Whiskey Media Subscription service (wish list)

" @ajamafalous said:

" It's been said a bunch, but I just want to reinforce the sentiment that anything that segregates the community is a bad idea, whether it be a tag by their name (subscribers then seeing themselves as better than dirty non-subscribing peasants)"

  "

" @ajamafalous said:

" It's been said a bunch, but I just want to reinforce the sentiment that anything that segregates the community is a bad idea, whether it be a tag by their name (subscribers then seeing themselves as better than dirty non-subscribing peasants), exclusive video or audio content (Quick Looks, Podcasts, Endurance Runs, whatever), or something similar. The only media I can think of that would be worthy of a subscription would be stuff like behind-the-scenes office videos and the like, but they already shoot and livestream a ton of those. Will they suddenly stop doing them as often to hold back some for paying customers? Will they then feel obligated to meet a quota for the subscribers, resulting in some videos feeling forced?  Not sure why a ton of people are asking for the ability to download videos, you can do that now. Last year I filled up my hard drive downloading the first 50-some-odd episodes of the P4ER.  Also, if animated avatars or forum signatures happen, I'll likely stop visiting the forums. "

I wouldn't pay for the behind the scenes stuff. I'd be far more more inclined to pay for content relevant to videos games i.e. Quick Looks, AMAs, ERs (Or MMO things like The Matrix Online feature etc.) Basically HD video content is something I would pay for. News and other text based editorial features should contiue to be available for free as should the wiki side of things. If that would split the community then so be it. If this site's video content entertains and/or informs you then why wouldn't you be willing to pay for it? "

There was one point in time when I was 14, and I wanted to play Runescape. I didn't have a credit card, so I whined about the subscription fee. Then I grew up, and played World of Warcraft since I could pay for it. This is the same for Giant Bomb.com, my favorite website. 15 year olds will whine about an optional subscription fee that won't be that much at all. Older users will either choose to pay for the service because the added features are worth the payment, or they don't because they feel it isn't worth it for them. The cycle continues in perpetuity for all eternity.

That makes no sense at all.
 
Giant Bomb isn't a game...wait...OH SHIT.

As long as the premium content wouldn't ordinarily be free, I fine with paid membership. 
 
Edit: Also, an exclusive forum devoid of reposts, pointless polls, and trolling would be an excellent addition.

" @Feanor:  Is not that, a lot of us are the main contributers for this site "WIki" are we going to get money too? Is kinda unfair... This site was ment to be something that all its community contribute not with money but with a share passion for computer games.   If they didn't have the money, why would you go to places like the Arcade Showdown thing they went last weekend, or to E3. or Comic-con, things like that ain't cheap. Haven't they got sponsors? Sponsorship is the best way to make money fast. No charging people for a service that is good as it is.   "

Why do people keep talking about this. I don't like it. No. NO.

I'm telling you, give us a donate button and sell us more merch. I know I'd toss a few bones there way a few month if it means more content from the guys on the site, and I would totally be down for a GB skull cap, or a poster for the home office or a hoodie. They have a fanatic fan base, a lot of us want to give them money to ensure the content keeps coming, they should take advantage of it without dividing the community. 

" I'd pay to get the glitched alignment and color Kung Fu Viking had at launch.
 

No I wouldn't

Shit was awesome

"

Just for clarificiation: Will unified accounts be for non-paying members too? I wanna make an account on animevice but I'm waiting for universal login.

Whatever awesome cool goodies they offer, make sure they apply here in the UK too. I know this is an American site, but I'm disappointed when things are locked to the US.
 
But unified accounts is the biggest deal -- and I think that has to be free. Seeing as GiantBomb doesn't have ads, it's hard to see where they could go with a paid model. The team are working at capacity anyway, so it's not like they'd be adding extra content. I really don't know what they could offer. I'm glad I don't have to come up with it.

Behind the scene-stuff. Nothing else.

I would probably do it if it was reasonable and if the unified accounts thing didn't immediately screw me over in the quest department.  I love doing the GB quests, but I don't bother on the other sites because I don't use those sights.  If all of a sudden my level that I worked hard for is all of a sudden not impressive at all because people are pulling from 3 other sets of experience points then i am done with quests and I will just be pissed off that I took the time to do the quests

I think that any paid-only content is kinda dumb. There isn't really a lot of content to begin with, splitting it up is just going to cause a lot of resentment amongst those people that can't or don't want to pay for a subscription service.  
 
