I don’t believe what I am reading thus far. I am thinking that many are simply upset because they have enjoyed such a wonderful site so far for free and that can’t continue; do you want Lush to close?. It’s perhaps only human nature to get upset at something free that’s taken away but if one ponders on the reasons one eventually accepts and understands the need to change.
The way I read the model you get all the key features for USD $10 a year, i.e. Bronze membership, including black boxes/online messaging/instant messaging (I highlight this feature since it seems to be a major issue).
Please .. doesn’t just about everything in life that you enjoy doing cost money? Think about how long you spend here and how much fun you have; what would it cost you to enjoy a night out on the town? .. have a few drinks with friends down the pub or a few coffees in Starbucks?. In UK terms USD $10 equates to purchasing 3 eggs a month .. one tabloid newspaper .. two cigarettes .. a small loaf of bread.
I am sorry .. I simply cannot get my head around some people’s negative and less than understanding response to these very necessary changes to the site.
All of the above my personal view.
While I initially reacted to this with shock and I will admit I jumped before I had all the facts, when I learned of the breakdown and had a chance to hear BOTH sides of this, I have come to understand and agree with the decision.
Lush does offer a lot of features and "perks" besides just reading and writing stories. Features such as black box messaging, Forums, and chats take up a tremendous amount of bandwidth and server space. I am no techie by anyone's standards, but I know that you can only do so much before the dollar signs start adding up.
The way Nicola has broken down the different levels of features is very fair and quite reasonable IMHO. In order to talk to your friends, post on their walls, and black box message, you need to get a Bronze Badge. That is $10.00 a year folks (U.S.). Really if you can't swing 10.00 a year, you have bigger issues than Lush! You can scrape together $10.00 out of spare change!
Yes we enjoyed a free Lush site for a long time but Lush has gotten too big to keep running without making some changes. How many things in your life did you used to get for free but now have to pay for? Remember before pay TV? Remember when coffee was free at a restaurant? I remember these things and more. But times change and costs go up. Nicola and the folks here have made a wonderful place for us to escape our realities for a bit... I think the least we can do is to help them to keep the place running. And don't forget, you have 6 months to gather that pocket change before all this kicks in completely! So start your Lush jars and you won't even notice it!
Firstly, I posted my initial message last night when it appeared the action had been taken without giving the members who had been here prior to 1st Jan hadn't been given their grace so I don't feel I jumped the gun because I had read the initial announcement.
The payment for me is negligible for a whole year. I however know there will be people who don't wish to pay for fear of being caught and particularly those outside of the US may have difficulty in explaining a transaction in dollars on a statement.
However, as we now have to the aforementioned 6 months it's something we will be able to deal with over time. My initial reaction was just shock because it appeared that the grace period had been ignored.
Apologies all.
There was an issue with the grandfathering in of existing members.
All members registered before 1st January 2015, will effectively be given a 6 month bronze membership. I believe this has now been fixed.
New members get a 3 month free trial, all features enabled.
I will lock this thread and start a new one, because this looks to be full of replies caused by the coding issue primarily, and general complaints rather than questions.
