Updates to Prime: PayPal, new Ad-Free Tier, and...

[quote=Mowen][center][img="/images/news/prime-update-2019-06.jpg"][/center] It’s been over 3 years since we launched MFN Prime - and it’s time for some updates. The goal of MFN Prime is and has always been to give a way for our members to support our sites and team with an ad-free experience. We’ve honed in on that goal by revisiting how we handle payments and making a few big changes. [list=1] [*]There is now an [color=#fff][b]Ad-Free subscription option[/b][/color] that will give you an ad-free experience while also supporting our site for [color=#fff][b]$1/month[/b][/color]. [*]Our [color=#fff][b]Prime subscription[/b][/color] has had its price reduced to make it more affordable to our community - it has gone from [color=#fff][b]$30/yr to $20/yr[/b][/color]. [list][*]All current subscribers will get their subscriptions cancelled and their most recent charge refunded. You will need to sign back up for Prime to get your Prime perks. We’ve sent out refunds but it may take up to a couple of weeks for Stripe to process it. If your Prime purchase was processed manually by an admin please PM [url="https://www.mobafire.com/profile/psiguard-85214"]PsiGuard[/url] for help with your refund.[/list] [*] We’ve added [color=#fff][b]PayPal as a new payment option[/b][/color] - which has been heavily requested by our community. You can now pay with either PayPal or Stripe (Credit Card Processor). [*] In order to expand our payment options, we also had to make the hard decision to [color=#fff][b]retire the Commendation system[/b][/color] for a few reasons. [list] [*]The complexity of adding time to member’s subscriptions did not jive well with our payment processors and it was unclear to members when they would be charged. It restricted our options for payment flexibility and left us unable to use our most widely requested payment processor (PayPal). [*]The intent of the Commendation system was to give a way for the community to show authors their hard work was appreciated. However, the implementation of the Commendation system did not do a good job at this. As our community rightly pointed out, they would rather donate any money they would spend on Commendations to the authors themselves. [*]Since we introduced Prime we’ve implemented a better way for guide authors to see just how many people appreciate their work - Guest Voting. However, we still think we can do a better job showcasing high quality guides and guide authors. Our goal is to create a better system for this rather than having to stick to the Commendations framework, along with continuing to share our best guides in our news and social media. [*]Anyone who has an active Prime subscription will get their most recent charge refunded. In addition we will be refunding all Commendation purchases since 2018. We’ve sent out refunds but it may take up to a couple of weeks for Stripe to process it. If your Prime purchase was processed manually by an admin please PM [url="https://www.mobafire.com/profile/psiguard-85214"]PsiGuard[/url] for help with your refund. [*]We will also be distributing Award badges to members who received Commendations on their content that will show how many Commendations they’ve received in total. We know it sucks to have Commendations you’ve gotten removed from your content, but we felt that it would be unfair to leave Commendation displays up with no way for new guide authors to get them. This is what the team felt would be best to keep everyone on even footing but also recognize the accomplishments of older authors. [/list] [*] The Prime Member’s Lodge private forum will be retired due to lack of use. [/list] We hope this update makes it easier for those members who want to support MOBAFire ad-free to do so. [color=#fff][b]We also want to give a big “Thank You!” to those of you who have already been supporting us via Prime[/b][/color] - we truly appreciate it! It means so much to us that we have such supportive and helpful members. It’s what makes the MOBAFire community so special.[/quote]

[quote=Nighthawk]Great changes. ALthough, if you expect an influx of members, wouldn't keeping the private forum be good still? XD[/quote]

[quote=PsiGuard]Doubt it would be used any more than before; other private rank-based forums are already pretty dead. People interact more on Discord anyway.[/quote]

[quote=PhoenixianSlayer]Question, which method earns the site more: ads or prime membership?[/quote]

[quote=Fruxo][quote=PhoenixianSlayer]Question, which method earns the site more: ads or prime membership?[/quote] Kinda weird question x) Pretty sure it's ads though. The reason prime exists is mainly to remove ads for specific people wanting to support the site (and because they are annoying in some cases lol), with the other streaming/commenting etc. etc. bonuses that you get with it. Also pretty sure that because the amount of money you have to spend on prime is now lowered as well as there is other options now. I doubt many people bought or was able to buy it in the first place, unlike with ads. However, of course with these new changes I bet way more people are going to buy it to be able to support Mobafire like they've always wanted to do, so who knows. This is just my opinion though.[/quote]

[quote=KuuHaKu_OtgmZ]What will happen with people who have the commend-related badges?[/quote]

[quote=Fruxo][quote=KuuHaKu_OtgmZ]What will happen with people who have the commend-related badges?[/quote] Basically quoted from the amazing PsiGuard himself, people who have gotten commendations will get a limited one time only award (Psiguard already has one if you want to see how it looks) depending on how many commendations you've gotten, if it's 3, 4, 10 or even 17 that Psi has for example. If you've only got one I think you only get the normal "commendable" award, but if you have above that you get a nice new one. And this is again because the commendation system is going forever, but they'll look to try to award great authors in other ways. :)[/quote]

[quote=CaptianMike]Just got myself the Ad-free subscription! Great idea :)[/quote]

[quote=Mowen]Pretty much what Fruxo said regarding the commend badges (thanks Fruxo!) And thanks for the support Captian Mike! :)[/quote]

[quote=Fruxo][quote=Mowen]Pretty much what Fruxo said regarding the commend badges (thanks Fruxo!)[/quote] My pleasure :)[/quote]