<< It's not easy to be a man after traveling to the future>> Chapter too expensive! One chapter of the novel equivalent to 3 to 4 chapter of <<Hidden Marriage>>! I'm broke just only after 3 days!! Ughh...same as <<Cultivation Chat Group>>...it take me months to gather all the chapters, and this is what I got? Are you torturing me, Qidian? Sigh...
Way too expensive!!
Thousands of SS it's not enough for me to read all the novels in my collection space. All need SS! SS SS SS, come to meeee~~
Spirit Stone costs is based on chapter length at a rate of roughly 1 SS per 200 words.. I.e Hidden Marriage is less than 1,000 words per chapter. Library of Heavens Path for example is 3000+ words per chapter.
Yes, the current price of SS to actually reading value is absolutely not worth it.
SoybeanTheBlackCat I need send me some
Honestly, this site isn't worth reading on. I only have 1 book I still read here. The rest I dropped, so I read other books on other sites, like Wuxiaworld.
The fact of the matter that the value of SS right now is to high is not hard to figure out. Its been mentioned by myself and others several times and its something that so far has been felt to be ignored. This is QI's right to do, I do not judge them for it and anyone wants to make a profit. Problem is that at current devolopment rate it will collapse at some point, Fan Translators gave life to this genere online, QI taking over alot of is not a bad thing, it has increased release speed drasticaly and I praise QI for this fact as this was Fan Translators biggest flaw, they where to slow. QI however is not.
But QI is forgetting that before this most of us did not spend alot of money on LN content, but we do have game subscriptions, netflix, hbo and other services going. Our Funds are limited hence QI is now competing against all other sources of entertainment online, and their prices is sky high by comparison. This, means that while people will probably still read their current novel/s they are reluctant to pick up new ones, I know I am. Because its not sustainable for us to continue to read at this current rate, this in turn helps to kill alot of the interest that Fan Translators built up in the first place, hence QI will at one point be forced to make a change when it comes to SS.
The best change is to create a subscription model to compliment SS stones pr chapter allowing us to read either X amount of chapters pr day, If so 20 Minimum a day regardless of their cost. This means if current max price is 17, we should be able to read 20 of them a day with a subscription model. I dont see a cost somewhere around 19.99USD as a wrong place to land this subscription. Our fix gets met, and QI gains far more from the average consumer then it does currently win win. But this still needs to be complimented by a free SS system like today, but the numbers are currently to low to support 1 novel, and this is the key. Give out enough FREE ss a day to allow a person to follow 1 series based on weekly releases. This will ensure someone will read, get hooked and eventualy want more. If their willing to go slow then QI earns nothing and loses nothing, but most of us love these novels enough to know that we would probably subscribe at that point.
Hope QI takes interests in this, because I feel it would just benefit them period to take these steps.
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Zhevons i agree
they should hire you as their finance manager
@WEBNOVEL_OFFICIAL where you at. read this text, it's good suggestion ^
although i wouldn't be willing to pay $20 per month. start with $5, netflix did that and it works for them, discord, dramafever, etc did too.
the higher the price, the fewer the customers, keep that kind mind. you gotta reach the saturation of customers with the maximum increase in price without losing profit.
i learned all this in an online simulation game, but i think it should apply to real life. try out a bunch of models to see which works and which doesn't. QI is a startup anyways, so you have very little to lose at this point, don't wait until you're some business giant and then decide to try something new because that would be detrimental.
SS cost really doesn't bother me too much, but if the ss cost is too much then why are the translators unhappy? I'm seeing too many translators drop novels because of the ss issue. Authors, Translators and Editors are people too and need to make enough to put food on their tables and other essential living expenses. Is qidian taking too much of a cut? I can understand if translators aren't being paid a living wage if they are only translating 5 or less chapters a week, but what about the rest? I still use this app for convenience sake.
iidako We call people like you sheep in my line of work.
Krazyguy75 I also read there. Sigh~ (￣へ￣)
All_Night Yeah...but, 1 SS for 200 words? That's expensive! If 500 - 900 = 1 SS, still can be accepted. (╥﹏╥)
Zhevons it's looks like my mind still childish compare to other. But, but...(╥﹏╥)...
If they put <<Reign of the Hunter>> here, then I'm truly facing bankruptcy. @All_Night said roughly 1 SS = 200 words, in ROTH have more than 10,000 words. (╥_╥)
iidako The thing is Qidian is double dipping in their profits. Let’s say you buy SS... Qidian gets 100% of that profit. When you spend those SS: The author gets 50%, Qidian takes another cut but a % is not mentioned, and the translator gets the rest.
Slightly different for free SS as they don’t probably don’t make money off those?
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All_Night To be a bit more precise, about 30% first gets taken by Apple or Google if you buy through the app. That is a standard fee Apple and Google takes.
Of the remaining money, Qidian will be the custodian of the money until the money is split among translator, author and themselves through a particular ratio. For ease, you can think that each party gets 33.3%.
