premium access membership sticker shock

[dilbert firestorm]

1 year membership used to be 100$. now its 300 for 1 year. lifetime vip is 350$.

my membership expired last year, so could not address it due to the fact i got banned 6 months. I only found out about the price increase recently. it appears there was no mention of an announcement about this.

so, what exactly am I getting for 300$ or 350$?

this better be good to justify this price increase.

[biomed1]

https://www.eccie.net/ecciesubscriptions.php?do=premium

Premium Access enables members to view "The Rest of the Story" (ROS) content within reviews which is not available to guests to the site, registered members, or our female members. You will also be able to make and view "Private" posts in our public forums as well as have access to additional "Premium Access Only" forums...such as the Men's Lounge. Premium Access also includes an increased Private Messaging (PM) capacity, from 50 message limit for basic membership to 1,000 messages for Premium Access members. This prevents unnecessary deletion of messages and allows for creation of custom folders, organization, and message archiving.

Premium Access can be obtained by choosing one of our affordable payment options, or by actively contributing to site content with reviews. Each approved review posted will earn 6 weeks of Premium Access credit. This credit will continue to accumulate for as long as the member continues to post reviews. When requesting credit for a review submission, please include the URL link to your review(s). Inquiries may be sent to your local mod team.

Elite VIP Member Upgrade This is a one-time permanent upgrade to your current account. This upgrade entitles members access to our private male forums, access to ROS within reviews, private post capability, and expanded PM capacity (5,000)
Payment Options

1. Credit Card (will appear as "PremAccess" on your credit card statement)
2. Money Order

Subscription Options include:

• 2-week pass
  • $50
• 1 month
  • $80
• 3 months
  • $200
• 6 months
  • $250
• 12 months
  • $300
• Elite VIP Member Upgrade
  • $350

IMPORTANT: Premium Access is ONLY available to our male members. Do not attempt to purchase Premium Access for a female account

[Hard2Find]

So does VIP a permanent Premium Access? Or is it an upgrade as long as you have one of the other packages!
In other words i guess. A one time VIP payment gives you permanent Premium Access?

[TBONE]

Elite VIP is Lifetime Premium Access

T