Important announcement regarding the future of this forum

A lot has changed in the adult entertainment industry in recent years—especially the growing legal requirement to verify the age of visitors from the UK and other jurisdictions. Implementing these measures is not only complex, but also expensive.

Unfortunately, the FreeOnes forums currently generate no revenue and cost us a significant amount to operate. With new legislation coming into effect, continuing to run the forums in their current form is no longer sustainable. We're left with two choices: shut them down entirely, or introduce a small monthly fee to help cover costs.

We've chosen to keep the forums open—but going forward they will be accessible only to paying members of FreeOnes.com. To make this more affordable, we're reducing the price of our Bronze membership tier to just $3/month.

We understand that this change won’t be welcomed by everyone, but it's the only viable option to keep the community alive while staying compliant with the law.

We're also in the process of making the rest of the site PG-13 compliant, which will allow us to adapt to new regulatory environments and better serve a broader audience.

We'll closely monitor how these changes are received and make adjustments as needed.

To upgrade to Bronze membership and continue enjoying forum access—plus additional benefits—please follow this link: https://www.freeones.com/premium

Thank you for your understanding and continued support.

 

[The Identifier]

UPDATE: FO did lower the price for Bronze.

View attachment 1211551

You got there before we could announce it ourselves but yes, the pricing has been updated - so those wishing to upgrade to a premium membership at the lowest tier can now do so. This will give you unrestricted access the the forum.

Note: The original announcement message above has also been updated to reflect that this price has now changed, rather than it will be.

I upgraded to bronze and can't see anything on the forums when I try to open a thread

nvm my nad

Yes, all should be OK but if anyone has any issues please let us know. Thanks for signing up!

Unfortunately, if you are not a premium member then that will explain any issues you might be having since yesterday's updates.

I would like to make the forum more accessible than it currently is at present but the best that will be possible will be to hide any posts containing links and/or images/attachments. This can't be done without permission first though and whilst it won't satisfy many because all the "juicy bits" will be hidden from view - it is at least an improvement on getting an error message every time you try to click on a thread.

 

[KarlVonBnhf]

I am almost surely gonna be out. I just have not done any verification or paid for stuff. It isn't that I am cheap, just as much as is feasible: not traceable.

Yep, I agree with this 100%. No problem with paying a couple of bucks per month, however, who wants to share debit/credit card details incl. the name for any porn-related service and have the payments on your bank statements? This will be an immediate turn off for many people otherwise willing to contribute, incl. me.
Come up with same anonymous payment way.

 

[efeezy]

I've been here since 2005 and I'm going to miss all of the daily posts from some very cool members. Sad to see this is what it's come to. Everyone be safe and take care.

 

[sadescroll]

Absolutely NOPEEEEEE

 

[The Identifier]

Yep, I agree with this 100%. No problem with paying a couple of bucks per month, however, who wants to share debit/credit card details incl. the name for any porn-related service and have the payments on your bank statements? This will be an immediate turn off for many people otherwise willing to contribute, incl. me.
Come up with same anonymous payment way.

https://www.freeones.com/premium

If you scroll to the bottom there's a FAQ and one of the questions is "what will show up on my credit card statement?"

The answer is something discreet so you can make out that the payment was for whatever you want it to be.

 

[mentator75]

I hope the kiddies appreciate it 🤮

 

[asrock]

It asks me to login when I click on the premium link. But Im already logged in and when I enter my username and password it prompts me to enter them again. How can I upgrade my current account to bronze?

 

[KarlVonBnhf]

https://www.freeones.com/premium

If you scroll to the bottom there's a FAQ and one of the questions is "what will show up on my credit card statement?"

The answer is something discreet so you can make out that the payment was for whatever you want it to be.

1. What about the anonymity / traceability? Does the payment provider or Freeones store the debit/credit card data or just some part of it (whether it's name, card number, what was the card used to pay for etc.)?
2. What about the trustworthiness of the payment provider? I can see the name is Verotel, if I google them, there's basically almost no info on them except of some really negative reviews.

