Why?

[Walter]

Supporting Members see more than regular members.

Not according to the FAQ:

Supporting Members receive a wide range of account extras that go above and beyond what regular Registered Users get.
You will no longer see most of our advertising campaigns on the sidebars or at the top and bottom of pages.
Your member name will appear in red in all of your posts, and in the "Who's Online" listing (just like how moderators are green and greeters are orange).
Your PM box will double in size, to 1000 messages maximum (all folders combined), and you'll have the ability to PM up to 20 members at once. You will also be able to use PM message receipts and tracking.
You will be granted access to a special “Supporting Members” only forum for discussions about the board or life in general.
You will be able to setup your own custom user title in your User CP to appear under your name (instead of New Member, Registered Member, Moderator, etc…)
A pop3 email account (yourname@scubaboard.com) including 25mb of space, 24x7 webmail access and pop3.

 

[Ted S]

Supporting members don't see more but they can access more areas.

In terms of the profile differances, that was done intentionally. People who want the classic skin have asked us to leave it alone as much as possible to keep it fast, clean and "pure". The full profile is anything but.

 

[Walter]

I don't remember asking not to receive information available to others. I just don't like the clutter on the side.

 

[Ted S]

Well I don't make the rules or write the templates anymore but when I did it was made very clear by many members that there was a desire for a plain, light weight template. The trade-offs of less ads and less clutter is less features. Unfortunately it isn't possible to please everyone at the same time and maintaining additional templates is a major task. You can always post a suggestion or shoot a PM to NetDoc.

 

[El Orans]

Supporting members don't see more but they can access more areas.

AFAIK, Supporting Members can see current activity when they look at a user's profile.

The FAQ needs to be updated with this information.

 

[Walter]

You can always post a suggestion.

I thought that's what I did.

 

[The Chairman]

Precisely Ted...

Users asked us to not screw with the "Classic" so we won't. If you want more info, than choose the default skin. You will definitely get more info. Of course, I could always refund your subscription fees!

 

[Damselfish]

I think I've asked about this before too - there's a difference between clutter and basic info. I think some of the missing info was added to classic then disappeared again on an upgrade at some point? There was also a problem where some profile things could not even be set in classic at all, don't know the state of those now. (Feels like you have to have to "pay" for the additional info by seeing more ads and clutter.

I actually don't care anymore, but at the time I was on a Mac and most of the skins were ignored in most browsers so there was no choice about it.

 

[The Chairman]

We try to keep ads simple and not obtrusive. They help to support our habit. Servers cost a lot and ScubaBoard has become my full time job. Many of those who host forums such as these in other fields are amazed that we allow you this level of control without paying for it.

As it is, the Classic will remain Classic... sort of like the old "Coke" formula. We won't add to it and we won't take away from it. When we do the latter we run the risk of having an older machine not be able to run it where it did fine before. If you have a modern PC, then I would suggest to use the fuller, more robust skin.

 

[Damselfish]

I would call my Mac a modern PC ...