Doug goes off.

[gridlore]

OK, I have had it with the whinging and bitching over the demise of ad-free Basic Accounts. How about some facts?

1. LJ/Six Apart/The Russian Overlords are businesses who exist to make money. Freebie accounts that use resources and do not generate income do not serve this end. I'm amazed it took this long.

2. A one-year Paid Account costs USD19.95. That's about half of what kshandra and I paid today for 90 minutes at a skeevy hot tub place. Put it another way, a paid account costs about 5 cents a day. A six month account? 8 cents a day. This is not going to freaking kill you!

3. They aren't our servers, our software, and when the system crashes we aren't the ones paying for the repairs. They own LJ, it is not some sort of anarchist commune. They own the sandbox, they make the rules. If you don't like the rules, feel free to play somewhere else.

So not only will I not be taking part in the utterly pointless March 21st "No Content Day," I may see if I can top my personal records for number of posts and length of those posts!

Finally, I know some people, including friends and relatives of mine, have created multiple, in some cases hundreds, of Basic Accounts for role-playing games. To them I say: too bad. In fact, I suspect the thousands of sock accounts might be part of this move. If y'all wish to keep RPGing by LJ, you'll have to find a new way to do it.

Comments

[bunyip.livejournal.com]

I'll be posting that day too :D

[madelineusher.livejournal.com]

I use Plus Accounts for RP anyway. It's not like the ads are that annoying, and hey, more icons! :D

[kengr]

Uh, Doug?

The bitching I've read isn't about the demise of Basic accounts. It's about the way it was done. Including the fact that they are *still* claiming it has nothing to do with money, but is merely an attempt to "make the sign-up process less confusing".

[lysana.livejournal.com]

I saw both sets of whining going on, myself.

[glinda-w.livejournal.com]

The *way* it was done sucks large rocks through tiny coffee stir-sticks. However, TANSTAAFL applies to *what* was done. IMO, etc., pick the disclaimer you want. *wry*

Don't know if I'll post that day or not, but most days I don't, so it'll be a matter of how I'm doing that day.

[robertprior.livejournal.com]

Um, what's happening?

[firestrike.livejournal.com]

It's comfortable under my rock. I enjoy the quiet.

[davehogg.livejournal.com]

If they had come out and said "We know Brad promised this would never happen, but we're killing Basic Accounts because we need the money", I wouldn't have minded. I've had a paid account since 2001, so it isn't like I'm opposed to them.

My problem was that they didn't even bother to announce the change, then claimed that they didn't think it affected current users, then claimed that it wasn't a business decision, but was done to make signing up simpler, then when a million users called them on that, they then decided it was a business decision and got snotty about how they do need to make money. I'm not a big fan of being treated like an idiot.

(That said, your post is the first I've heard of a No Content day on the 21st, and I don't have any intention of joining it.)

[dandelion-diva.livejournal.com]

Yup, what he said.

I might post on Friday...I dunno. But if I don't, it'll be 'cause I don't think the post I'm working on is done, nothing more. Just like every other day.

Also? Penguins.

[christophine.livejournal.com]

Ya know, I moved on to a new place to play back before the Russian Overlords. I pop back over here because there are folks I like to read here, but I do my posting elsewhere now. And yeah, I think that the way it was handled could have been better. But I absolutely agree with you on being fed up with the type of person who feels that they should get everything for nothing and then whines when it doesn't work out that way. All things considered, maybe I'll move back into my LJ digs for one day just to make a bazillion posts on this idiotic No Content Day. Assuming I remember, that is. I rarely know what day of the week it is anymore, much less the date!

[notthebuddha.livejournal.com]

Freebie accounts that use resources and do not generate income do not serve this end.

There may not be such a thing. No-ad freebie accounts still generate income when their users view the ads on ad-bearing accounts, contribute replies to ad-bearing account comments, and otherwise contribute to the network effect, increasing LJ's market share and valuation.

Not trying to step on your rant, here

[louisadkins.livejournal.com]

Heh, I canceled my paid subscription due to the fact that I objected to the policy handling back before SUP bought LJ from 6A. Honestly, the continued idiocy doesn't surprise me, and I don't see a reason to pay toward it, even at $20/year.

The whole "it's a business" argument always seems to spring up. Yeah, it is. It's a business that I don't feel the need to financially support, currently, as a dis-satisfied customer.

I do think the whole "it always has to be be my way" crowd is over the top, and that includes a "No Content Day," but I don't see why you feel customers don't have the right to complain. From a business PoV, you want customers to complain, if they aren't satisfied. You get a chance to "save the sale" (or whatever you wanna call it) - People that quietly go away take all that money that was invested in gaining that customer with them and usually don't come back.

Re: Not trying to step on your rant, here

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

They do have a right to complain, and I have the right to point at them and tell them they're wrong.

You did the correct thing, and voted with your wallet. The internet equivalent of "the silent treatment" will accomplish nothing.

Anyway, Firefox users can download an adblocker, or ban images from any site they please. I don't see any ads on LJ.

[jarlsberg71.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard about the No Comment Day.

I find the concept about as amusing as a Don't buy gas on such-and-such day. If we *don't* comment on a specific day, we're either going to make up for it the next day, or even if we don't. NOT using their services SAVES THEM MONEY. so all the people not posting/commenting uses less bandwidth, makes the servers less hot which reduces the electricity to run them and cool them. not calling for voice posts, all this stuff, it doesn't do anything but make people feel like they're doing something...

[melchar.livejournal.com]

I like LJ - have had a free account for years. Then, this year, someone paid a year for me. Now my suspicious mind thinks there's a 50/50 chance it was an artifact of the system.

If so, I like LJ even more. Regardless, I -like- the paid account and am likely to keep paying for it hereafter. So - in the 1st place I didn't complain about the ads on free accounts [food idea, say I] - and IMO of all the 'community' blogging sites, I find this one the best fit and most deserving of my support.

I also hadn't heard about 'no comment day', but I hope I remember -now- and post then, just for the support.