A thought to help Hasbro and Studio B...

[Starfox64x]

So i have this thought about how Hasbro can make a bit more money than they are on their episodes, or just in general, but i want to see if others have the same mindset about this as i do... Take a look at the poll above and answer the questions before continuing... keep in mind the rhetorical episode is just known as a 'special' episode that they didnt show on TV. Dont answer just because yo uwould want the episode, answer it honestly considering how much money you have to spend and how willing you would be to pay for the 'special' episode...

You're probably wondering why i'm asking this... I just have a theory. People are more willing to DONATE than they are to PURCHASE, and usually are more likely to pay MORE if it's a 'donation' and not a 'purchase'.

Here's why i think this... When you're at a store or on itunes, it feels more like a business transaction; If you want X product, you have to pay Y amount, making it feel like a corporate thing, and not that your purchase is ACTUALLY going towards the compan you love. however if the company is asking for donations, it feels more like 'Hey, i love this company and i want to give them some money to help them so they can keep creating what i love!" and then you also get a pretty sweet gift included in that donation. plus the set amount they have at stores makes people feel constrained, but when you choose how much you want to pay, even with a minimum amount, you feel more in control, and sometimes will donate more than the minimum anyway.

If anyone has heard of the humble indie bundle,it was basically a couple of games that were packaged together and put up on their site. they asked that you merely pay at least one cent to purchase them, but you could pay whatever you want. They were hoping to make a million dollars, but at the time they thought it was a stretch to expect that much... however by the end, they had received 4.7 millions dollars.

Bronies have shown this admiration as well, donating $20k just from their end alone, most of which went to charity and other indie games. So we know that bronies are willing to donate for various causes.

So i'm thinking if Hasbro were to make a special episode and put it up as a thank you for donating, they could easily make a good chunk of money for just that one episode. What do you think?

EDIT: As for me, heck yeah i would donate $20 to hasbro and Studio B! I would love to help them out but i dont want to pay $2 for an episode on iTunes or buy the toys... I'm weird i guess, hehe.

As a side note, i'm also thinking if they had levels of gifts depending on how much you donate, you'd get better gifts. say $5 gets you a digital copy of the episode, $15 gets you a physical copy+digital copy, $30 gets you that and an MLP figure, and $50 gets you a signed copy+ figure... something like that. i just think if people are teetering on the edge, the might want to donate more if they can expect to get a little EXTRA something as well.... but that's looking awfully far down the road, i'm more focused on the donate VS purchase topic...

[SirShadowdeath]

I'd donate a good $30 or so.

I mean, they deserve it.

[Starfox64x]

I'd donate a good $30 or so.

I mean, they deserve it.

Indeed they do, so you'd be more than willing to donate $30? how does that compare to just buying an episode on itunes? or a DVD at the store?

[Rosewind]

While any sort of charity is a good thing, I think the HumbleBrony idea is a bit awkward, and it has all of the elements to turn into a scandal very fast -- seeing as they are, what? Giving money to one person to make one big mass donation to the site? Correct me if I'm wrong on that. During the VA interview at the last Bronycon, the guy running HumbleBrony came on stage to tell the VAs where all the money was going, and it was a three way divide between Child's Play/Red Cross/the Developers...it was all garbled so I had trouble understanding him, though his use of the word "mostly" when describing where the money was going caught my interest most of all.

I know we're sailing into some debate territory here, so I'm going to drop anchor, hoist down the sails and pull out the cannons. Is there really a way to confirm where and how much of this mass donation is truly going? I think that the bravado of bronies working in mass together toward a cause (owning over a poll, charity, picking daisies) seems faddish and overdone, and has the potential to hurt the community in a very bad way once something really, truly goes wrong.

Sorry if that's going off point from the OP topic. Hasbro depends on ratings on their network to get paid by their sponsors. I know they do charity donations themselves, so I doubt we'd ever see an exclusive release like you're describing, Sir Fox. It's also known business practice to garner sales by promising that some of the money will also go to a good cause. However, for the sake of "what would you do?", I would happily wait for someone else to pay and watch the reposted episode elsewhere -- if it was for charity, however, I would not mind paying.

We "pay" for the episodes indirectly by watching the commercials and by supporting the purchase of merchandise. Hasbro will have my money for episodes when they release a real box set like the community has been asking them for over a year.

