A new KW site is coming (April Fools 2008)

[Vain]

I have been collaborating with a number of people over the past few months and have been working behind the scenes to deliver an entirely new and significantly improved KW experience.

I have setup a number of agreements with key content providers, and have taken the leap towards a dedicated hosting solution that will be capable of delivering the content without screaming to a halt - hold on to your broadband horses !!

What new content will there be you ask?

As luck will have it, a visit of mine down to Wellington saw me sitting next to an old friend of mine, Gus hunter, who works for Weta Workshops as a senior concept artist. We got to talking about SRD's stuff and he's a HUGE fan. He's been sending me a few concept animations and sketches that I'll be loading up into the new site !!

In addition, we (Romeo has been key to making this happen) plan to have podcasts of SRD discussing his books and doing selected readings. We aim to setup scheduled web-video interviews with him during which time we can have global virtual elohimfests in a sense (for those of us who have felt left out by not being in the USA or UK that would probably be cool)

And that's not all !! (I'm sounding like a commercial I know)

We're upgrading the board to a more robust commercial Vbulletin version. We won't have many of the features we have here right away but we will work on fixing that over time

Of course, there's bad news unfortunately.

With all these added features, comes extra cost. There will be a subscription based membership option of $10 a month that will grant access to all features and content without the intrusion of google-ads but for free members, the google-ads will show (they're not as intrusive as pop-ups and stuff so we'll keep it friendly)

I'm still setting up the demo pages and really should have waited until everything was up and running but I'm trying to put together a sneak-preview that'll be up and running a bit later.

I have created an additional button at the bottom of the main page that will link to the demo pages once it's up and running so keep checking - but please be patient in the interim

I don't know about you but i'm as excited as hell !!

[I'm Murrin]

As someone who likes Kevin's Watch, but dislikes both vBulletin and subscription fees, I'm not sure how to react to this.
I guess I'll withhold judgement until I see it.

[Avatar]

Ditto.

(Though I have my suspicions)

--A

[High Lord Tolkien]

[Menolly]

Vain, even with being on DSL now (if I can get it to work consistently), there is no way I can commit to a $10/month subscription fee. So, I'll put up with the google ads.

Will all areas of the Watch be available to non-subscribing members? This has happened to other forums I have been on, and over time more and more features were made available to the paying members and the non-paying members were driven away. At least, I was.

How will this upgrade effect the message boards? That's where I spend most of my time on the Watch anyway. If I wind up being driven away from Gravin Threndor...

[magickmaker17]

I suppose I'll withhold judgment until I've seen the new board....

as a poor college student, I don't think I'm gonna have the $10/month either, so same question as Menolly: will I be able to get to everything if I don't pay?

How is the paying every month set up anyway? do we have to remember to pay it every month, or is it set up so that it's taken out automatically once a month?
if we set it up to take money out automatically once a month, how easy is it to opt-out of this later?

edit: also, is it possible to just pay for several months in advance?

[DukkhaWaynhim]

Hey ladies... check your calendars for when the subscription fees might start...



dw

[A Gunslinger]

hmmm. not sure what to think here.

I reserve judgement.

[Creator]

Hey ladies... check your calendars for when the subscription fees might start...



dw

Hmmmm ... what time is it in New Zealand now!?

[Menolly]

Nearly 5:00 am Tuesday.
(I think)

[Cameraman Jenn]

I knew it was too good to be true, a forum this fun for free couldn't last...

[Menolly]

Maybe the message boards will remain free, and only kevinswatch.com is going subscription...

[DukkhaWaynhim]

I think Pantheon should charge $0.05 per post. That should keep the rest of the Watch free, and still net a tidy sum for Xar.

dw

[Menolly]

I think Pantheon should charge $0.05 per post. That should keep the rest of the Watch free, and still net a tidy sum for Xar.

dw

*jawdrop*

dw!!!!

*hyperventilating*

[balon!]

I wouldn't mind ten bucks a month. I don't pay for gas or insurance, so I've got a couple spare bucks.

Plus, I usually find that in theaters a month anyway.

[aliantha]

I'm also not wild about the idea of having to pay $10/month. (I don't have cable TV or satellite radio, either. Yes, I'm cheap.)

If it's going to be $10/month to access the "premium content", with the message boards still free (other than the Google ads), then that would be okay, I guess.

[Damelon]

I'd have to learn more.

[Seareach]

It sounds great

but

Ya know: it kinda would have been nice if this had been brought to the table before a decision was made. I certainly can't afford a $10 subscription fee! Yep, ok. I can deal with the google ads if I have to but....

Anyway...all the rest sounds great Vain.

[sgt.null]

if the boards cost then i would have to drop out. i guess a wait and see approach will serve.

[Cheval]

Vain, if there is a subscription fee, that my knock out a lot of members.
Myself - I will wait to see what comes down the pipeline before I decide anything.