I thought the point of GB was for it to be kind of a wikipedia for games, where users do most of the work? Seems odd to later on decide for a subscription service. Maybe it just me though :)
"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. "
The visits on the site have been nothing but increasing per day, which is great. I honestly think GB is one of those sites that can actually remain free if they tried (and they'd be better off for it).
So, it's not so much a preference to me that the site stay free, because I honestly think that a free, ad-based model will make GB more money than any kind of paywall. "
Not in this economy. Even the big sites liuke IGN and Gamespot are showing far fewer ads than they used to.
That said, I fully expect the majority of revenues will come from advertising and the subscription mainly to be an alternative ad-free option for those who bitch and moan about adverts.
HD content, downloadable content, and no ads. The ads aren't really a problem, but I can do without them.
I don't see any problems with a subscription model. As long as non-paying members aren't deprived of content and the cost is low, there won't be any problems with it. People shouldn't condemn it just because something extra would cost a few dollars.
I love this site more than any other but won't pay a subscription. Still, I think the idea of subscribers getting first dibs on TNT is pretty good. I have faith in Whiskey Media to not screw over the non-subscribers so we'll just see what happens...
If you are very serious about providing real feedback and ideas that you can be sure I'll read, please send them to me using the real message board. I'll post commentary for the good and bad there as I find time during our build. "
What we need to do as a community is decide and vote on the features we want most, compile a list, and then have someone snail mail it to Dave. Whose in? "
well to be honest if he's really not going to consider forum posts unless they are written on physical paper and mailed in, then he would be a dick and there would be no reason to even bother giving him any suggestions. It's not worth it to waste your time trying to argue with a bad person. I think he was either joking, or he just meant that since he is curating the "real message board" he would definitely see those posts and he would be less likely to see posts made in the rest of the forum because he doesn't have alot of time to surf it. I don't think he would intentionally ignore "digital posts". It's not as if mailing a letter makes a person necessarily smarter than a regular poster. Alot of letters are mailed by grumpy old people, or crazy people. "
I'm pretty sure as most people who have been on this site for any amount of time can tell you I take user feedback pretty seriously and read through everything when I make a direct callout. Whether that comes via a PM, a post here, a twitter response or a hand written letter. I simply gave the letter suggestion since it somewhat vets that you took the question seriously. You have to go through a bit of trouble to send a letter. Plus, it's just something fun to do and makes the process more personal. "
If we pay subscription, then the staff should have to write and send a letter back to us if we send one in via snail mail. That would be kinda awesome (also sort of like paying to have a pen-friend which is bordering on the weird so let's keep a limit on the amount of replies allowed).
Also, as I love Giantbomb as much as I imagine Jeff to love Star Trek - they should totally do a lifetime subscription.
As for all the people bemoaning the possibility of a payment model - I spend hours on this site everyday. I watch hours and hours of videos on a regular basis and the Bombcast is the highlight of my week. And I get all this for free. Why? What sense of entitlement justifies all this? I'm happy to pay a little extra as I know I'm more than getting my money's worth. These guys need to get paid to carry on this site and I doubt the Ads (which us Europeans can't see anyway) pay enough to be a long term solution.
I've been thinking about this subscription stuff since this thread started, and I think the best idea for any subscription is to keep it limited to extraneous stuff that won't significantly affect the site's content or degrade the non-subscriber's perception of value or experience. A few of the items I think a good subscription could potentially include:
No ads. Absolutely basic and easy.
I also like the idea Marino suggested in his Chik-fil-A-laced letter of added wiki/site statistics for subscribers. This wouldn't affect normal users in the least, but power users who like filling out the wiki could find a bit of use in it.
The idea of special consideration for Thursday Night Throwdowns is interesting. I would enjoy either an extra hour with subscribers getting priority, or special TNT-like events where subscribers could game with staff. I don't think the extra hour/sessions would need to be livestreamed like TNT, since that'd be even more of a hassle -- just give us a chance to game with the Giant Bomb Crew. Admittedly, this would be the roughest addition since it would indeed be a bit of a logistical nightmare, and subscribers who couldn't get in might complain about not getting their money's worth.
I like the idea of subscribers getting guaranteed spots on a GB/Tested TF2 server. In the event that would lead to too many subscribers crowding up one server, have a subscriber-only server for TF2 instead. I'd love to get back into TF2, but the Tested/GB server's almost always full and I've no clue if it's all GB/Tested members or random TF2 players clogging up the server.
