What would you pay per-month for an Ad-Free ATS?

originally posted by: Hefficide
a reply to: blupblup

While not offering any opinion of my own on the subject, I do have to ask... How would that prospect differ from the RATS forum that ATS used to have? With RATS it took a fair number of posts to gain entrance - this seems to me to be essentially the same concept, but with cash.

To my thinking, as a person who games, that approach is normal to me. Grinding vs paying for immediate access.

That's how it differs - because it costs money.
RATS was solely based on posts or stars or time here or whatever...all meaningless, arbitrary things that were worthless in reality.

Creating an actual class system, when there are people who have stated in this and the other threads that money is tight and some are on disability etc, seems incredibly divisive and harsh and you're pricing the very people who make your site what it is, out of being able to have access to all of the site.

It's not about me or what I can or can't afford, it's about the many people who have expressed concerns at this proposal and have stated that they can't afford it and are on disability or money is extremely tight etc.. and the hints and talk of special privileges and perks and sections of the site for those who cough up the cash.
It's frankly offensive.

Okay, I just tried using ATS in Chrome without adblock.

The front page has two animated adverts, bright and jaggy. And three more adverts below.

Loading a page of a random topic.

And the ENTIRE FIRST PAGE on my monitor is covered in adverts.


Including one for downloading Malware. Bravo ATS, that took me all of 5 minutes use without adblock to be presented with an advert trying to convince me to download 'free updated drivers.'

There are fourteen adverts on this one page.


Sorry. This is unnacceptable. You're carrying adverts encouraging people to click on them to download random .exe files. Not cool.

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

So ATS will become a pay site, just trying to determine the price?
You do what ya gotta do.

a reply to: xizd1

That's not what he said. It will remain free, with an option for a paid membership that doesn't have ads. And it's not certain yet, only being looked at.

a reply to: blupblup

Obviously there's not a lot to go on but it kind of infers that as it is a forum for those who pay, those who do not pay will not be able to participate in said forum.

We need more info on this of course but that is without question, in principle, a very slippery slope.

Nah. It's a standard these days for sites with paying subscribers. Mysterious Universe have used this model for ages now and paying subscribers get some extra content and a hidden forum. They haven't mission crept the audience into paying customers.

I underlined that sentence there because it's a 'slippery' one.

It's a rhetorical statement based on a lack of information that finishes with a prediction. Without more information you can't assert, 'without question,' that anything is a 'slippery slope' and what 'principle?'

P.S. Venture Bros. Man, you'll love it if you haven't seen it already.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan .

Hello Big and Furry. Top o'the mornin' to ya. The question I had wasn't answered, maybe you can scope it out. If this happens, and someone doesn't pay who has enough posts to not see many ads, will they then be tossed back into the pond and start getting the thousand-ad-barrage again? If so, not fair. If not so, never mind. thanks.

Proof. What ATS looks like without adblock:


i255.photobucket.com...


There's what, maybe 10% of my screen there is content I want to see, and the rest is adverts?

And that driver update advert looks totally legit!

a reply to: Painterz

It doesn't look like you're logged in?

a reply to: Painterz

You still use the white screen, do you know about the gray/dark screen? It's that half moon thing in the upper right hand corner. Gray is preferred by users here something like ten to one. I've suggested that it should be the screen that lurkers see, the white screen is missing the ambiance of the darker.

originally posted by: Kandinsky

P.S. Venture Bros. Man, you'll love it if you haven't seen it already.

Well we shall see what happens in the future on ATS I guess.

And yeah I've seen it, I recommended Venture Bros to you LOL Nutter.

a reply to: blupblup

And yeah I've seen it, I recommended Venture Bros to you LOL Nutter.

Sorry mate! I didn't get everything off that list and went hunting the other day. Thanks anyway cos your taste is good

Anyway, back on topic...yeah we'll see what happens. None of us have a crystal ball and that's all.

originally posted by: Aleister
a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan .

Hello Big and Furry. Top o'the mornin' to ya. The question I had wasn't answered, maybe you can scope it out. If this happens, and someone doesn't pay who has enough posts to not see many ads, will they then be tossed back into the pond and start getting the thousand-ad-barrage again? If so, not fair. If not so, never mind. thanks.

Im sorry Aleister my friend. I have no inside knowledge beyond what SO has stated here in this thread.

But since I have your attention here....i've missed seeing you around. Festivus came and went without you to erect the aluminum pole.

originally posted by: Painterz
Proof. What ATS looks like without adblock:


i255.photobucket.com...


There's what, maybe 10% of my screen there is content I want to see, and the rest is adverts?

You'll probably get less ads if you login.

And that driver update advert looks totally legit!

Sarcasm detected and yes, it's probably not a good idea to update your drivers by clicking on an ad. I agree with a lot of what SO said but the idea that there aren't dangerous ads isn't something he sold me on. It's not just an ATS problem, as I've seen malicious ads make their way onto very reputable sites that I'm sure had no intention of hosting anything malicious as I'm sure ATS also has no intention of hosting any malicious ads. That doesn't mean some questionable ads can't show up despite best intentions.