Free SS (check in, voting, etc) doesn't benefit any of the three parties, only readers
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CKtalon - You should give more SS (at least 25% more overall) to people who buy directly through the website and pay through paypal and not through Apple or Google since you will be making 30% more given you don't have to pay Apple or Google their 30% cut. This would incent all of us to buy through the site. Its a long term win win as it will keep overall costs low
lately it's bothering me on how many spirit stone do i need to pay for the new chapter of superstar of tommorow they're getting higher.
CKtalon you could incent other behavior like cc etc. that wouldn't cost everyone 30%. This increases the app payers an incentive to get paypal or other cheaper alrenative. This 30% overhead is really killing the business for you and I - only person benefiting is apple or google. I have been buying ss through paypal but knowing there is no difference to me to keep doing that extra step to log in and pay through paypal and instead just pay through the app -which ultimately increases the cost on you with no benefit reduction to me (maybe i don't have to log in to paypal) and only apple being happier.
It is also very fair as people realize that there is a cost that apple charges for using that service which is substantial. Please do think about this.
inovade2 Google/Apple takes 30%
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/112622?hl=en
For apps and in-app products offered through Google Play, the transaction fee is equivalent to 30% of the price. You receive 70% of the payment. The remaining 30% goes to the distribution partner and operating fees.
https://developer.apple.com/programs/whats-included/
You get 70% of sales revenue.
PayPal takes a fee too, but it's much lower.
https://www.paypal.com/km/selfhelp/article/what-are-the-fees-for-paypal-accounts-faq690
However, if you receive money for goods or services (such as from selling an item on eBay), the fee for each transaction is 2.9% plus $0.30 USD of the amount you receive.
CKtalon How do we, as readers, know the difference though? I have bought spirit stones, and I naturally also get free ones, so when do I actually pay with the "free" ones, that do not benefit the translator/author, and when do i use the ones who benefit?
I kinda feel QI doesn't try and make enough money off of the free spirit stones.
I'd happily watch a 30s unskippable advert in exchange for the 20(ish) stones I get daily, that way QI could make some money off of free spirit stones and their model will hopefully be more sustainable.
I use to have more than 6000 ss, now Im broke as hell
Krazyguy75 I have 1 main novel that i buy whenever new chapter is released (Strongest System-hillarious novel with a good translator) and one novel that i'm mildly interested in (Avalon of Five Elements- started awesome but filler chapters got really out of hand). You can read 1.5. novels with a fast release speed, anything else is way too expensive. I mean let's be honest 70 percent of chapters in novels are either compleatly fillers or have only minimal impact on the story. And before reading you can't know it it is a filler or not. How can i pay my hard earned money for a chapter filled with "boooms" and loud shouts of disbeliev that i will skip anyway...
SS is expensive that's why you have to stop reading loop settings novel. I'm sure your reading list has at least one of loop novel, for example 'meet problem-MC get ridiculed-face slap-finish', reuse this setup with different new side characters. Might as well just read first 200-300ch to get the feel of the setting and then read straight to the ending. Spend your SS wisely on the better novel
Zogarth1337 If your account page ever has "Including XXX bonus", it means those SS will not be benefiting translators or authors.
Daoist_1283163933 You are earning about 10x more on average of what a video ad earns QI. If QI really wanted to make every cent count, you will need to watch 10 video ads to get one 'draw' at the random SS.
CKtalon If your account page ever has "Including XXX bonus", it means those SS will not be benefiting translators or authors.
That's a horribly designed system. Doesn't that mean that the most popular novels will get shortchanged in revenue?
There are about 30 SS that are bonus spirit stones every day. That means that the most popular novels will frequently lose out on revenue since the majority of readers use those daily spirit stones towards the more popular novels first.
What about the bonus spirit stones earned from buying SS. Does that mean that authors are screwed by those bonus spirit stones? Example, 100 bonus spirit stones for buying 500 SS. It's a completely stupid system.
checkm8
it is very easy to criticize anything, because nothing is perfect
if you have a better idea, why not run a site yourself, and prove it
(it literally take less than 1 week to create a similar site, with so many framework and template on the internet)
SoybeanTheBlackCat invite your friends. Most of my SS came from them.
I've been reading LNs for over a year now, I usually read on browsers and it could be a hassle specially if you're in a country with an unstable connection. The main use of the app for me is the download function. It's really hard to find epubs nowadays without missing chapters or contents, so this app is really convenient than just reading on a browser.
The matter of spirit stones is really easy to resolve since there are ways to earn SS for free. This function alone is heaven sent already. Besides, premium novels will unlock chapters daily just like any other novel. The privilege is you have an option to unlock those advance chapters. So I don't see why everyone complains about the price. I complain more for the lack of chapters.
I'm not gonna mention it, but if you couldn't figure out the trick around it, then you only have yourself to blame for being an idiot.
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Daoist2017 LOL, it is shortchanging revenue is all I'm saying.