From there, merchandise is pretty much all that comes to my mind. Subscribers getting an exclusive t-shirt or two as part of their yearly subscription would be very nice. A Giant Bomb Fun Club type of thing, if you will.
We know that Whiskey hates annoying ads (the mindblowers or eyedestroyers or whatever they're called), and that there's no desire to take away features for non-subscribers or create a paywall mentality. For that reason, I think little benefits that a huge Giant Bomb fan would appreciate are key to a subscription's success. If a normal user doesn't feel like they're losing out on the site's content, even if the subscription's benefits intrigue or entice them, then a subscription could be a success.
I'd like some sort of mobile option for whiskey media sites. I bought the Giant Bomb iphone app and am pretty disappointed that it hasn't been updated in forever. They could make a free iphone app that only subscribers log into. This could give mobile access to ALL the features of the sites like forums, quests and basically all the community features.
Also it would be great to have a user-videos section for wiki, especially for GB.
People saying they'd never pay, that's fine but don't bitch about subscriptions unless your ok with the site going down eventually when they run out of money.
I would probably pay for subscription as long as the cost wasn't too extreme, although I would love to see a little more access to competitions and things for people from outside the US. Otherwise any suggestion I could make has already been made so let's run down the list.
720p Video Video Download's Unified Account (Being a member of three sites, this would come in handy!)
Maybe a new homepage for the Unified Account, so I could go to one page, read followed blogs and reviews from all sites while having a jumble of all the latest from across Whiskey Media. Not an essential thing, just an idea.
there's a lot of cheapskates on here. don't worry, nobody's gonna take your precious Bombcast away. they're just going to add things for people who have a wallet that's not neon green, velcro-sealed and full of decorative smashed pennies from Sea World.
I would want to know more about the unified accounts. Because I already have an account on every wiskey media site except for ComicVine and I have another 5000 wiki points over on AnimeVice. So would i be able to transer over those wiki points to this unifired account even though I already made it. Also I have the same username on all those accounts so how would have work.
Wish List
All extras have to be EXTRA. I don't want to early access to shit stuff.
Unfied accounts to be able to show wikipoints and levels from all sites from the one profile page you're looking at. (So if I'm on your giantbomb page I can see how many point and what level you are on other sites as well)
Instant messaging other friends. So I can pop up a bar or something and chat with a friend on the site real time while their online. Kind of like facebook chat.
I don't want subscribers to be able to have all the wiki privlages you have to earn via points right away. I think people should have to earn those no matter what.
Maybe subscriber only tournaments. I know Jeff was talking about bringing back SSF4 to Thursday Night Showdown because of the tournament patch. But maybe having an offical Giantbomb tournament of "X" game.
customization could be good. i don't really have interest in Anime, so being able to take a lesser subscription that will exclude me from there would be ok with me
Exclusive forums would just lend to a potential split in the community. They have always said an emphatic "NO" to an instant messaging service on Giant Bomb. Priority edit moderation would be a nightmare for us due to the easy access to spam and destruction of the database. Reserved TNT spots would be very hard and time consuming.
A universal whiskey account would be super nice, then I wouldn't have to basically re-create the same account every time a new site gets opened. Being able to personalize my profile page a bit more would be nice as well.
I really like the idea of a universal whiskey login. I already have the same username on GB, Screened, and Tested. Someone on Comic Vine has mine but I don't think they are active really. HD videos would be nice.
" When did they talk about all this? I've been looking for a link to a discussion or mention of something said on the podcast...... ??? "
Dave talked about it on Twitter earlier last month. The staff talked about a potential subscription based model back at PAX last year. "
Okay, thanks. I really need to get into Twitter. I'm cool with a subscription service if they have some great features, unified accounts for all Whisky Media sites.
Sorry if this has already been mentioned. I'd like to be able to subscribe to a video feed that contained all original content: Quick Looks, Interviews, Mailbag, Endurance Runs etc. My work caps my access to Giant Bomb, which makes viewing video content real painful. I've taken to saving the .flv files at home and USBing them back and forth. I watch all of that stuff anyway and collating it would be more efficient. Even just an iTunes vodcast would be neat. Although it should be noted that being an Australian I can't afford the bandwidth of HD or even High quality content. I'll become a paying member, whatever it offers.
I can't find a better place to ask this but where do I find the FAQ for subs? I want to know if you need a paid for bombcast now, is there a new mobile app for paid subs? If so how do I find it/access it with a droid or is it the same one.... Thanks for the help!
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