Monthly Fee

[suncitybob64]

Is there a Quicksand Peril site where the woman die where you can pay a monthly fee do download clips rather that pay for videos or PPV.
Some of the sites that I have looked at usually the woman get saved or they are laughing or smiling rather than the look of fear.

suncitybob64

[Viridian]

Most of the clips produced by ClubMPV and Studio588 feature dramatic, grim submersions.

[Conspiracy101]

Most websites are going to have variety of video styles. Clubmpv, DIDVP, and Studio 588 have the kind of scenes I believe you're looking for.

[rickyj]

Although I'm kinda confused by this guy's post, I kind of have to sorta silently contend this monthly MPV/QPV fee is still a pretty big thornbush that I think really, really, needs to eventually be cut down. I can only imagine how many people don't buy Dave's great scenes because of the monthly fee. Fred and Robert don't charge monthly fees. Resteraunts don't charge a fee to come in. You pay for just what you want.
I understand and have heard all the reasons for the fee. Operating costs, the fact that it was hardcoded into the site and its a proramming dillemma, and the explanations that you get free tokens every month and other perks I suppose for being a member. The UMD store is useless. All that is on there are a few old scenes. It wouldnt make sense financially for Dave to put all of his scenes, especially the new ones on there, because then obviously everyone would terminate their MPV suscriptions. Plus, they take a big commision away from the producer. And the time it would take to load all the scenes would take forever. I don't see how Dave could, or would even want to put everthing on a UMD like store.
Still, I just cant help but having a problem with a monthly fee. It just makes more sense to do what Fred does. Even though his site is getting overcrowded with scenes and is in danger of becoming an organizational nightmare, he still manages to have a pretty good system where you can find the scenes you are looking for. I have never bought an individual scene from him, but I think he just mails you the link after you pay, sounds easy as pie.
If it's money, I would suggest upping the cost of each scene and picture set, to offset losses from not having monthly fees, but I am no businessman or economist. You wouldn't know until you tried it. I suspect you would lose money at first....but over time, who knows? It could turn out to be a smart financial decision.
If it's a programming issue, I dont see how it could be so hard to just find a programmer friend or hire one to just go in there and change the code to do away with the token system and monthly fee. Heck I bet Dave himself has the skills to do it himself with modest help.
Now if the operating costs mandate Dave needing the monthly fees, then I can understand. I dont know how much overhead he has obviously or what his situation is. Maybe Fred has enough that he can pull off a site without a monthly fee, and Dave maybe is not in that position. Still, it just comes down to paying for what you want. The original poster kinda is saying this.
It's a shame because Dave's scenes are great but there's that monthly fee thorn that just keeps showing up. People join, quit, rejoin, quit, others never get to see anything because they are not members....$20 may not seem like much to some people, but to some it is, like when you have no job and a ton of credit card debt already. What if someone just wanted one scene or two a year? It wouldn't make sense to join. I can only imagine how many peeople are in that boat. They may see a scene they really would like, but get scared off by the membership fees. Or having to hide their monthly credit card statement so their "significant other" won't see something, well, someone doesnt want them to see (this doesnt apply to me, but im sure it does to others). Or maybe they dont want their card numbers on a server out there. But most likely, they just don't understand why we need a token system or a cover charge.
Bottom line is what's it's always been...pay for what you want. That's the way it should be...it's the way that makes the most sense. It's the most fair. And in the long run, it may even make more money.
Well here's to hoping I live long enough to see that day...not trying to aggravate anyone. But this is an issue that has never gone away and probably never will. I didnt start the post...just chiming in.
Thanks for reading and keep up the good work all producers.

[Ace]

I for one completely agree with you, and you make some very good points, but I'd say be prepared to take some shit for it. That being said, I've been unsubscribed from Club MPV for over a year at least. Before that, I had the thought of "Wait, why the fuck am I paying twice?" I mean, MPV caters to many different tastes in this fetish, and so a lot of products were just not for me. There would often times be weeks where nothing really caught my eye. On top of that, I never found myself making use of the Subscriber Area; why have photos when a video of the same scene exists?

So yeah, I feel ya, as do many others I'm sure.

