This pay-to-post thing just seems like the polar opposite of what a public forum (in the old sense of the word) is about. Not everything in the world should be monetized just because it can be. The point is paid sig space leads to account dealing which leads us here - more bad than good. This is a private forum, presumably meant for discussing money, not for making it as we talk.
@Quickseller: Not sure why you want to introduce another hot-button issue into a thread that's already pretty polarized. I'm not a gun control crunchy, I've used the example of sleeping with a gun because I had, because I had to. This is not what this thread is about tho.
If people can make a passive income for their regular discussion, that is such a cool thing. It's an incentive to come and chat, why not earn a few bits? Just because some people are doing it wrong and spamming, doesn't mean we should also punish those who are using their paid advertising signature responsibly. We are taking a stab at limiting what those people spamming can do, while still allowing those responsible enough to not spam.
Yeah I was sort of referencing gun control but not in the crontroversial pro vs against manner, but instead in the sense that publicly and openly trading a neutral object that could be used for good of bad is best done in a safe and open place. I compare the account selling issue to selling guns in a gun store, vs in a parking lot. We can't stop account sales from happening in the parking lot, so why not allow people to do it in the shop.