Content creators do end up changing what's "fair" for existing and new purchasers all the time -- for instance, when putting something on sale or lowering the price. If Failbetter were to offer a promotion like "new subscribers get one extra month free" or "your first six months are US$6.50 instead of US$7" or "start a new subscription in September and get Court of Cats free with your subscription" then I don't think anyone would have real cause for complaint. (Some entitled customers will always complain about say, the inevitable iPhone price drop or a cable TV service promotion that's only offered to new subscribers.) Companies have to make money, and deciding when to have a sale or a promotion or a price change is a fundamental part of that, and lowering prices to get more customers in the door is vital.

However, in this case there's a business model where Failbetter is planning on continuing to sell the past months' Exceptional Stories. That'll help make the whole Exceptional Story aspect of their business more profitable -- as opposed to each story just earning part of the total subscription fees for the month it was released -- so if you like the Exceptional Stories, that's good news which should be welcomed. It also means that making all the past months' stories free for anyone who subscribes would eat into or wipe out that revenue stream! (But of course, Munk was not aware of this when first posting.) The business rationale I can imagine for doing that would be that over time, the value of subscribing would grow greater and greater as you'd get access to a whole lot more content. This is, in fact, part of the business rationale for some subscription-based MMOs like say, World of Warcraft -- that offering greater value over time helps offset the gradual thinning of the player base and keep new subscriptions from dropping too precipitously. However, it's worth noting that even big MMOs release expansions which are not available to anyone who hasn't helped pay for those expansions -- even monthly subscribers don't get large amounts of content for nothing, it's not sustainable. Plus, if a company wants to drive a lot of new subscriptions, there's always the idea of limited-time promotions, mentioned above.

Failbetter will hopefully get a large influx of new subscribers when the mobile version comes out in any case, which if nothing else will affect the forward plans for this kind of thing!

I've read this carefully but I ... just don't see the problem you're getting at. You get one story for each month you subscribe. I have subscribed for 4 months - I've had 4 stories. You subscribe for 1 month - and get one story. That seems fair to me - I flatter myself that I am a generous soul, but I would be a bit sore if someone got for $7 what I paid $28 for. Not sore enough to unsubscribe and not sore enough to game the system, but sore enough to dent my goodwill, for sure.

After a while, you'll be able to buy access to any stories you miss, so it all seems fair enough to me, and giving everyone the content they pay for seems the simplest method by far.

That's a very good point.
Perhaps they could be available, but there'd be a cap on how many of them you could play every month in addition to the monthly story, like one or two perhaps? This would allow loyal customers to eventually catch up, but would hinder those who would abuse the system.
edited by Munk on 8/12/2015

Heh, I suppose that Occam's razor does say that I'm just annoyed that I didn't get last month's story and came here to complain. But no, I honestly don't mind all that much (especially seeing as I can pick it up for nex in a month or two!).

As for whether it'd be impossible to make that fair for the people who signed up from the beginning, I have to say I'm a bit surprised about this argument. Seeing as the privilege they paid for was getting the stories for free, and that the stories would eventually become available for purchase at any rate, what would they be mad about? That other people would eventually get as much content as them? That anyone who signs up and remains signed up for long enough will eventually get just as good a deal as they did? Now that does seem a little bit irrational.
Reminds me of that time Iawata had to apologize for lowering the price of the 3ds, because people who had already bought it were incredibly mad that others were getting a better deal.

I do realize that the current deal which you get for exceptional friendship is just fine, and as I have previously stated I find it to be completely functional. However, I do feel that some minor alterations to the deal might make it better for the community and the game, which is what I am here to discuss.
My only real issue with the current way of things is that I don't find it transparent enough that you're only getting the current month's story for free when you sign up, as the advertisement and the store description says a 'new story every month'.