The shaming of non-premium users needs to stop!

[StormWolf01]

 

 

 

 

 

 

They're gonna do their membership, click on the link, and try to download the file.

To be greeted by a GIANT orange box, that takes up most of their screen, says "Hey, you can pay us, not to see this" (that's basically what the user is gonna interpret it as) and take 5 seconds to think it over. (Again, that's what the new user is gonna think)

You guys are seeing all the whining and complaining, but missing the people who have the legitimate gripe, that it makes the site look bad. You guys are focusing so much on the people whining about having the payment thrown in their face, that you're missing what this is gonna look like to people who know absolutely nothing about this place.

 

 

Ok, fair enough...
However, consider now, that people who are complaining have been using the site for anywhere from over a Decade to a few months, FOR FREE.

Why are people so outraged that the Nexus is reminding these longtime users that they could support the website they're using?
Surely the Nexus have the right to say at some point "Hey, you know....you can pay us for all of this stuff we've been hosting for the past Decade, it'd be nice" right?

I know everybody out there has that one friend that somehow NEVER pays for everything, and gets you to pay instead, and you're getting REALLY tired of them doing that, RIGHT?

Imagine if the Nexus decided, "Well, that's it, no more free users" and made it so you could only SEE the mods available, and couldn't even download them unless you paid for a premium subscription (Which some Mod Thieves are doing with Patreon)?

How would THAT go over?
Instead, people who have been using this website for over a decade for free, are completely enraged that they have a 5 second countdown now, in order to use the website for free.

If anything, this new DOWNLOAD "Reminder" was brought about by the amount of people using the website without paying for days, weeks, months, years, decades.

It's not about Greed, but more about, "hey, we've been providing a service that for over a decade, how about helping US out for once?"

Anyway, I'm off to play "Outward" which I splurged on, when it was on sale for half price, for my X-Mess present.

 

 

Heya, first off, I really do appreciate you taking what I said with an open mind. And for at least stopping to think about it. Thank you sir.

 

Ok, so what if there was a way to compromise? I know, darned well, that this site keeps tabs on the dates that we start our membership, stuff that we've downloaded, posts that we've made.

What if, we could set it up, so that a less obnoxious screen could show up, after we've been a member for oh.... 2 months. Or, after we've downloaded... 20 files.

Give the new members a way to see what we're about, what the site is about, what Robin is about, before making a bad impression on them? Giving them a reason to go on twitter, FB, reddit, whatever social media and talk trash about the Nexus and Robin?

Give them a chance to decide, and make up their minds whether this is a place that they want to contribute financially to, rather than say "Hey, welcome, thanks for signing up, can I get 60 bucks from you?"

What if, in the meantime, we changed that screen to say "Hey let us take a second to get this file ready for you, sorry for the inconvenience". Or at least something to give an understanding of why they're waiting, rather than insinuating "Hey, give us money to make this go away".

 

No trust me. I agree with what you're saying about the freeloaders. Especially the ones who are making these complaints, who have been here for a long time as members, and they only have less then 5 actual posts. Some of said posts, being right here, complaining. OR the ones that gaming rigs that I probly won't be able to afford for another 1-3 years, giving excuses that they can't afford it.

But honestly, if they haven't signed up for premium by now, it's most likely, that for whatever their reasons, they're probly not gonna. And throwing around the premium is a one time payment, it gets rid of this and that, and that, and this, isn't going to persuade them to do so, or enable them to do so.

All it is, is two sides bashing their heads against each other. Also, as somebody who's currently unemployed because I had to relocate to a different state, I sympathize for those who aren't able to financially chip in.

 

Ok, honestly, the premium is good. But it's not a cure. In my mind, Robin could consider making the contributions a bit easier to find. NOT throw it up in your face like this new screen does, but make it available on the downloads pages, where all the mods are listed, or something. I'm not cracking on the premium memberships at all. And trust me, I know the real reasons, why it's set up the way that it is.

But the premium membership only helps to pay the bills, when the membership was paid. It doesn't do anything to help pay the bills today. Or tomorrow. Or next month.

 

 

 

It's not about Greed, but more about, "hey, we've been providing a service that for over a decade, how about helping US out for once?"

Oh, I totally agree. It's not about greed. Thats why, as long as Robin runs the nexus this will never happen ->

Imagine if the Nexus decided, "Well, that's it, no more free users" and made it so you could only SEE the mods available, and couldn't even download them unless you paid for a premium subscription (Which some Mod Thieves are doing with Patreon)?

