Can we set it up so that you only have to pay to access E&P. I stopped reading it after it became apparent the majority of the threads are a cesspool of troll nonsense.
Very odd to read oneself referred to in the third person like this. I think you miss the spirit with which I am offering these comments. That aside, I can't think of a single paid-access forum I belong to, so I can't offer any evidence as to how I would respond, but getting worked up about aspects of how a community is managed is somewhat different from objecting to delivery-of-service type issues. In other words, I don't think I (or "guys like me") would get more worked up if I/we were paying for membership.
Besides, so what? This is a fairly simple business question: does the pie get bigger or smaller with a pay wall? (Adding whatever income comes directly from the pay wall plus whatever time is saved from non-serious/time wasting posts and subtracting whatever shrinkage of audience might result plus time needed to manage said pay wall.) Not: might some participants on the board object?
Surely somebody on this board has some experience trying something or working with something similar, no?