June 24, 2005
ATTN: B.Y.O.N.D. Development Team
Dear B.Y.O.N.D. Development Team,
I have noticed that you have recently started a special type of membership service for B.Y.O.N.D.
Recently? It was started awhile ago…
Other things I have noticed is that you are taking away the pager service, and making pay for it.
They aren't "making" you pay for it.
You’re also giving new privileges to the members. Why?
Because they are supporting BYOND, and helping to keep it running.
I thought that B.Y.O.N.D. was supposed to be a free service for all. You have changed that recently.
BYOND is still very much free nothing has changed there.
You have taken our dreams. Build Your Own Net Dream.
You have dreams of talking to strangers on a slow IM devise?
That’s what B.Y.O.N.D. stands for, isn’t it?
Yes it does stand for Build Your Own Net Dream. Not page, spam, and waste bandwidth.
Why has this changed?
Nothing has changed. You just are required to show support, and help BYOND run if you want to use something. Stop complaining use AIM, or something it's free, and faster.
You have suspended our privileges.
Exactly, the pager is a privilege not a right!
You’re making us pay your expenses.
Heh, you think that having people spam the pager, and waste BYOND bandwidth should be there expense?
Of course, we want B.Y.O.N.D. to survive,
Then stop trying to bring it down.
but we don’t want to pay for the service that was once supposed to be, and always be free.
Then don't pay.
Soon, we may no longer interact using the pager.
No the people who don't support BYOND won't be using it.
It’s like taking from the poor, and giving to the rich.
Not quite Dan, and Tom aren't rich. They are just regular people with regular jobs.
I’m not saying that I’m poor. I can afford to buy the membership.
Then stop complaining that you're losing the pager, and pay for it.
I would rather stand on the side of the people who prefer that B.Y.O.N.D. stay the way that it was supposed to be in the first place.
Most of the people who want it to stay the same haven't even been on BYOND that long, and they haven't contributed a thing to it, or helped it in anyway.
It’s not right, taking away what we had before.
It is right they didn't give you the pager they let you borrow it.
What you can do is to let us have our pager rights.
As I said, and you even said before the pager is a privilege not a right.
If you take it away, you are taking away our freedom of speech.
Muhaha. They are taking your freedom of speech how? If they take the pager you can never talk again?
We don’t want to have to join games to talk to other people. The host wouldn’t like it. The players wouldn’t like it. The developer wouldn’t like it. I know for sure, that I wouldn’t like someone joining my game just to talk about the video game they bought at Best Buy.
Again, AIM!
So please. The least you can do to help my cause is at least keep the pager going for everybody. What you’re doing is dividing B.Y.O.N.D. into two parts.
NO! What people like you are doing is dividing BYOND!
I want to talk to people. I don’t want to join a game and talk to other people.
You want to talk to people, but not other people?
So, I put the choice on you. Do you want to go ahead with your plan and take away our freedom of speech using the pager, or do you want to change your plans, and let us talk, and keep B.Y.O.N.D. in one piece. It’s your turn.
You are pathetic having a payment method for an IM devise is not taking away freedom of speech. Me finding out were you live, and ripping the voice from your very soul is taking away your freedom of speech. Oh, or putting you in Cuba, or another country where if you talk about something they don’t like you die. It's YOUR turn!
I think that a pager lib would be a good idea. A lightweight system. People's locations get sent to a central world run by a dedicated host, then people can page eachother getting the page's destination sorted at the central server. Or something. It might be a little laggy.