New Contest Rules !

[R.A.T.]

Didn't read all the replies but there's the bottom line for me: Spark has been very generous to us and others on this forum. He has invested a shitload of time, effort and money to make this the best knife (and other subject) forum in the world. Personally, I want to see this forum benefit from our usage of it, so I 100 percent support the new rule format.

 

[R.A.T.]

Let me also add, that whether any free stuff is given away or not, we still welcome everyone here. Not to mention, just simply being a basic member gets you access to a load of good information. So, we will continue to give stuff away and will probably even ramp it up a bit, and for those who choose not to upgrade, we are still very much happy having you on the forums.

Matter of fact, I just got in the HEST Dangerous Places mugs with the HEST art and the Survival Schhol art on it. So, if the mods want to have a contest we will put a couple of these up as new prizes ASAP to two lucky winners..

 

[Joe Fowler]

I'm ready for another contest where we have to go outside and do something.

That shelter contest was the cat's pajamas. :thumbup:

 

[gdeno]

Funny how things work out unexpectedly. While I was making my sob story about not being able to pay the $25 for gold membership I forgot to check my emails and bank account and found that the back pay I wasnt supposed to get finally got approved. So now I can afford it and I am now a gold member, so thanks anyway for the offer JV3 but I'll get this one. Okay my cry session is over, let the forum continue and bring on the contests.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

I've been a payin' member for a while, I'm behind whatever Kevin decides.

My question is, I've had a few giveaways here myself so are these rules across the board involving anyone who has a giveaway or is it forum specific to ESEE Knives?

 

[David M]

I was a gold member and It expired I guess. I tried to renew but it does not want my money so I will do without contests..Maybe I will try another time if it gets easier to give them my money.

 

[Redeye]

I don't understand how people can drop 100's if not 1000's of dollars on blades and complain about a lousy $25.00 a year to support a website.

I'm not one of those complaining, but I can understand some of the complaints. $25 is a lot of money to some people, especially outside the US. If I'm honest, I could have run with $10 but I just don't have $25 to spend on this.

And yes, I do spend hundreds of dollars a year on ESEE products, but that doesn't mean I'm rich - I struggle for every penny to buy this stuff, and it's hard for me to earn good money as I'm disabled now and I can't walk well. Alongside my regular job I delivered leaflets all last Christmas (sliding around in the snow on my freaking walking stick!) to earn the money for my RC-4, no shit. I had to wash dishes in a restaurant where I was once a regular customer to earn the money for an Izula, and it was humiliating but the only way I could afford one.

I do all this because in my position I can't afford NOT to buy ESEE. Money is so tight I need to know the things I buy won't let me down, and I trust ESEE more than any other knife company. I just joined BF because of ESEE and started posting here, and I was looking forward to posting more, joining the RP and entering the comps. But if being a gold member means the choice between saving up for my HEST, eating food, and paying $25 to BF, then I'm afraid the HEST wins, the food comes second and there isn't any left for BF

Sorry for the long post, but the point is although I may have a few nice ESEEs, it doesn't mean I have money. After all, ESEE knives will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no ESEE knives, right?

Enjoy the comps, I'm going to pretend they don't exist from now on.
Comps? What comps?

 

[JV3]

Funny how things work out unexpectedly. While I was making my sob story about not being able to pay the $25 for gold membership I forgot to check my emails and bank account and found that the back pay I wasnt supposed to get finally got approved. So now I can afford it and I am now a gold member, so thanks anyway for the offer JV3 but I'll get this one. Okay my cry session is over, let the forum continue and bring on the contests.

nice. time to celebrate - go get a junglas

I was a gold member and It expired I guess. I tried to renew but it does not want my money so I will do without contests..Maybe I will try another time if it gets easier to give them my money.

im spark or post in the support forum: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=679

 

[R.A.T.]

I'm not even sure why this thread even exists. We still appreciate everyone here, whether they buy an ESEE knife or whether they get a membership. We don't treat "non-ESEE" folks any different than we treat anyone else when it comes to the discussion in this forum. All participation here is welcomed, it's just that contests will now require a Gold Membership. No big deal.

 

[Switchblade61]

So, does this mean from now on, a non Gold Member will not be able to compete in a (ie.) shelter building, friction fire or photo contest, etc...?
I can see the point in a random contest...

 

[fixer]

wow... i wouldn't have expected someone to have NINE accounts just to try and win contests, but i can't say it surprises me.

i'll have to upgrade to gold soon. unfortunately i'm a bit behind the curve on other things so i can't do it right now, but soon.

 

[Redeye]

All participation here is welcomed, it's just that contests will now require a Gold Membership. No big deal.

