I'm fairly certain I know which site DB is talking about... and it was their attitude of charging forum members for the privilege of contributing to their forums, thus producing more traffic/activity, and earning more money for the forum operators that drove me away. It's one thing to ask for donations from the community (as many of us here have been more than willing to donate to XS), it's quite another to pull the 'figuring out how you fit within our standard rules is too complicated, so pay us or get lost' bit.

...and, yes, I do realize that posting in any privately owned forum is a privilege, but continually lording that over people and using it to, essentially, demand monetary tribute isn't exactly the best way to go about things.

As for sponsored builds, there are different groups involved in sponsorship and different levels of sponsorship which need to be addressed separately. Waterlogged makes a good point when it comes to manufacturers, but that same line of thought doesn't really apply well to many/most resellers (since, typically, they don't have the budget to purchase ad space to begin with). Either way, it's still a matter to take up with the various companies within the industry, not something which should really be foisted upon the individual forum members. This is a complicated issue, though, and one that I don't see a simple "solution" to... especially when you start asking things like: "How much does company X contribute to the forum when it comes to traffic, information, and community? What is that worth? Do they provide products and support for events organized by the forum operators? How should that be counted? What is the overall relationship worth?" It would be very easy to end up with a whole lot of exceptions to any rules that are enacted if your goal were to build a robust, diverse, inclusive community. An exclusive approach, on the other hand, simplifies matters somewhat but can only be taken so far before it becomes detrimental.