If you don't feel the additional value is worth the cost, then don't pay for it. The forums are still perfectly functional.

If people *are* willing to pay for additional functionality, if being able to do these things is worth the £10 to them, then why shouldn't I capitalise on that? If other forums provide that for free, then they're potentially missing out on a revenue stream.

What it comes down to is that:

* Advertising is a bitch to set up, is unreliable, and requires users to click on the adverts to provide any real profit. I'm not interested in basing my income stream on a few good people who click ads to keep the site alive.

* Donations are all well and good, and the site has survived for a year on them thus far. However, it is by far and away a very few people who provide sizable donations that have kept the site afloat. I will not use this as a funding model, as it's patently unfair.

* As a side point to the above, donations have been open for a year and it's only a few people who've actually donated. Why would a pledge drive be any different.

* I want people to feel like the benefit from supporting the site. Which is why the extra, non-essential functionality is only available to these people.


From the sounds of it, you object to paying £10 for the extra functionality. But by complaining about it, and saying "look here's ways in which you can get money without depriving me of this functionality", you make it clear that the functionality *is* valuable to you. You wouldn't have done this research otherwise.

The real question is, is it worth £10 to you? If so, why not pay? If not, why complain at all?