Or you could embrace the revelation that the participants, not the forum providers, are what has made the site informative and entertaining over the years.
For those of us who hold morals and principles dear, it isn't the money. The issue is being forced to pay to help each other. They are lying to you about the expenses to run the place. There are millions of free sites on the internet that work fine off of advertisers dollars. This is a sell out and a money grab.
Congratulations on being part of the sellout, and enjoy the reduced quality of content when they pull the plug. I will be very interested to hear if you feel like you are getting your moneys worth a year after they pull the plug.
Everything in life is based on perception. You can perceive this to be a "money grab", but I perceive it to be a service that i'm willing to pay a measly $10 per 365 days use. I'm not going to come on here and say you are wrong for not paying, that's your choice. If i'm not mistaken, members can still enjoy posting and reading the forums for free, but what I am saying is that I treat this like a magazine subscription. I can pick up the magazine and read it at my leisure, but the content never changes ! The content is always fresh in the forums and usually entertaining to read and join in on. Just like this thread ! ha ha.
Believe me, i'm trying to look at this in a positive manner, rather than get my feathers all ruffled up for no good reason. Everyone has the full right to break free and start your own forum. Maybe then they will find out how much work is actually involved, and what costs are incurred. I'm sure they pay dearly for the bandwidth used.
Maybe i'm wrong, but it gives me a clear conscience knowing that I did what I thought was right.
cheers !:beer;