[Starfox64x]

While any sort of charity is a good thing, I think the HumbleBrony idea is a bit awkward, and it has all of the elements to turn into a scandal very fast -- seeing as they are, what? Giving money to one person to make one big mass donation to the site? Correct me if I'm wrong on that. During the VA interview at the last Bronycon, the guy running HumbleBrony came on stage to tell the VAs where all the money was going, and it was a three way divide between Child's Play/Red Cross/the Developers...it was all garbled so I had trouble understanding him, though his use of the word "mostly" when describing where the money was going caught my interest most of all.

I know we're sailing into some debate territory here, so I'm going to drop hoist down the sails and pull out the cannons. Is there really a way to confirm where and how much of this mass donation is truly going? I think that the bravado of bronies working in mass together toward a cause (owning over a poll, charity, picking daisies) seems faddish and overdone, and has the potential to hurt the community in a very bad way once something really, truly goes wrong.

Sorry if that's going off point from the OP topic. Hasbro depends on ratings on their network to get paid by their sponsors. I know they do charity donations themselves, so I doubt we'd ever see an exclusive release like you're describing, Sir Fox. It's also known business practice to garner sales by promising that some of the money will also go to a good cause. However, for the sake of "what would you do?", I would happily wait for someone else to pay and watch the reposted episode elsewhere -- if it was for charity, however, I would not mind paying.

We "pay" for the episodes indirectly by watching the commercials and by supporting the purchase of merchandise. Hasbro will have my money for episodes when they release a real box set like the community has been asking them for over a year.

Hm, well yeah, i see what you mean about the brony bundle... i didn't think of that... but i would like to hope that they wouldn't do that...

As for ratings and sponsers, yeah, thats' one thing that concerned me, would they make less money with the donation way rather than the sponsor way. Plus with the episodes, when they reruns the episode they got profit from the commercials they have then too, so it's a constant profit for one episode as opposed to a couple dollars for a single purchase...

although if they were to make a straight to DVD movie, then there wouldn't be as many ads and sponsers, so they'd only get $12 or so for the DVD purchase ANYWAY, so if they were to so a full length movie instead, than that might make more sense to do the donate thing rather than a single episode.

As for watching it elsewhere, i think if it were a choice between donate, purchase, or watch for free, i'd choose donate, especially for a movie, (althoguh followed by watch for free, then purchase last...) i think i'd feel more like i was cheating them if there was some way to donate for the episdoes rather than jsut 'buy' them, so i'd probably go the donate route instead.

[Rosewind]

Hm, well yeah, i see what you mean about the brony bundle... i didn't think of that... but i would like to hope that they wouldn't do that...

As for ratings and sponsers, yeah, thats' one thing that concerned me, would they make less money with the donation way rather than the sponsor way. Plus with the episodes, when they reruns the episode they got profit from the commercials they have then too, so it's a constant profit for one episode as opposed to a couple dollars for a single purchase...

although if they were to make a straight to DVD movie, then there wouldn't be as many ads and sponsers, so they'd only get $12 or so for the DVD purchase ANYWAY, so if they were to so a full length movie instead, than that might make more sense to do the donate thing rather than a single episode.

As for watching it elsewhere, i think if it were a choice between donate, purchase, or watch for free, i'd choose donate, especially for a movie, (althoguh followed by watch for free, then purchase last...) i think i'd feel more like i was cheating them if there was some way to donate for the episdoes rather than jsut 'buy' them, so i'd probably go the donate route instead.

You're really smart. Will you be my Valentine?

[Starfox64x]

You're really smart. Will you be my Valentine?

Why thank you =3 hehe, Sure! i dont have one, and a fellow brony would be a fun valentine i betcha

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Moving to Brony Chatter.

[SirShadowdeath]

Indeed they do, so you'd be more than willing to donate $30? how does that compare to just buying an episode on itunes? or a DVD at the store?

I don't really need a DVD or an episode. It's almost useless to me. I just think they should get the money, regardless of what I recieve in turn.

[RarityDash]

I'd be just as likely to donate as to purchase. if there was an episode I could only get a certain way, I'd get it. It's that simple.

If it was a donation, I'd probably give a little more than the minimum. Not much more though. Probably just $10.

[Bronynumber299]

I didn't know that SOOOOO many people use itunes I watch all my episodes on youtube for free but I would pay money for a special episode if it's not on the youtubes