LOL have fun playing Outward. Wishing I had some cash to splurge on, Fallout4 is kinda ticking me off a lot atm. :eyeroll:

 

 

 

 

The "Compromise" has always been there from the very Beginning.
It's the non-paying users who keep demanding more, with no compromise.

I.E. Nexus: "We're not going to charge you to download mods, and being a paying membership will be an OPTION, however, as a compromise, your download speed will be a little bit slower than the people who PAY, also, now that it's been over a decade and a lot of you are STILL using this site for free, even though we doubled the download speed for non-paying members who turn off their ad-blocker, so, now you have a 5 second countdown, with a comparison screen about the differences between FREE use and a paid Membership"

To illustrate how insane this is, we've all seen people who have been members for YEARS make their very first post ONLY because their usual routine was upset by a new Download screen.
Meanwhile downloading away quietly for years and years, and making their very first CONTRIBUTION in all that time, to complain about something that slightly inconveniences THEM.

It's tired and old, people who don't even care to contribute by posting, and have post counts from 1 - 150, are all of a sudden popping out of the woodwork because of a new screen, and all of a sudden complaing LOUDLY and running up their post counts into the Ones, and possibly even into the Tens

The only people who don't want a compromise, are the free users who are demanding that everything be as convenient and easy for them as paying users, while ignoring the fact that this site costs money, for the hosts and the premium members.

I have a feeling the "annoying screen" is more of a response from the Nexus for the influx of the millions of people who have been using this site without paying, for over a decade and have no intention of ever paying.
So, I would hazard that the fault lies with those people as to how the "Annoying screen" came about.
Everything must end at some time, when too many people start abusing and exploiting the hell out of it.

 

Seriously, there are people who have been on the site for almost a decade, who you NEVER hear from, until the NExus changes something like the layout, format, design, rules etc, then all of a sudden, that person pops out of the woodwork every few years, and tosses out the cliché "Thanks a LOT Nexus, I was JUST going to become a Premium member until the Nexus did THIS™" nonsense after every single change the Nexus makes, as if these people has some sort of influence as a long time non-paying member over the site.

 

 

There's a lot of stuff that you've said, that are going through my mind right now too. So, I definately dont disagree with you, HadTo.

But there's something that I really gotta ask.

Now granted, I've been gone, for almost 10 years, and I know that a lot of things change over the period of a decade.

But at what time did this place become an issue of who pays, and who doesn't?

 

I remember there being issues of who contributes to the community, in whichever way or other.

I remember who was being a good member, and who was being a bad member. I remember it being about following the rules, and not getting into trouble.

I don't remember it ever being "Oh this person paid, so we like them more than somebody else."

Like I said, a lot of things can change in 10 years. But the nexus I left, was about being a hub for gamers.

And trying to get everybody to all get along with each other.

 

Which, this issue is NOT doing. There's clearly 3 sides here. And from what I'm seeing so far, two of those three sides are less open minded about it, than others.

And, I'm NOT talking about you, when I print this, HadTo.

but some of the members of this thread, ARE going out of their way to post on other threads about this subject, and aren't being nice about it.

So thanks to this issue, while the staff, owner, and site isn't actively trying to "shame" non-paying members, now some of the community members, are taking the opportunity to do exactly that.

How is any of this a good thing?

 

 

 

To everyone saying it's a free service to non paying users and therefore shouldn't complain.. Free does not equal immunity to critique.

 

No doubt. But, the same can be said in return. Also, there is a difference between telling someone they shouldn't complain, and encouraging someone to ask themselves what it is they're really complaining about. Nuance is the spice of life.

 

Just because you can afford A and B does not mean you can afford C. A game is my entire "fun" budget for a month, for example, and after doing some budgeting, it's actually a fun budget for more than a month.

 

Some people, for example, might only have 30 spare dollars a month after bills. That's just the first-level analysis of the problems with that statement, ignoring a larger issue.

 

In any case, the problem here can be seen as two fold- making an appeal that one should support the site as a matter of morality ignores the fact that people may not view things the way you do, and the second issue is that people may not agree that they received 50 of value from the site. The costs of the site are irrelevant when customers make a purchasing decision - they look at their value.

 

.. And that ignores the fact you may not wish for people to be making purely transactional decisions when they use a community website.

 

(Also: Also why do you want to look and act like RapidGator?!)

