Board Thread:The Gatehouse/@comment-69.204.83.195-20140323001554

I joined HabitRPG when it was first posted on Reddit, but left due to heavy traffic which prevented me from accessing the site. I rejoined last year before the class system was released, and have used it every day ever since. I've accumulated a lot of gold and have nearly completed the beastmaster quest. But currently I feel like I've exhausted all of the features on the website that are accessible to me because everything new and interesting costs gems.

I don't have the ability to pay for a subscription or buy gems, and I've only earned one gem from a challenge since joining last year. Without gems, I can't create my own challenges, buy most quest scrolls, or even change my job. It's extremely discouraging for me, since I've earned a large amount of gold through doing tasks that is essentially worthless. When the spring event began, I had enough gold to immediately buy the entire outfit for my class. But I won't be able to earn the other outfits because changing my class costs gems.

When the class system was first released, it was stated that in the future you would be able to change your class for free with a three-day cooldown period. Because the class system was released at the same time as the winter event, I chose the rogue class and carefully planned how much time I would need to earn enough gold and change my classes in time to buy the other outfits. Only after I had earned enough gold to buy all four outfits did I learn that the free class-changing feature was canned, and that I'd have to pay gems if I wanted the other outfits. This was extremely disappointing to learn and I felt that I had wasted my time. If I had known that I would be permanently stuck as a rogue, I would have chosen another class or opted out of the class system completely.

Whenever I bring up the fact that too many features on the site cost real-life money, the paying members in the tavern go on about how gems and subscriptions support the site and how great and important it is with obnoxious optimism. It feels like I'm being guilted into feeling like I need to pay a subscription fee or else I'm doing HabitRPG a disservice, and it's very discouraging. I'm aware that I'm using a free service and that the site needs money to continue operating, but I simply don't have the ability to pay a subscription fee at the moment. One of the reasons I use HabitRPG in the first place is to improve my finances, and I would gladly view more advertisements and find other ways to support the site that didn't require me to pay real life money.

I think many other players feel the same way as I do. I don't mind that gems and the subscription feature exist, and I'm fine with paying members getting perks like special outfits, trading gold for gems, and add-free pages. But almost all of the RPG-like features on the website, which was what drew me to Habit in the first place, require payment, and it's disheartening when new announcements appear and 75% of the new features require payment to access. Please reconsider the amount of features that require gems so that non-paying members can participate as well. 