I don’t hate gem choices?

Okay so this is probably going to be an unpopular opinion but I don’t think gem choices in community stories are as bad as people are making it seem :woozy_face:
(If anything I think readers were being spoiled with the whole community stories being completely free :speak_no_evil: which mind you are thousands of stories!)

I’ll admit that some gem choices are ridiculous like paying >15 gems for a choice that has only a few lines of dialogue but I think the others (e.g support author, bonus scene sneak peek) are very reasonable gem choices.
We also have to account for the fact that episode is a company and they have to make money to pay people that work there. Authors also are people who deserve to be payed for their hardwork and gem choices help with that.

Disclaimer: on my story I only use the support author choice because I am a new author and it would take A LOT of gems and reads to unlock the writer’s payment so I don’t bother

Overall I don’t think it’s as bad as people make it seem. I mean there was a post I saw on insta that said some people are charging gems to skip a chapter they’ve read before and to me that didn’t seem like a bad gem choice but a lot of people were really mad at it.

One thing I definitely DO NOT agree with is the fact that gem choices affect the trending sections. That is very unfair because there would not be a level playing field and stories would not trend based on their quality but just on how much people are willing to pay!

Also this is just my personal opinion!!!
Does anyone else feel the same?

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Yea, I actually feel the same way, I also don’t have a problem with early access, I feel like that’s a good thing.
I personally don’t wanna buy gems, so I just quickly tab through Featured stories for gems. It works fine while watching something. There also are a few things I would spend my gems on, it mostly depends on the author/story.

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I don’t hate gem choices either. I just don’t use them :slight_smile:

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I don’t mind gem choices as long as they’re reasonable and well placed.

This however, I don’t agree with for a few reasons:

  1. It’s annoying to re-read chapters, especially when an author has only made a minor change to it or a previous chapter. So, really you’re just being charged to bypass content you’ve already experienced.
  2. If an author edits a chapter, you’re automatically awarded a PASS to re-read it, not gems. So, to me, charging gems to skip it is unfair considering readers are not compensated in any way if a glitch or edit happens.
  3. Readers can also be forced to re-read chapters without the author editing a chapter aka a glitch, so paying gems to skip something they’ve already read (beyond their control) just doesn’t seem to right to me.
  4. For readers who already paid Early Access for it, it wouldn’t be fair to charge them twice for the same content (with one read-through, and paying to skip the read-through that’s already been read).

Also, no hate lmao. Just stating my reasons for disagreeing with that part. :v:t2:

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Exactly it all depends on the author or the story cause I really won’t spend gems on a popular author

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Haha I don’t use them really but I do for new authors sometimes to support them if I like their story

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I agree with your last point. Using gems to skip a chapter after that chapter was already in early access seems excessive.
Just like other gem choices this one should be used sensibly and reasonably or else it could turn into a bad thing quick.

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Same opinion!

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Gem choices have been available in community stories for a long time, but now everyone sees them. And there wouldn’t be a point in doing that if Episode weren’t finding a way to incentivize authors to implement them, meaning readers need good reasons to choose them. So there’s no wide scale implementation of community gem choices without another major change such as affecting ranks.

My biggest problem is that Episode hasn’t made it any easier to actually earn gems. You only get enough gems to routinely support your favorite authors by purchasing gems and I don’t think any part of that model is sustainable long term. I know Episode is a business and wants to make money, but we’re still early on in this change when people both have stockpiled gems and willingness to spend money each week getting new gems and passes.

I do think authors will re-evaluate some of their gem choices because readers are more willing to spend gems on some choices (bonus scenes, points top up, early access, support the author) than they are on choices like pay for CC, skips, or plot relevant locked content. So far gems affecting ranks has benefitted a wide variety of authors, including smaller ones who have a loyal fan base, as well as bigger authors who have enough reads to trend even without a high gem retention.

I actually like being able to support authors i really like and want to succeed, especially given how much free labor Episode profits off of. I do think authors shouldn’t create a narrative that Episode is forcing them to use gem choices, though, because it’s not true. We can be honest that trending keeps reads (and now gem choices) coming and so people are working within the system to try and stay trending and keep (or get into) payments without leading readers to believe that authors have no choice but to include gem choices, especially if they’re gem-locking plot or character relevant content.

