We introduced subscriptions for a while today. SamSyn let 20 go through, and then turned it off to take a look at what happened.
The good news is that every subscription went through properly.
The bad news is that:
- While those 20 went through “properly”, they didn’t work esthetically “perfectly”. It’s nothing YOU have to be concerned about, but it’s good we stopped to do a little polish.
- Some folks who should have had “Lifetime Memberships” (See Below), didn’t. We need to fix that.
Sooo, it was a super-good test.
On the whole “Lifetime Subscription” issue. We identified two member programs which we decided were eligible for “Free Lifetime” memberships:
- “v1_beta_lifetime.xml” – 57 members
- “v1_beta_lifetime_prepay.xml” – 214 members
As we all know, There used to throw the whole “lifetime” word around a lot, and, in the vast majority of cases (2367, to be exact), “lifetime” meant “Lifetime Premium”, which, in our eyes, means that as long as you’re a member, Premium membership is yours.
We can argue all day long about whether those 2367 (or 4374, or 7,101, etc) should get There for Free, but at the end of the day, the answer is this “If 2300+ members get There for free, we won’t make our numbers, and will have to close again, for good”.
2300 * $10 is $23,000 a month, which is a BIG chunk of what we need to stay open.
I’m 110% sure some people are going to be unhappy with our definition of lifetime. If we can’t agree, then, well, you are no worse off than you were before – There is closed, and you’ve “lost” all your virtual “possessions” (remember, virtual goods are NOT an investment, any more than a theatre ticket is).
On the HAPPY side of things, Bruce added some more servers, and, from our view, all servers are getting 30 steps-per-second internally (that is, they think they’re keeping up). I’m sure that some people will differ on that, so we’ll keep an eye on it. I’ve also asked Bruce to ready another set of server, but NOT spin them up, since that changes the cost from “pennies a month” to over $400/month.
Finally, I’ve started to update the “Operating Costs” page. As you can see, we’ve gotten about 8K in T$ sales as of last Friday, which is great. Keep those $ coming so we can work our way towards breaking even this month!
P.S. The fact that we turned on subscriptions, even for a bit, means the Big Paz Pick Up is coming SOON. So dont’ be surprised!
P.S.S. No, this doesn’t mean neighborhoods are about to be turned on. We’re going to be working on it soon, but it’s not ready YET, and no, we’re not going to say when.
I am so There 
#1 by jodie780 on 2012.01.10 - 6:08 pm
can someone please tell me when we can get help were paying subs here dropping pazes and having people drop trick stuff on our pazes and we can do nothing??
#2 by Randra_Loqqet on 2011.12.22 - 10:26 pm
Meant to post earlier but only had time now… was kinda shocked to see how low the #s were for people who originally purchased the lifetime beta accounts – I wonder was that the total back then, or just the people who have also come back for the reopening now?
RL
#3 by NateTheStar on 2011.12.18 - 6:25 pm
I was a beta member and I don’t have the free membership. Where do I contest this?
#4 by Kayleigh Lace on 2011.12.22 - 9:56 am
It wasn’t a free membership for every beta. It depended on the kind of lifetime membership you paid for. I believe a blog entry or so down Mr. Wilson addressed it more specifically.
#5 by Truck on 2011.12.17 - 5:34 pm
Quote: P.S. The fact that we turned on subscriptions, even for a bit, means the Big Paz Pick Up is coming SOON. So dont’ be surprised!
Dose this mean after the pick up of the pazes will the time we put on them before There closed will be back? i had 5 pazes with almost a year on them. No i didn’t do this after i heard there was closeing, used my designer sales from November and December to fill the pazes
#6 by Roxannie on 2011.12.17 - 9:36 am
I am getting a world is closed, I can’t get to a pay for subscription page and I even reloaded there. Is there an email I can send the money to so I can get in. 😦
#7 by Roxannie on 2011.12.17 - 10:08 am
nevermind i’m in, :p
#8 by Jaycee Aluveaux on 2011.12.17 - 3:42 am
I have spent most the night trying to access my paypal account via the log in screen but am not getting redirected.. I’ve uninstalled and reinstalled twice.. I’ve checked firewall settings etc but now I only get the “sorry you are having problems logging in” screen rather than the welcome screen…Is there any another way to access the paypal option?
p.s It would be nice to have an option on our main accounts to enable us to pay for another member without having to log in as them and use their passwords..
Minxyx
#9 by Juli on 2011.12.17 - 3:10 am
I quote Imagemaker who said:
“Hugsie, PayPal will let you select your payment methods for the recurring payment once it’s set up. How you do it may vary depending on where your account is in an ongoing update at PayPal (says their documentation), but somewhere there’s a “My Money” menu that will let you view and edit your recurring payment preferences. Mine is happily paying from balance first, then my checking account (just what I want).
From what I understand, it should be possible to terminate your subscription (at the There end) at any time, still be able to log in until the end of your current cycle, and then resubscribe at a later date — but you have to set up the monthly subscription to get in, and you have to manually terminate that to stop it.”
