Cantiara When you become a member of some privilege clubs, you get tons of free stuff and special service.
I don't think this privilege get you anything, you have to pay to read the chapters, there is no privilege here.
Privileged chapters
Enlightened_Being Exactly. Honestly, who are they kidding? 
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CKtalon Yes but this is unethical. Is it illegal? No. But it sure is unethical. It caters to those who don’t know better and who don’t read the FINE LINE. And even then, the fine line is very misleading. And I’ve come to realize that unethical is the route Webnovel is going and for that, I’m out. As soon as I finish using up the ss I rightfully purchased, I’m out of this sh*thole aka Webnovel.
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CKtalon Duh, of course I will not pay for something that I don't think is worth it, it doesn't mean that you trying to justify the bad system by using flawed analogies is the way to go either. And a lot of your users got duped. What do you say about that? Their own fault for not reading properly? If this is the way webnovel is doing their business, it won't be sustainable in the long run. You're just lucky that up until now there's still no other similar platform to compete with you. But as soon as there is one, and they provide a better system as well as business model, you'll see a low user retention at your end.
Honestly the best solution is to NOT buy into any of these 'experimental' features that they come out with. Just spread awareness of how ludicrous this Privilege system is to anyone unaware, and don't give them any SS/Money for it. Give WebNovel your feedback via their app store and make sure as little people as possible purchase into this.
This system likely kills the idea of Mass Releases of more than the usual chapter release rate, and will only keep getting worse the more you pay and let them know how this idea was remotely feasible.
Isn't this how WebNovel's stance was with "Premium" chapters back then when they transitioned into Premium Novels? Enough people buy (in their eyes, support it), and they'll make it a permanent thing.
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It's a bait. You know it then you gonna pay it. You won't keep it away because you know it in advance that there are translated chapters. Fk I left qindian webnovel 6months ago and now I come back only to find fking privilege system. It's a daylight robbery with hook, bait and sinker. It's a robbery. You are getting robbed and it's your privilege to be getting robbed by qindian. We were getting robbed before too but now we are getting robbed and getting f'ked too happily.
Guys, you know that this is just advance chapters? Normal chapters will be uploaded just like they used to be. Nothing will change. The number of chapters you used to get every day will be the same. The only difference is that you can buy more chapters to read earlier. EARLIER THAN IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE UPLOADED. You don't need to buy this to read as you used to. This is only for people who want to read a week in advance or even more. I don't know why are you panicking. No one complains when authors have Patreon and get hundreds of dollars from advance chapters. This is just a way to support authors. Just like Patreon.
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Piokilek It's not the same with Patreon. In Patreon when you pay the subscription fee you actually get to read the advance chapter as often as you want during your subscription period. This new Privilege system only gives you the privilege to see the titles of the advance chapters, but these chapters would still be locked. You will still need to pay the necessary amount of SS to unlock and actually read it. A lot of people didn't know this and got duped. They paid the Privilege fees thinking that's the privilege they were paying for, only to find out afterwards that it wasn't. That's what people are mad about.
CKtalon I understand what you are saying but this is not a privilege. You don’t get an advantage here. In fact, the person buying the ‘privileged’ package pays more than double the amount of a typical person would if they were to just wait a couple of days, of course – depending on the novel that you are reading. When you get first class seats, you get preboarding, early check-in etc,. but you are SEATED in a completely different aisle, different experience; totally different experience than a ‘coach or economy class’. However, this is a very misleading tactic and I don’t quite understand your comparison of first class vs. Webnovel’s privilege package because the only difference that you get here is that you get the pre-boarding but in fact you are seated in the same damn economy aisle as everyone else. Of course, this type of scheme caters to the those who either don’t know what they are getting themselves into and don’t know how to spend smart or those who have the money to spend. Of course, it’s all subjective. Second, after you purchase the privileges and the author has completed the novel, privileges will ‘gradually expire’. If you are paying for these chapters, especially in that hefty amount that they charge – why do you lose what you pay for? Considering that a typical chapter cost between 3 – 9ss depending on the chapter that you are reading and its length – this is daylight robbery and its unethical. The customers are paying for a first class ticket with pre-boarding but you sit in the same economy aisle as everyone else. You don’t get anything SPECIAL – in fact, you lose more in the end.
Cantiara It's exactly the same as Patreon. I am the author myself. I charge 5$ per 6 chapters there. You get access to only those 6 advance chapters, nothing else. If you want to read more then there is another tier, 10$ - 12 chapters. This privilege gives you access to locked chapters so you can unlock them. You are paying to gain access, not the chapters. It's like paying to get to VIP area in the club, but you still have to pay for the drinks there. The privilege only gives you access, nothing else. You are privileged to unlock the chapters earlier than others.
xmdvix You get something special. YOU CAN READ EARLIER. Some people dont want to wait anymore and want to read the next chapters. This privilege system allows you to read earlier. Nothing else. You don't want to read earlier, then don't buy it. You can wait like everyone else. it's the same with Patreon advance chapters. Why people buy them instead of waiting? Because they want to read earlier! Cmon, how hard it is to understand. This is also support for authors. Why Patreon can be considered as support, but this Privilege System can't? Even if advance chapters on Patreon are overpriced, people buy them to SUPPORT the author.
