Important changes at RapidShare.com

[Gman496]

Important changes at RapidShare.com


They seem to be changing a perfectly simple system for the most complicated and convoluted method.

I read the whole thing and I have no idea what it actually means.

New product and pricing models make RapidShare as flexible and low priced as never before

June 25, 2010
As of June 29, 2010, RapidShare is changing its product and payment models. In future, the costs for RapidShare accounts will no longer be tiered according to time period; instead there will be five packages with differing features. These packages will be paid for with a new currency known as "Rapids". In order to grant our customers maximum flexibility when choosing the type of package, they will be able to switch between packages on a daily basis and hence select the features that suit them best at the time.
All previous Collector's accounts will be automatically converted into free Premium accounts on July 1, 2010, thus making it still possible to use the RapidShare service without charge.

What is actually changing: pricing model
RapidShare is launching a new currency: Rapids. This will allow users to take up various packages from June 29, 2010.
Rapids can be acquired in the following increments:

Prepaid funds
400 Rapids € 4,99
1.000 Rapids € 9,95
2.000 Rapids € 19,90
5.000 Rapids € 49,75
20.000 Rapids € 199,00

Many users will already have Rapids in their accounts from the start as both the remaining days in existing Premium accounts and unused traffic share will be converted automatically into Rapids. For each remaining day, the user will be credited with 20 Rapids. For example, if there are 10 days left in a Premium account, the user will receive 200 Rapids. Each GB of traffic share will be converted into 5 Rapids.
Any accumulated Free- and Premium-RapidPoints can also be converted into Rapids until July 6, 2010. Altogether, 5,000 Free-RapidPoints and 5,000 Premium-RapidPoints equate to 600 Rapids; 50,000 Free-RapidPoints and 50,000 Premium-RapidPoints will give 6,000 Rapids.
A maximum of 50,000 Rapids can be obtained by converting existing RapidPoints, traffic share or the remaining time on a Premium account.

What is actually changing: product model
These modifications will not change anything for Free Users. Owners of previous Collector's accounts will receive free Premium accounts, enabling them to manage their uploaded files in the Premium Zone. Downloading and storing are just the same as for the previous Collector's account.
Users who have Rapids can choose from five types of fee-paying package. What is special about these packages is that every user can turn the features off and on to suit their needs from day to day. In this way, we hope to offer our customers an even better service and, above all, much more flexibility than before.

Overview of fee-paying packages:
Name Price / day Storage Traffic / day Filemanagement Directdownload Foldermanagement Verification Licence Manager Licence Manager+
RapidSmall 4 Rapids 10 GB 1 GB x x
RapidMedium 20 Rapids 50 GB 5 GB x x x
RapidBig 78 Rapids 200 GB 20 GB x x x x
RapidSupersize 229 Rapids 600 GB 60 GB x x x x x
RapidBusiness 449 Rapids 1200 GB 120 GB x x x x x x

* RapidSmall For the RapidSmall package, users pay 4 Rapids a day. This gives them 10 GB of secured storage and a daily traffic volume of 1 GB. What's more, they can take advantage of file management and direct download features.
* RapidMedium Those who opt for the RapidMedium deal get, in exchange for 20 Rapids a day, 50 GB of secured storage and a daily traffic volume of 5 GB. In addition to file management and direct downloads, users will be able to manage their data in folders.
* RapidBig Holders of RapidBig accounts have access to 200 GB of secured storage and a traffic limit of 20 GB. Along with other RapidMedium features, in this version users will also be able to have their account verified. The RapidBig package costs 78 Rapids a day.
* RapidSupersize With the RapidSupersize account, users receive 600 GB of secured storage and 60 GB of daily traffic in return for 229 Rapids a day. As an added feature, users will have the ability to sell their own files via the Licence Manager.
* RapidBusiness With RapidBusiness, commercial customers benefit from being able to store and grant others access to even greater quantities of data for 449 Rapids a day. In addition to the features of the RapidSupersize deal, customers will have access to Licence Manager+.

Plus, business customers can receive targeted offers on request.
If users load their account with Rapids through payment or by converting RapidPoints, Traffic or remaining time, they will be set up with the smallest package (RapidSmall), with the option to upgrade at any time.
All features of the new model will be explained in further detail on June 29, 2010 on rapidshare.com.

I think it might go something like this but I'm not 100% sure????


Reading between the lines they have just decided to loose the support of the mass of their customers.

With the conversion of Premium users remaining days you are getting in exchange for your 25gb a day, 5gb a day (one day converts to 20rapids which allows 5gb a day) so essentially your account has lost 80% of it's value because of the changes (assuming you download the max each day, which I'm sure some folks do!).

You also have to keep an eye on your chosen usage level as if you increase it to allow for heavier use and then don't drop it back down again afterwards you will be wasting your 'rapids'.


What do you lot make of it all?

