New Really Above Top Secret (restricted access forum) Membership Policy and Prices

I don't mind the points system used a s a cleanup trigger, it even makes sense.
But doesn't seem fair to some who have been saving their points and have ALMOST reached the need count, only to have the carrot moved farther away. How about a grandfather clause, like if you were within a certain range??
How about trading SETI Team points in for ATS points.
A Seti point takes anywhere from 1 to 8 hours to earn.

Originally posted by Hyperen

Originally posted by Journey
That, is not the point. The point is, you purchase something, even on a board as this, the original agreement should be maintained. Even more so if you are not a new member. Yeah, you are right (to a certain degree), no one is forcing me to buy access. I have already contributed and bought access, and I do not abuse the forum. Truth be known, I rarely even cruise through there.

And you quoted my paragraph concerning the former mud pit changes, were you around for that?

I was around for it and I paid 500 points to access it. Now, I don't earn many points because I usually post only on the 'low paying' boards like Weaponry and Aircraft projects and I was a little angry that I 'wasted' those points on a section I never once posted on but hey, I wasn't forced into buying them, I could have posted if I wanted to and it's a private board - their ball, their rules.

However, we should all understand, members, mods and admin, which I believe we already do, that without the members contributing all this good quality stuff, there is no Above Top Secret.

[edit on 6/12/04 by Hyperen]

Now you are getting my drift... you said it in the above statement-" ...I was a little angry"... And yep, it is their ball and their rules. But does mean it is ethical, to impose upon valued members, or to take back or charge more than has already been given or agreed upon? For it is the members that make the board. I just feel this new arrangement should apply to new members.If I post, I have to be clear, concise, and provide links and reference. It should only go that the board Admin of this board do the same. And uphold original agreements for those who, as another poster said, reads more than he posts, which I have to agree with, for I do the same.
Hey, I love this board, and have learned much here. The Admin and mods are very fair and I have never had any problems, except for one where the mod who warned me for excessive quote did not read the # of sentences I quoted(3) but did realize he was wrong, and told me same. And that was cool, as he is a great mod, and I follow his posts with respect and intrigue.
This change of venue all goes down to Growing pains, for sure. So, 250 points it is, I guess...Since Skeptic stated like he did, I'll check in next year.Maybe sooner, I dunno. However, I do not agree with it.

I have about 350 work units...about 5000 hours (I ran SETI on an inferior machine in the past).

I am currently part of another SETI group, but I wouldn't mind going to ATS, but I doubt my mere 350 work units is much compared to others...

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
It must not be so bad, 55 members have purchased renewals since the posting of this thread.

Yep, and some of us paid 500 points for the renewal and we're not complaining. It's all about quality and raising the bar here at ATS.

1. Start a quality thread that encourages member responses and it's not hard to earn the points. Just please use the search tool first.
2. ATSNN is another excellent way (as others have already pointed out).
3. Each post to someone else's thread also earns you points.
4. Really good posts can earn you applause from a moderator (something like 250 points or so, I am probably wrong).
5. Flame threads that simply encourage responses due to a controversial topic is not the way to do it. Although, I do enjoy reading some of EdSinger's threads.
6. SETI gives you something like 20 points per WU doesn't it? I'm not sure how often it updates your points but I've noticed jumps of a couple hundred points when I come back after a brief spell, and it's not because my threads had responses because I checked them.

[EDIT]: Added SETI information. If my numbers are off please understand I have a degree in IT, not Finance. Scary considering I manage the finances at home.

[edit on 12/6/2004 by titian]

Originally posted by titian
[6. SETI gives you something like 20 points per WU doesn't it? I'm not sure how often it updates your points but I've noticed jumps of a couple hundred points when I come back after a brief spell, and it's not because my threads had responses because I checked them.

No, Seti "points" are really just WU totals, so if you call em points, they are one fo one. If you have 10, then you have completed 10 WorkUnits.

ATS Team Stats
ATS Team Global Rank

Dont forget,.. you can also get a ton of points by doing the ATS polls, the contests, research group, participating in ATSNN or focusing your thread building in popular topics.

Measured on a per-post-only basis, yes it could take awhile depending on the person,... but measured with the above activities included,... it's really easy. I have watched some new member's before gain RATS access in just a couple of days or so, and only by starting a couple of really active threads.

Hehe,.. and some people have gained HUGE sum's of points in contests and games.

I dont really see how this is helpping solve the problem. SO still has to keep a database of everyone that has renewed. I think we should have to pay 500 points a year. If we go an entire year without, we loose our RATS access. SO would not delete the account but could remove our name from the database.

---pineapple

I don't really like this change either. If there were too many inactive users, why not simply drop them after 6 months of inactivity from not viewing or posting anything in the RATS area and then charge a few points to get back in? I wouldn't have purchased access to RATS if I suddenly thought there was going to be a much higher price to access it after 1 month.

I also have a question I haven't seen. If we have a thread or two on our Favorites list within the RATS forum, will the information we see in our control panel get updated without purchasing new access to RATS? I am wondering if anyone posted information on certain threads but I don't really care for spending a number of points just to find out if I don't need to.

