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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 Ireland22207 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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Johto4906 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 BLUES49625 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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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...
I had TL+ not too long ago but it expired. I made an amazing thread there that only TL+ people get to see.
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I've bought TL+ a couple times for solid posters or as a general good-feeling thing, but I've never been inspired to get it for myself.
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On March 10 2015 02:49 Fleetfeet wrote:
I've bought TL+ a couple times for solid posters or as a general good-feeling thing, but I've never been inspired to get it for myself.
Where's your TL Santa icon?
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Netherlands6178 Posts
Mmmm I like TL+ for the most part. It is a bit dead now but it was fun when a lot of people still bothered to post and discuss. I guess I use irc a lot more, and my irc friends and TL+ friends for the most part are the same people so I feel like my stories and news and questions and such are old news.
I find the filter button extremely useful in big threads, and I enjoy not having ads that slow down my browser's loading on my already painfully slow connection. The other features I never found much use for tbh, and it made me sad that my TL+ adblocking didn't carry over to liquipedia because daaaamn those ads annoy me.
All in all if everyone bands together again we can make the place fun again  I enjoyed the games nights and community banter, the fun threads and the funny threads and just generally having a place to whine and beg for opinions. TL+ definitely initially opened some windows of opportunity for me to make new friends and learn new things.
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your Country52797 Posts
On March 10 2015 01:28 Ctone23 wrote:
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.
I can confirm the bolded is not true. -_^
TL+ forum is mostly inactive since for most of us there are a lot of easier ways to communicate however we want. Occasionally a forum game will flare up or someone will post something they want to share.
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On March 10 2015 02:06 ninazerg wrote:Show nested quote +On March 09 2015 23:16 FFW_Rude wrote: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... I had TL+ not too long ago but it expired. I made an amazing thread there that only TL+ people get to see.
You are more evil than Garena
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On March 10 2015 03:05 boxerfred wrote:Show nested quote +On March 10 2015 02:49 Fleetfeet wrote:
I've bought TL+ a couple times for solid posters or as a general good-feeling thing, but I've never been inspired to get it for myself. Where's your TL Santa icon?
I've also bought it for another user. Never seen the need for myself.
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On March 10 2015 03:20 The_Templar wrote:Show nested quote +On March 10 2015 01:28 Ctone23 wrote:
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. I can confirm the bolded is not true. -_^ TL+ forum is mostly inactive since for most of us there are a lot of easier ways to communicate however we want. Occasionally a forum game will flare up or someone will post something they want to share.
I can confirm the contrary
On July 17 2014 03:58 The_Templar wrote:Show nested quote +On July 17 2014 03:50 Ctone23 wrote:You guys see that D Kim interview? Q: Is there any chance any of the Brood War units coming back to StarCraft II?
A: We received a lot of feedback on that, but we feel that it isn’t important to bring in units into StarCraft II just because it existed in Brood War. But since it is good to have a (friendly) Brood War unit come into StarCraft II by changing the design and upgrading it, we are in talks about this and are testing some things.
We can’t guarantee whether any Brood War units will come back, but this is something that we are talking a lot about.
say whaaaaaat this thread isn't sc2 related. The SC2 TL+ thread is here
It wasn't my first post in TL+ but close enough. I'm not sure what compelled me to bring it up I just thought it was kind of rude. No hard feelings though, just in general the TL + isn't very inviting and obviously you need to post in the right thread 
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Croatia9486 Posts
This is a great post. A very honest feedback that can provide a lot of value to TL admins in evaluating the status of TL+.
However, I'd like to offer you some alternative perspective that you may have not thought about. The reason why most of the TL+ features seem underwhelming and provide no real benefit is because if there was a feature that's super useful and important, it would be made available to everyone and not part of some exclusive pack that you have to pay for. TL does not want to limit anyone's experience on this site and then force people to pay money to remove those restrictions. Think of the TL+ as a way to contribute to something that you cherish a lot and want to support, while getting some fun perks in the process.
On March 09 2015 22:43 GeckoXp wrote:
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.
Please explain in what way is it being advertised as if it was needed. It's the complete opposite. As another poster below you said, TL+ was announced and then pretty much forgotten after that. It could definitely use some more, non obtrusive of course, advertisement so the new users are more easily made aware of it.
