After much contemplation and soul-searching, I have made the decision to transition RuneScoop from primarily a “pay for content” subscription site to a “pay to show support” voluntary membership model. Instead of having much of the site off-limits to everyone but members, all of the content is now freely accessible. Membership remains, but is not something that is purchased to get content, but rather to support the site and gain certain perquisites.
I realize that this is a somewhat controversial move and wanted to explain why I did it, especially to those who have been good enough to buy membership so far. The simple answer is that there weren’t enough of you. 
RuneScoop has now been active for around six months and the membership in the site is still only around 100 individuals. And while I have greatly appreciated your support, it’s just not enough to keep the site going and growing.
The idea of making a premium information site where most content is accessed only by paying for it was a risky one to begin with. The simple reality is that most RuneScape players simply do not have the disposable income to spend money not only on RuneScape membership but also on a site like this one. While the content is universally lauded as being high in quality, there still weren’t very many people willing to pay for it.
Upon doing some informal market research, I discovered that most of those buying membership were not doing so based mainly on a logical weighing of the cost of membership against the benefits of the content. Rather, the majority just wanted to support me and the site, and encourage me to continue writing more material.
At the same time, I was beginning to feel discouraged by the small membership numbers, not just for financial reasons, but because I really wanted more people to benefit from the information I have to offer. The small volume of the site was also self-defeating in terms of efforts to get the site financial support through advertising.
Accordingly, I am now viewing membership more as something readers buy to show solidarity with the site and to gain specific perqs, rather than to get content. Members don’t get access to content that non-members do not, but they do get ad-free browsing, access to my “Inside Scoop” investment blog, custom user title in the RuneScoop forums and other benefits. They also still get my genuine gratitude!
With this change I have also removed many of the “nag” and “salesman” messages on the site encouraging players to buy membership. There is no more box on the free site suggesting that players become members – I want people do this only if they want to. I have also eliminated monthly memberships, as they don’t really make sense in this model, they cost twice as much as annual memberships, and they were an administrative headache. (Over the next day or two I will be going into Paypal and canceling existing monthly subscription profiles.)
I realize that this is a fairly significant change, and one that some current members might be unhappy with. I really do appreciate those of you who did step up and become members over the last six months, and I can understand that some of you may think it is not worth remaining members now that the content is all free. If that’s the case, please contact me and I will offer you a “generously prorated” refund of your membership, by which I mean I will refund not only the unused months but the value of the current and previous month as well. The same applies to anyone who is currently on a monthly membership.
Thanks again to everyone for your understanding and support.
Charles