LINK:


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[Chimaera]

Its a mess !!

Ive just dumped my rapid account and decided to pay for newsgroups instead, i cant see the point with rapid anymore, ive been with them for years but they account gets jacked every few weeks and other things that happen its a mess..

So no more rapid for me, and i guess a lot of others with follow suit

 

[dan-ger-ous]

I just had my collectors account converted into a premium account, its still useless though, cant download as a premium user, only have 70 rapid points. :gah:

I'd dump rapidshare altogether but there seems to me quite a large proportion of copyrighted material hosted on their servers.

 

[dan-ger-ous]

Could someone explain what this means for users who have use the account for uploading and earning points?

Should i be calling points; 'points' or 'rapids'?

Does this mean once you reach the required number of rapids for a package then you can convert it for that package?

Where about would it say how many 'points' or 'rapids' you have? It says "Rapid paid until: unavailable", wouldnt have thought i'd be asking this out of the many questions that i have LOL!

But got to agree, this is well well confusing, there was nothing wrong with the old system and its made it far more complicated and now nobody is going to pay for anything. I've now over the past few weeks seen a big reduction in how many users upload to rapidshare, hotfile and fileserve seem to be the most popular right now.

 

[Gman496]

My understanding is that is no more reward whatsoever for uploaders dan

 

[ferguj1]

Hotfile is good but the new captcha phrases make it hard to use a lot of download managers as a free user.

 

[Linny40]

well im glad its not just me that got confuzzled a few weeks ago. I had a free account that got changed, then wanted to upload summit had had some sort of points, a few days later and well it seems to have changed again. I paid a months fee so i could finish doing what i was doing, but now you cant upload or download without a prem account. Will you still need to pay to download stuff that people put on there.
I must confess i did email them and all i got back was similar to what Gman has put above - and you guys know how blonde i can be lol! BUT if the likes of you guys are confuzzled then well theres no hope for people like me is there!
I have jstu looked at my account and i have

Login alias: xxxxxx RapidPro paid until: 12 day(s) 0 hours 2 minutes Extend RapidPro
Change E-Mail: xxxxxxxxxxxx Traffic left: 15 696 MB Charge Traffic
Rapids: 301

So i have 301 rapids and traffic left is 15696 oh and 12 days to use it in - so what happens then do i loose everything if i dont use it within the 12 days

Oh plus one other thing ill mention when i had my free collectors account they change it all over, then a fews days later they changed it again - i have 2 accounts ( apparently) one they transfered everything to and the other one - well its got nothing in it.

As i said it dotn take much to confuzzle me LOL

Maybe its an idea for you guys to make a tkshare site lol!

 

[dan-ger-ous]

well im glad its not just me that got confuzzled a few weeks ago. I had a free account that got changed, then wanted to upload summit had had some sort of points, a few days later and well it seems to have changed again. I paid a months fee so i could finish doing what i was doing, but now you cant upload or download without a prem account. Will you still need to pay to download stuff that people put on there.
I must confess i did email them and all i got back was similar to what Gman has put above - and you guys know how blonde i can be lol! BUT if the likes of you guys are confuzzled then well theres no hope for people like me is there!
I have jstu looked at my account and i have

So i have 301 rapids and traffic left is 15696 oh and 12 days to use it in - so what happens then do i loose everything if i dont use it within the 12 days

Oh plus one other thing ill mention when i had my free collectors account they change it all over, then a fews days later they changed it again - i have 2 accounts ( apparently) one they transfered everything to and the other one - well its got nothing in it.

As i said it dotn take much to confuzzle me LOL

Maybe its an idea for you guys to make a tkshare site lol!

LOL, and yes Linny, last time i remember having a premium account which i shared, before this 'rapids' nonsense back into play. The traffic you had remaining would just freeze at the time and date given of your account expiration. If you've anything on the account you want to re-download then it would be best if you did so before the account expires, rapidshare free user downloads are appauling. I'm confused with my collectors account too which is now a premium account, seems to be no indication of what you actually recieve when people download your files, its a right mess now.

 

[Gman496]

Rapidshare's New System Explained (I hope!)

I put this question to a colleague on another forum and he responded with the following explanation.

It actually makes sense to me now & might even prove to be a better setup for downloaders after all?

Hopefully it will give you all a better understanding of how the new system works?


My query:

Originally Posted by Gman496
I purchased a years premium subscription on 28/03/2010 at a cost of 54.99 EUR but when I check my account status it reports that I have 10 day(s) 16 hours 9 minutes left?

What is this all about?

I use it mainly for downloading so does that mean in 10 days my account is expired even though it's only 4 months into a 12 month subscription?

Response from iquitalready: on Boards.ie


No. They have changed from a subscription based model to a credit one. When the new system came into effect, they converted whatever time you had left (8 months in your case, plus any trafficshare you may have had) into 'Rapids', which is what they are calling their currency if you like. It now costs you 99 Rapids for 30GB of traffic volume every 30 days. If you need more, you can top up by 5GB which costs 14 Rapids each time. This is my Rapidshare a/c:

So in this instance...

