Viki Changes and Viki Pass

General Discussion
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Okay so this topic has been running and discussed quite a lot lately over here, so unlike others who went on about criticizing the whole thing, i will try to make things clear(as far as i know about things) and maybe try to involve Viki staff for questions left without answers. And also hopefully clear out all the misunderstanding about this issue.

As a QC i think it is great to have this pass, i get to watch stuff without ads and HD.
Moreover, i think it is more fair this way, since now we can consider the advantage of having free VikiPass for QCs quite similar to paying them (Which is the argument many people were raising about why should they pay when volunteers do the work for free, although personally as a volunteer i don’t expect a pay but we can call this as being even, don’t you think?)

Okay so now i want to go over a few questions:

What is Viki Pass? And Why should I get it?

Many are complaining about the fact that there is too much ads on Viki now a days, well yeah i guess it is obvious for a site that posts online on-air shows for free would have to get the money from somewhere, and that is ADS, we all agree on that part.
So Let’s think about it together for a minute logically.
The money source of Viki is ads, but since we were all using ad-blocker, i don’t think any person/company were interested in posting ads that won’t return them profits for exchange, any person with a bit of logic would have figured that much out right?
So normally for Viki to keep RUNNING AND EXPANDING it had to disable ad-blocker, but as an alternative for that they granted us the Viki Pass option, which grants access for users to ad-free videos for a reasonable price of $4 per month.

When you open Viki nowadays this is the first thing that shows up.
After clicking on it you get:

As a summary of all this i can now answer these questions:
What is Viki pass? Why should i get it?

Viki pass is the only way we can watch ad-free HD videos from now on on viki. And since it is annoying to watch with all the ads we all agree that we want it.
And one more thing, notice in the picture: under “VIKI PASS” there is “NO ADS- HD - ON THE GO”, and under that “Coming Soon: Exclusive Shows and more”.
As all new things need time to adapt, Viki pass is still new and it is improving, so we should not be criticizing it starting now.
Many people asked this question: Why should i buy Viki pass for only ad-free HD videos while not being able to view extra content?
Well the answer for you question is in the previous picture, Viki is working on making exclusive stuff for Viki Pass buyers.

I Like Viki a Lot but i still cannot afford Viki pass?

Well you can Volunteer, 2000 segments or 3000 subtitles to become a QC may seem much, but they are not when you are determined to do them and i am talking from experience.

For people from the US especially:
If you only know English, there is some fun ways still to volunteer here on Viki, i recently discovered for instance the “lolspeak” language available on Viki, which i am pretty sure any one who speaks English and uses the Internet will know pretty well, though you can always try segmenting.
For those from other countries:
you can always try managing some channels to introduce us to your country’s culture in your own language.
Why should i choose Viki when there is other alternatives?

Well the Viki community is just the BEST, being able to communicate with each other and make friends is just GREAT!! And this is something no other video streaming website can match Viki with.
Plus Viki is the only site that offers more than 200 languages, so anyone can see their preferred language on their preferred shows!^^

Okay so the last question that was raised a lot that i would like to point out is:

Why do we have to pay when volunteers do the work for free?
Since the volunteers don’t pay a thing, the decision of Viki is pretty reasonable. It’s true “Volunteers” do the work for free, but as the word itself refers to, it is volunteer work which as @Dudie said it always looks good on our resume. And since we get access to pretty much everything i do not think somebody who is a QC would mind. (If not, correct me, please, this is just my humble opinion)

Okay so to sum up my really long post i would like to say this post was just my humble opinion, i hope it gives you an idea about the things going on here, please take what i said into consideration and read it well before throwing fits at Viki.
PS: As someone asked me this before, i tell you: I am not a Viki staff so i am just speaking from what i am observing.

I hope Viki staff would get involved in this conversation, to correct me if i am wrong about anything or add something i left out. @Mariko @catchlight @brovo

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Thank you Wafaahs for your explanation.

I had wondered myself what was happening with the website, since I’m rather new I still don’t know all the ins en outs on viki. :wink:
But when something wasn’t clear I tried to find the explanation through the help desk and the discussions. So in the end I figured everything out.

I think it’s good that somebody took the time to explain everything in a clear and constructive way, though. People tend to criticise to quickly without looking at all the factors. :wink:
Hopefully everyone will have some patience until the changes have settled in and they have fixed the bugs. It can be frustrating at times, but I’m sure the staff is even cursing more then us. So give them time and be considerate.

Anyway, I hope I’ll be able to get the QC status soon. I love that I found away to watch asian drama’s in a legal way and practice my languages at the same time! But for now I’ll use viki-pass.
Thank you again!

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I plan to stay with Viki and watch it grow, as long as its ethics remain intact, but I do have to admit, I don’t trust companies and I don’t trust money. I’ve seen organizations do horrible things for it, sometimes even to their own customers and staff.

So I have to be honest here. My only big beef with this change is the lack of salary/considerable perks for the subbers. Don’t get me wrong, it’s perfectly fine for people to like volunteering, but just because they don’t ask for money does not mean Viki profiting from their free work is morally acceptable or fair to the people working for them. The minute you make money out of someone’s work, they are giving you work hours. Just because the workers don’t mind does not wash that moral responsibility off of the employer. If you go from non-profit to profit, your workers should come with. They can choose to reject compensation, but you should still give them that choice.

I agree QCs having the pass is great, but the pass is 4 dollars a month. Way less than what some of the work is worth (valuable hours go into it), way less than what Viki higher ups will get from this Pass, unless maintaining this service costs so much, few will be making a dime. Are there any other perks which are highly valuable that I am not aware of? Because at the moment, it does not seem like a fair trade.

