in this forum and it has not started because Goeff is working very hard with us all to make sure the site is good for all.

You can read about it here-
http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=309362

Geoff is saying that he was trying this out and lets give him at least some time as requested to see how it goes.

As to the comments in this thread, you have to understand this is the internet. If your post was not so extreme it would not have brought out such extreme responses. Still they are wrong but if you are offended by a post report it to a mod and they will look into it.

Thanks

Brain Stew

You can't be serious! Oh wait, you are... I think just asking for this 2 ad bars should be placed in the bargains forum.

It's funny that you should mention you are a bargain hunter, because you definitely have the mentality of one. You want something for nothing. Well, this isn't 1999 and websites don't make fortunes off ads, they barely get by. This ad-bar is such a small inconvenience, that it hardly warrants a complaint thread.

Nobody likes advertisements, but we have to deal with them. They pay for so much of our daily lives and defer the personal cost.

MonkeyG

Quite honestly, your posts have become quite offensive to me. On one hand you've created these threads complaining about the recent changes and then you immediately turn around and mention that this forum isn't all that important to you and isn't enough of a priority to you to pay for membership. "A book forum, yes; a dvd forum, no" as you mentioned. DVDTALK That should have been your first clue as to the priorities of this forum.

Cancelling your membership: The forum is free, you can still lurk, how much satisfaction will you derive from having your account deleted? Geoff doesn't have your credit card number or address. Just the username Miss Peachy and an email addy, nothing else.

"I'll check back with you in a week or so to see what the verdict on this..." What? An ultimatum now?

I am also surprised by Geoff's response, I don't think you deserve an apology given how you seem to view DVDTalk, but I guess at the end of the day it's Geoff's FREE website, and his FREE forums. He can apologize to whoever he wants.

FinkPish

There is a huge difference between the current situation on these boards and the one you describe above, that being the ability to ignore. No one is forcing you to click the ads or wait through a 30 second flash animation to continue through the thread. Scroll right past it and continue reading. I can't imagine how this could be as offensive as you claim. Imagine if this board didn't have an ignore list, and the ads were like a post by someone you always end up disagreeing with. The simplest thing to do is to ignore the post and move on. Of course it is annoying, but it is a fact of life. It seems that you might be more hung up on the pay service and what that implies rather than the ads themselves.