I've been looking at info and reading chats and listening to the "let's talk about memberships" special podcast. I was a little aprehensive at first, but after listening to them talk about why they're doing it, I really feel better about the whole situation. (Especially the part where Dave Snyder was talking about how the page itself was originally designed with no ads in mind: longer pages for less page jumps, which means less ad views. Since bringing ads to their site, they've always tried to keep them relevant to gaming, and they express that with their particular audience, they often hear from advertisers, "why would I advertise to the hardcore crowd, they already know what they want."
The one thing that seems to have everyone up in arms is the Bombcast. The Bombcast will be split into 2 parts. The first half is for everyone, the second half is a timed exclusive for paid members. The second half gets a 1 week delay for non-paid members.
They mention multiple times in the "let's talk about memberships" podcast that the format will change. I really wouldn't be surprised if most of the free podcast is the meat, like what people have been playing, news, and new releases. Then the second hour would probably be a lot of shenanagins, maybe emails, and probably the Nintendo downloads dramatic reading (I think they even mention that this wouldn't be in the free one, since it's a joke segment and not real news usually)
Anyway, if the Bombcast change seems like it's going too far, I suggest listening to the "Let's Talk About Memberships!" podcast. You get some honest info on why this is all happening. I'm not saying it will change your mind, but I'm more optimistic after listening to it. We'll see in time how things actually turn out though.
