It is quite interesting that this debate has popped up again, and the differing viewpoints being taken. Like Sparky, I've been here long enough now to have had access to teh stories section for years (although not without Marty wanting to see a copy of my passport the first time I asked - naturally I declined!)
We are quite fortunate, in a way, that the forum has an English-speaking section, as it is set up from and based in Germany, where rules are generally much stricter than they are in the UK, and certainly so than in the US. That has a certain bearing on posts in a number of aspects, just simply because what is considered "the norm". As I understand it, Marty is responsible for the content posted here by us. We also have to take a certain degree of common sense into account: whilst there may be members here who are 14 or 15 and want to see pictures of people their own age and not just those who are in their 20s, the reverse is also true - someone in their 50s or 60s may feel very uncomfortable if they click on a link and find its a 13 year old. But I digress....
I used to post here occasionally, but I have "fallen out of love" recently. That's not to say I've stopped writing, not by a long way. It's just that my stories tend to favour my interest - where it's a male patient - and so I've angled my stories to other sites. I should cross-post a few back here, really. I've also been setting up my own Guys With Braces story archive, although sadly Google hasn't picked it up yet. I'm not sure what Marty's opinion on such adverts is, so until I get his permission, you'll have the PM me!
I can see the point in having a little bit of restriction, just to make sure people aren't coming here to suck up the stories and do nothing to the forum. However, I do wonder whether 30 posts is a bit high these days - and whether it in fact puts people off posting, because they see it as an insurmountable task? If there were to be a discussion, I would propose keeping some sort of minimum posting, but dropping it - maybe to 15 or even 10.
When the archive was first mooted I did ask for a number of stories, but I found they were, as I thought they would be, primarily female based and on occasions really not my cup of tea in terms of content, so I haven't asked for any subsequent ones. I am a little concerned though by the slightly condescending attitude that seems to be appearing with regard to people's writing styles and how they choose to write their stories. I appreciate not every one is a perfect typist - myself included - but it really isn't anyone's place other than the author to make changes to stories, or worse still (as was suggested on the German forum a while back) for others to "take over" if a person stops writing.
Finally, it is worth pointing out that for some people, especially newer members, they may not yet be comfortable with their interest. They may not have time to make postings - especially not when people with time on their hands criticize for daring to post something that is "known" because they haven't used the search function. I cannot recall the last time I posted a pic or a video because frankly, I can't be bothered with the laboriousness of it!
Marty: Ich werde dir gerne die Inhalt dieses Thema auf Deutsch kurz übersetzen. Habe ich es richtig, dass du für den Inhalt persönlich (oder quasi-persönlich) haftet? Ebenfalls habe ich eine direkte Link auf meine eigene Männer mit Zahnspange Geschichten Seite verzichtet, werde es aber gerne - mit Verlaub! - posten.