Most systems like this factor in bonus stones as part of the revenue model. It's built into the rate that authors are paid regardless of where the bonus spirit stones are spent. Instead, what QI is saying is that bonus stones don't count AT ALL towards authors revenue regardless if they generate revenue.
There is a lot of hidden revenue that QI isn't showing.
For example,
Daily Video Check-In ads for Mobile
CPM (per 1000 views) rates for Rewarded video ads for Android and iOS is around $13 and $16 respectively. This is direct revenue yet is treated as the same 'bonus' as when users do other daily check-ins (like power stone & energy voting which are not direct revenue generators).
Bonus Stones from purchased Spirit Stones.
When a user makes a purchase of spirit stones they get a bonus amount. Example 600SS (500purchased+100bonus). This means that bonus spirit stones are ~16% the total value in the spirit stone purchase. Since those bonus spirit stones aren't a part of what is counted towards what authors are paid it allows QI to skim off the top the 16% revenue.
Why QI is saying that ads are not a way to make money I don't know. Rewarded Video Ads are a huge revenue generator for companies. If they threw the option of a15-30 second fullscreen video ad in front of most chapters they stand to make a ton of money especially from all the people who are complaining about the cost.
https://blognife.com/2018/04/29/mobile-cpm-rates-in-the-us-2018/
Daoist2017 You can't read, can you? Or at least you aren't very smart. I feel sorry for you. Move along, please.
SoybeanTheBlackCat
Create google accounts and use your invite code for them, then make fb account with taht google account and invite them, then a twitter account and invite that to earn 264 from 1 account
Then repeat
checkm8 it's true that most freemium apps' revenue were generated through Ads, but most ads nowadays are fixed on it's pricing and not based on the number of clicks. There were only 2 to 3 apps/products being advertised per country so it would be really cheap advertising if they follow through with the AD unlocks. The number of users increased so it's either they jack up the prices on advertising or they'll remove the Ad unlock function.
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bachingchung it's true that most freemium apps' revenue were generated through Ads, but most ads nowadays are fixed on it's pricing and not based on the number of clicks.
That's mostly true except for Reward Video Ads AKA Full-screen video ads. The link I posted above was based on April 2018 pricing. In addition, 57% of webnovel.com traffic comes from 5 English speaking countries US, UK, CA, AUS, and India (4th largest English speaking population). All of which have Reward Video Ad programs.
Just those countries is a pretty large amount of potential Ad-Revenue, It could even be designed further to ensure that SS is still viable revenue model: For example, only allow a certain # of chapters to be unlocked via Video Reward Ads. People who can afford it will still prefer to skip ads.
It's also worth noting that I am talking about 15-30 second non-skippable video ads. In that way, revenue could be maximized. I'm also not talking video ads for only the last two chapters as it was implemented, which would only give you a day of revenue per chapter. I'm talking about all premium chapters.
And now we are back to the OP
It all comes down to maximizing revenue. As it stands now it appears that QI is only focused on SS purchases which ignores a primary segment of webnovel readers. Those who are cash-strapped and can't afford the $50-100/month it costs to read the current amount of premium novels on webnovel. Like college students.
Reward Advertising would tap into that market. The more options a company has to gain revenue the greater a chance of turning a profit. Cash-strapped users aren't going to stop reading Webnovel stories, they just read them elsewhere! This doesn't help the translator or the author OR China Literature.
Reward Video advertising might not bring in as much revenue as a pure spirit stones per chapter per reader but it certainly brings in more revenue then when someone reads the translation on another website.
This also brings us to one of the biggest problems QI has that comes from translations and trying to maximize revenue:
Speed of release
This isn't something that would have been much of a problem in China because authors have a limited release speed of 1-3 chapters per day. There is a natural limiter. Usually, it's one long chapter, two medium length chapters or three short chapters per day at most. WIth translation teams, it's possible to push out 3-4 medium length chapters per day OR MORE. This drives the monthly costs considerably higher than what is found in China! A great example is Immortal Mortal which runs ~$25 a month for 84+ chapters. Vastly more than the original work's monthly cost of 6 CNY (~$1) per month for 60 chapters.
This is especially true now that Patreon model is removed. Previously the increase in translation speed was primarily funded by a limited amount of readers who were paying for advanced chapters. This has now been removed and the costs are being pushed onto readers on webnovel. These costs aren't going to be sustainable for growth. Readers will simply read elsewhere.
Original Works
Of course, once Original English works go premium this will be cheaper for readers for that same reason (although I doubt they will be $1 for 60 chapters when they go premium). A single writer takes time to write, very few of them will be able to exceed even one chapter per day. It will make the cost much more affordable for readers. Of course, this also begs the questions. What about patreon for writers? Will Qidian be as heavy-handed as they are being with translators? I somehow doubt that.
Obviously, the discussion is just about maximizing revenue. Most readers want more chapters and they want them to be released quicker, but once the cost exceeds what they can afford, they just read the chapters elsewhere.