[YesBox]

Discord subscriptions seem to be working. People like to customize their profile (ie express themselves), even though profiles are not something frequently interacted with (that's the surprising part!)

I have a server (for my game) with about 1000 people. Out of the 300 people logged in, 50 of them have custom profiles.

So, it seems like a good idea for Meta.

[pndy]

> Out of the 300 people logged in, 50 of them have custom profiles.

That's why I'd count Discord subs as a specific case targeting specific kind of a terminally online user who doesn't mind paying for such customization to show own digital identity, that for the rest means nothing. Discord had a brilliant idea here while at the same time allows to use their service without all these bells and whistles. Tho, I expect they'll start limiting it for those who refuse to subscribe in the nearest future.

[fontain]

The main problem is that premium subscriptions don’t generate that much revenue when compared to ads alone. The users who pay are the most valuable users to advertisers and the users who don’t pay are the least valuable. Discord generates about $1 in revenue per user compared to Facebook at closer to $100. For Discord at $1 per user, any subscription that’s a few dollars or more is probably paying for the lost advertising revenue, but it wouldn’t translate for Meta so they aren’t including ad free which drastically reduces the value.

I’ll be surprised if Meta’s subscriptions are as popular as Discord’s without being advertising free. Cosmetics are liked amongst Discord’s audience of nerds, but not Meta’s audience of normal people.

Very interested to see how this works out for Meta. Since they’re not excluding ads, it’s basically free money, so they may as well offer these subscriptions.

[rhines]

I wish these companies didn't need to make billions in revenue. There's no reason why a small company couldn't manage a site like Discord, make enough to pay their developers, and be successful. But instead every company needs to become a unicorn and pay investors billions.

[Marsymars]

> The users who pay are the most valuable users to advertisers and the users who don’t pay are the least valuable.

But also, definitionally, the users who are willing to pay the most are the ones who the see ads as the biggest anti-value (i.e. cost) to themselves - so they'll be the ones most likely to not use the service if they're not given an ad-free option - cutting down the average user value anyway.

[lukeschlather]

I actually cancelled my Discord subscription because they've gradually been adding more intrusive ads and subscriptions don't protect you from ads.

[ro_bit]

You can get free profile decorations these days from watching ads (discord “orbs”). It would be interesting to know how many of those users have the nitro subscription badge next to their name

[YesBox]

I just counted 35 online profiles with nitro. Same ~300 people online currently

[airstrike]

tbh I mostly pay for nitro for cross-server, animated emoji

[micromacrofoot]

Yeah this very much a "like Discord" move, and it does work

[rldjbpin]

i too noticed the similarities in approach between the two. with the chat portability and other eu-linked changes they have to play along with, meta would have a complicated future ahead with subsidising chat for everyone.

if this prevents them from adding privacy-harming things to whatsapp, the more power to them. but it certainly does not guarantee this behaviour.

[sillysaurusx]

How’d you make a game with 1,000 people? It’s impressive.

[YesBox]

They're players, not devs.

[sillysaurusx]

Yeah, I was asking how you got so many players.

[YesBox]

Forgive me for not wanting to write up the history of the game's development. It boils down to product market fit, innovation, and fantasy fulfillment/fun.

See for yourself: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2287430/Metropolis_1998/

[lobf]

This does indeed look great- is it only a demo now?

[pauldub]

The game looks great. Thanks for sharing