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raloriaWarning! This is an angry post (like the icon wasn't a strong enough of a sign...heh). Lots of ranting and some minor swearing, but I think you'll see it's totally justified.
I'm a member of 3 online forums...all about SPN. The only reason I joined them was to get to goodies they were offering. They were exclusive and there was no other way...so I signed up. The first one I signed up for I actually made a few comments in for a brief time. But then it got boring and my LJ was taking off and I've rarely been back there since. I've remained a member though...just in case. I really don't participate in forums, so I don't like the idea of signing up for more. I've got so many usernames and passwords now for various sites and email accounts that I have to keep them all written down. I take this into consideration when I sign up for anything.
So on Thursday, when SPN Media posted new promo pics of 3.09 and several other episodes I was ecstatic. New pics! There was a catch, though...you had to register to their forum to see the pics. Otherwise, all you saw were the small thumbnails. So they were teasing....look! new pics! you wanna see them? Come...register. I thought...and thought...*sigh*..."One more forum I'll hardly ever use. I really don't want to. But...." And I just couldn't resist. Because from the looks of it, these were going to remain exclusive to those who registered to the forum. So I bit and registered. Then they made me wait 5 hours to get the confirmation email so I could even sign in. Not exactly a way to get on my good side. But at last I could view the promo pics in all their hi-res glory. I was happy. Very happy. I uploaded them to my Photobucket account, zipped them all into a folder, and made a post showing the pics and uploaded the folder for everyone to download. 'Cause I figured, sure, I made the leap to register to the forum...it's not necessary that everyone do that. So I wanted to do something nice to my fellow flisters and give them the shiny new pics, too. However, at the bottom of the post, I still (reluctantly) urged people to go ahead and register because that's what I figured SPN Media wanted us all to do.
Then, today I get on LJ and see where SPN Media has now made the promo pics publicly available! No registration required. I read this from my flist and my jaw dropped. So I went to the site just to check. Sure enough...no more restrictions. Crap! How dare they! So now I feel like a complete idiot 'cause I bought into their twisted scheme. I love the great pics SPN Media provides, but their tactics stink! I feel I was blackmailed into signing up on their forum. If you want to have a forum, that's fine, but don't trick people into it! I don't care if I did get to see the pics earlier than most people. What good does that do me when they later make them available for all? It pisses me off! They clearly want more people on their forum, but this is a lousy and backstabbing way to do it. They pulled a stunt similar to this when they first took down the site and ran it completely through the forum. You had to post a ton of comments just to see the newest promos. It sucked. Royally. People ranted and they decided it was a poor idea. Gee! What geniuses. So the idiocy continues, it seems. Why can't they just post the pictures to the website like they used to. Everyone could see them with no strings attached. Life was good. When they reported they were bringing the website back I was thrilled. I posted about their return with much fanfare. Now they pull this crap on me and who knows how many others. We did what they wanted...we registered. And now they're saying (in a happy, sing-song voice), "Oh, look....you didn't have to do that after all. You want the pics...here they are!" Friggin' bastards!
Okay. Thanks for reading my rant, if you got this far. Those of you who were backstabbed with me? I feel your pain...and anger. I'd cancel my account with them, but who knows when they might do this again and actually leave the pics to registered users only. So for now I'll stay. But no way am I posting or commenting over there. I don't think they'd like to hear what I'd have to say...especially right now.
I'm off to resume catching up on my flist and hopefully finding something to help me calm down.
I'm a member of 3 online forums...all about SPN. The only reason I joined them was to get to goodies they were offering. They were exclusive and there was no other way...so I signed up. The first one I signed up for I actually made a few comments in for a brief time. But then it got boring and my LJ was taking off and I've rarely been back there since. I've remained a member though...just in case. I really don't participate in forums, so I don't like the idea of signing up for more. I've got so many usernames and passwords now for various sites and email accounts that I have to keep them all written down. I take this into consideration when I sign up for anything.
So on Thursday, when SPN Media posted new promo pics of 3.09 and several other episodes I was ecstatic. New pics! There was a catch, though...you had to register to their forum to see the pics. Otherwise, all you saw were the small thumbnails. So they were teasing....look! new pics! you wanna see them? Come...register. I thought...and thought...*sigh*..."One more forum I'll hardly ever use. I really don't want to. But...." And I just couldn't resist. Because from the looks of it, these were going to remain exclusive to those who registered to the forum. So I bit and registered. Then they made me wait 5 hours to get the confirmation email so I could even sign in. Not exactly a way to get on my good side. But at last I could view the promo pics in all their hi-res glory. I was happy. Very happy. I uploaded them to my Photobucket account, zipped them all into a folder, and made a post showing the pics and uploaded the folder for everyone to download. 'Cause I figured, sure, I made the leap to register to the forum...it's not necessary that everyone do that. So I wanted to do something nice to my fellow flisters and give them the shiny new pics, too. However, at the bottom of the post, I still (reluctantly) urged people to go ahead and register because that's what I figured SPN Media wanted us all to do.
Then, today I get on LJ and see where SPN Media has now made the promo pics publicly available! No registration required. I read this from my flist and my jaw dropped. So I went to the site just to check. Sure enough...no more restrictions. Crap! How dare they! So now I feel like a complete idiot 'cause I bought into their twisted scheme. I love the great pics SPN Media provides, but their tactics stink! I feel I was blackmailed into signing up on their forum. If you want to have a forum, that's fine, but don't trick people into it! I don't care if I did get to see the pics earlier than most people. What good does that do me when they later make them available for all? It pisses me off! They clearly want more people on their forum, but this is a lousy and backstabbing way to do it. They pulled a stunt similar to this when they first took down the site and ran it completely through the forum. You had to post a ton of comments just to see the newest promos. It sucked. Royally. People ranted and they decided it was a poor idea. Gee! What geniuses. So the idiocy continues, it seems. Why can't they just post the pictures to the website like they used to. Everyone could see them with no strings attached. Life was good. When they reported they were bringing the website back I was thrilled. I posted about their return with much fanfare. Now they pull this crap on me and who knows how many others. We did what they wanted...we registered. And now they're saying (in a happy, sing-song voice), "Oh, look....you didn't have to do that after all. You want the pics...here they are!" Friggin' bastards!
Okay. Thanks for reading my rant, if you got this far. Those of you who were backstabbed with me? I feel your pain...and anger. I'd cancel my account with them, but who knows when they might do this again and actually leave the pics to registered users only. So for now I'll stay. But no way am I posting or commenting over there. I don't think they'd like to hear what I'd have to say...especially right now.
I'm off to resume catching up on my flist and hopefully finding something to help me calm down.