[edit on 6-12-2004 by orionthehunter]

i didnt even read the thread.

all i have to say is boo. despite my own love for ATS, this is just going to result with crazies in typing frenzies. turning the point system into a full on currency. im going to have to hire an accountant to manage my budget.

ATSpoint 1.00 = USD 2.00

I paid for access & I just clicked on it and I no longer have access & I have to pay again to get what I already paid for. Sort of silly if you ask me - I would have thought you could come up with a better solution that didn't sort of screw people who had already complied with what you asked to get in. Well points are points & it ain't really money, but I remember a class action lawsuit against DTV for changing the contents of my programming package after I paid for it for a year. Nope you can't really compare points to money - but I think you get the point . It is your ballfield and you can tilt it anyway you want, this ain't no democracy either - hell for that matter you can turn it off tommorow. Still it leaves a bit of a bad taste - one that says bad managment.

A grandfather clause would have been a nice way to treat active members. At least a yearly subscription option would be better than monthly.

On the other hand I was hoping to actually read something decent in RATS that I didn't see in the rest of this board & I've yet to read anything that you don't find in a typical moderators forum on any other BBS. So, for those of you who were hoping for something to knock your socks of in RATS - don't bother unless you just have more points falling out of your pocket than you can spend.

Still a great place to hang with lots of different points of view (even if we have to pay more points to see them) - so I'm not going anywhere unless I get banned or find something better.

I don't want to sound ungrateful either - so thanks to all who work hard keeping this place up to date - hardware/software/bandwidth and all the rest .

[edit on 7-12-2004 by outsider]

I happen to agree with the admin changes to 5000 for RATS, and if it was my board, I'd probably make it 20,000 or even 50,000. Getting in there shows commitment to ATS. It is a priveledge that is earned by participating in the ATS system, whether posting good threads that receive replies, submitting ATSNN stories, or taking part in debates or research projects.

In my case, I always fancied being a reporter anyway, so my approach was to stay on top of the news, submit ATSNN news stories, and battle FredT to get em here first Unfortunately, there is no beating FredT : if he is online.

i have an idea.

how about i post in every thread i visit even if i dont have anything good to say?

and to qualify for 'quality' i will make sure my posts are all at least 2 lines long.

that way i can rack up points for generating my mindless ramble into
otherwise decent threads.

but i wont be the only one -no way!

join me in imagining an ATS where 500 newbies sign up a day! - all hastily typing away, earning those good ole' ATS points so they can buy RATS access... afterwhich they decide it wasnt at all worth it, and move on to pokemon' or the next satisfaction leaving a wake of nonsense for the next newbie. hooray!

The new system will certainly fish out those diehard ATS posters with no life outside of ATS.

I think what Overlord has done is fine for me I bought RATS a while back costing me 3500 or what ever it was at the time. Though I never use it to post anything in I still like to be able to see what gos on in their. So paying a 250 monthly fee to keep my access is ok with me.

You people should stop complaining so much about the cost its not realy money its points for posting topics and replys. And if you put your mind to it you could easy make the points needed within a week at most.

Originally posted by Notme

Originally posted by titian
[6. SETI gives you something like 20 points per WU doesn't it? I'm not sure how often it updates your points but I've noticed jumps of a couple hundred points when I come back after a brief spell, and it's not because my threads had responses because I checked them.

No, Seti "points" are really just WU totals, so if you call em points, they are one fo one. If you have 10, then you have completed 10 WorkUnits.

ATS Team Stats
ATS Team Global Rank

Umm since when did they give us points for our seti? And if its going to be 1 for 1 im leaving the SETI group immediately. My 8000 seti WU's (4+ years of computation) are worth much more then 8000 ats points. I'll join another team that's a little more appreciative if that is the case. But again, I have seen no notice on what is going on with the seti wu's for points, maybe the staff should work on things they promised many months ago instead of going on to new things.

I don't believe ATS gives any points for ATS Seti teams points.
I think that was just an idea someone started kicking around some time ago.

I love to read on all the forums. Very informative, but I am afraid I don't post enough to be a member of the RATS. On the other hand, I guess it's not a big deal, because in life you tend to work for and pay for what you want.

Works fine by me. I'm probably not cleared for really above top secret anyway.

I stand corrected on the SETI points. This is what I remember reading but I guess nothing has happened. I thought it had but I never really worried about checking on it. That and the mysterious jump in points I see when I return led me to believe we were getting credit for SETI WUs.

So, my apologies for misspeaking.

SETI thread I was referencing.

Originally posted by dbates
Yipee! Now I can quit hoarding points. I was starting to wonder what I was going to do with them. Target won't take them.

I thought about selling my ATS points on Ebay....


I wonder how much I could get for them...

[edit on 7-12-2004 by elevatedone]

I paid 3500 hard earnt points in the low paying forums. When i bought access to RATS i was told that i would not have to purchase again.

When ONE2ONE [now T Mobile] come out in the UK they had an offer. You buy there phone for �250 pounds and a certain Tariff and you will get FREE phone calls not just to land lines in the uk but also mobile phones between 1900hrs to 0700hrs. Period. When the mobile tariff wars hotted up, they stopped this tariff obviously they would loose a lot of money from it BUT they still honoured their original promise to those that had signed up for the original tariff.

I think you should at least do the same for those members like me, that paid for RATS under the understanding that it would be a one of payment.