What does NSXPrime.com membership mean to me?

[RYU]

nsxprime.com is in danger of going away. I see the writing on the wall. Lud in all his years (decades?) of effort has understandably moved on. Yet, I believe him or a small owner group is still keeping this site alive thru financial life support. I think most do not understand the costs of keeping such a site alive. Even Bob has stepped down!

This forum is literally one of the richest content for car related information - not just NSX specific available on the internet. Google crawls it and displays it in searches constantly, which increases server demand and bandwidth and, therefore cost $$$. I haven't looked up the traffic stats and I'm sure that has diminished over the years.

With the prospect of this site going away I've had to consider what sacrifice i'd be willing to endure to keep the site alive. I might have to reach into my pocket even more than I have to contribute, or endure more annoying ads.

I'd be willing to do that for the following reasons. I'm sure there are more i'm not recalling.

• nsxprime.com is the best warranty we can find. Acura dealers barely know how to support the car anymore, yet every problem I've encountered has been addressed on this forum in one shape or another if you're simply willing to dig through the threads. If you're an NSX owner I can't imagine what would happen to (yours and mine) troubleshooting efforts if this website went away. It's one of those things were you don't need it until you really need it.
• there are other web-based internet NSX forums which help like NSXcb.co.uk which is a great site but for various reasons I'm only there perhaps 10% or less of the time.
• this forum still, to this day, gathers some of the brightest minds in the car enthusiast community. Many of them aren't on Facebook or elsewhere.
• It's a great way to host my build progress and document changes, milestones, and problems.
• There's a critical mass of user engagement that still exists here which simply cannot be duplicated on other platforms. Not only is it engagement, but it's relevant and quality engagement. it's not fleeting like the Facebook groups. If the site was to go away I'm certain that magic sauce will be no more.
• I genuinely still have fun here

Isn't there more? Post your thoughts below...

How much is this worth to me? How much is it worth to you? I'm sure that's different for everyone and i'm sure many of you have left nsxprime.com for good to shift attention to Facebook, for example. I've personally significantly reduced my FB time in all aspects of my life. So far so good.

 

[nigel]

Nice input and i’m sure many of us long time user / viewers agree with you. I know I’d be more than lost without the help and information here.

Cheers
nigel

 

[docjohn]

Agree whole heartedly. As you succinctly pointed out never know how valuable something is until its taken away. I'm very willing to capitalize prime...

 

[liftnot]

Thx Regan for pointing this out. If you can reach out to Lud and summarize the cost of running this forum so all of us can be more informed, I for one am glad to contribute financially to keep Prime alive. Or ask Lud to comment directly to the thread.

 

[NSX_n00b]

For the sake of transparency we have been in contact with Lud and I am currently looking into bringing Prime into the "21st century" so to speak. I am gathering all of the website information from Lud (hosting, licenses, etc.) and researching what we will need capital wise to upgrade areas that have fallen behind and make sure Prime lasts at least the next 10 years. Once I know the cost of doing business I will happily let everyone know what that price is. NSXPrime will always be a FREE resource for our community but we may have to find creative ways to raise the money to ensure our treasured resource doesn't go extinct.

 

[Honcho]

Thank you Regan for this post! For all of the long-time members (and new members!) reading this post, the #1 thing you can do to help Prime stay alive is contribute to the forum. You can do that here:

http://nsxprime.com/members/member_central.htm

100% of the money goes directly to paying for the server and other hosting costs. The more people who contribute, the less ads we have to see. We're working on making this link more prominent on the forum page. I for one had no idea it was still live after contributing many years ago. I'll be updating my contribution today.

