For several yeas now, I have paid my $5.95 a month to be a "paid subscriber" to Gamespot.

The advantanges were:

1. NO ads (you didn't have to see the occasional screen ad delay, which you can click to bypass anyway. ( A minor boon but only worth a few pennies a month)
2. You could change the color of your name under your avatar. (Okay it's kinda diff, but not worth the monthly cost)
3. You could comment and participate in "Subscriber Only Forums" ( WHich I don't recall ever doing in the over two years I have paid for my subscriptionm so it really was of no value to me)
4. I received PRIORITY CUSTOMER SUPPORT, which when I DID actually have an issue, it took them over 40 days to resolve it, hence (it was not worth the investment in the least)
5. You can watch the ads and movies in HD (not worth the cost either considering they are only trailers for the most part anyway)
6. OH YEAH..... YOU GET A SGT STRIPE in lieu of private stripe in your ACHEIVEMENTS data on your profile.

I attempted many times to STOP my subscription, BUT, the attempt was a never ending acycle of signing in to the same screen over and over and over, like putting two mirrors facing each other and you see an infinite number of the same thing over and over. Subsequently, life poo'ed on my daily routine and I had to cancel my oldDebit/Credit card and get a new one, and did NOT change my billing info on the SPOT, and finally they sent me the message that I had been cancelled.

I spent a lot of time noting that those whom I communcate with the most on the spot do NOT have paid accounts and kept wondering if there was a discenable difference, and so far I must say NO.

I have in my own personal opinion noted the decline of the spot to a major degree since the inception of Raptr & Fuse. First came Raptr, which was a bit different and an adder to the spot, then it kinda faded away and the took some of the content on the spot and shifted it to FUSE. I suppose it was to broaden the "advertising" intake to increase revenues, as we KNOW the don't do this out of the kindness of their hearts. But in all honesty, when they made the format change, and took all you cheevos and shifted them out of the SPOT, it has all been down hill.

Just visit the UNIONS as a whole, they are dead.... for the most part, the biggest COMMUNITY adavantage they had and it is withering away. So, IMO either the spot is withering away, or gaming as a whole is in the tank. Heck I don't know...

FYI, I also use IGN & GI and they never lived up to the social level that GS did, but I don't visit them at all anymore, but still cling to my GS visits daily and TRY to keep my past dedication to certain social sites entact and from becoming a total was of my time.

What do you think? Have you ever paid for you scipt here? Do you think it is failing as a whole?

What do you see as missing? AND..... do you also see the decline of the site since the total re-formtting of the site and the addition of Raptr & Fuse?

I would really like to see some responses here from long time spotters.....

Have a good one..

"B"