The problem is, people would donate $1 and get the same rewards as someone who had donated $100. The supporter list was full of people who had sent just pocket money once and expected the same rewards as someone who sent a two-digit donation or kept sending money month after month. It wasn't fair.
You know the humble bundle, how they ley you pay as little as you want to get X games but then there is a threshold you need to beat to get some other Y games, right? Well, it's not an e-penis contest, "ha-ha, I got Bastion and you only got Limbo!". It's just a reward for those who help more. That's it.
Donating is not an obligation. A regular member who has never donated can live exactly as well as one who did. Hell, we even give blogs for free to those who get over 5000 posts. And if you can only donate $1, we'll give you a supporter bar as a "thank you" for donating, even if you don't get the +700 PM space for people who donated $100.
Creating a one-size-fits-all tier of $20 (or whatever) will discourage people who can only donate $10 (or any other smaller account). Different tiers allow us to accept any donation and reward them accordingly. And hey, if you are donating $20, you can get to tier 5 just for an extra $5 next time you can send us some more money. Where is the problem?
Okay so if you want to argue that $20 for tier 5 is not enough, how about $30-40 for tier 6 ?
Why should there be a super tier of supporter ? I mean if people want to give more money over time, than that's their choice, they're not doing it for more perks/features unless they want tier 6 status.
I've never given money to charity and been given a "title" for however much I wished to donate at that particular time.
I was implying that abolishing tiers would prevent and avoid "dick measuring."
I haven't personally seen any arguments over "who can donate more moneys" but having a section dedicated to ONLY supporters seems a bit odd in a forum which is meant to be public for all !
I'm sure we have all seen people argue about smaller things in life and I wouldn't be surprised in private conversations if people "big themselves up" for being a supporter.
If it was a straight donation of $30-40 for everything, would we see more members willing to donate to the forum rather than having a select few who are forced to shell out more money ?
If you want to see Pokecommunity as a business, would the business flourish from more donations of $30-40 with newer members appealing to these new features or wait for older members to shell out $100 each over time for tier 6 status.
Some may not even want to donate after tier 5 and be happy with that ?
So that's only $25 for a tier 5, when people could easily reach tier 6 for an additional set amount.
You could also allow other members to "gift" supporter status to other members (as long as they pay the set amount for it.)
If you guys wish to keep tiers, than that's your choice and I understand if you feel like it's an incentive to build up on.
But should we not make tier 6 more affordable to those who have already donated ?
We've all done it where we save some money for a particular purchase on goods or services. We could even have monthly bill payments of smaller amounts over time for those tight on budgets who could give $5-10 a month to achieve their supporter status.
I'm sure if people WANT to donate they will put money aside for that purpose.
