Rescue the Watch Party Feature

General Discussion
1

Dear Viki please think before discontinuing the watch party feature. :pray:

The demand for watch parties may have decreased as you say, especially when compared to the time during the pandemic. But that’s only natural. During the pandemic everyone had to spend more time than usual at home and watching dramas was a good method to ■■■■ the time.

So now people have the possibility to go out and meet in person again. Naturally the number of people using websites like Viki will decrease.

But while thinking about how to change Viki to still stay competitive against companies like Dis+, Nfx and others you shouldn’t forget the unique selling points of Viki itself.

These unique selling points are on the one hand the Subs created by volunteers and on the other hand features like Watch Party.

The Subs created by fans for fans are very unique and are far more satisfying for viewers of Asian dramas than elsewhere because they keep the cultural peculiarities of the Asian languages while translating and also take the effort to explain the language or certain Asian habits in the Translation Notes.

As someone coming from the fan made Anime subtitles with an interest for Asian culture this is a reason for me to chose Viki over any other streaming website.

Same goes for the Watch Party Feature. It’s also a unique selling point for me.
Since I started to watch dramas on Viki, I have had at least two watch parties a week, at times even three or four a week.

The watch party feature is an excellent way to stay connected with the contributor community Viki itself created by implanting the from fans for fans Subtitles.

It’s an excellent way to stay connected with your international Viki-friends but also an excellent way to stay connected with the Viki-friends in everyone’s own language community.

Vikis competitors don’t have a feature like that.

Furthermore the watch party feature is a great feature for the subtitling teams of the different languages to get together and enjoy the drama everyone is working on together.

I have worked with many different moderators in my language community, who offered to watch the episodes together in a watch party. This not only ensured that every member of the team watched the episodes before translating but also made the whole process of translating even more fun.

So when I started to work as moderator myself, I also offered these team watch parties and as far as I can tell everyone participating liked that.

I am sure you had good reasons for your decision.
But please try to take these thoughts of a Viki user into account, if you not already did.

For my friends and me, losing the watch party feature are very sad news :frowning:

17 Likes
2

This is really disappointing. I regularly participate in WPs with a group of fellow Viki viewers who have organized a whole calendar of WPs that cover every single day of the week with various genres and time zones so there is something for everyone. We are all very upset that this feature will be disappearing. Many of Viki’s larger competitors have a WP feature, even if it is a third-party host, so this just leaves Viki further behind. And it’s rather a joke that they are trying to sell Discussions, reviews, timed comments or other such features as replacements for WPs. There simply is no substitute for being able to watch shows together and chat about them in real time.

14 Likes
3

I have to agree, the WP feature has been a wonderful way to connect with people and I continue to use it weekly, if not daily with friends I’ve met here on Viki.
It’s disappointing that Viki is discontinuing the feature when other streaming sights are starting to include the feature. sigh

8 Likes
4

I also use Viki regularly to watch Dramas with friends who live far away. I brought them to Viki specifically because we could do this. I think Viki should have at least tried to market it a little more, just simply making it more prominent on the front page or hosting premier events for some anticipated shows would have been a low-cost way to do that, instead of just tearing it down.

But since they likely won’t listen to us… Does anyone know of standalone services that work well with Viki as an alternative? I’ve tried Watchparty.me, but the virtual browser has a lot of lag issues.

4 Likes
5

They’ve already been doing that for years and all it does is put extra pressure on the volunteers.

1 Like
6

Reportedly, Viki is supported through Teleparty Premium.

2 Likes
7

Never got to try it, guess I won’t be able to ever experience it
I know a lot of people who enjoyed it.

1 Like
8

The fact that I didn’t notice shows that they weren’t marketing it sufficiently. As for putting pressure on volunteers - maybe they shouldn’t have relied on volunteers for that then; it’s not like Viki doesn’t make any money. (I mean, relying on volunteers to provide the bulk of their content when they’re also charging a fair bit to access a good chunk of their content is exploitation any way you slice it)

1 Like
9

Teleparty looks like a terrible option frankly. Watchparty at least wouldn’t require everyone to have to pay for the same level of Viki subscription on top of me having to pay for another subscription.

1 Like
10

I use the watch party feature twice a week to enjoy time with family over state lines. I will be very disappointed if they discontinue it.

3 Likes
11

I agree with that, and I won’t be paying for the service either, as of now. I just wanted to point out that it was an option. The use of a third-party WP provider does seem to be the strategy of most streaming sites these days, though.

1 Like
12

I get what you’re saying—Watch Parties are a unique feature that connects the Viki community in a way other platforms don’t. It’s not just about watching together, but about sharing the experience and bonding with others. It’d be a real loss if it’s discontinued, and I hope Viki takes these thoughts into account!

5 Likes
13

Oh noooo! Please don’t stop, don’t remove this well-functioning feature, Viki!
Like many others who enjoy dramas via WP on Viki across (domestic) state lines, I do so too, and across international virtual boundaries. While I’ve tried Teleparty and still use it, Viki’s WP feature works better comparatively, and I guess as a contributor and a part of this V-FAM, I’m biased. Very biased :wink: (Besides, I truly enjoy WPing and chatting for fun, and as I also use WP to teach/guide learners alongside 3rd party app, I hope it stays undisrupted).

I do much, much, much rather prefer Viki’s WP feature to stay functional.
So, please…

4 Likes
14

I feel the same. Even though the Viki Watch Party had and has its bugs, it was always the most comfortable and easiest way to watch one of the dramas here at Viki.

One feature, Viki Watch Party offers, that as far as I know, no other similar website does, is the possibility to change the language of your subtitles without changing them for the whole group. So only in a Viki Watch Party everyone can enjoy a drama simultaneously with their personally preferred subtitles.

4 Likes
15

I totally get your concern. The Watch Party feature is a unique and valuable part of the Viki experience, especially for fans who appreciate the community and the subtitling process. It’s a great way to stay connected and enjoy dramas together. I hope Viki reconsiders, as this feature is something many of us still value deeply.

4 Likes