Since the latest update is basically an extremely elaborate way of saying “the community needs its harness tightened, because we call the shots” I’m officially done with Viki.
I’m finishing ongoing projects and I’m out. I’ll just wait my QC to run out, since I’ve earned that.
I can watch anywhere, I’m here just to volunteer.
Viki, respect is a two-way street and your lane is systematically blocked.
Yes, I expect this to be deleted promptly.
αγαπημένη μου Γλυκερία
ήθελα να σου πω καταρχήν ένα μεγάλο συγνώμη που δε μπόρεσα ακόμη να σε βοηθήσω με τη σειρά σου. Και τα δικά μου ακόμη είναι πίσω.
κατά δεύτερο σε καταλαβαίνω που θέλεις να φύγεις. δεν είσαι η μόνη που αισθάνεται έτσι πίστεψέ με. Επίσης πολλές κοπέλες από την αρχική μεταφραστική ομάδα εδώ το έχουν εγκαταλείψει εδώ και χρόνια. Το μόνο καλό είναι ότι οι μεταφράσεις του είναι καλύτερες από αυτές του dramafever.
πάντως σε περίπτωση που θα σε ενδιέφερε να συνεχίσεις να βοηθάς στις μεταφράσεις μερικές κοπέλες που συνεργάζομαι μεταφράζουμε και εκτός viki. Υπάρχουν πάρα πολλά πράγματα που θέλουμε να μεταφράσουμε και δεν έχουμε αρκετά χέρια.
Επίσης θα ήθελα βοήθεια αν έχεις χρόνο φυσικά να κατεβάσουμε μερικούς αγγλικούς υπότιτλους από δω που δεν είναι διαθέσιμοι αλλού σε αυτήν την ποιότητα. Για μελλοντικές προσπάθειες να μεταφραστούν στα Ελληνικά.
Ανυπομονώ να ακούσω νέα σου
Oh my, what in the world is happening. I just visited discussions to see if it’s true that my two favorite variety shows lost their licenses (Running Man and 2 Days 1 Nigh) and saw your post.
I have subbed on and off for viki since 2009. That’s off and on over 8 years. There is just no worth in it anymore. Running Man has lost its license and projects are fewer and far between. I really hope viki can change, because I really did love subbing and using my Korean as a volunteer.
@kyouyatama Sorry to ask you here but since you mentioned you know Korean would you care to help translating
medical brothers or help in Translation Editing for a couple of dramas I am the channel manager/moderator like special investigation unit, the duo, beethoven virus e.t.c.
If you are interested send me a pm
Can you, please, elaborate. Not just for me, but for others, too. Start a list and we will continue.
The way I see it, I think she might mean, among other things, the recent rule about not posting here about bugs, suggestions and feedback. The one I discussed on my thread here which you have already read: https://discussions.viki.com/t/my-take-on-two-of-the-new-community-discussion-rules/16761
Her message was written just after that announcement. She probably had other issues before, but I suppose this was the cherry on the cake or the thread that breaks the camel back or the drop that makes the glass overflow or…
A list would be interesting, though!
@mahoula Θα είσαι πάντα αυτή που με καλωσόρισε στο Viki. 
Ας ξεκουραστούμε τον Αύγουστο και μετά βλέπουμε, θα σου στείλω ΡΜ.
@bozoli, @irmar the reason I didn’t make one of my usual lists is that, for me, the matter is closed. If I felt that starting a conversation about it would lead anywhere, I would. But I made up my mind and I’m done.
(@irmar it’s no so much about the things you focused on, but they didn’t help.)
However, since you ask and I like you too much to leave you hanging, I’ll add that the last drop for me was the thinly veiled “post only positive things for Viki and Rakuten, or else”. Our contributions are a huge part of their business, I refuse to have my opinions policed in such a heavy-handed manner. Especially since they couldn’t care less about our constructive feedback, ideas and suggestions. They added the usual “don’t post passwords and porn, respect each other, etc.” but who are we kidding, this was basically a thread to tell us to behave in front of the bosses.
I will now give you the floor to add and discuss about it, but I’m already in the process of disentangling.
I enjoyed working with you all.
What???
I must have missed that, because I usually skip the “be polite, don’t post porn etc” as I thought they were the usual obvious stuff.
Update. Aaah. I found it. You probably mean this.
Well, surely it’s a fine line: what for the poster is constructive criticism for Viki might be bashing. Depending on who’s reading, LOL.
This is a selection from recent posts, by various users (it’s not important right now who wrote what), who express their frustration with viki for different matters. Would they (should they) be considered “bashing” or a precious eye-opener about how the community thinks?
[QUOTE]This is no way of treating neither volunteers nor costumers, I warmly recommand VIKI to reconsider the business practice of
the word is consideration - and it loses out in many ways these days.
