The shaming of non-premium users needs to stop!

[DoctaSax]

 

And you could also argue that it is advertising, which I as a supporter have paid to not see.

You could also argue that "ad-free" applies only to third-party ads in the ad rotation.

 

You could argue that, but would you win according to applicable "truth in advertising" laws?

 

 

Premium memberships have always been promoted well enough in the integrated banners

As of April 2019, only 0.7% of the Nexus' 18 million users have Premium accounts.

 

Perhaps the reason is not that it's been underadvertised, but that people don't think Premium gives enough value for money.

Edited December 15, 2019 by DoctaSax

[WrathofLegacy]

I just think it's disheartening that a site built around a passion we all share, be it using or making mods, can be so easily changed to favor users based on whether they pay or not.

 

Of course I am owed nothing by this site, nor have any grounds to demand anything, especially as a free user myself. I understand it costs the owners money for servers and that the staff should be paid for the time and effort they put into maintaining and updating the site for all of us. If I have come across as entitled or complaining for the sake of it in my previous posts I do apologize as that wasn't the intention, I am just genuinely concerned by the connotations behind the change.

 

I just wonder what has caused the sudden and abrupt push for users to upgrade to premium, if not money. These last few months of my time on the site, first with the banners and now the download redirect, has been the only real push on premium memberships I have seen in my several years here but with no reason why. Yet again I understand it is the choice and right of the owners to do whatever they want, but when a site that is usually so open and engaging and asking feedback from all of its users stops doing so and implements a change that impacts the majority of us it is concerning.

 

And if it is money related issues, why didn't the owners feel as though they could call upon the community and ask for donations rather than a change like this, which clearly does favor paying users and which has sadly caused a clear divide in the user base just by reading the replies in this post alone. I, and I am sure the majority of other users of this site, premium or not, would most certainly help the site, and more important the community that uses it, in a time of need.

 

Like I said before, it is disheartening, even scary, that such a large part of the modding community, and certainly the part that introduced me to the hobby, could be changed like this for no obvious reason. Of course in the grand scheme of the site this is a small change, but it just feels odd that I myself was asked for feedback in the site redesign and was kept updated with news posts throughout that whole process and made to feel like part of the community with absolutely no mention of the fact that I am a free member, to be met with a change like this that is now suddenly reminding me that I am just that. And no whilst I am definitely not being forced to pay, it certainly seems as though the suggestion is there if I want to go back to the same experience I have had for years prior.

 

It also makes me think that if changes like this can occur, and that anybody who is speaking out is constantly being told to either pay up, deal with it, leave etc., then that in the future access to these sites could just as easily be taken away from non-paying users completely and without warning, in the same way this change has come about, and that those who have paid simply wouldn't care, even though in reality we are all just as equally invested in what is arguably the largest community of enthusiasts in the modding hobby as a whole.

 

I would hate for this to be the beginning of the end of the very inclusive community and hobby that I have had the pleasure of being a part of for years here on the Nexus.

 

This right here has been the best post thus far speaking for the majority imo.

[fireundubh]

Perhaps the reason is not that it's been underadvertised, but that people don't think Premium gives enough value for money.

 

And perhaps that's because of the free ride that Free users have taken for granted all these years.

[HadToRegister]

1. I just think it's disheartening that a site built around a passion we all share, be it using or making mods, can be so easily changed to favor users based on whether they pay or not.

 

Of course I am owed nothing by this site, nor have any grounds to demand anything, especially as a free user myself. I understand it costs the owners money for servers and that the staff should be paid for the time and effort they put into maintaining and updating the site for all of us. If I have come across as entitled or complaining for the sake of it in my previous posts I do apologize as that wasn't the intention, I am just genuinely concerned by the connotations behind the change.

 

2. I just wonder what has caused the sudden and abrupt push for users to upgrade to premium, if not money. These last few months of my time on the site, first with the banners and now the download redirect, has been the only real push on premium memberships I have seen in my several years here but with no reason why. Yet again I understand it is the choice and right of the owners to do whatever they want, but when a site that is usually so open and engaging and asking feedback from all of its users stops doing so and implements a change that impacts the majority of us it is concerning.