After reading this fabulous Imagemaker quote I have these questions:
1) A PayPal email says: “To change or cancel your agreement with Makena, Inc, log in to your PayPal account, go to your Profile, and click My money. Update your agreement in the “My preapproved payments” section.”
So in Paypal go to your profile and the MY MONEY section and the preapproved payments and FIND the avatar you started an automatic monthly payment on and CANCEL that.
Now on this PayPal side if you cancel to NOT pay again in a month that should NOT affect your paid month with THERE? One of my alternate avatar I do want to cancel after passing items to my main avatar BUT I will wait until closer to January automatic monthly payment day to do that cancelling.
2) I DO NOT SEE in THERE.com any place to cancel a subscription as of yet. Will THERE have an way to cancel these automatic monthly subscription charges at any time for the NEXT month by clicking a: “I won’t be renewing button”? OR is the cancelling ALL on the PayPal side?
NOTE: I don’t mind the automatic monthly payments IF you can know WHEN you can cancel for the NEXT month without losing the present PAID month. I figure once you cancel IF you DO want to start again some time in the future WHEN you log in this cancelled subscription THEN at that log in you will be asked to subscribe for that month..
Please make this very clear for everyone IF I do NOT have this correct! Thanks!
#10 by Domano on 2011.12.16 - 8:57 pm
I have several cards in paypal but am not able to subcribe to There. The Makena Paypal page only provides the option to add cards. Selecting “Add Card’ results in a rejection because the cards already exist in Paypal. Options?
#11 by Alter on 2011.12.16 - 8:48 am
We were pouring money into our Paypay debit account getting ready for the membership fees. Buying TBux was easie peasie using out Paypal debit but paying our membership was another story. The thing that we weren’t told is the part of the recurring payments is that NOW they want a credit card as what I assume a backup incase there isn’t money in the debit account to cover membership fees, so now were stuck because we didn’t want to give paypal a credit card, not told the whole story on how these payments were going to be taken out and we tried a $25 Visa Giftcard and paypal wouldn’t accept it and now I have my RL credit card number floating around in paypalland because were given no choice. Sony got hacked and millions of accounts were compromised, but thank god we used Playstation gift cards and didn’t use a credit card.
It seems MW hasn’t used paypal himself to know how much hassle it can be sometimes especially if your outside the US..
I have too much invested in this game to just walk away like I did in Secondlife and Twinity.
I now feel sorry for those who can’t play because of this PayPay issue cause I’m now a victim. and hope something better comes out this because if we loose There.com a second time it will be the people who want to play can’t because there is only one road to pay their membership fees and no other avenues of payment so in the end we all loose.
#12 by AgapeLove on 2011.12.16 - 9:23 am
If Paypal asks for credit card info just give them the debt card info as if it is a cc .If it is like mine which is a visa debt , you can treat it as if it is a credit card at the place of purchase , but the bank knows what to do with it on their end and will treat it like the debt card it is. The same thing happens everywhere especially at gas stations . They ask us “debt or credit ” and we can say either one but it will still go through the same way.
#13 by davesmeg on 2011.12.16 - 7:24 am
I don’t have a PayPal account and I’m very reluctant to open one because of experienced by close friends of mine, so I guess it will be a long time before I get back in-world.
#14 by Snougee on 2011.12.16 - 5:37 am
Just lettings you know. That Paypal in all of its suckyness will not verify a single one of my cards. Therefore unless you set up a respectable payment option I will not be returning and you thus lost 2 monthly accounts. I warned you about Paypal and you just got your first confirmed casualty for using them.
#15 by Andy on 2011.12.16 - 9:07 am
I have used PayPal for years and not had the slightest issue with setting up cards or transactions…There is no point yellin at MW about it …..Its not his fault that PP arent accepting your cards
#16 by _DREAMWALKER on 2011.12.16 - 5:26 am
hello i paid my membership for my silver pass avatar this morning now i cant get in world
hellpppppppp
#17 by ImageMaker on 2011.12.16 - 3:24 pm
This is most likely because, as of this morning, There staff were still turning subscriptions on and off trying to trace problems or odd behavior. When subscriptions are “off”, your silver pass avatar can’t log in; when they’re back on, you’ll be able to (and they were on as of an hour or so ago, Friday evening Eastern time).
#18 by AgapeLove on 2011.12.16 - 5:14 am
I got on my main avie and also payed extra to get on an alt. I was able to get the alt on for 30 minutes before maintenance.Then I was able to get back on, but the alt got a “There is closed message”. I saw a refference to this from Dan Samuel “While subs are ON we also are letting in everyone (I mean all funpass levels), but when we turn it OFF, the avatars without the beta test privilege get bumped off.”
I guess that has something to do with why I can’t get the alt on, although not sure what “subs’ means as I’m not a very technical person. As my subscriptions to There is all that “Santa” may be giving me this year I think , I hope I can get the alt on soon.I was working on making a quest and I usually let the alt try it out as books and quests appear slighty different to author of them then they do to the reader , so I usually like to have an alt do them so I can see how they are working out.
