Board Game Arena

Why was the Club membership being changed into the Premium membership?

Hi,

We found that "Club" wasn't clear enough. All other websites are using "Premium" word, so it makes no sense not to use it. In addition, the main interest of the "Club" was to get an access to "Premium games", so it makes no sense not to use the same word.

I know it's just a word but I don't like the word Premium. It suggests some kind of elitism. 1st class, Gold member, all stinks of 'I'm better than you' attitude rather than one of 'cheerful, anybody and anything goes community'.

I am a member solely because I wanted to support the BGA site which I think is an awesome service which I appreciate. So much so that I decided to dig into my wallet to show the appreciation, I know the hosting a website, etc. costs money.

I didn't become a member to play 'premium games', it's a nice perk and I don't think it should be promoted as a reason to become a member, I don't believe that's the commercial route you want to take. At the moment nothing is forced on the nonpaying user which I think is good, I hope it doesn't become like that in the future. The balance is just about right.

So to sum it up:
Awesome site!
I dont like the word premium (big deal).
Please don't make the free members feel any less unwelcome

"Free" users are totally welcome.

It's just a word. I cannot say that I like it, but this is the word used everywhere for "this account has access to extra stuff", so that's it.

RicardoRix wrote:I know it's just a word but I don't like the word Premium. It suggests some kind of elitism. 1st class, Gold member, all stinks of 'I'm better than you' attitude rather than one of 'cheerful, anybody and anything goes community'.

Quite personally, I didn't like the name 'Club' for the same reason. If you didn't have a membership, you weren't "part of the club." And that has a sense of being left out. That to me is what felt elitist.

For most sites, 'premium' is just meaning having an extra "something," and generally something you have to pay for. Like a premium account at Paypal. It's sort of like being the deluxe version. Also, that word is used for payments of things like insurance: my "insurance premium" is my payment. I tend to associate the word with things that are costing me money.

I really don't know what a good word is, but I like premium better than club.