I do agree that access to regular forums should not require an elite membership, especially if those members have already paid for one in the past year. Perhaps there should be a cheaper, much cheaper annual forum membership. I don't know if the CDG team think that barring out members from the forums encourages them to reach for their wallets, but if they do I question their ability to empathize. I can assure, for me anyway, it achieves no such thing. When I get locked out I feel frustrated, bitter and underappreciated. If anything it's made me buy less memberships.
I definitely agree with this, what really angered me was getting locked out for a week, one week after paying $100 for the Death Eaters group, then getting locked out again for another week right as my DE membership was about to expire. I also thought that when I paid that much I was also going to be able to see the Elite forums but I couldn't. I would love to keep supporting this site, but being tight on money and having access revoked when I'm paying for access makes me seriously reconsider unless something super, super mega duper 'once in a life time' shows up, then I'd simply put up with it for that material.