Should the price for premium come down?

You are not the only person in this thread.

@sethmode: I'm not so sure he was implying that a reasonable person subscribes to all of those services.

"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." (Or maybe he was, it's unclear given the opening is about gaming but diverts quickly to video streaming services)

This thread being about subscription fee relative to the content availible is the value proposition.

I'll grant you that the conclusion arrived at was that the individual shouldn't subscribe, although disagree with your assessment that it's unfair to discuss it.

The value proposition of games and such is something the GB crew speak of often. It only seems off limits when it's discussed relative to this site. (As someone who pays the highest possible rate to support the site I really don't understand why people are so dismissive).

You make a good point in regards to the price not changing over time, but depending on where you're coming from that doesn't necessarily mean it's unfair to discuss (or a reasonable price when compared to some of the prior examples).

I think the current price for premium is fine.

Never! I usually catch the sale price, which I actually think is a little too cheap. But either way, raise or lower the price, I will remain a primo member until the bitter end.

@bmcgov1209: What’s the best way to listen to the premium podcasts? I want to listen them on my phone but I usually use Spotify but that means I get ads. I pay for premium so it be nice to have the premium version of the podcasts. Thanks

Wow, I thought this would stop after 3 posts, but now it's 3 pages. Woof..

The content hasn’t intrigued me lately, but I also recognize that the past year was super fucked for a variety of reasons (COVID, departing staff, cbs games sale). Hopefully it’ll get a bit better next year.

It’s cheap enough though that I don’t mind paying the price to help the duders out, get as-free podcasts, and hope they get more staff and content soon-ish.

No.

Yes.

I just got my renewal email and promptly canceled my subscription. I'd like either a significant reduction in price or a "Podcast Premium only" subscription plan.

Outside of a few minutes of a single premium video I can't even tell you the last time I actually watched a GB Video, premium or not.

Yes. The current price is the same as it was years ago, but the quantity and quality of content aren't the same as it was. I already felt that way last year and it seems an even bigger issue now.

Either lower the price or just create some sort of new, cheaper, tier with access to less stuff. I don't have time to catch anything live and I'm rarely going to re-watch anything I've already seen in previous years. I use premium for the podcasts and the premium shows (which are almost none or lower quality since last year). I wouldn't mind paying something like $5 or $10 per year just to get ad-free podcasts + the Hotspot and nothing else.

Last year I canceled my subscription but then they promised new content and more premium shows so I gave it another try. Unfortunately, we were lied to. The only actual new show we got was The Hotspot and everything they promised started to slow down after a month. One year later, it hasn't gotten any better. This is one of the things that bother me: if we pay for a year upfront, we have to believe content will be worth it for that entire year, but that isn't the case anymore. I essentially paid for content I never got, despite their promises.

Honestly, if things keep going as they are, I won't be renewing my subscription this year.

Very well said!
I think that as long as everyone remains polite, users should be able to discuss GB's value proposition just like they discuss similar issues about everything else.

I’ve been listening to the Bombcast for a long time (8 years or more; I don’t actually know as time has lost all meaning now) but only just signed up for a premium free trial back in December (something prompted it but I forget what). I intended to unsubscribe after the trial was over but for me I’ve found the value proposition to be really worth it, so I’ve stuck with it since. I’ll watch videos piecemeal while making dinner or on my phone while my kids are watching the same episode of Bluey for the 7th time.

The Relaxed Friday Stream and the Hotspot have been worth the price of admission for me and everything else from that point has been gravy. I look at it as the cost of two coffees from Dunkin per month; totally worth it in my eye, though I could understand why others might not think so.

GameSpot, a site owned by the same companies that owned Giant Bomb for a while, does it without any sort of premium subscription and with more bills to pay (more staff, more equipment, more offices, etc).

The loyalty of many people replying is touching, I will admit that. I decided give them a couple of subs during the pandemic to help out, but only during sales. Yes, I like the original members myself. I've been following them since gamespot and when the Kane and Lynch situation happened, I was also upset by it and followed many of the original members that left until GB was eventually formed. I contributed with wiki entries and everything else you can do on the site.