Also on reading the way subscriptions work this is the part that wasn’t clear , (“Subscription payments are non-refundable, but you may cancel at any time (though you will lose any unused time on your subscription, even if you re-subscribe). ” On another world I get on, I paid for a subscription for a whole year when my income tax refund came in ,but didn’t want that to be recurring. The CEO of that world emailed me and told me to cancel the subscription after paying to avoid the recurring automatic payments which I did ,but still recieved the whole year of service. But according to this I will not get the whole month I may pay for if I were to cancel a subscription too soon.
So perhaps the problem is that you don’t have the staff to keep track of subscirptions, and when people cancel ,they will also loose services immediately? Although the other world doesn’t have that much staff either and I was rather honored that the CEO took the time to email me about my subsciption! That world is still in beta however and I’m sure the membership has not come close to what There has or will have yet. So I suppose it is up to us to make sure to cancel in that small window of time where we won’t loose services, but won’t be charged for the next month? Did I just answer my own question?
#19 by AgapeLove on 2011.12.16 - 6:28 am
oh ok Subs=Subcriptions, coffee just kicked in brain returning!
#20 by patiently waiting..kinda on 2011.12.16 - 5:06 am
subscriptions still arent ready for those under gold
#21 by martin71a on 2011.12.16 - 2:50 am
like i said before if we really want to keep there 2 running and i know most of use really glad that its come back every one can or could pay the $10 amonth even the lifetime members if they want to donate $10 every penny counts and helps its christmas spend a little 🙂
happy holidays to the team 🙂
#22 by Merry Prankster on 2011.12.16 - 12:52 am
Okay, just tried to sign up ad pay with my PayPal, got the message saying …
‘The seller will only ship to confirmed addresses. To complete this transaction, you will need to enter your information again”
So I went to the There page, logged in and bought some TBux, which gladly accepted my PayPal info and charged my PayPal account for the amount of TB’s I selected.
#23 by Adam Macy on 2011.12.16 - 12:25 am
well it wouldnt let me on unless i paid. so i did 🙂 but still having same problems with the CHANGE ME not working and certain things in my inventory wont drop in my paz been having this problem before i paid to. but glad its getting closer and i hope everything starts working properly when it officially opens. thanks. adam247
#24 by Hugsie on 2011.12.15 - 7:50 pm
well it looks like it’s official now, i had to pay $10 for my alt.. but i wasn’t counting on automatic reoccurring payments. I want to pay when i want to.
#25 by LeeCarmen08 on 2011.12.16 - 3:43 am
It states that you can cancel your subscription at any time you like. But if you cancel it before the sub is up, you lose all the subscription time you did not use. So you’ll be fine. 🙂
#26 by Kontumnam on 2011.12.19 - 10:50 am
Yes i agree, marry my game partner and moving to her native country, the pay structure a fraction i earned when in Uk, i was hoping that i could just pay for a month when i can afford it.
#27 by daniel on 2011.12.15 - 6:52 pm
well i just subed and got in for about 5 min and then i got booted ut and it says the world is closed. so im going to asume that that was normal maintenance and ill be back up soon. good to be home 😀
#28 by Dan Samuel on 2011.12.15 - 8:01 pm
We turned subscriptions on and off a bunch of times tonight as we paused to research anything mysterious. While subs are ON we also are letting in everyone (I mean all funpass levels), but when we turn it OFF, the avatars without the beta test privilege get bumped off.
Our goal, of course, is to leave it on all the time (for obvious reasons), so the ‘bumpage’ will hopefully be minimal.
#29 by Hugsie on 2011.12.15 - 10:41 pm
Paypal is forcing me to use a credit card with my VERIFIED account that I’ve had for like 7 years. It’s already linked to my bank so i don’t know why I have to do this. Grr. Just another avenue for me to get SCREWED over. Plus can i turn off automatic payments and still keep playing for a month? And choose what months i wish to pay?
#30 by ImageMaker on 2011.12.16 - 3:12 am
Hugsie, PayPal will let you select your payment methods for the recurring payment once it’s set up. How you do it may vary depending on where your account is in an ongoing update at PayPal (says their documentation), but somewhere there’s a “My Money” menu that will let you view and edit your recurring payment preferences. Mine is happily paying from balance first, then my checking account (just what I want).
From what I understand, it should be possible to terminate your subscription (at the There end) at any time, still be able to log in until the end of your current cycle, and then resubscribe at a later date — but you have to set up the monthly subscription to get in, and you have to manually terminate that to stop it.
#31 by NathanAvis on 2011.12.16 - 4:59 am
Hey Dan,
A couple of my buddies want to join There.Com but as it stands only existing members can get back in. Got a rough date for accepting new members/subscriptions?
#32 by Juli on 2011.12.16 - 1:58 pm
Hey Dan! Yes I got subscribed but for all funpass levels but SAD now that I PAID and can’t get in below a Gold Fun Pass!
NO FUN!!! I hope your goal of letting all fun pass levels in starts soon I am now counting the days of my paid subscriptions that I am NOT getting to use. I figure I am taking it for the good of THERE but please communicate better. If it says subscribe I figure its the time to do so especially since we are NOT told when. Now I see posts that say this was talked about in Facebook groups but not everyone checks in Facebook or even here. I figure don’t let the funpasses below Gold even subscribe if they are NOT gonna get to log in while the subscription time is ticking away……..
