Get over yourself, Luke. First of all, it's by no means the "greatest show", and no one here has claimed otherwise. It's just a lot of fun and there's a great community around it, and more importantly the show has simply unmatched potential for user-generated content. Secondly, $3 is a very high cost for a 22-minute episode. If you were paying for a 3 hour movie at that price, that would be ~$25, which is obviously excessive. Besides, movies are expected to be higher quality overall than TV shows, so they should command a higher price. $9 per hour for TV content is ridiculous. In addition to the ridiculous price, I have very little tolerance for any kind of DRM whatsoever.
Besides, I simply cannot buy this show on iTunes, because I don't have access to the U.S. iTunes store. If I was offered a high-quality DRM-free episode at a reasonable price here in Australia, I'd go for it. However, in the absence of an official release, I don't see how it does anyone any good if I choose not to watch it.
This is hilarious. The forum is going ape-shit about this show, about how it's the newest and greatest show for ages, and how you just can't get enough of it.
And now you can't watch it for free.
But you can't bring yourself to pay for it on iTunes. Three dollars? That's seriously too much for latest and greatest show? You're wanting to chip in money and break iTunes DRM? And you call yourselves fans? Man up! Either say "Fuckit, it's just a dumb cartoon" and go on with your life without it, or pay the TINY cost of watching the show, as requested by the genius creators you so love.
You are seriously not getting the industry if you believe 3 dollars per episode is going to sell at all. Just take a look a the anime industry and compare and contrast. Thinpacks and box sets are the way to go since the bubble burst, and while im not of course, saying that cartoons hold a same level of standing, i would believe the fan oreintations are quite simillar.
On that note, i would totally get a box set of this if it is released. Together with frills and ribbons if they deem it decorative enough (ok i may have to think about that..)
On that note, i would totally get a box set of this if it is released. Together with frills and ribbons if they deem it decorative enough (ok i may have to think about that..)
oh god, they should release one for young girls and one for guys that is all disguised as die hard.
While I agree it sucks that lackofcheese can't access it because of stupid region stuff. I do agree with Luke on this one.
I'm sure there will be a DVD release or it eventually will be on netflixs or HULU.
Hulu and Netflix are also U.S. only, though if I was in the U.S. I would most definitely have a Netflix subscription. In fact, I spent 6 months in the U.S. last year and I had a Netflix subscription for most of that time.
Nonetheless, the main draw for the show is the community. Waiting a long time for a decent release would lose quite a lot of the value of - any episode watched would already have been discussed to death on the forum a long time ago.
I would like to support this show, but as far as episode downloads go the only release I would want to support would have to be high definition, DRM free, reasonably priced, and released at most several hours after the show airs on TV. It is said you "vote with your wallet" - well, I'm definitely not going to vote for DRM, nor for $9/hr television.
I would much rather just download a high quality episode elsewhere at the time of release, and support the creators in some other manner. If they do a good job with the release of a Blu-Ray box set, I'd be willing to buy it later on down the track. However, if I intend to buy a Blu-Ray later, that is no reason why I shouldn't watch the episodes as they are released.
This is hilarious. The forum is going ape-shit about this show, about how it's the newest and greatest show for ages, and how you just can't get enough of it.
And now you can't watch it for free.
But you can't bring yourself to pay for it on iTunes. Three dollars? That's seriously too much for latest and greatest show? You're wanting to chip in money and break iTunes DRM? And you call yourselves fans? Man up! Either say "Fuckit, it's just a dumb cartoon" and go on with your life without it, or pay the TINY cost of watching the show, as requested by the genius creators you so love.
Luke, you don't even watch the show, why do you read this thread? Furthermore, the only shows I'll pay for are Cowboy Bebop, Futurama, and the Daily Show (two of those I don't have to anyway.) I'll deal with ads, they're irritating, but not costing me anything. When I start losing resources, the quality of the show must be in the top 1 percent of shows.
Luke, you don't even watch the show, why do you read this thread? Furthermore, the only shows I'll pay for are Cowboy Bebop, Futurama, and the Daily Show (two of those I don't have to anyway.) I'll deal with ads, they're irritating, but not costing me anything. When I start losing resources, the quality of the show must be in the top 1 percent of shows.
Ok, so the first episode of MLP on iTunes is free, but DRM'd. How can you explain the reasoning behind that? Yes, the colors are messed up, and it is 720p instead of 1080p also. However, I used Fraps on it, and it totally worked. It was the right resolution, and the audio and video were in synch. I can apparently rent the show on iTunes for $1, and then I just have 24 hours from the time I start watching it to successfully rip it. Once its ripped just gotta make a torrent.