But I still don't think the asking price is worth what the site has to offer at the moment. Now things might change when they get back to the office. They might get new hires and they might hit the ground running with wanting to make the site as active and feature filled like it used to be. But that's not what's happening now and if people are not pleased by that, its their right to feel so. There is no shame in it. Its their money, and if they feel that $35 a year is too much, they are probably right. I, myself, likely won't renew once my subscription is up, but we'll see...

exactly. I mean Youtuber /Twitch streamer wo work alone put out much more content compared to GB

I'm an outlier. I would pay more for Giant Bomb, which is why I try to buy their schwag whenever possible.

Just wish they'd have more posters available, and yes, I know it's not technically schwag cause the stuff is not free. I just like saying Giant Bomb schwag to all my friends when they ask where I got my jacket or shirt.

Wow, this thread is still going?

There's a lot of tense intersections happening here. First, it's totally valid to not want to stay subscribed if you think you're not getting your money's worth. There are lots of people (myself included!) who subscribe yearly as a tip jar to the staff, but not everyone can be that freewheeling with their money, and some of the responses implying $35 is just couch money are gross? I'm well employed now, but just a few years ago, when I was working minimum wage in a city that cost too much, that was an actual consideration. I had to unsubscribe for a while to help pay actual bills.

That being said, the OP framing this as "I'm not satisfied, so the GB crew should lower the price" is a stretch. GB, as a private company, has every right to price their website however they want, and we, also, have the right to not pay it for it if it's not good. Usually, free market "vOtE wItH yOuR dOlLaRs" rhetoric makes me queasy, but in the case of a website about video games run by a couple guys? Yeah, you can just stop paying. If you're in the weird middle ground of wanting access to earlier premium content, or wanting it, but thinking the price is slightly too high -- that sucks, and that can factor in your personal decision -- yet asking "hey can you guys lower the price please" is... a loaded question.

So, instead of talking about that personal calculation, parts of this thread are devolving into the implied, ever-present, "IS GIANT BOMB NOT AS GOOD AS IT USED TO BE" discussion. My post count might not imply it, but I've been here since 2008 when the site started, and have supported them (when I can) since premium subscriptions first went live. In 2012, I was certain the site had declined, since it would never be as good as 2009 was. (So many classic quick looks, the Endurance Run!) In 2013, I was certain it had declined since 2011. In 2018, I was sure it had declined since Austin left.

It's just rose tinted glasses, and it's easier to enjoy the "best of" certain years in an archive you can choose from, rather than logging in every day. And this near-constant harkening back to some mythical pre-lapsarian Golden Age in Giant Bomb (which is comically different for every person, usually dated to when they first started watching the site, with a couple of years afterward being the obvious paradigm shift that marked the end of "good Giant Bomb") is getting tiring. The site has changed a lot, for some normal, and for some abrupt, tragic reasons.

You can't reduce that complicated history into "well it should be $3 instead of $5."

@lapsariangiraff: I know you didn't quote me directly, but I have mentioned the price of a subscription. So, in case anyone is unclear what I meant, (and what I personally think @frytup meant when he mentioned it) I would just like to point out again that my reasoning for referencing it wasn't about telling people how to spend their money, or claiming that the subscription cost was cheap enough that anyone should be able to pay it. It was more about pointing out the fact that the subscription price is really cheap, and that if you can't pay it at the current price, it's probably best you just not subscribe at all right now than pine for a $2 reduction in price or, in the case of the OP, just leave this open-ended thread that doesn't even address the issue and still, to me, feels like just a way to disguise a dig on the site and staff.

@sethmode: So, I agree with that more clarified position, and I think that was the position that you and @frytup came to in subsequent posts after your initial thoughts. I was mostly talking about him.