Still Love There and a “bumpagely” hug to you Dan! LOL!
#33 by larryroberts41 on 2011.12.15 - 6:35 pm
I logged on finally then went through the beginning got to spas tried to change my face then blamo Thumdar was logged out then me. Can I please log back in so I can make it to somebody or was that just a test. If it was I had no problems whatsoever except for the automatic log out. I hope another update was needed. jdub38 Subscription was finally successful.
#34 by ImageMaker on 2011.12.16 - 3:16 am
What you’re describing is what Samsyn was talking about — when subscriptions are “on”, anyone who isn’t banned (and is 18 or older) can subscribe and log in, but when they turn subscriptions “off” to check on something “mysterious”, anyone who doesn’t have beta privileges (all bronze and silver fun passes, and some gold) will be kicked off. You should be able to log in again when subscriptions are turned back on, which I’d expect to be anywhere from a half hour to a few hours (it would depend on what they find out and have to fix). Once all the “mysterious” things are resolved, subscriptions (and the ability of lower funpasses to log in) will be on all the time except during the usual system maintenance times starting around 3:30 AM California time.
#35 by SueZ on 2011.12.15 - 5:21 pm
I just subscribed and Paypal redirected back to Makena as it should, it was smooth and easy! ”’yay! Thanks for all the hard work!
#36 by daniel on 2011.12.15 - 4:54 pm
ok well i just got my prepaid card for there. so im ready for the doors to fly open
#37 by softNdark on 2011.12.15 - 4:37 pm
~ I’m 100% Official Now….. Thank You!!! ~
Subscription Process went just as promised.
#38 by soulol on 2011.12.15 - 4:32 pm
Just out of curiosity does paypal automatically take 10$ per month, or can you choose when you want to ?
Please get back.
#39 by ImageMaker on 2011.12.16 - 3:21 am
The subscription will process automatically on the same date every month, give or take falling on non-business days (weekends and American bank holidays); that’s controlled by PayPal. You can terminate the subscription (via your There account pages) whenever you choose, and resubscribe later — it’s klunky, but it should allow you to assume a slightly higher level of control. It’s surely preferable, from There’s standpoint, to leave your subscription running — they can’t be sure, if you cancel, when or if you’ll come back, so must assume your revenue is gone, and too much of that could lead to another, permanent closing if they conclude they can’t in fact operate at a profit. I can confirm that PayPal will pay from PayPal balance first, so if you can keep you PayPal $10 ahead, you can at least avoid having the automatic monthly charge filter through into your bank account.
#40 by soulol on 2011.12.15 - 4:26 pm
out of curiosity the payments, do they automatically take 10$ per month out or is it optional ?
#41 by ImageMaker on 2011.12.15 - 4:59 pm
My understanding from what was posted on the last couple updates is that the $10/month will be automatically charged to your PayPal. If you have a PayPal balance of at least $10/month (and assuming PayPal hasn’t got any other surprises in store), that should be where it stops; if you don’t have that much, either the payment will fail or (much more likely, given the way PayPal pushes for linked accounts) they’ll take whatever remainder wasn’t available from your “primary funding source”, either a checking account or credit card (depending how you have PayPal set up).
And there’s the rub. What I plan to do is go out of my way to be absolutely sure I always have at least $10 in my PayPal, by putting $10 in there every payday (alternate Fridays); when I get $20 or $30 ahead, I’ll use the excess to by Tbucks or other stuff (like the oil pressure sensor my car needs).
#42 by ImageMaker on 2011.12.15 - 5:23 pm
On the bright side, it appears subscriptions are back “on”, and I just saw an in-world message that some avatar was the 100th subscriber. At this rate, we’ll have the critical 3100 subscriptions in a couple days. ‘tu And, in another example of being delighted to have been wrong, my PayPal account happily accepted my subscription, despite having only a checking account and debit card linked to it (though I’m still not sure they know or care about the difference between a debit Visa and a Visa credit card).
#43 by larryroberts41 on 2011.12.15 - 6:29 pm
I finally got on but then bam thumdar went off line then me. I mean I just logged on come on what just happened. Was that a test. I was so ready. jdub38 is my name. I kinda wanna logon again that was such a tease.
#44 by shezbanjo on 2011.12.15 - 1:55 pm
i subscribed was very easy and user friendly quick and painless lol its the first ive used paypal set it up to go There if i can do it anyone can lol and i dont mind at all that im paying its all for a good cause..to get us all back home
#45 by GreenAngel on 2011.12.15 - 10:31 am
Thereians, have a great Christmas, Holiday and happy new year GreenAngel
#46 by GreenAngel on 2011.12.15 - 10:30 am
I am ready to pay for There Subscription, money in Paypal for t-bux so I am set to go, yeah!!!!!
