The Local Hobby Scene - perpetual thread

[laserface]

Originally Posted by blkstocking

LF, nice summary and I think that is a big part of it. Its why the middleman was always important. Unfortunately, we had some unprofessional middlemen in town. Lets not undervalue that. Also, someone made a really accurate post about the change in extra curriculars that also impacted the scene. Add them all together and you have it.

I can't argue with any of the above - and for sure, some of the "middlemen" were not good for the community either.

I know the changes in extracurriculars has an effect, but in the end it's our choice to see the provider or not. When someone is charging $40 for a BgG session, you kind of know what's up...

But that said...other markets dont have the same problem to the same degree. A well run agency will make bank here.

Other than the fact that, given FOSTA/SESTA now, most people with any sense wouldn't even attempt to operate an agency... :-(

[laserface]

Originally Posted by berryberry

Travelers still remember the poor reputation of Pgh from the provider driven cancellation scams and thus many don't visit.

Honestly, this is the part the I'm most unhappy about. Before all this, we had a fairly steady flow of visiting providers from Ohio and Upstate New York, usually at least one or two per month, because they understood they could make money here. A lot of them were not "great", but they were typically pleasant to spend time with and paid some attention to whether the client enjoyed the experience.

Now ... it's just crickets. Nobody wants to come here anymore.

[blkstocking]

Hell, I dont even want to come here anymore, lol.


Funny thing about regulations...never seems to stop true entreprenuers. Just changes how business is conducted. At least thats what I leaned in U.S. history class.

[laserface]

Oh, one other thing while I'm thinking about it... Another way I don't think we, as hobbyists, did ourselves any favors.

At some point, possibly as blowback from the "Local 250" attempts to jack up rates, and possibly as an effect of some of the more "down-market" providers that were emerging (because being an online independent provider just became so easy to do), it seemed like a number of hobbyists began to push back on what had previously been accepted as "reasonable" rates. It seemed like there started to be some insistence that any provider asking for a generally "reasonable" rate had to be absolutely freakin' flawless. I recall occasional comments about such providers (anyone who was, for example, attractive but not "scorching hot" - just cute "girl next door" types) to the effect of, "I could walk into any bar on any night of the week, and go home with someone like that for free - I'm certainly not paying for that". Didn't really seem to matter a lot if they had a pleasant attitude, or tried to do an enjoyable session. I don't think that did much to encourage such girls to stick around in the community.

[sexymaid_69]

Originally Posted by bambino

Well, PI did have a good thing going. Over 30,000 members. Who paid some type of fee. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know he was making good money. But he fucked it up because he was a fuck up. I’m curious why you’re giving DG a pass now? You didn’t a few years ago. Maybe you can explain?

I didn't.

She wasn't even a part of the site during the time frame I mentioned.

I wasn't addressing anything during any other time.
( Perhaps I should have given the brunette the initial "M")

[Dreamgurrl]

Originally Posted by laserface

I also do not forget that a number of hobbyists were complicit in all of this. The cancellation scams would never have worked if there wasn't a large enough number of hobbyists who would agree to play the game.

To your point Laserface, there are also similar sabotage attempts against local providers by gossiping and spreading harmful lies, rumors and threats of doxxing.

I know a local provider who recently went into a several month long severe depression because of attempts to ruin her reputation and fear of being outted.

[sexymaid_69]

I'd also like to remind some folks of a couple other minor details to correct their statements..

1. Pittsburgh was not the only city that had a horrible reputation for cancellation.
Cleveland was far worse.

2. "Local" 250??
Y'all do remember that the head shop steward wasn't even from Pittsburgh right?? Nor were the "ladies" primarily responsible for the book and cancel schemes.

3. Indy's was already on its downward spiral when DG came onto the scene.
(Don't read too much into this statement Bambino, jus stating facts)

4. The site only gave one the impression of security. I don't think people were as paranoid at the beginning and didn't really notice because it was a fun site for a few years.

4. I personally know that moderators always had the power to not only read PM's but I know of 2 that would "edit" them.
(Again pre-Dreamgirl days)
How do I know that?
In the early days of chat one could (with the right keystrokes) read all the chat logs. Including mod meetings.

Oh and there's the time back in 07 that a female mod came into chat complaining about a ncns and ranted about entering his account and seeing what he was up to instead of being at her place.