**EDIT** we've also reached out to several members to join the site as moderators. One way to get more traffic here is to have knowledgeable, helpful mods who will respond quickly to member questions/posts and/or direct them to the right thread. If you'd like to help out NSX Prime as a mod, PM me or e-mail me at ppp5150 ( a t ) hotmail.com

 

[warrenw]

Actually, it is not free, there is an expectation that users donate to the NSXPRIME cause: http://www.nsxprime.com/members/member_central.htm

 

[NSX_n00b]

Actually, it is not free, there is an expectation that users donate to the NSXPRIME cause: http://www.nsxprime.com/members/member_central.htm

While there is the hope that if you find the resource useful you will donate there is no required fee in order to register an account and contribute to the forum, that is what I meant by, "...always be FREE..."

We will never REQUIRE someone to pay to be a member nor will we institute paywalls.

 

[docjohn]

I hope you will institute "sugar walls" by Sheena Easton as our background musaq.....

 

[goldNSX]

After 16 years of nearly daily visiting the best forum out there it would be a hard smash in the face if it went away but I'm pretty sure that won't happen (the smash in the face actually will happen but for other reasons).
Back in 2004 the forum was very active. Internet was young, slow, 56k warnings, a lot of DIY write-ups. Since around 10 years it's gotten more quiet.

Reasons? Just guessing.
- people got older
- people have different priorities over time
- other plattforms like Facebook

The people and their contributions on the forum are the key here. Younger people might have different preferences and value other plattforms higher than 'just' a forum. I'm old-school but I also went from reading the newspaper holding in my hands to reading it online. I'm no marketing guy. So actually I don't know how to revive this forum to its early years.

 

[RYU]

After 16 years of nearly daily visiting the best forum out there it would be a hard smash in the face if it went away but I'm pretty sure that won't happen (the smash in the face actually will happen but for other reasons).
Back in 2004 the forum was very active. Internet was young, slow, 56k warnings, a lot of DIY write-ups. Since around 10 years it's gotten more quiet.

Reasons? Just guessing.
- people got older
- people have different priorities over time
- other plattforms like Facebook

The people and their contributions on the forum are the key here. Younger people might have different preferences and value other plattforms higher than 'just' a forum. I'm old-school but I also went from reading the newspaper holding in my hands to reading it online. I'm no marketing guy. So actually I don't know how to revive this forum to its early years.

That's a good point and it's why I wonder if Prime's primary value these days is primarily as a repository for owners and owners only. Of course, there are all other aspects we love about prime, but like you said, the younger generation likely prefer a different platform all together.

At the end of the day, i'll support whatever initiative keeps prime onilne. However, I have mixed feelings about providing prime free for the world of non-owners and us subsidizing the cost of serving those pages to the entire planet.

 

[NSX_n00b]

However, I have mixed feelings about providing prime free for the world of non-owners and us subsidizing the cost of serving those pages to the entire planet.

It's tough because I 100% see your point of view but at the same time I need to play devil's advocate for a moment. If you look at my profile you'll see that I became a member in January 2018. That's when I started seriously hunting for my NSX. The information I found here was priceless in the 5 months it took me to find "the one". I was able to find tons of information about cars I was looking at, it helped steer me away from a couple of cars, and it even allowed me to reach out to owners in other regions to go look over cars for me. None of that would have been possible if I had been prevented from finding the information because I wasn't an owner yet and I truly believe I would have made a purchase I would have regretted.

Maybe we can take a look at making the whole forum only open to registered members and then have a secondary approval process to validate ownership and keep certain forums locked to only owners? Food for thought.

 

[TigerNSX]

Thank you for initiating this, [MENTION=20915]RYU[/MENTION]. Super valuable. Couldn't agree more.
Would love to help in any way I can to bring back NSXPRIME to its glory. Aside from monetary contributions (which I do think is important to fund necessary operating requirements), one thing I pledge as a member is to keep posting new threads or responding to threads. I believe NSXPRIME's content is the most valuable currency in terms of engaging with and attracting members.

