Nice! A 20% discount plus anextra card. Thanks, Totem!

So, 330 credits means you get 20% discount on the 30 April cards?

yeah i'll take back what i said and very sorry for the caps. Still not gonna spend 330 cr tho, i'll buy what i want thks

So... you need to pre-order all April cards to get this Special... Have done it but I still don't like the whole Special Card thing! It wuld be better if Totem gave a really good discount instead of alienating members that don't want to buy cards unseen.

OK, so it turns out the SPECIAL EVENT card is exactly what I had been asking for.

Prepay for the month, and get the card IMMEDIATELY for free.

My only hope now is that Totem puts it back in the shop from May onward at a premium price 20-50% above the normal price. This is to make sure it's a "collector's item", and doesn't devalue those who purchased it up front (like me).

The tide may be turning, folks!

wow...

Smarten up yourself and turn the caps lock off !!!

THERE WILL ALWAYS BE AN IDIOT WHO SPEND HUNDREDS OF CREDITS FOR THIS, OTHERWISE TOTEM WOULD HAVE STOP THIS LONG AGO. PLEASE BE SMART GUYS!

Indeed to all the dissatisfaction. I now have three cards showing in the store as "Specials" that I can't acquire. Yet I do all that I can to make sure that I don't miss any.

VR sucks

A non-XXX that is not a complete lingerie only show (from what I can see in the card image). EXCLUSIVE SPECIAL EVENT. Okay, if they don't fix this error, I will be really pi@#ed off.

😉

I seriously wish Totem would stop these Special Event Cards!!!

I agree. These special event cards are just frustrating. Please just let us buy the cards that we like.

And the real reason to keep putting non buyable cards in the store
https://www.istripper.com/forum/thread/40951/2?post=603359

@HansSachs

Is this because of the cost of hardware?

Or some other reason?

Have you tried it?

You might be surprised. Especially with 3D stereoscopic content.

It's mind blowing

Sometimes, it is just a bad idea. It may seem very sophisticated and smart, but it is not.
Why not keep it simple and keep your customers happy.

Avoid disappointment and stop with those Special Event Cards. As customers we deserve a better treatment. Dont play with our money - leave that part to us. Please.

That's the point.

Personally I am not interested in VR in any way.

Yes. And I know why.

Whiners.

I seriously wish Totem would stop these Special Event Cards!!!

I too; and I can not even believe that to go on, and even so soon, after forum 10 pages or so filled with really tons of negative (and angry) feedbacks just 2 weeks ago. I am a long time customer and I spent much on the product, but, personally, this trend is getting me extremely upset. And many others members are, too. Please Totem, stop exclusive releases as soon as possible!

So this is a bi-weekly practice now? Designate a random card of a model that seems to get high ratings as an exclusive?

NO, thanks. Just no!

Another Special Event Card which will be in the end not so special. This is so annoying; stop making this cards.

Now that's the kind of special card I like: the model wears a nonsensical carnival costume and I never want to buy it anyway. Keep it on!

I still strongly dislike the fact that it appears in the store though. A store is where you can buy things. You can't go more basic than that. A card you can't buy has nothing to do in a store, period. If you want to advertise your little prize cards, do it somewhere else, create another tab for it, I don't care, I just don't want it in store.

Yeah. I'm done.

Sure, a woman at 5.3 feet tall is expected to weigh near 107 pounds or we say OMG she's soooo fat.. FFS people get over yourselves. However one model in particular, is in fact 5.3 and listed as 104 pounds. I bring this up because she has quite a fair amount of muscle.

I once had a truly slender stripper give me a lap dance. Before we went back she warned me. "I know I look small, but I weigh 175 pounds, is that ok?" I still got the lap dance, and she was SOLID! let me tell ya.

But that's my point. At her size and frame she would normally weigh about 140 max. (She was fairly tall mind you) However, she was so well built that she was quite heavy.

The model, as I mentioned earlier, is rather short, but her muscle tone makes 104 pounds highly unrealistic. I would expect closer to 115-120.

Hell, my GF when I met her was about the same size, and she weighed 125! My GF is about 2 inches taller, and didn't have the muscle. But 2 inches only accounts for about 7-8 pounds difference with the same frame. So for her to weigh 18 pounds more with less muscle, and the same frame? No...

My point is, in this day and age, why should we fudge numbers?

