Is there anyway that VMKF members could petition against having to pay for signatures? I joined another forum where Tmkttt is and I found I enjoyed it alot more than I expected because they (Site members) were allowed to have signatures and userpages, free of charge. I'm not asking that you do away with the whole having to pay for userpages, and more PM spaces etc., because that would be way too much to ask. Or maybe once you reach a certain post count (one without spammy posts) you would acheive the right of being able to have a signature? Or maybe once you join VMKF for a certain period of time and stay active during that time? If not, is there a way at all that we (VMKF members) could petition against having to pay against signatures? I would really appreciate an answer wether or not it was one I was hoping for. Thanks and VMKF members, I would also like to know your opinions. ^^

There is a reason why you have to pay for those on this site. They use that money to help this site. It doesn't go into their pockets to go spend at Best Buy or something. It goes for the site.

This site is free to its members - You don't have to pay for anything on this site. You can, however, donate money to the site to keep it up and running. Through these donations you are able earn bonus features on this site that aren't available to regular members (Such as the ability to add signatures to your posts).

Also, you can also win Signature Subscriptions along with other features that you would otherwise have to donate for, via the monthly contests held here on VMKF. If you enter for one of these contests, you may win one provided from the site without donating.

it costs money to own forums, so they have to have a way to get money!! almost no one will sign

OK I understand that, but isn't VMKF hosted by vBulliten? Isn't that a free forum hosting site? Thanks for your responses. disneyzoodude, I bet alot of people would sign. Lots of people love to express their creativity, not only through well worded posts but through graphics. They are unable to do so though, because they are either too young to use PayPal or their family does not support the usage of money that way.

OK I understand that, but isn't VMKF hosted by vBulliten? Isn't that a free forum hosting site?

Yes, VMKF is hosted by vBulletin. No, vBulletin is not a free forum hosting site.

Ah I see, thanks for clearing it up Whipstersh.

By the way, I didnt mean for my post to be mean :)
And, its not free.

But now that I look at it, I can see why you thoguht that.
I might just sign ;)

vBulliten isn't free- Plus they are advertising there site on google- which they have to pay for.
But i agree with you, Flying, they should let us have signatures after we have been members for certian amounts of time- because every time someone clicks on the site link, google pays them.

You are allowed to put your signature in posts even if you don't have the official signature option. (Many forums don't allow this.) You do have to put in in each post instead of it automatically putting it, but it does give you a chance to use your graphics.

Here a word from a mod.

You are up against four problems with your suggestion to petition against our subscription fees.

1) We don't allow petitions on this site, so you're already stopped there. We do not allow them based on past experience with them; they create problems among the members, and in the long run they serve no purpose as the intended audience either ignores them or does not see them.

2) You are not forced to pay for this site. The site is free. Things like signatures are an option, and if you don't think the option is worth the price, you simply do not pay for it. It does not get simpler than that.

3) It costs money to run a site, especially one as complex as this one. We use signatures and other options as an incentive to get members to donate the funds necessary to rent the equipment and other fees needed to keep the site running as best we can. And the offerings of incentives also comes from experience: we originally did not offer incentives for donations, but we could not raise enough to make certain payments, and the owner had to cough up the money out of his own pocket. Not good.

4) This is a private site. It is owned by someone. That person requires the money to run the site and chose to make certain things available only to those who pay. He will not change his mind. If you wish to make everything free on the VMKForums, you would need to buy the site from the owner for a huge chunk of cash.

All of those are the main reasons your proposal will not fly. Sorry.

You are allowed to put your signature in posts even if you don't have the official signature option. (Many forums don't allow this.) You do have to put in in each post instead of it automatically putting it, but it does give you a chance to use your graphics.
Yes, but they still need to comply with normal signature policies. They still have the 200x500 size restriction and our other policies.

We know everyone would like a sig, but it does cost a great deal to run this site. It's not really fair to make Nick pay out of his pocket to keep everything running when we have 1000's of users using it on a daily basis. Doing the subscriptions is a great way for us to be able to afford all the licenses required, bandwidth, server space, a server, and everything else that goes into running this site. Our monthly bills run in the 100's of USD. To just give everyone free sigs would really hurt our income too much. We are a non-profit organization.

Nick has allowed us mods to run monthly contests to give free subscriptions away. We're hoping most people enter those that don't have a subscription or can't afford one in hopes they get picked for a free subscription. If you can't afford or unwilling to donate, I'd strong suggest entering our monthly contests.