Should the price for premium come down?

I'm gonna be a little insensitive here. People have an entire year to save as little as 35 dollars or sub monthly. If that's too big of an ask then I don't think you should be on this site at all cause it sounds like you have some issues to sort out in your life. Or don't complain and just grab the free stuff. Patreon is more expensive unless you paying for a dollar tier but you get less at that tier. Twitch subs cost more. Youtube subs can be comparable or more. Netflix cost me 18 dollars month(4K plan). 2 months and I've already bought a sale price GB sub.

These things are all optional hobbies. You're more than welcome to just hang out for the free content and find other free content elsewhere. If the premium content here isn't for you that's fine but the price is more than manageable. Again. you have an entire year to save or you can pay monthly, or not.

I mean this is why you would pay monthly instead and can at any point determine when the value doesn’t line up.

@sethmode: You literally just asked me two questions, and then called the conversation pointless.

You were wrong to “almost guarantee” anyone would get a refund. They only honor refunds on accidental orders.

@sethmode: I don't think it's bad faith. I think considering a thread like this pops up about once a month, there's some serious discontentedness with the output on this website. And it being a personality driven site, folks don't just want to jump ship, they want to be convinced to stay. Whether that means a reorganization of content or a cheaper entry fee, it's different discussions about the same thing.

@nickm: The conversation is pointless because the original post isn't in good faith. I asked for your reasons because I SUSPECT it is because you don't like the product right now. Which I wouldn't refund either because it isn't like the product is broken or something, you just don't like it. My "almost guarantee" was if someone was experiencing such harsh financial times as getting a pro rated refund might help, I feel like GB would probably do what they can to help. Maybe they wouldn't, but that's just my gut feeling.

@hatking: How much cheaper do you think it should be? The monthly sub is $4.95.

The quality/quantity of current or future content doesn't affect the thousands of hours of video already on the site. If they stopped producing anything starting today, it would still be worth the price.

Three bucks. That’s the same $35 over twelve months. But this way you can quit anytime if you don’t like the product and not be stuck with ten months of premium you don’t want. Same as Netflix does it.

@nickm: Five bucks. You can quit anytime you don't like the product and not be stuck with ten months of premium you don't want.

This payment method absolutely already exists on Giant Bomb. And it's way cheaper than Netflix.

@bakoomerang: What you said.

If you're not a fan of the content, then a subscription to GB isn't worth it for you. Now, if you're a fan of the site and the content, but think $5 a month is too much, then I dare you to try running a site and creating content on their level for a living, staff and equipment, for less than $5/month and see how you come out the other end.

If the value isn't there for you, then don't sub. What's the point of bringing it up? To make the staff and/or subscribers feel bad?

think the pay for a month model works so well here, you could always just grab up a month once every few months that way there will be a biuld up of the vids that you are into, Back library of vids are great too, nice to have a remaster come out and go back and often find a quicklook from the original to compare

It should be increased. I would pay it even if I only listened to the ad-supported versions of the podcasts.

@stanleypain: Totaly agree,its about comunity and keeping with the folks for many of us here.

Lets just keep it that way. GB always felt like the last harbour of internet that its not spoiled with all the bulshit.

@dasakamov: Three is better for me. I don’t think it’s worth $60 a year. The usual 35 spread over twelve months I would get behind.

Provided the content is great.

They have lost 3 camera-facing salaries in the past year and a half, that would be a significant budget adjustment. They didn’t leave due to budget constraints, they left by their own decision. Where could that money be going? In the remaining Duders’ pockets? Not very likely. In Red Venture’s pockets?

IDK, maybe if the price came down it would put less pressure on the duders to do this with less people. I’m all for a win-win.

Like others here, I’m surprised they’ve gone on this long at the same price without any increases.

@chillster7000: What person on their side of this matter would remotely consider this a win?

@efesell: If Red Ventures is cutting their budget back and not allowing them to make replacement hires but expecting them to put out the same product that’s not really fair to them.

@chillster7000: Okay assuming any of that is the case I'm sure everyone involved in the business will be stoked to see the website make less money.

I've been using the premium sale as kind of a tip jar for the site for the last few years, I'm not necessarily loving all the premium content but I understand it all can't cater to me. I like enough that it makes it worth it to me.

