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After a year of TL+, I want to think a bit on how much I like that and share some thoughts. Remember, it's my opinion and a tale of my experience with TL+, not necessarily general critique.
So, what do we get for the money:
Go here for the full list of benefits: http://www.teamliquid.net/plus/
I bought 12 months for 29,95 USD.
Let's start:
+ No Ads
+ Show Spoiler +This is pretty self explanatory: for you, the banner ads on TL will be removed. You will also have an option to turn off TL created ads, like the countdowns we have top right for big events.
I feel like paying for not having advertisement shown is a decent way to give money to a site that I totally love and spent a huge amount of time on without doing any real contributions to the thing on my own. While Adblock does the job for free, with Adblock you actually rob the site which makes it harder for passionate people to actually grow their business and make money out of the thing.
(Yes, I am currently using Adblock).
So there's a really fast benefit for your money. Great!
+ Private TL+ Forum
+ Show Spoiler +In this private forum, all TL+ members will become best friends. What will be in this forum? What does your heart tell you? Follow your dreams.
TBH, the TL+ forum never impressed. Some people tried to get to know each other, posting facepics and stuff, but most of the conversations were actually try-hard "let's be cool" things. Not worth the money in any way. While that is not something that TL can actually have an influence on, it still is what TL offers for the money, so I'll actually judge here.
No real benefit (subjectively).
+ Filter button (view all posts by a single person in a thread)
+ Show Spoiler +By clicking on this button you can see all the posts made by a single user in a thread. It's also extremely useful for stalking people.
I used it thrice in 12 months (to filter for TotalBiscuit because I wanted to quietly laugh at another TB vs. The World discussion).
No real benefit.
+ View all button (view 1000 forum posts on one page)
+ Show Spoiler +For the TL user that can't be bothered to scroll through pages, you can now browse threads of any length 1000 posts at a time. For example, a 300-page Live Report thread can be 6 pages.
A rather useless feature for mobile (is it even available on mobile? I never checked) and also a feature I never used. I clicked it some times to try it out and check if it actually increases my user experience - it totally didn't. On the contrary, I had to use my browser's search function to go back to a post I wanted to quote. Especially in fast growing LR threads, reloading for new posts is rather ..interesting with thousand posts per page. I can imagine that this feature is actually great if you want to search a thread for something really fast - but that is no use case I ever happened to actually have.
No real benefit.
+ Send PM's to multiple recipients
+ Show Spoiler +Now you can mass PM all the moderators every day! But seriously don't do this or we will ban you.
I never used that. I think that it might be great if someone wants to broadcast something to many users at the same time - but that's not really often the case, or is it? Might be great for organizational purposes, but who really uses TL PMs to organize a tournament or something?
No real benefit.
+ Subscribed Threads and Favorite Streams limits increased from 50 to 200
+ Show Spoiler +There are more than 50 cool threads and streamers on TL so here's your chance to bookmark all of them.
I never ever used that feature. I never used the Subscribed Threads feature before anyways. I simply go to Posts.
No benefit.
+ Ability to report forum posts to moderators
+ Show Spoiler +If you're too scared to fight crime in real life you can do it on the internet instead by reporting bad posts or users. The mods still have the final say in whether action is taken, but it is kind of fun to contribute to some idiot being banned. Note: regular users with accounts over 1+ year old will still get a report button.
That's fun. Selling the possibility to report is actually great: the probability of a troll that pays money to abuse that button is rather low, while interested users that pay to support TL actually read posts and will help moderators by reporting inappropriate stuff.
I now feel really uncool now that my report button is gone. Wait, it is actually still there, I'm more than a year here now.
So yeah, I take that as a benefit.
+ Small icon showing you are a TL+ member
+ Show Spoiler +In the bottom right of your post you'll have a tiny plus indicating you are a TL+ member. Please don't use this as an excuse to act like you are superior to other users. You can feel free to secretly feel this way though.
Cool shit! Show your support and stuff. I like the "TL+ Santa" button even more.
