I'm reading 99th divorce, for which I have NOT purchased Privilege. There's no backlog of chapters. There are 1078 published chapters. I'm being prevented from further progression at chapter 1028, so that 50 chapters can be held for Privilege. I repeat these are NOT backlog chapters. I shouldn't have to purchase Privilege for normal progression. You should scrap Privilege and come up with something better. I don't mind paying for content because I believe in supporting the translators and creators, but you've created a situation that abuses the users and will make it hard to get new users and retain current users.
Announcement: Privilege Adjustment
naginano05 sorry, I don't quite get what you mean with this reply to one of my previous posts.
Yes, if you don't repurchase privilege after its expiration date, or if you repurchase a lower tier privilege than what you had before, then indeed it may take a while before you would catch up with where you were previously. It depends on the amount of chapters that are released daily by the translator/author. If you were 30 advanced chapters ahead of others before and didn't repurchase privilege, and say the daily update of that novel is 2 chapters a day, then you'll have to wait 15 days before you get to where you left off when you were still 30 chapters ahead of others.
And yes, I agree with PurplePoohBear , it's a vicious cycle, but please remember that you don't have to purchase privilege to still read the story that you like. Privilege is a system that they came up with for avid fans who would like to support the content contributor(s) of their favourite novels. It's not perfect, yes, but what is anyway? And I see they're trying to make improvements so I'm giving them credits for that.
Cantiara I have novels that I'm reading for which I have not purchased Privilege. The problem is that they are holding chapters for Privilege and not updating the novels as they're supposed to
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PurplePoohBear you're not getting daily updates anymore? Do you know who the translator is? It may be a problem with their auto release system, which is known to be quite buggy.
Do not pay for privledge!! Its a complete scam, it expires after 30 days and you don't get to stay where you are in your book. You restart at non-privledge chapter cap and have to wait how ever long it takes your novel to catch up to the chapter you left off on. If you paid for 50 chapters and your book releases 1 a day, it will take 51 days to see what would have been chapter 51 OR you can pay for the 50 chapters a third time to see the next 1 chapter for a month.
MiddleEastern. Privledge expires after 30 days, they are greed incarnate
Hello Webnovel, I just purchased "membership privlage" so I can read the novels that need it in order to read futher into the chapters..but I am shocked to see that I can only use this "privlage" just on one book! Please help explain why only one book is alloweed and not given to other stories. I feel that I just got scammed into the "prilage membership" I spent 900 SS ON IT!
like_MARK the privilege membership is only set for one novel because the whole idea behind the privilege membership concept is to provide readers with a way to support the content contributor (author/translator) of a particular novel that they like and to give the content contributor an incentive to improve the quality of their work.
By signing up for a privilege membership on one novel, meaning that you support the content contributor for that particular novel only.
Having said that, I understand your frustration. For frequent forum-goers, like myself, this is already a well-known fact. And I thought they have already put this information in their fine print as well, which I assumed you have read before you purchased the privilege service.
But after re-reading it, I don't think this information is written explicitly there, which indeed could still cause confusion, so @WEBNOVEL_OFFICIAL , could you please add this information as explicitly as possible to the privilege rules/warning as well? It would reduce complaints such as this one from your customers.
I really hope there’s ar better way since to support the authors in the future, it’s really expensive dam. Anyways, TapRead making no progress
Hm.... just a suggestion... @WEBNOVEL_OFFICIAL remember how about a year ago when premium was starting? At that time we had the option to watch Ads instead of using SS to unlock chaps, or to get a discount on them.
Since the privilege is bought using SS why not use Ads instead and have the money paid by those enterprises repassed to the authors/translators instead?
It could cost Ads per unlock, with each Ad generating the equivalent of 5SS (not that we would get the SS, but each Ad would decrease 5SS from the price to unlock the chapter)
By the way... I’m still trying to figure how that privilege price works since unlike the SS price for the chaps that one don’t have a fixed rate...