 

 

You comment about RapidGator is too true, and made me laugh :yes: :thumbsup: . Hopefully, they reconsider their "plug" screen and find better ways to encourage premium membership, but if they don't... them's the breaks, I suppose.

 

Your argument about whether or not an individual can afford A, B, but not C is sound. I'm sure we've all experienced this, and there are others that may not be able to afford anything but A... but, if you have a budget where you can afford a game a month... then it doesn't really sound like you're one of those folk. Would it be out of the question to skip buying a game for one month or two, and decide to send that support toward a site that you've been a member of for many years? A site that has people behind the scenes that spend their own time managing a place where some level of cyber community exists - a place that hosts your mods and others - a place where we currently find ourselves spending time hashing this stuff out. I say all of that not to shame, only to encourage discourse and reason in this ongoing debate.

 

Now, we also know, that unless it's an "adult" site, MOST brand new users are NOT gonna come on to the site, and the first thing they do, is shell out over 50 bucks. Not for a site like this one.

No, the first thing that new user is gonna do, is look up the mod that they saw on youtube, reddit, or wherever else on the web that they saw it. They're gonna do their membership, click on the link, and try to download the file.

To be greeted by a GIANT orange box, that takes up most of their screen, says "Hey, you can pay us, not to see this" (that's basically what the user is gonna interpret it as) and take 5 seconds to think it over. (Again, that's what the new user is gonna think)

You guys are seeing all the whining and complaining, but missing the people who have the legitimate gripe, that it makes the site look bad. You guys are focusing so much on the people whining about having the payment thrown in their face, that you're missing what this is gonna look like to people who know absolutely nothing about this place.

All of you folks, I do not doubt in the least that you love this place as much as you say you do. I don't doubt that at all. But if you do, then at least please consider what this kind of thing LOOKS LIKE.

You maintain that you support this site. I maintain that I do as well. And as part of my support, I HAVE to argue that this new box tarnishes the image of this site.

 

Well... to an internet savvy preteen this site could well be considered "adult" in some corners of the world :laugh: . Your point about first time users is fair enough though.

 

Their first impressions may well be some slooty images, big automatic weaponry, and throw in some good ol' fashion blood and guts - Hurray! Then BAM! - big orange screen. Sh*t... I just wanted my T&A, M60, and dismemberment mods... and that's just for Fallout. :laugh: :laugh: Sorry... I probably should've just left it at your point being fair enough, but I couldn't help myself. Now for a more serious statement.

 

I think the first time I really started using this site is when Planet Elder Scrolls and Great House Fliggerty went the way of the payphone... they will be missed... I used the site for what it had available, for those things related to what I was searching everywhere for: mods for Morrowind. Even though there are other well known sites for that, I found myself over time gravitating toward the Nexus. I've been taking the site for granted ever since, sucking mods out of here to build my games up - geek out in one version or another of the CS, CSE, or CK, break things to my hearts content - and game on when I can. That's my personal take on my own behavior over the years - an attempt at being objective about it and now deciding to share that here in case others relate. If that makes some folk reading this feel shame, than that's not on me - it just means it's a relatable experience, and maybe a nerve has been struck. If that's the case then don't shy away from it like some kobold, Orc up :devil: ! I only kid, there... sorta - lol.

 

There are definitely good points being made by some folk, on both sides of this debate... and some hilarious ones too if we can all try to not take ourselves too seriously. I think most of us can agree that the big orange prostitution screen is a tad seedy at the least. I personally don't think it's the worst thing I've seen within the realms of game related, or internet related behavior though. Also, if anyone hasn't noticed - this thread is still open...

 

 

LOL yeah, that's true. But by technicalities, a pre-teen isn't supposed to be on this site. (Like I said before, I've been gone for a long time, but there used to be a rule about being at least 13 years old fr membership here.)

but hey... ya know... the whole blood and guts, nudity mods, skimpy attire....that's for their parents to deal with! :D I mean...that's kinda why we buy these games, isn't it?

I mean, not to sound predjudiced or anything, but that's why I never got into the Sims, or Jewel-whatever. (No offense to those who did.)

PES!! OMG!! Soooo many good and bad times from PES!

 

 

In relation to my previous post, let's all remember the title of this thread being "The shaming of non-premium users needs to stop!".

 

It's a great point especially for mod authors asking for donations. Silence can literally be gold in some cases.

 

Yeah, I agree. Totally.

