Very throrough review - well done! Pity us Europeans end up paying more yet again - despite paying in stronger currencies which should make sites cheaper, not more expensive.
I added you to my Trust List - this is a good first review. I can't say I've ever noticed fake cum shots before - I would have thought I'd known but maybe I've been fooled! How do you tell?!
Current Member for less than 1 month (at the time of review).
Pros:
* Well-established (since 2005) so almost 5,000 videos (though mostly short).
* Uses guys from all over Europe, with the occasional American or Australian guy thrown in
* I actually do believe a lot of these guys are straight - if it's staged it's done very well
* Realistic, stark filming with no silly roleplaying in the main interview scenes - you really do get a sense of the guys personality
* No DRM
* Unique content
* Guys often begin their porn careers here
* New "Second Auditions" concept is REALLY hot - showing men having their first gay sex and being "broken in" - again - if it's staged it's staged REALLY well.
Cons:
- The more imaginative content like "Groping Hands" and "Second Auditions" is the best, but there's little of it - updates are very infrequent and sporadic and "Groping Hands" seems to have been discontinued.
- VERY expensive - $39.95 1st month, $34.95 after
- Search options very primitive
- Early shoots photos-only - not made clear on joining. Streaming only available on post-2009 shoots.
- Camerawork and lighting can be poor.
- No option for feedback or suggestions, no comments, no community feel.
- Models are often given different names to the ones used even on their sister sites, and only use first names, so you get several models under the same name!
- Files not particularly high-quality by modern standards.
- New moving watermark is VERY intrusive.
- Lots of banner ads for other sites
- Primitive site design and search looks like something from the late 1990s.
Bottom Line:
First Auditions is a site which claims to show a models first introduction to porn and shows their first "casting couch" interview. Most of the models claim to be straight, most quite believably (unusual on gay porn sites, where "straight" actors are often suspiciously gay-acting!).
It follows a pretty rigid format - a clothed interview asking why they want to do it, an examination where they are made to strip and be measured, show their asshole etc, and finally a masturbation and ejaculation "test" to prove they can get it up and shoot on camera.
This can get very "samey" - you know pretty much what will happen in each shoot, and obviously there's very little action. Still this is an auditions site, and it does that well. The guys often seem quite genuine and nervous and the interviewers are good at getting their real personalities to come out.
Technically the site is nothing special. Downloads are WMV only and are "standard" (read - poor and tiny 640 x 360) or "high quality" (read - pretty average 960 x 540). No HD content here and no alternative to WMV files that I can see. Downloading is quick though, and flash streaming is pretty quick, though you have to wait until it's done to jump back and forwards. No DRM, though they do have a REALLY annoying new watermark which begins at the top of the screen and slowly moves down the bottom! WHY MUST IT MOVE? Much more distracting!
Search is equally poor - a simple list in alphabetic order of first names (often repeated, often different to same model used on sister sites) or a search by country of origin.
To be honest I am bored of their standard content, and didn't expect to join this site again, but I rejoined because of the "Second Auditons" videos, which involve them taking a guy (usually who said in his interview he'd never do anything with a guy!) and "breaking him in" to gay sex. This REALLY turns me on, and the preview showed a model I adore, so I rejoined really for that video alone.
It didn't disappoint - the Second Auditions videos are another level - longer (over 30 minutes), better filmed and REALLY hot - the men are believably straight and inexperienced and it's so exciting to watch them do gay sex for the first time.
Sadly, there have only been FOUR Second Auditions videos since the first one was made back in August 2011! They seem to make them only every three months. For a site which charges so much per month, one of these videos every 3 months is really mean.
"Groping Hands" videos were hot and more frequent - this is where anonymous men grope and strip the guy - but whilst there's a good selection of 44 of videos videos in archive, no new ones have been made since September 2009. Before that they had selected scenes from their sister studios - they only seem prepared to do one different type of video the standard auditions ones at a time, but they still advertise Groping Hands in the preview even though they don't make it clear they're not making any more.
This site has some excellent content which is why I've been tempted to join three times, but I never stick around. The updates seem to have settled down to only six a month, from a peak of more than double that - and for the price you pay that's simply not enough for continued membership.
Joining for the first time is well worth it - there's a lot of content here - but you quickly become bored with the standard audition videos and disappointed and the infrequent updates, lack of news (they never announced Groping Hands was discontinued officially, just stoppd them) and small amount of what I'd call "premium" content, ie. the Groping Hands and Second Auditons ones.
A site with flashes of brilliance, but most content gets samey and dull quickly, it's expensive, the technical quality is indifferent and the website navigation feels a decade out of date. I'd recommend you join it once for the archive, but don't expect to stick around.
Just to let you all know - subsequent to my review of this site, they've now added a new feature called "Second Auditions", where the producer doesn't just interview the guys but persuades them to have sex with them too.
I had e-mailed them to ask if the "Groping Hands" feature was coming back and they apologised for dropping it and said they were going to do something new with the site soon so I've been keeping an eye on it.
