RE:
1) People are here to make money
I don't doubt that but I don't think that's the majority. In fact, there are a lot of deals on the forum.
I would agree that the hobby has gotten more friendly for me, through this forum.
For me, the part of the hobby that this site supports is getting out and meeting other hobbyists. "Joe" has a frag or fish I'm interested in and I arrange to go meet him and voila I've added one more face to the hobby. We may or may not have the chance to look over "Joe's" tank but if we do, that's bonus hobby tender as I get to see another tank/system, get advice, etc., all of which adds to my hobby experience and builds community. I am making friends as a result of this forum.
It is also through this site that I learn about stores, retailers, sponsors, clubs, events, etc., even broadening my hobby horizons more.
I would not know about any of the sponsors was it not for this forum. If they want to ***** about not seeing a return, they are wrong about the cause and should spend more with the forum (and other marketing). Perhaps the forum peeps can use their marketing savvy to help the sponsors target their returns more but to say that because SCR is a pin-pointed craigslist is the reason for their decline is not true.
Cutting off people's communication line will only do one thing, decrease hits to the site. This is opposite to what you're trying to achieve.
In less than two years, I've gone from being a bargain-hunter-freebie-shopper know-nothin' to feeling pretty confident about what I want and how to achieve that and realizing that I have to buy the good stuff and from reputable people. I pay to be on this site because it has been invaluable to me for this hobby.
I'd also add that when dealing with customers (aka sponsors) the ones that complain the most are probably the most headaches to begin with and you'd be better off just dropping them and working with good people that realize the value of a community. I deal with a similar situation in video where people want everything for free and don't realize the cost of doing business and professionalism. The cheap ones are the headaches, the people that get it, get it and are better to deal with. I'm sure it's the same with anything.
This forum is for everyone what they themselves put into it. I don't look forward to what I perceive the change will be and I hope you drop that idea. What type of posts are you contributing regularly? (And I don't know who the "you" is I'm talking about, I'm more being general in this term.)
I guess that was my dollar fifty...