That being said, that initial post was rough? The statement "$35 is couch cushion money, go away" with no other context is just saying "it's so cheap, why wouldn't you pay that?" Again, I agree with Frytup's comments about it in relation to other subscriptions in the US, and after reading his other posts, I have no problem with him, but that first post hit my ears as Very Wrong.

Revealing my age here, but that framing reminded me of the first episode of that Halo machinima "Arby 'n the Chief," where Arbiter says, "I don't think the halo map pack is worth $10," and Master Chief says, "Hahaha, I wipe my ass with $10! Who doesn't have $10?"

But again, he clarified later. So I'm blowing a lot of hot air over nothing, I guess.

Came here to say this, but probably not as well. So thanks!

@slax: Thanks! <3

And you know this how exactly?
citation required

If you are unhappy with the quality of their service that's totally valid way to feel. everybody has things they like and don't like and their own perceptions of value

but unless you are actually part of Red Ventures's management team you have no idea what revenue supports what in the company. None of us do

I've no idea about the output of Gamespot, I know from hearing people talk about it that they do podcasts and shows etc, like most sites. Do they let you download videos? That's something I've not seen many places do and one thing that they at least do on Giant Bomb.

I'm fine with the price point, I use it like a tip jar like others have suggested - however would I suggest to anyone if I think it's worth it to become a new subscriber? Honestly right now probably not. I'd maybe suggest to buy a month and then go back and watch X, Y and Z and then let it lapse. Or just get the trial. I haven't really been checking out any of the premium stuff in a while now for more than a few minutes because it's just not that entertaining to me.

I agree with others that anyone questioning how people spend their money or saying shit like "Oh if you can't afford $35..." is all sorts of shitty.

@arcticpandapopz - most podcast apps will let you paste an RSS URL which will contain a key that unlocks the premium version. There's a guide about it here

These threads are always really weird to me. When I stop paying for a subscription service because it is no longer valuable to me, I don't also feel the need to post about it on a forum. Maybe people do that here because we all think that Giant Bomb isn't a faceless corporate entity to its viewers like, say, Netflix is. Except...in terms of how much you, the individual viewer, can change business practices, it might as well be. If they wanted to offer a service that cost less, they could do so. But they don't.

I wish GB put out more content and was more communicative with its audience about the content it was going to put out. I agree with that sentiment. I just don't think being shitty about it on this forum is the way to express that.

I've been a subscriber for 5 years now, and I will continue to be for a while because while I wish there was more, I still see value in what I get. That said, I find it utterly baffling when people say they would willingly pay more. It's such a weird notion. I've never seen anyone say they want to pay more for ANY subscription service. It's just really, really weird.

Why are you being so negative? I see pointless discussion threads all the time, but I don't also feel the need to belittle everyone over it. Maybe we do that here because we are human beings with feelings and sometimes want to express those feelings and see what others have to say about them. Except...the people here are total strangers who are not invested in your feelings. If they wanted to connect with you and have a sincere discussion, they could do so. But they don't.

I wish someone could talk about being disappointed in something they love without it sounding negative and unconstructive. I agree with that sentiment. I just don't think being shitty and dismissive about it on this forum is the way to express that.

I've been a human person for a number of years now, and I will continue to be until I am dead. That said, I find it honestly tiring when people fake being baffled at human emotions to try and seem aloof. I understand why they do it, because it is glaringly obvious. I just kind of wish they didn't.

i feel like this thread is within spitting distance of becoming a baked goods drive.

@jesus_phish: I’ve come to treat Premium like Xbox Live Gold. It sort of made sense when it was established and even though it doesn’t really make as much sense anymore it’s cheap enough and if you don’t pay you don’t get the content so it’s not really a choice. I’d rather Premium offered incentives and bonuses aside from no ads instead of paywalling content but I say this fully knowing that if they did this I would stop being a premium user. I’ve been “tipping” for about 10 years now and if anything my financial situation has consistently improved where the $35 a year isn’t a problem. That said I increasingly don’t know why its even still there since as I mentioned above the days of being a scrappy upstart are long past them.

