Not quite sure if this is the correct topic, but it’s been difficult for me to figure out where to place my questions and rants. Anyway… I would like to discuss something that concerns me.
Episode Featured Stories
Episode Making Unnecesary Changes, More Than Likely With The Intention Of Getting Money
Many games are quite the money grab – which I understand, make your coin sis oml sorry. Anyway, Episode could at least make it less noticeable that they’re implementing features with the objective of pushing in-app purchases. I mean, come on, four hours to read four chapters? Why would you make the customer wait hours to use your app?
The Stories On The First Page Of Episode
Alright, this is where the biggest problem lies, Episode Featured Stories.
These are the very first stories new readers see.
Diamonds And Money
•This is a bad first impression and it seems that they’re willing to lose readers because they make the readers spend 40 diamonds on a choice. They shouldn’t make new customers spend money for an option off the bat. Sure, the stories are well made, but does it even matter if you have to spend lots of money to get the best experience? I don’t agree with Episode on this one. You have to spend about 250 diamonds in one chapter. That’s about $20-$50 per featured story. I don’t really agree with this idea, either.
Half of the options are somewhat unfair, aswell.
For example:
Jenny: “You can ride with me! I don’t mind.”
“Do you accept Jenny’s ride to the store?” (Option 1: "No thanks, I’ll get rained on) This can be seen in Pretty Little Liars. You’re so close to finding A, but Episode comes up with an excuse to make the choice expensive. or (Option 2: “Sure!” [36 diamonds])
They should make some sort of limit as of how expensive the options can get. Maybe 15, or at least make it easier to obtain diamonds. I mean, think about it, you basically trade a pass for ONE diamond on a story episode made (which includes diamond options in the stories themselves).
Many games make it easy for a customer to play with out spending much money, if any at all, and I believe that’s a good approach. Episode should start doing this because it has so much potential. Imagine: A very intriguing looking story but you have to spend money to get the good options. Pretty disappointing, right? As I said before, Episode should make it easier for readers to get diamonds in order to pay for these expensive options.
Privileges The Features Stories Get
Some of you may have noticed that in Featured Stories, the authors have access to things non-featured don’t. I suppose that’s okay, but sometimes, I think more than half of the things they get should be released to the public. Many people use swimming and cheerleading animations everyday in their stories, it’s not like we can make animations and clothes, we depend on what Episode supplies us with. It really tiring having to improvise on animations the Featured Stories have that I think we all should have. It’s not just about the animations, but I was just adding in a example. You can look at some episode forums and see some other examples.
Example Forum: Why are some hairstyles only available in featured stories?
Summary
Basically, Episode should give the people who prefer not to spend money the option to while at the same time letting them have good endings/options, too. They should try doing this by limiting the amount of diamonds that are needed to unlock an option or making diamonds easier to obtain. They should also release more things that are currently only allowed for featured artists to the public.
Sorry this was long, but thanks for at least skimming through it.
If you disagree, agree, or believe I missed something, feel free to reply share your feedback! 
(This was not meant to be offensive in any way, shape, or form. I simply want Episode to see this and at the very least consider making these changes.)
