I want a CS account BUT...

[Goddess FallenAngel]

My $.02... I would like a CS account, but really can't afford it. And frankly, the only two things that attract me are the search and the custom user titles (and I can do without the latter). So, although I love ENworld, I am but a struggling student who *just* graduated and *just* moved out of my home state, so no CS account anytime soon.

If I could get just the search for $10/year, I'd snap it up in a hearbeat.

 

[Kryndal Levik]

I'm in the same boat as many others- been coming to the site for years, but I can't justify a $35 yearly charge to pay for only a search function, especially knowing that RPGNow is getting a big hunk of it. Would love to be able to search, not to mention support the site, but $35 just seems excessive to me. Not criticizing- in fact, I, like many others, wish there was an option that was less costly and inclusive of all of the "bells and whistles" I know I will never use.

 

[Morrus]

I still think (Sorry for harping on it Morrus) that a PBS-style pledge drive method for raising funds would be better than relying on CSA money. Give everyone CSA privileges FOR FREE and just run a voluntary fundraiser every year. Throw in a free PDF or something for donors, a la the PBS handbags. I'm almost certain that will generate more money than waiting for someone to finally bite the bullet and buy a CSA. And it means EN World's chances of getting into dire straits like it did last year would be a lot lower.

I don't think that simple donations are something I'd be willing to try again. Those who tend to frequent certain other messageboards will know what I'm talking about, but considerable negative "fallout" from that rears its ugly head fairly regularly (mainly from people who didn't actually donate, ironically).

 

[Heretic Apostate]

So, Morrus, is there some OTHER way of getting the membership fee to you? Someone accepting paypal payments, for instance, and forwarding a check to you? Or someone accepting a real-world paper check? Because I meant what I said, that $10 surcharge is just too much.

Even though I don't visit much anymore, I still like the site, and still want to support it. It just seems unfair, though, that rpgnow is charging so much for the use of their system.

And I'm going to stop typing now, because sleep-typing is never a good idea.

 

[Morrus]

That would work for people here in the UK, who are welcome to contact me to make alternative arrangements. For those abroad, it's really not practical, I'm afraid. Dealing with foreign cheques is a nightmare, costs money, and they take weeks to clear.

If I hadn't had such trouble with PayPal in the past, I'd use that method in a heartbeat. But I don't feel I can trust PayPal given their history with me.

 

[BrooklynKnight]

Id suggest using a proxy for paypal, but that was wreak havoc on their taxes.

I don't think that simple donations are something I'd be willing to try again. Those who tend to frequent certain other messageboards will know what I'm talking about, but considerable negative "fallout" from that rears its ugly head fairly regularly (mainly from people who didn't actually donate, ironically).

I too think that a once a year donation drive would work better. Enworlders have time and time again donated their money. From helping you get to gencon last year, to bailing out the site, to helping The gamers bag, and more I think.

I have no doubt that the majority of them would be willing to do it again. Granted some might be less inclined until they see the previous donation go to work (when the new server goes live), but I still think many people would donate between 10 and 25 (the majority), and 5-500(a rare few) once a year to keep their favorite community breathing. I too wouldnt hestitate, despite being out of work.

Could you clarify what you mean by fallout? I'm not familar with what event you're pointing out.

 

[Magus Coeruleus]

just agreeing

Just wanted to add my agreement. I take a peek at the site every 1-3 days, and occassionally get involved in threads. I would love to have some search capability, but $35/year is just too much. I think ENWorld's great but for me the gap between what I get for free and what I'd want out of a CSA is not worth $35/year. I would gladly pay $10/year to get some search capability. If I were interested in all of the other features maybe I would be willing to pay more. I have often wondered whether ENWorld is maximizing its revenue with the current CSA price or whether a lower price would increase revenue due to increased volume of sales.

 

[DaveMage]

I have often wondered whether ENWorld is maximizing its revenue with the current CSA price or whether a lower price would increase revenue due to increased volume of sales.

Actually, we kinda found out last year. I believe that during the drive CS accounts were offered for *any* donation, no matter how small. I do not know how many received CS accounts for a lesser donation - but Morrus would, and that data can certainly be used to determine if such a thing would be worthwhile.

Incidentally, a multi-year option for a CS account would also be desirable (maybe with a discount?). 1 year: $35, 2 years: $65, 3 Years: $90, something like that.

Just a thought.

 

[BSF]

*shrug* I can understand that there are many gamers with budget issues. Been there, done that, now I have more discretionary income. It's not a big deal. For some people, a tiered approach might work quite nicely. I don't know.

What I do know is that I get a strong community feel from EN World. I have met an EN Worlder that I game with regularly. There are Story Hours that I read. There are Ceramic DM contests that I love. There are thoughtful discussions, there are less thoughtful discussions. I get a lot of ideas, I try to toss a few idea seeds of my own out there. I easily get as much enjoyment and as much value out of EN World as I do out of many gaming books. Could I enjoy that benefit for free? Sure I could. But, somebody is paying for server space and bandwidth. EN World generates overhead that has to be paid for. I can enjoy it for free, but not if expenses end up being too high and EN World goes away.

I treat it as a gaming item I want out of my discretionary income. I could make do without all the features. I could make do without EN World. I could make do without the Book of Exalted Deeds, the Complete Warrior, The Book of Fiends, and several other books. But, I don't want to. I want EN World to stick around. I want to support the community so the public access clubhouse sticks around. The search funtionality is nice. The Custom title is nice, even if it is an "in-joke" for the people in the group I play in. The thousand+ posts a day of stuff to read is great.

Is the cost too high? I don't know. What percentage is taken by taxes where Morrus lives? Is the chunk that RPGNow takes too high? I don't know, what do they end up paying in gross receipts taxes? The percentages on those amounts probably won't change. Morrus says that $35 at RPGNow helps him keep running. I trust that. Because I lurked here for a while, it was easy for me to feel like my first community supporter sign-up was for services rendered. If something happens and Morrus needs to shut EN World down, I will be sad, but I will never feel cheated.

 

[Morrus]

The ideas here are good, but there is one reason why they wouldn't work. If the search option were suddenly available for, say, $10, I guarantee that I would be deluged by people who paid $35 when all they wanted was the search, and who felt they had been "cheated" in some way. While, of course, I wouldn't refund anything in that circumstance, it would cause a lot of ill feeling.

I agree with BardStephenFox on the issue. Look on it as a gaming purchase, much like a book. Decide for yourself whether you think it's worth the $35. If you don't think it's worth it, there's no pressure; unlike an RPG book, you are in the unique position of choosing not to pay for it. Whether that's because you can't afford it, or because you feel you don't get the same value as, say, Book of Exalted Deeds, or some other reason, nobody will hold it against you or think any worse of you.

It's kind of like if WotC gave away BoED and said "Hey, pay us if you want to; if not, no sweat!" Perhaps by paying them, they sent you a new copy with an index which the free copy lacked, but they certainly didn't stop you from having the free copy, and didn't mind in the slightest if you chose to go with that version.