 

And if it is money related issues, why didn't the owners feel as though they could call upon the community and ask for donations rather than a change like this, which clearly does favor paying users and which has sadly caused a clear divide in the user base just by reading the replies in this post alone. I, and I am sure the majority of other users of this site, premium or not, would most certainly help the site, and more important the community that uses it, in a time of need.

 

Like I said before, it is disheartening, even scary, that such a large part of the modding community, and certainly the part that introduced me to the hobby, could be changed like this for no obvious reason. Of course in the grand scheme of the site this is a small change, but it just feels odd that I myself was asked for feedback in the site redesign and was kept updated with news posts throughout that whole process and made to feel like part of the community with absolutely no mention of the fact that I am a free member, to be met with a change like this that is now suddenly reminding me that I am just that. And no whilst I am definitely not being forced to pay, it certainly seems as though the suggestion is there if I want to go back to the same experience I have had for years prior.

 

It also makes me think that if changes like this can occur, and that anybody who is speaking out is constantly being told to either pay up, deal with it, leave etc., then that in the future access to these sites could just as easily be taken away from non-paying users completely and without warning, in the same way this change has come about, and that those who have paid simply wouldn't care, even though in reality we are all just as equally invested in what is arguably the largest community of enthusiasts in the modding hobby as a whole.

 

3. I would hate for this to be the beginning of the end of the very inclusive community and hobby that I have had the pleasure of being a part of for years here on the Nexus.

 

1. A passion you don't care enough to pay for.

 

2. Well if my math is correct, (Somebody correct it if I'm wrong, math is not my strong suit) as firendubh has said 0.7% of Nexus' 18 million users have Premium accounts, that means that 126,000 people actually PAY to support this site while 17,874,000 just use the site for free.

 

Right there is your answer as to WHY NExus has made it more obvious that the other 17,874,000 of you should help out the site so it can stay online.

17.8 million free users uses an awful lot of bandwidth, and 126,000 users paying for the site, isn't enough to keep it online.

So, all of you keep arguing about WHY you don't have to pay, while this site is drained away bu all of the people taking the site for granted.

 

3. But, you're going to stay a non-paying member right, as you said in your other post, right?

[Deleted41275720User]

 

You know what? Its not even just dumb, I don't have the money to spend on premium. I'm already tired of having to re-download, re-patch, re-merge mods that are broken by Creation Club updates. Now there's this dumb extra two windows and countdown which keeps me away from playing my game for even more time, and when you have multiple mods that need updating its super noticeable. All this does is make me not want to play anything or even use this site.

 

 

Premium is $2.99/mo, a LOT less than what you pay for internet access.

 

Its more so that I don't buy premium anything. With all these subscription services coming out its just an eyesore to see the words PAY US MONEY plastered everywhere on everything.

[DoctaSax]

I get the impression people think only Premium keeps the site afloat. Surely the biggest revenue stream by far is still ads?

[fireundubh]

I get the impression people think only Premium keeps the site afloat. Surely the biggest revenue stream by far is still ads?

 

Ad-driven business models have been dead or dying since the proliferation of ad blockers. Even major media outlets are moving or have moved to subscription models.

[DoctaSax]

 

I get the impression people think only Premium keeps the site afloat. Surely the biggest revenue stream by far is still ads?

 

Ad-driven business models have been dead or dying since the proliferation of ad blockers. Even major media outlets are moving or have moved to subscription models.

 

 

Less profitable than before ad blockers, sure. My guess is ads still account for most of the site's revenue though, although it's understandable Nexus wants other sources of income than just that, considering its expansion.

 

My point is that the doom and gloom fingerpointing about non-Premium members driving the site into the ground is a tad over the top, and exactly what the thread's title describes. If people don't want to pay for something, perhaps it's not attractive enough for them, and all the browbeating in the world isn't going to change that for the better.

[Reneer]

Less profitable than before ad blockers, sure. My guess is ads still account for most of the site's revenue though, although it's understandable Nexus wants other sources of income than just that, considering its expansion.

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My point is that the doom and gloom fingerpointing about non-Premium members driving the site into the ground is a tad over the top, and exactly what the thread's title describes. If people don't want to pay for something, perhaps it's not attractive enough for them, and all the browbeating in the world isn't going to change that for the better.