That's a benefit.
+ TL Store Giveaways
+ Show Spoiler +Each month we'll be giving away some free TL Store swag to some random lucky TL+ users. It's like winning $1,000,000 in the lottery, if $1,000,000 were a cool looking t-shirt or mousepad.
I guess you just win a T-shirt and bam, you're investment paid off. That's a benefit. But: the raffles were rather poorly handled, like every 3-4 months, someone showed up and did one. There's a bit room for improvement.
+ 2 Gifts of TL+ for other users
+ Show Spoiler +
Maybe I'm dumb and missed those tokens, but I don't remember finding them. I bought TL+ once or twice for other people without using those tokens. If someone can tell me how easy those tokens are to find and to use, I might actually decide if it's a benefit or, due to usability issues, not a benefit. I guess a free "spread the word" button is a great thing, so I'll take it as a benefit.
General feeling about TL+:
If I was a casual user just checking for news like I do with HLTV.org, I would not buy TL+ again. The benefits are really small. On the other hand, the price is very low, too - paying 30 bucks a year (which is like 2.50 per months) for a site that has no paywall at all for tons of high quality content is a great thing.
I will renew my TL+, simply because the totally free site is awesome and great. So many features, so much fun, why not support this with a few bucks a month? Thanks for providing such a site over years and years. Take a cheer on many more years to come, TL staff and admins and programers and players and users.
 
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your Country52797 Posts
Agree the TL+ forum is a bit underwhelming. I enjoy the other features (besides the icon) a lot personally, particularly the filter button and subscribed threads. Although I agree multi-PM is rarely used, it's still nice to have (and it made it a little easier for me a few times when working on LRSL).
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Northern Ireland22212 Posts
i wonder, do the staff get some of the benefits like the filter button or the view all button?
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On March 09 2015 20:40 The_Templar wrote:
Agree the TL+ forum is a bit underwhelming. I enjoy the other features (besides the icon) a lot personally, particularly the filter button and subscribed threads. Although I agree multi-PM is rarely used, it's still nice to have (and it made it a little easier for me a few times when working on LRSL).
I really feel like TL+ is "nice to have", which is justified by the price.
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your Country52797 Posts
On March 09 2015 21:03 ahswtini wrote:
i wonder, do the staff get some of the benefits like the filter button or the view all button?
I know that a lot of the staff gets free TL+ forum access and extra subscribed threads which implies yes.
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TL+ is awesome! The icon immediately tells you that the person whose opinion you are reading and may be compelled to argue with vigorously is likely a pale basement dweller with no life outside TL and thus you can form you reply accordingly. Very useful feature.
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Johto4977 Posts
@op: You click on Gift TL+, and on checkout you pay with the token.
On March 09 2015 21:28 The_Templar wrote:Show nested quote +On March 09 2015 21:03 ahswtini wrote:
i wonder, do the staff get some of the benefits like the filter button or the view all button? I know that a lot of the staff gets free TL+ forum access and extra subscribed threads which implies yes.
Yes, staff does have the All and the Filter button, or at least i do have those, and i don't have TL+. For Liquipedia purposes these features are actually of huge value btw, since i often search for some particular information in a huge thread ^^
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ALLEYCAT BLUES50641 Posts
TL+ forum died the day we banned ponera.
now we rely on nina and dravenor to make it any interesting.
also the filter button is by far and beyond the biggest reason why I even bother to get TL+
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I still don't like TL+ in any way or form. It's being advertised as if it was needed, your list shows that almost any feature is "okay-ish" at best. Honestly, some of that stuff is counter productive, if not hurtful. When doing research for Liquipedia, the "Show All" is the single most important tool ever - which you have to pay for now, regardless if you already are editor, reviewer or anything. In which universe does it make sense to make life harder for those actively trying to make the page better? (Unrelated, but also interesting, why does it take a hidden contributor's forum on topics which might require relevant feedback from users as well? ???)
