Yup, we made the announcement back in July that we're going to a membership based site.
Check out the discussion on the topic here
We got a lot of feedback from folks, in forms of email, posts, and the poll, and we decided to make the change this month. In a nutshell, we were just getting too much traffic. Our page hits were rising expoentially since we brought the page back in December 2001. And to do the kinds of things we'd like to do in the future, this is really the only practical choice there was. Either this, or there is no TickleTown, which is really what it comes to.
I wouldn't do this if the page were simply a rehash of material already out there. But most of the site's material is exclusive, meaning you can't find it anywhere else. So hopefully fans of the site won't think 5 bucks is too much to spend, and we can provide them with material they want to see on a long term basis. I think we've realized that goal so far, so there isn't any reason why we can't continue doing it.
And if you're strapped for cash, email me and let me know, there are other ways to gain access to the site. We're always looking for original material. If you have new mainstream clips, original stories or artwork, or anything else you'd like to show off, just let me know. My email's at the bottom. I'm going to make a general rule that people who contribute to a specific month's edition will gain access to the site for free for that month, in addition to any other compensation we've worked out, based on the work.
Hope this answered your question!