🎙️ AMA: From Rippple to Trakt

[arcreactor]

Welcome!

@kcador I would like to say that so far, the communication that I have seen from you has been laudable. Especially from someone who has just started. And It is very much appreciated.

@kcador

In 2022, Trakt’s was down due to a database crash. One of the actions the team took was to add redundancy to those databases to avoid data loss in the future and improve the general availability of the service. This had the effect of basically doubling that (already big) line on the bill.

This makes sense. I do not think people fully understand the cost to run a database, much less the cost if you have redundancy. But this should have been communicated.

@kcador

As for the API Partner Program, Trakt’s costs with Younify are usage based.

What it means is: as a user that does not use Younify, your VIP subscription is not used to fund Younify, in any way.

Why was this not communicated earlier when users started to blame this as the cause of the price changes? If it was, there wouldn’t be users currently blaming the implementation of Younify.

I think a lot of the frustration that users are having mainly boils down to…

• The sudden increase in subscription cost. 100% increase is hard to swallow. Up to 300% for some. A gradual increase would have gone over better.
• The promise that there would be a grandfathering in of old prices.
• Lack of response to concerns. This is leaving the user base feeling ignored. Especially missing from Justin and/or Sean.
• Lack of proper notice/feedback taken before the increase. TOS violation.
• Frustration spilled over from other recent controversies.
• General lack of transparency, I understand that Trakt cannot give away all of it’s secrets but it doesn’t have to be so vague. You need to help people understand the why behind decisions.

I used to be one of the most active users on this forum until life got in the way. Not sure if it’s still around, but I was the first to gain the title of “Regular,” which granted some MOD privileges based on forum activity.

As you can probably imagine, Trakt has always stood out to me as the company with the best communication I’ve ever encountered. Even if there was a conflict on a subject, it was handled with professionalism and we felt listened to.

So imagine my surprise when I see the degradation in communication since then. Or more so the lack thereof when it covers large changes, both before and after.

For the record I wouldn’t have minded paying the $60 to support Trakt, but the way it was handled was very poor and makes me think twice about it upon renewal.

Just my two cents.