Also, you bring up the good point about using the "Show All" feature for Liquipedia contributors. As such, I think a good case could be made to give that feature to Liquipedia editors regardless of their TL+ status.
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On March 10 2015 03:05 boxerfred wrote:Show nested quote +On March 10 2015 02:49 Fleetfeet wrote:
I've bought TL+ a couple times for solid posters or as a general good-feeling thing, but I've never been inspired to get it for myself. Where's your TL Santa icon?
Here. (Or... apparently not? Nowhere?)
I made a new account when the DotA 2 forums came out, because this thread has a name I made when I was twelve and I don't like it anymore.
-e- Some of the posts I gifted have been turned in to LiquidDota things, so they don't exist as individual posts anymore. Would be a strange thing to lie about, but yeah no idea about TL santa icon. It's w/e
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On March 10 2015 04:21 FFW_Rude wrote:Show nested quote +On March 10 2015 02:06 ninazerg wrote:On March 09 2015 23:16 FFW_Rude wrote: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... I had TL+ not too long ago but it expired. I made an amazing thread there that only TL+ people get to see. You are more evil than Garena
That is a philosophical paradox. Nothing can be more evil, more wicked, and more malign than Garena.
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I actually love the "Show All" feature, it's definitely the biggest draw for me (aside from just generally wanting to support the site). Good thread!
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wheres the token thing? i dont see it in the gift thingy, is it because my TL+ ran out as well? so the tokens are gone?
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I always viewed TL+ as more of a donation to support TL with some added benefits rather than a product. I had it for over a year when I was more active. The only feature I really miss is the show all button for long threads. It's really convenient to be able to Control+F an entire 50 page thread and find what you're looking for, I'd use it to look for vod links in LR threads while avoiding spoilers for example. I used the multiple PM recipients feature a couple of times when I organized tournaments and the extra favourite streams feature but I don't need those anymore.
I also use adblock, or rather ublock. I would unblock TL but it's my understanding these ads only generate revenue on a click through basis, correct me if I'm wrong. Personally, I'd rather just donate if I wanted to support the site than count on accidental click throughs that would cause me annoyance since I'd never click on an ad willingly.
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On March 10 2015 08:36 2Pacalypse- wrote:
Please explain in what way is it being advertised as if it was needed. It's the complete opposite. As another poster below you said, TL+ was announced and then pretty much forgotten after that. It could definitely use some more, non obtrusive of course, advertisement so the new users are more easily made aware of it.
Might be the combination of some parts of the overall moderation policy in combination with the text itself; E.g. I remember a closed thread by yoda, in which he asked if real money betting over at defiler would be wanted. At that point it seemed arbitrary to advertise for your own sake at one end, but treating someone else entirely different (I'm leaving out Eywa's plans here, as I hope you let that be for the amusement aspect of that particular endeavour). Anyway, got better over time and it really only were few fanboys thinking they'd be superior users if they bought TL+. Also again, if it was written a bit clearer - "mostly as donation to the page" - I might have seen it not negative at all.
Also, you bring up the good point about using the "Show All" feature for Liquipedia contributors. As such, I think a good case could be made to give that feature to Liquipedia editors regardless of their TL+ status.
I think I brought that up multiple times, at first via chats with some other editors / staff members, somewhen posted it in the feedback forum.
Regardless of that, please think over the idea if the Wiki Forum should be invisible or not. Some of the decisions and discussions there might be relevant to non-editors as well, especially if they face a rejected edit. Might seem less arbitrary if they can read up on the invisible, invite-only party (it's not as if there's super secret stuff written). After all, a wiki has the spirit that anyone can edit and anyone can be involved in the process of conversation-making.
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On March 10 2015 08:36 2Pacalypse- wrote:
This is a great post. A very honest feedback that can provide a lot of value to TL admins in evaluating the status of TL+.
However, I'd like to offer you some alternative perspective that you may have not thought about. The reason why most of the TL+ features seem underwhelming and provide no real benefit is because if there was a feature that's super useful and important, it would be made available to everyone and not part of some exclusive pack that you have to pay for. TL does not want to limit anyone's experience on this site and then force people to pay money to remove those restrictions. Think of the TL+ as a way to contribute to something that you cherish a lot and want to support, while getting some fun perks in the process.