#47 by daniel on 2011.12.14 - 8:17 pm
ok get this….so i was having a dream last night about there. probably because i have been thinking about it so much. and after waking up and putting the thoughts together i thought. there.com is a recreational and social game with many fun things to do like cards, paint ball and buggy’s. and then i thought. what else could they add. SPORTS.. what if..just bair with me hear… what if you could play basket ball and bowling (etc) in there.com.. so i know you guys are just trying to get the world back on track. but its just an idea im putting out there.
ps: im sure someone must have had the same idea before. but never did anything about it.
#48 by Gordon Hard on 2011.12.15 - 6:18 pm
There is a bowling alley in World…it is a 10×40 deck if not mistaken…I used to have avies line up at the end for the pins and use a buggy or TUV to bowl them down…was lots of fun!
#49 by softNdark on 2011.12.14 - 6:13 pm
Heyyyyy Baby!!!!!!!!!….. Lovin’ It……
I’m Good!!!! With all the progress.
My ..$$$$.. Don’t have much but…. “There’s” … the place I plan to be spending my “Play Dollars”, each month!!!
Thanks MW and Team
~ PEACE ~
#50 by gist on 2011.12.14 - 3:04 pm
Thanks for info. I’m ready to pay to play. I do think you mention once that “lifetime” membership to there 1 terminated when there closed the first time. I think you are sending mixed signals that some members/players of there are more important and that they don’t have to pay to play.
#51 by leandra on 2011.12.14 - 2:50 pm
Another issue?– Default to Action Mode does not get rid of the bar.
#52 by leandra on 2011.12.14 - 2:19 pm
Or the spa interface.
#53 by leandra on 2011.12.14 - 2:17 pm
I’m not sure if this bug has been reported yet or not, but when I attempt to open Change Me, the box does not appear.
#54 by 2pegasus on 2011.12.14 - 12:52 pm
I all so have no problem with paying for the privileged to be back in There, I miss you so very much.
Yaaaaa for There. 🙂
#55 by patiently waiting..kinda on 2011.12.14 - 11:28 am
abit off topic but has anyone been able to give clothing via ThereIM?
#56 by Barbie_Doll on 2011.12.14 - 11:28 am
If its a “new” There and all the other life time memberships don’t apply why do any of them? If things where so dire that There had to close over night I don’t see the justification of anyone being on for free. Was some contact signed with beta mambers? Was a first born child exchanged? I’m sorry planning on buying tbux doesnt make you special, we’re all going to buy tbux. I’m not saying I should be alowed to play for free, I’m saying I don’t think anyone should. I’m a full time student and 10 bucks a month is a big deal for me, its kinda hard to swallow that I’m going to be paying for someone else to play for free forno other reason than they heard about There a little sooner than I did.
#57 by Andrew Almeida on 2011.12.14 - 11:16 pm
Well they paid for this free service already, you didn’t. If they went 100% with the There 2 idea then we’d all be getting new noob avatars with starter items, no old skills, and no old banned members. We’re talking 2710 dollars here. It aint enough to make or break the service.
#58 by Barbie_Doll on 2011.12.15 - 7:31 am
How do you figure I havnt paid?
#59 by JasonMK on 2011.12.15 - 6:15 am
Don’t take this the wrong way, but how does the CEO of a company allowing a few individuals he has decided to be exempt from the monthly fee reduced the burden that $10 a month is for you as a full-time student? Jump on the joy bandwagon, and be happy that we are able to return to There. It will make those long nights of studying far more enjoyable than holding a grudge that someone else is getting something that you may not be.
#60 by Barbie_Doll on 2011.12.15 - 7:29 am
How many times have we been told if we don’t pay then this isnt going to happen? So anyone paying is paying for themselves and the people playing for free.
#61 by NathanAvis on 2011.12.15 - 1:13 pm
@Barbie_Doll
Correct. We’ve been told many times what will happen if WE (the majority) don’t pay.
Beta lifetime members of 2002-3 contributed a LOT to the world and if it wasn’t for their interest there wouldn’t be even a There 1. And who’s to say all of them will return? A lot of them have since moved on, a lot don’t even know it’s reopening and some have mostly likely passed away or fallen ill. The TRUE loss per month is nothing of major concern.
I don’t see how $10 is that hard to get a month. It seems almost unrealistic to suggest it’s a tough subscription fee. Especially when the survey suggested over 50% were willing to pay 10 bucks or above, and a majority of the users saying no to any fees were underage or freeloading. It’s not a case of people not having the money, it’s a case of people thinking it’s not justifiable to pay then claiming they find it hard to. I am on social security and not all that much but I could get a couple of subs a month after my outgoings.
#62 by Jonas Satari on 2011.12.28 - 8:28 pm
Same boat here, I’m not sure if the game is worth $10 a month especially since they’re not fully operational in all parts. Since they are canning the freeloading part for new members, I think they need to make a better deal for those of us who paid for lifetime membership, I’m sure more ex-Premi’s would be more willing to sub.
Andrew doesn’t really know what he’s talking about, MW has the rights to There so he’d still be able to use old account information on all members even if they did start There 2.0. They don’t throw all that stuff away. All it takes is a migration to new equipment, reading old information and automatically converting them if needed.