Ummm... so how do I get this card?!? 😆😆😆

So many Patreon providers don't deliver. They are always promising new things. Then they give up, because it wasn't enough.I just want Totem to focus on the core business. Brining in new customers and keeping current customers happy. That is why I buy shows.I've proposed a few times now there should be a "VIP Membership" option where you can opt in to buy EVERY show as it's released - or just prepay for a month.By doing this, Totem would get more confidence from the current user base about their level of support, meaning they could pour more into shows and improvements with less risk.I think if they simply offered the abililty to buy a month in advance (like Advent Calendar or the Feb 2019 promotion), get a free "Special Edition" card, and some ***** flair for your profile (like a "VIP" badge, for example), that would be enough.We don't need the distraction. Already Totem has a bunch of unhappy customers on this forum because they are doing the wrong things in the eyes of the community. I can't imagine how loud the noise would get if Totem started using Patreon and only Patreon users got a say in what happens...

@wtprivate,

being a long time member, you probably remember that Totem did previously have a subscription payment method, but they stopped that a number of years ago.

I am sure that they had a logical reason for it that suited their business plan, but I never really understood it, but they don't really have to explain their reasons.
Who knows maybe one day they will readopt the subscription method

I am not going to voice my opinion on this topic other than to say it is a reasonable question to raise.

All I (and speaking on behalf of the other Mods without asking them first) is that it be kept civil without members insulting other members.

Its a chance to view your (polite) comments about the special event cards, so use it wisely😐

I've been a pretty good customer (almost 2700 cards)... so the ones I don't have that they package at random only contain cards I didn't want. It's a scheme that punishes loyal customers.

Weekend coming up... probably another Friday special deal. Let's hope maxed out members are able to get this one.

I seriously wish Totem would stop these Special Event Cards!!!

I've said it before that I don't have any problem with ‘Special Event Cards'. For all I care they can release one every two weeks, and it seems like that is happening. Run them as an event, that's fine and then discontinue the card of the event. That's how it should be.

They can re-release all the special cards in ‘Spend All Your Credits and Not Win Special Card' gambling games - I don't freakin' care.

But DON'T MAKE THOSE UNBUYABLE CARDS VISIBLE IN THE STORE.

i don't know how they do things in France, but here in Canada we go to the store to buy things.

Pasting a copied screed I posted on a similarly themed thread because relevance:

I am becoming more and more opposed to the "Special Event" cards. I have been an iStripper (née VirtuaGirl) junkie since joining over seven years ago. It is becoming more evident to me that these "promotions" are a way to exploit those of us who purchase every single card. I truly appreciate that there is a pricing bracket for us that gives a significant discount for every card we purchase but, FFS, why do you have to make us go through dumbass hoops for specific cards, Totem? Black Friday was a shitshow! And the last one made us play an arbitrary game of chance - I f***ing ***** gambling! While I didn't keep a specific tab, I don't believe I ended up spending much more than I normally would have to "earn" the card, fortunately. But others ended up spending a LOT more. THOSE OF US WHO PURCHASE EVERY CARD EVERY DAY UPON THEIR RELEASE KEEP YOU IN BUSINESS, TOTEM! If there are certain cards for which you want to charge more (for whatever reason), then just raise the price for the love of all that is good and holy! Please, please, please stop making us go through hoops to get our fix! Do you really look upon your cash cows with such contempt?

I am becoming more and more opposed to the "Special Event" cards. I have been an iStripper (née VirtuaGirl) junkie since joining over seven years ago. It is becoming more evident to me that these "promotions" are a way to exploit those of us who purchase every single card. I truly appreciate that there is a pricing bracket for us that gives a significant discount for every card we purchase but, FFS, why do you have to make us go through dumbass hoops for specific cards, Totem? Black Friday was a shitshow! And the last one made us play an arbitrary game of chance - I f***ing ***** gambling! While I didn't keep a specific tab, I don't believe I ended up spending much more than I normally would have to "earn" the card, fortunately. But others ended up spending a LOT more. THOSE OF US WHO PURCHASE EVERY CARD EVERY DAY UPON THEIR RELEASE KEEP YOU IN BUSINESS, TOTEM! If there are certain cards for which you want to charge more (for whatever reason), then just raise the price for the love of all that is good and holy! Please, please, please stop making us go through hoops to get our fix! Do you really look upon your cash cows with such contempt?

I ***** it when cards I can't obtain are in the store. There is no good reason for that, unless the goal is to annoy loyal customers.

However, I have an alternative idea I think would work for everyone:

http://www.istripper.com/forum/thread/41591/1?post=613486

So many Patreon providers don't deliver. They are always promising new things. Then they give up, because it wasn't enough.