@yothatlimp said:

I've been using the premium sale as kind of a tip jar for the site for the last few years, I'm not necessarily loving all the premium content but I understand it all can't cater to me. I like enough that it makes it worth it to me.

Yes, This!

If there were no premium subscribers I doubt Giant Bomb would be a thing able to produce the free stuff it does. And like Jeff has said multiple times, if he likes a free to play game and plays it enough, he buys something to reward the people who made the game. I see giant bomb in the same way, shit the podcasts alone are worth the money, the extra stuff I just see as a bonus. But i'm here to keep this train rolling.

Edited to add that I'm an adult with a full time job that pays well, so I have the disposable income. I get if you don't have it. But for me it's worth it.

If we're being fair to the OP I'd say most of the people dismissing his opinion feel the same way given how many quote 35 as the cost of a yearly subscription when they're actually quoting the sale price...

(I pay £5 monthly. £50 yearly.

I'd be curious to know how anyone who has trouble coming up with an annual fee of $35 actually manages to maintain their video game hobby, but sure, I'll admit to a US-centric view in which:

• A Twitch sub is $5/mo.
• Netflix is $9/mo. minimum
• A cable TV plan (or streaming equivalent) is $65/mo minimum
• Disney+ is $8/mo
• HBO Max is $15/mo

etc...
In that context, GB's pricing is completely fair and reasonable unless you truly get no use out of it. In which case, that person should cancel and find better things to do than spam the forums with BS.

I will say that 'if you can't afford $35 a year then you shouldn't be on Giant Bomb' is some really disgusting 'why do these poor people on welfare have iPhones??????' privilege. Acting like people who aren't well-off aren't allowed to spend money on entertainment is asinine.

@frytup: I mean you make those choices, that's how. The month that I spend 35$ to get that sub is a month I don't get to spend on a game most likely.

In that light if you suddenly come to find that the offer you paid for begins to wane in quality it is understandable to feel let down by it.

Now should the price actually change because of this feeling? Well probably not but some people are kinda being real shitty about these complaints for very little cause.

I don't mind it but I've got plenty of stuff to catch up on. It goes on sale like clockwork.

Good thing I didn't say that then, eh?

@ajamafalous: This seems like a direct shot at me. Which is fine. I know you didn't @ me but I think your somewhat misinterpreting. I'm not saying they shouldn't be on Giant Bomb at all just because they can't afford premium or that they shouldn't spend money on entertainment. Not in the way you think anyways. I wouldn't consider my self well-off in the slightest. But lets use one of your words: Privilege. You know what's a privilege? Entertainment. No matter who you are it costs at least time, maybe money. You're more than welcome to consume all the free content you want here. But were talking about premium subs.

People are complaining that its too expensive when its cheaper than most other services. I believe that if 3-5 dollars a month is too expensive then you should probably be spending less time on entertainment. I hardly think that's a disgusting proposition under the context. I'm aware it sounds insensitive but I used to be far more irresponsible with my time and money and have learned that sometimes you gotta be the 'bad guy', even to yourself.

Honestly, I'm happy to pay to support the site and would be even if they made all their content freely accessible to everyone. I specifically renew outside of the sale periods to help support them (it doesn't actually "cost more" if you use the store voucher, which I generally end up doing at some point). But also GB is cheaper than basically every other form of entertainment I subscribe to - including twitch streams run by individuals with minimal running cost that aren't maintaining salaried employees - and it gives me more hours of entertainment a month than basically anything else.

I can certainly appreciate that even at the sale price it's not something everyone has the luxury to spare. But if that's the case, there's still plenty of free content on offer (you could always just grab one month every so often and catch up on the premium videos), and I'd happily take a year of GB over a game one month if that was the decision I had to make. Obviously people are perfectly entitled to make their own judgement call, but I don't think lowering the const would encourage enough additional people to subscribe to increase their overall incoming revenue - there's no shortage of people subscribing to Twitch channels, so I don't think the cost is make-or-break for the majority of people in the target audience.