 

[BBVNSX]

I've been here for years and years... I even started years before buying my NSX (2005) and registering (2006)... more reading, than posting... but I'm here every single day!
The information held in here is priceless and is a great help for owners, future owners, or to someone just dreaming buying an NSX, like I use to be back in the end of 90's while I was studying in college and had clear to myself that I would follow that dream, and make it happen!
I'm ready to help NSXPRIME the best I can!

 

[goldNSX]

That's a good point and it's why I wonder if Prime's primary value these days is primarily as a repository for owners and owners only. Of course, there are all other aspects we love about prime, but like you said, the younger generation likely prefer a different platform all together.

At the end of the day, i'll support whatever initiative keeps prime onilne. However, I have mixed feelings about providing prime free for the world of non-owners and us subsidizing the cost of serving those pages to the entire planet.

I turned 50 this year. I was late at smartphone and don't like FB but do like whatsapp since a few months for example. I'm the kind of guy who does very few things but very intense then. We had quite a few people of this kind on prime til +-2010 (at least it seemed).

What is different with younger people? I think they don't focus on one single topic for an extended time but much more on several topics simultaniously. Classic chess player versus simultanious chess player. True or false?

Depending on the total cost of running the forum I don't have a problem if this forum is free for new members. Any forum needs new owners, so the entry barrier should be as low as possible. Reminding the readers to contribute to this site frequently should be intended. I don't recall when I was reminded for a little contribution and so I forgot to pay (but will catch up... promissed ).

One note: I never was lucky about moving the FAQ to wiki. The FAQ was old-fashioned but it's info in such a compressed form was gold back then. I've lost the interest in both now.

 

[RYU]

It's tough because I 100% see your point of view but at the same time I need to play devil's advocate for a moment. If you look at my profile you'll see that I became a member in January 2018. That's when I started seriously hunting for my NSX. The information I found here was priceless in the 5 months it took me to find "the one". I was able to find tons of information about cars I was looking at, it helped steer me away from a couple of cars, and it even allowed me to reach out to owners in other regions to go look over cars for me. None of that would have been possible if I had been prevented from finding the information because I wasn't an owner yet and I truly believe I would have made a purchase I would have regretted.

Maybe we can take a look at making the whole forum only open to registered members and then have a secondary approval process to validate ownership and keep certain forums locked to only owners? Food for thought.

Valid point for sure. I have not formed a strong stance either way TBH so I'm just using this opportunity to discuss. I also see your situation (and many like yours) a different way. You effectively got all that information (which resulted in an awesome car!) for free but on the back of folks who financially support the upkeep of this website. I also see that w/o "new blood" then we're really on life support in more ways than one. No real easy solution.

I believe the multi-tier membership was tried and it didn't work IIRC. Still a good conversation to have though. New ideas will be good.

My viewpoint skews toward nsxprime.com as a support system for my NSX ownership. I know many do not see it my way (especially newer owners). For that i'm willing to pay just as I would be willing to pay for a car's warranty. However, i'm not so willing to pay as much if that's used for the consumption of others. At the end of the day, it really depends how much it is LOL. This could be a moot point if we're able to put together a plan composed of various items which includes Ad revenue and what not.

Appreciate everyone's thoughts on this. It's a problem for us all who enjoy this forum.

 

[NSX_n00b]

I turned 50 this year. I was late at smartphone and don't like FB but do like whatsapp since a few months for example. I'm the kind of guy who does very few things but very intense then. We had quite a few people of this kind on prime til +-2010 (at least it seemed).

What is different with younger people? I think they don't focus on one single topic for an extended time but much more on several topics simultaniously. Classic chess player versus simultanious chess player. True or false?

Depending on the total cost of running the forum I don't have a problem if this forum is free for new members. Any forum needs new owners, so the entry barrier should be as low as possible. Reminding the readers to contribute to this site frequently should be intended. I don't recall when I was reminded for a little contribution and so I forgot to pay (but will catch up... promissed ).

One note: I never was lucky about moving the FAQ to wiki. The FAQ was old-fashioned but it's info in such a compressed form was gold back then. I've lost the interest in both now.

