Introducing Stratics Pro

[Taylor]

Stratics is pleased to announce the launch of Stratics Pro. Stratics Pro is an account upgrade that allows users to support our development, and subsequently allows us to treat these users to some unique perks. Additionally, we are excited to offer a separate upgrade that will allow users to select a custom user title.

Stratics Pro

Stratics Pro accounts feature the following advantages:

• No Ads
• User Blog
• Special User Banner
  
• Bypass Flood Check (No Delay Between Posts, Searches, etc.)
• 10x Larger Avatar Size (Up to 500 kb)
• 5x Larger Inbox (Up to 5,000 Conversations)
• Conversation Upgrades
  • 4x More Conversation Participants (Up to 20)
  • 10x Longer Conversation Editor Time (Up to 20 Minutes)
  • Create Conversation Groups/Aliases (e.g., BFFs, Guild Mates)
  • Create Auto-Respond Messages (e.g., Vacation Notice)
  • Create Conversation Prefixes (e.g., Buying, Selling)
• Signature Upgrades
  • Embedded media
  • 2x max characters (Up to 600)
  • 2x max lines (Up to 6)
  • 2x max links (Up to 6)
  • 2x max images (Up to 6)
  • 2x max smilies (Up to 6)
  • Larger max text size (Up to 6)

We are currently offering four unique payment methods, including 6-month and 12-month upgrades that automatically expire, as well as 6-month and 12-month subscriptions that will automatically renew until cancelled. Additional details may be viewed here: http://stratics.com/community/pages/pro/.

Custom User Titles

This upgrade entitles users to a one-time user title change. User titles are limited to 50 characters by XenForo. Custom user titles are subject to Stratics' Rules of Conduct. Please note that this is a distinct upgrade from Stratics Pro.

All account upgrades may be viewed and purchased by clicking the “Upgrades” tab in the top navigation menu. Alternatively, you may click here to be redirected to the Account Upgrades page.

 

[Rupert Avery]

all cool specially the no ads thing... I do think though your user title change is a little over priced... may I ask how you priced up the upgrade?

 

[Ezekiel Zane]

Very nice.

 

[Taylor]

all cool specially the no ads thing... I do think though your user title change is a little over priced... may I ask how you priced up the upgrade?

We decided to price Stratics Pro very low (for the 12-month subscription, just over $1.50/mo.), because we wanted these perks to be available to as many supporters as possible. The goal was simply to make it cheap. As volunteers, we had the luxury to make it so.

However, we were torn on the custom user titles. We knew that we wanted to extend this promotion to interested users, but we were also worried about cheapening the custom titles of our 10,000 post count users. It takes a long time to build 10,000 posts. Eventually, we settled on $10. We may not sell any, and that's OK, but it's available to folks who want the luxury, while still giving due respect to the 10,000 post users.

 

[Czarina]

Id have to agree on the custom titles price. It seems very very high for a few words under your picture.

Im also curious about the pricing on the other stuff, Is this average pricing for forumn upgrades? I understand the cost of running forumns and the use of ads. But coming from a tight budget it just doesnt seem costworthy.

I did however contemplate upgrading cause 2 of the features caught my attention, The rotating signature and the custom title. But it doesnt seem costworthy to pay that much for those 2 features.

 

[Czarina]

Syrus sorry i must of hit post just as you did. Ignore parts of my reply. =)

 

[Taylor]

Im also curious about the pricing on the other stuff, Is this average pricing for forumn upgrades?

The only other forums I frequent that offer user upgrades sell their upgraded accounts for a lot more. One sells "premium" memberships for $10/mo and the other sells "platinum" memberships for $5/mo. IGN recently launched "IGN Prime" for $3.33/mo. This led me to believe that $1.50/mo. was pretty inexpensive. Also, those other upgrades provide really basic stuff--for instance, you're allowed to have a signature, or you're allowed to access your User Control Panel. That seemed really usurious. We wanted to keep it cheap and offer some non-essential, but kind of cool perks.

 

[Rupert Avery]

We decided to price Stratics Pro very low (for the 12-month subscription, just over $1.50/mo.), because we wanted these perks to be available to as many supporters as possible. The goal was simply to make it cheap. As volunteers, we had the luxury to make it so.