Let me explain why it's a big deal. I'm an average guy that's bought your products, and I liked them so much I've made the effort to join your forum.

Now that I'm here, there's all this cool stuff being given away but I'm told I can't have a chance of winning any of it unless I pay $25 to a third party. I'm a member of a few forums, and none of them are asking me to pay anywhere near this much to get the full experience. In fact, all the forums I go to that are based around manufacturers or individual companies are free. Users 'pay' by buying the products (and being good forum contributors) and the companies appreciate the support.

I've now read the other thread on this, and my overall impression is that R.A.T. care more about making money for BF than they do about individual customers like me. I came here to support you and help spread the word about these knives, but I wish I never had because now I don't feel so good about my ESEE purchases. I mean, do you really expect me to buy more of these knives to fund giveaways that I'm not allowed to enter?

I'm disappointed in R.A.T., and the real sad aspect to this is that joining up has made me think worse of my favourite knives. There, I may have burned my bridges, but at least I've told the truth as I see it.

 

[luckykitty]

@RedEye
RAT and we are using the facilities a third party pays and works for.
Having their own website, they most likely know the amount of work just the technical stuff is, let alone having to deal with people having strange requests, running berserk, just complaining generally and so on.

The amount of time and sweat and taking abuse can't really be paid - been there, done some of it - and it wasn't even a large forum.
Yeah, most likely the non-paying people make up for most of the trouble, but they also show how little they appreciate his work.
Unfortunately appreciation alone won't by bread or server bandwidth, so yes, RAT asks you to pay a third party (which they also pay by the way), but they do it out of appreciation of the services, and they also want others that appreciate the service to pay a share.

And even if I don't get to go gold soon, I'll do some of the fun contests. Perhaps the mods could say, if they'd prefer that to go in a different thread, or if we can just post in the normal contest thread with a note of "just for the heck of it" ...

 

[Monsieur]

Just upgraded, this forum is great they deserve our support

 

[Monsieur]

But if being a gold member means the choice between saving up for my HEST, eating food, and paying $25 to BF, then I'm afraid the HEST wins, the food comes second and there isn't any left for BF

Redeye () I can understand your frustration over that. But I will make you a deal. If you decide to upgrade to a Gold Membership I will deduct the $25 dollars from your H.E.S.T. order. I think that by now you know that I am a man of my word. Don't know if this would change your mind but at least you got nothing to lose here and even more to win.

NB: this offer is for Redeye, MODS if this is deemed unappropriate feel free to delete or edit

 

[R.A.T.]

Redeye () I can understand your frustration over that. But I will make you a deal. If you decide to upgrade to a Gold Membership I will deduct the $25 dollars from your H.E.S.T. order. I think that by now you know that I am a man of my word. Don't know if this would change your mind but at least you got nothing to lose here and even more to win.

NB: this offer is for Redeye, MODS if this is deemed unappropriate feel free to delete or edit

What a great offer! And that's the cool thing about our most of our large dealers - they care as much about their customers as we do.

I would like to address Redeye direct though: Spark has been giving us "free advertisment" (for lack of a better word) ever since we started this business. He has NEVER asked for anything in return, even though we pay other mediums for advertising.

You haven't burned a bridge with us because we appreciate you as a customer and we respect your opinion. That, in itself, is what this forum is all about: we accept the negative thoughts about our company policies and product, in a public format, as well as we accept the positive. As long as we're here, we will always do that.

We are under no obligation to give anything away for free, but since we are giving stuff away, we want to fashion it in a way to help out this forum and support the expenses of this forum. The bottom line with any business (and whether we accept it or not BFs is a business) is it has to make money to survive. Server costs for a forum this size is pretty high, not to mention time and effort that goes into contsantly upgrading and making it a great experience. Sure, we could just send a check to Spark to help out on the forum expenses but that's pretty impersonal, especially with the way this forum works. We want to see BFs continue to do well and since we use this forum to communciate with our customers, launch new product, etc. then trying to help this forum while offering some free stuff to members who also use this forum for information and communication makes sense to us.

No one is under any obligation to become a Gold member. And those who don't will always be part of the "ESEE Family" Furthermore, we give away a LOT of product outside of Bladeforums to various organizations to help with their costs. Numerous wounded veterans associations, military charities, law enforcment charities, etc. We also give away a lot of product at various trade shows (such as Blade) and they never require anything of anyone except being there.

This whole thing to us is about a philosophy on how to do business. The offer from Monsieur is a prime example of that. In other words, we are doing our best to create a "family" that cares about the individual end user as much as it does about the industry as a whole. Dealers and distributors who don't care about their custoemrs and the integrity of the industry don't stay dealers and distributors of our product for too long. So, making money is secondary to building a an honest business that cares about it's customers, end users and those who support this industry. Bladeforums has probably brought more people into the knife and self-sufficieny world than any other medium, while continuing to offer all of this free to anyone who simply wants to log on. We appreciate that.