I really don’t understand how Viki could think it was acceptable to do towards their users
I guess R-VIKI made a big shopping tour more quantity than quality …
I think the previous administration was better, the current administration is not getting good dramas lately and that is so annoying we’re subtitling the dramas that Viki wants not the dramas we like, it’s stupid the way the channels are created they create channels and they do not obtain the licenses of which it serves that we join them to form the equipment so that we are only like an adornment in them
I have experienced a lot of issues over the years with viki, and I can remember well, when even Razmig Howaghimian did actually made contact with the volunteers. I miss that open side of viki. Now you get a lot of “stored text” it feels impersonal and indifferant at times. Viki’s great virtue was a community that was making efforts for the page. It feels like this virtue is about to crumble.
I look forward for a transparent statement, I think it’s unfair to let us walk in dark and search for clear answers online, we saw the cards but don’t know the rules.
Sometimes I feel like I’m Viki’s distant cousin that nobody wants to talk with, but they have to invite me for the big family parties. Like I have cooties! 
There is a lot of restriction going on lately (read: ever since Viki became R Viki).
I wish Viki was more honest with us. I understand they need to be professional and keep business stuff private, but they could at least tell us what’s going on so we’re not just walking in a dark alley with no lamp. A simple message like, “Hello, volunteers! We’re sorry to inform you that ____ will be unlicensed (date)” is fine. It doesn’t have to be long; just a short message to notify us about what’s going on. There’s little to no communication between us and Viki, which makes the relationship strained. Communication is key, and I wish Viki would incorporate that more.
Viki is becoming the shadow partner that provides the slave labor.
the logo represents perfectly what viki has become : a company brought by rakuten. It’s nice to remind us that it isn’t viki anymore. For those who don’t know rakuten is also priceminister, the only thing they want is money
what “better” way to end a relationship than make the other party want to leave on their own? Other languages are all but ignored and in general volunteers have been having legitimate complaints for a while now.
it seems like Viki treats us volunteers even worse than if we were just simple paying customers (a “let them sort it between the community” thing). Too many things rely on volunteers’ extra effort. Based on previous examples of offering feedback and Viki completely ignoring it, I don’t feel heard at all. I feel ignored and my good intentions exploited.
I have invested so much time in Viki but I feel not appreciated at all. There are so many things going wrong here and I’ve felt frustrated for many months already. However, nothing seems to change for the better, instead, things seem to get only worse. I’ve lost all hope for improvement over all these months, so I’ll be gone now, bye Viki.[/QUOTE]
Yes, that was the obvious one, but there are bits here and there (and of course the ones you spotted, where the bugs and feedback will be buried in help center, away from the community eyes).
I firmly believe these are quotes from people who have every right to be frustrated.
(I haven’t abandoned our project, but vacation came up. When I get back I’ll make up for these weeks. )
Let’s start from here. Let’s assume for argument’s sake that this referred to users who truly only curse at Viki, don’t suggest anything, mainly just want to vent out and think they own the site if they payed for the VikiPass. That’s fine. Now, when Viki mentions its partners in the same sentence, I have to admit I feel like they’re talking to us volunteers who mentioned we are getting restricted day after day since 2 years back when Viki’s R cooperation started.
By restrictions, here’s what I mean:
1st restriction: (and currently most important) Closing discussion threads that do not say good things about Viki.
I want the original LEGENDARY thread, formed years ago called “Done with Viki” to be reopened. I forgot who had done it, but that small thing started it all for me. It was done underhandedly and it was in a way a violation of freedom of speech. There is absolutely no reason to close any thread unless the original, first post in the thread insults a person (not Viki, a person, user).
The genious of the thread Done with Viki was that it was a truly open plenum where Viki users could both critisise and “defend” Viki. And then criticise Viki about another thing and defend it again. Ultimately we would agree or agree to disagree, but we would feel heard and our frustrations would be ameliorated.
Next time someone closes a thread like that, I would please ask that forum moderator to take a look at the names of all users who contributed to that thread and imagine tapping each and every one of them on the head and saying “shut up”. Because that’s how it feels. When you still have something to say, but someone decides you shouldn’t and doesn’t tell you why.
2nd restriction: Regional availability of videos is private.
To this day I still don’t know why this happened. So, I’m asking now. Viki, why is regional availability a secret? Explain it to us in detail so we can finally move on.
If I’m going to be honest, kids these days are much more clever than one might think and can easily find regional unlockers and get to the content they want. On the other hand, it makes the life of a CM and some moderators much more demanding.
Intro into restriction No 3.
Back to the original quote from Viki and “conspiracy theories” - First of all, this phrase has a major negative connotation. It assumes the person writing it is a wacko. Some might also consider using this phrase to be bashing someone. If Viki actually meant stipulations, guesses and assumptions (no matter how unfounded they are), well, then Viki should be informed that those are formed naturally and unavoidably when Viki doesn’t notify the community properly not only of the changes, but also why the changes even occur. The more silence we get from Viki, the more wrong and right guesses are going to happen. If it’s in Viki’s best interest for the community not to guess, well, then, Viki administration, you know what to do.