However, the idea to "support" the page by giving donations is good. I'd prolly spend a few bucks on my favourite pages if I had spare money for it, but selling it as super secret special society thing is just annoying.
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On March 09 2015 21:43 BLinD-RawR wrote:
TL+ forum died the day we banned ponera.
now we rely on nina and dravenor to make it any interesting.
also the filter button is by far and beyond the biggest reason why I even bother to get TL+
TL+ is like game of thrones then. Governed by women !
If nina posts in TL+ like she does in blog... i might resub. I don't know why her posts always make me laugh. UNlinke POnera's posts. This guy was so weird...
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On March 09 2015 23:16 FFW_Rude wrote:Show nested quote +On March 09 2015 21:43 BLinD-RawR wrote:
TL+ forum died the day we banned ponera.
now we rely on nina and dravenor to make it any interesting.
also the filter button is by far and beyond the biggest reason why I even bother to get TL+ TL+ is like game of thrones then. Governed by women ! If nina posts in TL+ like she does in blog... i might resub. I don't know why her posts always make me laugh. UNlinke POnera's posts. This guy was so weird...
Every two months, a main character dies?
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I dont have TL+ and no interest at all but the way TL advertises it seems very weird to me. They announce it then (seems) never again?! What about "new" Users (regristed on TL later than the TL+ announcement), did they ever hear about TL+?
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Also there is a word out there that one does not feel very "plus" in TL+.
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I got TL+ for 3 months when it first came out, and that was at the time that I was super heavily involved in the forums and on TL constantly. I have been super busy over the past year so that has changed, and I have seen no need to get TL+ back. A lot of the premium features went unused by me for the most part, and it sucks that there couldnt be just a little bit more with it.
I still do love to give my money to TL though, I've used their shop so much.
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United States13896 Posts
Great read. I'm not involved with TL+, never have been, and have never needed it as I've been a moderator since before it was a thing. All those things said, this is quality, honest feedback. A valuable thing for TL, so thanks!
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I think my first post in TL+ was immediately shunned by The_Templar for being in the wrong TL+ thread, or some shit, pretty weak intro if you ask me.
Drav does most of the talking now, since Targe went inactive. Seems like there is a lot of promise but we'll see. I personally just wanted to contribute.
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While I have no qualms about supporting TL, I do agree that some of the features are fairly situational or underwhelming. But as for the TL+ forums, only thing you can really do is start a new topic to it to keep it fresh instead of continuing to post on the same threads over and over.
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Going through the comments, I feel I should point out that while lots of the offered services feel rather nice to have than really great, it's still delivered for very small money. As I said: 2.50 bucks a month. What do you guys expect?
On March 10 2015 00:45 p4NDemik wrote:
Great read. I'm not involved with TL+, never have been, and have never needed it as I've been a moderator since before it was a thing. All those things said, this is quality, honest feedback. A valuable thing for TL, so thanks!
Thank you! It's always great to not just say something, but also get an "official" say something in response  . I hope it helps!
On March 09 2015 21:38 FO-nTTaX wrote:@op: You click on Gift TL+, and on checkout you pay with the token. Show nested quote +On March 09 2015 21:28 The_Templar wrote:On March 09 2015 21:03 ahswtini wrote:
i wonder, do the staff get some of the benefits like the filter button or the view all button? I know that a lot of the staff gets free TL+ forum access and extra subscribed threads which implies yes. Yes, staff does have the All and the Filter button, or at least i do have those, and i don't have TL+. For Liquipedia purposes these features are actually of huge value btw, since i often search for some particular information in a huge thread ^^
Thanks a lot! So it was just me being stupid - but seriously, I don't remember seeing that option in the dropdown menu. Maybe do some tests and see if it works correctly? I'm like 75% sure I didn't see the tokens in the dropdown menu. I don't see them now as well when gifting TL+, but I guess as long as I don't have TL+, those tokens won't show up (or hit an expiration date or whatever?)
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I liked TL+
Good place to share dark secrets
such as Hearthstone prints.
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EPT
