Odyssey Thought: The Odyssey Adventure Club

It's been a few weeks since my last post. I've been keeping with things and once again this blog ended up on the back burner. What brings me back into the world of blogging this time? Well, I've been lurking around the message boards, and the aio facebook page and other things and have noticed a reoccurring hot topic; the upcoming Odyssey Adventure Club.

I have a feeling I might be taking a slightly unique perspective, so I think I'll hide safely in my little cave to avoid  the oncoming torches and pitchforks. The club in question will contain exclusive episodes per month, along with access to all the AIO episodes including some "dusty episodes" which includes most Harley episodes, as well as Last Chance Detective episodes both audio and video, and the animated series for AIO. Along with all that is available for streaming, it also includes subscription to the clubhouse magazine, daily devotions and possibly other things that haven't been mentioned yet. What's the catch? The price is $15 a month.

Now most of you "die-hard" Odyssians already know all this and many have already expressed your views. The biggest down side to this club is that it means only hearing 12 episodes a year, while the clubers get an extra 12 episodes. For the ones that have already collected all of the albums or have heard all of them, would it be practical to join the club? Not really. Are there perks to doing so? Yes. Should you try to tear down the doors at Focus and force them to hand over the exclusive episodes? No. Sure it's disappointing that I won't be able to hear every episode that is out there. However, the way that Odyssey works is that you can listen to the episodes out of order and without ever hearing some episodes. I don't believe that they will create noticeable holes in the canon just to get people to join the club. Could it be that in order to know what happens with Jeff we have to join the club? Maybe. But that doesn't mean more doesn't happen with Jeff in the regular seasons. The fact is we don't really know one way or the other.

Now the common voice of the inter-fans is that they already have all the released albums, so why pay $180 a year to get twenty minutes a month of new material? While many fit into this category, there are probably many fans who might jump onto this club like a hound dog on a pile of hotdogs. The thing that most "inter-fans" may not understand is that this club is aimed for families. It seems to me that a large number of the fans speaking out against the club are more than likely 15+. Here is more of what is included in the club.
BROCK on October 18th, 2013 - 11:05am

• 1. The entire 726+ episodes of AIO streamed instantly to you on your computer of iOs device.
  2. Brand new exclusive Adventures of the month that have, a brand new AIO episode, a real story video doucmentary about the episode, and a whole lot of Web Quests (activities), comics, hands on projects, learning the language, maps, history, games, and more. Plus you’ll have brand new AIO daily devotions to read every morning
  
  
• 4. You’ll get a monthly subscription to Adventures in Odyssey’s Clubhouse magazine
  5. Learn about other ministries and organizations doing ministry and relief work around the world
  6. We’re giving away a percentage of revenue to these organizations each month, to build churhches, dig wells, provide livestock, or pass out vaccinations
  7. And a new community for you to interact with other fans and share your stories
  8. Plus we’ll be adding new content like
  
  
• 8. We’ll be adding new content like AIO episodes never released, LCD Movie, AIO movies, LCD audio, and a whole lot more, even some radio theater titles

Personally I wouldn't join now, but I would consider it if I had was older with a  family of my own and if the money was there. One of the things to remember is that along with many bonuses, a portion of the money also goes to help missions around the world. So while the rice may seem steep, they aren't making money off of all of it. One of the comments in the social shout out was that the club episodes will take the characters to different places around the world and helping others. To me it sort of sounds like an album like the truth chronicles. They exist but aren't really a huge part of the AIO canon.

What it boils down to is this; This club is an ok deal, some will be able to afford it some not. There is value to joining the club, but it might not be for everyone. Sure $15 a month equals $180 a year, but another way of looking at it is this. Netflix is $7.99 a month, Spotify premium is $10 a month. It's basically like paying for one of these services and the surplus going to missions. (I don't know how much of it goes to missions though.) I guess the major point I'm getting at is, while it seems expensive if one is motivated enough to join one will find the money to pay for it. I'm just tired of seeing so many complaints about it when it hasn't even started yet.

Once again this has been Freddy Jay connecting the gap between Odyssey and you. Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments. Chau.