 

[5.56]

I've now read the other thread on this, and my overall impression is that R.A.T. care more about making money for BF than they do about individual customers like me.

And you would be wrong.

My overall impression is that RAT implemented the new rule in order to prevent dishonest people from ruining their giveaways. The new rule was never even a option until someone got caught cheating with multiple accounts.

 

[gundude73]

Let me explain why it's a big deal. I'm an average guy that's bought your products, and I liked them so much I've made the effort to join your forum.

Now that I'm here, there's all this cool stuff being given away but I'm told I can't have a chance of winning any of it unless I pay $25 to a third party. I'm a member of a few forums, and none of them are asking me to pay anywhere near this much to get the full experience. In fact, all the forums I go to that are based around manufacturers or individual companies are free. Users 'pay' by buying the products (and being good forum contributors) and the companies appreciate the support.

I've now read the other thread on this, and my overall impression is that R.A.T. care more about making money for BF than they do about individual customers like me. I came here to support you and help spread the word about these knives, but I wish I never had because now I don't feel so good about my ESEE purchases. I mean, do you really expect me to buy more of these knives to fund giveaways that I'm not allowed to enter?

I'm disappointed in R.A.T., and the real sad aspect to this is that joining up has made me think worse of my favourite knives. There, I may have burned my bridges, but at least I've told the truth as I see it.

what threads are reading that make you think ESEE is out to make money?
like others have said the contests are for fun, not the main reason why we are here.

 

[otis williams]

nobody on bladeforums gives away as much stuff as ESEE,(except maybe busse) that's cool, they're not obliged to. ESEE gives away stuff constantly, and now people act like they're entitled to it.

thats what ruined the giveaways, and now, in an effort to bring 'em back they're taking heat for basically the only measure they can take to ensure fairness... rc3mil/nub/whats-his-name gets to be right. only gold members and above can win the contests now.

i'm upgrading in a week, not so i can enter the contests, but because my basic membership is almost up, and i want to support this site.

 

[Leaf Fan]

What a great offer! And that's the cool thing about our most of our large dealers - they care as much about their customers as we do.

I would like to address Redeye direct though: Spark has been giving us "free advertisment" (for lack of a better word) ever since we started this business. He has NEVER asked for anything in return, even though we pay other mediums for advertising.

You haven't burned a bridge with us because we appreciate you as a customer and we respect your opinion. That, in itself, is what this forum is all about: we accept the negative thoughts about our company policies and product, in a public format, as well as we accept the positive. As long as we're here, we will always do that.

We are under no obligation to give anything away for free, but since we are giving stuff away, we want to fashion it in a way to help out this forum and support the expenses of this forum. The bottom line with any business (and whether we accept it or not BFs is a business) is it has to make money to survive. Server costs for a forum this size is pretty high, not to mention time and effort that goes into contsantly upgrading and making it a great experience. Sure, we could just send a check to Spark to help out on the forum expenses but that's pretty impersonal, especially with the way this forum works. We want to see BFs continue to do well and since we use this forum to communciate with our customers, launch new product, etc. then trying to help this forum while offering some free stuff to members who also use this forum for information and communication makes sense to us.

No one is under any obligation to become a Gold member. And those who don't will always be part of the "ESEE Family" Furthermore, we give away a LOT of product outside of Bladeforums to various organizations to help with their costs. Numerous wounded veterans associations, military charities, law enforcment charities, etc. We also give away a lot of product at various trade shows (such as Blade) and they never require anything of anyone except being there.

This whole thing to us is about a philosophy on how to do business. The offer from Monsieur is a prime example of that. In other words, we are doing our best to create a "family" that cares about the individual end user as much as it does about the industry as a whole. Dealers and distributors who don't care about their custoemrs and the integrity of the industry don't stay dealers and distributors of our product for too long. So, making money is secondary to building a an honest business that cares about it's customers, end users and those who support this industry. Bladeforums has probably brought more people into the knife and self-sufficieny world than any other medium, while continuing to offer all of this free to anyone who simply wants to log on. We appreciate that.

... wow, now I feel bad that I can participate for ONLY $25.

Again - it's a win/win/win situation and if I have to sacrifice coffee [or whatever else you spend on as an individual] for a month to have a BF gold membership for a year - easy choice to make. ... and Monsieur's offer is awesome. I thought it would only be a matter of time before someone made an offer like that - that's the great thing about this "family" and I'm constantly amazed that a bunch of (generally) strangers, would help each other like this.