Suggestions

I would prefer there not be anything called a "subscription" on FR.

I DO think anyone that makes a purchase from the merch store or that purchases gems should be granted ad-free browsing for a set amount of time.

[quote name="Jessyta" date="2023-11-10 10:06:11" ] I would prefer there not be anything called a "subscription" on FR. I DO think anyone that makes a purchase from the merch store or that purchases gems should be granted ad-free browsing for a set amount of time. [/quote] Y'know what? I like this. Short and sweet, if you use the Already Existing Support Options then you can opt out of ads for a limited amount of time. Staff knows how much money they generate from ads, they can decide how long you get per purchase.

I'm on another site that uses a subscription. You get access to a feature that gives you points for a special shop, and you get double of what's the equivalent of gathering. There's some extra genes you can buy, and a fancy signature thing. But that subscription uses game money, and it's not fairly expensive but most people have it because it really helps you get along.

[quote name="Jessyta" date="2023-11-10 10:06:11" ] I would prefer there not be anything called a "subscription" on FR. I DO think anyone that makes a purchase from the merch store or that purchases gems should be granted ad-free browsing for a set amount of time. [/quote] I like this!! I hate the subscription model coming out everywhere; it's predatory and often works under the assumption that people, even when not using the service, will forget to unsubscribe. I'd be more willing to support if it was a purchasable '30 days ad-free' which would have to be manually 'renewed' via purchase by the account owner. Maybe if people want to opt-in to an auto-renew subscription they could, but if FR released something like this, I'd want it to come with the Pay-As-You-Go option as well.

[quote name="italicised" date="2023-11-10 14:12:37" ] [quote name="Jessyta" date="2023-11-10 10:06:11" ] I would prefer there not be anything called a "subscription" on FR. I DO think anyone that makes a purchase from the merch store or that purchases gems should be granted ad-free browsing for a set amount of time. [/quote] I like this!! I hate the subscription model coming out everywhere; it's predatory and often works under the assumption that people, even when not using the service, will forget to unsubscribe. [b]I'd be more willing to support if it was a purchasable '30 days ad-free' which would have to be manually 'renewed' via purchase by the account owner.[/b] Maybe if people want to opt-in to an auto-renew subscription they could, but if FR released something like this, I'd want it to come with the Pay-As-You-Go option as well. [/quote] I'm sorry, I don't mean to single you out specifically but I have to bold part of this because that...that is still a subscription? Some replies to this thread seem to have a very finite idea of what is and isn't entailed in a subscription. I guess I hadn't realized how badly certain corporations have bamboozled people into thinking "Subscriptions" = Bad. Auto-renewal is an option attached to certain subscription models, but plenty of subscriptions simply end after the subscription period is up? I realize many larger corporations utilize "auto-renewal" to trick people into paying more. They also utilize things like "Free Trials" that are extremely predatory since you often have to cancel before the Free Trial ends in order to avoid being charged for a subscription. But it's those practices that are predatory, not the notion of subscriptions themselves? And I don't see any reason why FR would engage in the worst of the predatory practices that can be applied to subscriptions when they haven't engaged in predatory practices with literally any of their other revenue means? I mean, if we're going to talk predatory, ads can and usually are horrifically predatory and come with a whole host of dangers to user devices as well. FR does an incredible job trying to make sure they use ads from a reliable provider and that dangerous ads are removed but they're still just one small website and it's truly not a matter of when, not if, a damaging ad will slip through. This isn't FR's fault, it's just the nature of ads as a form of revenue. But I honestly wish more websites would move away from ad revenue entirely where and when they can. In fact, imagine a world where FR no longer needs ad revenue due to being fully funded by subscriptions and gem purchases. I don't think that'd be bad at all?

I'd like to remind everyone that the issues with subscriptions usually come from mega-corporations which are looking to increase their profits. FR is tiny in comparison to these corporations and has no reason to make absurdly expensive/'op' features

[quote name="Twizz" date="2023-11-10 21:08:48" ] [quote name="italicised" date="2023-11-10 14:12:37" ] [quote name="Jessyta" date="2023-11-10 10:06:11" ] I would prefer there not be anything called a "subscription" on FR. I DO think anyone that makes a purchase from the merch store or that purchases gems should be granted ad-free browsing for a set amount of time. [/quote] I like this!! I hate the subscription model coming out everywhere; it's predatory and often works under the assumption that people, even when not using the service, will forget to unsubscribe. [b]I'd be more willing to support if it was a purchasable '30 days ad-free' which would have to be manually 'renewed' via purchase by the account owner.[/b] Maybe if people want to opt-in to an auto-renew subscription they could, but if FR released something like this, I'd want it to come with the Pay-As-You-Go option as well. [/quote] I'm sorry, I don't mean to single you out specifically but I have to bold part of this because that...that is still a subscription? (snip) [/quote] He appears to be requesting a single month version of the ad-free service, which is actually different than a subscription in some pretty distinct ways. Even without automatic renewals, being able to buy a "minimum period" of ad-free service would help people fine tune their budgets, since a subscription necessarily has a recurring or multi-month element that would ether need to be paid monthly or all up front in one lump sum. It's like buying a single issue of a newspaper, rather than paying to have it delivered every week for a year. Multi-month bundles are usually cheaper [i]per month[/i], but more expensive overall--there are definitely users who would appreciate being able to choose whether or not ad-free FR is going to fit into their budget that month, rather than having to remember to cancel their subscription, or having the money already be gone since you paid for a 6-month ad-free 4 months ago.

@FliptheFrog Why did you snip the rest of it? I just finished reading it, and they're saying that a subscription [b]does not[/b] necessarily have a recurring payment element to it. [quote=Twizz]plenty of subscriptions simply end after the subscription period is up[/quote] So yeah, there could be just a single month payment that doesn't recurrently charge your card.

[quote name="TagonDramer" date="2023-11-10 23:08:55" ] @FliptheFrog Why did you snip the rest of it? I just finished reading it, and they're saying that a subscription [b]does not[/b] necessarily have a recurring payment element to it. [quote=Twizz]plenty of subscriptions simply end after the subscription period is up[/quote] So yeah, there could be just a single month payment that doesn't recurrently charge your card. [/quote] I snipped the quote for length, and my apologies for posting when I should have been sleeping and not making myself clear. My point was that buying a single unit of ad-free time (i.e. one month) and having it be a one-off is not a subscription--a subscription must be more than the minimum amount of time, even if you pay it once and it never bothers you again. At this point we're just arguing about what the definition of a subscription is, though. I remain supportive of the suggestion as long as it does nothing but remove ads and [i]maybe[/i] give you some gems. I also like the suggestion that buying gems would give some amount of ad-free time, and I've seen that suggested before. I would prefer a recurring paid option, but I agree that an automatic renewal that you do not opt into would not be ideal--perhaps something like a magazine subscription where you pay up front, and then are reminded at the end of the term that your subscription will be ending?

I would like a subscription option to remove ads. Believe it or not, I actually pay for this feature on Youtube. It was actually the first thing I looked for when I joined Flight Rising. Idc about getting additional perks along with it.