Posts disappearing & why a pay area?

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widget2k4
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Posts disappearing & why a pay area?

Post by widget2k4 »

Seems like there is posts disappearing ? Also I have to keep logging in and every time I do the posts are different. I've tried my computer and phone but both the same.
pennymachines
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Re: Posts disappearing?

Post by pennymachines »

I had to run a database restore because a topic was accidentally deleted. Everything should be back to normal now. !SMILER!

Reading the Coventry thread, I gather Riche100 isn't happy about there being a subscription area (the Arena).
To prevent further thread drift and keep the forum slot-related I'd be grateful Riche if you could express your criticisms of the website in this Feedback category.
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dutchboy
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Re: Posts disappearing?

Post by dutchboy »

Well said mr pm and perfect solution! Very nice that people can post their opinion, even when it’s negative. I have to say i’m always happy to pay the costs of one pint a year !!CHEERS!!
pennymachines
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Re: Posts disappearing?

Post by pennymachines »

Thanks Dutchboy. I really welcome opinion, negative or positive as a guide to whether the site's going in the right direction. I won't always agree with it and not all members will want the same things.

As for the price of beer - Arena membership cost £2 for many years but was upped to £5 to keep in line with beer price inflation. As BP explained, presently it pays some costs of the site while avoiding the use of intrusive advertising (we have enough of that in our lives already). Costs, which include hosting, and regular updates of some proprietary software, aren't massive, although extra server space was added a few years ago to cope with the ever-expanding content. Hours spent maintaining and developing the site are incalculable, but it keeps me off the streets.

Currently the Arena contains 30 interesting articles written by PennyMachines members, plus a database of relevant vintage slot machine auction sales from 2005 to the present. These are time consuming to compile and, where possible, include my photos. An ulterior motive for putting them behind a paywall is that, in the opinion of many collectors, making auction prices freely and easily accessible to everyone is against the interests of collectors. Such a database makes it easy for anybody with zero interest in slot machines (beyond their monetary value) to discover the highest price that any item is likely to achieve. The dedicated and diligent collector's chance of finding a special piece at a price he/she can afford is lost. To a large extent of course it's already the case, with guide prices listed on Melvyn's site, the Elephant House results database and elsewhere.
riche100 wrote: Tue Nov 28, 2017 6:20 pm Dont see why there has to be a private section ?
There doesn't have to be, but hopefully you'll understand from the above why there is. You don't need to subscribe to it and the Coventry results will be published for free at Vintage Amusement Auctions in due course. If you want Arena access but don't want to pay, you get a free year's subscription by contributing an article.
riche100 wrote: Tue Nov 28, 2017 6:20 pm arent we all here or meant to be for the same thing ?
I doubt it.
Not sure we're meant to be here at all... :!?!:
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john t peterson
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Re: Posts disappearing & why a pay area?

Post by john t peterson »

At the risk of repeating past rants, let me offer my three cents; (beer inflation from the former two cents.)

The internet is a wonderful medium with both positive and negative consequences. One of the negatives is the belief created that everything on it should be free. This sense of entitlement has wide ranging implications. One obvious is its impact on journalism. Newspapers appear headed for extinction, not in small part due to the internet and all the "free" content available with a click of a button.

Sites like Pennymachines are ideally suited for the internet. It is a meeting place where enthusiasts can exchange information, stories, pictures, support and all the things that encourage the niche hobby that is collecting coin operated machines. I visit the site daily and on most days, multiple times. The members are a delight and the topics covered a joy. It's akin to sitting around the pickle barrel at the old country store and gabbing with your fellow neighbors. The information contained here, in toto, is unavailable anywhere else on the net. Yes, you may find certain topics or information at other sites but you will not find the depth of content or available help elsewhere. Doubt me? Not if you do serious research on our hobby.

