Free/Supporter/Premium

[Cattley]

I'm a big fan of the Nexus. I've always recommended it to friends and members of my online communities. Back when it seemed more pressing and feasible, most within my group were subscribed to Nexus and I even briefly tried out a month of premium, which (at the time) cost me £2.49, for the month.

 

Now, times have changed and costs must scale, which is understandable. Either the Nexus acquires more users, hikes up the price, or both. I like to think the Nexus is always increasing the number of subscribers it has, so I'll take a wager and state that it's doing both of the stated options. The monthly cost of a subscription is now £4.99/month and the downside to not having one if painfully apparent. As I've said, times are changing and the Nexus must adapt - though not all changes must hurt the users!

 

Files are now heavier, more densely packed with content, HD textures and such. A hard cap of 2 MB/s in 2022 seems like a predatory practice. This is especially true for those who live in countries where the currency has suffered, alongside jobs and work prospectives, given events such as the pandemic.

 

In the end, if the Nexus is generating more money, surely they can afford to raise the cap for free users? What about supporters, who used to enjoy at least up to 5 MB/s? Can that not be achieved? It seems like a small act but it would be a big gesture, insofar as solidarity with the community, to not be so harsh during already harsh times.

 

 

To place some of these costs into perspective, on minimum wage, paying for a year of membership would take*:

 

• 24 hours of work in Romania.

 

• 60 hours of work in South Africa.

 

• 72 hours of work in Russia.

 

• 84 hours of work in Brazil.

 

*These do not account for conversion rates, credit card rates and/or additional taxes, which would further and detrimentally affect the work times listed above.

 

 

So, it's not the end of the world. I'm not proposing some riot, boycott or anything. I genuinely think that the Nexus is great, though perhaps a little out of touch with modern times. In a moment where some people are forced to stay at home and are either unable to work or are desperately trying to keep positive and take care of their mental health, forcing them to sit for hours in front of their computer to watch a file download, with a link reminding them that they could go work some eighty, odd hours to save some sanity seems a bit cruel.

 

I'm not sure I've ever suggested anything to the Nexus team in my near 10 years of presence, but I'm curious to see what may follow in terms of a reply.

 

All the best!

[Dark0ne]

You can find the answers to your questions in our news post about the price rises here: https://www.nexusmods.com/news/14543

 

However, to highlight something you yourself have mentioned but likely didn't turn on its head to see "the other side", you said this:

 

Files are now heavier, more densely packed with content, HD textures and such.

 

 

They absolutely are! And the amount of storage and bandwidth it takes to serve these files increases the costs to us substantially. The bandwidth cap isn't designed to be predatory, it's actually designed to let our service survive and scale. This is because bandwidth costs are not measured by how many files/the total size of files you deliver, it is measured by the 95th percentile method of bandwidth. I won't go into the mechanics of what that means here, but feel free to Google it. At its simplest, it essentially means that we are charged based on how fast we transfer files to our users, not on how many files or the size of the files we transfer. However, to do some simple maths:

 

If 1,000 users download mods at 50mbit/second our bandwidth is charged at ~50gbit/sec.

If 1,000 users download mods at 20mbit/second our bandwidth is charged at ~20gbit/sec.

 

The difference between the price of serving files at 50gbit/sec and 20gbit/sec is huge. And if we didn't cap at all then it becomes far harder to budget costs.

 

What about supporters, who used to enjoy at least up to 5 MB/s?

 

 

This was never the case. The Supporter speed cap has always been the same as the cap for users who do not use adblock. If it did happen in the past then it was a bug of the service and in no way intended.

[Cattley]

First and foremost, can I just say that I truly appreciate you answering this post. As I said, this is (that I can recall) the first time I've had an interaction with someone behind the scenes at Nexus. It's reassuring to see such a nice, detailed and rapid response.

 

There is a lot of value to what you say. Moreover, some of your points are precisely what I was trying to highlight. I am familiar with the methods used for metering bandwidth usage, though I am not privy to the details of Nexus' financials. I could not say whether increasing the download speed cap for free users and supporters would incur upon the platform's very survival. If Nexus is financially incapable of meeting that goal, then I think that's as fair an argument as they come. Though, if it's not about survival and is, instead, about profit margins, I would ask that you reconsider. That being said, there is a nice compromise.

 

I believe that all major streaming and digital distribution services, such as YouTube, Amazon, Twitch and Steam are utilising regional pricing. This extends to developers like Ubisoft, Blizzard, Behaviour Interactive and even EA. So, perhaps it would be financially interesting to research the applicability of such a resource to the Nexus? If these companies are engaging in regional pricing, there must be good market research for this platform to go on. That way, the Nexus might gain more subscribers and the platform can be more affordable for those without the means. Sounds like a win-win to me!

 

In any case, I just wanted to say that I think most of these platforms are likely on auto-pilot with no concern, save for profit. I doubt Bezos and the CEOs of most of these companies could give a fig for the individual people who pass them by.That is not the vibe I get from the Nexus and it is in large part due to these interactions. I really value your response and this community. So, once again, thank you!

Edited February 12, 2022 by Cattley