Well this is my 200th post here as TS Tempted and I’ve been pondering for sometime now what topic I should discuss on the occasion.  Perhaps something deeply phallusophical?  Unfortunately that one’s already been done already by HOF in this thread from Nov 2006:

Fun With Philosophy: The Concept Of "Fully Functional"
http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?MessageID=20409&boardID=19&page=


Something heavy, like health risks, I’ve already done too:

The Elephant in the Room (and related links)
http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?MessageID=21100&boardID=19&page=


Okay, enough with the bad puns - I have also provided a variety of advice and admonishments about the use of this forum and resources available on TER, such as the following posts (among a few others):

How To Get a Good Eros Link
http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?MessageID=21123&boardID=19&page=

Thanks for Your Support (with newbie info and link to ‘Newbie Hints’)
http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?MessageID=21055&boardID=19&page=

A Heads-up on 411 and ISO Requests
http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?MessageID=20889&boardID=19&page=

Rachel May Have Been Trying to Post a Photo
http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?MessageID=20594&boardID=19&page=


I’ve done a number of commemorative lists in these threads:

Most TS Reviews
http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?MessageID=21323&boardID=19&page=

For Beginners – Who to See That First Time?
http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?MessageID=20924&boardID=19&page=

All Time Best
http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?MessageID=20686&boardID=19&page=

All Time Worst
http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?MessageID=20525&boardID=19&page=

Tony has provided us with a very satisfactory ‘Most Hung’ list, so that’s already been done too:
http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?MessageID=21320&boardID=19&page=

As I’ve said before when analyzing TER Profiles by ethnicity, I’m interested in a ‘Most Reviewed TS List’ but I’m still not too sure how to research that one efficiently:
http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?MessageID=21380&boardID=19&page=
I’ve also thought about a list of ‘Most Popular (Read) Posts’ but again that seems too difficult to research and these just don’t seem significant enough for the 200th post.  


I’ve even proposed a new term for the Urban Dictionary based on our discussions here in this forum:

Nomination for a New Definition in the Urban Dictionary
http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?MessageID=21387&boardID=19&page=

But perhaps I should also suggest a ‘Reverse Lavinia’?
http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?MessageID=21432&boardID=19&page=1


But I digress, sorry, it was not my intention to post a list of lists.  So in returning to the subject at hand, what I have determined from all this is that maybe such a body of work has earned me an opportunity to express a few opinions and suggestions on TER and this forum itself – see my replies to this post in this thread.  I would put these posts in the categories of ‘Observations’ and/or ‘Suggestions’ and would also solicit your ideas and opinions on these or other items as well.  Perhaps, if some of our ideas have sufficient merit, the powers that be at TER may take some of our suggestions on board and make some changes.  

I’ve said this before too but I’ll say it again, everyone’s support during my period of activity here, and patience and understanding while I’ve poked fun at newbies and veterans alike, has been most appreciated.  My apologies if this thread has become a long-winded ‘catch-all’ of ideas and observations, but it is my hope that maybe some of this will be taken on board by TER and the community.  With your broader and continuing support maybe we can have a much wider impact by implementing some beneficial changes in the way the TS side of this hobby works.

Regards,

TS Tempted

To anyone who has studied the various escort discussion and review boards it is apparent that historically there must have been a great deal of controversy around some of the earlier practices of the boards, TER included.  It seems that there may have been some serious ethical lapses by most, if not all of the boards at one time or another, particularly in the earlier days.  As a result of this history there seem to be very entrenched camps around some of the boards.  My own observation is that most of the boards are maturing and becoming better because of continuing scrutiny by the members and outsiders alike.  None of the boards can make a go of it without continuing to encourage active participation and making continuing improvements.

I am not aware of exactly how all the other review boards work but the format of provider profiles here on TER strikes me as very efficient and extremely useful but unfortunately is only as good as its last update.  Members can do more to keep profiles current by actively reporting bad websites and new links to ads, personal websites, and duplicate profiles, etc.  A lot of this is reported in the forums but needs to also be ‘officially’ report to TER so that changes can be made to the profiles.  When you see an error or an update or change to existing information in the profiles please report it.  The worst TER can say is no to your proposal.  Back up your reports with links and other references and it has been my experience that as often as not TER will make the right changes.

If TER was more open as a resource to all sources of information it would become even more useful.  Additional discretion is allowed in the forums which means a lot of good information can be found there but it is more difficult to search out.  I am not proposing that TER become an erotic search engine but maybe more of a wiki.  TER’s introduction was once very innovative, maybe TER is due for an overhaul and could set new standards by adopting some of the methodologies learned from the wiki’s out there in a revision of the way its information is reported, updated and maintained.

This is one of TSAE’s and my pet peeves.  I am going to hypothesize that many of us come from the GG side over to TS.  IMHO the differences in how these two ‘hobbies’ operate are mostly unfavorable to TS.  There are way too many rip-offs in TS and they are harder to identify.  Hobbyists far too often stand up TS providers without warning or explanation and no consequences to their hobbying reputation, but woe to the TS provider who does not maintain a high degree of punctuality and reliability in the face of this phenomenon on the hobbyist side of TS.  

