They made me take English in my first year. After that it was all engineering. It took me 30 years after college to learn to write coherently.

Totem have done it again.
Another special event card with no defined pathway to obtain it.
Presumably Totem are happy to lose loyal customers.
I will not be topping up my credit balance in the future so presumably Totem have worked out that they are getting more money from people playing these scratchcard games where you might not win anything.
Same with the Joker card, you might have hundreds of entries in the draw and win nothing.

I AGREE 100 PRE CENT. Loyal customers do not deserve to be treated this way. We have spent loads over the years and then scratchcards come on the scene without much chance of winning the special event cards. I have all the cards but special event cards. i'm sure that i am not the only one who has spent a mint and won nothin.

Loyal customers do not deserve to be treated this way.

Let's say I have been consistently buying candy and lottery tickets twice a week at my local convenience store for the last 20 years. If I go to that store tomorrow at the same time as a guy shopping there for the first time, I won't be surprised if we pay the exact same price for the candy and have the exact same chance of winning the lottery. I certainly don't feel like the store is abusing me.

iStripper also sells two different product lines: cards and gambling "tickets" (e.g. scratch cards, slot machine spins). However, unlike the convenience store, iStripper rewards loyal customers with free credits, level discounts and access to additional forums and functionality. We would all love to see them extend those rewards so loyal customers got tickets with better odds of winning, but Totem is not obligated to do so and they are not mistreating loyal customers if they don't.

Like it or not, we should understand that iStripper now has two different business models: selling cards and running gambling games. Right now it's easy to ***** the two because the products and rewards are the same type of item. However, if the gambling stream is very profitable, the special event cards might be the first in a long line of unique items that are only available through the gambling route. I suspect my will power is going to take a beating. 😐

@Corbomite

👍

@Wyldanimal

It seems to me that you have 2 opposite ideas. In this thread you're approving @Corbomite who's in favor of gambling as the unique way to get special event cards, and in other threads you're approving those in favor of a well defined path to obtain special event cards.

Which of these is you're way to see it ??

In this thread you're approving @Corbomite who's in favor of gambling as the unique way to get special event cards

Hi @Carbo. Actually, I'm not in favor of using gambling as a way of getting special event cards. I'd prefer to be able to get them through a guaranteed process without spending an excessive amount of money. However, regardless of my preference, the reality is that Totem now has two different business models. My post was simply trying to raise awareness of this so people can adjust their expectations accordingly. I suspect that @Wyldanimal was approving my observations, not the gambling model itself.

@Corbomite expresses my view on this matter.

In another thread @ComteDracula has said

My pleasure is to have the opportunity to acquire all the girls' cards by purchase and not the chance, and to be able to make them dance on my screen.

It seems to me that this should be the primary purpose of iStripper.

But the supposition expressed in that final sentence is incorrect - the primary purpose of iStripper is, and should be, to make a profit for Totem. Customer satisfaction is important but secondary. We may not like this, but it is a fundamental aspect of any business.

@Carbo - you wrote

@WyldanimalIt seems to me that you have 2 opposite ideas. In this thread you're approving @Corbomite who's in favor of gambling as the unique way to get special event cards, and in other threads you're approving those in favor of a well defined path to obtain special event cards.Which of these is you're way to see it ??

My Thumbs up, was approval of @Corbomite 's post
it was well presented.

But the supposition expressed in that final sentence is incorrect - the primary purpose of iStripper is, and should be, to make a profit for Totem. Customer satisfaction is important but secondary. We may not like this, but it is a fundamental aspect of any business.

@TheEmu

Sorry to butt into the conversation, but I'm afraid I disagree with your point about customer satisfaction. A company is a group of of people doing stuff in their own interest. Some people want money to make their lives better, others have money but want to watch dancing girls. Profit is just the reward for the people who make vids of dancing girls and bring them to us.

