I’m in the midst of my new story, and I’ve tried to think of ways to add gem choices that hopefully won’t get people p**sed at me, but then Episode announced Early Access… and it seems like more people prefer that over spending gems on bonus content…which kinda has me thrown through a loop now
I’ve tried looking for threads that would directly answer this question, but I hadn’t found any. So my question to you is…
IF you were to spend gems on a story, would you spend them on Early Access? And/or would you spend them on Bonus Scenes?
Please vote, and feel free to leave your ideas and thoughts with other harmless gem choice options in the replies! I personally would rather spend my gems on bonus scenes, but I also prefer Classic Style so I don’t think I should just go by my own opinion here bc I’m clearly pretty dated lmfao
Would You Rather Spend Gems on: Early Access or Bonus Scenes?
I might spend it on bonus scenes, but not early access. Honestly that whole idea is just really frustrating, having to wait all that time for a new episode just to not be able to read it for another week unless I pay 8 gems.
Totally get that! And really, that’s why I don’t care much for early access either. I’d rather wait until the episodes are free, or the story is completed.
I just feel like since it came about, almost every single author is using it, and readers seem okay with it. But maybe that’s because they figure there won’t be many other gem choices within the story then? I’m not sure. Which is why I made this poll
I personally spend gems on both, but I often find myself disappointed after spending gems for bonus scenes which end up being quite short. I spend gems on early access because I’m impatient… but I hate the new feature they’re testing with the 11 hour wait time which only starts going down as soon as the reader sees it irrespective of when the chapter was released (unlike the standard early access which expires after a week of the chapter being published).
It’s really frustrating, episode is really testing my patience here early access was okay but this sorry episode but you suck at it. If this goes on there won’t be a day when somebody gets excited when an author publishes a new chapter. Which results in what losing of potential readers.
I would spend gems on early access if it wasn’t for the fact that the waiting period was so long. If you spend gems on early access, you’d have to wait two whole waiting periods for a new chapter to release or spend more gems for early access again. Idk if that makes sense lol. Because of that, I’d rather spend gems on bonus content. 🤷
Tell me about it. I was bingeing a story that’s been complete for awhile now, but every 3ish chapters there was the 11 hour wait time that required 6 gems to be bypassed every time. It totally ruined my experience and I felt like it was a rip-off.
So I’m not flagged for being off-topic, I already said I generally spend gems on both, but it depends on the story and what the bonus scenes are. I only spend gems on “what if” bonus scenes and the POV of other characters that don’t normally have a POV being read by the reader.
It really is ridiculous and I literally hate not only episode but the authors too for implementing it, just don’t use it in your stories and readers don’t spend gems on it, episode itself would remove it seeing that nobody needs it.
And to everyone who says it’s not the authors fault episode is forcing them no it’s not its completely optional for authors if we all are against it episode has to remove it. Let episode choose between this feature or thier players
Honestly speaking, I would never pay for early access. I think it breaks up the reader’s experience, and ultimately, as a writer, I feel my job is to give the best experience possible to my readers. With that in mind, I feel that gem choices should not detract from the experience, but rather enhance it. In other words, no gem choice should impede the reader’s ability to read the story in its entirety. This means no paying for certain choices, no early access and honestly, no bonus scenes that could detract from a reader’s experience. As an author, these are some of the ways I’m planning/I’ve thought of to implement gem choices in my stories:
scene selection (I allow readers to replay from specific scenes within the story. Choices are to be omitted as to not mess with the point system. Choices are final.)
full episode replay (This would be a great option to include for people who skip an episode without meaning to or for people who would just like to see the episode again.)
view all endings (Does not impact the ending for the reader, but allows them to see alternate endings.)
bonus hints for mini games/choices (Still requires them to make a choice, but gives them the option of having a little more information about each outcome.)
bypass mini games/choices (Completely bypass a mini game or choice and receive the best possible outcome.)
gain an extra clue (Working on a murder mystery right now. I’m trying to decide how to implement this without completely screwing over my points system, but I’m working on it.)
customize a background character (I do not allow much customization in my stories because I use a lot of custom overlays. This would be an option that goes along with some bonus content following a completely unrelated character with almost a sub-mini plot.)
bonus mini games (Fairly self-explanatory.)
art gallery (Option to replay all art scenes at the end of an episode/story. This could also include a close-up of any covers.)
view hidden points system (I keep my points systems completely or partially secret to avoid spoilers. Allowing a reader to view their points could be a potential way to earn gems without totally ruining the plot.)
Things I’ve seen that I like:
gems for art scenes (I know this is sort of unpopular, but honestly I like this. This should be applied specifically to art scenes that do not impact the plot. Typically, they’re just there to be pretty and could be summarized with narration. These sorts of things, I wouldn’t mind having gem options for. It makes sense for the author, as the author has paid a lot of money for quality art and this would be a good way to earn that money back.)
unrelated bonus scenes (These are scenes that have little or nothing to do with the plot. I don’t mind this at all, as I don’t feel like I’m missing out if I don’t pay for these scenes.)
top up points (Honestly, this makes perfect sense to me. This is altering the plot, but not in such a manner that impedes them from reading–rather it allows them a little more freedom in their choices.)
support the author (Obviously.)
Things I do not like and will not purchase and may quit reading a story over:
gems to skip episode
gems for clothing options
gems for plot-altering choices
early access
gems to customize
I may add more to this later as I see more released…
You know, that’s an excellent point that I hadn’t thought of.
I rarely spend gems unless they’re for support the author (bc I never have more than 20 since I hate reading EO’s😅) so I’ve never come across that issue with bonus scenes.
I always try to take the readers experience into consideration as much as possible. The bonus scenes I planned for my story will include multiple scenes that can help give them more insight on the story/characters, while simultaneously not being vital for the experience, as not everyone can pay gems for it. But then EA came along and I didn’t know which would be more preferred
I had no idea about this new feature…and that sounds absolutely awful. I don’t usually start reading stories until they’re complete so I can binge them, so that would annoy me endlessly if Episode follows through with it.
That makes complete sense! And that was my first thought when EA was announced, which is partially why I won’t spend gems on it. I’d rather just wait until they’re all free to read through.
I wouldn’t buy any but I hate the idea of extra content so getting it early makes sense to me, it is like pre-ordering something. But in all honesty I wouldn’t go for either, I like the support the author choices the most since I do it for some of my friends stories.
My thoughts align completely with yours on the gem choices stand point. The bonus scenes I planned on including would be worthwhile, and would enhance the experience, not take away because not everyone can or will pay for gems. It would just be extra scenes to see more of the characters, more of their stories, maybe visualization of their past life etc.
I love and appreciate this thorough list you gave! You included some amazing, harmless ideas that I had never even thought of making into a gem choice. I may borrow a couple of these ideas for my own story