As for what is different I think it's that by in large the younger ownership demographic has for many years been tied to their phones for many facets of life so it's easier for them to gravitate to the likes of FB and what not. I respond to a lot of posts in a few of the NSX FB groups and even cross post my FS items. But the indepth questions/answers and my build I feel are much better served by the forum but I think for me that is because I found the forum MONTHS before the FB groups and as I mentioned above the forum was pivotal for my ownership which is why I try to contribute on here so much as a way to give back and continue to breathe new life into Prime.

As for the FAQ/Wiki, the wiki will be dead soon and it's content as well as the FAQ will migrate back to the main page of NSXPrime.

Valid point for sure. I have not formed a strong stance either way TBH so I'm just using this opportunity to discuss. I also see your situation (and many like yours) a different way. You effectively got all that information (which resulted in an awesome car!) for free but on the back of folks who financially support the upkeep of this website. I also see that w/o "new blood" then we're really on life support in more ways than one. No real easy solution.

I believe the multi-tier membership was tried and it didn't work IIRC. Still a good conversation to have though. New ideas will be good.

My viewpoint skews toward nsxprime.com as a support system for my NSX ownership. I know many do not see it my way (especially newer owners). For that i'm willing to pay just as I would be willing to pay for a car's warranty. However, i'm not so willing to pay as much if that's used for the consumption of others. At the end of the day, it really depends how much it is LOL. This could be a moot point if we're able to put together a plan composed of various items which includes Ad revenue and what not.

Appreciate everyone's thoughts on this. It's a problem for us all who enjoy this forum.

It's definitely a tough problem to solve, like I said I can see it both ways. I'm all ears for whoever wants to give their two cents as well. We can't start to make things better if we don't get the feedback of the collective.

 

[YellowScorpion]

Just as an idea to generate revenue to sustain the forum, what if the forum had its own small product line? such as stickers and or clothing? I think more people are willing to give NSXPrime some of their hard earned money if they were getting something that can be produced for relatively low cost.

 

[Honcho]

Just as an idea to generate revenue to sustain the forum, what if the forum had its own small product line? such as stickers and or clothing? I think more people are willing to give NSXPrime some of their hard earned money if they were getting something that can be produced for relatively low cost.

Good point! I'm working on a merch idea. At NSX meets/events, everyone geeks out over my NSX Prime clothing, so there has to be demand.

 

[RSO 34]

Good point! I'm working on a merch idea. At NSX meets/events, everyone geeks out over my NSX Prime clothing, so there has to be demand.

You cannot use the nsx name in any merch. Ask Lud about how I had to intervene and provide (free) legal services to Prime the last time that was attempted....

 

[Honcho]

You cannot use the nsx name in any merch. Ask Lud about how I had to intervene and provide (free) legal services to Prime the last time that was attempted....

Let's discuss off-line. I'd like to know more about that.

 

[docjohn]

there are creative nomenclatural ways to skirt copyrights...

 

[RSO 34]

there are creative nomenclatural ways to skirt copyrights...

That was tried and then the lawyers got involved.......

 

[I_M_Legend]

A similar thing happened over at m3forum.net which shut down. Someone set up an alternative site: nam3forum.com which all the active users quickly migrated too. They archived as much as they could from the old site and transferred the DIYs over. My understanding is the new site is sponsor free. Sponsors are not even allowed if I recall correctly. Admittedly I'm not up to date with the latest over there as I've been spending most of my time here so I'm not 100% sure how they managed to make it free to all and ad free. Bottom line, it's the users that make the forum great. As long as there are knowledgeable folks still around and willing to help out the newer folks the forum (no matter where it's hosted or what platform is used) will be great.

 

[DocL]

What I find intriguing is that people who admit that Prime is such a valuable asset haven’t donated even $10 to help offset costs to run the site. Just saying.