Whats your say on gem choices in the stroy?

Good morning everyone. I have just been wondering what people think is best and what would work better for a story.
So I am sure many of you have either read or even added a gem option in the middle of your story.
But what would the readers prefer?

To give the writer 5 gems at the end or would they use the gems to unlock a scene. And what if the reader doesn’t have any gems they miss out. I am writing my first full story and I would love to know what people think about this gem option.

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I personally hate gem choices! Sorry not sorry!

but if you add them for the support option it’s fine! But to unlock a scene I hate them

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That’s what I am trying to wonder how to make the sort better for a reader and that way would I get more reads because you can read the whole story and not have to worry about missing out.

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I second that! The moment I come across a gem choice in the middle of the story I stop reading immediately then find another story, (not unless the story is so nice and enjoyable that I can continue reading it ) But if its a support gem option at the end of the chapter I’m cool with it.
I personally don’t like gem choices.

And since I dont spend my gems anymore, I do support authors as long as the story is AMAZING.
so basically, u have to earn it for me to use gems.

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I myself being an up and coming author don’t like them.

If id ever use them in a story it would be for like 2 gems or something

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i actually dont read story with gem choices :)))
But gem choices are sometimes stupid like:

He loves you too, what should you do?

a) spend the rest of your life with him (35 GEMS)
b) regect him and bully him for the rest of your life & go and be with the other guys

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true!
I mean what’s the point?

Ive spent so many gems over the years and almost all of them are dumb

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If it’s a gem choice in the middle of the story, I’ll drop it. But if it’s a support the author choice at the end, I don’t mind. And if the support the author choice comes with a bonus scene attached, I’m usually 2X more apt to spend the gems :point_right:t4::point_left:t4: Gem choices for topping up on points are okay too, but I never use them.

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Gem choices during the story for outfits or answers are annoying and the reason readers like Community stories over Originals, since they don’t have them. But gem choices matter A LOT for your story ranking and help it trend better, so not having them at all ends up harming your rank. As someone who gets a good amount of gems spent on my story, I’d advise doing three things: support the author, add points (if you use point system, this is the option I get the most gems from) and bonus scenes that don’t affect the plot. This way the readers won’t lose any content if they don’t have gems or don’t wanna spend, but if they want to support or access content you’ll get a rank boost and your story will reach more people!

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Support author, bonus scenes, seeing missed scenes due to shortage of points, buying of points- these are absolutely fine.

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i agree with @Devil_Herself mostly cuz im broke but if I like a story and I have gems ill support

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I would say try and see what comes out of adding gem choices. You can never know what will happen if you don’t try it, and like it was said above, gems reallyy help with trending.

One advice: if you’re going for bonus scene, make sure the scene is NOT important to the plot. For example, let’s say you’re trying to find a killer, then the reader needs to pay to discover who it is. That’s a big no-no. As long as you make sure not to make to story pay-to-play (basically Episode featured story), you’re good :slight_smile:

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u explained that perfectly!!

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Thank you all for your advice. I am going to just do support and maybe a bonus that way they can decide :grin:

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If the reader misses out on the bonus scene where gyms are concluded, I’ll say to make the bonus scene relate to the story as you can…make sure that the bonus scene is useful and helps out on the story, if it doesn’t, I don’t see why there’s a gem choice in the first place, I say make a gem choice in the middle or ending of the story? I think it’s better that way. But gem choices that the author uses if the reader doesn’t have enough points for the story, I’ll let it slide. Make sure not to add too much gem choices cuz that can be annoying, if it’s not worth it at least.

Basically, if you’re going to use gem choices, make them useful bc apparently all the good episode feature stories are all gone now and is now filled with torture. Now even that, some community stories that have gem choices can also be useless to use. Good luck with your story though!

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One word on gem choices: Boooooooooo!

