Photic

XLIFE definitely feels like a cost cutting measure. I only chose the Alexandra apartment because it's the only new offering on XLIFE that felt close to a "full" apartment with two bedroom cams, a kitchen cam, and a bathroom cam. I have no interest in the apartments that don't have coverage for multiple rooms. I am just hoping they will keep this as a seperate option alongside the more premium RLC with the vacation apartments. I wouldn't even mind paying more for RLC if they would introduce some new features to make it worth it. I would love to see them upgrade to 4K cams. I feel like the 1080p era has passed. But since they are trying to cut costs I guess that won't be happening any time soon. I really wish a new RLC competitor would emerge that offers a more premium experience. It would need to have all of RLC's features plus the higher 4K resolution and maybe some other perks such as the ability to speed up the video in real time rather than just jumping ahead in 30 second intervals. That would really shake things up and it would give RLC a reason to step up their game.

I subbed to the Alexandra apartment just to test things out and see how it compares to RLC. You're right, the cams are somewhat worse quality, especially the audio. The activity timeline is essentially worthless as it shows constant activity whether there is any movement or not. Additionally when using the replay the cams are not properly synced with each other, so switching between cams in the replay causes the time between cams to be way out of sync. For example if you've been on the kitchen cam for a while then switch to the bedroom cam it may be 30 minutes later in time from the point you switched. The cams also tend to glitch and time jump a lot even when you're just watching a single cam. It will occassionally jump forward in time at random. There is also no forward and back buttons like RLC has to jump forward or back in 30 second intervals. Though the same keyboard shortcuts that work on RLC still work here to go forward and back (J for back, L for forward). I also find it a bit strange that the bedroom cam still has REALLIFECAM in the lower right of the screen even though this apartment isn't even on RLC. Needless to say I will only be subbed for this one month. After that I'm sticking to RLC. If RLC dies then they just lost a regular customer.

Yeah I had the same thought. It would make more sense if they introduced a way to chat with participants but then that would really change the entire format. Then it would just be like any other typical cam site, just with more cams.

Yep that's definitely a good idea. If they didn't want to give away too much for free they could simply put a time limit on the free cams. They could give you a certain amount of free viewing time per day to determine whether an apartment was interesting to you or not.

Honestly I wouldn't even mind the new pricing model so much as long as they maintained their current level of quality and number of cams for each apartment. Even better would be if they upgraded to 4K cams for new spaces. Then there would actually be something worth paying more for.

That's true, but I just can't imagine this new site being successful if they continue down the direction they're headed with just two or three cams for each new space added. They're asking for more money for less content. I can't see many people finding this appealing. Maybe if they lose enough money they'll realize their mistake.

If so, that will be a major loss. If they were offering a new and improved product I could understand but so far with the new spaces they're a big step in the wrong direction.

The "seamless integration" bit is definitely intriguing. That makes it sound like the new spaces will become available on RLC, but if so hopefully they are included with the price of the RLC membership without some kind of additional subscription.

One other interesting note from the terms is that it said they were going to implement a donation system as well. It will allow you to donate coins to the participants. I feel like we're getting close to Twitch streaming territory here.

Yeah I think that's what it is. I think that's going to be the main focus of this new site. Finding new people that are willing to stream their lives. I am just worried about consistency and quality with the participants being in control. I feel like there's no way these types of participants can match the same level of quality that is currently available with the RLC couples apartments and yet the pricing seems to be the same for both. So it's a bit confusing. But I guess all I can do is wait and see how it develops with time.

I was reading over the terms of the XLIFE website and I found this bit interesting: This makes it sound like the content here will be quite different from what is currently offered on RLC. It seems that the new participants will have control over the cameras. They will also have the ability to stop streaming whenever they like. It mentioned that they can be terminated from the site if they go more than five days without streaming. This could be an interesting concept as long as it's kept as a side project. But I certainly wouldn't want this to completely replace RLC.

Yeah sure, if you're only interested in watching one of them I can see the benefit of that. But for me the best thing about RLC is the variety of apartments. I agree though, for people that just want to watch a single apartment it's not such a bad deal. If they keep the two pricing models seperated I won't mind, but if they make this the new normal that's when I'll have a problem with it.

I'm an annual plan subscriber myself. But I only do it because I consider it a good value for what you get. But with the new model of subbing to each apartment that would cause the price to soar if you subbed to them all. I mean right now if you break it down, with the RLC annual plan it only costs $1.25/month per apartment for 21 apartments and the two villas. But with this new website it's nearly $45/month for only 9 apartments, that's $5 per apartment instead of $1.25 per apartment, not including the villas. So yeah, pretty terrible value in my opinion,

Yeah, you may be right about that. Though I hope you're wrong. I am definitely not a fan of the paying for each apartment model. If they do decide to phase out the RLC pricing model I wonder what will happen to all the people on the annual plan.

I was checking it out and it appears that on this new site you have to subscribe to each apartment individually, am I wrong? So that's not as good of a value as RLC. PLus the new apartments they've added don't seem to be full apartments like RLC offers either. They're limited to just a room or two each. If they bundled this into the RLC subscription that would be great but I can't see this being worth the money on its own.

Does this new website also have a 10 day replay like RLC? Also if it's going to be integrated with RLC does that mean us RLC subscribers may get access to it? Or at least a discount or something?

I tried listening to it but it was really hard to make out. Here's the transcription of what I could hear... Driver take she airport at six, so like something, at six she come and you need to come. For help him for explain she work. Just like this, How we understand, he had to plan tomorrow because in the morning he don't plan to new girl who come to Russia because he waited for him come the sister. From Russia come the sister of him. Like a guest or? Yes, like a guest. I don't if he stay in the house or stay in the apartment but you meet girl alone in the morning and I come after. I think he come *music gets too loud* She come, he show she the apartment. You speak with she, you explain the *unintelligible* For she if she stays with us until the night it's really complicated to come back because from the house you need to walk a little bit more than a mile.

I noticed that too. It's the first time I've ever seen RLC completely erase someone.

Yep, same issue here. The e-mail with a description for Vesna was the first I've received in a long time. Though the last time I e-mailed RLC about something they didn't even bother to reply. They used to be much better about always replying to e-mails. Their customer service is slipping.

I would also love to see an Australian apartment or an apartment in any English speaking country for that matter. Though I do find the Australian accent rather sexy. I think the real problem is local laws preventing it from becoming a reality. RLC attempted to open a place in Asheville, North Carolina about eight years ago but it never came to fruition.

Thanks, I appreciate the confirmation.

Hmm, interesting theory. Though in Jadith & Isaac's photo Isaac was the one on the left. I wish they would include a profiles section on the website with photos of all the participants. That would eliminate this type of confusion.

How do you know? I was hoping they would provide separate photos in the introduction e-mail, but they did not.

Yes, I sent an e-mail to RLC support. I'd recommend you do the same. The more people that report the issue, the more likely they are to fix it quickly.