Totem's real investment is in the idea of bringing us dancing girls, along with their hard work to make it happen. Now they have had another idea: that people who watch the vids might also like to play games. If the customers don't like it, Totem will stop doing it (as they did with VirtuaGuy, iDancer, etc.). Customer satisfaction is not secondary. It is equal to the producers' satisfaction with the profit they make.

Profit is the measure of success, not the god of business. But it's what motivates the producers and is more important to them than the satisfaction of an individual customer.

My point is that @Corbomite has made an important distinction. The games are a separate business. What the game customer enjoys is the chance to win a unique item. But those customers who enjoy a "full" collection of purchased cards are, of course, left out in the cold.

The solution might be to exclude the game cards from the Girls Store and from the purchase stats. List them elsewhere. Make 'em in a different format. Anything that doesn't cause all this furore.

If I may, TheEmu and others consistantly defend the practice as if they're condoning paying a ton of money just for a chance to win a card offered here because that's what Totem wants. Well, I think the majority, myself included just want to be able to come here and buy every card that we wish. Like I've said before, if Totem wants extra credits for a specific card and the amount is somewhat reasonable, then fine I would pay. In plain english... A lot of members are pissed off and just want to pay fair price..rollerskates or otherwise...a nice change from the usual outfits, whips, lingerie, etc that we see here.

@Nebal - I do not defend it - I simply explain the way the world of works. The customers want one thing, Totem want something rather different. Totem have the choice as to what they do whether we approve of it or not.

@pantalone - the reason why Totem offer us anything at all is for them to make a profit from it. That is primary, customer satisfaction is secondary. If, in order to increase profit a business diasapoints some customers then the increase in profit will in almost all cases take priority, Conversely if some way can be found to increase customer satisfaction in a way that increases profits (or at least is not too expensive) then steps are likely to be made in that direction.

You say

My point is that @Corbomite has made an important distinction. The games are a separate business. What the game customer enjoys is the chance to win a unique item. But those customers who enjoy a "full" collection of purchased cards are, of course, left out in the cold.

And I completely agree with you about it, and with your proposed solution to keep the two business practices more clearly separated. But none of that has any bearing on what I have been saying about Totem doing things because they are profitable.

@TheEmu

I once had this discussion in a pub with an accountant and the CEO of the building firm in which we all worked. The accountant argued that the objective of the firm was to make as much profit as possible, Therefore, he argued, accountants should be in charge. No, said the CEO, we're here to build houses, you just keep score. There the conversation ended, as you can imagine it might.

A business can exist without profit, but it can't exist without customers. If the customers are not numerous enough or don't spend enough, in the long run the business will fail.

I don't think that Totem makes a huge profit. They make enough to pay their staff and investors, but, if they made more they'd either be investing more to expand or they'd all have retired by now. Sure, they want to make a profit, but they could probably make more by becoming hedge fund managers (flippant and questionable statement there, but you know what I mean). They do what they do because they like doing it and enjoy our approving willingness to fund it.

It's the people that matter to a business, and that includes staff, customers and investors. The willing participation of all is essential. They are equally important, although individually replaceable. Profit is just the scoreline, albeit a very important measure of business viability.

Am I turning into a socialist?

@pantalone

While it is correct that a (normal) business can't exist without customers they do not have to be satisfied customers - though it is obviously better if they are. Even if disatified customers stop being customers the business can continue if it recruits new customers. If, as Totem have claimed, the average time that customers are retained is 5 months and have elsewhere stated that roughly half their income is from new customers rather than long term collectors, we can be sure that there is a continual stream of new customers.

Customers can be, and usualy are, the most important part of doing business, but they are not the reason that the business exists.

Note, neither the accountant nor the CEO in your pub discussion argued that the purpose of the business was to have cusomers (happy or otherwise) and that it should be run by the firm's public relations or customer service department.

Totem could, in theory, lose all its customers and continue to exist using profit from previously invested income.

