[IMPORTANT UPDATE] New Subscription Tiers + Readers Library Now Live as of October 3, 2025
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Im not particularly fond of the credit I earned from last months premium subscription being not enough to buy a book this month. And finding out about it after the price change went through. No before price change get it while you can event, which would of softened it all.
The actual price change I do not mind. Just that month not equalling a book credit despite that being its purpose.
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@morbelek said in [IMPORTANT UPDATE] New Subscription Tiers + Readers Library Now Live as of October 3, 2025:
They have also given notice. They have sent out emails, held a stream, even posted on their website. I personally saw the stream and got the email before the October 3rd date.
The problem is that they only sent the email to newsletter subscribers. The video was only posted on YouTube and may not have been pushed to users unless they were YouTube followers. So they haven't given notice to all users per se. The post on the website was placed yesterday, after the implementation...
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@morbelek Thanks for the detailed response. I figured it would be more or less something like that. Although I disagree with you on the subject of notice - I certainly did not receive any from J-Novel until after they had already changed my ongoing membership and plenty of others have said the same. And I still today haven't received a single email from them on the subject. But that likely is irrelevant to any legalities based on your other points.
I'm just going to stop buying any coins for the remainder of my subscription as I feel I've been cheated out of the 15% discount I signed up for. I'm not under any illusions J-Novel will lose any sleep over that, but I'd probably have bought 30-40 books over that time, so it's still a chunk of money they've thrown away over not treating members fairly.
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As a premium subscriber this is a breach of trust.
I was holding twelve months worth of coins which means I could have bought twelve books if I was warned before this change. Now that the value of coins has decreased, I can only buy ten.
I wouldn't have minded increasing my monthly subscription, I understand why prices for every service are increasing, but with what you just did I have lost my trust in you.
This thing wouldn't have been possible with the old premium credits system that was replaced by coins three years ago.
Since the catchups are also gone I don't have any use to keep my subscription active.
I have hence canceled my subscription.
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Adding my voice to those unhappy with the implementation of this change. If I had received any notice, as a user who visits the website multiple times per day and checks my email compulsively, I would have thought nothing of the price increase and would likely have upgraded my subscription without a second thought.
Instead, the announcement on the website went up AFTER the change had gone through, and I still have not received any notice via email. I don't spend much time on youtube and similar sites because, unsurprisingly, I prefer READING my news. The idea that the website itself wasn't the first and highest priority venue for this announcement is ludicrous. The coins I have been sitting on have decreased in value, and the 38 (I counted after reading this announcement) books I was intending to purchase around the holidays are more expensive. I would have absolutely made different decisions with even 24 hours notice.
I have not yet decided whether to renew my subscription in February or not, but prior to this it wasn't even a question that I was going to continue, and now it very much is. I will likely only purchase half of the books I was intending to this winter as well.
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With my reading habits, I'm not particularly affected by the change to club membership. I enjoyed the occasional Catch-Up series, but I've been here long enough that most of the time I had already tried all the series on offer. I will miss that short moment of hope each month that there will be a gem in there, but the randomness of it meant that it always felt like a bonus when something good popped up.
The reader's tier looks completely worthless to me, though it might be good for someone new to LNs. At most, I would buy a month's subscription to it, read the handful of decent series in there, then cancel. If it was a ~1$ add-on to the club membership, it might be worth it, but it's not worth a 60% increase. Put another way, the 0.50$ discount to have both is insultingly low.
And finally, the way this has been handled makes me exceedingly happy I never got around to upgrading to premium, and has ensured I never will. Screwing over your biggest supporters with no warning is a bad look. I still get enough value to continue my club membership, but this whole thing left a sour taste in my mouth and I'm going to be reminded about it every month when I wonder what's on Catch-Up.
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I'm in the unfortunate boat of having renewed my year's subscription just in September, and not getting what I paid for only a month later. I must admit, the monthly catchup is 80% of what I pay for, followed by 20% weekly update reading on a couple novels I'm invested in.
The lack of communication here really is horrible. Having opted out of the newsletter, I still feel like if they were going to alter the terms of the subscription service, they should have sent a special communication just to cover their legal bases. To have nothing, not even a banner on the website, is really unforgivable.
The other piece is how the catchup feature has morphed into a library feature. This to me is not a replacement. I see the argument for not making things time-bound, but it doesn't tie into the non-reader subscriptions as well, given that the only reading benefit these subscriptions offer is the prepub release access. The library doesn't let you catch up to current at all - it's just select volumes.
It's hard not to be bent out of shape here. I still believe in the work that JNC does and I believe in supporting translators and editors, but this was such a carpet pull that I'm starting to feel regret in spending money on a subscription. I feel taken advantage of. The current legacy model is nothing without the monthly catchup feature. I could have easily taken the hit to the discount in coin purchases - indeed, I might not have even noticed.
I really feel like they should bring back the monthly catchups for the next year just for the legacy subscription holders, and not allow legacy renewals. That seems like the most fair way to transition. The chosen model really sucks, and like many others here, I feel like my trust has been betrayed.