#63 by Michael Wilson on 2011.12.28 - 10:08 pm
The only non-operational parts are new submissions for developers, and real estate, which was a relatively new addition. And oh yes, we haven’t restarted charging for paintball refills yet.
P.s. there is a bug in the auction category views with images not showing, but we’re working on that.
#64 by xSnoopy on 2011.12.14 - 9:33 am
I noticed a column that is titled “Options” under “Your Membership. Can you explain that, for the curious ones in the mob?
#65 by JasonMK on 2011.12.15 - 6:16 am
I think MW is reserving the right to charge you extra. jk
#66 by Dan Samuel on 2011.12.15 - 8:05 pm
That’s where we used to list the three options: Voice, Music, and Explorer.
Those are now all included with your membership and non-optional, but the code that generates the page is just way too brilliant to figure out how to suppress that field 🙂
it was hard enough just convincing it to stop begging you to “upgrade to premium” 🙂
#67 by GreenAngel on 2011.12.14 - 9:09 am
Almost there, yeah!!!! need to buy more t-bux
#68 by JasonMK on 2011.12.14 - 8:58 am
Are the “login limits” still in effect? I have been not logging much time in There recently wanting to free up a spot for someone else who might be on the fence of signing up for the paid service or not. Of course, I would much rather just login and enjoy guilt-free. I haven’t seen any word on this and when I do sign in the Current News still says it is, although dated 12.07.2011.
#69 by Dan Samuel on 2011.12.15 - 8:10 pm
As of the introduction of the AFK timeout, you officially do NOT need to feel guilty when actively enjoying the world. The current limit is higher than it has ever been, and (takes a peek at the charts) we have only hit the limit for about 20 minutes for each of the last three days, always around… oh.. say.. 5pm California time. Weekends are generally busier though. We spent about 3 hours skirting the limit on Sunday, but the limit has been raised again since then (thanks to the four new terrain servers)
#70 by Hugsie on 2011.12.14 - 8:49 am
I’m sure those numbers for lifetime vs. non-lifetime are per avatar basis, not user basis. Afterall a lot of us have alts, I do have 1 beta account and another I’ll have to pay for. And exactly where can one find the “v1_beta_lifetime.xml” and “v1_beta_lifetime_prepay.xml” info?
#71 by mystic1there on 2011.12.15 - 7:32 pm
1. View your profile
2. click into the Address Bar of the browser and add the following to the end of the URL, note this is case-sensitive:
&omitXsl=1
3. you will see a page of XML. Scroll down to the section and you should see which program you’re currently assigned to.
hth
mystic_1
#72 by mystic1there on 2011.12.15 - 7:33 pm
#3 should read “Scroll down to the MemberProgram section”
mystic_1
#73 by Koala Thereian on 2011.12.14 - 7:42 am
Great job, there Michael Wilson and team. The subscriptions worked good for me. looking forward to more great things with the opening of the world soon.
#74 by Andrew Almeida on 2011.12.14 - 7:34 am
So it should make sense now to those who whined about not getting in yet or for free. They spent over a quarter of a million just to set stuff up and test. Would have been significantly more had they let the masses in all along, and probably would have either drawn the testing out longer or corrupted the testing so some bugs would have slipped unnoticed. But good job MW, and can you do me a small favor? Do I call PayPal to get them to send me the verify letter in the US mail or is it something done via their site? Cause I do not think a prepay debit card will work for verification someone said, and I aint sure yet cause I’m waiting for my new card in the mail now.
#75 by ImageMaker on 2011.12.16 - 3:32 am
Anything you do with PayPal should be accessible through the web site. Verifying an account is a function I don’t see, having verified my own account around ten years ago, but it should be somewhere under “My Account”. I’ve had unconfirmed reports of problems using Green Dot family prepaid cards with PayPal; that may stem from Green Dot’s refusal to accept charges that don’t preauthorize for a fixed amount (this is because they’re the hardest around on not allowing any kind of overdraft; they block pay-at-the-pump for gas purchases, for instance, because those don’t authorize a fixed amount before turning on the pump), but once you have a basic PayPal account, you should at least be able to put money into PayPal using the same MoneyPak cards you’d use to refill your Green Dot card.
I can confirm from my own account that There subscription will pay by preference from PayPal balance; I still don’t know if the recurring payment will set up if you don’t have some kind of “credit card” work-alike linked to PayPal (I have a debit card linked as if a credit card, so can’t be sure on my own experience).
#76 by Christy Clendenen on 2011.12.14 - 7:26 am
Take my money… please!!! YAY Team Phoenix!!!!!!
wikkedbliss
#77 by Geo Mite on 2011.12.14 - 7:22 am
actually a movie ticket can be worth alot to a collector like a starwars movie ticket maybe worth as little as $100.00 or as much as $2.500 so maybe there is a collective need for a player of any game thats why things are called Rare and are sold for outstanding prices shoot i have a tattoo shirt that sold for 2million tbux in there.com 3 years ago thankgod mine was a gift and they dint pay that amount lol so things can and do hold some kind of vaule what about the girlfriend that saved the movie ticket as a memory you cant replace that now can you ?
