Wtf @ the new token

[Synthlight]

Ok.. Here we go.

Over the last quarter or so of the year, CPM and CPC rates for advertising have dropped quite a bit. This has put all of us at FFR in a bit of a squeeze. In addition to that, we stripped out nearly every single one of the high paying pop-up ads that our advertising companies were offering. Why? Because even though it put us in a major revenue squeeze, it was more important to me that we try and work towards a more enjoyable site for you guys. (yes even the non-subscribers!) Revenue to take care of the site is nothing if the methods push away or upset the community. Even with outstanding costs to operate this community we know as FFR, we often take out profitable scenarios in favor of the community.

The other night I was stressing majorly because there is a lack of balance between cost of operation and incoming revenue. I won't go into details but you get the idea.

So I kept thinking to myself.. "How do I offer up something genuinely useful that will help the site in the short term but also in the long run?" (and believe me, the site could really use your help right about now) I started thinking about things like the FFR label thread and it kind of dawned on me that we really should go ahead and test out selling albums for FFR artists.. and why not sell them digitally with immediate delivery of content? So I got a jump on it and signed up FFR for iTunes only to find out that the approval process is 6-8 weeks and then when you add tracks it becomes another 6-8 weeks approval process. (ick) We needed a quicker solution that could help FFR in the short term. And that was when I ran into mobile billing.

Mobile billing would allow people with mobile phones to tack the purchase onto their mobile bill and avoid credit cards and paypal etc. It seemed like an almost perfect solution. So I spent a few nights finding the right service, making sure it had an API that would work with our site. (and it did!) Once found, Maldon got started on our first test script. I worked with Spook Goblin to recompile a collection of his album and 2 brand new tracks, popped them together and was going to use that as a test bed. I was actually pretty damn excited to test this out and be able to give something enjoyable out to people while helping FFR. In addition, it would be supporting our musicians.

But I wanted to give them more.. (That's Synth for ya right?)

So I hatched this brilliant plan to include a special level as a thank you for purchasing the album. Of course the level had to relate to the album right? So Blu went to work on Dendrite V2. Tokens were the easiest way to implement so we naturally worked with that system. Maldon figured it all out and coded it into the API, we tested it and now we felt we were giving out something special.

But what I didn't quite take into account was how people would feel if they looked at it as "PAY FOR A TOKEN? WTF!?" and that was exactly what was perceived when josh made his post that showed the link. It was never intended to be that, as a matter of fact I would have no problem giving everyone the token. I just thought it was a great way to say thanks for their support.

So what do I do now? Should we stick with the plan? I would like to hear everyone's opinion. The mobile system is all setup and works with all carriers besides t-mobile and verizon. No fears though, Maldon is setting up a paypal script to cover those who can't use the mobile billing.

For those of you who want to support FFR, want the album, want to support FFR artists and want the token, I will post the link for you. It's actually a pretty cool service. I have really purchased the album to test it all out. The system just adds the charge to your mobile bill at the end of the month. Help me out here with ideas and thanks to everyone who already supports us, you guys are lifesavers.

http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/...se/buysong.php

Cheers,

Synthlight