Hi. As I haven't been around lately due to work pressures I missed the announcement as to why Avsim is limiting guest access to some forums and then eventually all forums.I'm just curious , what is the reasoning behind limiting guest access? Is it to reduce server load?I have done a search to see if there is a thread explaining why the change but I haven't found one. If there is a thread somewhere else then please point that out.In the past I normally don't log in unless I want to post, especially if I am reading the forums whilst mobile. However, I am sure there is a good reason for the change.Please lock this thread after answering if you don't see a need for it to be open.Thanks in advance, Martin

The change was to dedicate server resources to our registered members. We're glad to have you with us.

That makes sense and is a great reason. Thanks for the quick response .

You're welcome!

You're welcome!

Chase, I have one more question: Does the limited access also mean that the avsim forums will no longer be indexed by google?

Short answer: No - it will still index.Long Answer: Google identifies itself to sites it indexes, and ours is no exception. When the forum senses Google is "coming on board" we allow it full member access to be able to index accordingly.

Thanks for the answer. I was a little worried since I primarily use google when researching sim-related issues and I usually end up here.

Short answer: No - it will still index.Long Answer: Google identifies itself to sites it indexes, and ours is no exception. When the forum senses Google is "coming on board" we allow it full member access to be able to index accordingly.

In more devilish times, I could sort of piggyback with Google to access members only sites, usually warez places, which I would then happily report. Bit harder to do now, and not worth it since even sites that say they hate piracy don't seem interested in the information. Being a kid was fun!! (especially a nosy, techy kid)

Well they can piggyback till they're blue in the face -- all they'll find are forum pages and content, lol.

Well, I greatly appreciate being a member of Avsim, but I have to say I liked things the way they were. I come here many times, daily - mostly to read - and fail to see why a login is needed. And yes, google still indexes, but you need to login in to view any results from Avsim, even 5 or 6 year old topics where one would never make a post. That makes it cumbersome when you're simply trying to fix a flightsim issue.Again, I fail to see the need to limit access to guests, JMHO.

I'm not really sure of the logic of this.I just logged off AVSIM because I thought I'd like to see what was hidden and what wasn'tTurns out the FSX, FS9 and Flight forums all appear as "Protected" and any visitor to the site can't access these forums. They aren't hidden so visitors know they exist but visitors can't read anything in them.A few days ago if you did a google search for "MS Flight forum" the first link to appear would be a direct link to the avsim MS flight forum which would no doubt have sent a bit of traffic AVSIM's way.Do a google search now and AVSIM is down to number 5 and the link is to the main forum page rather than to the flight forum.The current No 1 for a google search for "MS Flight forum" is flyawaysimulations page with a grand total of 37 topics about flight (compared to 2,285 in the AVSIM flight forum).If any new visitor did happen to click on the AVSIM link and wanted to see the MS Flight forum they would find it was protected. Would they really sign up just to read the flight forum?Personally, if I was a visitor looking for a forum about MS Flight I would go straight back to google and click on one of the other links to look for a forum that was able to be read.This may work for those people who currently just lurk around the forums, they may sign up to be new members. But for anyone else who's never been to AVSIM before (ie those mythical hordes that MS Flight is supposed to be attracting to the hobby) it would be a real turn off.Right now there are 212 members and 271 guests reading the AVSIM forums.

This may work for those people who currently just lurk around the forums, they may sign up to be new members.

You might be onto something there, Anthony.

Personally, if I was a visitor looking for a forum about MS Flight I would go straight back to google and click on one of the other links to look for a forum that was able to be read.

Same thinking here. If it was for the supportive and informative character alone, reading a forum does the trick and I'm happy that I don't have to sign up in every big or small forum system to just do it.If it was about devoting more resources to members, one would have to ask why some Avsim forums are protected and others are not. So I guess the main drive is about pushing the member count a bit. Can't blame the guys for trying.

I just saw that some sections reverted back to be readable without logging in. Nice and welcome change!