Something else to keep in mind that I don't think has been brought up yet is that different people attach a different value to things. If you feel like it's worth it to tip a model, that's great. But other people might not be getting the same thing out of the relationship. It confuses me when people talk about freeloaders as if they are terrible people, when I'm sure everyone in here has "freeloaded" on something in their life. A great example is porn. The vast majority of people primarily watch free porn, and many people have never paid for porn in their lives. Yet it only exists because others feel that it's worth paying for. I don't doubt that the people who get it free would pay if it was the only way to get the content, but that just not how it works.
I guess the bottom line is, you can't tell someone else how much something is worth to them, so saying someone should tip just because they spend a lot of time in a room doesn't really make sense.
In responding to both the OP and your own post, I initially gave you both the benefit of the doubt, but now realize that I probably erred in doing so.
With regards to the OP, despite his claims, I don’t believe he really knows that much about chat rooms, otherwise he would realize that it’s unlikely that someone who regularly participates in public chat is truly freeloading. In my experience, people who are genuinely determined to freeload generally won’t even log into the site to begin with, but will instead just lurk as guests. And those who do log in will generally remain silent, because there seems to be this common belief or feeling that if you interact with a model that you’re obligated to tip her, whereas if you just silently observe you can claim to just be a visitor who is trying to make up his mind. For this reason, models and/or room helpers who observe members repeatedly entering a room but never chatting will generally confront them at some point, because genuine freeloaders will usually leave when confronted, whereas recorders won’t respond, which of course will then result in a ban from the room. Again, from my own experience, members who chat will generally tip as well, even if it’s only infrequently due to limited finances.
As for “helping" the model, that depends upon the individual. In my experience, ninja tips are counter-productive in encouraging others to contribute. Much better is the practice of making smaller tips on a regular basis in a light-hearted manner, which then encourages others to do the same because they want to join in the fun and camaraderie in the chat room. However, if I don’t want to contribute to a model’s topic for some reason, my other practice is to either make a ninja tip, or else tip normally but include #nocount in the tip note.
With regards to your own post, upon second reading it appears as if you are genuinely attempting to defend the practice of “freeloading,” with which I have to take issue. Cam shows are live entertainment. The models have to go through a lot of preparation to put on a show, and so if you enter a room with the intent of never tipping, and yet engage the model in any way, you are literally taking her time and attention away from people who are willing to tip, or would be willing to tip. I’m not going to call it theft, but I do think it’s unethical, and of course it becomes even more unethical if you’re not just freeloading but being disruptive as well.
That’s one reason why models have room helpers, so they aren’t unduly distracted from their shows by people who engage in such common asshattery as making requests without tipping, asking questions which can easily be found by reading the model's profile, attempting to disrupt the room through chat, or by posting images or virus links, or simply by acting as prima donnas and attention whores.
But to get back to the point I’ve been stressing all along, it really isn’t for the members to worry about who is a freeloader and who isn’t, because the only people who are in a position to know that are the models and possibly some of their room helpers. Everyone else is just guessing. And in those cases where someone is a genuine in-your-face freeloader, then you can be sure that the model and/or room helpers are already aware of the situation and will take care of it because people like that usually cross the line into outright trolling.