Should we make users continue to register to read the Message Board - REVISITED!

CheapyD

CheapyD

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Currently, we require users to register to read posts (except for this forum). Should we continue doing this or just make registering necessary if they want to post?

Another option is make unregistered people able to read everything but, "Post your own cheap ass deals".
 
make them register, or they will steal your bandwidth by just reading the boards without feeling the need to participate in any deals -- and that will make things bad for the rest of us as your costs for bandwidth will go up without the reciprocal increased amount of deals and deals feedback available to everyone from new users.

besides, once people register they feel the obligation to come back..........and at the very least will have the web site address in their password book, so they don't lose it

Otherwise, people just do a fly by reading when they find the site by accident and forget where the site is the next day
 
[quote name='minx']besides, once people register they feel the obligation to come back..........and at the very least will have the web site address in their password book, so they don't lose it[/quote]

That was my feeling exactly.
 
I have mixed feelings. I hate having to register just to browse something I'm not even sure will be worthwhile, and I often leave sites that require registration just to browse the boards. Many people will register if they are allowed to view the board as a guest, and they like what they see.
 
I think users should have to register to read and post. Minx is absolutely right...if it's a free-for-all, there will be more hawks than participants. I think by making it registration exclusive you'll keep the community tight-knit.

Since I've registered, I've felt obligated to stick my two-cents in to some discussions and actually become part of the community here.

I'm glad I did.

Besides, it'll give those of us who are part of the community a chance to run out and snag the deals once we've read about them on the boards before they hit the main page and everyone is reading about it :)
 
[quote name='minx']make them register, or they will steal your bandwidth by just reading the boards without feeling the need to participate in any deals -- and that will make things bad for the rest of us as your costs for bandwidth will go up without the reciprocal increased amount of deals and deals feedback available to everyone from new users.

besides, once people register they feel the obligation to come back..........and at the very least will have the web site address in their password book, so they don't lose it

Otherwise, people just do a fly by reading when they find the site by accident and forget where the site is the next day[/quote]

I have to agree. I doubt I would have signed up if I could have just lurked the Deals forum.
 
I'd like to see a community where everyone is active. I don't like the fact that lurkers have access to all these great deals and are overusing them to their advantage without ever contributing to the site. I know people that go to this site and look at deals and really abuse them. Like buying 20 of those 5 dollar games to sell on Ebay without ever posting once. I think we should keep the community closed and make sure everyone is actively posting deals and advice. It'd be nice to have a nice tight community where everyone knows each other and I know lots of people spread the deals here all over the place. I'll continue to post target clearance faqs but I just hope no one abuses them.
 
uh huh...uh huh...i agree......agree :roll:

it doesnt take that long to register but instead of that people just go ahead and get the deal.....thats kinda not right :? they living off of the deals that we people took the time to find :x
beside the site will get more people when u make them them register therefore we will have more deals :p yay!

also some people may just register to "read" the deals but never participate so i think u should ban the user who is inactive for a certain period of time :?

but i dont think theres anything on this site they couldnt like :eek:

peace 8)
 
[quote name='dynamite99']also some people may just register to "read" the deals but never participate so i think u should ban the user who is inactive for a certain period of time :?
[/quote]

There are 578 members who have never posted, with 100 or so more that have less than 5 posts. I agree, I don't like the lurkers much too, but atleast a simple "Thanks!" would be nice sometimes. Then again, its not really something that you can find easily. Deals are on a limited supply.
 
It takes two seconds to register.

If they're too lazy to spend that much time registering, they're too lazy to find cheap ass deals on games and should buy all their stuff from expensive places like FAO Schwartz.
 
Not only would they have to register, but I think that everyone should have to post deals and be active in their account. Or they just become registered lurkers.
 
And if you don't believe me that there are hundreds of lurkers on this site right now. Check Post Your Own Deals message board. Most of the time, the topics have 10-15 views for every post on that thread.
 
The reason I'm against registering before reading, is that I like to browse a forum for a week or so to get a feel for it before opening my mouth and proving that I'm a fool. For every post I make on any board, I'll read about 20 threads. If I don't feel like I can contribute to a thread I simply don't post. If something has been said by 30 people and it isn't an opinion thread, it's not worth saying a 31st time.

Another option would be to have a limited visibility setup where they can only see threads that are a few days old. That way they can still see what the threads are like and get a feel, but if they want the discussions and deals before they go dead they gotta register. Kind of like a "If you were registered, you would have known about this!" type of a system.
 
Personally, I'd have to go with registration required. The account is free, you guys don't spam us...there's nothing wrong with registering. If someone has a big problem with registering, then they can just skip the message boards. It's that simple.
 
I think it might be time to revisit this topic.