Pennymachines exists due solely to the efforts of its brainchild and protector, Mr. Pennymachines. He is too modest to toot his own horn but the man has spent literally hundreds (probably thousands) of hours crafting and refining this site that you're currently enjoying. He does it for the love of the hobby and his dedication to the preservation of the historical importance of these bits of British culture. We will only appreciate the true value of Pennymachines when the site is no more.

To suggest that requiring a minuscule contribution of five pounds to help support this wealth of information is asking too much is frankly insulting. The monies generated by access to the Arena are a drop in the proverbial bucket. By all rights, this site should be by subscription en toto. It's not due to the philosophy of its creator and the hard work done for free by all the moderators.

It's a free country and all consumers have the ultimate power of the purse. Don't like the fee? Then take your business elsewhere.

J Peterson
Pennymachines admirer from afar
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bryans fan
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Re: Posts disappearing & why a pay area?

Post by bryans fan »

Well said
**xXx** !!THUMBSX2!!
riche100
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Re: Posts disappearing?

Post by riche100 »

pennymachines wrote: Wed Nov 29, 2017 1:28 am Reading the Coventry thread, I gather Riche100 isn't happy about there being a subscription area (the Arena).
To prevent further thread drift and keep the forum slot-related I'd be grateful Riche if you could express your criticisms of the website in this Feedback category.
i did post in the feedback portion of this forum, as i felt it was spoiling the coventry thread , however you or someone else decided to delete what i had written

i am not writing it again ..
pennymachines
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Re: Posts disappearing & why a pay area?

Post by pennymachines »

OK Riche, I'm sorry. I believe BP deleted your post and I didn't see it. You have to forgive him for being a little partisan, as chief site moderator. If you think I've not responded adequately to your grievance, please let me know.
John T. Peterson wrote: Thu Nov 30, 2017 1:40 pm We will only appreciate the true value of Pennymachines when the site is no more.
So I just need to press the big button marked DELETE? :lol:
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badpenny
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Re: Posts disappearing & why a pay area?

Post by badpenny »

Correct, It would appear I did delete Riche100's new post, although that wasn't my original intention.
If it had been worded as feedback, I should not have been offended by it.

It was provocative as well as 100% inaccurate in its statement. Whereas I am the first to promote free speech I do not condone it when it is churlish, mischievous and targeted at misleading anyone considering joining as a member.

That is not feedback, it's having a pop while changing other's words and ignoring what has been explained already.
The options open to me as a moderator have changed since we altered our host and the last time I had cause to make any decisions such as this.

At first I left the thread in place locked, I also locked the Coventry Auction Thread and wrote to Riche100 copying in Mr P. I advised of the folly of pursing his direction. Then the front door rang and I found myself being requested by the local church to answer conundrums about what I though the lord would think of today's challenges.

Upon returning to my screen I was requested to confirm ... so I did. It now appears it all got deleted and nobody got my mail.
In the great scheme of things hardly worth the band width or compared to how miserable the vicar looked at my door.

Whatever, although I support everybody having an opinion I shall not tolerate time and effort consuming misbehaviour especially when it takes the form of an open letter warning new members about what this place is really like.
(sic)
I'm sure most here would agree with me and wish this to be an end to the matter so we can get back to the not insignificant matter of slot machines, god bless 'em!

BP !!YIPPEE!!
youngerap
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Re: Posts disappearing & why a pay area?

Post by youngerap »

£5 per year? I would pay more than that just to read the BP missives!

And, occasionally, I read a post that is absolutely spot on and I wish there was a means to simply tick a box saying 'I agree!'. Mr Peterson's thread earlier in this post is an excellent example. Well said, Sir! Now, please explain with equal elegance how you ended up with a clown as President? But, please, don't ask me how we ended up with a circus for a Parliament. Perhaps it is just a sign of the times.... :-(
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john t peterson
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Re: Posts disappearing & why a pay area?

Post by john t peterson »

I can explain the election of President Trumpelthinskin in two words: We're stupid.

J Peterson
Dumbstruck in the USofA
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