AtariAge Member Subscriptions?

[+Random Terrain]

The one thing that should be avoided (and one member has already pointed this out) is a status war between members that pay more than others if the option is made available.

But people who have the discretionary income to spend the most on member subscriptions are better than those who don't. Of course, they would win any status war simply because they're smarter and the gods love them more, but elite members are also awarded with the ban hammer, so bring it on!

[Primordial Ooze]

Based on the poll i think it should be $25/yr or $100/life.

 

Sincerely,

 

Cell Wall Rebound

[STGuy1040]

The one thing that should be avoided (and one member has already pointed this out) is a status war between members that pay more than others if the option is made available.

But people who have the discretionary income to spend the most on member subscriptions are better than those who don't. Of course, they would win any status war simply because they're smarter and the gods love them more, but elite members are also awarded with the ban hammer, so bring it on!

 

[Albert]

Al, when do you plan on releasing the subscription option?

It's not going to happen until I get the new forum software online. I've done much of the work now in skinning the forum, but each time I check something off the list I end up writing at least one more item down. Here's a teaser screenshot:

 

 

..Al

[4Ks]

Al, when do you plan on releasing the subscription option?

It's not going to happen until I get the new forum software online. I've done much of the work now in skinning the forum, but each time I check something off the list I end up writing at least one more item down. Here's a teaser screenshot:

 

 

..Al

 

 

Cool screenshot! I look forward to subscibing, as the majority of people are leaning towards a $25.00-a-year fee, which seems like a great price to me.

[Primordial Ooze]

Nice screenie. I hope you can get it going soon as i definiely want a subscription preferably within the range of $100-$200 for a lifetime subscription like jaguar sector does. Can we work something out, cause i want to send you my lifetime subscription money right now to "preorder" a lifetime subscription spot so i "get a subscription before the rush".

 

Sincerely,

 

Cell Wall Rebound

[STGuy1040]

Al, when do you plan on releasing the subscription option?

It's not going to happen until I get the new forum software online. I've done much of the work now in skinning the forum, but each time I check something off the list I end up writing at least one more item down. Here's a teaser screenshot:

 

 

..Al

 

Nice! It's looking real good, Al! I can't wait to subscribe to the new service.

[+selgus]

Al, when do you plan on releasing the subscription option?

It's not going to happen until I get the new forum software online. I've done much of the work now in skinning the forum, but each time I check something off the list I end up writing at least one more item down.

Do you have any idea when the switch over will happen? Feature-creep happens at all levels of software development, it seems.

--Selgus

[Albert]

Do you have any idea when the switch over will happen? Feature-creep happens at all levels of software development, it seems.

--Selgus

The sooner the better. I cannot upgrade the forums/blogs/gallery/etc until Invision releases version 3.0.2 of their software. They upgraded their forums a few days ago, so I imagine they'll release 3.0.2 at the end of this week. There are some important bug fixes and changes in this version that are necessary in order for me to upgrade AtariAge. For instance, full Sphinx support, which is a third-party search engine that the forum presently uses in order to make searching much faster than MySQL's built-in search mechanism.

 

In the meantime, I continue to work on skinning the forum so when 3.0.2 is released I'll be able to move the forum to it in relatively short order. Perhaps this upcoming weekend.

 

..Al

[STGuy1040]

I can’t wait to take advantage of all the new features!

[vdub_bobby]

These features would strongly influence my willingness to pay for a subscription:

 

-Discount in AA Store

-Early access to new homebrew releases

-No advertisements in forums

-Printed and/or online newsletter

 

I put $25/yr.

 

 

EDIT: Um. Didn't realize I was so behind the times here. Well, anyway...

Edited August 25, 2009 by vdub_bobby

[Albert]

These features would strongly influence my willingness to pay for a subscription:

 

-Discount in AA Store

-Early access to new homebrew releases

-No advertisements in forums

-Printed and/or online newsletter

Yeah, put the most difficult and time consuming item in bold.

 

..Al

[vdub_bobby]

These features would strongly influence my willingness to pay for a subscription:

 

-Discount in AA Store

-Early access to new homebrew releases

-No advertisements in forums

-Printed and/or online newsletter

Yeah, put the most difficult and time consuming item in bold.

 

..Al

Well, sure, but it's by far the coolest.

[roland p]

I put $25 once. maybe per year. For the amazing work Albert does. Some extra features would be nice, but not too much, as the board should be fun for non-paying and new members too.

Edited August 26, 2009 by roland p

[lapetino]

I would definitely pay a one-time fee of $25. I'd be especially excited about early access to new homebrews for purchasing.

[VectorGamer]

Here's something that I do not like. Whether AtariAge becomes subscription-based or not, anyone can G00gle "rmaerz atariage" and view my profile. Locking this down is more significant if moving to a fee-based service.

