While I am new, I will offer my .02...

Gary is getting shit because he changed the rules... The only thing that makes a forum a forum is if you have readers/posters. The R/Ps have understood that up to this point, there wasn't any hyper-texting. He's now changed the rules, I assume he did so w/o notice or a vote. Inevitably, there is some backlash. Yes, he runs a business, and as a business, he should be up for customer complaints. If he isn't, then the problem will eventually resolve itself...

I've said it before, I don't go there because I don't have my questions answered, and what's more, I don't like the attitude. So, I will spend my time elsewhere.

someone figure out how to put double-underlined green links in your signature...


sav, if you have insight that will enlighten us as to the inner workings of miata.net to improve our relationship, dont hold back.

Using Garys phone number? "For a good time, Call xxx-xxx-xxxx"

It's just the way people view it. Gary is a businessman first and an enthusiast second, and the site is a business that draws multiple thousands of dollars every year in revenue. There are people who make livings off it (Rick probably does). If you owned a forum that produced revenue based solely on advertising, and you watched your page views and your bandwidth bills go up and your advertising revenues go down, and then some prick goes on your site and posts a detailed tutorial on how to evade your advertising methods, can you say you wouldn't be pissed off too?

If that thread had been "Man, these new ads suck." instead of "how to get rid of the new ads" then it would have gone completely differently.

gotta pay to play. I have a feeling if Gary was making so much money on m.net he wouldn't have such need for those stupid ads that he already tired once.

Maybe he realized how dumb paying 20K plus for that "91 sunburst" was and is now trying to re-coup the funds :giggle:

Meh, even if he makes a decent amount of money why wouldn't he want to make more? I don't fault the man for trying to make more money.

That doesn't mean I wouldn't use Adblock etc. though.

I'm sure most of the Miata vendors over there have M.net to thank for a majority of their non-local business. The vendors are silly if they think that only people that click on the link in the Marketplace are the only customers that are influenced by M.net. Especially if they have an easy URL to remember (for example: flyinmiata.com).

Hell, I think the actual forum part is a bigger motivator for people to buy from a specific vendor than the actual "marketplace". And part of that motivator is the posters which hype the product or help in it's development. Shit, the forums are just as important to the vendors as most of the regular members.

SO, IMHO, those green links are just gravy for M.net. I'm sure it doesn't piss off too many people and it provides a small increase in revenue. I don't like em, but I'm in the know. :giggle:

And some of the mods are douche's, but they run a pretty tight ship. Except for the Rich-Robo-Mod, I don't know what the fuck is up with that. Who dreamt him up?

Just don't get me started on their fucked up Classifieds or lack of this Millennium's Media (YouTube and Images in the pages, I mean Jesus Christ, give me a break :crx:).

Chris

I will also throw in my 2cents. I've got no worries with somebody making a buck of the internet. But making a buck from me off the internet means I better get a decent product. M.net is not a decent "product" as far as internet forums go.

Their Vbulletin is crap... that's enough for me not to subscribe right there.

For my money, I demand a up-to-date set of Vbulletin functionalities. I demand a free classifieds. I will speak my mind whenever I feel my opinion needs to be heard.

In the end, m.net has the INFORMATION most people are looking for when it comes to the basics, but they simply don't have the internet experience that is up to par with this forum, for example. Improve the product, and they will come.

lol

Gary has no need or desire to improve his forum,all the wine & cheesers like it the way it is & refuse any changes,so there's no need to move forward.

Gary only caters to those people and that's the reason why this forum was created and (sad to say) CR.net & RD.net.

What does miata.net produce and sell?
Who does miata.net sell this product to?

If you think that the product is the content and that we are the consumers of that product you are wrong. Miata.net sells advertising space, companies like BEGI, FM and MOSS are the clients. So where does that leave the readers and posters? We are the potential consumers of what FM, BEGI ... etc sell.

Understanding that, it isn't a big surprise that it is run the way it is. Gary has to keep readership high so he can continue to sell space to vendors. He also has to police content to make sure his vendors are happy, since the advertising also comes from the users.

If you think it is a democracy meant to serve you, you'd better check yo head. If you think miataturbo.net is much different ... well you'd better check your head. The minute that miataturbo.net stops making money for Rick that'll be the end of it here too. Why do you think the mods are putting forth an effort to clean things up a bit? If we chase off the newb, then we have a smaller target audience for the advertisers. At the same time content here must retain some amount of credibility with our target audience, otherwise people will stop coming because miataturbo.net sold out just like miata.net. I think there is a pretty good balance here.

This isn't socialism you know. :)