I do not know if you are turning into a socialist - but I do know that I am one albeit only a mild one.

the average time that customers are retained is 5 months and have elsewhere stated that roughly half their income is from new customers rather than long term collectors

Now there's an interesting fact, wot I didn't know! Rather begs the question, why haven't they ever asked what is it that differentiates a loyal customer from one they're going to lose in 5 months. Maybe they have asked, but they've never asked me (at least, I don't remember them doing so). Their business would be so much bigger, if they could improve retention.

So, never mind those of us that go on buying cards, why do people leave? Presumably they are active consumers of this sort of thing, or they wouldn't be here in the first place. The technical quality is good, the girls are pretty and cater for a wide range of tastes. Any thoughts?

Price is low for loyal customers, but not so low for people with small collections. I wonder if a limited exchange scheme would work. For example, offer a 50% discount on the purchase of a card, if you trade in one that you don't like or are bored with? Equivalent resolution and quality, obviously. Maybe restrict it to cards bought without a loyalty discount. Anything that avoids new customers from disengaging. A customer that stays for twenty months is worth two who leave after five, even if they are offered a 50% discount to do so. And, because the number of cards in their collection is static, they don't get a loyalty discount.

I know exchange schemes have been rejected before on the grounds of reduced profitability, but with the attrition rate so high, there must be something they can do. Maybe it's not about price....

@pantalone - as I have repeatedly stated Totem have the data, we do not other than the tiny scraps that Totem have mentioned in various (typically old) posts or on the affiliates web page. We can not know whether that data is accurate or not, but if we assume that it is correct we can make more informed judgements than if we just rely on gut feeling. Totem, of course having full access to the data can make very much better judgements than us as to the efficacy of their various business practices.

It's Not the Longevity of the Customer that matters, It how many Credits they Have purchased and Spent.
New Customers, are more Likely to Purchase More Credits during their Early Months, as apposed to the ones that stay as Discriminating buyers.

As I pointed out in a post in a different thread..
We Full Collection Members, at Most can Purchase 365 cards a year..
With our Discount Structure, maybe we have a Value of $450 for that year..

A new Member might purchase 1000 or more cards During their 1st 5 months.
or $2000 to $2500
So that New Member has a higher Value to the Business that us Full Collection Members do..

It's Not what we have Spent in the Past that Keeps the Doors open,
It's what we Spend Today and in the Future.

The TGIF events, create Revenue for the Business...
whether we full collectors like them or not.

Profit is NOT a dirty word..

I want Totem to make a profit and continue to produce Content..
If there are 4 or 5 cards a Year that I have to jump through hoops to get, So Be it..
I either do it, or I skip over them...
I set a Credit limit, of what I'm going to spend to try...

That way, I can't ***** if I drained my credit bank.. It's my own doing...
My Own Fault, no one else is to blame but ME !

I agree entirely with @Wyldanimal, but would make one ***** alteration to

It's Not the Longevity of the Customer that matters, It how many Credits they Have purchased and Spent.

It's not so much how much we have spent as how much we are likely to spend in the future - especially the relatively near future. As @Wyldanimal says new customers are likely to spend far more than us old established ones. Furthermore, in my opinion, they are more likel to react favourably to the various special offers.

However the expenditure per user pans out, we already know that the revenue from new users approximately equals the revenue from old ones (ok not like @gkar45 ). The question is, what else can Totem do to keep them engaged and spending when their five months is up?

If it's true that they like games, then I'd vote for more games! More special cards! Yey, and more profit. 'cos then they'll have less attrition and more money to spend on the product instead of advertising for new cusomers to replace the old new customers who've left.

Not that my vote should count for anything - I've been buying one miserly card a week for nine years and never so much as touched a slot machine.

And "coup de coeur" is Hypochondriac's Indigestion. Best treated with aspirin and another bar of chocolate.

@gkar45 - The meaning of "Coup de coeur" in the context of the picture you posted would be something like "having a crush".