Ah! That's nice to know, I didn't exactly know this before. I felt more like most features are underwhelming because of the really low prize. I do think of TL+ as the way you describe, that's why I'll rebuy.
On March 10 2015 08:36 2Pacalypse- wrote:Show nested quote +On March 09 2015 22:43 GeckoXp wrote:
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. Please explain in what way is it being advertised as if it was needed. It's the complete opposite. As another poster below you said, TL+ was announced and then pretty much forgotten after that. It could definitely use some more, non obtrusive of course, advertisement so the new users are more easily made aware of it. Also, you bring up the good point about using the "Show All" feature for Liquipedia contributors. As such, I think a good case could be made to give that feature to Liquipedia editors regardless of their TL+ status.
Yep, I agree with that. There are visible hints to click, but it's not like every 10 second there's an alert in your face saying "GO BUY IT". But I can understand that in case of liquipiddy guys, it really feels bad to pay for something that makes your free contributions worse. That's a very special case though.
On March 10 2015 10:41 Staboteur wrote:Show nested quote +On March 10 2015 03:05 boxerfred wrote:On March 10 2015 02:49 Fleetfeet wrote:
I've bought TL+ a couple times for solid posters or as a general good-feeling thing, but I've never been inspired to get it for myself. Where's your TL Santa icon? Here. (Or... apparently not? Nowhere?) I made a new account when the DotA 2 forums came out, because this thread has a name I made when I was twelve and I don't like it anymore. -e- Some of the posts I gifted have been turned in to LiquidDota things, so they don't exist as individual posts anymore. Would be a strange thing to lie about, but yeah no idea about TL santa icon. It's w/e
You misunderstood me, I didn't want to imply that you're lying, I was just wondering. I remember that my TL Santa icon popped up only with my second donation or something.
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Croatia9486 Posts
On March 10 2015 15:50 GeckoXp wrote:Show nested quote +On March 10 2015 08:36 2Pacalypse- wrote:
Please explain in what way is it being advertised as if it was needed. It's the complete opposite. As another poster below you said, TL+ was announced and then pretty much forgotten after that. It could definitely use some more, non obtrusive of course, advertisement so the new users are more easily made aware of it.
Might be the combination of some parts of the overall moderation policy in combination with the text itself; E.g. I remember a closed thread by yoda, in which he asked if real money betting over at defiler would be wanted. At that point it seemed arbitrary to advertise for your own sake at one end, but treating someone else entirely different (I'm leaving out Eywa's plans here, as I hope you let that be for the amusement aspect of that particular endeavour). Anyway, got better over time and it really only were few fanboys thinking they'd be superior users if they bought TL+. Also again, if it was written a bit clearer - "mostly as donation to the page" - I might have seen it not negative at all. Show nested quote +Also, you bring up the good point about using the "Show All" feature for Liquipedia contributors. As such, I think a good case could be made to give that feature to Liquipedia editors regardless of their TL+ status. I think I brought that up multiple times, at first via chats with some other editors / staff members, somewhen posted it in the feedback forum. Regardless of that, please think over the idea if the Wiki Forum should be invisible or not. Some of the decisions and discussions there might be relevant to non-editors as well, especially if they face a rejected edit. Might seem less arbitrary if they can read up on the invisible, invite-only party (it's not as if there's super secret stuff written). After all, a wiki has the spirit that anyone can edit and anyone can be involved in the process of conversation-making.
Good point about the Wiki Forum. I'll bring it up in the Staff forums.
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I had TL+ for month. I only used filter to see my own posts in LR threads and posted few times to ded TL+ forum.
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On March 10 2015 19:40 boxerfred wrote:You misunderstood me, I didn't want to imply that you're lying, I was just wondering. I remember that my TL Santa icon popped up only with my second donation or something.
Not sure what the mechanics are for TL+, it could well be that you need to have 3+ giftings or something. I don't remember ever having it, but I wasn't really looking for it either.