Having said that, some more customization options on profiles etc might be cool - the ability to arrange the contents of my profile with increased flexibility, a drag-and-drop type layout for example. Removing ads and giving me HD videos would be cool also. 
 
Having said all that, I probably wouldn't support a paid subscription model. Because I am a student with no money. You are going to have to consider that a lot of the users here are kids and teenagers who don't have a lot of disposable income. Nothing personal, guys... 

Look at Xbox Live.  Create reasons to pay a subscription not make people pay for stuff they were already using. 
 
Don't know if I'd pay for it but I'm interested in what you offer Senior Whiskey

I would support.  But with all the features you currently have for free it would be muy tough to create a subscription model without taking those things away.  And if you took the free stuff away you would lose a TON of users.  But either way I would probably pay for it.

i would like to keep using these websites without paying money 

No fees please

Some things I'd like to see for a subscription service would be downloadable HD video and maybe a video version of the Bombcast. I'd love to be able to watch the GB videos on my tv instead of my PC.

I kind of understand why they are going down this road. It cant be cheap to run,maintain and improve all the Whiskey Media sites. 
On the other hand i hope the site's will stay the same and its extra exclusive stuff that you have to pay for. There is probably many who want to buy an subscription but just does not have the money for it (including me for the time being) 
Anyway i have full confidence in everybody, the developers, engineers, the GB crew, Tested Crew, Screened Crew, Anime Vice Crew and of course the Comic Vine Crew, and that they will continue to make their sites awesome.

On the other hand i hope the site's will stay the same and its extra exclusive stuff that you have to pay for.

Persona 5 endurance run, then Persona 6, then 7, 8 , 9 and so on. :p

I'd pay for an ad-free experience with HD streaming and normal http HD video downloads. Please don't create any premium-only content articles or videos. Also, iPad compatible typing box for comments and forums would be sweet.

I'd pay to have a Whiskey Media member of my choosing do the voice for my answering machine.

" I'd pay to have a Whiskey Media member of my choosing do the voice for my answering machine. "

For me the subscription all depends on what is offered versus the price, and hopefully they don't set it up to where you lose out on a lot of content or key features because of it. I do like the idea of unified accounts though.

I don't buy this, sorry.
 
Your guys' operating costs have increased with this new office, among other shit, and that's what this subscription revenue is probably supposed to address. If you guys are desperately seeking money, then that's fine, but this better not be a rational business decision or you're just setting up for failure.
 
It doesn't matter if current features stay free: the second you institute some sort of payment system, GiantBomb.com will never get better at the cost of nothing to the consumer, and that to me is bad practice. Every free feature you release will make you lose subscriptions and keep hits ("what am I paying for?"). Every premium feature you release will make you lose hits and keep subscriptions ("fuck this, i don't want to have to pay for the full experience").
 
The correct response to that, then, would be to always make premium services and never make free ones ($$ > hits if you don't have enough ad revenue [which you won't because you've invested capital in the premium part of the site]). Happens fucking everywhere, please don't do this. 
 
Do micro-transactions or do a profitable swag store, but please don't do subscriptions. It's a mire you won't get out of.

I can't think of anything Whiskey could do that I would pay for to be honest, though that's not to say I'm opposed to the idea. HD video seems like a good idea for those that want it. Also they could do something like band fan clubs sometimes do and send out a members-only shirt once a year or something.

Ad free would definitely be nice. Discounts on future Giantbomb merchandise? Unify accounts sounds good.  Although separating things that are already available, like video features and interviews, does not agree with me at all.

God, this is such a terrible idea. If you wanted paid for content, it should have been part of the original site model. I can get news that's better written than Nicholson at Joystiq. I can use Metacritic as my stop for review scores. I can use the Feedback as my gaming podcast. All of these are free. Seriously Whiskey Media, don't do it. You'll ruin what you've made here.

They can do whatever they want. They are just no longer ever allowed to complain about DLC prices or nickel and diming people or Kotick ever again. 
 
