FREE MEMBERS - now completely restricted

I've got a few questions.

1. Is there anything posted in a FAQ or help page that lists the benefits and restrictions to Free Members?
2. If you limit a "Trial Membership" as discussed here, from sending more than X messages and posting in forums, how can they start spamming, etc. ?
3. Can Free Members receive and read emails, and if not, what is the purpose in allowing messages to be sent to them?

We were free members here for nearly a year as we evaluated the worth of using the site to supplement our other memberships. At the time we could receive email and send up to 5 a day. We could not initiate IM, but get pulled in. Eventually we found value in full membership and paid up. We have accounts with restrictions similar to what's now in place and we don't even look there anymore as there is nothing to evaluate--they will never get our membership dollars.

Oh yes, even I've seen that one. Including one SF this summer who got EXTREMELY bent out of shape when I asked her to contact me on SLS first.

And then there are the freeloaders who type SLS screen names into Kik on the chance that your Kik screen name is the same as your SLS name.

Speaking of candy canes, I saw a glass one a couple weekends ago that I really wish I got to see in action.

<fans self>

PA

Thanks for backing me up. I was just trying to avoid someone getting on here and saying let's get back on topic LOL.

Yes keep swinging, keep it fresh, lighthearted and new. Have fun this holiday with lots of releases and maybe even look up an old friend for some renewed fun. LOL

I still like it the way it was with free members being able to send a few emails but if your going to stop them from initiating contact at least give paid members the option to contact them even if that period is limited. I'm thinking maybe 5 emails per paid member and then that conversation would stop and not start up again unless that paid member contacts the free member again. On top of that there would be no crosstalk from one free member to another free member.

I am not a programer so I don't know how they would be able to make this happen. Probably would take a lot of "If-Then" statements.

Yeaaah, who has time for all swinging?

'Tis the season for wrapping up, stuffing stockings, cumming down chimneys, licking candy canes, getting jollies and running a steamy train around the tree.

We did a release and renew last night. Gotta keep it fresh YO!

:-)

~Allen

Hey IC. It's not like all we do is swing. Lol

Wow someone's trying to explain Release and Renew on a swing site! Don't forget NAT/PAT..... port numbers and inside private IPs and public IPS

@rustyrobyn blocking an IP is really only temporary. IP's have a lease time. After that lease time you might or might not get the same ip and if your force a lease renewal you might get one quicker. Also since the IP changes you then might block someone else who ends up getting that same IP. now you can block it for a short period of time so someone making profile after profile can't block it in quick succession can't, but otherwise it's really not feasible.

So . . . . If “free” members can’t do anything why would they want to join. And why when you look at who’s on are there free members on? If they can not access anything then something seems a bit off!

Free members used to be able to read the forums but not post. Now they can’t do either one.

~Scamp

I thought free members couldn't access the forums either.

I had heard that at one time free members could access the forums but they did not see all the messages.
They saw a special curated subset

I amy be being really thick here.
I need someone to explain in short simple sentences how if the website allows free members to access the site and one of them ends up being someone involved in the sort of illegal business FOSTA is designed to cover that the site owners are in trouble, while at the same time if the web owners accept money from this same person to run their business here that the web owners are off scot free.

Thanks! We do get emails just to compliment us on that, and the BFM pics too. It's a good way to identify members of our tribe.

You don't see the spammers/bots because of the current business model. It's a good model, and much emulated for good reason. It works, it's profitable, and it's secure.

Co-opting email accounts for spamming is a major industry in many parts of the world. Bots, being automated by nature, are 'point and shoot', so it's not much work to flood the forums. It's horrifically common, in fact. Open the doors and they'll flood in.

If you're proposing allowing free members to access pictures, profiles and emails for a short period of time, but not the forums, hot dates, clubs/groups/events etc, you're overestimating the capability of the IT folks here. They've not upgraded the IM system and that was promised more than a year ago iirc. Heck, they shrunk the size of the forum window within the past year, acknowledged it and yet it remains unaddressed.

