Learned the term recently and really enjoy it, subscription fatigue is the feeling we all have had now where we are just over how everything is subscription based.

Which one was the last straw or most annoying/frustrating to you?

  • @[email protected]
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    592 years ago

    I think the one that did it for me was Xbox game pass. I’ve never been much of a fan of digital games, but Xbox game pass made me see what the future of games will be.

    You will pay an ever increasing amount per month to play whatever Microsoft or whoever decides you can be allowed to play. You will own nothing you play and if you cancel your subscription, your console is worthless. Meanwhile the service will be crammed with ads, the games themselves crammed with ads, and your data harvested and sold for “personalized” ads.

    I only buy physical games now.

  • Pika
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    152 years ago

    Sublime Text 4 going subscription based instead of major release based. I downgraded back to ST3 and am keeping my lifetime license on that one. The alternative is a 3 year usage license which is trash for the price you need to pay

      • Pika
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        22 years ago

        it went subscription based starting with ST4, ST3 and lower had a lifetime sub to that major version

      • Pika
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        22 years ago

        this is correct, you get access to every update in that window, instead of everything in that major release. It is better than it could be but, it’s rediculous to purchase a software that doesn’t even give you the full release of it. It also doesn’t alert you before upgrading/updating to a release outside your license window and relies on you figuring out how to downgrade after if you let it auto update.

  • AlicePraxis [any]
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    122 years ago

    I used to pay for software subscriptions. I had a subscription to Substance 3D software and then they sold their company to Adobe 🤮 so now I 🏴‍☠️

    also stopped paying for Spotify after the Rogan deal. I still use the free version for the “discover weekly” playlists, and I can’t tolerate ads so I use an app called Mutify which mutes the ads as soon as they start playing which is a godsend

    never paid for any streaming subscriptions and never will, VPN+piracy+Plex is an objectively better experience. no ads, no content removal, no paying $$$ to rich psychopathic ghouls

  • @[email protected]
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    432 years ago

    Around the time when netflix started to suck, and new subacription services popped up everywhere.

    Then a lot of other things that shouldnt rely on a aubscription started getting it. Random apps with a pro mode. The pro mode was now a subscription… its dreadful.

    I refuse to get a subscription i would “need” to keep around fpr years.

    Here we have 1 video streaming service for a month or two every once in a while. Never two at the same time.

  • Io Sapsai 🌱
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    92 years ago

    My mobile plan. The standard is signing for 24 months. I can’t really choose a plan that suits me, they stick virtually unlimited calls (which I barely use), and add mobile data that I can’t use up either. Settling for less barely reduces my bill if at all for whatever reason. On top of this, despite me signing for a set fixed amount to pay, they decide to “index” an extra 10-15% every year due to “unforseen circumstances” like inflation. And every time I sign a new contract I get an extra 10% on top of my bill for the same features I don’t use. Oh and they add a “happy call” where the call signal sounds like a piercing annoying very low quality melody, despite me denying the service. Switching to another telecom doesn’t really remedy the problem, the other two on the market here seem worse than mine in every respect.

    Looking at the prepaid features, we’re looking at a 40-50% reduction in monthly fees, just paying for what I use, whenever I want to use it. It’s needlessly annoying switching from a subscription to a prepaid plan. You’d have to switch telecoms for a month and switch back to the one you like the most if you want to keep your number.

    So yeah, as soon as my contract expires, I’m done with renewing. I’m sick of this.

  • @[email protected]
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    742 years ago

    Netflix, and when they said I’d have to pay for password sharing for my stepkids, because they use my account when they’re at their dad’s.

    That was the last straw. I cracked the shits, bought a couple of ex-enterprise servers, and setup … something different. I then cancelled all streaming services (I got wind of the second Disney hike coming).

    The cool thing is they now email me with cheap rejoin offers, telling me about all the cool shows I need to be aware of. ;)

    • norb
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      132 years ago

      If you have kids, the PBS Kids video app is pretty alright. And free (in the US of course)

      • lol3droflxp
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        62 years ago

        It doesn’t compress video more on mobile devices, that’s all I need to know. When I connect an iPad or iPhone to the home cinema setup, the compression is much worse then on an old laptop.

      • @[email protected]
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        232 years ago

        I admit, last time I tried something different years ago, it wasn’t that good, but thought I’d give it another go. I’d bought a lifetime pass way back, so had nothing to lose by trying.

