musicales - 12:32 am on Aug 23, 2002 (gmt 0)

I'm going to say two contradictory points:

1) I don't see any problem with ads. You've got an audience that advertisers are screaming out for. Everyone on the forum has money to spend on technology related products. There's no conflict of interest, you just tell advertisers they cannot expect any influence at all over the content of the forum.

2) Whatever you do, don't change the layout of the forum too much - it's one of the best forum layouts I've seen and what made me read it in the first place. I see other forums which may have great content, but ouch my eyes start hurting and I can't afford that. I spen too much time staring at the screen anyway. Tastefully laid out, banners don't have to hurt too much - see how I integrate 468x60 in my profile site.

I don't have a problem with C)

Finally, I think a small sub would be OK - $10 a year or so but I wouldn't pay more, and bear in mind the old saying, that 90% of the people who say they would pay here - WON'T!