Would You Recommend Premium Membership?

Having ads on the site might not be a big deal for a lot of people, but for me it's nice to have at least one place without them, especially considering how many other things you can pay for and still have ads (TV, magazines, and even Hulu Plus these days). I like having the choice between viewing ads and supporting the site directly. For those who like the direct support idea, it's also a chance to participate and show the validity of such a model.

I can't stand ads. I was disappointed there wasn't a thanksgiving sale but I think the reason they kept having discount membership sales last year was a final money grab before handing over the books to CBSi which I assume now get a cut.

Random PC Game and Load our Last Save were really good features, as are the day long retro streams. But...those seem to be things of the past, replaced with Spookin With Scoops and the occasional Jar Time video, which I personally didn't enjoy.

If you wanna support the site, it's a good way to do it, but I feel like they can't act like the small indie site they used to be.

Thing I hate: Relying on the video player or youtube to watch vdeos.

Thing I love: Using my Premium Membership to download videos to my PC and watching them in 720p on VLC Media Player without interruption or buffer-lag.

The accidental Let's Play of Phantasmagoria they did last year is probably one of the best things on this site. Period. While this year has been a bit slim as compared to last year, you could always do the thing where you subscribe for a month, download all of the premium videos, and then unsub once the month is up. I did that for a while, and then I bought a yearly sub when they were on sale this summer.

There's plenty of exclusive goodies for subscribers. Random PC Game is worth the price of admission alone.

I never thought I'd pay for membership on a website like this, but I took the plunge about a year ago and have yet to regret my decision.

I pay just to keep the site alive. I'd pay even if there was nothing locked behind a pay wall I'd still want to support the guys.

I think the subscriber content is some of the best on this site. If you meter monthly subscriptions, you can consume all the subscriber content for less than a yearly membership. Dirty, yes, but if you really want it and are short on cash, it's a good excuse. Getting rid of ads is a great bonus, too. The ads on this site have never really bothered me, but god damn, I can't stand the Black Ops Declassified ad or that smug-ass Speedstick motherfucker. But most of all, I do it to support the guys. Before I came here, I didn't follow any video game news sites. None of them clicked with me like this place does and these people do.

I like the variety of subscriber content. I like the behind the scenes site redesign stuff just as much as the random game stuff. If you aren't certain go with the monthly for 1 or 2 billing cycles.
Also. 1 Jeff, 1 cup.. oh sorry.. "Jar Time" is pretty good.

Again, great feedback everyone, I appreciate it. Lots of love for "random PC game" and more than a few people have mentioned the "Phantasmagoria" play through in particular. Spookin with Scoops seems kind of cool. But as with what seems like the majority of folks here, I always look for either Jeff, Ryan, Vinny or Brad content in particular. No problem with Patrick at all, I just like at least one of the 4 fellas to be in on everything. I suppose that's a little unrealistic with the amount of content though. I guess I should give other guys like Drew a good listen more often.

@Itwongo said:

The ads on this site have never really bothered me, but god damn, I can't stand the Black Ops Declassified ad or that smug-ass Speedstick motherfucker.

More and more, the ads are driving me crazy. One of the biggest selling points for me along with just the basic support of the fellas and their site model is getting free of the advertising.

The features everyone else has mentioned sort of speak for themselves. Random PC Games are absolutely great, for example, and a lot of the old one-off features are fun too. Is an ongoing subscription worth it? IMO, not really. But cumulatively, a subscription is worth it at least for a little while to see what's there at least for now. Premium content doesn't come often enough to be totally worth it, in my view, but if you've never seen any of the content before, there's a few weeks worth of good times there before it all dries up and isn't replenished nearly as often as it should be. 

Does Axel Foley put bananas in tailpipes? (man I'm old...)

@Marokai said:

The features everyone else has mentioned sort of speak for themselves. Random PC Games are absolutely great, for example, and a lot of the old one-off features are fun too. Is an ongoing subscription worth it? IMO, not really. But cumulatively, a subscription is worth it at least for a little while to see what's there at least for now. Premium content doesn't come often enough to be totally worth it, in my view, but if you've never seen any of the content before, there's a few weeks worth of good times there before it all dries up and isn't replenished nearly as often as it should be.

Eh, Im really in it for HD video/no ads. The bonus content is just a plus IMO

Premium access websites or premium sections of website are never worth it.

heeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllll yeeahhh it's worth it. mobile site, tons oh videos, no ads and more videos.

There will be a thanksgiving sale sometime this week, guaranteed. Pick up a cheaper membership then.

@AlisterCat said:

There will be a thanksgiving sale sometime this week, guaranteed. Pick up a cheaper membership then.

There is one right now.

I signed up a couple of months ago, and so far, between live streams, and the back catalog, as well as the ability to download videos with the subscriber feeds, has been worth it for me.

If anything, being able to show my support for the great work they do has been worth it.

That said, I think I'll try to grab a discounted one next year since I doubt I'll ever use my store code, so I'd rather pay the $35, and forgo the code.

Grabbed it, incredible timing with the holiday sale going on. Thanks everyone who chimed in, definitely helped me make up my mind!

Oh! What did you do?! Yeah! You really did it!