        The kids are coping fine - the apps for something different are all pretty rock-solid now - macOS, iOS, Android, Chromecast GTV. Plus I’m on a decent fibre internet connection, so even full high quality things work just fine when they’re not at home. Honestly, there’s not a lot of difference, except my catalogue of things is better than any single service.

        Plus I take requests. :D Actually, I allow automated processing of requests, within certain limits.

      • @[email protected]
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        72 years ago

        I started again since a year or so. And decided to set up a home server (from an old pc) with the whole *arr suite this summer. Automation these days really is marvelous. You just tell it once which show you want to watch. It fetches you all the shows that are already out and also fetches you each new episode every week. And it’s all in good quality. And you can set automatic subtitles straight from the app’s interface.

      • aard
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        32 years ago

        Mine are handling oit perfectly fine - and we have the added difficulty of having German as mother tongue, and wanting to keep the English language content in the kids library low. Finding german language torrents is rather tricky.

        • @[email protected]
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          22 years ago

          I’m a native English speaker so take this with a grain of salt.

          Usernet? If memory holds there are a few German language indexers.

      • Dandroid
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        92 years ago

        I self host my stuff with Plex and it’s really not any less convenient than Netflix or whatever else.

        • SporadicSpiral
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          52 years ago

          Yep, my son put together a machine to use as a PLEX server & I log in and watch things from across town. It works perfectly fine.

  • @[email protected]
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    172 years ago

    Paramount +. I love Stat Trek, but I’m not paying for one service to watch 20 - 30 new eps a year of one franchise. Even more egregious is they were so slow rolling out in the UK, half their shows were spread across Netflix and Amazon already, if they pull them from there, I’m just torrenting.

    • @[email protected]
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      32 years ago

      Not to mention it’s a paid subscription that still has commercials. Paramount+ has such little content it shouldn’t cost money and it plays fucking commercials on everything. It’s a travesty and is the perfect example of how we’ve reached endshitification in the streaming world. It’s just cable with extra steps now. Hoist the Jolly Rodger.

  • @[email protected]
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    72 years ago

    I bought a new PC in 2021 (because building was hard due to supply shortages) and it came with GamePass Ultimate. When I combined my existing Xbox Gold subscription, it gave me something like 1.5 years worth of GamePass Ultimate, which was really great! Once that subscription expired, I had saved up for a year worth of another subscription up front, but noticed they only offered month-to-month at that point. I realized I wasn’t playing GamePass games enough to warrant the subscription (might have been different if I could install on my Steam Deck, not through a Windows install or streaming).

    Once that GamePass subscription came up, and then Netflix started cracking down on password sharing that I was sharing with my sister in the next city over, it made me question a lot of recurring subscription. For streaming TV shows/movies, I think going forward we’ll have one service subscribed to but bouncing around to catch up on shows that my wife and I may want to watch. For GamePass, I’ll probably resubscribe once Starfield comes out.

    • @[email protected]
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      22 years ago

      Your idea for resubcribing to gamepass is an idea everyone should use for every subscription. Only pay for a subscription if there’s something on it that you want and stop paying for it when there’s nothing on it that you want.

  • zeroxxx
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    172 years ago

    Spotify. It is a mirror of my Youtube Premium and Youtube gives me better value. So I ditched Spotify.

    • @[email protected]
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      12 years ago

      I kept Spotify for way too long to listen to podcasts, not realizing I can listen to them for free with other apps

    • @[email protected]
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      42 years ago

      Yeah I stopped using Spotify when I got YouTube premium. Though I never paid for Spotify but still. Like what’s the point of listening to music with Spotify when I only have to pay less than $10 to get both YouTube benefits but also YouTube music.

      I do miss Spotify wrapped, but YouTube’s wrapped isn’t so bad.

  • @[email protected]
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    172 years ago

    Netflix. Price hikes with lesser content that no one in my house wants to watch. Subcriptions for occasional use stuff been purged since that.

  • danisth [he/him]
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    112 years ago

    I signed up for Netflix years ago. When they decided to make it cost more to let my parents share the sub I pulled the plug.

  • @[email protected]
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    132 years ago

    Netgear. Being told to “subscribe” for basic customer service made me get a whole new modem cause I’m not putting up with that bullshit