Freemium Metaphor: The Free Feast

I play a lot of online games.
I have made several myself which I have made no money off at all. I put them up free for other people to play and enjoy(or not) as they like.
Reading comments on my games and more recently the comments others make about "Freemium" games(Games free to play but with options to purchase extras)... has started to annoy me. So I wrote a quick metaphor to try and communicate my frustration directed towards people complaining about... free stuff.


The Free Feast
A Restaurant makes a feast and allows anyone who can get there to partake for free. There are several courses and diners have quite a few options for a delicious meal.
The chefs and cooks like good food and like making good food and serving it to others for free... but even so the feast is expensive to make. So there are ways for the restaurant to make money.




Revenue
Advertisements:
Advertisers place small adds above the menus, for every thousand customers at the feast advertisers will pay 1 dollar. This can add up(eventually) but is not enough to pay for much.
Sponsorship:
Advertisers can pay 500 to 1500 dollars to put their logo at the entrance. Decent money for a coffee shop but not for a very large restaurant serving good quality free meals to thousands of people a day.
Extras:
this is where the money is made that allows the restaurant to serve free feasts.

• Sauces for 50 cents

• Soft drink for 3 dollars (a glass of water is free)

• reserve the table for an extra half hour for 5 dollars

• a seat at the window for 10 dollars

• an extra course for 20 dollars

• and for those with extra cash they can purchase a seat at the head of the table for 50 dollars

• and a bit of extravagance: for 5000 dollars a diner can buy a spectacular handcrafted dessert

The combined income from a lot of small spenders and a couple of big spenders allows the restaurant to stay open and serve more feasts.

Manners

Please do:

• feel free to inform the staff about any actual problems/defects with their food, they like to know if there is a problem. 

• suggest improvements to the menu, the staff enjoy their work and are always looking for ways to improve the experience for everyone.

Please don't:

• complain about not being able to reserve a table for six hours or eat the expensive dessert without paying money.

• complain about how "unfair" it is that people with money get to sit at the head of the table, that person is paying for your food.

Alternatives to the Free Feast
If you don't like your experience there are several things you can do:
1. pay for some extras to improve your experience
2. go to a normal restaurant, where you will be expected to pay a fixed amount for the meal and any extras




JRT - 25th April 2014