what they are selling you stated you won't pay for because you can find it free elsewhere. same can be said for what you are selling, I'm a Christian so don't go there, but you profit off Jesus, God bless you
Message to our non-subscribers that frequent the site.
- Thread starter Jim Coyle
- Start date
He agreed with your post, so he wasn't referring to you. Read iubud's post.
I appreciate your honesty, but have you ever considered that the people posting on the free boards have a different pov?
You mention all of the things that you provide, and how all of that costs money. Have you considered that some don’t care at all about the content that is provided?
I agree that $10/month is not much money…
…but, some people are here JUST for the fan forums. And some of these people make contributions to the free boards by the content (posts) that they provide. Saying that someone that is a great poster is “not supporting the site” is hogwash. They may not be supporting a certain business model, but they do contribute to the content, activity, and discussion on the free boards,
I’ve been here since the days of the old IIBF, pre Peegs. I get that you would like to see the free boards go away, and that they don’t align with your business model. But, please consider that some people enjoy just the forum experience. After all, in the internet era content is easy enough to find. $10/mo is small potatoes, but, there is the inconvenience associated with it, and of course some have had poor experiences in trying to cancel. A moderated free site that has high traffic would be my preference. Pushing everyone to a subscription model may work out for you. I just fear it will result in a much smaller pool of posters, with much less room for dissenting opinions.
VanPastorMan
Hall of Famer
Nobody has to give. If the church did not want a full time pastor they don't have to have one. What church out there has no paid staff whatsoever? You say that I profit. If that means I get paid to work full time then yes. But is that a bad thing?
I agree with this. I don't consume much content from this site and most of what I am interested in I can find or eventually comes out on Twitter. I only recently stopped my membership* because I chose a new career that meant a 30% cut in income paired with a child headed off to college this fall, so we made some cuts that were inconsequential amounts prior, but now, every $10-$15/mo is scrutinized more closely.
*I never could actually cancel. They just had an outdated credit card on file and couldn't renew me. If customer service were better and I felt like I'd be able to cancel easily, I'd consider re-upping. And I realize Jim has no control over that, but it's a strong factor for me.
according to you it is, why would someone pay you for information that is readily available for free. would you still preach if the contributions dried up and they quit paying you.
They definitely would cost money. The benefit of the free forum is it brings more people in and like any brick-and-mortar storefront, having more people present not only makes the site more entertaining for those who are paid subscribers but also offers a daily advertisement to those who are not yet subscribers. Meaning over time they add revenue that wouldn't have been there if it weren't for the free forum drawing traffic to the site in the first place.
Regardless, there's always going to be a cost benefit analysis to determine whether or not the staff finds their time spent generating content/managing the site, is getting its value. I don't know if this type of post is the best approach at improving subscriber numbers, but I also don't know if it's not. I certainly can't blame Jim for trying. What I will say is if the consumer finds something where the value supersedes the cost, especially in the sports world, they'll come. Either by word of mouth or by renewing their subscription from experiencing that value.
IIUC, it's a drop in the bucket. The biggest "cost" is going to be the time involved in dealing with the whining and bitching. Every time someone cries to Jim about something on any of the free boards it's a "cost".
To me, it’s two fold. I joined the platform in 2012 and was a premium subscriber for years. I wound up leaving for two main reasons. The most prominent being I got tired of the constant turnover of staff. My experience in the premium board is it’s a bunch of dudes who joined in the early 2000’s and engage heavily with one another but not so much with those who joined later such as I. All good. But, I frankly find the free board more engaging and entertaining. At the end of the day $10 won’t change my life, but it’s somewhat of a principle issue. Why pay for something that provides little to no value, regardless of the cost?
I appreciate the banter and thoughts of the regular posters more than the content provided by the hired help and those running the page. Frankly, most of the content is a repeat of what the posters on here have already said.
I'll never pay for recruiting speculation, and it's nothing more than that no matter what anyone says. IU hasn't landed a primary recruit in the past two classes. You get a year or more of speculation, they land none of them, but fortunately pick up someone last minute. With NIL that nay be the new normal. I don't need a recruiting "guru" or analyst for that.
I understand the predicament of those who own the site and those trying to earn a living from it, but it's not our responsibility to keep it afloat. Not trying to be mean. Just realistic. If it folds tomorrow my life is unchanged. There are other ways ti find news about IU basketball.
I'll never pay for recruiting speculation, and it's nothing more than that no matter what anyone says. IU hasn't landed a primary recruit in the past two classes. You get a year or more of speculation, they land none of them, but fortunately pick up someone last minute. With NIL that nay be the new normal. I don't need a recruiting "guru" or analyst for that.
I understand the predicament of those who own the site and those trying to earn a living from it, but it's not our responsibility to keep it afloat. Not trying to be mean. Just realistic. If it folds tomorrow my life is unchanged. There are other ways ti find news about IU basketball.
The Cooler is moderated by children (not all, but a couple). Either appoint fair moderators or close it down.
VanPastorMan
Hall of Famer
I guess your problem is with God. Having pastors in the church was God's idea. 1 Timothy 3. Read that chapter.