4th.....
Clickbait ads, feature spots, paid for features for the gals, silver mine and that ordinary $50 fee later introduced...
And who else remembers the game room introduced later on with games one could play for a small fee?
Ya do know that pi himself once told me himself that he was making bank so there's that.

5th and final point.
This is for DG
There always has and ALWAYS will be harassment, bullying and attempted outings. It's never going away.
You were a huge part of a big ripoff at the end of the sites life.
Your name was front and foremost and until the final days and you relished that fact.
You are just as much a bully as anyone so stop with the false pleas of innocence.
Your "man" put you in the position of responsibility so your anger at the victims of his scams is woefully misdirected.

And no one can "chargeback" a site that they don't admit to being a part of.
I like others paid cash, in my case it was the one time and never another dime but you get the point.




Y'all really are amusing.

[bambino]

Originally Posted by sexymaid_69

I'd also like to remind some folks of a couple other minor details to correct their statements..

1. Pittsburgh was not the only city that had a horrible reputation for cancellation.
Cleveland was far worse.

2. "Local" 250??
Y'all do remember that the head shop steward wasn't even from Pittsburgh right?? Nor were the "ladies" primarily responsible for the book and cancel schemes.

3. Indy's was already on its downward spiral when DG came onto the scene.
(Don't read too much into this statement Bambino, jus stating facts)

4. The site only gave one the impression of security. I don't think people were as paranoid at the beginning and didn't really notice because it was a fun site for a few years.

4. I personally know that moderators always had the power to not only read PM's but I know of 2 that would "edit" them.
(Again pre-Dreamgirl days)
How do I know that?
In the early days of chat one could (with the right keystrokes) read all the chat logs. Including mod meetings.

Oh and there's the time back in 07 that a female mod came into chat complaining about a ncns and ranted about entering his account and seeing what he was up to instead of being at her place.

4th.....
Clickbait ads, feature spots, paid for features for the gals, silver mine and that ordinary $50 fee later introduced...
And who else remembers the game room introduced later on with games one could play for a small fee?
Ya do know that pi himself once told me himself that he was making bank so there's that.

5th and final point.
This is for DG
There always has and ALWAYS will be harassment, bullying and attempted outings. It's never going away.
You were a huge part of a big ripoff at the end of the sites life.
Your name was front and foremost and until the final days and you relished that fact.
You are just as much a bully as anyone so stop with the false pleas of innocence.
Your "man" put you in the position of responsibility so your anger at the victims of his scams is woefully misdirected.

And no one can "chargeback" a site that they don't admit to being a part of.
I like others paid cash, in my case it was the one time and never another dime but you get the point.




Y'all really are amusing.

I misunderstood your initial post. You certainly clarified things in this post. And yes, MLG was the 250 shop steward. I believe she was from the Cleveland area. But her shop responsibilities included Pittsburgh.

[Dreamgurrl]

Originally Posted by sexymaid_69

I'd also like to remind some folks of a couple other minor details to correct their statements..

1. Pittsburgh was not the only city that had a horrible reputation for cancellation.
Cleveland was far worse.

2. "Local" 250??
Y'all do remember that the head shop steward wasn't even from Pittsburgh right?? Nor were the "ladies" primarily responsible for the book and cancel schemes.

3. Indy's was already on its downward spiral when DG came onto the scene.
(Don't read too much into this statement Bambino, jus stating facts)

4. The site only gave one the impression of security. I don't think people were as paranoid at the beginning and didn't really notice because it was a fun site for a few years.

4. I personally know that moderators always had the power to not only read PM's but I know of 2 that would "edit" them.
(Again pre-Dreamgirl days)
How do I know that?
In the early days of chat one could (with the right keystrokes) read all the chat logs. Including mod meetings.

Oh and there's the time back in 07 that a female mod came into chat complaining about a ncns and ranted about entering his account and seeing what he was up to instead of being at her place.

4th.....
Clickbait ads, feature spots, paid for features for the gals, silver mine and that ordinary $50 fee later introduced...
And who else remembers the game room introduced later on with games one could play for a small fee?
Ya do know that pi himself once told me himself that he was making bank so there's that.

