nightprowler - no one has to buy a subscription.

You would essentially advocate removing an option away from people.

You'd have a WC subscription for $20 still and then a gold version or something for say $30 that would provide 100 premium skins.

Speaking personally here, I don't like being nickled and dimed. So we either have to take the route of selling tons of $10 suites over the next year (and we do plan to do a couple still) OR just let people pay a single flat fee to pick and choose the ones they want.

Yea, there'd be an upgrade path I'm sure.

As skinners can tell you, it's getting more an more difficult to create good, fully featured skins. The software is getting more and more advanced. So we want to do something where they can eventually get something concrete back for their efforts while at the same time help the site.

Obviously only a tiny percentage of skins would be Gold subscribers only, but it's a lot easier for skin authors then to be professionally published than it is now. 

Two subscription levels.....a good idea.

Two Years: $20

One Year: $12

Sounds good to me.

i'd upgrade to the new level, if that happened. It seems like a good idea to me.

#8 by Scribe Frogboy - 12/24/2003 5:31:08 PM We are considering putting together a system in which skin authors who had released enough FREE skins oover time could submit skins to the site that would only be available to those who had subscriptions. Skin authors would then get a piece of the subscription revenue.Most skins would remain free, but this would allow skin authors to start getting something back and a way for the site to pay for itself.

Sounds like a plan. It would be another reason why someone would get the WinCusto subscription. The pricing would go like this.

WinCustomize Subscription:
20 dollars for 2 years.

WinCustomize Super Subsciption:
20 (for 2 year subsciption) + 29.99 for 1 year of suites. (these suites are in ADDITION to the premium suites you will already get from getting the browser. You can renew for the following year at 19.99

Then list the authors/companies who would be part of it.

This would also work well for skinners who need a distibution outlet.



Good idea.

Oh and nightprowler, I think I understand what you are saying.

In the end you end up paying allot of money for allot of skins.

But let keep in mind a few things

1)
people like DreamDesign, Xav, and others will come here to design skins so they can get better at it to move on to selling them. In the mean time there will be more skins for those who don't pay anything near 100 dollars. You will have in influx of new skinners and the library grows 5 fold. That's ALLOT of stuff!


2)
There will always be people who will freely give away skins. Not only because its nice or they are old school but because its spreads their fame, fan base and they get to see who like what and what they like as well from practice.


3)
All this pays for the site. Everyone has a incentive to be here or join in.


4)
The idea is pretty economically sound. I would LOVE to do a thesis on it.


5)
The community still has the rules of getting higher membership status just by being active on the message board, helping people out, COMMENTING ON SKINS, submitting news stories, or maybe adding something to the library of skins will get you more download privileges.


I think number 5 is very important and should not be taken out of the equation EVER.

I am defending the devil for a second.

One pays 20 dollar now for two years. And when that is not enough one needs to quadruple the amount. It looks like a small group will be paying for a large group of freeloaders. In that case one really has to come up with penalties for freeloaders. Also current subscriptions would still be in effect when the new subscription starts and should have some more advantages than just having access to an ad-free site and the right to pay for premium skins. If from the old subscriptions 200 skins are going to the more expensive subscribers than there would be not much left for the cheaper subscription. Shouldn't the "basic" subscribers get access to say 50 premium skins?

I am not jumping to any conclusions and I understand that WC is thinking about a solution for its financial problems. And of course it is great that you probe how people think of it. Because I didn't see much about the old subscribers (but maybe I didn't read it well) I played the Devil's advocate. It wouldn't be right to forget the current subscribers. That's all.