Yeah hi. I've been a premium member pretty much since it started. I can afford it so will keep on paying, however I agree with some here that the sub is rather expensive considering the quality of the content has gone down during the pandemic IMO. I think it would be better if GB made all video/podcast content free for all, and setup a Patreon style pay system for those who would still like to chuck the team a few extra pennies.

@humanity: They have alluded to it on video a few times that the sub numbers help keep the site going. Obviously none of us can see those numbers or what they really mean, but I'm going to assume Jeff and Vinny are decent people and are not lying. Maybe the sub numbers are the thing that stop the owners from just rolling GB and GS into one unit. Maybe there's some weird backend deal thats grandfathered in. Who knows.

But I get your point. If I was someone new to both sites - I would question why the site with less output has a subscription fee over the one with more output.

Lol, no.

This subscription is a lot cheaper than your average Patreon Subscription with a lot more content. I thinking of those patreon's that are 5 dollars a month for a 1 hour podcast episode a week.

Extremely silly thing to ask.

It's incredible to me that you unfairly lectured me in another thread about making assumptions about the nature of Dan Ryckert's job when I knew nothing about what all he did (which, again, I wasn't even doing), and then you come and literally do that ACTUAL thing you lectured about here. You have ZERO idea what GBs makeup was with CBSi, nor do you know what it is with Red Ventures. None of us know. To assume they are unjustly taking people's money (like you are here by comparing them to Gamespot and alluding to them doing less work despite being premium) is basically like saying you think they're sleazy dudes out to grift you. Pretty disrespectful, all things considered. We have no idea what the premium subscriptions mean behind closed doors, and I choose to assume that Jeff is a fucking monster just cackling while he takes subscription money and lines his pockets with it.

If we're insisting on talking about value propositions, everyone in this thread is forgetting that premium also removes all ads from the website. Out of curiousity, I looked up Google and Facebook's estimated average ad revenue per active user over the past year and came up with $36.2 and $29.25 respectively for 2019. Clearly those are advertising operations on a completely different scale than GB but it's useful to think about when you consider that GB's revenue streams are ads and subs (and merchandise but I'd guess that's comparatively much smaller) which are mutually exclusive.

People are going to have to do their own value judgements on how much this factors into their calculations but assuming you're at least minimally invested in GB continuing to exist, you're contributing to revenue either through a sub or viewing/hearing ads (or buying merch I guess) so it's fairly important to remember in the context of a value proposition conversation that the alternative to premium isn't strictly 'free'.

(Obviously adblockers exist but that's a whole separate conversation that isn't strictly relevant as it distorts the scope.)

I've subbed since they began, and for years now have only had the time to consume GB mostly through podcasts so what premium adds to the site doesn't affect my usage of it (I'm too lazy to listen to the pods without ads). Similar to others I pay premium as a "tip jar".

When GB is at a point where content seems lesser because they can't be as productive (lost staff, corporate change, have to work from home, etc.) there is an upswing of conversations ("is $$$ too much?" "site used to be better?" "I'm leaving GB") that all say the same thing: The value feels less than it used to. Valid feeling. I don't get annoyed when I see these discussion pop up like many seem to.

...

The thought of GB's value proposition in this industry has definitely popped into my head recently. When it started it was a scrappy upstart with all stars from Gamespot, building a games reviews/previews/news platform with a unique Wikipedia of games twist that put in effort to engage it's users in that process. GB never blew up enough to get to that size so the output of content like reviews etc would never reach a tipping point of making GB the place where one goes to look for that kind of information. Other Wiki sites ate GB wiki's lunch as well. Since then "games media" has bifurcated and written reviews/lengthy criticism etc are really focused on by some sites along with breaking news which GB isn't in a position to do. The "entertainment" portion of the industry has democratized to the point where anyone who is entertaining enough is incentivized to try being their own boss instead of joining a team like GB. Most of the people who fit this mold and joined GB have done exactly this. Dunno where this leaves GB for the long term future. It's output is identical to a Youtube/Twitch/Patreon sub (video of people playing games) but it's inexpensive. I like the GB crew and through inertia + comfort I'll probably listen to them as long as they do this. It's tough for me to see where they uniquely stand out but maybe they don't have to. Plenty of people do this same kind of work and have their own audience and make a living so GB can do that. When the pandemic is over E3 shows would showcase how their longevity and status in this industry sets them a part by allowing them to have large groups of industry veterans have conversations in groups. Those E3 nightly chats are at this point the piece of content that feels the most uniquely GB, or something I couldn't find elsewhere. May I could but I'm not looking, who knows.