@Catchynickname - First and foremost, I love your username and had a good sensible chuckle from it. I almost messaged you just to tell you that. Anyway, you were talking about scammers and whatnot flooding the forums and other services, but I'm not sure how they could affect anything since I thought free members couldn't access the forums either. And yes, people could keep making new profiles, but they would also have to be constantly making new email accounts too (or get a bot to do it). Although I'm not sure to what purpose all that work would accomplish. I suppose some people have no lives and the spare time to do that, but I sure don't lol. I personally haven't noticed any scammers/hackers on this site, but I do live in a small town in the middle of Wisconsin, so probably not a lot of shady activity around us. Regardless, good post and an interesting point of view.

The problem with the system you suggest is it creates the opening for spammers, sex traffickers, and folks who want to game the system to gain access. Create a bot, create a profile, flood the forums. It's a very profitable business model for the spammer, and a nightmare for a website operator. One sex trafficker gets away with using this site to promote their business and the owners are subject to arrest and prosecution the way HR 1865 is written. One bored vice squad starts a reverse sting operation luring in johns and the owners are in a HEAP of trouble. Also, there will always be a subset of people in the 'hit it and forget it' category that will get a free account, work it until it expires, then create a new one. If you think single males can be annoying now, try letting them do it for free. <shudder>

Btw, we saw the profile section on your profile the other day, thought it was pretty cool. Good idea!

I agree with everyone that the people who create a profile and never do anything with it makes no sense. They should be removed after a certain period of inactivity to free up server space. I get the reason for the free accounts, so that new comers can dip their toes in the community pool to see if its something they want to explore, but why not have a notice when they create their profile that tells them their account will be locked out after 2 weeks or something if they don't start a paid subscription? I do know that if you try to message a free member that they get the message notification and can see who sent it, but they can't open it or even see the subject line. So what I did was add a section to my profile in a feeble attempt to set free account members' minds at ease and give SLS a try. Here is what I wrote:
"If you’re a free member and are at all serious about this lifestyle, PLEASE believe us when we say that this site is legit (AKA Not a scam) and well worth the investment! With the new government restrictions, free accounts are virtually useless and there is no way for you to make contact with us and vice versa. At least give it a try for a few months, you won’t regret it! "
Not sure if it will make any difference, but I figured it couldn't hurt.

Have the number of new members decreased?

Also, is there anyway to "legally" contact a free member?

@crazy

If the default picture on a profile is not outlined in gold, it means they are a free member. Not as effective as not seeing free members at all but if there is no gold border, don’t click.

@Pa

To make it worse, free members can’t even see naked pics!

~Scamp

Hi CrazyFantasies, an easy way to tell if they are paid or free is the color of frame around their profile thumbnail picture:

Silver is Free

Gold is paid

Hope that helps you from viewing them in the meantime.

~Allen

we have the option to not let Free Members View is. We should also have the option to not even see Free Member profile. I don’t even want to open up a profile and see they are a Free Member. It is a waste of our time. We can’t communicate with them.
Again would like a button to check and completely be done with them.

Other than perving not much.
None of the conversations that finally gave us the impetus to dive into the LS and as part of that become paying members.
This sit was once a good educative venture for those circling the event horizon. No more.

Hopefully it get rid of the fakes and flakes but the 150 to be a life member is still cheap so buck up. I find it funny that so many free member have certs and are still free. If your getting good results and making connection it worth every penny right?

Problem with that is they just create a new profile under a different email and just keep going and going. There has to be a way of blocking an IP so that doesn't happen but they most likely would find a way around it. Its a catch 22 for this whole argument one way or another. Its a good thing for many reasons and a bad thing for many different ones. But I know I will not lose any sleep over it and continue to enjoy the site and friendships made and those to be made in the future . That is the whole point for us being here anyways .