A Premium Trial - I know that when I paid my tenner it was the best thing I ever done (within reason of course - getting married - having kids is up there too), however there are some people today where a tenner is money they could / would only use if it was of a definite benefit- could we offer all users a free "30 day trial" of premium membership - I feel this would then definitely increase the number of premium members.

The benefits then would be premium member tournies / ranking etc etc

Thanks

Emily

even if this comes in, i still wouldn't get the premium membership.

but there is a flaw, what if someone like fuzzy (sorry mate only an example) who likes to deactivate uses this 30 day trial then deactivates to get another 30 day trial?

could be 30 days to the specific email address (i know people will set up other accounts but really getting a 30 day trial then deactivating once done is of no advantage whatsoever

The problem with this is that the whole reason for premium membership is to eliminate Ads during gameplay and not to create an exclusive club.

The cost of premium membership is meant to offset the revenue lost from the adverts and if a free trial were to be introduced, I suspect that there there would be a dramatic decrease in this revenue during the introduction period, which is unlikely to be recouped by the (relatively) small number of members that would take up Premium Membership after the trial period. It would also, as James pointed out, be open to abuse.

On your final point, Nick has stated on many occasions that his intention is for the core game to be completely free and an introduction of special features that are available only to those that are in a position to pay goes against this philosophy (remember that there are a large number of younger members).

I am defiantly for this idea, but 30 days is to much you only want them to test it not have months of playing for free!

I was doing some coding for a friend yesterday on this website to help him create a trial period for 24 hours and to be honest that's all you need, in that amount of time you are able to see what the extra features are in this case no adds and you are able to try out and see if it does effect your game

Also to solve the abuse with 1 day trial I cant see people being that daft to deactivate every day for another go of Premium it's just not worth it and for like an extra added security measure you can just limit it to 1 per IP just unfortunate if you got a family of 5 that all play the game.

Also on the Revenue side of the game, with members only using it for 1 day I can't see it dramatically changing anything I guess most members will use it for the first day and after that either go onto buy premium or stick with the old ways but at least they got to try and give them a chance to see if it is really worth it.

Edited at 14:45 Sat 25/09/10 (BST)

thats why I used the term trial

and to offset the advertising lost revenue - which I believe would be minimal - not everyone could get their "trial" at the same time - say players who joined in the 1st 6 months got their then every month do the same

your last point is what I made this thread for - we do have a lot of younger members who dont have a tenner to throw around - but by showing them what they could have - they might think it worth it - are the ads we have (poker site's, yell.com etc etc) targeting the younger members - i dont really think it would be a worry

however - taking your point on board - why not offer a 30 day money back offer to those who wish to take it

i play a lot of pool and dont have premium membership there because i dont think the ad free play would be much of a benefit to me - however if there were a trial - i would certainly give it a go

Thanks

EMily

xoxoxo

Little side topic: how about discounted membership say for somebody who has premium on snooker and wants to buy it on pool?

or visa versa

Your miss understanding the fact of the trial

It's only there to make people aware of how benificial it is

Why would you need a free trial on Pool when you no how it will effect your game and you already no it's better

This is where loss of revenue comes into it because people who no all about premium will be wanting a free month for nuthing when they wont be buying it after

Also as I said previously 24 hours is plenty you only need to no how it effects your game you dont need it for a month just to decide if its good enough

i had posted my comment at the same time as yours si - if i had seen yours first i wouldnt have posted lol

totally agree with ya

I think we are a cross purposes on my final point, where I was arguing against the introduction of new Premium Member benefits and not the introduction of a trial due to younger members (or anyone else who doesn't have the luxury of a tenner to splash around, for that matter) per se.

As for the main thrust of your original post, I also agree with you and si123 that a 24hr trial would be a far better option to minimise revenue loss and eliminate abuse (which were my main concerns), as amply illustrated by your last paragraph.

ahh - understood

*accidentally walks into House of Commons, discovers the people talking like politicians and walks back out again*

lol

Thumbs up for a 24 hour trial

Id like a trial tbh, try before you buy, i think its a good idea.

Same here. Least you would know if it is worth the money in your opinion.

Just my 2 cents, i found there to be a small amounts of benefits to purchasing premium membership on funkypool, it was only until a friend of mine set up a "Premium vs Non Premium League" that i thought i was finally getting my money's worth.

Again this is just my opinion.

Has Nick reduced the Premium Account from £10 to £9.99?

Yes, makes it more appealing

Wonder if current Premium Members will get a 1p refund