Eventually this will turn into finally paying to read chapters, not like it's already happening. First everything was free to read, then you had to watch an ad, then you had to pay spirit stones for only a couple novels, then new chapters had you pay spirit stones for you to read more, then every novel had you paying spirit stones, then chapters that used to be free cost spirit stones.
Also @Piokilek you seem to be copy pasting your argument a bit, So I'll follow suit and copy you.
Piokilek I think it's a no-brainer for most people that Translator groups/individuals usually stockpile advanced chapters ahead of time so they can meet the demands of WebNovel's mass release schedule and/or in case life happens and they can't translate for a period of time so they have said stockpile to ensure their jobs are secure (steady/slow flow). At least any smart translator should do this to ensure release rate is steady and they don't displease their WebNovel employers and the customers.
It's just that they revealed now that they had this many translated so people are probably not as happy about it. What really drove me to spit at this practice is that WebNovel essentially banned translator(s) for doing this same exact practice on Patreon, proceeded to enforce a restructuring via Translation groups, and a few months later, suddenly all the popular "Premium" novels get the same exact system renamed as "Privileged" where you have to indiscriminately follow WebNovel's tier system of ~2500 SS for 50 advanced chapters, where some novels have chapters that are less than two pages long, while some have way more content. On top of that, we also need to pay to unlock the chapters after paying for the advanced chapters to reveal themselves.
If 100% of the proceeds still went to translator/editor/author/etc, I wouldn't be as triggered. The fact that WebNovel is 'benevolently' giving those lowly content creators a platform to further monetize so they can justify taking a cut is what's shady. You can't tell me the timing for this after restructuring is pretty convenient. Sure some 'bad' translators got cut, but I can't really say that the current 'group' is any better for making some groups wait 3+ weeks for one of the top 10 novels to get their first chapter after transition and also promising a 'mass release' (where there has been none to date so far since transition) and we later find out they have a 50+ advanced chapters stockpiled :thinking:.
What I was saying before was: Don't Support this shiny new feature and let them know by boycotting it. Spread the awareness that you still have to unlock chapters as they release too even after paying for the privilege of seeing advanced chapters based on the tier you buy. Hopefully most people who find the prices to be insane don't buy into it and WebNovel hears the feedback from the majority in the midst of all this white noise.
Although I do think that as long as the minority of the group (The whales) buy the tiers, WebNovel will assume their feature is supported by the customers and instate this as a permanent feature without looking into maybe adjusting their pricing to make it more alluring to a wider audience.
Piokilek On Patreon you support a team (or what looks like a team), On WebNovel you support a company (that looks like a company). You pay WebNovel and their chapters get translated, you aren't really supporting the author at all using this, if you really wanted to support the author and get the chapters you could go to the Chinese website and get it there, oh but you'll still be paying the big company WebNovel since they are owned by the Chinese Site anyways they changed their name from Qidian sometime ago, Probably a controversy or something who knows. also I remember that the "original novel" system was quite scummy, but i'm probably wrong considering what they've already done
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Piokilek Let me ask you, do you charge your fans $5 for them to actually be able to read your 6 advance chapters or for them to only be able to see the titles of those 6 advance chapters? The privilege system here asks readers to pay $8 only to see the TITLES of 5 stockpiled chapters. Can you honestly still say that this is the same perk with what being offered by authors, translators or any other content makers/contributors on Patreon? And moreover, the fact that this new Privilege system only offers early access to unlock advance chapters and not access to the actual chapters themselves is not explained properly to the readers, leading to many readers that have paid the privilege fee to feel like they just have been scammed.
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I can envision this now:
Once Privileged System gets its green light pass with their staff because 100 smart supporters paid into it because of their curiosity/passion for the novel, we start getting ads in premium novels per page, and we have to pay SS to remove said ads for a month (not permanent).
Then the next stage, we will have to pay extra SS to get the privilege of seeing edited chapters. Because WebNovel's almighty editors have carefully prepared many chapters for everyone to enjoy (using same text as their Privilege Rules btw :) ).
Then WebNovel slowly bans Original Authors from doing Patreon, proceeds to collectively make them jump through various hoops that they fixed in the contract, original authors will come crying then and in the end will have to join in this awesome Privileged System and the various other new systems that's been established by the time it comes around. :ok_hand: Because the original authors now get to see who's the real passionate supporter willing to pay tiered SS packages to see the titles of your advanced chapters, to then pay again to unlock them.
And the best part, their works get generalized so even if you write better quality content with wholesome chapters, someone else writing the next original CEO novel with 2-3 page chapter gets the same tiers as you (your 50 chapters is the same value as theirs).
qiprivsucks I understand that it might look like its a scam when its translations who upload advance chapters as they usually translate most of the novel before releasing it, but what about Originals novels? It's one author who write normally. Most of my readers would be glad to pay more just so they could support me. They already gift a lot of SS. Some of those readers would want to buy access to more chapters just so they could support me. It's also a good way to make originals authors write more.
Piokilek there is no "might"
It is purely a scam, no two ways about it.
Go from subscription where people voluntarily donated SS to authors to a jacked up sneak peek that is absurdly priced.
Many of us have complained for MONTHS about the high cost of SS prices and chapter SS costs... To add in THIS on top of it? It is adding insult to injury
Kuromeru666 SS is not that overpriced as you think. To read 250k words which is like two harry potters cost 20$. Maybe 10$ for a book is a lot but it's not super overpriced.