The announcement of the new World Championship Series actually affects me in terms of my ticket subscription for GSL.

Due to the change, VODs of WCS are now available for free at 720p on TwitchTV and GomTV.

Here are the details of the ticket changes provided by GomTV,

Light Ticket:

HQ(720p) Live, VODs (540p)

Premium Ticket:
EHQ(1080p) Live, VODs (720p), Korean VODs, access to our mobile website (VODs and live stream), Boxee TV

Premium Plus Ticket:
EHQ(1080p) Live, VODs (720p), Korean VODs, access to our mobile website (VODs and live stream), Boxee TV, free VOD downloads on the iOS GSL App, no advertisements

Before the change, VODs of GSL were not free unless there was a special promotion. Light Ticket holders could access to the VODs at 540p. I am a Light Ticket holder for GSL. Thus, everything stays the same except for the upgrade of the quality of Live from 540p to 720p.

I certainly do not mind the free upgrade of the live quality. Thank you.

However, my satisfaction as a consumer is offset by the availability of free VODs. This is because I compare myself with those who have not paid for a ticket. Their gain is much better than mine since they gain access to free VODs now when they couldn’t before the change. To make things worse, they now have access to 720p VODs, which I didn’t have with a Light Ticket before the change. Sure, I have free access to 720p VODs too, but the value of my Light Ticket just went to drain. The very reason I bought a Light Ticket is to have access to VODs, which is free for all now. Moreover, the quality is better than I had with the ticket. This brings up memory of some of the research by Andersen, Fornell or Rust on customer satisfaction.

Technically speaking, I still have access to what I paid for, and even getting better quality for live stream. I’m not a law student, but I doubt GomTV is liable to legal action. To be fair, it is hard for GomTV to come up with a solution that’s satisfactory for all.

Nevertheless, I will reevaluate the gain and loss before I get my next ticket.