5th and final point.
This is for DG
There always has and ALWAYS will be harassment, bullying and attempted outings. It's never going away.
You were a huge part of a big ripoff at the end of the sites life.
Your name was front and foremost and until the final days and you relished that fact.
You are just as much a bully as anyone so stop with the false pleas of innocence.
Your "man" put you in the position of responsibility so your anger at the victims of his scams is woefully misdirected.

And no one can "chargeback" a site that they don't admit to being a part of.
I like others paid cash, in my case it was the one time and never another dime but you get the point.




Y'all really are amusing.

No good deed goes unpunished. When you are in the spotlight you will cast shadows. I was thrust into the spotlight by my association with PI. When he sold it and retired, people came to me for Advice. I tried to help. Eccie was down for FOUR months at the exact time this happened. Lots of people freaking out. I don’t regret trying to help. And this continued slander campaign won’t stop me from continuing to help when I can. Again, it really just makes for a hostile environment rather than affecting me personally or my bottom line.

I paid with a credit card. I paid monthly with a recurring charge. I did not know PI then, and I never stopped paying when he and I became friends. I then paid for lifetime premium on the new site with the new owners. When it shut down, I did a charge back with my credit card company, just as I have done with Slixa and Eros in the past. Same as I did withTryst. If they shut down I’ll do a chargeback. If eccies revenue model allowed for that, I’d pay here as well.

I pay with a credit card to all of the platforms I use. I don’t have anything to hide.

Thanks for your input Jinny. I’m aware that there has always been harassment. People can choose to accept that or not. I choose to not and say that it has a negative affect on the “hobby” as a whole.

And, thanks! You are pretty amusing yourself.

Have a great hump day everyone!



The repetition and continuing to make assumptions And accusations when no one actually knows the truth is not helping anything. Also it’s harassment whether you like it or not.

And to once again answer the original question at hand, “is the LOCAL scene as bad as THIS SITE makes it seem.” No, these threads, the slander, blanket statements about all whores, harassing clients for positive comments or reviews, and general lack of respect for others DOES NOT represent the scene that I’m familiar with by any means.

[sexymaid_69]

Originally Posted by bambino

I misunderstood your initial post. You certainly clarified things in this post. And yes, MLG was the 250 shop steward. I believe she was from the Cleveland area. But her shop responsibilities included Pittsburgh.

Closer to Columbus I believe. But I recall some major changes when Ohio became part of the board.
Not for the good either.


A final thought:
Constantly complaining about not getting a refund for contributing to an illegal site/activity is also highly amusing.

[bambino]

Originally Posted by sexymaid_69

Closer to Columbus I believe. But I recall some major changes when Ohio became part of the board.
Not for the good either.


A final thought:
Constantly complaining about not getting a refund for contributing to an illegal site/activity is also highly amusing.

Well Jinny, if you give someone $500 cash who knows it’s shutting down in days is a different story.

[tannana]

Originally Posted by berryberry

And your swag was only based on the $50 guys room access scam. Didn't they also had revenue come in from higher priced Silver Mine memberships? And correct me if I am wrong but didn't they have banner ads or things of that sort too that generated money. And then of course the free services the pimp who ran it solicited from some of the women there in exchange for favorable treatment on the site

Yeah, they made money and the grifters pocketed it

I'm only counting what I could quite literally see, plus I knew more than a few people who actually paid for the guys room. I know not a single hobbyist who paid for silvermine, but I know that folks did. I also know providers who actually paid for their ads and such, usually by having a fellow with a passing interest in auto parts or a brunette stop by (figuratively, and literally too). It made money. If it didn't, it was done wrong, and I'm not counting for silvermine or the provider side ad revenue. I'm aware, by dint of having left a chesnut in a PM to a provider that was subsequently referenced by someone with credentials, that people's mail was being read and don't really have a way to estimate how that could've been monetized. I can't speak to any other stuff I didn't witness. You can probably assume a couple bucks on the banner ads, but again--didn't see that.


What I said then (and one of Mallory/PI deleted it pre-migration) and will say now is merely the truth as one humble hobbyist actually observed. Can't speak to any other behaviors. There are people here who can, though.