However, we were torn on the custom user titles. We knew that we wanted to extend this promotion to interested users, but we were also worried about cheapening the custom titles of our 10,000 post count users. It takes a long time to build 10,000 posts. Eventually, we settled on $10. We may not sell any, and that's OK, but it's available to folks who want the luxury, while still giving due respect to the 10,000 post users.

okay cool, I still feel it is costly.. but i can understand you not wanting to rob the 10k posts thing...

 

[Czarina]

Thanks for the explanation. I guess i was just so used to totaly free forumns that i never even noticed the pay/upgrade part of forumns. After your explanation tho the prices seem a bit more fair.

 

[Taylor]

Thanks for the explanation. I guess i was just so used to totaly free forumns that i never even noticed the pay/upgrade part of forumns. After your explanation tho the prices seem a bit more fair.

All the traditional features that we've always offered for free will remain free, so you don't lose anything.

 

[Vlaude]

Blogs are cool. Hoping some of the Stratics Pro members will write some good ones

 

[Sevin0oo0]

the custom titles of our 10,000 post count users.

Cool, I didn't know we got that


(postcount +1)

 

[Taylor]

Cool, I didn't know we got that


(postcount +1)

Yes, it was very hard to know about post counts and titles on the old forums. Accordingly, Petra has added this to the FAQs: Trophy User Titles | Stratics Forums

 

[kelmo]

Let's stay on topic in this thread and discuss the optional aspects of Stratics Pro.

 

[Winker]

We already have a thread bashing mods and Stratics. Let's stay on topic in this thread and discuss the optional aspects of Stratics Pro.

Sorry it was not meant as a mod bashing posting, just posting MHO on why i would not pay to use. There was no offence meant

 

[Taylor]

Well, I suspect some folks will be interested and many others won't. As I mentioned, you won't lose any functionality or anything by abstaining.

 

[Winker]

Well, I suspect some folks will be interested and many others won't. As I mentioned, you won't lose any functionality or anything by abstaining.

I pay to use another forum (£25 a year), its a great idea. Just not for me.

 

[Taylor]

I pay to use another forum, its a great idea. Just not for me.

Understood.

 

[Larisa]

Well I obviously have to do this...why? Cus I love Stratics...of course! AND I can finally be a *Pro* at something

 

[Taylor]

Well I obviously have to do this...why? Cus I love Stratics...of course! AND I can finally be a *Pro* at something

You needn't. Anyone who volunteers their time as a staff member receives these benefits as a thank you. It's not an adequate thank-you, but I hope that it brightens your day just a bit. Thank you so much for all that you do.

 

[kelmo]

Blog... hmm. No one has one yet. Can anyone read blogs,or do you need Pro to read?

 

[Larisa]

Too late! I love the small token of appreciation but for $20 a year I'll do it to support Stratics and all of my fellow staff members...and of course your adorable puppy

Hats off to you Syrus (Wishes I could insert a hats off to you smiley)

 

[Taylor]

Blog... hmm. No one has one yet. Can anyone read blogs,or do you need Pro to read?

Anyone can read them.

 

[Cirno]

I hope that it brightens your day just a bit.

I have a picture of your hair as my desktop wallpaper for that very reason.

Good name, too *Nods*

 

[Taylor]

I have a picture of your hair as my desktop wallpaper for that very reason.

Good name, too *Nods*

Well, I have a shrine to your hair, so...

 

[Mapper]

Very nice, I paid for the old Stratics Plus to support Stratics, and would happily pay again (if I wasn't staff already. )

 

[MrMightySmith]

atleast i dont have to pay too just visit this site yet........ I hate that UO has no feedback other than stratics.

 

[Woodsman]

There is feedback - Twitter.

 

[Rupert Avery]

atleast i dont have to pay too just visit this site yet........ I hate that UO has no feedback other than stratics.

emmm.. There is Twitter & UOforums.. Jeff listens on both of those...

 

[MadMartyr]

Purchased! Love Stratics.

 

[Old Man of UO]

8x Larger Avatar Size (Up to 400 kb)

Just wondering if the large custom avatars will slow down page loads. I am assuming that there is an option to turn off avatars, but I haven't looked for it... yet. Stratics page loads are finally pretty fast and would hate to see that go away because of a fancy perk.

Also just curious, but I noticed just now that the Fav icon changed to a purple tivo-like thingy. Can we have the old one back?

 

[Taylor]

Just wondering if the large custom avatars will slow down page loads. I am assuming that there is an option to turn off avatars, but I haven't looked for it... yet. Stratics page loads are finally pretty fast and would hate to see that go away because of a fancy perk.