[Duncan Edwards]

This has been gone over and over and over so many times I can only figure that certain members come here only to complain about it and are too obtuse to understand the multitude of carefully elucidated reasons each time. Bottom line is if you don't like it then I guess you don't have to do it. If enough people feel that way then it's over for MPV and we won't have to deal with it any longer. Personally I'm feeling a bit ripped off this morning because after several years of patronage at Bondage Cafe I learn that the videos I've been supporting the creation of won't be on their website so I get to "pay twice" as well. I will let my money do the talking and drop my subscription because by Jim Weather's explanation all I am doing is supporting pirates. At least with MPV you know exactly what you are getting up front and that does not randomly change. Updates appear when they are supposed to, everything is there, and I don't have to wait literally years for things to appear. It appears to work for MPV and the users who care to support it. If you don't want to then that's your choice.

[Viridian]

I also don't use ClubMPV's subscriber area, so I also feel like I'm shelling out extra $ just to be able to access the video catalogue.

However, it's a bit more user-friendly than Studio588, in my opinion. Fred doesn't accept credit card payment or PayPal, so for a long time I actually couldn't buy anything from Studio588 as the alternative services are limited to the US. The Amazon gift card system is a creative workaround, but it's not an automated process and requires the user to look up the scenes they want, add the total up and send a gift card with the correct value to Fred, and then Fred sends the download link. The system works, but it does take a bit of extra effort from the user. Back when Fred did accept PayPal, I recall having to add the percentage cost to offset PayPal's fee.

Sifting through hundreds of scenes in Studio588's catalogue is rather daunting, and one reason I don't frequently order. There's a searchable scene list, but there are only titles with no links to the respective video page. To look at descriptions and preview images, one has to find the DVD page, but to get the latest previews, you have to create an account on Studio588's forum, find the right forum and go through the threads to locate a description and preview images and video. From a user perspective, the important information is spread across far too many sections and too difficult to find, compounded with near-identical names for DVDs and scene names. I basically need to have several tabs open so I remember how to pay and which scenes I want to get. Also, the Amazon method is not outlined on the Studio588 page.

I usually jump onto purchases from "Other" producers (such as Jim Weathers and QuicksandGirls) because their videos are ready-to-go off their site. If I want a video, I select it, enter my card details, and download. No monthly fee, no topping up credits, no cross-checking scene lists. And I actually like the style and screenplay from them too.

This isn't meant to be a whinge about our producers, but since we've brought it up, this might offer some insight over how a customer sees the services currently provided. I'd definitely be more liberal in purchasing scenes from a straightforward store.

[Fred588]

This is to reply solely to Viridian's comments regarding the Studio 588 page. He is quite right that the page has become a bit difficult. I am aware of that. I just don't seem to have the time to devote to improving it and probably will not until I retire from my main job, in about a year. Its not quite as difficult as described, however. The sortable list does contain data that identifies the specific DVD each scene is in (except for the most recent ones that have not been assigned to one. While that information is not a clickable hyperlink you can get to the page containing a description and sample stills in two clicks; one back to the home page and then one to the DVD page. Viridian is correct that the teaser clips are only stored at quicksandland.com and that that is a membership site. Membership, however, is free. The requirement to log in is to keep out the spammers since the site is a forum that can be posted to and once a member is registered you can set entry to be automatic, just like this site.

[Viridian]

If I could suggest a few small changes, I recommend putting the scene list and ordering instructions on a prominent location on your page. The Studio588 home page is monstrously long due to the listing of every DVD title and its vintage GeoCities look with its bulleted list structure. I imagine you're not investing much time in web design, but on a basic design level, I would suggest compressing your pages. Most of your Facilities pages, for example, are only a paragraph of text, so it may be worth just having one page that lists all of the facilities, one page for all of the Sets, etc. The DVD titles take up the most space, so perhaps have a page for each "series" so that there are only 3-4 links under the subheading instead of 70+.

Since scenes can't be bought through the site, I would think that improving navigation would make it much easier for first-time buyers and encourage them to purchase more frequently.

[dlodoski]

.... If it's a programming issue, I dont see how it could be so hard to just find a programmer friend or hire one to just go in there and change the code to do away with the token system and monthly fee.

That's because you haven't tried.

I have. I had someone (with considerable skills) go in there. It's not pretty. It's not a viable solution.

Starting from scratch costs about $15,000. That's the direction I need to go. That way, if the original programmer bails (it's happened to me two out of two times), someone else can work on it.

Meanwhile, I will pay more attention to my download stores.

Thank you (and the others) for your comments. I do realize they come from the right place.