[xicaname]

Honestly, this whole bloody thing is pretty embarrassing for Nexus - how desperate do you need to be to badger people into going premium? Making things difficult is not the way to make more money, it's how you drive off customers. The inability to batch download mods, particularly for games with a lot of updates (which mean a lot of mod updates), is just ridiculous.

 

It might win you a few more premium users in the short term, but the damage to your brand and reputation are in the long term, and Nexus has already been teetering in some crappy directions.

[Ethreon]

Honestly, this whole bloody thing is pretty embarrassing for Nexus - how desperate do you need to be to badger people into going premium? Making things difficult is not the way to make more money, it's how you drive off customers. The inability to batch download mods, particularly for games with a lot of updates (which mean a lot of mod updates), is just ridiculous.

 

It might win you a few more premium users in the short term, but the damage to your brand and reputation are in the long term, and Nexus has already been teetering in some crappy directions.

 

Gotta love people calling doom.

[IfItsOnPCItsNotExclusive]

As much as I appreciate the buzz I think it's time to close this thread. Some people just don't get that age alone doesn't make you a man or woman. You have to work and earn what you want and not expect everything be handed out.

 

I get it though. They were born with the proverbial silver spoon in their mouth. That big house with the white picket fence and two loving parents. They never knew what it's like to live on government benefits or live in raggedy rent houses and having no lights or water for periods of time. They never worked crappy minimum wage jobs with bosses that treat them like garbage.

 

And so they go about calling others "entitled"and "ignorant" when they don't understand what people are saying because they don't know what it's like not getting handouts.

 

You might think we don't get but we do. Those servers ain't free or cheap. Bills won't pay themselves. Mouths won't feed themselves. Nothing in life is free. I asked for fair treatment not a free ride.

 

It's all good. I'm above and beyond these adult bodied but child minded individuals. It's their life and it's their money and they can do with it as they please. I won't waste my time debating and I won't resort to the cowardly act of insulting or blocking people when I lose an argument or debate, unlike some people. And neither should of anyone who does understand my point of view.

 

Feel free to argue among yourselves if you wish.

 

Enjoy your games and your mods. Farewell.

Edited December 15, 2019 by IfItsOnPCItsNotExclusive

[acidzebra]

I won't resort to the cowardly act of insulting when I can't win a fair fight.

 

Irony so thick I'm going to need a chainsaw to cut it.

[Guest deleted34304850]

As much as I appreciate the buzz I think it's time to close this thread. Some people just don't get that age alone doesn't make you a man or woman. You have to work and earn what you want and not expect everything be handed out.

 

I get it though. They were born with the proverbial silver spoon in their mouth. That big house with the white picket fence and two loving parents. They never knew what it's like to live on government benefits or live in raggedy rent houses and having no lights or water for periods of time. They never worked crappy minimum wage jobs with bosses that treat them like garbage.

 

And so they go about calling others "entitled"and "ignorant" when they don't understand what people are saying because they don't know what it's like not getting handouts.

 

It's all good. I'm above and beyond these adult bodied but child minded individuals. It's their life and it's their money and they can do with it as they please. I won't waste my time debating and I won't resort to the cowardly act of insulting when I can't win a fair fight. And neither should of anyone who does understand my point of view.

 

Enjoy your games and your mods. Farewell.

 

 

It's almost as if there is a completely different person behind the posts. You've literally contradicted your entire stance and your previous insult-filled posts with that closing post. That's amazing. Truly magnificent.

[Pasquale1223]

In any case, the problem here can be seen as two fold- making an appeal that one should support the site as a matter of morality ignores the fact that people may not view things the way you do, and the second issue is that people may not agree that they received 50 of value from the site. The costs of the site are irrelevant when customers make a purchasing decision - they look at their value.

 

.. And that ignores the fact you may not wish for people to be making purely transactional decisions when they use a community website.

 

I don't mean to pick on you in particular, but I've seen several people make similar comments in this thread, and I'd like to address those sentiments.

 

The Nexus offers its essential services free-of-charge; it always has and hopefully always will. It gives mod authors a place to share the fruits of their labors with an international audience of eager recipients in an atmosphere where their intellectual property will be respected and supported, and a knowledgeable community will be there to help support would-be users who experience issues trying to get the mods to work for them. It offers a massive catalog of game enhancements of every kind imaginable, tools to manage them, and tools, examples, and support for those trying to create their first mods. It hosts forums where people can discuss a wide variety of topics - some gaming and technology related, some not - and maintains a staff of moderators who show up day after day to tidy up the place.