I just want Totem to focus on the core business. Brining in new customers and keeping current customers happy. That is why I buy shows.

I've proposed a few times now there should be a "VIP Membership" option where you can opt in to buy EVERY show as it's released - or just prepay for a month.

By doing this, Totem would get more confidence from the current user base about their level of support, meaning they could pour more into shows and improvements with less risk.

I think if they simply offered the abililty to buy a month in advance (like Advent Calendar or the Feb 2019 promotion), get a free "Special Edition" card, and some ***** flair for your profile (like a "VIP" badge, for example), that would be enough.

We don't need the distraction. Already Totem has a bunch of unhappy customers on this forum because they are doing the wrong things in the eyes of the community. I can't imagine how loud the noise would get if Totem started using Patreon and only Patreon users got a say in what happens...

No thanks.

why?

Totem has also previously mentioned the possibility of VR videos as part of the bonus content for the girls. I'm personally hoping this happens sooner rather than later.

Sometimes, it is just a bad idea. It may seem very sophisticated and smart, but it is not.
Why not keep it simple and keep your customers happy.

Avoid disappointment and stop with those Special Event Cards. As customers we deserve a better treatment. Dont play with our money - leave that part to us. Please.

"Special Edition" cards I support. As long as there is something special about them. A unique outfit, a first release model, a "girl of the month", bonus content, or something we've not seen before.

And, as long as there is a way for ANYONE to be able to purchase it after the "promotion" period is complete. Nobody should be denied access to a card because they are new to iStripper, have a small collection, or have purchased all the cards already. It just doesn't make any business sense.

That's why I proposed the above. Let people "earn" the Special Edition cards via promotion if they wish. Or, just purchase them as normal when the promotion is over for a small premium.

No thanks.

It does seem odd @Khan91. Especially after all the backlash for the Ginebra card in the Sprint Break promotion.

I'm hoping it's some kind of error in the system, and that the card will appear as part of today's 3 card release.

But these days, I'm not as certain as I used to be about Totem's practices.

That's why I proposed a simple solution in the other thread - where cards are "Special Edition" once a month, available for free if you participate in the promotion, or for purchase for a premium (say 20-50%) afterwards.

Ideally, the "Special Edition" cards are also the Girl of the Month and have a special "gold" wrap added to them so they stand out more in the collection ... I personally find the little "star" icon too subtle. Would also like to see the ability to filter by Special Edition cards, so I can check them all out at once.

yeah totem is screwed. I can just imagine by June we will have 20% discounts on all new cards to try to get people back to their normal buying routine. They are seeing the data that this is making money so they need to do it more. But I was duped once on the black friday...spent a little more than I liked...but uploaded a crap ton of credits at discount...but the card was meh and I realized their product isn't good enough for "special"...they can't get top girls and they can't teach them how to perform and they can't even get their post production working like 2016. A customer only needs one negative experience and they will stop...lets say I spent 100 credits for my only special card...but I've skipped 40 cards I likely would have bought since. So 100 credits versus 600 and I skipped all of the special events because I don't trust their formula.

So this is a bi-weekly practice now? Designate a random card of a model that seems to get high ratings as an exclusive? Yeah F this. I am done buying credits.

Totem opens a patreon. They promise that donations will be spent on improvements to the product. These might include:

1. Expanded Recruitment to North America, Western Europe, Asia
2. Improved performance training, spending more time in studio on scripting performances and teaching simple striptease and dance moves to new performers.
3. Improving the use of props in scenes...interactions between xxx and glass..chairs, tables, couches, desks
4. Improving costumes and outfits and cosplay
5. Improving quality of video, pics, and post-production
6. Having more diverse duos
7. They would take requests from patreons.

Totem would make proposals and give updates on their success...ie...bring in 5 girls that work in America every year...or 5 girls that work in Paris. Just an example.

Do not participate in the events. Totem has a formula that determines how many sales are attibuted to each special event card. If people do not participate in the events then totem loses money on the cards. I imagine that there is a critical mass where people run out of credits and get such little value that they disappear. So at some point totem will realize they would make more just selling the card for standard price. I am pretty disgusted at totem but probably more at those who spend hundreds of dollars for a single card that they will likely watch once or twice. But that sort of spending is unsustainable and will stop, hopefully totem still have so loyal customers left. It hasn't worked for most of the video games that have followed this model...once the "whales" dry up the minnows have been long gone. It makes me feel like totem will be in a maintanence mode by this time next year. I'm normally wrong, and hope I am in this case.