3rd restriction: “Bugs and Issues” category in forum is being removed. All issues should be sent via a private message to Viki itself.
Should I abstain from what might be considered a “conspiracy theory” when I say it’s suspicious that everything not functioning at Viki should be a secret from the public?
Why did we even ask for this category in the first place? Well, because we often don’t get a response through the “official channels” for WEEKS and MONTHS. I’m not saying all the issues should be dealt with within a day. But if someone can’t seg or sub, on this site that’s considered a crisis. And in that case you ask for help in any way possible, even “screaming” in the Bugs and Issues category. Or… should we perhaps just tweet?
I’ve only started this list. I ask others who still have the strength to continue. Because, despite everything I’ve said in this post, I still believe in the Viki community, if perhaps not so much in Viki itself anymore. There is a common ground somewhere. We just need to talk it out.
Re regional restrictions. It seems that at least this one is not viki’s fault, it is something demanded by broadcasting companies. It would be nice to know why, of course, but it seems that it cannot be changed.
very good and valid points @bozoli, lately Viki seems to be tightening the belt few more notches from what was once an open channel (a small portion is also due to the behavior of viki members=new commenting guidelines), adding one more restriction as irmar mentioned in Expiring licenses that Viki communicated that they are “not allowed” to inform when channels will expire… meaning there will be no time to save subtitles… this is another “new thing” that keeps us guessing and why working on something that will expire in a month unless you can save subtitles in case of relicensing… I feel “guess work” is the worst business ethic…
@irmar although we do know about regional restrictions, it is a joke because everyone can find out, so no matter what broadcasting companies might demand it will never stay hidden, therefore this is a gray zone; I wonder if broadcasters do not think so far 
I guess we will have to save the subs as we go and not get surprised anymore when the channel is removed.
that makes sense except it’s a lot of work and files to save whether it is needed or not meaning this could be unnecessary workload if it’s not needed. Either way it’s a dilemma.
They are not allowed to tell us if we ask at any time we want, as I asked about the 4 old dramas I’m working on. But they ARE telling the Channel Manager a couple of weeks before the due date, and s/he can tell the language mods who can tell their team.
Saving the subs is not a problem, as it takes less than one hour.
It’s watching the endangered dramas that takes lots of time!
I really hope they reconsider letting the Bugs & Issues stay and the feedback thing is awesome too and can help Viki a lot in the end.
I wonder why they want to get rid of the Bugs & Issues section. My only guess is that they don’t want it out in the open but on the other side they have to agree it’s very handy and a lot faster to monitor which issues there are and how many people have them. How many times I reported an issue to the help center when knowing many had the same issue and also reported and then having Viki tell you they didn’t receive any other reports regarding it so you must be the only one. Now they can see wether or not it’s a problem of an individual or not and it also tackles the people who have the issue but don’t report to HC because someone else did already. In the forums they can just say they have the same issue.
Next to that the help center isn’t functioning as it should for years because they are understaffed and now they even want more workload for HC? Hiring staff who can deal with the extra workload in a timed manner (let’s say you et a response within an hour or 2 on urgent matters and within a week for non urgent matters. ) should be the first priority and be dealt with first before Viki even thinks about closing the section on the forum.
Urgent matters are: problems with the tools, video, site, channel managing panels etc.
I have often written my thoughts about viki, I won’t do so in the meantime …
I was always frank, but won’t tire myself out by overthinking every word.
It’s not only the time I spent at viki, but h o w I spent it. And how I defended viki and not only the volunteers. I will no longer do that, I mean defending a company. Period. I wanted to say more, but I guess it is PEEEEEEP, better not …
About the licenses and not communicating about them. It is somewhat a choice of the content owner, but it does appear as if they only want to sell their licenses and are not really too interested if the content is watched. I don’t even know, if content owner ever think about this point, but it seems the final user is not part of the calculation. I wished they would dismiss this strategy and I mean any streaming service should be enabled to let viewers know how long they can watch a content, or just make a policy that licenses end at the end of a month. So you get the chance to watch something till the end of a month without fear to be surprised in the middle of watching something.
About bugs and issues, then viki could just create a page in each channel like the team discussion, just a page for the team, if anyone has an issue. To help eachother out, in the worst case scenario which ofthen happens on weekends one is without help for 36 hrs or more. But OOOOPS dear me, I FORGOT NO SUGGESTIONS on this board. I apologize, I won’t do it again. It saves me a lot of time …
But then all the other moderators and subbers, from other channels, wouldn’t know about it! So again we lose the immediate spread of the news that exists by posting it here.