I never bothered to figure out how the "new" one was monetized (directly.). The assumed owner has weighed in, and while I took issue with the statement generally, it could very well be true that it wasn't profitable during "her" time. I also don't have quite the same complaint as many others in the thread have (a reflexive allergy to anything said)--my bitch was one of "let's put that in context" combined with a reflexive allergy to all the blatant gaslamping that went on over there across both iterations. Insofar as I wouldn't have run the thing (in her incarnation) the way it was and have clearly called out said gaslamping, the extent of her behavior(s) past that are unknown to me save that she's bangingly fucking adept at the more widely known portion of her services portfolio.



So was Mal, for that matter. So, PI had good taste in local talent and a very poor penchant for being forthright with anyone about how shit ran. I'm actually okay with running your shit however you want--but some of the bullshit slung to do so actually put people in potentially bad spots. You couldn't consent to the risks you took using indys because you didn't know what they were--and in many cases were being deliberately mislead about what they were. That's not cool.

[berryberry]

Originally Posted by bambino

Actually, MMD was the tech mastermind behind Indys. They used a template that cost nothing. Eccie could use it. They should. It’s a better platform. PI was a flunky car detailer before Indys. So yes, PI made plenty of cash running Indys. I don’t blame him for making a buck. But, as sociopaths do, he fucked it up. Mallory was just a pawn in the scheme of things. And PI fucked her over. She tried to hold it together. Then PI bequeathed it to DG. It quickly went down the drain. But she pulled some cash while she could. She did buy a Denali after the Xmas GTG. Bravo!

So someone did buy a new car. Guess that explains where some of the money at the end went

[Dreamgurrl]

Originally Posted by Dreamgurrl

No good deed goes unpunished. When you are in the spotlight you will cast shadows. I was thrust into the spotlight by my association with PI. When he sold it and retired, people came to me for Advice. I tried to help. Eccie was down for FOUR months at the exact time this happened. Lots of people freaking out. I don’t regret trying to help. And this continued slander campaign won’t stop me from continuing to help when I can. Again, it really just makes for a hostile environment rather than affecting me personally or my bottom line.

I paid with a credit card. I paid monthly with a recurring charge. I did not know PI then, and I never stopped paying when he and I became friends. I then paid for lifetime premium on the new site with the new owners. When it shut down, I did a charge back with my credit card company, just as I have done with Slixa and Eros in the past. Same as I did withTryst. If they shut down I’ll do a chargeback. If eccies revenue model allowed for that, I’d pay here as well.

I pay with a credit card to all of the platforms I use. I don’t have anything to hide.

Thanks for your input Jinny. I’m aware that there has always been harassment. People can choose to accept that or not. I choose to not and say that it has a negative affect on the “hobby” as a whole.

And, thanks! You are pretty amusing yourself.

Have a great hump day everyone!



The repetition and continuing to make assumptions And accusations when no one actually knows the truth is not helping anything. Also it’s harassment whether you like it or not.

And to once again answer the original question at hand, “is the LOCAL scene as bad as THIS SITE makes it seem.” No, these threads, the slander, blanket statements about all whores, harassing clients for positive comments or reviews, and general lack of respect for others DOES NOT represent the scene that I’m familiar with by any means.

Originally Posted by berryberry

So someone did buy a new car. Guess that explains where some of the money at the end went

My car is a lease. I only purchase Harleys. Keep making shit up it’s quite entertaining!

[berryberry]

Originally Posted by sexymaid_69

I had to address this statement.

I still don't qualify for SS, yet.

Yes, I am retired but that's just sitting there waiting for me to come of age.
And I don't mind adding that I can only think of a couple of ladies in the Pittsburgh area who are older than I.

I hope you don't mind my correcting your assumption.

Now,
Silver mine access on the site that was...

When it started ( pre-Dreamgirl days) I paid the then $250 fee for access in cash directly to "he who's name need not be said" at a gathering.
I got home.....no access???

I messaged him
I was informed that the cost had doubled. No prior announcement atall.

I paid the rest to a wonderful brunette and I had 1 year of access.

Maybe because it was so new but there was no advantage to it back then. The sm activity was almost as dead as the activity here gets.

And don't even get me started on that "featured" crap.

Again pre-Dreamgirl days...

Just a perspective from the other side.


It was a good thing when it started but as they say
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Jinny, sorry but I think you read my post wrong . I never said or implied in my post you did qualify for SS. I said that was the topic of the thread.