Honestly I’m suggesting this because I rather not spend SS that I could spend to read novels on unlocking chapters... that will be locked again at the end of the month.
I’m all about supporting authors and translators, that’s why I use webnovel. Just... as someone who’s been here since before the premium got fully implemented... I feel cheated when you use this same reasoning of supporting them to implement another way of charging us for chapters...
Also, not being able to see the countdown to next update plus that privilege propaganda when we reach the locked chaps... plus seeing the 20 to 50 unread chaps in library that are there because I can’t read them without getting the privilege is backlashing into making me hate the privilege instead of wanting to buy it... it’s... seriously annoying... and I feel many feel the same and woud not buy it even having the SS to do so out of spite... so yeah... would be nice to tone down at that... even if the Ads suggestion gets ignored...
Nizze Ads do not generate 5 SS worth of revenue. They generate about 0.25-0.5 SS each. Before Premium was introduced, it was using ads for revenue, and it was sorely insufficient to pay authors, translators, editors, and the publisher.
Currently, Privilege money is shared among authors, translators, and publisher.
There is a countdown. See
WEBNOVEL_OFFICIAL
Item 3 of Privilege's t&c requires amendment.
There is a need to explain that once one purchased all the tiers, at the start of a new month, one has to wait for the chapters to catch up to the total chapters allocated for that month, only the make a purchase of the tier at the start of a new month. Otherwise, we paid again for the chapters that we already purchased during the preceding months when we purchased the tier(s) at the beginning of the new month.
I think whomever experienced the above would understand what am trying explain.
Your kind consideration is very much appreciated and anticipated.
Thank you,
Mok_T
Since you're making some changes, can you also change the voting of power stones? What I mean is, you do not put books of boy love under female protagonist. That confused me of the storyline and made me disappointed after clicking it thinking there's new story where main character is a heroine. Why not create a third?
XiaoMeeHee hello how are you
Why is privilege limited to App users?
Seems like a bit of an F U to website readers...
CKtalon Well first of all... that was the exact same excuse made when novels went “premium”. The Ads where not enough. And now premium is not enough to support them and there is the “privilege”. That is what angers those who like me was here and saw it happen. And why we don’t agree with it.
Second, if the Ads only generate so much then that is something webnovel must renegotiate with the ones advertised. I mean that even for the “reward multiplier” and “watch video” daily quests. Or one day they will be taken down since “the Ads don’t generate enough to cover for it”. And with the popularity of webnovel it should be paid more for those Ads.
Lastly. Yeah that pages appears.
On. The. Novels. That. Are. Not. Under. Privilege.
For the ones that are it only shows that full screen text of propaganda of privilege.
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Nizze I wasn't around when they first introduced premium chapters, so I can't say much about their reasoning behind it. And I didn't mean to barge in your convo, but I couldn't help but say something when I read the part of your post about WN renegotiating with advertisers because they should be paid more for those ads. Yeah, sorry, I could be meddlesome like that.
Well, the thing is, what you wrote, it doesn't work like that. WN, in this case, is just one of the many host partners of Google Adsense service. How it works is basically, advertisers pay Google to run ads on the Adsense network, then WN applied to become a part of that network (which is not a simple thing, you need to be eligible and approved by Google first), and then once they became a part of Google Adsense network, they get an ad code from Google and place it on their site/app. Then Google pays WN when those ads appear on their site/app.
So WN can't renegotiate with those advertisers directly, there were never any initial negotiations with them, to begin with. And no, they can't negotiate with Google either, because, well, I'm not gonna call Google a tyrant, because tyrant is a strong word, and we all do benefit from a lot of things that Google gives us, but they are one of the biggest players in the tech world, and so, if you're using their service, instead of negotiating with Google, you'll have to conform with their standards instead.