I could do this job, but I don't really have that much time. Does anyone else want to do it, now what we know it can be done.
An advertisement only takes up 15, 30 seconds. That is not a substantial enough amount of time for me to even think about.
Thus, no other show has any reason to care about your opinion, and you are worthless to them. ;^)
Indeed I am, however I only watch 2 or 3 more shows in the first place. If those went away, I would be disappointed, but wouldn't care that much. Most of my energy is spent on other types of activities which, for the most part, I do pay for.
Ok, so the first episode of MLP on iTunes is free, but DRM'd. How can you explain the reasoning behind that? Yes, the colors are messed up, and it is 720p instead of 1080p also. However, I used Fraps on it, and it totally worked. It was the right resolution, and the audio and video were in synch. I can apparently rent the show on iTunes for $1, and then I just have 24 hours from the time I start watching it to successfully rip it. Once its ripped just gotta make a torrent.
I could do this job, but I don't really have that much time. Does anyone else want to do it, now what we know it can be done.
There is a ponychan thread with links iTunes rips of all episodes, 1-21, in 720p (episode 21 here), so there is really no need for anyone to make a new rip. Apparently there is a torrent of the iTunes rips of episodes 1-18 also (here; magnet link only), so a torrent for those episodes isn't necessary either.
My current way of finding episodes is simply to check here. However, I would prefer an RSS feed, especially if it was set up for automatic downloading.
Also, Scott, what kind of DRM is on iTunes video content? How bad is it?
Hulu and Netflix are also U.S. only, though if I was in the U.S.
There is rumors of Hulu coming to Australia and the UK, but dollars do Donughts it's going to be another iTunes store like situation, where we don't get much of the same content.
Also, Scott, what kind of DRM is on iTunes video content? How bad is it?
It's Apple's Fairplay DRM. You can't play a video except in iTunes. It checks the user who is logged into the iTunes store to make sure it is the account that purchased that video file. Nobody seems to have cracked it other than through the analog hole. Like all DRM, the decryption key is somewhere on the system, so it is breakable. If someone has done it already, they haven't released a free and easy tool. Also Apple seems to be changing it up with each iTunes version and iterating faster than any crackers.
Try to play a DRM video in another player, and it completely fails. It even crashes VLC.
This is hilarious. The forum is going ape-shit about this show, about how it's the newest and greatest show for ages, and how you just can't get enough of it.
And now you can't watch it for free.
But you can't bring yourself to pay for it on iTunes. Three dollars? That's seriously too much for latest and greatest show? You're wanting to chip in money and break iTunes DRM? And you call yourselves fans? Man up! Either say "Fuckit, it's just a dumb cartoon" and go on with your life without it, or pay the TINY cost of watching the show, as requested by the genius creators you so love.
I sympathize with what you're saying but the iTunes prices are crazy for the show. I'm not opposed to buying from iTunes, I subscribed to the newest Futurama season for $30 when it started and loved the experience. But $70 for 26 episodes when the colors aren't even that great isn't a deal. I'd rather wait and pick up the Blu-Ray which can't be much more than $20 - $30 on amazon if and when it comes out.
It's Apple's Fairplay DRM. You can't play a video except in iTunes. It checks the user who is logged into the iTunes store to make sure it is the account that purchased that video file.
I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think so. You definitely have to be online to authorize your iTunes, which means logging into your iTunes store account. Once it is authorized that copy of iTunes should be able to play all the DRM content associated with it.
I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think so. You definitely have to be online to authorize your iTunes, which means logging into your iTunes store account. Once it is authorized that copy of iTunes should be able to play all the DRM content associated with it.
I read up on it on Wikipedia, and you seem to be correct. Nothing surprising, but clearly quite bad overall.
Get over yourself, Luke. First of all, it's by no means the "greatest show", and no one here has claimed otherwise.
Neither did I claim that anyone has claimed otherwise. I tried to use phrasing similar to those who are talking about it. Eg: It isn't the best show, but it's the "greatest show for ages". Also, get over yourself. I find the situation funny. I'm not taking it seriously. You know, as I stated in the first sentence of my post.
Secondly, $3 is a very high cost for a 22-minute episode. If you were paying for a 3 hour movie at that price, that would be ~$25, which is obviously excessive.
But what about paying for an hour of music? Instead of comparing it to a movie, which you expect only to watch once or twice, how about comparing it to a music album, which you'll listen to over and over? $9 for an hour-long album is a good deal.