#78 by NathanAvis on 2011.12.14 - 10:22 am
You can’t replace a movie ticket or use it again 😉 no matter what it’s current or previous value is/was.
Sounds a bit like old membership! MW provided a great example. And you further confirmed it 😀
#79 by Dan Samuel on 2011.12.15 - 8:13 pm
Plus the movie metaphor includes the concept of “sequels” so welcome to “Son of There: This time it’s personal!”
#80 by Wabbs There on 2011.12.14 - 7:06 am
Just curious as to what “P.S. The fact that we turned on subscriptions, even for a bit, means the Big Paz Pick Up is coming SOON. So dont’ be surprised!” means? Are they going to be resetting the THERE houses/club houses before it does open fully? I owned a home in Incognito.. Incognito 003 to be exact that was NOT reserved for me to reclaim. Sadly, someone else has taken it 😦 I know, I know.. it’s just a “virtual” house, but there is meaning behind it that not many people do know. Because it wasn’t reserved for me as everyone else’s was, it is leaving me and a couple others in limbo as to even bothering to subscribe to the new THERE. I did own this THERE house at the closing of THERE.com. It’s just discouraging when someone else has taken it because it wasn’t reserved like it was supposed to have been.
#81 by Xcal Urradio on 2011.12.14 - 2:28 pm
Hey Wabbs I do believe up until the Public opening it will remain a free for all. So my advice lol Soon as they pick up all the pazzes and reboot …Get your paz down asap 🙂
#82 by Dan Samuel on 2011.12.14 - 3:49 pm
If you are referring to avatar “Wabbs” (and I assume you ARE), I can confirm that Incognito 003 *was* rented by you as of closing and the reservation system feels it is still reserved for you (assuming you use the re-created Wabbs avatar to rent it)
Looking at the property in world right now… and it seems to be rented by MeadowAngel
So let’s see if we can puzzle out what happened…
new zone doid 10709761
old zone doid 10000392
Because the doids change (old there to new there), the reservation system has to use a very indirect method to know which old home a new home maps to. It seems to be getting it right when I look just now, but I have to assume it got it wrong when MeadowAngel tried to rent it (and succeeded)
Well, I don’t see anything in the logs, but if the rental was a long time ago (MeadowAngel was an early guinea pig, and nice, and I assume the reservation system was possibly not in place yet) but we’ll work it all out, I’m sure.
#83 by Dan Samuel on 2011.12.14 - 3:54 pm
Oh, and it’s best to carry out this sort of customer support via the ‘feedback@thereinc.com’ email, if only so poor Skippy doesn’t go crazy carrying messages back and forth here (he has to take a manual action for everything posted here)
Oh and the Big Paz Putaway is just for Pazes.
Except for cases such as yours, there is no plan to purge any home/funzone rentals as a result of our Opening or the Big Paz Putaway, so anything already rented today will still be rented after that, assuming it was rented under the aegis of a working reservation system.
While I don’t explicitly remember this, it is completely possible that I overrode the reservation system to get a house rented for test purposes before its reserved owner had come back, as I did for Dune Valley Raceway.
#84 by Wabbs There on 2011.12.16 - 6:09 pm
Thank you I was not sure where to go for this matter but now I do And yes, it is the Wabbs avatar I am referring to
#85 by CardSharkRay on 2011.12.14 - 7:01 am
now the qustion is if i sign up one month and let 4 months go by can i conture my membership like frist month or a way like pay one skip one
#86 by Wabbs There on 2011.12.15 - 4:52 pm
Thank you 🙂 I was not sure where to go for this matter but now I do 😀 And yes, it is the Wabbs avatar I am referring to 🙂
#87 by Wabbs There on 2011.12.16 - 6:08 pm
haha, this one got posted on the wrong comment. LOL
#88 by Bob Baxter on 2011.12.14 - 6:27 am
It is very encouraging to see the progress being made toward reopening THERE. I am glad to pay monthly to attend this interactive three-dimensional theatre at a bargain price, and I imagine the vast majority of people are also glad to have a part in making it profitable. If everyone is treated the same, except for the few original life-time members, everyone should be happy. But don’t count on it! LOL We must also be patient as the various bugs are discovered and repaired. Samsyn does a great job of analyzing, explaining, and fixing problems, and with such good public relations along with it! Thanks for all the staff and for Michael Wilson’s vision for a great world of beauty, fun, and fantasy.
#89 by Punkster OfThere on 2011.12.14 - 6:25 am
Thank you for the update! It is greatly appreciated! 😀
#90 by Francis_7 on 2011.12.14 - 6:22 am
Darn, I got up early today so I could log LagolandSlumlord in, pay the subscription fee, and start transfering stuff… Good to know there were bugs found though. Getting closer every day!
#91 by Fleaboy on 2011.12.14 - 6:22 am
How do you determine if your lifetime membership is one of these two lifetime groups? Will it say under your current plan the v1_beta_lifetime.xml or v1_beta_prepay.xml? Or, is there another way to determine this?