As far as I know, if you're a host partner, how much revenue generated by these ads depends on two things. Per Click and Per Action. Per Click is the most common type, WN gets paid every time we, readers, click and view the ads they're showing on their site/app. But this doesn't really generate a significant amount of money. The other type, Per Action is the one that generates more money. WN gets paid when we actually perform an action after viewing those videos, like downloading those games advertised in the multiplier videos, etc, because the action provides a direct benefit to the advertiser. But not many people do that if any at all. Well, I, at least, don't.
So, just like CKtalon said, and he must have calculated those numbers or gotten the data from a reliable source, the ads don't generate sufficient revenues to pay the content contributors here. I think the premium chapters would generate enough income if the ratio of paying readers is greater to non-paying readers, and I'm assuming it isn't. That's why they introduced Privilege to give their content contributors more incentives to do their work well.
In the beginning, I didn't quite understand the Privilege concept either. I was very vocal about WN communicating and explaining it clearly to their readers, who like me, were new in this web novels world. And I admit, it's really easy to join the hate bandwagon (Hate is a strong word, so forgive me for using it for lack of a better word), but once you really try to understand how things work behind the scene, you get to understand why they do what they do. It's not perfect, but what is? Now I just consider the Privilege service like an extra bonus an employee gets from the company they're working at. It's an additional benefit, they're still paid their monthly salary, but the bonus could really boost their morale. And if I like the novel I'm reading, I pay for the privilege service, to boost the morale of the content contributors behind it, and to let them know that their hard work is appreciated.
Cantiara Thanks for explaining to me about the Ads, since I really don’t know much about it. Still feel bad it doesn’t generate enough revenue.
I’m not really on a hate bandwagon since I don’t hate the concept of privileged users.
Do you know why I dislike this system in particular? Now I’ll explain you why. Let’s start with a little bit of history and how and why I came to use webnovel and why a lot of people hate it. You see I was like many other reading novelsnin sites like GravityTales totally for free without even knowing Quidian to which they were licensed had app/site we could use to read them in english. Then, it started. Qidian went after the novels and translators and well poached some, sued some... and brought his licenced novels back. I will make clear at this point that Qidian was right in doing so. And so I came to know and use Qidian. At that point they were already trying to implement “premium”. And so the popular novels with 700+ translated chaps that were free before became premium here. You can still find in the reviews and comments some translators affirming the novel would not go premium, some even saying it would be uploaded in both fronts. And well, premium they went. And there was a lot of hate comments at that point.
At that time we were fed the exact same excuses. “This is a way to support authors and translators. They deserve to earn their keep from what they do. If you like their work support them.” And so on. And you know what? I totally agreed with it. Still do. Both authors and translators deserve it. From a couple to a dozen, to a hundred till all translated novels went premium. And they did try to appease the readers that were mad for now having to pay for what was once free for them by putting Ads on the locked chaps. Some Ads unlocked, some gave SS discounts. Once all of them went “premium” they took out the Ads and came with the daily quests. Then translators came with mass releases to get votes. Generally releassed on goals. Many notes with “x votes and I’ll release 5 bonus chaps” and “if we get to x position there’ll be a mass release”... and then, those became the TGIF. And at some point even the original novels that were sought after for being free started to get under contract with Qidian, now Webnovel. Then came the gift system. The limited free reading system (for a month). The subscription system (failed). The voucher system (used on the RTW event). The limited free reading came back. The privilege system came on. Of course many more things happened and evolved. But that’s the gist of the SS spending history. And you know? Be it the premium, gift, subscription or privilege... guess what? Same excuses. Again and again and again. So tell me. How not fell mad? How not fell that we are being lied to our faces? How to still believe when we are said “they deserve to earn it. If you like it support them.” whe we’ve been hearing this from the beginning?
And it’s not only having this option of “paid mass release for a month” that you pay again to read. But being reminded everyday every time you open your library that there are more and more novels with 20+ chaps unread not because I don’t have SS to read them, but cuz I’ll have to spend even more SS to read them and I bet noone of them will be much on TGIFs. There’s been even completed novels that were not marked as complete just so the tast chaps wouldn’t get off of the privilege system. And if you carelessly scroll down past the last “free premium” chapter... voilá more privilege propaganda instead of the countdown page.
