[Ansteorra] Pay-2-play, Pay-2-fight, Pay-2-whatever...

[Dragonetti]

Unto all Ansteorrans do I, Baron Armand Dragonetti, send warm greetings and
a humble request for assistance.

I would like to share a brief excerpt from the Grand Council regarding its
current task assigned from the Board of Directors:

> The Board of Directors would like the Grand Council to 
> consider the topic
> of _*membership dues with respect to "pay to play", "pay to 
> participate",
> "pay to fight", or "pay to...?"*_
> 
> We would like the Council to study this issue, and to give us 
> an idea of
> the potential problems and pitfalls, the positives and what 
> the council
> perceives as the general feeling of the Society toward such a model.
> 
> The Directors would like the Council to consider to possibilities of a
> tiered membership format, providing potential notions of how a tiered
> format might work and how new members might be handled under such a
> system.

As Ansteorra's appointed representative, I would prefer to objectively
convey the opinions of the kingdom in general, rather than solely my own
personal convictions, therefore I seek *your* opinions and commentary. 

Discussions of this type are often esoteric or tedious and conducted
"behind-the-scenes", so as not to overshadow or diminish the fun aspects of
our game. However, once a decision is rendered, and especially if a change
is involved, there are some who will ascribe sinister intent to the
"secrecy" and tend to feel disenfranchised or marginalized by not being part
of the process. This is a chance to be part of the process, have your voice
heard and witness an effort to be open and up front. 

However, I would prefer our list not get bogged down by this topic, which
has great potential to elicit strong emotions, distrust and deep seated
convictions. Therefore I would prefer for responses to be sent to me
directly at dragonetti at generich.com rather than the open list. You may also
wish to follow the Grand Council's discussions by subscribing at:
http://lists.sca.org/listinfo/list/

While anyone can subscribe and follow along, currently only GC members may
post directly to the discussion. However, members will forward relevant
messages on behalf of non-members. In addition to myself, other Grand
Council members from Ansteorra include Mistress Katrionna Heather
MacLochlainn, Baron Niklas Vasilevich and Lady Simone Marruin Ui'Dunlaingh.
(Their email addresses are available from the GC Roster found at:
http://grandcouncil.sca.org/gcroster.php )

BE ADVISED: To my knowledge, nothing is "in-the-works" already. This is not
a zero-sum proposition. The results could be anything from "no change at
all" to "eliminating the NMS in favor of pay-to-fight", "eliminate ALL
memberships in favor of pay-to-do anything" or any number of variations.
(Btw, I just made those up.)

So in the interest of playing Devil's Advocate, what virtues/positives of a
"pay-to-whatever" business model can you imagine? What are the virtues of a
tiered membership format and how might one work?

Thanks for your assistance! 

(And again, as a courtesy to those not interested, please send me your
feedback privately at: dragonetti at generich.com)

In the service of kingdom and crown, I remain,
Baron Armand Dragonetti
Grand Councilor
Appointed by the Crown of Ansteorra