This last paragraph is tangential to the discussion in this thread and can be ignored lol. I woke up a few hours too early and decided to type out my thoughts.

I don't exactly think they need to lower the price, but it's plainly obvious to anyone looking that they aren't delivering nearly as much for the money as they used to. I've been trying to be as patient as possible given some stuff that they've been hit with lately but it's been almost a half year of diminishing returns at this point.

Rather than lower the price what I really want is for them to just staff up sooner rather than later and get back to their former glory, if they can do that I'd gladly pay more than what they're currently charging. I don't know if they're just waiting until they can meet people in person or what, but the extent to which they've slowed to a crawl and aren't really acknowledging it has been off-putting.

@sethmode: I didn't say any of the negative things about GB that you have accused me of saying and I never called them any of that.

But I've noticed you have this weird tendency of wanting to start fights by taking people's words you disagree with and twist them to pit people against each other and make you look morally superior. Not just with me, but with a ton of other users on this site who are just trying to have a conversation. So, whatever.

@humanity: I completely agree with you!

@roadshell: They have mentioned they would prefer to hire new people in person than doing job interviews by zoom calls, which is completely understandable considering how the site usually works when they're in their offices/studios.

I think a big problem with the premium model is the sheer amount of non-information you get from the staff.

Aside from the three podcasts, there's never any indication really to a solid plan, or series, or anything. It seems to be "Here's a slapped together livestream" that you'll only catch if you're on the frontpage at the exact right time.

Vinny's thread about ongoing content was a good idea, but like a lot of things, it fizzled out pretty quickly

@sombre: Even the "coming up" seems to sometimes be missing features up until about an hour or so before it'll actually happen. Like the drum stream won't show up in that box, but it'll still happen at the normal time, but if you don't know that's the normal time it makes it look like nothing is happening.

@lapsariangiraff: It's not just nostalgia. Honestly, please remind me about the time when Giant Bombs entire offering was UPF and Playdate?

People are understandably very defensive of Giant bomb and I get it, I've been a premium member since 2014. I still think the criticism is very valid, it is not like it comes from nowhere.

@besetment: Look, I wasn't responding to anyone in particular because there have been a lot of different viewpoints. Some people expressed disappointment without being jerks. I even expressed disappointment. But there are some people who are being extremely negative and acting like that disappointment ought to be reflected in price. There are people who are straight up accusing GB of lying. Now that's negative.

I was responding to the whole premise of this thread, which is...no. The price isn't gonna come down just because some people are disappointed with it. It's a nonsensical notion. It's simply not how things work.

You seem to have ascribed other beliefs or intent to my post. I'm not "pretending" to be aloof or whatever else you think.

@bleichman: I mean it definitely doesn't come from nowhere because this topic is like clockwork. For as long as there has been premium there has been a semi regular recurrence of this topic complaining that there isn't enough to justify it.

I just want quests back on the wiki. I'll pay more per year to get that to happen.

Also it's been so long since I tuned in that I didn't realize Ben and Abby were leaving (left) until today.

@efesell: I know it's a recurring topic but I don't think the output has ever been this low or so uninspired. Previously it usually happens when the community starts whining about a specific crew member (which always sucks), like Dan or Patrick, this is not the case here.

*seconded