Speaking as the resident non-technical techy, I don't think this is likely to happen unless we have really widespread participation. We have a lot of plugins installed on XenForo (maybe 30?), which are more likely to have an impact. I've been monitoring our site speed every couple of days to make sure it stays snappy and I'll keep watching things. We've been doing lots of things behind the scenes to make it quicker, like merging user groups, and you may notice that post-move we're lighter by many thousand spam bot accounts. Anyway, I'll be watching the speed.

Also just curious, but I noticed just now that the Fav icon changed to a purple tivo-like thingy. Can we have the old one back?

Ugh, tell me about it. That's the TGN logo. As soon as I get FTP access to the new directory, it'll be replaced by a cog.

 

[Old Man of UO]

Anyway, I'll be watching the speed.

Thanks Syrus. I did notice Fedora and Nginx running things behind the scene, and call me impressed with the changes!

 

[Taylor]

Thanks Syrus. I did notice Fedora and Nginx running things behind the scene, and call me impressed with the changes!

I don't know what those are, but I'm happy when they work. XD

 

[AirmidCecht]

I done started bloggin! I hope this is a feature that takes off for subscribers

 

[Taylor]

Your first blog entry was great, Airmid. If we could host developer blogs, that'd be kind of a dream come true too.

 

[AirmidCecht]

atleast i dont have to pay too just visit this site yet........ I hate that UO has no feedback other than stratics.

While Stratics may not be the only outlet, I can say with certainty that we work hard not just to be a fansite forum but a place to gather feedback and present it to the UO Team in a concise way and relay that back to the community of players. I for one am very appreciative of all the hard work that goes into keeping this as hub for UO players for almost 15yrs now

 

[Hunters' Moon]

Sigs are still 125x600(50k)?

 

[Petra Fyde]

No, if you check the FAQ you'll see we increased the size allowance a short time ago. There was an announcement which should appear at the top of your page until you dismiss it.

 

[Fogsbane]

I must be overlooking something.
Can anyone guide me on how to setup and take advantage of the rotating signature feature of Pro?

 

[Taylor]

I must be overlooking something.
Can anyone guide me on how to setup and take advantage of the rotating signature feature of Pro?

That's a job for Petra. Send her your signatures, she'll upload them to our server, and you'll be good to go.

 

[Petra Fyde]

Please send your 3 sigs (which of course conform to allowed sizes) to [email protected]
allowed file types are .gif .jpg .jpeg .png. Make sure you include your user name if it's not obvious from your email address

 

[smip]

You know.. I wish you kept the members of stratics pro from long ago. We never got re-embursed our money for when we paid for add free forums back then. What's the guarentee we won't get snubbed again? Right after I paid a year subscription it went bye bye.

 

[Petra Fyde]

No one who was involved in the old Stratics Pro is still with us. The boards don't even have the same owner.

 

[Flutter]

Is it possible to set up google pay? I recently changed banks and have to wait to use my paypal account.

 

[Flutter]

Ugh I am sad. I forgot all about changing my paypal information. I forgot all about it.

 

[Taylor]

Is it possible to set up google pay? I recently changed banks and have to wait to use my paypal account.

I researched this, but it doesn't look like there's a plugin for it yet.

 

[Hunters' Moon]

Please send your 3 sigs (which of course conform to allowed sizes) to [email protected]
allowed file types are .gif .jpg .jpeg .png. Make sure you include your user name if it's not obvious from your email address

Adding and removing sigs for pro members could be a full time job,or will adding sigs to accounts be a one-time deal?

 

[Petra Fyde]

hmm, hadn't really thought of that, I've been using the same sigs for a couple of years or more!

I am willing to replace and exchange signatures within reason. Obviously if someone has a guild tag on one of their sigs, and they change guild, they may want to remove the old signature and replace it with a new one showing their new guild. I might get a bit annoyed if someone wants to swap them every few days.

 

[Hunters' Moon]

hmm, hadn't really thought of that, I've been using the same sigs for a couple of years or more!

I am willing to replace and exchange signatures within reason. Obviously if someone has a guild tag on one of their sigs, and they change guild, they may want to remove the old signature and replace it with a new one showing their new guild. I might get a bit annoyed if someone wants to swap them every few days.

This is why we should have the option here to add and remove them on the user side of things.We had this option in the old forum,right? That way you,and any other staffer won't have to worry with it.