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Metal Storm - Announcing New Terms Of Use, Paid Membership Plans


Dear readers, today marks a great change for Metal Storm as an institution and as a community. For over 20 years now, we have been a leading voice in the metal underground, providing invaluable resources for music fans through our database, forums, publications, and more. Up until now, we have managed to do this without asking anything in return, powering through year after year purely for the love of the craft. Metal Storm has always operated on a volunteer basis, never motivated by profit, and we had hoped that this would always be the case. Unfortunately, as we have seen over the last year, times change.

Stringing along a site like this isn't cheap, especially with tightening privacy and security restrictions (the EU and the state of California are monstrous with this, seriously), and so we have decided that the best way to turn a profit with this thing would be to introduce a paid membership system. Modeling ourselves after some of the major news publications out there, we'll be offering readers a select number of free views each month, after which it will be necessary to sign up for a premium user account to access more content. Premium plans start at $6.66 a month (payable through PayPal, Venmo, OFX, Apple Pay, Google Pay, YooMoney, wire transfer, check, cheque, and/or exchange of rare Bathory merch) and we plan to introduce higher tiers of membership in the future as our network stabilizes. This is undiscovered country for us, so we appreciate your understanding while we adjust membership rates and perks associated with different tiers as necessary. For now, we'll be starting everybody at the base rate just to make things fair, but look forward to those Metal Warrior, Metal Elitist, and Metal God membership plans. As an additional feature right off the bat, we will be selling custom titles in several colors for 0.0000666 BTC. Available colors are green and red. Premium users will by default show up in gold.

This is not the path that we envisioned Metal Storm taking, but the important thing is to remain sanguine in the face of change and generous with your resources. We know that this will be worth the expenditure and you will love what Metal Storm is brewing for the future. For those readers who are skeptical about Metal Storm's new direction, or who are perhaps unable to keep up with our evolving requirements for membership, we ask you to consider that this is merely the price of several cups of coffee a month. Which is more important to you: your debilitating caffeine addiction or a daily barrage of ShoutBox arguments over which South American black metal bands are and are not Nazis?

-- The Metal Storm Staff

Source: metalstorm.net
Posted: 01.04.2021 by ScreamingSteelUS


Comments page 2 / 4

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Comments: 101   [ 1 ignored ]   Visited by: 437 users
01.04.2021 - 01:32
Grinkor

Oh! ~USD7/month is too much here in Argentina

Well. Please tell me how many articles a day is the free quota and if being suscribed to RSS impacts on this number. Thanks!
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01.04.2021 - 01:58
mskywalker18

Um... We're not buying it
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01.04.2021 - 01:58
Starvynth
i c deaf people
Written by nikarg on 01.04.2021 at 01:14

As long as you have the cash, we will even strip for you and Ivor will take photos and exhibit them in the Tate Modern.

Just to be sure that we'll have enough material as soon as the first funds are flowing, I've already started half an hour ago.

It's not that I want to complain, but it's slowly getting a little chilly down there...
Where's the dough?
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signatures = SPAM
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01.04.2021 - 04:47
Karlabos
Meat and Potatos
Might as well support since I've been here for like... Forever
I wish my country's money wasn't as devalued tho
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"Aah! The cat turned into a cat!"
- Reimu Hakurei
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01.04.2021 - 05:02
4look4rd
The Sasquatch
I've been part of this site for over 15 years, but this is the last straw. What the hell are you guys thinking? Gone are the days or tr00 kvlt heavy metal, metalstorm.ee has sold out. BRING BACK FREE METALSTORM!
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01.04.2021 - 05:44
SoUnDs LiKe PoP

So are we all just going to ignore that they just forced to us to watch an entire Babymetal live video?

EDIT: Fitting title, as I do enjoy me some Slugdge every now and then.
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I lift weights and listen to metal
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01.04.2021 - 05:53
IBlackened

Forcing me through a Babymetal video... You guys are mean.
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Their old stuff is better.
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01.04.2021 - 06:19
Aries Rising

Written by RaduP on 01.04.2021 at 00:16

Written by Batlord666 on 01.04.2021 at 00:11

Are you trying to "turn a profit" or just... cover expenses to host the site? I've been using this site for news for about 13 years, but I'm not exactly looking forward to paying to just see what new album was announced. I don't use the forums, I don't use the database (Metal Archives is much more useful - absolutely no offense, this site's is pretty good). I like the reviews and the news. How limited am I going to be in seeing those if I don't want to subscribe?

Or... is this an early April Fool's and I fell for it?