I am very tempted to rejoin and no doubt will be soon when I get my next paycheque. If I do, I'll probably edit my review or write a new one depending on what the site advises me to do... stay tuned!
Was a member approx. 1 month prior to this review.
Updated:
09-19-1109:30am (Update History) Reason: Further editing to keep updated reivew within 60-line limit.
Pros:
UPDATED FOR SEPT 2011 WITH NEW EXPERIENCES!
* Good concept - straight guys interviewed for porn and you often see them on the sister sites.
* Going since 2005 and has hundreds of men and videos
* Roleplay is often surprisingly convincing, and many of the guys do appear genuinely straight.
* Lots of sexy British guys but also good selection from around the world.
* No DRM, all downloadable for keeps.
* Mac Friendly.
* Unique Content.
* Some bonus content from sister studios - CFNM, CMNM, Straight Hell and Brutal Tops
* Cool "Groping Hands" scenes add extra spice.
Cons:
- NEW UPDATE SEPT 2011 "Second Audition" concept hot but only 1 video so far a month from launch. Still no new "Groping Hands", and no new guest studio stuff since May 2011.
- Expensive - $39.95 first month, then $34.95 p/m
- Recurring billing has to be manually cancelled
- Site is chaotic with few search options.
- Majority of early 2005/06 shoots are photos only. Most shoots to 2009 haveno streaming.
- Camerawork can be shoddy
- Very "samey" - little variation in each video.
- Little feedback - no forum, can't rate/comment on most videos
- Choice of tiny 480x270 "standard" video or small 640x360 so-called "high quality" WMV files, though newer ones also have Quicktime MOV files at 850x480
Bottom Line:
First Auditions is a pretty unique site. Many cater for the whole "gay for pay/auditions" thing, but this site does it in a uniquely sexy, degrading way - and you see which men made it to make porn for their other sites.
All the models are "straight" men who are supposed to be auditioning for porn - so far, so normal. This site is unique in that the men are interviewed clothed, then made to strip and pose in the most undignified positions by a fully clothed gay cameraman, who asks probing questions about their personal lives and how far they'd be willing to go in porn with other men.
They're also great at finding men who are hot, but who come from a wide range of backgrounds, really do look like ordinary guys and really do look (mostly) straight or bi-curious - these guys are real, not models and haven't done porno before.
They also have the "Groping Hands" concept - each guy is made to stand and be groped and felt up by male hands - the men themselves are not seen. Later, they have to be strapped in a examination chair with their legs spread to take a dildo up the ass, then be masturbated until they cum. There's a hot little scene at the end where they ask them if they feel ashamed of what they did, would they suck a mans cock for money, etc. which is really sexy.
It doesn't sound like a lot - there's no actual sex happening here, but it's refreshingly new and works well. The majority of the guys appear convincingly straight. They are made to pose, answer questions, be measured and weighed and generally pretty well humiliated.
Groping Hands is the best part of the site, but seems to have been introduced for 2010 and then dropped. The camerawork can be shaky and shoddy due to the guy having to film and interview and touch the guys all at the same time.
The organisation is a bit chaotic and whilst they now allow you to search by models nationality, you can't search by age etc. There's some bonus material from their sister sites - especially good for us UK viewers who get to see some from sites supposedly not available in the UK!
UPDATE 19.9.2011
I rejoined First Auditions when they added a new "Second Auditions" feature, which involved persuading the models to have sex with men, doing all things they said they wouldn't do in their "First Audition" interview. It sounded kinda cheesy as a concept but when I joined the first "Second Audition" video was extremely hot, but after a month it remained the only one of the site - all the updates after that were standard First Auditions.
As they've stopped the guest studios and Groping Hands, and don't seem to be committed to the new Second Auditions feature, I was very disappointed as Second Auditons was my only reason for rejoining and they made such a big deal out of it.
The updates have also become less frequent and more erratic - you more often wait a whole week The quantity is dropping off majorly too - I noticed in March 2011 there were no less than 19 updates - on average more than every 2 days - but it steadily declined from then on - 14 in April, 8 in May, 7 in June and July and a dismal 6 in August - and when I left the site on Sept 18th they'd only done 4 so far that month.
The best content was always the more unusual Groping Hands, Second Auditions or even guest studio stuff - the plain old First Auditions are as samey and dull as ever. Now they're focusing almost exclusively on that and doing a lot less of it, I feel they've just given up on this site and are doing the bare minimum to keep it going.
I've downgraded the site to a 69 from 75. It would be even lower but it's worth joining once just to download the archived Groping Hands, guest studio and (one!) Second Auditions stuff - but then cancel your membership - nothing more to see here!
Extremely thorough and detailed review which gives a real sense of how the site "feels". It's also good to see a more unusual genre being reviewed. Well done!
Agree with you and Mbaya - can't see the point of this type of site at all. Just hanging round for hours waiting for a glimpse of cock - if it's not about sex why do they have the private shows etc? If it isn't, what is it? Just an expensive and even less interesting Big Brother?!
