Clearing up some confusion

ID:276122
 
Jun 1 2005, 5:44 pm
There seems to be a bit of confusion over some of the finer details of the recent announcement. I'll try to clear up a few things here:
  • The BYOND software is, and always will be free to download and use. End of story.
  • Non-members will still be able to see if their friends are online in the pager. There is no change here.
  • Non-members can still come to the website and see all live games. There is no change here.
  • Non-members will be able to see a selection of live games directly in the pager. This is a new feature.

The only new restrictions for non-Members will be:
  • Non-members will only see their friends' status as "[online]". They will not see where their friends are.
  • Non-members will not be able to initiate instant message conversations in the pager. However, if a Member sends a message to a non-Member, the non-Member will be able to respond and hold a normal conversation with that Member. So if your friend is a Member and you are not, your friend can send you a message and then you guys can talk normally over the pager.


As I said in the announcement, we're adding these two restrictions for non-Members because they are non-essential features (you can still play all games, find games, see who's online, etc) and because they tax our servers quite a bit at peak times during the day. We debated about this for a long time, and felt that this was a reasonable compromise to make sure that BYOND itself doesn't go under due to rising load and server/bandwidth costs. Members will simply help pay for a feature that costs us money to provide. And who knows, we may always change things in the future, but this is the current plan.

Any and all feedback is welcome, just please understand what the current plan is before complaining about it. :) Thanks!
Jun 1 2005, 5:50 pm
Well, I like the new changes, looks nice, was a little surprised to see the BYOND client thing, then join a game and it opens DS, but its nice. I don't see the problem, I am gladly forking out the money. =)
Jun 1 2005, 5:55 pm
Mike H wrote:
And who knows, we may always change things in the future, but this is the current plan.

Just to reiterate: One thing that won't change is that it will always be free to make and play games using BYOND.

Some (on their complementary member blog) have mentioned that there should be more value for the money. Do let us know if you have ideas there...we do want to keep adding value to membership.
Jun 1 2005, 6:09 pm
Can you guys keep the forum icon for non members cos i know i wont be able to pay but i like the icon thing.
Jun 1 2005, 7:38 pm
In response to ZeroCrash
I am going to pay for Members, and also send a big donation...
Jun 2 2005, 8:20 am
In response to Deadron
Deadron wrote:
Do let us know if you have ideas there...we do want to keep adding value to membership.

It'd be pretty awesome if we could use DMCGI on member sites :-D
Jun 2 2005, 8:27 am
In response to Airjoe
Airjoe wrote:
It'd be pretty awesome if we could use DMCGI on member sites :-D

That is an interesting idea.
Jun 2 2005, 8:57 am
Maybe now we can see the resurrection of dimes perhaps? Or perhaps something of that effect? I don't really know if its even a good idea anymore.
Jun 2 2005, 9:45 am
Cool! I'm definently going to use that isByondMember() proc in my game. I might sign up but I never have money so I'll just have to enthusiastically support it until I can get one for myself. Hurry up on the 4.0!
Jun 2 2005, 10:18 am
In response to Airjoe
Airjoe wrote:
It'd be pretty awesome if we could use DMCGI on member sites :-D

I think this is a fabulous idea, and it's one of the few that we hadn't thought of yet. The main hurdle here would be making sure we provide an environment where nobody's CGI could take over too many system resources or snoop around where they aren't supposed to. We'll definitely think about this one.
Jun 2 2005, 11:42 am
In response to OMGEP3
I like the idea of bringing back dimes, as long as it is not a member-only feature so that I can use them to pay for membership!
Jun 2 2005, 11:44 am
In response to Infernal dragon
Yeah, so do I. I also like the idea of having a sig. Maybe make one members only and let the other one be used by all?