What would Viki say to this? I am not trying to be mean, I am giving my criticism, which is something every company should accept and take into account, when it comes from customers and potential customers. Will there be any plans where the hours spent subbing or segmenting would be entered into some sort of a reward system?

So, unless that is somehow implemented in the near future, I am sad to say, this will not be a place I am willing to put my money (as a customer) and time (as a translator) into.

I also had some issues with the fact that European fans would pay the same money to get way smaller a selection than US fans, which is incredibly unfair, but it seems there will be more perks added to the Pass, so I am hoping the lifting of licensing restrictions will be included. Or if not, the price should be lowered for audiences with a smaller amount of content to enjoy.

So, these are my honest worries for the future. These aside, I think the price of the Pass is reasonable and affordable by most, I think the speed and quality of the videos is excellent and when the sub sizing issue is addressed, Viki will truly be a great service well worth its money. You have good things here. Treat them well.

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I am all for paying for Viki Pass which I did but can’t seem to find any login for Viki Pass and keep getting the ads. Where do I find the login so that I can see the dramas without ads since I’ve already signed up for it.

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Thank you @AngelitaB for taking the time for reading and appreciating what i did there. ^^

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I still think Viki does it the “Fair” way,
Check this out:

http://support.viki.com/hc/en-us/articles/200139184-Becoming-a-Qualified-Contributor-QC-

This is part of the article:

What do QCs get?
Being a QC on Viki means you get special perks!

Global video viewing ability: Many TV shows and movies on Viki aren't available globally due to regional licensing. But QCs are able to view videos regardless of regional availability!
Ad-free and HD viewing: QCs receive Viki Pass for free!
Tickets to concerts and events: On occasion, we get access to tickets to special events and concerts. Those tickets are passed on to our QCs!
Exclusive gifts, games and prizes: Receive gifts and prizes, and play games only available to QCs.
The QC Newsletter: Receive a newsletter informing you about company updates, product updates, new features and TV shows and movies that are coming soon.
Access to special features: Get access to special features on Viki.

Specially for people out of the states, this is a great deal because we, being none QC cannot view most of the content on viki, so this is a great, moral deal as i see.
And yes we are being rewarded by occasional gifts.
It’s not like one user is doing all the work on viki, we are all sharing the weight, so these advantages for being a QC are great.

1 Like
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I don’t know about that,
but i think you should try logging out then logging in, if not contact the help center.

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Thank you for responding but there is no “help center”. How do you login to Viki Pass? Would truly appreciate finding out how to login. This is so frustrating!

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Hi @Shorty621 !
There is no special log in for the Viki Pass, when you bought it, it should show on your profil at Viki not here at the community page.
But there is non at your profile.
Info about the Viki Pass you can find either on the main page of viki (there is a free trial possibility), or at the help center, you’ll find the helpcenter at your profile, on the top, right corner “under” your avatar/picture. After chosing help center, go to “my activities” there you can write a request and staff of Viki can help you out, where the problem is.
Hope this helps, good luck!^^

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Yea 4 $ now and i bet in less than 6 month’s it will be 6 and by next year 8 just like dramafever and netflix,you’re not foolong anyone.

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sorry–FOOLING-

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Why shouldn’t you get it?

Because you can download Adblock for FREE and it will block all the ads for you.

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Viki don’t allow ad-block for its videos anymore.

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I am not “fooling” anyone. I just have high expectations for Viki just wait and see I doubt it will be this way. I am a person who won’t buy it but I encourage everyone to volunteer.

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Ok, let me put a variable here. You’re saying that on the basis that all subbers at Viki are professionals. But that’s not the case. I can’t talk about the other languages, however we have some dramas translated into HORRIBLE Portuguese. It’s really hard to evaluate that, since viki doesn’t have a Portuguese representative, for example, to verify each channel and the translations.
We have excellent subbers and bad subbers… I don’t know how this could be “solved”, I see this as a puzzle. Viki’s like a hybrid figure for now.

I think that work = professionals. We do have many subbers and seggers here that definitely could be considered professionals, but others not so much. So, my question is “what to do?”
Should we really consider that viki should pay everyone?
I don’t know if I’m right, but apparently your point of view is based on the English Subtitles alone. They’re always very good (and mostly because of our editors that work really hard to avoid poor quality subtitles). But what about other languages?

We do have viewers that actually don’t mind those horrible translations I mentioned. Those poor quality subtitles are google translator all over, but people manage to understand the basics…

6 Likes
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I subtitle and recently became a QC. I’m not upset that Viki is “profiting” from my work. Viki is getting something from it and so am I. I now know how to segment and subtitle (a skill that can be added to a resume), I have been given Viki Pass for free, and as a QC I can view programming outside of my region. I enjoy being on a project team with other people to help get a program out to viewers, it’s fun.

I’m not bilingual or multilingual. I volunteered on an English Language series. The programs need to be subbed in their native language before they can be released to other languages for translation. So if you find a project that’s in your native language, you can subtitle. Also, knowledge of the program’s native language doesn’t matter if you segment. It only took me a month to reach QC status once I found a project. I only work on that project a few hours a week (an hour or two on Tuesday nights and an hour or two on Saturdays).

If I hadn’t gone the route of becoming a QC, I think I’d spend the $4 a month. I watch enough of these dramas that $4 a month is well worth it. It’s certainly less expensive than NetFlix or Amazon Prime.

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I actually can’t see Viki Pass on anyone’s profile but my own now. Is that strange?

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I wondered the same thing. I paid for the pass yet keep getting ads. I messaged them about the concern so I am hopeful this is just a quick glitch.

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Logging out and back in resolved the ad problem for me! :slight_smile:

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Thank you for this suggestion…it worked!

1 Like