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Should We Open LewdCorner to Everyone?
Free Members+, Games+ access, and the future of our activity-based ranking system.
Free Members+, Games+ access, and the future of our activity-based ranking system.
We're considering a significant change to LewdCorner, but before making any decisions, we'd like the community's opinion.
What if every registered member, both existing and new, received Members+ access for free?
This would open Games+ to all registered members and eliminate the need to earn Members+ through our current activity-based progression system.
We're considering a 30-day trial rather than permanently changing the platform immediately.
However, this isn't necessarily as straightforward as it sounds. While opening the site could have some benefits, it could also negatively affect the systems that encourage participation and help keep LewdCorner running.
The Pros: Why We Should Consider It
- Games+ becomes available to everyone: All registered members would gain access to Games+ without having to earn Members+ or purchase an upgrade.
- No activity requirements for Members+: Members would no longer need to accumulate Activity Score through reading, posting, participation, and other progression requirements to unlock Members+.
- Potentially increased traffic: Making Games+ accessible could attract new members and encourage previously inactive users to return.
- More accessible content: Members who primarily visit LewdCorner to browse games wouldn't have to work toward a rank just to access additional content.
- Simpler membership experience: New members could immediately access more of the platform without having to understand the ranking system first.
The Cons: Why This Could Hurt LewdCorner
- Reduced community activity: Our activity-based ranking system encourages people to participate. Without the incentive to earn Members+, we could see fewer posts, reactions, discussions, and other contributions.
- More downloading, less participation: Opening Games+ could attract users who simply download content and leave, rather than participate in the community.
- Potentially fewer donations: Members+ is one of the incentives for supporting LewdCorner financially. Making it free could reduce the number of people willing to purchase membership upgrades.
- Increased operating costs: More traffic and content access could increase resource consumption, including bandwidth, server usage, storage-related operations, and other infrastructure demands.
- Existing members may feel their efforts were wasted: Some users have spent time earning Members+ through activity, while others have financially supported the platform to receive these privileges.
- Long-term sustainability: LewdCorner depends on community support to maintain the platform and its associated services. Increasing traffic while reducing financial support could create additional difficulties.
What Would Happen to the Activity-Based Rank System?
This is probably one of the biggest concerns with the proposal.
Our ranking system was designed to reward members for actually using the platform.
Reading threads, making meaningful posts, receiving reactions, building account trust, and participating all contribute toward progression.
If everyone automatically receives Members+, one of the main reasons to work toward those requirements disappears.
The activity tracking and economy systems wouldn't necessarily have to be removed, but earning Members+ would no longer be a meaningful progression goal during the trial.
This could result in members becoming less active even if overall visitor traffic increases.
How Would the 30-Day Trial Work?
If the community supports this proposal, we would temporarily introduce the following changes:
- All existing registered members would receive Members+ privileges for 30 days.
- New members registering during the trial would also receive Members+ privileges.
- Games+ would become available to all registered members.
- Members+ activity requirements would be temporarily bypassed.
- Existing earned ranks, Activity Scores, coins, and progression history would be preserved.
- Donator and Premium memberships would continue to retain their additional benefits.
During the trial, we would monitor:
- New registrations and returning members.
- Thread creation, replies, reactions, and overall participation.
- Games+ activity and content consumption.
- Changes in donations and membership purchases.
- Server usage, bandwidth, and operating costs.
After 30 days, we'd compare the results against the existing system and decide whether opening Members+ permanently would benefit or harm the platform.
If the experiment negatively affects community participation or financial sustainability, we would restore the previous access requirements.
Why Are We Considering This?
LewdCorner has grown considerably in terms of features, development, and infrastructure.
We've built custom systems for activity tracking, progression, rewards, donations, content discovery, and more.
But that raises an important question.
Would LewdCorner benefit more from allowing everyone to access Games+, or does the current progression system encourage the activity that keeps the community alive?
More visitors don't necessarily mean more participation, and more downloads don't necessarily mean more contributions.
On the other hand, restricting access could be discouraging some people from joining or returning.
We want to find out which approach is better for LewdCorner in the long run.
Vote in the Poll!
Nothing is changing yet. This is a proposal, and we want the community's feedback before proceeding.
Would you support opening Members+ and Games+ to everyone for a 30-day trial, even if it means temporarily removing the incentive to earn Members+ through activity?
Or should we keep the current system, where members earn their privileges through participation or support the platform financially?
Please cast your vote above and share your reasoning in the replies.
We're especially interested in hearing from members who earned their ranks through activity, existing donors, uploaders, and regular contributors.
Your feedback will help determine whether we move forward with this experiment.
Thank you for being part of LewdCorner!