Hello, the line between turning a profit and covering hosting expenses depends on how many users subscribe to the new membership. I'm not too deep in the financials, but the site hasn't turned a profit in a long time, and we had to cover a lot of hosting expenses from our own pockets. Increased funding will also lead to better hosting which might fix the database/formatting issues we have.


Just send Bad English out to work those corners, I'm sure he'd turn a profit at $15 a tug.
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01.04.2021 - 06:22
Aries Rising

You know that last comment just gave me a great idea for a band. A NSBM band called from South America called The Boys from Brazil.
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01.04.2021 - 07:00
Darth Satanious
Post Destroyer
I tried to read the first page of comments in this article but the pop up says I can't.

You guys as owners are free to try to make things work as you want, but my prediction is that this intrusive and restricting approach may limit new people and keep people away in the long run.
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Christless
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01.04.2021 - 08:17
Stalker
Lone wanderer
LOL, almost got me for a second
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01.04.2021 - 08:27
Darth Satanious
Post Destroyer
I forgot what fucking day today was lmao
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Christless
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01.04.2021 - 08:48
Nejde
CommunityManager
This is too much to process. I still haven't gotten over last year when we found out that Bad English isn't a bot...
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Bow to the King Hercules!
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01.04.2021 - 09:25
♱ RaVeN ♱

That's shocking! But i guess you guys leave us no choice now. We need to part ways. No longer a metalhead, the iron maiden, Meshuggah, Judas Priests , Opeth will have to make way for Ariana Grande, Nicky Minaj, Justin Bieber, Jonas brothers... sad but true
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01.04.2021 - 09:26
Ball Fondlers

That clip was torture. I want my money back
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01.04.2021 - 09:41
The Melting Snow

Holy shit, i thought it'd be an April fool joke and went all way to the end. now $7 are gone from my credit card.

this is deep stuff. you made it sound like and April fool's joke, but it actually wasn't and therein is the real joke.

well, what's done is done. i hope some of the money can go towards English lessons for bad english
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01.04.2021 - 09:42
Stormm

Well, I'm willing to proceed with that fee, if there's assurance, that page will not crash couple of times everyday.
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01.04.2021 - 09:44
The Melting Snow

"Metal Sadboi"

this is what i get for listening to Baby Metal
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01.04.2021 - 09:50
Stormm

Babymetal? Ok, look at me! You will pay ME now!
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01.04.2021 - 09:54
Mehdi Taba
Mehdi Taba
We, in Iran, cannot pay anything online or access foreign currencies easily due to the US sanctions and our horrible economical situations!!!

If MS is going to be so much restricted for non-premium users, then... I will leave it for good!

So sad... MS is one of the best things online ever for me...
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01.04.2021 - 09:58
Mehdi Taba
Mehdi Taba
Written by Stormm on 01.04.2021 at 09:42

Well, I'm willing to proceed with that fee, if there's assurance, that page will not crash couple of times everyday.


Yes, this is an extremely serious issue with MS these days!!!
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01.04.2021 - 10:07
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Let's pay the duce, I hope nacked pictures of ms users is as bonus
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Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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01.04.2021 - 10:11
Mehdi Taba
Mehdi Taba
I just hope that they got me as an April's Fool LOL
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01.04.2021 - 10:14
no one

Why the fuck can't I do anything but read this thread now.
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Unable to connect to the database
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01.04.2021 - 10:15
IBlackened

Written by Nejde on 01.04.2021 at 08:48

This is too much to process. I still haven't gotten over last year when we found out that Bad English isn't a bot...

Time flies. That seems like yesterday.
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Their old stuff is better.
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01.04.2021 - 10:19
IBlackened

Written by no one on 01.04.2021 at 10:14

Why the fuck can't I do anything but read this thread now.

Are you stuck in the Babymetal video?
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Their old stuff is better.
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01.04.2021 - 10:41
atrox

It very much sounds like an April fools joke, but I now get stuck at "You Used Up your Free Quota for the Day" message in other pages. So it isn't?
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01.04.2021 - 10:52
nikarg

Written by no one on 01.04.2021 at 01:03

Even more blatant than the bad English one last year

Written by no one on 01.04.2021 at 10:14

Why the fuck can't I do anything but read this thread now.


Because you didn't pay. Not that blatant, heh?
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01.04.2021 - 11:10
Dronewolf12
Account deleted
A better April Fool's would be saying you're making this site more secure and actually fix it so you can browse on mobile.
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01.04.2021 - 11:14
Callisto

Damn you people! 39 years of life without even hearing those baby things....
I'll pay you to never do that again!
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