On the subject of TL+ and making TL+ "better", I'd love it if we as a community managed to develop a culture of gifting TL+ for exceptional posts or threads. Like a smaller (and hopefully more common) gold star user, it could bring attention to and bring more people in to TL+. It's fairly obvious that this was originally some of the hope for TL+, but it never really caught on quite like it could've.
As far as actual features go, I don't have any ideas what TL+ could have that would make it, as someone mentioned, more like a product and less like a convoluted donation.
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On March 10 2015 12:09 Shock710 wrote:
wheres the token thing? i dont see it in the gift thingy, is it because my TL+ ran out as well? so the tokens are gone?
The tokens should show up when you try to gift TL+, one of the options should be 'Use gift token' or something along those lines. I don't think you lose your tokens if you lose TL+ but I can't be 100% sure. Also keep in mind the tokens are only given for a purchase of 6 / 12 months at once (not total duration).
In general, TL+ is meant as a way for those who don't like ads to support TL without using adblock. The other features are mostly nice things that some users might find useful, but not a primary focus.
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On March 12 2015 07:03 R1CH wrote:Show nested quote +On March 10 2015 12:09 Shock710 wrote:
wheres the token thing? i dont see it in the gift thingy, is it because my TL+ ran out as well? so the tokens are gone? The tokens should show up when you try to gift TL+, one of the options should be 'Use gift token' or something along those lines. I don't think you lose your tokens if you lose TL+ but I can't be 100% sure. Also keep in mind the tokens are only given for a purchase of 6 / 12 months at once (not total duration). In general, TL+ is meant as a way for those who don't like ads to support TL without using adblock. The other features are mostly nice things that some users might find useful, but not a primary focus.
I brought 12months in one go for myself but when i go into gift TL+ there is no option to use a gift token (note: i dont have TL+ anymore)
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Do you remember when you bought it? IIRC the gift tokens thing was added quite a bit later after the initial launch. I will look and make sure the code is working properly though.
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On March 12 2015 07:16 R1CH wrote:
Do you remember when you bought it? IIRC the gift tokens thing was added quite a bit later after the initial launch. I will look and make sure the code is working properly though.
TL+ history says 2013-07-04 14:16:20
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On March 12 2015 07:16 R1CH wrote:
Do you remember when you bought it? IIRC the gift tokens thing was added quite a bit later after the initial launch. I will look and make sure the code is working properly though.
yeah, pretty much that. missed your post, sorry.
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On March 10 2015 08:36 2Pacalypse- wrote:
This is a great post. A very honest feedback that can provide a lot of value to TL admins in evaluating the status of TL+.
However, I'd like to offer you some alternative perspective that you may have not thought about. The reason why most of the TL+ features seem underwhelming and provide no real benefit is because if there was a feature that's super useful and important, it would be made available to everyone and not part of some exclusive pack that you have to pay for. TL does not want to limit anyone's experience on this site and then force people to pay money to remove those restrictions. Think of the TL+ as a way to contribute to something that you cherish a lot and want to support, while getting some fun perks in the process.
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yeah this is what is cool, and why it was stupid that a handful of people were bitching that tl was attempting to make money of the forums. it's rare that you get a company that tries to make money in a way that does not fuck the end user. as silly as it is, i do think charging for filter or view all did turn a few people off, and at the same time, i think a lot of people dont view that as essential to their posting experience
I think I said this when it came out, but I think you'd get more people buying tl+ if the fees allowed for custom icons and stuff. it's quite obvious there is a demand: people here have done it before (iirc: travis) and it obviously generates a ton of money for something awful.
obviously the format there is different, but it's clear there is demand. it's been demonstrated time and time again in forums and games that charging for core functionality stuff, no matter how trivial, can generate some controversy. cosmetic stuff generates money. people love personalization (see: the cash cow that is tf2 hats).
if you determined a live space for icons simir to that of nazgul's, I am very very sure that it would generate a lot of money, probably way more than tl+ currently does. and it would not tier any forum features the way that tl+ does, whcih can turn people off.
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so has the gift thing been fixed yet? or do we just not get gifts after we lose TL+
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It looks fine, if you buy 6 or 12 months then you should receive gift months too.
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i mean was the date i bought TL+ before the introduction to the gift system, because i dont have an gift tokens dispite buying 12 months of TL+ 
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Ch3z75Z.png)