#92 by Dan Samuel on 2011.12.14 - 3:57 pm
If you look in your avatar profile and click “member info” it will say the name of your New There plan (derived from your old There plan). Most people are in the new plan “Monthly” (because they weren’t in one of those two lucky beta_lifetime plans)
#93 by JasonMK on 2011.12.14 - 6:15 am
Merry Christmas to all of us! Thanks MW.
#94 by watchlight on 2011.12.14 - 5:46 am
I was one of the 20! 😀
#95 by daniel on 2011.12.14 - 8:20 am
lucky you
#96 by watchlight on 2011.12.15 - 12:20 pm
Yup 🙂
#97 by shanghei on 2011.12.14 - 5:32 am
reality is reality… if we want our home to stay open, we are going to have to help support it to that end. there will always be moaners… oh well. thank you so very much to you and your team to be willing to deal with that end of it as well, and to bring us home. you all ROCK !!!!
#98 by 12mandy on 2011.12.14 - 5:12 am
wow,great news and wonderful update,thanks michael and all staff well done,mandy
#99 by Mooly on 2011.12.14 - 5:06 am
Onward and upward ‘tu
#100 by chipfrodo on 2011.12.14 - 4:14 am
If it takes paying $10 a month to keep there open I am all for it. Sure the life time premium is great but I sure don’t
want there to close again. I love the site and would be so upset if it closed again. So Please keep it open
#101 by invu34 on 2011.12.14 - 3:40 am
woooo hooooo!
#102 by Dreamstalker on 2011.12.14 - 3:16 am
I was one of the first few Beta groups of people to enter the game, being in game since February 2003. I didn’t seek a lifetime membership, and was one of the people that paid in full (I forget full price back then, $50 or something for voice, explorer, etc.) for the feature set. Once you went “free” I kept looking for a $5 a month or $10 a month option to just keep paying you guys per month as I understand running a company and servers takes money and I wanted to support entertainment products I enjoy.
I am glad you’re back Michael, and I will gladly pay a reasonable amount no matter what status I might have been in, or could be in. Even if people feel entitled to something for free, for whatever “fill in their blank reason” that might be, the world doesn’t work like that. I think that people vote with their wallets in the entertainment category, and I vote for There. Keep up the good work!
#103 by justagreatguy on 2011.12.14 - 2:37 am
All right I’m 1 of the vast majority of cases (2367, to be exact) of lifetimer, but I got my $10 ready and I’m just glad I’m 1 of them! Not sure if it means anything at all but at least I know I will be in There and I can get out of RL for awhile.
#104 by YankeeintheSouth on 2011.12.14 - 2:15 am
Oh wow, that is definetly a good start on the tbucks sale and you havent even opened fully on subscriptions! It’s looking promising to remain open!! woohoo! ‘tu
#105 by Yozh VisualDelights on 2011.12.14 - 1:20 am
So grab all your reallife Therebucks and give the marvellous There Phoenix Team AND your own There genes another great boost! ‘tu ‘TherebucksBackflip!
Cheerio, have a Wonderful Day,
and I see you in There, anytime, anywhere!
Yozh
#106 by Basya on 2011.12.14 - 1:14 am
Oh, so close! I have my money ready to go!!! Just say the word!
Thanks again to Team Phoenix the hard work you’ve been putting in to get There open and running once again!
–Basya
#107 by There Subonline on 2011.12.14 - 12:57 am
great job guys …. anyone thought to gift us a tasty strawberry ice cream for beeing such a pain along these last months ?
#108 by martin71a on 2011.12.14 - 12:08 am
you could open some funzones and get more tbucks that way untill the owners come back in the world mw
#109 by martin71a on 2011.12.14 - 12:12 am
as im still wait to find out whats happening with one of them
#110 by MrScrooge on 2011.12.13 - 11:35 pm
So awesome and such perfect timing for me considering I sold a first edition of Rage this week. I just need to set up my Paypal and get some money on it. We’re almost There!
#111 by Drain_Bramaged on 2011.12.13 - 11:11 pm
Nice work ppl. I did notice in the past couple weeks how the lack of servers (I’m guessing) hurt logged in members. Primarily, the inability to teleport anywhere. Also in world features (communicator, change me, etc.) not opening and/or working right. But this is what “beta” is all about in my mind. Find the bugs or problems and fix’em. As far as I can tell, the team is right on it and doin a great job.
As for the “who is and isn’t ‘lifetime,'” Mike, ya can’t please everyone. It is what it is, and they’ll either accept it or they won’t … ‘shrug.
Summarily, nice work Team Phoenix. It’s good to be home…’tu
#112 by Pst on 2011.12.13 - 11:02 pm
Thats Great News, Go #TeamPhoenix I have a question though, what is a lifetime member? Is that when youve been in the game for 10 years & over and are considered as a ‘Legend’ in the world and therefore dont have to pay? Can’t wait for the world to fully open! 🙂 xxx
#113 by NathanAvis on 2011.12.13 - 11:00 pm
Push it to the limit!
#114 by TherePercy on 2011.12.13 - 10:38 pm
Way to go, Team Phoenix. Closer to full open 🙂