Naturally, most people look at things from their perspective. I do understand that there are many people who use the free side of things only. The free side is not complaint free. And if there were no site there would be no free side.
There hadn't been local ownership of this site for a decade. I continue and try to do as much as we possibly can to appease everyone's tastes.
Some people use the site for different things, news, recruiting, forums, etc. We have to work to provide it all.
If you use the site, you use the site. Like you said, $10 is not that much money. Canceling can be done from your very own profile. If you want to support the site to help ensure these things are always here, great we appreciate the support.
So, if I were to pay for a subscription would all the ads and nuisance pop-ups go away?
You can do that for free with Ghostery or a variety of other ad blockers
I would guess that the cost doesn't change based on number for forums. So if they are keeping the premium forums, then I would bet keeping the free forums doesn't add any additional costs.
The real issue IMO is that unpaid posters only help with ad revenue (more eyes = more money), which those proceeds are apparently being hogged by Rivals (National) and not shared with the people working on the college specific sites. I guess if most of the costs are incurred by Rivals (National) then that would make sense for them to get the ad revenue (no idea how the split works obviously).
I don't think it's accurate to assume posters would rush to subscribe if the free forums were removed. The forums would just turn into what you see on peegs...ghost town as people moved to other forums that were hosted elsewhere. There goes ad revenue and then Rivals (National) would probably start looking for other ways to get theirs so to speak.
We have zero control over that. You would be supporting the site that we are able to provide for you to spend time on, as well as the content that is a 7-day-a-week, 365 day grind for us. Thank you.
Sorry. Had premium for a few years. Got tired of all the coach and player hate. Whenever someone tried to be positive they were labeled "sunshine pumpers". I decided to "scroll past" the entire premium board. I can spend 2 minutes on the free site and get a rough idea what's going on in the program. Other sites including Facebook groups are getting better. Lots of other info out there.
Recruiting is now so fluid to me it's hardly worth keeping up with. Everybody is contacted, everyone has us on their list, a couple may "commit" at least temporarily. Then who will hang around the next year.
That's my humble opinion. Wouldn't miss it that much if free board were discontinued.
Recruiting is now so fluid to me it's hardly worth keeping up with. Everybody is contacted, everyone has us on their list, a couple may "commit" at least temporarily. Then who will hang around the next year.
That's my humble opinion. Wouldn't miss it that much if free board were discontinued.
Not your fault, but I have found myself saying the same things over and over. The benefit to Rivals or theHoosier.com by "more eyes" from the free side of things is negligible. We are a subscription based site, not one built on "clicks" as people like to say. Having "great posters" on the free side of things is also negligible. Too many people are convinced that the free side of the site carries this magically intrinsic and great value to the site. It does not.
that's why my 2nd paragraph said the free people only help with ad revenue, which goes to national rivals according to one of your other posts.
You're right, free forum posters don't bring in direct value to Indiana staff on rivals but you're ignoring the benefits of a busy forum. People will flock towards forums that have more activity and abandon those that don't. More people on the forums equals more customers that likely see the front page and may make a decision to be a paying subscriber.
That's why stores don't usually charge just for entering the store. They want as many people browsing as possible because it increases the chances of finding a paying customer.
Last edited:
Best thing you could do to get subs is collect some former players across the decades and have them post here during games. Maybe pay them instead of an analyst tbh. You’d get way more eyeballs wanting to see.
I do think the content here is some of the best but $120 is too rich for my wallet at the moment. I’m open to it but I’d also rather see is an entry level option and a discord TBQH.
I do think the content here is some of the best but $120 is too rich for my wallet at the moment. I’m open to it but I’d also rather see is an entry level option and a discord TBQH.
So I can only assume that apparently there is no player/coach discontent on the free side? The boards are meant for discussion, not constant agreement. And if you're getting your news from or comparing us or any site like it to Facebook, I have no words for that.
I didn't miss it, I think you missed mine. Any ad revenue that comes from any of the boards is negligible, no matter where it goes. Rivals is not based on eyes or clicks, but on subscribers. With that in mind, please explain to me how a "busy forum" will magically bring in more subscribers when most of those that are there now are not subscribed. Stores do charge a "cover charge" because pretty much every person that walks into a store goes in with the probable intention of making a purchase. I am sure there are people who either have the time or just like to go to stores just to walk around, but I am not one of those, nor do I know any. Personally, I cannot remember a time I went into a store without the need or intent to make a purchase.
HS recruiting will become less and less important as the new NIL game takes shape.
We have players on already via BB postgame shows. There is already a real-time chat feature that is available to Premium users that will be used in conjunction with the post-game shows. The analyst role relates to recruiting, not "game analysis."
We have no control how the site is set up. We are part of the Rivals Network. All sites look and act the same. That makes it easy to go from site to site with ease. If you truly cannot afford $10/month, I understand. There are no "levels."
I guess we should go ahead and shut the site down now then? I do not recall ever mentioning HS recruiting as THE reason to support the site. There are a multitude of reasons and not all of them are for everyone. But we provide them all, including the "free" places where you and other people dwell. Those "free" places still take up space on the servers, they are not any more complaint free than the premium side, which means time, which means money, etc. You're either going to support the site or you are not.
