A la carte userpics, Google Analytics, Frank recycles!

Apr 23, 2010 09:51


We're relieved delighted to announce that a la carte userpics are back in the shop! We fixed some of the outstanding issues (more details below). We'll be making additional tweaks, but we know how long you've been waiting, so we wanted to get them back on the shelf ASAP. Back on dry land, we're still celebrating this big blue marble we call home! ( Read more... )

userpics, free vgifts, google analytics, header contest, ontd

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lovedforaday April 23 2010, 16:56:16 UTC
Why would I purchase a la carte userpics when I was under the impression 5 years ago that I would never have to pay for anything else again when I bought my permanent account?

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amireal April 23 2010, 16:58:42 UTC
That's what I was wondering. I'm not trying to be greedy, I honestly don't need them right now, but I was under the impression via LJ's OWN ACTIONS that permanent accounts meant never having to pay again.

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curefreak April 23 2010, 17:00:43 UTC
Probably because 5 years ago was 12 different owners and 9 countries ago :S. (Slight exaggeration but you get the drift...unfortunately!).

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lovedforaday April 23 2010, 17:02:14 UTC
That's true. :(

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bethan_b_bad April 23 2010, 17:05:54 UTC
Your ICON.

*<3s Pond*

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littlestarletta April 23 2010, 17:04:48 UTC
wondering the same thing bb

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idonotlikepeas April 23 2010, 17:16:19 UTC
You don't have to pay for anything. This is an extra; it's an addon that people can buy if they feel like it, not a core part of the account.

Imagine an analogous situation: say your purchased a lifetime membership at a local museum. You'd expect to be able to get in for the rest of your life (or the life of the museum, whichever was longer), and you'd expect to be allowed to see any new exhibits that showed up. That's what a lifetime membership is for, after all.

Let's say that then, after years of requests by patrons, the museum opens a small eatery for visitors. You wouldn't expect them to give you free food because of your museum membership, would you?

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piratesswoop April 23 2010, 17:30:52 UTC
sally_maria April 23 2010, 18:05:04 UTC
But the analogy doesn't work, because the museum has always had a restaurant, and they always said that food was included in life memberships i.e. part of the benefits of a permanent account was always the top level of user pics available.

By changing that, by not automatically giving permanent account holders the same number of userpics as are available if you buy all three add-ons packs, they are not just not giving us an optional extra, they are changing one of the fundamental bases of the permanent account.

It's not that I need the userpics now - I still have 20 or so slots available - it's that they are showing they can't be trusted not to change our accounts out from under us. It's worse because they don't even mention it in either of their announcements - they are trying to sneak it in under the radar and hope that people don't notice.

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(The comment has been removed)

sally_maria April 23 2010, 18:33:54 UTC
Oh, I've more than had my money's worth for what I would have been paying for the account otherwise, that really isn't the issue.

Websites go down all the time, that's a risk you take, but if they are still running and decide to move the goalposts, that's much more blameworthy, IMO.

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8hrs April 23 2010, 17:31:27 UTC
That's true and makes sense, and I don't have an issue with this (I don't even have a permanent account) but imo what makes this a liiittle bit worth of chatting is the fact that unless I remember completely incorrectly, the way LJ worded things back then was something like "as a permanent account holder you'll always automatically have as many userpics as it is possible to have on LJ!" and that, nowadays, isn't how it is anymore.

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idonotlikepeas April 23 2010, 17:51:27 UTC
I think the intention was to say that permanent accounts would always get the maximum loyalty userpics increasing over time rather than frozen at the moment they purchased the account (which would make buying a permanent account kind of a loser userpic-wise). That said, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some kind of miscommunication somewhere and lord knows I don't have a perfect memory.

(The first thing I ran across while poking around looking for it was this comment by marta here a year and a half ago, which basically says "A la carte userpics may be separate, but loyalty userpics will keep going up".)

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amireal April 23 2010, 17:50:06 UTC
Depends on what was the terms of the original membership was and how the museum represented themselves with previously asked for extras.

The point is that Perm members always got the extras, yes even the ones you paid for. I honestly am less angry than mildly annoyed. I want to know if the nature of a permanent account has changed or what.

While not expressly said, before this, every updgrade in usage included something like "and permanent account members will receive the maximum allowed."

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idonotlikepeas April 23 2010, 17:58:34 UTC
Also, I meant "shorter", not "longer". And "you" instead of "your". HURRRR DURRR.

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sally_maria April 23 2010, 18:03:31 UTC
But your analogy doesn't work, because the museum has always had a restaurant, and they always said that food was included in life memberships i.e. part of the benefits of a permanent account was always the top level of user pics available.

By changing that, by not automatically giving permanent account holders the same number of userpics as are available if you buy all three add-ons packs, they are not just not giving us an optional extra, they are changing one of the fundamental bases of the permanent account.

It's not that I need the userpics now - I still have 20 or so slots available - it's that they are showing they can't be trusted not to change our accounts out from under us. It's worse because they don't even mention it in either of their announcements - they are trying to sneak it in under the radar and hope that people don't notice.

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