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Ah, gems… This is the feature I hate to love, love to hate.
As a reader, I’m not a huge fan. If you’re to create something new and making it free since the start, gem locking some important scenes just makes you a huge d*uche.
Unless it’s due to the repercussions of my choice while playing the story, then fine. Gems become a type of cheat codes. I’ll use them IF and only IF I want to.
However, do state that your choices matter because I’ll be bummed if a scene/any attribute to the story is locked and I don’t know that’s the case. I pay attention when I realize points come into play but better mention it.
I recommend using gem choices for “support the author” choices first. If you have no idea what your readers want out of your story, you can publish a few chapters and do some research on what your readers want to see more out of the future chapters.
As for the gem prices, I don’t price extra content with 10 gems and above. The only choice I give readers costing 10 gems and above is “support the author” because they’re given the chance to support you with how many gems they see fit. In that case, I’m not taxing the heck out of those who seek more content.
Important note: do not price choices that matter with gems. If you want to lock a path for premium readers, do it outside of the main storyline. Please, don’t be a grade-A a**hole. We don’t earn gems reading a community story AND it’s painful enough when we need to gem-mine just to spend it in a story that gives nothing.

As a writer though, gems can help you unlock writer payments (I say it’s neither faster than reaching 250k reads/month, nor slower).
Gem choices, if implemented correctly, can also boost your story’s popularity on the shelf. If you managed to attract readers who invest gems in your story, it can get recognized more easily. I’m unsure whether gems can help a contest entry in winning the contest or not (if it’s included in the rubric, then yes, and vice versa) but if your total gem choices bought is high, you can be assured that your read counts won’t drop below that level. Heh, maybe 2x higher.
As a writer, I include premium content that relates to future events in the story. Why? It’s like a teaser.
Long story short, it’s spoilers and stuff.
Readers will be like, “oh, now it all makes sense!” I’m not a psychologist, but I would be attracted to that story more than ever because things make sense. Plus, the story is neat as you tie up loose ends. Like DLC’s on videogames that include extra lore and gameplay (so even though the content may look like 5% of the original game and yet it costs 50% of the original game, players still buy it).
I also include backstories that don’t matter to the plot as premium content. As said, it has zero relation to the main plot so readers won’t be missing out on anything. It also helps to develop the character’s traits and personality. Not only will readers engage with the character more, but it also helps you, as the writer, to define your character even more as you write.
A well-written character can bring even the most mundane scenes alive; A lively character can motivate even the most boring plots to progress. It’s not all bad, it’s like water: it can carry a ship, but it can also sink one.

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Depends on the gem-choice to be honest
Epi-official style gem choices that impact the story? Hell no
Support the author or top up gem choices? Yes I can deal with it

I think that adding bonus scenes that don’t impact anyone for gems is a nice way of earning gems because again, they don’t impact the story but I usually spend gems on bonus scenes in community stories after I get to a hundred gems

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I was going to make my bonus scene. As in the main story the girl’s boyfriend goes up to the hospital ward to see his brother but the rest of the actual story is what happens with the girl who has gone down to get the coffee so you don’t see anything of what happens in the hospital room. So I thought I could do the scene with the boyfriend and his brother in the room. And not reveal his actual condition but it’s also the first time his brother will appear in the story. So kind of a added bonus you get to see his brother in a few earlier chapters then you would have. If that’s makes scene. Does anyone think that’s a good idea?

I did even think about adding the scene as a bonus option like this

Choice
:gem: 5 support the bonus

Got no gems :gem: ok see the bonus anyway

But I’m in to minds. As a reader I hate missing out. Lol :joy: but I also know that as a reader myself I will give gems :gem: if I think the story was worth it and a lot of work has gone into it. Also how many gems would someone use as a bonus? 2 , 5 I just don’t know. I’m new to all this and I just enjoy that people like to read my story more then the money itself yes that’s a bonus if you get paid. But I get more joy from people saying wow I like where this is going.

I don’t like using gem choices but because its the only way you could trend or get noticed.
If you want your story to get your story reviewed, its something you will have to consider doing since they only review stories that people are willing to read /donate (in higher numbers or for contests).
I only use gem choices for a support the author and bonus scenes.
bonus scenes in my story are for fun and wont affect the story what so ever, so you’re not missing out on anything.
It sucks but that how the app works now.
If you can afford to buy gems, read episode originals to get 1 gem per chapter

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