I'm on mobile so I can't easily link the statistics right now, but approximately 20% of people over 18 in the UK use ad blockers (according to a study done back in 2016). Even if we assume that some percentage of that disable their ad blocker for Nexus, that is still a huge hit to their revenue model. Revenue for Nexus is going to continue to go down as more and more people switch to ad blockers and the Nexus is going to have to take measures to make sure the business remains profitable.

 

So the Nexus has to keep spending the same amount of money for bandwidth because they have the same amount of users but are (likely) making 20%+ less in revenue.

[AugustaCalidia]

 

I just think it's disheartening that a site built around a passion we all share, be it using or making mods, can be so easily changed to favor users based on whether they pay or not.

 

Of course I am owed nothing by this site, nor have any grounds to demand anything, especially as a free user myself. I understand it costs the owners money for servers and that the staff should be paid for the time and effort they put into maintaining and updating the site for all of us. If I have come across as entitled or complaining for the sake of it in my previous posts I do apologize as that wasn't the intention, I am just genuinely concerned by the connotations behind the change.

 

I just wonder what has caused the sudden and abrupt push for users to upgrade to premium, if not money. These last few months of my time on the site, first with the banners and now the download redirect, has been the only real push on premium memberships I have seen in my several years here but with no reason why. Yet again I understand it is the choice and right of the owners to do whatever they want, but when a site that is usually so open and engaging and asking feedback from all of its users stops doing so and implements a change that impacts the majority of us it is concerning.

 

And if it is money related issues, why didn't the owners feel as though they could call upon the community and ask for donations rather than a change like this, which clearly does favor paying users and which has sadly caused a clear divide in the user base just by reading the replies in this post alone. I, and I am sure the majority of other users of this site, premium or not, would most certainly help the site, and more important the community that uses it, in a time of need.

 

Like I said before, it is disheartening, even scary, that such a large part of the modding community, and certainly the part that introduced me to the hobby, could be changed like this for no obvious reason. Of course in the grand scheme of the site this is a small change, but it just feels odd that I myself was asked for feedback in the site redesign and was kept updated with news posts throughout that whole process and made to feel like part of the community with absolutely no mention of the fact that I am a free member, to be met with a change like this that is now suddenly reminding me that I am just that. And no whilst I am definitely not being forced to pay, it certainly seems as though the suggestion is there if I want to go back to the same experience I have had for years prior.

 

It also makes me think that if changes like this can occur, and that anybody who is speaking out is constantly being told to either pay up, deal with it, leave etc., then that in the future access to these sites could just as easily be taken away from non-paying users completely and without warning, in the same way this change has come about, and that those who have paid simply wouldn't care, even though in reality we are all just as equally invested in what is arguably the largest community of enthusiasts in the modding hobby as a whole.

 

I would hate for this to be the beginning of the end of the very inclusive community and hobby that I have had the pleasure of being a part of for years here on the Nexus.

 

This right here has been the best post thus far speaking for the majority imo.

 

Majority? What majority? The majority of the 18,000,000+ members of Nexus Mods? Or the majority of respondents in this thread? If the former, someone please furnish the raw numbers that support this claim. If the latter, then please be aware that this thread follows a pattern of "thread eruptions" that I have witnessed several times in my twelve years as a Nexus Mods member. Nexus Mods makes a change, and the naysayers pounce. It doesn't even matter if Nexus Mods gives advance notice of the change, as was the case with NMM revisions, the introduction of Vortex, or the site redesign a little more than a year ago. The naysayers still pounce, and they tend to drown out everyone else, even those who seek to be helpful and constructive in their criticism. After a season of fulmination, colorful language, vented spleens, and prophecies of doom for Nexus Mods, things quiet down. The new order becomes the status quo, membership continues to climb, new games are added to the site's mod hosting service, and a measure of peace returns. Then Nexus Mods introduces another change. Immediately there is a new thread eruption, often accompanied by chants of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," "Nobody listens to us," "They've sold out to Bethesda," "They've become greedy," etc. And the thread eruption cycle repeats itself.

 

In speaking of "naysayers," my comments are not directed at people here who have genuine, legitimate concerns (some of which I share) and have made the effort to be constructive in their criticism. I'm speaking of those who have nothing constructive to say and/or who talk in reverent tones about community but do little or nothing to support a site that is largely responsible for the very existence of the community of mod authors and users that we now have.