Hi Mary,
Yes, I agree that Viki should do a better job of explaining how subbing process works here and set the expectation. Meanwhile, many volunteers have explained this whole thing over and over and over and over again in so many different ways and forms - both in the comment sections and in this discussion forum.
Here’s just one example of how I tried explaining the subbing process in this forum. This was written in 2013.
There are many others who have explained and even made some cute graphic presentations in many different languages so viewers understand the process. But since Viki is making many dramas Viki Pass exclusive, many members feel entitled since they “pay for it,” even though they are not actually paying for subtitles. Some viewers are appreciative once they find out how it works. However, I’ve encountered some other viewers who don’t care and demand volunteers to work day and night to meet their needs.
Some of the rather infamous quotes that I remember are something like, “You signed up for it so you should be responsible and get the job done now!” “You lured me into buying this pass, implying that there will be subtitles done by volunteers but why aren’t there there?!” And worst of all, some say volunteers are mean dictators who like to be worshipped and begged to have the subtitles done. Geesh! I sometimes wonder what kind of people they really are!
Just this week, I had subbed an episode in just about 4 hours. There were only 2 other subbers who came and helped out that day. But when I went to the comment section to read about what people think of the episode, I read so many complaints about subtitles not being there as soon as the episode was uploaded. One person actually wrote, “The subtitle for this drama has been soooooo slow lately!”
But anyway, I am glad you now understand how things work here.
I do enjoy volunteering by subbing and translation editing so non-Korean speaking viewers can enjoy some of these wonderful dramas that I love. I’ve also met some great people by volunteering here.
If you want to volunteer, there are a lot of excellent resources, such as Ninja Academy and subbing guidelines. In addition, we have a wonderful community of people who will be more than willing to help you. However, it’s completely up to you. If you choose not to volunteer, that’s perfectly fine. It doesn’t matter what the reason is. Aside from not knowing other foreign languages, you could be busy, you may not feel confident about learning new techniques, you may not be good with working on computers, you’d rather spend more time watching than captioning, etc.
It sound like you’ve already paid for the Viki pass so you can enjoy the shows without ADs. As for me, I don’t expect viewers to be so grateful and always applauding. I just don’t want to hear complaints and be accused of something that we are not. I’ll just be happy if viewers patiently wait for the subbing to be completed and then enjoy the show.