TS rates seem to be higher – more similar to the ‘GFE/Companion’ type rates seen on the GG side where a provider would be expected to devote more time in preparation for each session, to tailor a session to each clients interests and personality and perhaps limiting the number of clients they see in any given day to give the very best experience possible to each session.  Unfortunately even at the higher TS rates these mostly seem to involve the “wham bam thank you ma’am” type of experience and a higher daily volume of clients – something that would normally result in lower rates for GG’s (true porn stars excepted of course).  There are very good reasons that TS rates should be higher – supply and demand for one, additional costs for TS such as more expensive medical interventions to make them more feminine, more difficulty for TS operating in ‘normal’ society from employment to finding places to live, etc., but one of them should NOT be a higher proportion of no shows – we are just hurting ourselves with this behavior.

This is a two way street – hobbyists and providers must both agree on actions that will improve conditions for everyone in the hobby.  We have the ‘Whitelist’ feature available on TER – maybe we could use that to instigate more of a reference type system in the TS hobby?  This would help us identify ‘reputable’ providers, those willing to provide such references, as well as weed out the ‘Trannychasers’ to make the provider side of this job more efficient and safer (here I am using the ‘Trannychaser’ term in the pejorative way as has been discussed several times in the TS forum).

The TER forums are pretty basic which has both good and bad attributes.  By having only a few forums it tends to keep most discussions chronological, in one place and easy to track and follow all the various discussions that may be taking place.  Its simplicity reduces a lot of the discussion board noise but also tends to keep threads short and with a very short shelf life.  This reduces the opportunity for individual expression such as personal avatars, tag lines and other user profile information.  Unfortunately the search function only works for each particular forum so repetitive searches are required to research some topics or else good content can be missed.

The ‘Mail Bag’ and ‘Suggestions and Policy’ forums have some good info and dialogue in them but maybe there should be a “Ask the Staff” forum where it is explicitly expected that the staff will reply.  I realize that may be a lot of work and ‘FAQ for Newbies’ may already cover a lot of this but it just seems that there is much good info that is hard to find for newbies and veterans alike.  Perhaps TER should create a specific health forum?  
For example the post below has much great information but is sort of buried and limited in its usefulness without a way to get to it more directly.

http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?BoardID=33&MessageID=17542

One problem is that specific TS information will get lost in these other forums (or might even be explicitly discouraged).  The TS forum is therefore a very good first stop for general information on TS, current or timely references and recommendations and other information on clubs, events, tours, etc., that is not contained in the profile and reviews.  Unfortunately it is very difficult for this one forum to do it all.  I would recommend that more formal ‘newbie’ guides and/or information, specific to TS should be included in some way.  In addition a detailed guide on posting etiquette might be very helpful to keep some of the noise off the board, such as 411 and ISO requests that could have been answered by the member with just a few minutes search – the link above has just such information but would never be found perusing the TS forum.  Maybe a few of these could be entirely separate TS forums but I really don’t want to take any discussions away from the primary TS forum.  Perhaps there would be some way to set up some separate pages or links or buttons to ‘archived’ or ‘hall of fame’ posts, or even an entirely separate TS area on TER.  Yes a separate TS area would duplicate many of the things available on the main boards but cross refeneces like in a wiki would work just fine and this would keep much that is specific to TS from otherwise getting lost.  

An additional desirable feature would be an easier way to see/find most recent posts – I use the existing search function as is without filling in the any information in the search for boxes but this brings up the posts when they were posted and not when released by the moderator – so from time to time an older post sneaks in way down the queue (not complaining LEL, I know you’ve got plenty to do and there could already be a better way to do this and I am just too stupid to figure it out).

-- Modified on 1/11/2007 9:31:40 AM

I realize that TS, at less than 4% of total profiles, is not terribly important overall to TER, but my guess is that interest in TS is growing much more rapidly than on the GG side – just haven’t figured out how to prove it with the search tools available to members.  I do think it would be very useful for TER to make some changes in the review form to accommodate better information for TS hobbyists, e.g.:

Size – l x g (length by girth)
Cut/uncut
Versatility - bottom/top
Functionality
Ability to search for most reviewed, most reviews
Separate list for top TS reviewers

Perhaps TER should lighten up on the requirement for answers to all the alphabet soup of ‘services’ – TS, like BDSM, is a ‘specialty’ and not all are interested in or even offer the full menu.  See the discussions by wantats and dtbctrek in the following links:

Posted by dtbctrek 1/6/2007
http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?MessageID=21374&boardID=19&page=2
Posted by wantats 1/6/2007
http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?MessageID=21399&boardID=19&page=2

Description and menus – these get stale and/or promulgate errors.  Not all reviewers are as good at judging height, cup size, etc., weight, hair color and ‘enhancements’ to things like cup size change over time as well.  Phone#’s, email and even ‘stage names’ change often too.  Does the review form make enough allowance for updates and/or corrections to this information?  Is TER doing enough to encourage current reviewers, past reviewers and other participants to report these discrepancies and keep the profiles current?  In particular it would seem that past reviewers are discouraged from posting new reviews on previously reviewed providers but aren’t they the best ones to encourage to provide credible updates to this information?

Perhaps there should be a ‘probational’ review category to correct deficiencies rather than just rejecting a review outright, e.g. allowing the provider time to get a TER link on her ad or website, or a reviewer to provide missing, incomplete or updates to contradictory information, with notices to reviewer and reviewed as appropriate?

-- Modified on 1/11/2007 9:32:38 AM

you think too much?  (LOL)

With admiration, TSAE