I'm not prepared to pay anything for an ad-free site. Nor am I prepared to stop using ad blockers.

I thought we were OK to opt out of ads anyway ? ATS was previously signed up to something which allowed us to opt out of ads, there was a blue icon at the foot of the page which allowed you to do so. Has that been discontinued ?

**edit
The program was called Ad Choices. It enabled you to tailor the ads you saw ... or opt out of ads altogether.

I think this really might be an opportunity to explore some new concepts and models for how a site like this can be run.

The suggestion of a subscription isn't necessarily a bad one, but I strongly feel we can do better. If I'm honest too, I don't really feel the site, as it currently stands, is worth much more to me than the time I spend here. Its mostly entertainment, and while there are some brilliant conversations, I don't see them happening at a meaningfully higher rate than other options.

I know I am not alone in that, so I think that any actionable solution would be most successful if it were to include revenue generation of members like myself. Or, really, any other variant that wouldn't participate in a typical subscription. A friend recently asked me "why would I pay someone to give them my generated content?" While I see it differently, whatever solution is launched should be able to not only answer that question, but result in active participation of that individual.

Those that are likely to pay a straightforward sub would also be likely to financially support the site without a change to the framework. It might take some cleverness, but whatever system is installed would be vastly more effective if it encouraged and enabled revenue generation from as many types of user as possible.

What I'd love to see is a design and application of some new, revolutionary system. If done correctly, it could even be something that we all could participate in, and could grow and change to include new facets with the greatest ease possible.

Maybe its just the dreamer in me, but I think we are better than the standard, typical routes that have been provided so far. On that note, its disconcerting to see the level of condescension towards some who have offered ideas. There may be some logistical problems, or even 'reality' problems, with some ideas but that same person may come up with the idea that "changes the net" down the road. If they don't feel heard, that idea may never be shared. Obviously, this is unlikely to ever change, but wanted to point it out all the same.

Houston- The natives have revolted.... Honestly I'm disgusted. One simple question thrown out there for DISCUSSION and there is rioting in the streets. These changes could have been made at any time without asking our opinion,because that is what businesses and business owners do. Is that shocking? I would prefer a constructive discussion of the topic at hand,and eithout a doubt SO,we need more difinitive details.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: xizd1

That's not what he said. It will remain free, with an option for a paid membership that doesn't have ads. And it's not certain yet, only being looked at.

It's not what he didn't say either.

How much would you pay for a monthly ATS Ad-Free Subscription?

The title sure doesn't imply that the subject is an optional subscription as an add on to normal membership. When I read it I also thought that he was talking about a potential mandatory subscription setup, as opposed to one that is based on ad revenue.

Funny enough, the rest of the post can also be interpreted in two ways.

originally posted by: Painterz

Okay, I just tried using ATS in Chrome without adblock.

The front page has two animated adverts, bright and jaggy. And three more adverts below.

Loading a page of a random topic.

And the ENTIRE FIRST PAGE on my monitor is covered in adverts.


Including one for downloading Malware. Bravo ATS, that took me all of 5 minutes use without adblock to be presented with an advert trying to convince me to download 'free updated drivers.'

There are fourteen adverts on this one page.


Sorry. This is unnacceptable. You're carrying adverts encouraging people to click on them to download random .exe files. Not cool.[/quote

SIGH the OP said when logged INTO ATS you need to disable it. You DO know you can set it to let you block until you log into a whitelisted site correct? I have mine set up this way. I have it disabled automatically when i log in so ATS gets its revenue. its not rocket science people.

And Blup blup. Its their site they can do as thou wilt with thine own property correct? If you think its classism... so what? you arent paying th e bills. All YOU and OTHERS have to do is essentially NOTHING AT ALL by setting your blockers to off in ATS. outside screens fine but inside turn it off.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
So to sum up, ads are evil. Enforcing the rules everyone agreed to is awful. A pay section is horrible.

So how exactly is the site supposed to get paid for? It's not as cheap as people claim.

I made a post a few pages back, here's some ideas for non ad support. Obviously no single solution works but a combination might (or atleast offset some if not all ad's)

1. Become an Amazon affiliate, if you go to a page to purchase a product from ATS they'll pay you. Without having to advertise the product on your page.

2. Periodic donation drives.

3. Subscription services like extra emoticons, subscriber only threads (maybe make the celeb's brought in for AMA's sub only to post in), and a better inbox

4. Store merchandise

originally posted by: vonclod
Other forums I'm on have yearly subscriptions, usually starting at $25.
I wonder though how much good feelings are generated towards products who's add that take over your whole page when your cursor sits on them for more than a second..gives me a negative feeling rather than I want to buy that, am I alone in this? How effective is predatory advertising?

Most forums aren't as large as ATS. The vast majority of forums are hosted on machines that host several sites at a time and don't have a large amount of bandwidth. Once you get into the realm of private servers where one website has a machine all to itself things start to get expensive.

Their real cost though is that the admins are trying to make this their job. Most forums are happy just to break even because it's not really a viable business model, ATS is trying to generate well beyond that it seems.