Make it possible for those who currently cannot donate by credit card, to be able to donate by credit card :) I'm itching to do my bit to support topia with some dollars, since I don't add anything tek wise.
This is a sticky situation. The only way to NOT use a card is to send check or money order to topia address - unfortunately that cannot be tracked and who knows if it's ever received, lost, etc. Pre-paid cards are an option as the merchant provider will accept those. Unfortunately foreign cards cannot be accepted due to the high potential for fraud. We constantly try to balance ease v.s. tracking ability but alas in most cases our hands are tied.
I would have gladly paid a membership fee for that privilege.
We have been trying to work out different VIP levels with different access rights to various board functionality, this however must come at a price. As it has always been non-registered members have most functionality but cannot post... Registered members have the rest... This means that in order to break up that functionality and have 2 or more levels of paid membership we have to take away access that people have enjoyed for so many years. Then there is add-on functionality via plug-ins such as the game center, chat, and what nots -- the issue with these are that they open the board to potential exploitation, which we're all too familiar with, and they are not necessarily updated as often as they should be, if at all, and when it comes time to upgrade the software we find a bunch of add-on plug-ins must be uninstalled due to incompatibility issues. AND Since the board receives daily hack attempts we must always remain on the latest versions.
So as you can see it's quite complicated as to what to allow, what to install, and what to not. If we decide to install fun toys and add-on functionality we risk losing it later (which pisses people off) due to an upgrade/compatibility issue. We also risk losing sight of the nature of this community which is, well, community. This site is and always has been a bulletin board to discuss and share ideas - when we start adding games, chat, or anything else that doesn't directly bring people together to collaborate I feel we lose a little more of the original intent.
No disrespect meant but whats the big secret?
Are we not worthy, as members to know whats shaking with our home.. in plain uncensored English?
I do not disagree with this, however, that level of information must come from mrs.hip directly - anything else is hearsay. Being the most plugged in here I have heard nothing of the sort.
Lotz people can do pay pal. You can do that with a check.
This is true, but there is a reason we do not use PayPal. 1) They are not a bank and do not have to follow banking rules. 2) They have shut us down many many many times in the past due to site content, products offered, et al. Each time this occurs you cannot use the same bank account to sign up for a new account. PITA. 3) If they decide to shut you down your money is LOCKED in their system for 6 months BEFORE you can withdraw it. So that poses a huge risk.
We may try PayPal again from a purely donation standpoint, but I am leery due to the past experiences with them and how they can keep you from your money on a whim.
I've had to use paypal once, from many international purchases. The system topia has seems fine, but somehow doesn't accept cards from all countries. This has nothing to do with paypal, I don't own a cheque book, and i'm not sending NZ $100 across the Pacific!!
This is exactly the reason we need a system that uses PayPal as per above we cannot accept foreign cards. However, we have the other issues with the per the above.
All - rest assured we are actively discussing things but it's a very complex environment to navigate. We will keep you posted as more info becomes available.
