having a subscription based model doesn't really work with open source

It certainly can work, typically, not a whole lot of users would be capable of "just forking it and bypass the paywall". And of them, most (including myself) would rather just pay up (especially for quality software). Most of those remaining might just not be able to afford it, and probably wouldn't pay anyways (Your statement is, essentially, the same that giant corporations use against piracy). The actual rude/asshole users would be what's left, a small minority of a minority.

Is it the subscription you had an issue with, or the fact that they were no longer open source? What would you have done differently?

The fact of going closed source, especially after making statements saying they would pretty much keep it open source (Note: this part of my memory is iffy on this, this could have been just a forum/reddit post/reply from a core dev or something (I would still be pissed about it going closed regardless, because it's actually written in one of my preferred languages, C# :/))

There are definitely a few different monetization options, they could

• have just done a subscription and kindly asked those with the means financially and technically to refrain from bypassing it (gamevau.lt does this I know for sure, how well it works out for them is...TBD, kinda young project but really cool to checkout if you're a gamer)

• Write a closed source plugin that would house their closed source premium options, or write each premium feature as a plugin, so intro skipping could be a plugin you just buy on their web store for example

• Do subscriptions for support packages or maybe even hosting

• Have a community, open source branch and a premium closed source branch like pfSense does

Problem is, they sought little input if any from the community, just announced it as a "we're doing this and that's it". No trial runs of alternative plans, surveys or anything. Which they have that right as project owners, but it doesn't make it any less a rude thing to do

And, if you don't mind me asking: Had you supported (paid) Embys developers prior to them shifting to closed source + 'Emby Premiere'?

I'm fairly certain I didn't, pretty sure they announced it and going closed source and then I began bailing to Plex once I saw their response.