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[Nifft]

How did that happen so fast?

I mean, a couple of XP shouldn't have changed my rank like that, should it?

Some people give more XP than others.

If you genuinely want neg-rep, you might want to make a thread in Meta. Mods can be found there.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Morrus]

How did that happen so fast?

I mean, a couple of XP shouldn't have changed my rank like that, should it? Or did Morrus move owlbear up the line because owlbears are sexy?

Well you got XP from Piratecat and Jarjr, who both give 10 points at a time because they're admins.

 

[JediSoth]

For the record, I'm viewing the site in Firefox 3.6.3 at a resolution of 1680 x 1050 right now (I think I use a different resolution at home) and everything looks great. I have a higher resolution at home, but the same browser and everything looks good at home, too.

The site is even mostly functional on my iPhone. Any problems with that I just assume are inherent to view a non-mobile site on a mobile version of Safari, since I don't encounter them on any of my PCs.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Well you got XP from Piratecat and Jarjr, who both give 10 points at a time because they're admins.

Well, Piratecat fixed it.

I don't mind getting XP, but I'd rather remain an owlbear. Is it possible to freeze that?

Thanks!

RC

 

[Maggan]

Well you got XP from Piratecat and Jarjr, who both give 10 points at a time because they're admins.

Ok, so those are the guys to suck up to ... I mean, show proper respect. Yes, proper respect ... that's the ticket from now on!



/M

 

[tomBitonti]

Like I used to, you mean?

Because it is disastrous for my cash flow. I need regular, predictable amounts coming in monthly, not chunks at random times every year or three years. I need to be abel to look at the accounts and predict with a high degree of accuracy what money is coming in next month, and the month after that, and in 8 months' time. Switching to a monthy subscription only was quite possibly the best decision I ever made regarding this website - it turned around the finances in an alomst miraculous way, and is the reason we're still here.

Hi,

I haven't ready through all twelve pages of posts to tell if this has been addressed.

The response, above, tells me that you don't have the financial controls to handle subscriptions.

I may have the actual accounting details wrong, but, I would not think that cash in advance should not appear as income until it posts. (And, you would want to be careful about spending it because the subscriber might cancel, leaving you with an obligation.) A posting of several months in advance would be handled as a debt (for the outstanding months; you don't actually get to spend cash in advance, accounting-wise), and income (some dollars every month).

A payment in advance is actually the most predictable payment that you can receive.

I would imagine that subscriptions worked out better because they are much easier on the pocketbook for your subscribers, who may have limited cashflow. Subscriptions also work into psychology, where $3 * 12 is not viewed as high as $36 right now. In that case, what was to your benefit was simply allowing subscriptions. (There is also a matter of folks not paying attention to their subscriptions. In my book, basing your business model on this would not be ethical.)

Thx!

TomB

 

[Fifth Element]

I may have the actual accounting details wrong, but, I would not think that cash in advance should not appear as income until it posts. (And, you would want to be careful about spending it because the subscriber might cancel, leaving you with an obligation.) A posting of several months in advance would be handled as a debt (for the outstanding months; you don't actually get to spend cash in advance, accounting-wise), and income (some dollars every month).

That's correct. A subscription paid in advance would be "unearned revenue", which is equivalent to a debt on the balance sheet (since a cancelled subscription would cause the amount to be repayable). As each month passes, a monthly amount goes from being unearned to earned, and is considered revenue.

 

[Dire Bare]

The response, above, tells me that you don't have the financial controls to handle subscriptions.

The issue is, as I see it, not one of accounting. I think Morrus is a smart enough guy he could use QuickBooks or some sort of accounting/bookkeeping software to help with all that hard math.

The point of monthly subscriptions is psychological. Ask Paizo how added monthly subscription options to nearly all of their various product lines has helped the bottom line. Ask WotC how the subscriptions for D&D Insider has been incredibly profitable. Ask any MMO (except those free-to-play ones experimenting with microtransactions).

Sure, WotC will let you pay ahead for 6-months to a full year for a slight discount, but they are a company of a sufficient size they can afford to do this to capture additional subscribers. The main model is the monthly subscription for online services. 6-month and 12-month options are perks that can draw in the more recalcitrant who need to save that 5-10% before jumping on the bandwagon.

If you have a small $3 or $6 fee coming out of your bank account automatically every month, it's easy to budget for it and to forget about it . . . even during periods where you might find your use of EN World slacking off due to other interests competing for your time and attention. If you instead gave Morrus $36 or $72 only once a year, it'd be a pretty easy thing to cancel for whatever reason . . . if you could even afford that big chunk of cash in the first place.

Edit: Just to be clear, I'm not with Tom Bitoni that this is an unethical practice. I find the idea that a automatically renewing monthly subscription is somehow unethical to be laughable.

I paid one-year in advance for D&D Insider to save a few bucks, but when it came time to renew my finances were tight and so I let my subscription lapse. I subscribe to World of Warcraft on a month-to-month basis because I can rarely afford to pay the big chunks necessarly for the 6-month or 12-month deals, and my subscription rarely lapses even when I don't play a lot of WoW in a given month . . . because I've budgeted that $16 and don't even give it much thought.

 

[Janx]

I would imagine that subscriptions worked out better because they are much easier on the pocketbook for your subscribers, who may have limited cashflow. Subscriptions also work into psychology, where $3 * 12 is not viewed as high as $36 right now. In that case, what was to your benefit was simply allowing subscriptions. (There is also a matter of folks not paying attention to their subscriptions. In my book, basing your business model on this would not be ethical.)

Thx!

TomB

I'd consider that a gray area. If EN was trying to make money off people who literally forgot to cancel their subscription (kind of like cashing in your dead grandma's SS checks), that would be wrong.

since people have proven to be forgetfull to renew subscriptions, the ongoing monthly charge is simply making it easier. yes, it's still relying on some human psychology foibles in considering the annual versus monthly cost, but it's not the same as trying defraud somebody. For some people, being able to pay $3 a month is a big difference from being able to spend $36 in one charge. On an annual basis, it's the same money. But on a per pay check basis, it's a world of difference.

I would think that an automated email reminder of the charge, or request to renew would help alleviate any under-handedness concerns by using clear communication.

 

[Morrus]

(There is also a matter of folks not paying attention to their subscriptions. In my book, basing your business model on this would not be ethical.)

Nobody's doing that. There are indications everywhere on ENW reminding you that your sub is active (or not active), and PayPal informs you by email every time you make a payment (unless you specifically ask them not to).