Viki Pass Problems and Volunteers blamed for

To be honest, I have seen SO many comments about how people pay for Viki pass and them complaining that the subs are not being uploaded on “time” and how they pay for Viki pass and how it’s a waste of money because the episode is not subbed to 100%. Then the volunteers get targeted by the Viki pass users. They genuinely think that paying and not paying will affect the speed of subtitles brought to them. They don’t seem to read what Viki pass actually is, despite the marketing and ads that CLEARLY say it’s ad free, HD, and unlocks Viki exclusive dramas. These people usually throw out the words such as paying customers, how we are pathetic, how volunteers suck and all that. They clearly don’t understand that Viki pass and volunteers have NOTHING to do with each other. QCs only get Viki pass because they have clearly shown, through 3,000 subs or 2,000 segments, that they are dedicated to volunteering on Viki. This is used to access Viki exclusive dramas and to sub/seg them as well. I barely watch dramas unless I am personally in them to just catch up with the vocabulary so I can use it to sub. Despite trying to talk to them about it and how volunteers have nothing to do with this, they STILL, ignorantly and stubbornly, assume that it is out fault and how they are a paying customer. I hate when they use the word, “customer”. And then they yell at us for being defensive. It is really frustrating that even when we try to reach out to them, they still think they are right and then say that it is “unprofessional” to comment back at the users. Like, we are not here as employees, we are drama fans like them. It just a never ending cycle and they don’t understand that subbing an hour video does not take an hour, but takes a team of people to segment these things, then the subbers come in, then it gets edited in english, and then released to other languages. I’m sorry for my little rant here, I just found it escalating more and more these days.

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When people first learn of VIKI, come here and read this:

Viki is a global TV site, where millions of people watch their favorite shows, movies, celebrity news and more — subtitled into 200+ languages by a community of avid fans.

then I think it’s reasonable to believe that the Viki Pass is in addition to the above.

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This would be easily solved if on the vikipass page, instead of listing only the advantages vikipass brings you, they also clearly listed the things it DOESN’T.
As in:
“The subtitles are offered by volunteers at their own discretion. Although on-air dramas are usually subtitled very quickly at least in English, and most older dramas are already subtitled, viki has no control in when they will be available. Therefore vikipass does not guarantee that subtitles for a show in your preferred language will appear in a timely manner - or at all”

I suppose they won’t implement this because they sort of like to feed the misunderstanding, and such a caveat would be a deterrent for many prospective buyers.

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I don’t think they will ever do that, although they should!, because then less people will actually buy VikiPass. They should mention it doesn’t lift the region restrictions too because now people also buy VikiPass thinking they can watch all content because they pay for it. They do list it in the special VikiPass FAQ and it’s always good to read FAQ’s before buying something so you know what you buy exactly. But many don’t read those on Viki.

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Or anywhere. I mean, how many of us have actually read the terms of use of any website, or, for that matter, of our phone contract or credit card contract? Yet the viki ones are not many pages of fine print: they are few and easy to read…

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Yeah… that is very self explanatory, but too bad it is at the bottom of the page where no one ever goes to…

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Like this is on the Viki site. I don’t understand what they don’t understand about this post…

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I never actually signed up for Viki pass, but do they have a pop-up saying what it can offer?

I agree, Viki won’t state clearly the limitations of a VikiPass. But then it becomes even more imperative that Viki protects us volunteers from such comments.

One method that comes to mind is to automatically suspend comments which include certain keywords. Example of keywords? “VikiPass”

Another is to install a new function for moderators and channel manager to directly delete the posts, with an automatic reply saying “You have violated the good faith of Viki community. For further information, click here”. A link to a page with a few more sentences of info about our work than there already is, might do the trick. In this process I would also suggest users with 5 and more of these warnings be disqualified from commenting for a month.

But, as I had just written all this done I realized Viki can’t do anything. Why? Because they don’t own Dicqus and don’t have any managerial rights! Bah!

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They mass-mail us all the time, I guess Viki could at least send an email to all subscribers stating the simple fact that subs are provided by volunteers.

Or include the info in the welcome mail sent when they subscribe. In bigger font than 6pt, preferably.

I always have this feeling though that it’s just us, a handful of volunteers, discussing passionately the same things again and again in our little forum, like correct procedures and guidelines and licenses, while the rest of the Viki world doesn’t give a whatever.

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Even if it were spelled out on their screen in 10-inch letters “SUBTITLES IN YOUR LANGUAGE NOT GUARANTEED” people who want to bitch in the comments will bitch in the comments.

Realistically, though, would Viki ever clear the misunderstanding? How many companies want a well-mannered clientele, few but quality products/ services and modest earnings? I’ve yet to meet one.

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I agree there are more and more negative and whiny comments, esp. regarding demand for subtitles, quick and complete subtitles instantaneously. I feel that even if the episodes are subbed in the quickest possible manner, there’ll still be whiners. I merely shrug my shoulders when I see such comments, reminding myself that whoever whined and commented in this manner is just ignorant and uninformed. There’s really almost nothing volunteers can do. No amount of explanation or clarification will enlighten these folks. Yet, almost nothing doesn’t mean not a thing can be done. Now, I just post or PM this, if I bother to respond :wink:
http://i.imgur.com/3M4YoWW.png

Just as the old Chinese saying goes,“常言说:即使你可以把马领到河边,也无法强迫它喝水.” “You can bring a horse to the water, but you can’t force it to drink.” People, like horses, want to do(or see) what they want to do(or see).

Regardless, for a start, I believe it would help if Viki would insert on its landing page, a big and prominent blurb (like that which is stated on their Viki Pass FAQ site) such as something like this:
http://i.imgur.com/rm90rVQ.png

Also, if CMs or cover wall designers would insert such a blurb in their design, and more of these blurbs are seen on many cover walls, that will reinforce the concept of what a Viki Pass actually is. And that what volunteers do and when subtitles are completely done per episode per language have no relation to the Viki Pass subscribed and paid to Viki. That way, viewers or new visitors to Viki.com and its respective drama/movie webpage will, slowly and in time, understand what their paid subscription for a Viki Pass entails.

Ultimately, only Viki can curb this problem, if it deems it a problem. For all we know, this may not be a problem to Viki, and if it is, it’s probably way down on their list of to-do tasks. Still hope Viki will address it someday.

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But Viki can give feedback to Disqus. And Viki can always change its software/provider for its comment section. Better yet, Viki can get its own team of engineers to create their very own comment section codes. Any number of options can be looked at. Only if Viki has the intent to do so.

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True. There will always be some. But
1.they would be somewhat fewer.
2. we would have somewhere to refer them to.

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Do you mind if I steal your pic, and use it whenever needed?

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Of course not. Please use it whenever you want to.:grin:

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I didn’t want to mention this, but there was a time I was attacked in the comment section by a gang of old-fashioned, mouldy users because I wrote something about age-appropriate relationships in a certain kdrama. Obviously Viki gave its blessing, because MY comment and MY defense afterwards were deleted within an hour.

So I have first-hand knowledge that if Viki deems it important (like protecting the delicate feelings of its conservative users), comments disappear. Pray tell me, how many of you have seen Viki respond to your requests to delete comments attacking the volunteers? I thought so.

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It is really annoying. I have gotten so much hate on the channels I’m working on because of Viki pass. Viki really needs to come through.

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I agree with your suggestion. Viki might also want to remind subscribers that the volunteers have very busy lives of their own and that any contributions are out of love and passion for something we all enjoy.

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