Just want to take a few minutes out to clear up some of the hesitations on the loyalty cards.

Taking a trip down memory lane - several years ago, Subeta was one of the first sites to allow users to purchase account upgrades (Gold Accounts) and items (then called 'Donation Items') as items on site. Other sites utilized subscription services for account upgrades and there was hardly any markets for individual items. Subeta would then allow users to trade or sell the account upgrades and items for sP - another revolutionary idea for online communities and cash shops. Subeta has never wavered on that idea -- we will always allow users who cannot (or do not) purchase CSC to enjoy all of the account upgrades and items in our Cash Shop by using sP. Please do not think that Subeta would "exclude" users that do not buying CSC directly or that we "prefer" users that do. It is not the case and I think we show that in our history of being the first to include those users and our endless efforts to increase the access to buying CSC directly for those that do not have a Paypal, access to UGC outlets, debit/credit cards, and related. Those efforts are not so that we can pull money from every which way and direction, but rather to make it easier for users who have hesitations and limitations. There are a number of users that are under 18 and do not have a debit/credit card, then others simply do not like online transactions and prefer game cards and redeemable cards that they can buy in person - we really try to support each and every possible way.

There are several ways in which users receive are thanked for their financial support as well. We've had two sets of bobbleheads that came free with every purchase for four years. We've given out bonuses for purchasing X items during Black Friday. Then we have had a dozen or so sets that gave out a bonus item when you bought the entire set. We have achievements for purchasing items from the Hustler, having a billboard, and buying other items from the CS. You can view them as incentives, but they are, at its core, an additional bonus to the item or service that you are enjoying. It is silly to think of the loyalty cards as a discouragement. Is an achievement for buying from the Hustler a discouragement when you want a free item for buying from the Hustler? No, it's not - it's just a different basis for reward and appreciation. These loyalty cards and rewards are just another basis.

This is, of course, not mentioning the amount of ways in which we give out CSC or cash shop items through referring your friends, raffle tickets, and similar features. These features add up. There are instances of users buying 1000 CSC and then spending 750 CSC and still having some leftover. That adds up, too. There is nothing wrong any of this, either - we enjoy seeing users happy to receive CSC and we are happy to give it out as perks and bonuses. But, put bluntly, there is a lot of CSC saved on user accounts and there have been countless times where we have released new items in the CS and the amount of CSC that was spent on the items in the CS far exceeded the amount of cash (from CSC purchases) that we earned from that day. If you looked at the numbers for those days, you wouldn't be able to discern that we released new items. You'd think it was just another day. It is a misconception to think that staff swims in a pool of cash on the days we release new CS items. We realize the cash income from the CSC over time, of course, but it is not directly correlated to the day or days following a release. (In other words - the cash that comes in is relatively flat on a day to day basis but the CSC that is spent varies a lot from day to day because of releases.) Now, we release items in the Cash Shop because Subeta is a company. We are here to provide a fun adventure and game for each and every single player, GA or not. That requires money - money to pay for the servers, artwork, and programming. Every dollar that is earned goes straight back into the site to produce content and to make Subeta better, more fun, and more dynamic.

As someone mentioned - the Loyalty Cards are more formalized and pronounced way to give out rewards to users that purchase CSC directly as we have done strikingly similarly with Paypal and Stripe purchases. That foundation was coupled with a fun reward card stamp idea. These are meant to last for several months. We're not crunching them to a week and saying that you need to drop $100 or bust - we tailored them to the way that most users spend CSC on a monthly and seasonal basis.

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A bit unrelated, but as a takeaway: I can't remember who said, but someone pretty big in the tech world was giving a speech and he said something along the lines that people will spend hours and hours researching an iPhone app to see if it is worth the $2 price tag, but they'd have no hesitations walking into the new coffeehouse that opened up down the block and paying $5 for a latte. Now, sure, Subeta does not cost money to play, but I think the sentiment still stands in that people think differently when spending money on "virtual goods." You can reduce Subeta to just pixels and a few rows in a database, but that isn't to say that you can't reduce a latte to steamed milk and espresso beans. In economic terms, you receive some utility from the entertainment. (There might even be diminishing returns, too!) But the point here is to take a step back and realize that Subeta is actually not any different from other activities that we do all of the time for leisure (like trying a new coffeehouse). On top of that - you are not funding a CEO’s multi-million dollar bonus or throwing money straight into the trash. You are putting money in Subeta and Subeta is taking that money and putting it building a better game for you.

You get an item prize every 2k (two stamps). Another one of the stamps gives you a title.

I'm checking with the programmers regarding the subscriptions--it should absolutely work with that and was, not sure why it stopped! It will again and we'll get anyone who it didn't give stamps to situated. Make a ticket if this is you!