NOW you're talking!

You'd fit right in......

 

Woodsmoke. You can do a helluva lot here without being in the Club. I've also found that they're fairly tolerant of the discussions in the 'General' section......It's when folks start slinging insults and/or getting a little tooooo descriptive with Parties, politicians, etc., that they either lock it, or move it to 'The Club'.....

I was here about 8 months before I paid the membership. For me it's worth it just to be able to be a jacka$$ and run my mouth about anything I want in 'The Club'. I mean...$20 is 4 meals at McDonald's......and FTE give me greater pleasure than 4 quarter-pounder-with-cheese-combos.....Not much more pleasure, but a little......

 

And the club is fat free! Of course I like my 1/4er's with cheese, large fries and a Big Mac to boot.

 

Politeness isn't exactly the first word that comes to mind.

It's pretty much self-policed unless something gets way out of hand, then a super mod or administrator will step in to restore order. That doesn't happen very often.

 

This site has been around a long time, and over the years, we've seen it all (or think we have, anyway...every once in a while someone hands us a new surprise!)

We've had to make those rules to enforce the peace here. FTE is not (and was never intended to be) a free-for-all where mudslinging, insults, foul language and such are the norm. There's nothing that seems to get a fight started faster than politics or religion, and it's amazing the depths that people will sink to fighting about those topics. They just don't belong here.

As for sex, FTE is a family-friendly site and we like to encourage members to come here and view topics with their children, without any fear of them seeing something that would make them uncomfortable. People would prefer to choose the time and place to educate their kids on this subject, not have it chosen for them when junior sees something on a truck site that has nothing to do with trucks...!

 

Wow! Now that's a meal.

 

I can not stand McDonald's "food". If it can be called that. Political, sexual and religious topics can be found on other sites. I have found no other site that has the depth and breadth of information on Ford trucks that can be found here. All for free.

 

I'm not real crazy about their garbage wither, just trying to keep this going. But I think the comparison was made to illustrate that one can be a member here for the price of 3-4 fast food lunches.

 

Speaking of which, my membership is up in about three weeks...
Should I renew it? Hmmmmm. decisions, decisions...
I was looking at the cost of the membership just now and it occured to me that it actually costs more to pay for a three year subscription than for three one-year subscriptions. That's odd.
$19.99 for one year (X3 = $59.97)
$59.99 for three. Wut's up widdat? OK, maybe difference is the 2 cents that we all from time to time.

Of course I'm going to renew- don't be silly. The thought of not being a member and taking advantage of all the political, religious and sexual conversations is just horrible. It really is cheap entertainment.

 

Stu we would miss you if you were gone from the club.

heck I wouldn't have as many people to disagree with.

 

But for three years, you get a new t-shirt and bumper sticker.

 

Now that you mention it:
Doh!!
I completely forgot about the goodies!

 

They are just getting your 2 cents worth in advance...somehow I think you will continue to throw more pennies at us though....

 

And lets not forget about inflation here people.

In three years the prices of a membership could go up!
Or drop dramatically..
The dollar could be worth more!
Or less..

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

 

In FTE's early stages it was found through trial and error that politics, sex and religion in the General Conversation forum would always end up in a fight. So those topics were made off limits.

Eventually a new forum was created named "The Pig Pen" by the webmaster, Ken Payne. The idea being to "keep all the pigs in the same pen." That didn't work either. Some were rude and obnoxious, people got offended, feelings were hurt, retaliations were made and it was just plain ugly.

Eventually Ken discovered that people would PAY to be offended and not complain a bit about it. So it became an agreement with the user that they would pay for the extra content and if they didn't like it they couldn't complain because they agreed to pay for the privilage. This also took care of people complaining about what their kids might see because it was their decision to gain the extra content and now their responsibility to decide if it was appropriate for their kids to see. (The Club is pretty much PG-13 with a little M for Mature thrown in.)

So this keeps folks from complaining "OMG! My kid saw the Skittles Girl!" It's the same way cable TV can give you more adult content. You made the decision and you consent to pay for it. Too much sex and violence? Stop paying to see something that offends you!

I don't think that dues for Club membership is much of a source of revenue for FTE. It probably doesn't even pay for the extra bandwidth required each month to keep the "Frivilous Thread" going!

The truth is even though adult topics are heatedly debated in the Club, it is actually one of the politest and most mannerly forums on the site. Maybe it's because if you pay for something it gives you a sense of ownership and you are more apt to take care of it and not abuse it.