I started to think that if people got the opportunity to read some of the interesting discussions that go on here, they would be more included to register/post.

We would of course still require registration to post.

What are your opinions?
 
I agree with WSB. When I first found this site by accident, I was just looking at the deals on the main page. Then a few days later, some of the discussion titles at the right of the screen caught my eye. That alone made me want to register.
 
[quote name='E-Z-B']I agree with WSB. When I first found this site by accident, I was just looking at the deals on the main page. Then a few days later, some of the discussion titles at the right of the screen caught my eye. That alone made me want to register.[/quote]

Damn, you took the words right out of my mouth. I was going to say exactly the same thing. :eek: Having the most recent posts show up on the front page was enough to convince me to register. You can see that there are deals posted that aren't on the main page, as well as see some of the off-topic subjects that help make this community what it is. :mrgreen:
 
I like the idea of letting unregistered users read threads that are a couple of days old. In this way they can decide if they want to join to get in on the deals on a timely basis and avoids having people sign up that either dont contribute or may become distruptive trolls.

(granted we can never fully get rid of trolls but we can make it harder for new ones to pop up!)
 
[quote name='God']I don't have an email address.[/quote]

You can register for one free. Not to mention that you probably should have one nowadays.
 
I vote for the last option. The top deals/trade section should be locked from viewing unless registered, but I have no problem with people reading the Xbox/PS2/Ect... boards. Just no annoymus posting.
 
i agree people should b required to register b4 being able to look at the message boards, without it, we'd have a bunch of lurkers just eating bandwidth.
 
[quote name='WhipSmartBanky']Nah, I still say make them all register. It'll really eat at them to find out what's going on in the forums if they can't see any of it.[/quote]

I've been trying to get my friends to register on the boards but apparently they don't obsess about cheapass deals as much as I do.

Forcing users to register also cuts down on anonymous posters that feel that they can say or do anything they want. Well at least that's in theory...
 
[quote name='EggViper']i agree people should b required to register b4 being able to look at the message boards, without it, we'd have a bunch of lurkers just eating bandwidth.[/quote]

We already have a bunch of lurkers eating bandwidth. I'm not sure of the numbers, but not that many registered users are active posters and even less actually post any deals.
 
[quote name='God']I don't have an email address.[/quote]

I thought you knew all? Why would you need an email address?


I'll email my prayers from now on k?
 
Registered for only Hot Deals is best option for CHeapyD.

Bandwidth is NOT an issue. Also when someone reads a forums they usually get an idea of all the activity and would quickly join.

Making it for registered users only just makes us look like l33tists. Although for the HOT DEALS it's fair that they register so CheapyD has them in the user DB.

I really dont see the reasoning behind keeping people from reading a forums.

Keep in mind that CheapyD makes money from LINKS and people clicking them for referral dollars. Also he wants to open up the read only to guests and not the ability to post.
 
Registration should be required to see the forums period. It is bad enough that the majority of registered users are leeches - they should not get a free pass and be able to leech without registering.

All that does is encourage people to leech since they don't have to do any work to enjoy the fruits of our labor.
 
[quote name='defender']Keep in mind that CheapyD makes money from LINKS and people clicking them for referral dollars. Also he wants to open up the read only to guests and not the ability to post. [/quote]

yes, but the cheapassLinks are already on the homepage, which everyone can view. It doesn't cost anything to register, and people who are truly interested in discussions will register anyway. People who are going to lurk will do so whether they register or not. Basically you're just inviting more lurkers, not participants by opening up the forums.

Cheapy's registered user email list is worth some money too and could be put to good use to make money for the site. I';m sure retailers and publishers would love to have a focused list to send out emails for special deals directly. I wouldn't mind, for example, if EB wanted to email me with the weeks hottest deals on their website. Or if EA games wanted to email me with the latest markdown with free shipping.

I hate to say it, but with some CheapASS retailers pulling out, (we won't mention their name but their initials are BB) It might be worth getting a little extra spam if it helps this site to survive.
[/quote]
 
minx and WhipSmartBanky pretty much summed up my thoughts about the topic. It's really beneficial to the both the user and the site overall to have its users register. It helps create a true community among its users, providing a greater sense of pride than the off-and-on lurker, and gives users the incentive of using the forums. Besides, 95% of the deals that I come across are usually spawned from the forums often times long b4 it makes it to the main page.

There's an incentive for a user to register and this in turn helps the site so I say keep it that way. It's not as though it takes a long time to register anyways so take the courtesy to spend 2 or so minutes to register. It'll help both parties in the end.

-Soujirou
 
We are obviously having a discussion here with only the people who opted to register. I am not sure why some people here are so threatened by lurkers. As if because they are anonymous readers they have some strange power over us.