I’m all for people discussing their problems with Episode as a company, though, since I don’t think it’s actually unreasonable for authors to want to be compensated for their work given how much money Episode actually makes off of them, especially with gem choices.

Anyway, I usually pick a gem choice or two in the stories I read because I want the authors I support to succeed and want their content to be more visible on the app. I’d be more inclined to purchase gems though if I could still earn them more easily and if I trusted Episode’s motivations for doing anything lmao. I still have quite a lot of gems for now, but I’m not sure what I’ll do when I run out.

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I agree with the fact that episode hasn’t made other avenues to earn gems which I think is stupid cause if you’re going to suddenly make gems affect ranking then you need to make more ways to earn gems.
It’s not sustainable for long periods but hopefully they’ll listen and make more ways to earn gems :woman_shrugging:t4:

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Gem choices are okay when they’re reasonable do things like support the author or topping up points is fine for me unless it’s 15+ gems. I think 15+ gems for anything is kinda crazy but maybe that’s because I don’t have many gems.

My main problem with gems is it affecting the trending section but also that there’s no way to earn them other than paying or reading featured stories. If Episode are adding more ways to spend gems, it makes sense to me that they should add more ways to earn gems too.

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I don’t mind gem choices as long as they’re reasonable. Paying gems to skip a chapter you already read doesn’t sound that reasonable if could just zoom-tap through the chapter for free imo. :skull: I feel like gem choices like that pray on reader naivety, if that makes sense.

I like spending gems for early access, tattoos/freckles/etc., bonus content, topping up points, etc.

If the author locks most of the story telling behind a “pay-wall” (you see this with featured stories all the time) it ruins the quality of the story for most people. And I think people are afraid of that happening for community stories too, so they give gem choices a bad rep.

Personally, gem choices aren’t bad. It just depends on how the author implements it and reader preferences. Not all readers like and dislike the same gem choices. I know a lot of ppl don’t like early access, but I do.

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This I totally agree with! I hate gem choices used this way.

Like other people are saying, I too like the ‘support author’ gem choices. It’s a nice way to help your favorite authors.
Also, I think it makes perfect sense to use gem choices as a way of unlocking bonus scenes (as long as it doesn’t cost like a ridiculous amount) but in my opinion, authors shouldn’t use this option too often. I am currently reading a story that has relatively short chapters with 1-3 bonus scenes in each that can be unlocked for 5-8 gems but I don’t want to spend like 20 gems every chapter, and honestly, having that many bonus scenes in one chapter kind of takes away the excitement about them (at least I think so) :sleepy:

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It’s not that I don’t like them, but having them in all the community stories pisses me off a little bit. What’s even worse is that the ranking system is based on gems spent by readers, which I don’t think is exactly fair. But eh, i guess we have to deal with it now.
The “support the author” choice doesn’t bother me at all, as well as the sneak peek previews or the bonus scenes. As long as the choices have no impact on the storyline, it’s all cool.

However the clothes choices, for example, it’ s just a no for me :raised_back_of_hand:t5:

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Right!! It’s the sensible thing to do to add more ways to earn gems

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Ooh I like the idea of using gems to add tattoos or freckles, I think it’s very creative.

I think people have probably been burned by the pay-wall in the past so it’s understandable that they’ll go into it with their guard up but sometimes you just have to give authors a chance to show that they aren’t like that.

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Everything in excess is not good. This is an example of taking advantage(not in a good way) of the situation. The author is maybe not creative enough to think of other ways to add gems but I personally would not spend my gems on that kind of story cause I feel like that tells the type of person the author is in a way.

But it technically has to be in all the community stories now because trending depends on it and the support the author choice is not a choice that most readers would pick on each episode that’s why most authors have to find another way for readers to choose a gem choice.
I don’t like the gem choice for clothes cause unlike episode we don’t have exclusive clothes :woman_shrugging:t4:

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Yes I know, what I mean is that it’s a pity that Episode decided gem choices would be included in the community stories. The writers are now obliged to add gems because that’s the new system, and I totally understand, but still…it’s not really ideal :sweat_smile:

And that’s exactly why it bothers me. We’ve been waiting a long time to get the exclusive clothes from the original Episode stories, so now that they’re available to everyone I don’t think it makes sense to add them as gem choices.

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Yea, I agree! I’ve personally been burned like that before lol :joy: