[Capt. Malone]

Why is PbN Charging players and fields that made this place possible?

I know that this will be deleted, I am sire, but lately this place has seemed rough and very money hungry.
Not long ago we were allowed to advertise and get people to games with no issues.
NOW we have to pay for thread to have simple information in them?
These fields and players are what makes up the PbN structure and we have supported you all for some time with out ever asking for anything.
NOW we can even put our contact information, prices, anything for games to be advertised with out paying you Cash, $100?
Wrong, just Wrong!
When was this discussed? When was there a thread explaining this was an idea to other players/fields?

And the infraction rule. That was updated at the end of Feb. and we never got any post or warning about that? A points system?
I have supported thisplace when I was never asked, other have as well. And this?
I think this is wrong and the first chance I get to see the tide change to another host of threads and information, I will leave here.

Wrong I say and you should all be disgusted of yourselves!

Keep this thread going and we can find out what is the reason beind this?
If it is the cost factor, then lets talk about the fact that this sport is costing players more and more every day? Gas to get to games is at an ALL Time HIGH!
Fields are forced to raise prices to meet the demands of the suppliers at the risk of loosing players and having thissport dwindle away? AND you knife these players/field owners in the back with these unreasonable costs?
WE are losing fields every month to the conditin of the country and the cost of playing and you say thank you by charging them a fee to advertise the same games that make PbN what it is.
WRONG!

Also, I think we should revoke our supporting members pledge and get a refund. I will look into this right now.

[Capt. Malone]

AND I have to say that this BAD business. To start a thread to explain this and then lock it for no one to ask WHY?

[surealpaintballer]

Hmm. Good point. I started a thread in pump forum about a pump game.
Posted everything everyone should know and got a infraction and the thread deleted.

[acidrain23]

In reference to the paying for advertising - Basically b/c bandwith and hosting cost a lot of money for the amount of traffic this site generates. Also, why not. I would probably do the same.

The infraction thing is wrong though. At least a heads up or something.

[Capt. Malone]

Originally Posted by acidrain23

In reference to the paying for advertising - Basically b/c bandwith and hosting cost a lot of money for the amount of traffic this site generates. Also, why not. I would probably do the same.

The infraction thing is wrong though. At least a heads up or something.

I understand there is a cost to this place being open. But when was there discussion about how to hadle the costs?
I am sure there are many other ways to get money rather than stealing it.
I really hope fields DO NOT Pay!

We could have offered more for members to want to be Supporting members?
Offer more to the field owners as a Owners membership and then not charge them for every post?
What about having the store owners have a special membership?
How about reaching out for more support rather than slap the members here already with costs and rules.

Are the Mods getting paid? Is this somthing I have missed!
I will do it for Free.
Have the Field owners be Moderators of thier own threads. Cut back and save?

These are just a few ideas that came to mind in these few seconds.

[Capt. Malone]

I laugh As I post this but look at what they are saying is not allowed?

Here's a breakdown:

NOT ALLOWED:

Advertising
Entry Prices
Paint Prices
Web Site Links
Event Flyer
Contact Information
Upping a Thread
Contests and Giveaways
Multiple Events in a Single Thread

All information listed above may be listed if a Scenario Up is Purchased. You can find more information about Scenario Ups Here

Are you kidding me?

[Capt. Malone]

What ever happened to asking?
Did they ask if fields would liek to pay a fee to advertise instead of cutting thier legs off?

[Gdude2008]

PBNation's becoming an industry "leader" getting bigger means charging more and hurting the "little people" like you and me.

[Meph]

Seems you can talk about any game so long as you leave all the information out of it....

Not exactly sure how that's gonna work.

[Xadion]

I agree, and have been through my time of infractions- mostly due to them wanting money.

PBN has gotten big, and bigger than their initial plans- now we are no longer the community but we are the customers- PBN is no longer a community but a product.

Once the people in charge have seen so many pepole / companies makeing money off of "their site" they have taken actions to make sure they get some of that in kickback.

Not only have the adds increased but as this post is about- and I would not be surprized if we all get infractions and or banned for protesting or brining it up-- the pay for posts is getting out of hand- the gold ups in BST- fine, pepole are useing it to make money as a store moreso than a classified (and the news paper charges for those so okay) but the NEWS rules are just INSANE imo. Haveing the option of news ups for $ is fine, it gets your exposure etc- but we should beable to post news and games etc w/o paying or getting infractions/banns

[Gdude2008]

Originally Posted by Xadion

Not only have the adds increased but as this post is about- and I would not be surprized if we all get infractions and or banned for protesting or brining it up-- the pay for posts is getting out of hand- the gold ups in BST- fine, pepole are useing it to make money as a store moreso than a classified (and the news paper charges for those so okay) but the NEWS rules are just INSANE imo. Haveing the option of news ups for $ is fine, it gets your exposure etc- but we should beable to post news and games etc w/o paying or getting infractions/banns

.

PBNation's following the money.

And it's not coming from you or me.

Although personally I'd love to be an ASM, but $30-something isn't in the bank for PBNation right now

[Silence]

I have to admit I felt the same way when I read about the "ups" thing. You have to pay to tell people about your game? What the hell are we going to talk about?

At the same time though, pbnation is a business. There's no reason for them to provide us this forum unless they make a profit off of it. For a site like this, they basically have two revenue streams:

1) Ad revenue
2) Member donations/membership fees

Usually ad revenue comes from people looking at or clicking links in the banner or sidebar. The only way to increase revenue from that is to grow the number of siteviews and ad clicks. So it looks like they're going to find other ways to make money off the site.

I think they should allow basic advertising for free. People don't come here to see who paid to have their thread stickied, they come here to see games and talk about them. Handicap that and less people come to the side and hurt your normal ad revenue. Scenario ups should be paying for stickies, a full page flyer or something along those lines, not the right to tell people your entry fee. That's over the top.

They need profit incentive to keep this site going, so I'm not against them making money or charging for services. But I don't think their current strategy is the right balance of "free stuff! come look at our ads!" with "pay for extra services".

[chrispy_man]

I think mostly it would have been nice to know in advance and have a chance to provide input. I understand the business thing, but really what they are doing is taking it too far. The cost seems low, but for smaller operators who want to get a game out, well it's a lot. I have been a supporting member of the community for a couple of years. There is no loyalty from them. I give good word of mouth. I even have included the links and recommended the site. I guess we just went from community members to customers. They better be ready when I and a lot of others like me find a better deal elsewhere. No joke.

[Comfymumfy]

Wow, just amazing. I have to agree with Capt. Malone about this. It's a shame that the largest venue for getting the word out for games is now charging the "little guy". I guess the contributions and advertisers money can't keep the forum running.

Most game threads are started by members of teams or idividuals who would never spend their own money to announce a game at their local field. I usually post about upcoming OA games, but I'm sure as **** not going to pay for that myself, and I doubt the owners will bother to do it themselves.

So if players don't posts games, what's the point of checking out the forum?

[payroll]

im sure they are just hurting for money too, having been able to afford that nice custom tour bus.

[shortypaintballr]

lol. pbnation is not hurting for money.

do you realize how many sites advertise on here? and the ASM? yeah they're not hurting at all.

[Tyr]

Based on what I can speculate is that they are trying to make an effort to make the site uniform as a whole. They are probably getting complaints from companies that pay to have their product/events advertised that the scenario section can basically be a free billboard for anyone and everyone, something would have to give, they would either:

A: Have to let every company, field, etc. advertise for free

or

B: Charge everyone


And guess which choice won....

Although such stringent regulations on what you can and cannot say is kind of borderline, I cannot say that I fully disagree with whats good for one is good for the other, after it is a private site and they have full control on what is and is not said and for what price..... Not saying I wholeheartedly agree but whats good for the goose......

[sparrow69 (Banned)]

Originally Posted by acidrain23

In reference to the paying for advertising - Basically b/c bandwith and hosting cost a lot of money for the amount of traffic this site generates. Also, why not. I would probably do the same.

The infraction thing is wrong though. At least a heads up or something.

Actually, there are hosting companies out there that offer Unlimited Webspace
Unlimited Transfer, Unlimited Websites, Unlimited Bandwidth,and the ability to host Unlimited sites, for WAY WAY WAY LOW prices. I work in the web design industry, and I know what it costs, and also what it would take to host a site like this, and I could list a couple sites that could do it for less then 100 a month and one that can do it for less then 50. So with supporting members shelling out 30 a pop, and advertisers shelling out even more for a circulating banner, you can bet its not because they're hurting for bandwidth.
IT is one of the fastest growing industry on the market, and at those prices, I could half their prices and do just as well with the following this place has...



Perhaps you'll see another site pop up sooner then you think!

[Gdude2008]

You know what? This is where the Spec Ops forum comes in. Granted, your group of potential customers might be smaller, but you don't have to worry about paying for these kinds of things. Also the group of people you will be reaching is much more scenario orientated and are much more loyal, if that's the right word, to scenario play.

[Capt. Malone]

Oh yeah, the sky deck/tour bus?
I really hope that fields look at this and DO NOT Pay the fee.
And I noticed that they went through and adjusted all the threads this AM to conform with the new rules?
Except EMR, maybe because it was a Quote?
So we can Quote all the information from another site?
Or does this have anything to do with the Mod having stake in EMR?
I am sick and hope that there is a revolution. I am IN!
I will NOT Donate again.
I am canceling it NOW.

[chrispy_man]

Look I think the Gold Ups are ok, but to basically say don't post any game information unless you pay sucks. I already pay to have my games advertised here through goggle. I was already supporting through membership. I guess it is time to move on.