I have never paid to be a member of an online forum, and never will. I am sure there are other forums that charge but as a member of many online forums this is the first one I have ever run into that asked you to pay for the privilege.
I support the forum by visiting the advertisers, when that stops being enough I'll be done.
I also find it a little "creepy" that there is a section for "paid members" only. Seems a bit elitist to me.
Thank you for your feedback puppymom. Just to clear up a few things you posted:
- we have NEVER asked anyone to pay to use this site. The option is there and if someone wants to do, more power to them and if users like yourself don't want to do it, it's not an issue at all.

In addition, 99% of the site is FREE for anyone to use. In this day and age of internet business models for sites that provide information, it's pretty good in my books.
- The paid members area has been around for a long time (long before I showed up at least). I don't necessarily agree with your statement that it's creepy and elitist but we're all entitled to our opinions.

I've said this before and I'll reiterate it. I use many other websites for my my work and hobbies and every single one of them has more perks, access or content available to paid users (most of my online interests surround photography, graphic designing and news). If it makes everyone feel better, the paid members area is rarely used compared to the rest of the site.
