Suggestion Box

Now, I made a Newsfeed post, and another person suggested that I try coming here - "Note: You know, I like talking about WdC to my friends o..."

Anyhow, short-ish version, I enjoy this site, been here, 14 years, hope to be here a long time.

Well, I've been chatting with some of the folks I know on various other sites, and on Discord, and to be honest, a number of them either used to have accounts, or have Free accounts, or pop on as a Guest, and they've told me about some of their issues. Some of these issues concern me, as someone who enjoys, say, reading a good interactive, only to discover that Free users can't go more than 5 pages before they hit a box that basically tells them to get a Paid Membership to read more.

To be honest, there's a forum on another site I'm on. It's called "Hurt by WdC?" where folks talk about the issues they've had with this site. Some of it is pretty valid, to be honest. Might be worth the read. I'll post the link if asked, but I will warn you, it's on an 18+ site, so, there's that.

In short, they feel like they get the stick end in terms of treatment, with a dash of pepper spray at times, and thus, instead of feeling like paying, or working for, a Paid Membership, they pack up, and leave. We're talking about a number of good writers too.

Now, to borrow Jon Taffer from "Bar Rescue", this site, like any establishment, is dependent on Regulars. If a Regular has a good time, they'll recommend the place to others - I enjoy the site, so I tend to recommend it. If a Regular doesn't have a good time, they might leave the site, and tell others to avoid it.

So, how to combat this trend of Free Users who decide to just leave? My suggestion - Create a Free User account called Free Tester (or similar) - the idea is that this account acts like a Free account - this would allow Staff to experience things from the point of view of someone who has never gotten a paid account - including any hardships that they have had. This might show where certain issues are, which affect the enjoyment of users who lack the means to pay for a Paid Membership.

I mean, it's one thing to be on top of Mt. Everest, be able to see clearly for miles, and see no issues. However, if you're standing at the base of Mt. Everest, and you're looking up, it's another story, 29,000+ feet worth.

Something to think on.