I would pay for....

Leeroi · 07-30-07, 06:35 PM

* Mazzlefizz closed the pertinent discussion before I could add my comments, so I am *cheating* and doing so here. Some people just can't keep their yapper shut.... *

I would pay $3/mo for:

(1) advice on which add-ons worked well with others.
(2) advice and assistance on setting up those addons in a neat, organized manner.
(3) a well-written and maintained FAQ that addressed all those addons you gave me advice on as well as a FAQ on how to set them up.
(4) answers to my sometimes idiotic questions when I am unable to find the answers in the FAQ.
(5) answers to my sometimes intelligent questions about why this-or-that is happening.

I short, I would not pay for the MazzleUI itself, but I would very happily pay for someone (else) to do all the work above and let me focus on playing WoW. I love the MazzleUI, but the continued efforts of keeping things up to date when authors of the addons I use make changes, finding work arounds to problems not of my own making, solutions to problems I didn't know I had, etc., is what I would make monthly payments for. I would pay for the on-going maintenance of my UI. Maybe I could duplicate what you have done, but I don't have the time or the inclination. I am VERY grateful to simply have the ability to ride your coattails on all the research you do when something quits working (and the work of others on the forums!), when a new brilliant idea comes along, trouble shooting when you find a new addon that *might* work well with the compilation, knowing which addons are coded such that they are good or bad in terms of memory managment, etc.

I would hope that you would continue to make MazzleUI freely available on various sites, including updates - that way I can continue to easily recommend MazzleUI to others. I would be paying for your advice, trouble-shooting service, forums, etc. If others benefit from that as well by downloading an updated version of the UI compilation for free, that is great. God bless them. But I like finding out quickly and easily why this addon quit working, and how to get around the problem, without having to do a bunch of work myself. I like having someone else do some very nice programming so that my mage, warrior, paladin, rogue, and hunter can all have - automatically - the right addons selected and settings made without my having to dig into each and every one of those addons. Playing so many different classes is confusing enough - I don't want to figure out how each addon needs to be set for each one, as I have done in the past. I like having someone listen to my ideas and suggestions - who is able to actually do something about them (or tell me why that is a bad idea). And I am willing to pay for that consulting service because it makes the $15/mo I pay to Blizzard worth it.

For reasons I am at a loss to explain, $5 a month is "too much" (emotionally) but $3 a month is "nothing". Somehow, $5 is "a third of my WoW subscription!!!!" but $3 is just background noise. I know this rationally makes not sense, but that is marketing and sales for you.... If others' reactions are similar, you would hopefully get many more subscribers at the $3 rate than you would at the $5 rate, giving you a better cash flow.

I would prefer the monthly payment since I do not know how long (1) you will keep going and (2) I will keep going. Again - for emotional reasons a marketing professional could probably explain - I would be fearful of paying an annual fee since I might quit the game completely in 2 months, but paying monthly is great. Thus, I would prefer to pay $3/mo than pay $25/yr. You could very simply make both options available, however, and let people choose their preference.

I would need the payment to be largely hassle-free. Read: paypal or some other automatic payment system.

Note: anyone who mentions the sale of software or programming, or copyrights, will be beaten. I am not paying for that. I have made donations to Mazzle, and I have made donations to other authors when I have enjoyed their addons enough to warrant that. Those donations are *donations* for the work the authors did to write the code, as a token of appreciation and admiration. I would pay a montly fee for the on-going work of maintaining my ability to play the game rather than play "search the web" for the answer to why my game suddenly doesn't work anymore and it is raid time.... I would pay for an "expert" to keep me up to speed and "figure out all that stuff" for me.

If Blizzard offered this "expert service", I would pay them. But they don't, so I can't. And since they can't put together a UI as nice, clean, and effective as MazzleUI, I doubt they could provide as good an "expert service" as Mazzlefizz does anyway.

Leeroi
"At least I'm not chicken!"

Leeroi · 07-30-07, 06:39 PM

And if you have to pay for the "expert service", you would get fewer trolls on the forums.... For those trolls you DID get, you would at least have to admire their determination to troll if they were willing to pay for that priviledge

... (and you could cut them off if they got to really be a bother).

Leeroi
"Let's do this!"

Defman · 07-30-07, 07:01 PM

Couldnt have said it better myself

Mazzlefizz · 07-31-07, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by Leeroi

For reasons I am at a loss to explain, $5 a month is "too much" (emotionally) but $3 a month is "nothing". Somehow, $5 is "a third of my WoW subscription!!!!" but $3 is just background noise. I know this rationally makes not sense, but that is marketing and sales for you.... If others' reactions are similar, you would hopefully get many more subscribers at the $3 rate than you would at the $5 rate, giving you a better cash flow.

I always find your posts strangely amusing. I too often use similar logic to rationalize what I'm willing to pay for stuff. Usually when I spend money on stuff WoW related like my 2nd account, I use a rationale of "look how many hours per month I get for that $30 + $15/mo. That's like 0.0002 cents per hour. How cheap!" You should see the convoluted arguments behind buying a $200 coffee grinder. As for the UI, how about...

"Somehow, $15 is "the same as my WoW subscription!!!!" but $10 is just background noise, the amount I'd spend on a large, crappy Dominoes pizza."

>.>
<.<

joive · 07-31-07, 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by Mazzlefizz

but $10 is just background noise, the amount I'd spend on a large, crappy Dominoes pizza."

Whats wrong with $10 on a large Dominos pizza? Thats well spent money Mazzle. All the thousands spent on my College Education (still paying loans) and now having to wake up early to drive for 2 hours to my work place and 2 hours back to my house, to play WoW sleepy, late at night, is a good example of NOT well spent money.

There's nothing in black and white about the amount to pay yet, at least that I know. Lets wait for that first.

Martinus · 07-31-07, 08:07 PM

I must admit. I hooked to this UI. I would pay too to get updates. I would be saddened to not being able to get updates.

Just can't get enough of this ui hehe.

Layrajha · 07-31-07, 11:24 PM

Originally Posted by Leeroi

And if you have to pay for the "expert service", you would get fewer trolls on the forums.... For those trolls you DID get, you would at least have to admire their determination to troll if they were willing to pay for that priviledge

... (and you could cut them off if they got to really be a bother).

Leeroi
"Let's do this!"

I WOULD pay $5 per month to troll on Mazzle's forum!

<3

Mazzlefizz · 08-01-07, 12:05 AM

An excellent idea! Special troll rate for forums only. I'd probably get more people to sign up for that than normal membership!

Plarz · 08-01-07, 12:30 PM

I agree. Being able to go to a site that keeps all my mods up to date, and makes it easy to find a replacement mod that has essentially the same functionality would be awesome.

Actually, I'd like to work for a site like that. I'm obsessed with addons, and I'm constantly changing around, trying new stuff, editing the code to try and make stuff work more to my liking etc.

I can see a site that handles updating being a big contribution to the community as a whole.

Mazzlefizz · 08-02-07, 01:51 AM

Originally Posted by Plarz

I agree. Being able to go to a site that keeps all my mods up to date, and makes it easy to find a replacement mod that has essentially the same functionality would be awesome.

Actually, I'd like to work for a site like that. I'm obsessed with addons, and I'm constantly changing around, trying new stuff, editing the code to try and make stuff work more to my liking etc.

I can see a site that handles updating being a big contribution to the community as a whole.

I think Leeroi was suggesting that a MazzleUI site would implicitly do that for him b/c he uses MazzleUI, not that this would be a general site for that kind of auto-updating.