So there’s two different points. The anger of felling being lied to when said “its to support them” as if the premium system weren’t applied for that and “if you like what they do encourage them” as if the gift system and power stone votes were nor made for that. And the spite we feel by having the “if you want to read this than pay more for it” privilege shoved on our face that much. If you see an Ads a couple times it peaks your interest... up to 10x you might get it at some point. Seeing it everyday like that? Makes you despise it. That’s common sense. And that’s why I suggested to tone it down even if they keep it.
The privilege exists. We already know that. We can see it every time we open the novels toc. We don’t need ir shoved up our faces all the time.
There’s 3 points that keep me from getting it. 1- Said spite, I get irked by the thought of getting something overadvertised. 2- I don’t get how their pricing works. I see no pattern as I see on the chapter prices and don’t get why some novels fave 20 chaps locked and others 50. Is it cuz the 50chaps are shorter? Why the prices fary so much? (Saying the translators/authors are the oned to define that makes me even less prone to get it). 3- Either the SS will be lost in a couple days if I buy few chaps or I’ll have to wait quite some time to read something new after it expires unless I buy it again. Not very appealing to me.
The Ads thing was a suggestion cuz I rather not spens SS that I could use to read other novels to buy privilege. And the toning down on privilege exposure cuz I bet many feel the spite too and that’s the opposite of the intended. But they were only suggestions anyway...
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From what I understood, reading your web novels journey (and please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here), you were frustrated and angry because 1) Something that you could get for free had been taken away from you, and now you have to pay for it, if you still want to have it, and 2) You felt that you had been taken advantage of and lied to, when WN claimed that everything they introduced is to support their content contributors.
I'm not going to say anything about point 1, but about point 2, what if they weren't lying? What if that was indeed the reason why WN introduced the premium, gifting, and privilege system? Especially now that you've understood how ads work, and that they don't generate enough revenues to pay for all of their content contributors.
I'm not saying they're a saint, because they certainly aren't. They're business people, and they speak in profit.
But from business perspective, I also understand their drive to be as profitable as possible. It's just how it works in this dog-eat-dog capitalistic world. Money is capital, and you need money in order to generate more money. For instance, in order to make more money, they need to grow. And in order to grow, they need to hire more staff and content contributors which will attract more readers. And in order to hire those people, they need money.
Although I wasn't around back then, but I think this is exactly the reason why they poached translators from other sites and sued those who used their contents without their permission. The latter also had legal elements to it, but the point is, they can't afford to lose their ground in the competitive market because otherwise they will cease to exist. And from business perspective, you don't want your business to cease. You want it to grow, which is also a good thing for the economy. So, in a way, they're not really in control of what they do in this capitalistic world, because capital/money itself is in control.
Having said all that, I do understand your grievance when translators broke their "promise" about not ever going to charge for their novels. I don't know why they said that, but I assumed it's because that's what they really believed at that time. Humans are selfish creatures by nature, but I also believe in goodness in them. I can't find a reason why they would blatantly lie to their readers knowing they would be called out for it sooner or later.
The term hate bandwagon was not directed at you per se, I also meant myself. You can still find my posts arguing with @CKtalon and others, as well as my posts calling another author (if not more, can't really remember) greedy when the privilege system was newly introduced, because 1) I didn't fully understand what it was, and 2) I thought the system was badly introduced. I still think it was terribly introduced, but I also see WN's efforts in trying to improve it. By offering rebates, by adjusting the system, as seen in the original post of this thread, and I do hope they will keep trying to improve it.
I know you posted about the ads thing as a suggestion, and please don't think of my previous post as something that put down that suggestion. It's good to offer suggestions, they need those to improve, so please keep doing that.
About the pricing, as far as I understood, it's 1 SS per 200 words, and when a novel becomes premium, at which chapter, is up to the author.