 

[DNK_1998]

I’ve been on this website daily for around 12 years or so but I refuse to pay (I have ******** and a mortgage and bills to pay etc).

I can’t seem to access any forums now. When I try to log in it just asks me to login again?? So is that it now?

 

[gmase]

I hope the kiddies appreciate it 🤮

You know they will. Heck, I'm old enough to remember when you only needed to 'look' over 16 to browse the magazines in the store. Now, it is a free-for-all.

 

[DNK_1998]

I’ve been on this website daily for around 12 years or so but I refuse to pay (I have ******** and a mortgage and bills to pay etc).

I can’t seem to access any forums now. When I try to log in it just asks me to login again?? So is that it now?

The word ‘ch!ldren’ is forbidden too???

 

[Trashmikes]

I would like to make the forum more accessible than it currently is at present but the best that will be possible will be to hide any posts containing links and/or images/attachments.

Why is it necessary to hide posts containing links? Isn't it the website that the link directs to that is responsible for performing any legally required age verification in that case?

 

[Theopolis Q. Hossenffer]

As a suggestion please let us know when lock down will occur as I hope to disconnect watched threads so your computer won’t have to keep track of it anymore. Unless not being a paying member is automatic deletion.

 

[KarlVonBnhf]

I admit I still do not understand fully what exactly happened here, a couple of basic questions:

A lot has changed in the adult entertainment industry in recent years—especially the growing legal requirement to verify the age of visitors from the UK and other jurisdictions. Implementing these measures is not only complex, but also expensive.

#1: So the main costly change is the age verification? Could it please be explained why is it costly to do this? Why is it not enough to do something like adult websites do (for example, if I visit rk.com for the first time, I have to click on "I confirm I am adult" before I see any adult content) or for example Facebook does (you need to confirm you're above 13 when registering)?

Unfortunately, the FreeOnes forums currently generate no revenue and cost us a significant amount to operate. With new legislation coming into effect, continuing to run the forums in their current form is no longer sustainable. We're left with two choices: shut them down entirely, or introduce a small monthly fee to help cover costs.

#2: Are there really just these two choices? Imho it's totally fair to monetize the website even if there weren't any legislation requirements, but does it really have to be done via obligatory subscriptions? What about monetizing it via adds? There are add services for adult sites. Or via some more aggresive freemium model, e.g. at least allowing seeing the posts and not posting or whatever? Or monetizing via another channel? Is locking the forum for the few who are willing to pay really the only way to monetize, and the best one? How many people do we think will stay here under these conditions? What will be the drop in the number of current users, newly acquired users, posts made etc.? I would guess the drops will be enormous.


#3: I still do not understand how the obligatory payments resolve the age verification? If I pay, I can see the full contents of the forum? By paying I don't verify my age, even childrn can have payment cards. So how are the payments and the age verification related?

 

[Theopolis Q. Hossenffer]

Well I was going to add this to my last post but since it won’t let me edit I just have to throw out this question. What will happen to link posting sites like this when ID verification is mandatory universally and potentially each site choosing a different method of verification? Will every link listed then require an ID before the link can be viewed? Or are there plans among adult sites for ever to use just one or two methods? Just wondering.

 

[whalers90]

um what new legislation ?

 

[ratefix]

Does anyone know of any other forum doing this or is freeones the only one?

 

[Connor Macleod]

The updates appear to have created an issue with RIS sites.

Before, I could right-click and click on Research Image. Now, the RIS sites give an error, so I have to download the pic and then submit to the various RIS sites (one at a time), or post it on an image host, and then right-click-blah-blah.

 

[fridgeboy]

This is suicide for Freeones. Ultimately if most people decide to call it quits, and they will, it loses its appeal because the threads will be empty. A subscription only works if the footfall remains the same. At most you'll get revenue for a couple of months before they start to drop as people realise there's not many others here.

 

[fridgeboy]

Advertising is the only viable answer.