I wish totem would understand that people would invest on patreon blindly if totem would promise improvements to the product like expanded recruiting to north america, western europe, and asia. if they would improve the video quality, costume, performance quality, and props. We would all spend more. This is not going to end well for them or us as they are taking increasing profits while wearing out their fans and not improving their product. The skyrim online game made 35000 a month in donations from 35000 people who donated...how many of us would pay more if the money was being spent on improvements.

Don't they understand that I can just shrug this card off and go watch 36 hours of Viola, a better looking performer, performing on a better quality card, with better outfits. This is not business. A business cannot devolve their product then sell it for dramatically more, while the old superior product is still readily available and paid for...my feeling is investors are needing assurances. This feels so similar to gaming companies as they take investments to push a product out then devolve their game into a free to play experience but in reality a pay to win model where investors demand the standard pricing, which is limited, expands to a lootbox, paywall model where ***** that allow some customers to overpay for little reward. Honestly it pushes me to spend less, and I have stopped "investing" in totem. Can they really survive if customers like me sit on our 2000 credits for years, I may have already paid the money but their job is to get me to keep buying cards, feeling good about the company so I have to reload many times a year.

Sometimes, it is just a bad idea. It may seem very sophisticated and smart, but it is not.
Why not keep it simple and keep your customers happy.

Avoid disappointment and stop with those Special Event Cards. As customers we deserve a better treatment. Dont play with our money - leave that part to us. Please.

A non-XXX that is not a complete lingerie only show (from what I can see in the card image). EXCLUSIVE SPECIAL EVENT. Okay, if they don't fix this error, I will be really pi@#ed off.

Looks like there's another one incoming...

"Josephine Jackson: Tartan Cutie"

Currently showing up as "Special Event Card" in the store. No idea how to access it.

:(

Just noticed this card showing up in the Girls Store as a "Special Event" card.

What is this special event, and how do I participate?

I currently have EVERY card in my collection - so I'm not eligible for the "Lucky Box" promotion. Could someone please tell me how to get this card?

*****.

Thanks all.

Yes, I've been thinking preorders are good for business.

It also starts to reduce the risk of producing new content in Totem's favour like you say.

The best part is that Totem already has precedents and existing data and systems to support this approach: Advent Calendar, and the February 2019 promotion.

Adding some visual "flair" with special badges for members and an update to the "Special Edition" cards should be relatively easy, as should adding the new filter option to the Girls Store and My Collection. Certainly less than creating complicated promotions like the scratch cards, for example.

And, Totem could continue to offer other promotions in the same way as well. It doesn't just have to be prepaid.

The point here is that by participating in a promotion, you can get the "Special Edition" card for free. Or, you can just wait until the promotion finishes, and pay the higher price.

Simple.

@wtprivate

Great Idea, I would certainly support it! I think that totem should strongly consider such an arrangment, not least because i cant see what they would have to lose by at least trialing it.

What i like about it is that nobody is excluded from getting what they want or from going about it in the mannor in which they want. The only people that do lose out are the people that just dont want to spend any money at all
and thats fair enough in my book.

Maybe this even it might actually work out better for totem in the long run buy increasing pre order sales, (just buy giving people the opportunity to actually pre order in bulk more often) which in turn inceases cash flow which can then be re-invested in whatever is needed in order to produce better shows ( be that better models, better equipment, better colour/image quality) which then increases customer satifaction, which increases pre-ordering, and low and behold you got yourself a positive feed back loop !!

Anything must be better then the current situation where exclusive cards are only offered to pre-orderers which in doing so alienates others (who dont want to subscribe for whatever valid reason they have) or they are offered to everyone but a crazy prices due to the way that they are sold behind high risk gambleing games (which has litterally has pissed off everyone).

This would seem to me to be the best comprimise that i have read on these forum pages so far.

I have a slightly different phylosophy on updates, which goes something like this:

'If it ain't broke - don't fix it'

Works well for me since I don't have high end, state of the art equipment and more importantly, I don't have high end, state of the art eyesight.

For me, if a card stalls or freezes on playback, I will delete it and then redownload it. If it was updated, that's when I apply the update. Otherwise the cards stay as is.

Would be interesting to back the folder up. Run the update then compare the contents. I’m a fan of change control. Understanding what is changed when an update or change is being applied. Whether it is the entire application, or individual cards.