That may be true, but it is still pretty funny to see 'the founders' of MP being so critical of the FT structure that THEY CREATED. When Randy ran this place moderators could DO NO WRONG. Now they are ALL WRONG.

But everyone in that thread seems to 'get it' (whether they realize it or not):

MP is a little club. Kind of like Kiwanas. They play games, get together, and take great pride in doing fundraisers and 'good works.' But they are not very useful for the points and miles game.

FT, otoh, is a library. As such there are rules and some harsh librarians shushing people. But at the end of the day it's a damn useful tool where you can learn a hell of a lot and have your questions answered in about 2 minutes.

Clubs are more fun, and folks have a sense of pride and ownership of it. You can see that sense of pride, ownership and defensiveness in that thread. And that depth of loyalty is the one big thing that MP has going for it. Their members will buy just about anything they sell (well, Wall&Main may have been a bridge too far even for the MP members...and the *MEGADO is apparently reaching saturation point). That also means MP will never be as 'big' as FT. And it means they have to do things like the FTEF events and the add-on premium memberships to keep their members engaged and interested, and the business making money. Just like a club has to do fundraisers and spaghetti dinners and offer membership benefits beyond just what they can find in the forum itself. It's smart because it plays to the MP's strength: relatively few members with relatively deep loyalty.

Libraries, otoh, are far more useful but don't engender much love. Library users are not likely to go to bat for them. Their users use them . They don't love them (unless they are library/FT nerds like me ).

There is a place for both, of course. But the notion that MP could ever 'compete' with FT is silly. The points and miles club doesn't compete with the points and miles library any more than the Kiwanas compete with public libraries.