 

I don't believe the public (non-members) should have read access to the forums or user's profile - PERIOD. I know gaining this info is a matter of simply registering with the site, but at the least there would (should) be an audit trail of activities.

 

Want to harvest email addresses for malware, phishing or SPAM? Just target AtariAge to see if they are embedded in signatures or posted in their profile.

 

Thoughts?

[Albert]

Here's something that I do not like. Whether AtariAge becomes subscription-based or not, anyone can G00gle "rmaerz atariage" and view my profile. Locking this down is more significant if moving to a fee-based service.

 

I don't believe the public (non-members) should have read access to the forums or user's profile - PERIOD. I know gaining this info is a matter of simply registering with the site, but at the least there would (should) be an audit trail of activities.

 

Want to harvest email addresses for malware, phishing or SPAM? Just target AtariAge to see if they are embedded in signatures or posted in their profile.

 

Thoughts?

 

Actually you can just search google for "rmaerz" and the first hit is your AtariAge profile.

 

Sorry, this is not going to change. As long as you don't put your email address in your signature or profile or in posts, it's not going to be harvested. The forum does not expose the email address associated with your account.

 

I do want people to find posts on AtariAge when they do a Google search. I am not going to turn this into a hidden forum that people can't browse without being logged in. That annoys the hell out of me when I am looking for information and I find a potentiall relevant forum that is completely hidden unless you are logged in. Also, when I'm validating new accounts, it's useful to see if someone has been spamming other forums, which would be difficult to do if other admins locked down their forums in such fasion. This includes profiles--as spammers often register on a ton of forums in a very short period of time. If I couldn't look at forums without having to register, this tool would be unavailable to me.

 

..Al

[moycon]

Just curious, is there any new news in regards to Atari Age subscriptions?

[Albert]

Just curious, is there any new news in regards to Atari Age subscriptions?

Not yet, I will spend some time on this after I get back from the Portland show, get orders shipped and the store back online.

 

..Al

[Red 5]

If I could change my status to 'Tunnel Runner' I will pay whatever is asked!

Invoice is in the mail.

 

..Al

 

Is it bad that I just noticed this today... wow... I suck...

 

Thanks Al! (Still haven't got that invoice, but would still gladly pay it...)

[Primordial Ooze]

The Portland show has come and gone and there still isn't any updates on subscriptions based services for the atariage site. Could you please let me know that status of this? Also if you could please offer a one-time fee to become a lifetime subscriber it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Sincerely,

 

Asylums Of The Undead

[iwan-iwanowitsch-goratschin]

If I could change my status to 'Tunnel Runner' I will pay whatever is asked!

Invoice is in the mail.

 

..Al

 

Is it bad that I just noticed this today... wow... I suck...

 

Thanks Al! (Still haven't got that invoice, but would still gladly pay it...)

 

 

Damn! Your Tunnel >Runner status is......

 

Could I have Spitfire Attacker please.........

[phaxda]

I would, of course, like to be a Submarine Commander.

 

If I could change my status to 'Tunnel Runner' I will pay whatever is asked!

Invoice is in the mail.

 

..Al

 

Is it bad that I just noticed this today... wow... I suck...

 

Thanks Al! (Still haven't got that invoice, but would still gladly pay it...)

 

 

Damn! Your Tunnel >Runner status is......

 

Could I have Spitfire Attacker please.........

[Albert]

The Portland show has come and gone and there still isn't any updates on subscriptions based services for the atariage site. Could you please let me know that status of this? Also if you could please offer a one-time fee to become a lifetime subscriber it would be greatly appreciated.

It hasn't been forgotten, not at all! I'm just slogging through a long list I need to get done before I focus on that. This includes shipping out all the Portland Retro Gaming Show pre-orders (over halfway through that now, should have all packages out by Saturday), shipping out GhostBlaster cartridges, shipping out copies of GoSub II, fixing various forum issues, getting the AA Store back online, doing a slew of database updates (new additions, new reviews, etc.), and so forth. The forum software will likely see a new release (3.0.4) in a few days as well, and I'll have to spend a day performing that upgrade (there are a good 200 bugs fixed, so I want to apply it relatively quickly).

 

Once I get caught up on these things, then I'll focus on the Member Subscriptions. That will be a fair bit of work to decide on the "feature set" that people receive for their subscription and to do thorough testing to make sure it all works properly. If I decide to offer any sort of AtariAge-based email, that will be even more work. My guess is I'll have it done sometime in November.

 

I doubt I'll offer a lifetime subscription. I've seen that bite people in the ass. It's a good way to raise some short-term cash, but in the long run it's not such a great idea (well, not so bad for the people who buy them).

 

..Al

[Albert]

 

 

..Al