I pay it because I can afford it but ever since they became part of Viacom I didn't really understand why it existed since GameSpot, as far as I know, doesn't have something like this. As a scrappy upstart it was fine, but as a site owned by a huge company the justification that they need to show engagement and it helps to sway execs if they can earn more money on the side seemed weird since ultimately from all the complaining about how hard it was to get anything done with CBS it didn't seem to translate into anything. The New York office broom closet and all the stories about how no one knew what to even do with them over there that they started sharing now after the Red Ventures acquisition kind of illustrate just how little Viacom even cared about the site despite the subscription numbers.

Now they are part of another huge company and the subscriptions are still a thing because.. tip jar I guess? Like I said I'm fine with paying, even though as someone currently living in the EU I can't even use the $15 store coupon because the shipping costs are so prohibitive, but sometimes I don't really know why Premium continues to exist apart from being an additional source of revenue that people have just come to terms with funding.

I mean it's one banana Michael, what could it cost? Ten dollars?

Yeah, on further thought, these threads pop up from time to time, usually when big changes are made. The fans almost in a sycophant manner defend all and any changes and label any opposing views as counter and irrelevant cause the age-old...if you don't like it then leave...I can see a person trying to use this thread to validate or sort through their feelings on the issue of resubbing at the current price. At a time when businesses are trying to cater to fleeting consumers, it's a bad argument to double down and say nothing's wrong if customers have an issue with your service, even if you think their issue is irrelevant and a troll. The reactor sector of youtube is getting spicey with equipment to react being cheaper and people hiring editors on the cheap. Competition is bubbling on subscription services, no matter the price. Of course, the crew is putting in work given the circumstances of today. The pandemic excuse is a good excuse but it can only go so far when someone is paying for a product and expects a certain quantity and quality and gets less than expected for over a year. Many are fine with less content in some respects less of what they want (considering there is more content these days) but when a year passes and the stress of this pandemic has built among other things...money is tight. Not everyone has that magical couch someone spoke of that holds their pocket change of $35 free dollars after all the other net spending and responsibilities. Some are paying for school, kids, houses, etc, and feel that they need to cut back on what isn't providing the most entertainment for their money. It's all opinion-based. That doesn't mean the person wants to leave. I'm really concerned by the backlash this question got since this community usually has a more academic way of handling things. Thankfully I saw plenty of takes that showcase the pros and cons of the service for someone on the fence. I think the staff is doing fine and has tons of stuff on their plate. This site lasted for over 10 years and will likely continue to grow for decades more.

This 100%.

To the topic of content. I believe that the loss of key staff have had a huge effect in content. In recent years the best premium series were initiated by Dan in my opinion, MGS and Mario Party, and with Ben gone my favorite series might be dead, Ranking of Fighters, and he had different taste in games to the rest of the crew.

Hopefully, they get a couple of new hires by the end of the year that bring in new ideas, definitely a new scientist-in-training.

@dasakamov: This. I'm the "download a bunch of videos once a week" type, so I'm probably missing some content every once in a while, but I'm still perfectly happy with premium as is.

That sucks if it isn't to your liking OP, but... the if/than statement here seems pretty simple, if you ask me.

@bakoomerang:

I feel like this thread should have just stopped here.

@davidfox1983: So far I haven't seen any petty name calling in this thread. Unless you care to elaborate the only asshole here is you.

I would pay more for premium. This is the only site I would say that about.

@frytup said:

"Netflix, which is estimated to be spending $17bn on making and licensing TV shows and films globally this year"

I don't think comparing GB to companies which spend hundreds of millions to billions on programming is a reasonable exercise.

Perhaps you should find better things to do than spam forums with BS?

@kunakai: What point are you making here?

What is the point of this thread lol. Don't subscribe if you don't want to, it's as simple as that.

@sethmode: That using companies which invest hundreds of millions into programming as a comparison for GB in a thread pertinent to the value proposition of GB doesn't make any real sense.

@kunakai: But this thread isn't about a value proposition for GB, it is speculating about a subscription fee reduction. For an entertainment service that hasn't increased in price in over a decade. It's unfair to ask them to lower their price just because a person isn't happy with the product. The solution is simple not to not subscribe. His whole point was that people make choices about their entertainment expenses every day, and if a person thinks GB is too expensive, i probably just means that person should just not be t subscribe.