That money thing Bold members are seeing on their profiles is a new cash system we are checking out. And, no, it's not real cash. Well, it kinda is - but it can only be spent on the forums. I will be adding some things as we go, but I need to let it run a bit to see how much members actually "earn" in a week. The cash is paid from almost every function you use on the forums - from logging in daily, replying, liking a post, and creating threads (also the one that pays the most). I'll get a full list of actions (and their payout) posted later today.
We may also add a couple of games - including a Stock Exchange and Sports Betting.
As for what you can do with the cash - not much at the moment as we just got it working. But if you look at the top, there is now a Store link. In there, as time goes on, there will be things you can buy such as Name\Title Changes, Name Styling, Buying Bold Memberships, Buying Extra Permissions, Bumping\Stickying Threads, etc, etc. In the future, you will also be able buy a couple of merchandise items.
Also, you can transfer cash to other members as well as buy items from the store and gift them to other members.
Why we are doing this should be obvious. It fosters activity and it will give members the ability to do some things (like upgrading their memberships) without spending real money they may not have. In turn, this may help me out with more members, which equals more Bolds. The donation thing isn't going to work, so we will be bringing back ads once I find someone I wan to partner with. But I will get to that bit later. I always try to be transparent with you guys, so I'll explain more about the ads once I get more information.
Like I said, we are simply testing it out at the moment (and why it is only for Bold members at the moment). Once we get a handle on it, we will start adding more things to the store. So consider this a beta - while anything you may purchase while in beta you will keep, the totals may be reset to 0 for everyone when we allow everyone to use it.
We may also add a couple of games - including a Stock Exchange and Sports Betting.
As for what you can do with the cash - not much at the moment as we just got it working. But if you look at the top, there is now a Store link. In there, as time goes on, there will be things you can buy such as Name\Title Changes, Name Styling, Buying Bold Memberships, Buying Extra Permissions, Bumping\Stickying Threads, etc, etc. In the future, you will also be able buy a couple of merchandise items.
Also, you can transfer cash to other members as well as buy items from the store and gift them to other members.
Why we are doing this should be obvious. It fosters activity and it will give members the ability to do some things (like upgrading their memberships) without spending real money they may not have. In turn, this may help me out with more members, which equals more Bolds. The donation thing isn't going to work, so we will be bringing back ads once I find someone I wan to partner with. But I will get to that bit later. I always try to be transparent with you guys, so I'll explain more about the ads once I get more information.
Like I said, we are simply testing it out at the moment (and why it is only for Bold members at the moment). Once we get a handle on it, we will start adding more things to the store. So consider this a beta - while anything you may purchase while in beta you will keep, the totals may be reset to 0 for everyone when we allow everyone to use it.