I can't do a full review on this site as I've never been a member, but I thought it might be interesting to post that this is the first and only straight website which features content I bought on DVD. I wouldn't have paid full price, but a website had an offer on for one of his DVDs so I bought it - it was his "Knob the Builder" one!
It was an odd experience watching straight porn, but the fact is I find Freddie very attractive! He's overweight, but I like the older chunky sort of guy and he's actually good looking, with sexy blue eyes. He's very typically British working-class male and he has the cheeky British sense of raunchy sexiness I find very appealing - he also has a nice big cock! He's typical of the ordinary workin' man I see on building sites and as tradesmen who are unobtainable but I really want to sleep with! In his "Knob the Builder" guise he looks especially hot as a builder, very convincing, though with a "Mate" who isn't so hot.
The preview section is pretty generous and seems to let you see a preview of all the videos, with some fairly hard action, so you certainly get a fair chance to see if it's your kind of site.
Freddie goes in for a lot of dirty talk, which turns me on. He's quite dirty with the models but it's all done in a sort of humourous way - there are actually jokes and a sense of humour in his videos which are oddly appealing!
I know the scenes on the videos are the same ones he has on his websites - he does a lot of anal and oral scenes and the girls seem like girl-next-door, slighly "rough" types - either quite young in their very early 20s or he does do some older women too.
Anyway, just thought it was an unusual pespective on this site!
Looks kind of tempting, what with the site discount from here and the fact I love "casting" style websites.
Sadly like so many sites the (fairly generous) previews seem far too "polished" and I hate the way the director has his face blurred out in the video even though he ends up having full sex with them.
I guess they think it keeps the "casting" theme going but really it's too token to begin with, so you just end up with fairly standard-looking porno but with one guys face blurred out.
I might join one day but there's a lot more interesting looking sites for my dollars first!
So no chance of me joining! Really, I don't expect a lot from previews but this one doesn't have a second of video, just a few still images.
I don't expect previews to give me everything, but they've gotta show me a decent idea of what to expect - and leaving me desperate to see more is the right way to get me unholding my cock as I reach for the magic credit card!
Hey welcome to the site, always good to have new gay members, we need a lot more around! This is an interesting first review and I like the way you describe it but a bit more detail would be welcome, such as pricing, download options, etc.
Hope you stick around!
Looks like a pretty lame site - supposedly it's men sending in videos of their exes in compromising positions.
The preview section is pretty lousy - it doesn't even let you watch any kind of short video clip - the pictures show a pretty random selection of standard-looking porno.
I appreciate a lot of these sites are just fantasy, and I'm fine with that, but this doesn't do anything to make it look at all believable.
I took a look at this site but decided not to join right away. As well to click off it offered me a special deal if I'd talk to one of their agents in live chat.
I tried, but the chat window just provided a link to click on. I did, but my browser came up with a warning window saying it was untrusted and they couldn't verify the connection was secure.
Not saying that definitely means the site isn't trustworthy, but it was enough to put me off after my previous experiences with card fraud.
As such, I won't be joining this site now - the slightest suggestion I can't trust them 100% and it's gone.
Obviously others will make up their own minds but it's worth bearing my experience in mind....
I don't think I'll be troubling this site with my hard-earned anytime soon.
I was quite interested when I saw it as a new listing but a quick browse of their preview section which "showcased" their wonderful search function was enough for me to click away.
Categories like "Latinas" or "big tits" anybody? On an all-gay-male website?
Pathetic! Obviously lifted straight off (hey, made a pun!) a heterosexual website and they can't even be bothered to change the search terms.
I cannot understand, based on their own preview section, how this site managed to get a decent score from TBP.
I get that it's about public humiliation, which is a genre I usually love and is sadly lacking in gay porn, but this is almost anti-gay-sex!
From the preview it seems a lot of the "action" in these videos actually involved the camera guy catching some guys having sex, then running out to show them they're being filmed - so they quit having sex and run off!
How exactly is this porn? A guy with a camera ruining a sex scene just as you're enjoying it?
I've kind of blown a lot of money on porn lately so I won't be splashing out on any new subscriptions for a while, but this site looks very interesting and different.
It's aimed seemingly equally at gay men and straight women and seems to be a "arty", tasteful sort of site, just solos of men masturbating.
It's rare to see this kind of sites. It certainly makes a change from amateur sites or sites which self-consciously try to be "dirty" and tacky.
It might all be a bit soft-focus and softcore for me, but I have added the site to my list of sites to give a try to - not a bad monthly price either.
If anyone joins I'd love to see a review and have recommended it for one on TBP.
You were brave to sign up for a website you weren't sure about! I wouldn't have... what was it that made you suspicious? Please do update your review with the outcome and warn off people if it is dodgy!
Now this sounds like a classic case of a site with a new, totally fresh idea with lots of great unknown models making a mess of things by being too amateur! Such a shame - I've come across a lot of sites like this. You need the fresh idea of a smaller site combined with the professionalism of a more established site really. I sometimes wonder if bigger sites could offer their services to start-up sites to get them more professional and then share the profits.
Excellent review - sounds like the kind of site I'd join for a month or so until the issues became too much for me and I regretfully have to leave!
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