 

For some, the Nexus serves as pseudo cloud storage for the mods they use. It's stability and longevity means that users who typically employ hundreds of mods can delete them to temporarily free up disk space, and retrieve them again as desired.

 

They charge nothing for any of this, yet they have expenses to cover. Expenses covered by those who voluntarily contribute to keep the doors open, lights on, and mods freely flowing. They also monitor monetary exchanges between authors and end-users, discouraging commission offers while providing the means for users to freely contribute to authors. Overall, they've taken a number of steps to keep mods freely available to all.

 

For my part, I purchase very few new games, preferring to instead re-play games already in my library, and Nexus mods greatly enhance my ability to do that. Instead of buying a new game this year, I chose to purchase the premium membership here, as I want this site to continue to thrive.

 

It's not about the premium features. The increased download speed means nothing to me, and I still have a link at the top of the page inviting me to Buy Premium. I use Firefox and block ads on most sites. As far as I'm concerned, the premium features afforded to those who contribute are really just minimal minor perks, token appreciation so the Nexus can say they give something to users who contribute.

 

I'd also like to say how very grateful I am to those members who have built and supported the site long before I came along. And I'm especially glad the Nexus has never resorted to fund-raising campaigns or slapped annoying banners on every page begging for donations. Instead, they (mostly quietly) offer premium memberships, which comes across to me as much more professional and business-like.

 

(Note: I can't comment on the current state of pushing premium memberships, as I haven't downloaded anything recently.)

 

All that said, to those trying to justify their "reasoning" for not contributing - just don't. If you can afford games and the hardware to play them on, you can probably toss some money at the Nexus. Yes, there are exceptions. Some people have internet and sophisticated hardware for work. Some people have banking / credit / identity / general payment issues. Thing is, most mods are luxury additions to luxury goods. They aren't food, clothing, shelter, or health care. First world problems, eh? If you - or the dictates of your situation - have determined not to contribute cash up to this point, just own it. The Nexus will serve you mods, tools, and support regardless.

 

TLDR: The point of supporting this site with actual cash is not the premium features offered, but keeping it open for business.

[3aq]

Nexusmods is a for-profit entity, it's not a charity.

 

They have to pay for their staff, taxes, bills, and scalability and these things do not run cheapily. Money doesn't simply grow on trees.

 

Sadly, if you are a regular user then you're using their platform without giving anything in return to the site. You could argue that you're contributing with mods and goodwill, but at the end of the day that won't and doesn't keep the lights on at night. It's money. And in that respect, they have their own right in how they conduct their business in order to keep it all afloat. Again, I must emphasize money doesn't simply grow on tree. You can argue that you've enabled and perhaps even clicked on the ads, however there's only so much revenue you'll be able to generate as a repeated site visitor (ad-revenue generates most its money from the new visitors and even then, adblock being prevalent as it is, it's pretty little).

 

At the end of the day, this isn't a shaming issue, it's the lack of funding or Nexusmods addressing their budgeting issue.

[fireundubh]

Some people, for example, might only have 30 spare dollars a month after bills.

 

Premium is US$2.99 for a month. $30 > $2.99. When Premium expires, you'll be a Supporter for life.

 

But if you can't afford Premium, that's fine. Nobody's being forced to buy Premium. If you can't afford the items in a store, do you complain to the store manager that you can't afford anything? No, you just don't buy anything. Affordability is the most ridiculous argument I've seen here.

 

"Free" today never means free. You always pay something.

• Want free social networking? You pay with your information.
• Want free access to a media outlet? You pay with your attention.
• Want free file sharing? You pay with your time.

Free users have had a good run of the Nexus for more than a decade, but it's not sustainable. Nexus has grown significantly over the years and yet, as of April 2019, only 0.7% of the Nexus' 18 million users were paying customers. Something had to be done to course correct. Now, free users pay with their time. This is good for everyone.

[Deleted55991832User]

I would suggest the Op to consider his/Her priorities and then take a good, hard look at reality.. I have limited Bandwidth and just burned out my Gaming computer (actually the damn Cat peed on it) and until I have a new one up and running I make do with limited gaming and thus, limited download speed, when I resume normal gaming I will resume Premium membership because I will need it then..in other words, if you want the best service ? pay up buddy boy