1. This is how many Rapids I have left in my account. I had roughly 6 months left in my subscribtion plus about 40GB of additional trafficshare volume I had purchased. At a cost now of 99 Rapids per month, this will last me over 3 years!

2. The time left here indicates how long I have left in my 30 day period. I don't have to worry about this as Rapidshare will automatically extend this at the end of the period for an addition 99 credits.

3. This is the traffic volume I have left in the 30 day period. You get 30GB to use and I have just over 11GB left. If I use this up before the end of the 30 days, Rapidshare will automatically add another 5GB and debit 14 Rapids from my account.


Overall, I'd say this system is much better than the old one. As you can see from my account, the 54.99 I spent last December will last me another 3 years. It is also more flexible in that if you go into 'Settings' you can turn off automatic extensions, thereby saving your even more money if you knew you weren't going to be using Rapidshare for an extended period of time.

Do bear in mind that I am looking at this from the perspective of a downloader; it maybe quite a different experience for people who upload a lot.

Hope that helps.

 

[Linny40]

not quite sure i get it but: the 54.99 paid equates to 3762 rapids so do we work that out at : 3762/99=38/12= just over 3 yrs so i have

Login alias: xxxxxx RapidPro paid until: 10 day(s) 16 hours 16 minutes Extend RapidPro
Change E-Mail:xxxxxxxx Traffic left: 13 204 MB Charge Traffic
Rapids: 301
Server time: Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:18:29 CEST S

SO if i have 301 rapids 301/99=3/12=0.25 so does that mean i have 3 months left to spend my rapids ?? so in 10 days they will take another 99 rapids.
I dont do an awful lot of either but suppose if i have it it means i can download so much each month until my fees/rapids run out. suppose it cost more to upload.

god now my brain hurts lol!

 

[dan-ger-ous]

I have no idea, lol! Its alot worse than their previous system, they make it out as you get alot for your money but its not true. Its now select a package, use it up and thats it end of story. Before they changed the system, the download quota would be renewed to 25GB at midnight everyday.

 

[dan-ger-ous]

Looks like rapidshare have made major changes to their websites appearance aswell now. :)

 

[Gman496]

Yes, Rapidshare have changed their system all over again, and I don't think it is for the better:

New claim, new website, new features
RapidShare has completely redesigned its website and is taking off with numerous new features. After we kept the website simple and functional for years, from now on, our users will be met by a youthful and modern design. This is reflected on one hand by a visually attractive user interface. On the other, we have designed the website pages and content to be much better arranged and user friendly, and in addition, we have integrated a few new functions.

The most striking innovation has to be the introduction of RapidShare as an Anti-Waiting Company. What is behind this? Quite simply, it is the thought that waiting sucks, whether it lasts for a minute or half an hour. RapidShare wants to do something about this and has imagined something special for all its users: in the Anti-Waiting Lounge, users from now on can sweeten their waiting time and test themselves on various online games. We brought the old classic Cosmic Defender back to life for the launch of the Lounge. This will soon be followed by other cult games.

As an additional feature of the website, we are currently testing an application called RapidContact, thanks to which our users all around the world can come into contact with each other, get to know each other and communicate with each other. More information about this will be available in the coming weeks. We want to test the functionalities with selected users in a beta version first and work on the further development of the application with them.

An adjustment has also been made to our price structure. Following the introduction of RapidPro in July, we took three months to observe and evaluate the response of our users. The result: the prepaid model with the purchase of Rapids was overwhelmingly well received. However, many customers have expressed the wish that, when they purchase RapidPro, they should have a larger amount of disc space and traffic available to them than is the case at the moment. We are now making this wish come true: From this point on, every RapidPro user will receive five times the amount of disc space and traffic, i.e. 50 GB of storage and 150 GB of traffic every 30 days.
The costs are of course changing accordingly: 30 days of RapidPro now cost 495 Rapids. The smallest Rapid Package has 500 Rapids and costs 5.99 Euros. In addition, packages with 1,000, 2,000, 6,000 and 20,000 Rapids are available. Whoever activates RapidPro directly for 12 months receives the 12 months at the special price of 5,499 Rapids and is given VIP status. VIP customers will be favoured in future beta tests and receive invitation codes for RapidContact. As before, users can purchase additional traffic quotas on top of this, in 100 GB slices. 100 GB are charged per 280 Rapids.
We hope all our users will enjoy exploring the new RapidShare website.
Your Anti-Waiting-Company

 

[Linny40]

lol i was confuzzled last time - suppose i should take a look to see whats going on lol! ive not had an mail form them to say they are changing things - do they not bother telling anyone

 

[j4v3d]

rapidshare have gone tits up