While forcing users to register can help in ways...this site no longer needs that. CheapyD is long past the need of getting users to register. He could use the extra traffic at this point. It's easy enough to offer other incentives for users to register.

IMHO letting users be lurkers has it advantages. Lurkers would just quickly read posts and go on their merry way. Asking people to register is like giving them a license to post poorly. Heck they are already registered and logged in...why not reply with absolute garbage.

Anyways. This argument is pointless and to call lurkers leeches is really offensive and ignorant. We are a community here and we should be welcoming. If you want to maintain a leetists mentality then maybe we should charge $50 a year for membership. Anyone want to be the first to pay $50 just to read these forums? How about we charge per post?

All that does is encourage people to leech since they don't have to do any work to enjoy the fruits of our labor.
Click to expand...

I enjoy being at CAG and its community. I dont view this site as "labor". I wasn't aware that you were getting paid to be here scrubking.
 
[quote name='defender']We are obviously having a discussion here with only the people who opted to register. I am not sure why some people here are so threatened by lurkers. As if because they are anonymous readers they have some strange power over us.

While forcing users to register can help in ways...this site no longer needs that. CheapyD is long past the need of getting users to register. He could use the extra traffic at this point. It's easy enough to offer other incentives for users to register.

IMHO letting users be lurkers has it advantages. Lurkers would just quickly read posts and go on their merry way. Asking people to register is like giving them a license to post poorly. Heck they are already registered and logged in...why not reply with absolute garbage.

Anyways. This argument is pointless and to call lurkers leeches is really offensive and ignorant. We are a community here and we should be welcoming. If you want to maintain a leetists mentality then maybe we should charge $50 a year for membership. Anyone want to be the first to pay $50 just to read these forums? How about we charge per post?

All that does is encourage people to leech since they don't have to do any work to enjoy the fruits of our labor.
Click to expand...

I enjoy being at CAG and its community. I dont view this site as "labor". I wasn't aware that you were getting paid to be here scrubking.[/quote]

Well said. It seems to me that people here have that need to feel special. This is a place for them to feel like they are in charge. As far as people saying unregistered users would only eat bandwith, get real. I can only think of one or two forums that require you to regiester before viewing. %99 let you view without registering. My vote was to let every one view, and let registered users post. That way, only people that want to post will register, and that makes for a better community.
 
[quote name='BigNick']Well said. It seems to me that people here have that need to feel special. This is a place for them to feel like they are in charge. As far as people saying unregistered users would only eat bandwith, get real. I can only think of one or two forums that require you to regiester before viewing. %99 let you view without registering. My vote was to let every one view, and let registered users post. That way, only people that want to post will register, and that makes for a better community.[/quote]

Well said from the potatohead.

I think making people who want to view the pages, or who want to post register beforehand doesn't really make a difference. People who want to post will post, regardless of the circumstances. The troublemakers have the intent of causing a ruckus and will post regardless of what system is in place. In other words, the community is only affected by those who post, so it doesn't really matter if we have registered or unregistered lurkers lurking.

The only way I think the current system benefits CAG is that if Cheapy gets paid by the amount of users registered. If this has been said before, so sue me :) .
 
[quote name='defender']I enjoy being at CAG and its community. I dont view this site as "labor". I wasn't aware that you were getting paid to be here scrubking.[/quote]

It's called a figure of speech so go spin somewhere else. :roll:
 
The only way I think the current system benefits CAG is that if Cheapy gets paid by the amount of users registered. If this has been said before, so sue me
Click to expand...

And he is not...he is paid from affiliate link clicks from visitors to the site whether they are registered, lurkers, veterans, or even scrubs.


Scrubking-I love you...can I touch your ass?
 
I have followed this thread pretty closely.

My plan is to open up the non-deal boards for read only access to guests. My thinking is that when guests see the interesting discussions that are taking place here, they will want to post and then register. Currently, they don't know what they are missing because they can't read anything.

There may be a time when the deal boards are open for guest read only access, but we will cross that bridge when we get there.

As usual, you will need to be registered to post in all forums except this one.
 
[quote name='WhipSmartBanky']I think users should have to register to read and post. Minx is absolutely right...if it's a free-for-all, there will be more hawks than participants. I think by making it registration exclusive you'll keep the community tight-knit.
[/quote]

What's to keep a registered user from being a 'hawk?'
 
[quote name='RichD1'][quote name='WhipSmartBanky']I think users should have to register to read and post. Minx is absolutely right...if it's a free-for-all, there will be more hawks than participants. I think by making it registration exclusive you'll keep the community tight-knit.
[/quote]

What's to keep a registered user from being a 'hawk?'[/quote]

Welcome to June 2003, population, RichD1!
 
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