Before I begin, it never was my intention to post this 48 minutes into Christmas Eve (for my timezone anyway). “Too soon!” you must be saying, and I’m sorry. But this has come to a point where I can no longer ignore and walk away from.
Also, let me make one other thing crystal clear. If you’re into donating, don’t let me stop you- this post isn’t about that. It’s more of a personal pet peeve, and that ‘pet’ is
Discord Nitro.
And as for the whole thing with Wikipedia wanting $3 to keep them from having to use ads, I’m sorry to say.. but the fact I rarely (if ever) go to that website, I don’t feel a donation is necessary. It’s not the fact I’m stingy, I just feel they’ll get more than enough donations through all of these memes (without needing me). Course, I said the same thing about Net Neutrality.. and look where that got us. But that is a different thing.
Now… Discord Nitro, and why it feels like a corporation (even though they try to show videos showing they’re “gamers just like you”). I have reason to believe they’re using paywalls to beg for your money (to the point it would make some people go “FINE, I’ll get Nitro if you stop shoving it in my face!! Geezus!” What’s sad, is it seems to be quite effective (as most of my friends have Nitro now). And it makes me feel like an ass for not giving it a chance… until I remind myself of what they’re doing in luring you into their premium subscription service.
1. Showing every emoji of every server a user is a part of (but grayed out). Clicking on one, tells you to get Nitro. There’s no option to turn this off.
2. Putting a ‘Gift’ icon in the message bar. Clicking on it, gives the option of gifting the more expensive ($100) version to friends (so they can get free games). There’s no option to turn this off.
3. Putting a special Nitro tag in your profile, to show you have it and how long you did (for ‘bragging rights’)… no option to turn it off. Though, some forums also do this (the official Minecraft forum, and the Curse website are prime examples).
If all three of these could be switched off.. because, you know, supporting a free
service (even freeware programs) is supposed to be.. well, optional, but apparently Discord as a company doesn’t believe this, of taking advantage being #1 of talking to friends outside of games.
But I get it.. “donating is supposed to make you feel good!” ..then why does it feel that I would rather swallow a box of thumb tacks, then give away money for a subscription service? Hell, if it wasn’t for the fact most game companies are using Discord to communicate to their players, I would had gotten rid of it.
Does this make me a scrooge? In a sense, yes. Yet also no at the same time. The features of Nitro, none of them feel to me they warrant $5 a month (or $50 a year). And if you want games, that’s $10 a month (or $100 a year). I have PS+/Gamefly for free games, thanks anyway.
~I don’t care about changing the four digits after my name (when I have it on my hat with Red Boi in VRChat). This doesn’t bother me in the slightest.
~Animated GIF for my profile picture? Ehh. Last time I used animated GIFs as an avatar was in the early to mid 2000’s (and it was FREE to do so…).
~Higher quality video for screen sharing? Since my screen shares are usually my monitor (and only when I need help), that’s not needed.
~Global emojis.. is nothing but a selling point. This is one of the paywalls I mentioned. It’s a gimmick!
~Faster upload limit/larger file size? Would had been nice for the drivers I needed to fix that ‘Restart required’ bug, but I don’t often do this. Plus, say I get it, and the person I’m sending it to doesn’t have Nitro. Are they fucked? Funny how it doesn’t mention this.
~Rep my support? … lmao, no. I don’t want people to know I caved in (if I ever decide to get Nitro in the future). Sure, it may show that I’m “cool enough” to donate, but fuck that. Not when I’m giving them hell like I’m doing now.
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The only way I will donate, is A: They offer a one-time flat no BS option to donate. Or
B: They do something that changes my life.
The MRT Server, was one of those where I donated without even thinking about it (plus it was a one-time donation). For Frumple, proved to me (and even allowed me to use his station designs) that people (at the time) still used traditional stations for their minecart transit systems (in Minecraft).
He (indirectly) encouraged me to make the W2TS (many years ago). That, is how you get me to donate. I also donated to The Red Cross once, because of Superstorm Sandy actually affecting me.
Do something that changes my life (such as wanting to give back and help during an Impalong in Wurm), and you’ll get my support. Discord, hasn’t done anything (and why should they?) .. but that’s my point. That’s the reason I’m not donating to a company that uses paywalls in order to beg for money.
End of discussion. That’s all I’m going to say about it. I will treat them as no more than a free service, with no remorse (as they show none when they do this shit).