Agreed?

" They can do whatever they want. They are just no longer ever allowed to complain about DLC prices or nickel and diming people or Kotick ever again.  Agreed? "

" @cooljammer00 said:

" They can do whatever they want. They are just no longer ever allowed to complain about DLC prices or nickel and diming people or Kotick ever again.  Agreed? "

Agreed. "

" @Mrnitropb said:

" @cooljammer00 said:

" They can do whatever they want. They are just no longer ever allowed to complain about DLC prices or nickel and diming people or Kotick ever again.  Agreed? "

Agreed. "

Double Agreed.  I love the Giant Bomb crew and all but the idea of a subscription to whiskey media just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  "

Subscription? Honestly? Very few websites have been able to pull off a subscription model. Even those are just "100 more gigs of storage!" and "No Ads!".  Easy way out if you're wanting to get money out of a site. 
 
Having unified accounts as a subscriber exclusive feature is dumb. They should be wanting to aim for a universal community. If I see someone posting a blog post, a comment, forum post, or whatever on a different Whiskey site from my Giantbomb activity feed... I'm likely to head over there, view the content, and possibly click on an ad. I may even bookmark the site and regularly visit it. 

IF they have to resort to something as petty as a subscription model here's some obvious things to include: 
  

• A download video feature 
• HD content 
• No ads      
• Priority slots in TNT and the Giantbomb/Tested TF2 server (automatically kicks a non subscriber) 
• Priority in the Wiki Edit queue 
• A stupid ass shiny gold star next to your name

Why are so many people whining about this?
It's optional!!
Having to pay for some extra shit will not be the death of Giantbomb, nor will it deter any valuable community members.
Anyway, I don't watch videos on here as my graphics card is retarded. And i rarely see ads, pretty hard to think what could actually benefit me from paying unless i get some cool merchandise or members-only Custom Profile, username change, VIP forum/features etc

Pay for giant bomb? How much we talking?  
  
HD VIds is good 
Unified accounts. but I already have accounts on most of the sites anyway so as long as I can unify those then great.   
I always thought that GB should have games, just get those puzzle quest guys to shit out a Giant Bomb themed puzzle game or something. I just want more achievments to obsess over. Oh snap a Telltale games GB adventure game. That would be great. I really just want to see more cartoon versions of the staff.  
 Hire a really good game guide writer and have exclusive game guides.  
 
 
I really dont know though. I would pay just for the privilege of coming to this site. This a great place and I love it here. 
 
 
ONE THING THOUGH, I ain't paying a cent until I get PSN Trophy tracking on the site. I don't care if you have to kidnap Jeff Rubenstien to do it, just do it.  
 
But then SONY would just dispatch Kevin Butler to rescue him so damn...

" What ever it was, I wouldn't pay for it. "

So:
 
1) Unified Account
2) HD-Video
3) Ad-Free
4) Video Download ( You can already do it with a plugin but still)
5) Device Access (Ipad and stuff xD)
6) More Live Interaction
 
looks like a good list but it should not be more than $19,99 a Year

I'm sure they would come up with something creative beyond "bro, you can see HD video". I can't think of any standard website subscription services i would pay for on GiantBomb.

" So:  1) Unified Account 2) HD-Video 3) Ad-Free 4) Video Download ( You can already do it with a plugin but still) 5) Device Access (Ipad and stuff xD) 6) More Live Interaction  looks like a good list but it should not be more than $19,99 a Year "

" I don't buy this, sorry.
 
Your guys' operating costs have increased with this new office, among other shit, and that's what this subscription revenue is probably supposed to address. If you guys are desperately seeking money, then that's fine, but this better not be a rational business decision or you're just setting up for failure.
 

So what is the source of this 9/9 announcement thing that seems to have people in a tizzy?

"The company has never made money, in the new offices or the old.  Save a very few ads across the 2 years they have been funded entirely by investors.  Those investors expect the sites to turn a profit - be it advertising or pay wall - sooner or later so they can get their money back and eventually a reasonable return. "

I do not want a subscription. I enjoy giantbomb a lot but i wouldnt pay for a subscription.  I dont to be left out of things because i dont pay. I think the way the sites run now is great.