He was kidding
You can renew your membership in December if you like - for the same standard price you normally do.
In fact I would argue AGAINST renewing it right now, based on the following facts:
1. UBBThreads in its current release is broken, has been for 8 months. A fix is in beta, but has been for 2 months.
2. UBBThreads is dead after the fix.
3. The "new" product has not been seen, and has in fact been pushed out to mid or late summer for a BETA release. Which means good luck at getting a solid, stable 'new' forum before Fall.
So yea, I am not renewing my members area this year, and may not ever do so again...