Why So Many Guests

[RockHard]

Lurkers: come one, come all!

 

I am always amazed by the small number of members who are posting in contrast to the large number of guys who apparently are just "observers".

 

I would save your amazement for the mudslides in Brazil or the floods in Brisbane, Australia or Joan Rivers' new face on Fashion Police. Those events warrant an elevated state of shock and awe.

 

Since it doesn't cost anything to register with Daddy...

 

Whether pleasurable or utter annoyance, time is not infinite in one's life. For many of us, time is a precious commodity and how one spends it matters.

 

It took several years as an occasional lurker before I committed to registering because, to me, the process here seemed ridiculous. The reasons for the registration process were ultimately explained to me in a polite, private email but I continued to feel the process could be vastly improved; designed to be more welcoming, user-friendly, and convenient for those of us who traveled a lot. Rarely do two designers think alike. (I have no idea what the process is like today. I have only one username and I joined this board once, back in 2005. I don't remember why it took so long to join back then. I vaguely remember a time-frame to login and activate the account. On two occasions I missed the time-frame and gave up. Something like that.)

 

Once you committed to joining, then came the decision to swim with sharks. In the early 2000's and given the type of chat that went on here, it seemed any new member had to prepare himself for the Liza Minelli-loving queen(s) who possessed the personality of a fat, ugly, nasty cunt, hungry to rip you to shreds no matter what you wrote. If you know the party is going to be filled with these type of gay men and you don't live for soap operas, musical theater, and you aren't attracted to men who behave like old, ugly, unloved women, who cling to the side effects of an imaginary menstrual cycle, why would you agree to join? We all define fun differently, no? (Even though we all have escort purchases in common.)

 

The "tone" of this board was set long ago by Hooboy. By default, Daddy inherited the tone. It seems Hooboy had a bigger-than-life persona and he had his own way of doing things and manipulating people. Whether anyone liked it or not, Hooboy either learned or didn't learn as he moved forward. He didn't use a "how to" manual and he clearly wasn't naturally gifted at handling difficult gay men. Hence, owner "meltdowns" began to occur.

 

I guess Daddy did his best to create a new tone and some could argue he succeeded. Now, trouble-making threads get shut down and trouble-maker's accounts are put on hold. However, the cloud and threat of a "meltdown" still persists and, given Daddy's yearning for life under the Koa tree, it's difficult to imagine where this place will be in the coming years. And with Oz breathing fire and drooling a radiant envy-green, madly buying up every Hooboy URL alliteration he can muster, there's no telling what the future holds for escort chat and reviews.

 

The chance to interact with escorts is the magic key and, as evidenced by AJ Irons' effusive "Thank You" note, so far, Daddy owns Door #1. Daddy has certainly proven more trust worthy than the owner of that other place. Daddy worked with Hooboy for many years. The truth is well documented. Daddy doesn't have to prove that a sincere friendship with Hooboy existed.

 

Even if only a few escorts participate here, that may be enough for some of us to endure the less attractive side of this board (which is minimally evident these days). Whether its enough to motivate other lurkers to join, only time will tell.

[Diverdan]

Hi Rockhard,

Thanks for your posts to this thread. I too was a lurker for many years before I signed on and joined the fray. I too am distressed by some of the posts, but we do have freedom of speech in the USA, even though IMHO it is frequently abused. I will stick to my "amazed" observation, as the others you mentioned make me shocked, dismayed and horrified, especially when it comes to natural disasters, although I suppose one could qualify endless plastic surgery as a natural disaster too....LOL. There are times when I read, but don't respond, in part because I don't have a lot of time, but there are a few posts, and the Gallery in particular that always draw me back. So, thanks again for your posts.

DD

[+ deej]

What a fun (if not factual) retelling!

 

It took several years as an occasional lurker before I committed to registering because, to me, the process here seemed ridiculous.

 

We do apologize for requiring a working email address. Most people don't find this an onerous burden.

 

For a while we also required gender (it should be noted we never verified!) but only because the software in use at that time mandated that we use *two* required fields. Sorry for that heinous imposition.

 

A frequent traveler probably WOULD trip the bullshit detector when signup and confirmation came in from different locations. That was unfortunate, but the botnets (and the God Hates Fags trolls, etc.) were trying to get in every day even back then. (They are, if anything, worse today yet we've somehow cluelessly stumbled into a streamlined registration process that still requires nothing more than a working email address.)

 

But now you're here. Lucky us.

[Guest greatness]

Let's not forget that we are here because of Daddy and moderators. Let's show our appreciation for that. No one is perfect and we can't expect Daddy to satisfy everyone or make right decisions every time. Let's talk and work it out.

[MsGuy]

the God Hates Fags trolls... are, if anything, worse today yet we've somehow cluelessly stumbled into a streamlined registration process that still requires nothing more than a working email address.)

 

Durned if I can remember anything in the registration process designed to trip up such creatures. Congratulations on the subtlety of the defences you have erected to protect this site.

[leigh.bess.toad]

Maintaining session state is an "expensive" thing for a web server so they all have timeouts. After a certain amount of inactivity, you're logged out automatically.

 

A lot of users here tick the "Remember Me" box at login. That doesn't keep you always logged in, rather it logs you in transparently on your next visit.

 

Also note that users can opt out of the "who's on line" list in the User CP.

 

Thanks for the answers, Deej.

[RockHard]

Facts.

 

Fact: The only fact in my previous post is I'm the author of the post. Everything else is either opinion or vague recollections from a faded memory (already stated in my post).

 

Fact: I never owned a non-working email address.

 

Fact: I've never had a problem checking the gender box "male" on any application.

 

Fact: Rude moderators can easily kill a board's growth potential. And I suspect that's one of many reasons why lurkers are reluctant to register here. (In an effort to be fair, it seems you won't find rude moderators at MER. I rarely visit there but a cursory overview suggests this may be a fact.)