Here's the thing: nobody is forcing you to pay that money. Wait for 6 months, and you'll be able to get the full box set for way less. But for now, the creators and copyright holders have decided to put the $3 price on it. If you're a true fan, you'll pay what they ask. Just like last year I only bought one hard back book, the day the novel came out, because I'm a big fan of the author, and wanted to support him and his publishing efforts. Other books? I'll wait 6 months for the cheaper options. There is no TV show I'll buy at the DVD price when they are first released, but I'm fine to wait a year for them to drop in price if it's a show I like.
But I don't get to set the price or the terms of new content. Nor do I have any right to bitch and moan if the price and terms aren't exactly as I'd like.
In this case, I'm finding it hard to believe you will all go to so much trouble to find rips and torrents and all that, for shows you've already seen, and yet are unhappy paying 3 dollars each for the last few episodes of a show you seem to agree is continually improving. Or just 1 dollar to rent for 24 hours. My mind boggles!
Luke, you don't even watch the show, why do you read this thread?
This thread is way more entertaining than the show itself. I get to pick up on the energy and the highlights of the community aspect of the show, without having to bother watching the show itself.
There is nothing on earth I like enough to pay that amount of money. Let's say something absolutely crazy unrealistic happened that produced the best thing ever, like a Neil Gaiman / Hayao Miyazaki team-up. I still wouldn't pay a ludicrous price for it, and I wouldn't pay any price for it in a DRM-shackled format. If they refused to release it in a reasonable format at a reasonable price, I would find some way to get it free. If we lived in a different universe where it was impossible to get it for free, I would wait until it was more reasonably priced, or just never get it.
Like we always say, you can't compete with the past. If they make it so impossibly difficult to watch MLP, I'll just watch something else. I have plenty of unread comics, plenty of unread movies on Netflix, plenty of unread books, and plenty of unbeaten video games. The supply of entertainment that can occupy my time is so incredibly vast. When supply is so high, no amount of demand can raise the price I'm willing to pay.
This is the same argument as "Fans are killing the Anime industry by downloading!" and it's just as wrong. People will pay the price they are willing to pay for something. If you want an example of how lowering prices below what is usually done actually induces profit, look at steam sales. I would have never paid $5 for bit.trip.beat, but I was happy to play $2.50 for it, and that was sight unseen. I KNOW I like MLP, but I also know that I neither have the means nor the inclination to pay $3, every episode, to watch a tv show.
But what about paying for an hour of music? Instead of comparing it to a movie, which you expect only to watch once or twice, how about comparing it to a music album, which you'll listen to over and over? $9 for an hour-long album is a good deal.
I don't expect to watch an episode of MLP over and over. Something like 2-3 times is a much better estimate, and that's less times than I'd expect to watch a good movie.
Here's the thing: nobody is forcing you to pay that money. Wait for 6 months, and you'll be able to get the full box set for way less.
Who benefits from my waiting? If I buy the box set when it's out, what difference does it make whether I downloaded the episodes the moment they came out or not?
Nor do I have any right to bitch and moan if the price and terms aren't exactly as I'd like.
You have every right to bitch and moan, actually. Hell, I'd say you have an obligation to bitch and moan - if no one complains, the companies responsible could easily not realise what the problem is. They'll probably just start complaining about piracy, and get nowhere doing it, like every other company does.
In this case, I'm finding it hard to believe you will all go to so much trouble to find rips and torrents and all that, for shows you've already seen, and yet are unhappy paying 3 dollars each for the last few episodes of a show you seem to agree is continually improving. Or just 1 dollar to rent for 24 hours. My mind boggles!
Trouble? It's a trivial task, and it happens to be the only way I, personally, can get the show at the moment anyway, because I don't have access to the U.S. iTunes store.
This thread is way more entertaining than the show itself. I get to pick up on the energy and the highlights of the community aspect of the show, without having to bother watching the show itself.
I'll grant you that that's a good idea, though I think there's much you'd miss out on without watching the show.
Wow kids. You're getting this defensive over an apt observation of your behavior regarding your piracy of My Little Pony. Put half as much effort into your arguments about politics or economics or foreign policy and we'll have a utopian empire by lunch.
This isn't a new argument. It's the same argument the Internet has had regularly since the first clip of the first song was made available online by someone other than the copyright holder. There are valid points to be made.
BUT.
The immediate and overwhelming defensiveness most of you are displaying at what was a relatively benign comment belies your cause. You doth protesteth too much. If you were comfortable with your decisions, why the surprising and largely unwarranted defensiveness? Did what Like said make you uncomfortable? Did he hurt you? Did he scare you?
I've demonstrated many times that I'm willing to argue extensively about the most trivial of issues, and this is no exception. I am quite comfortable with my actions and my posts in this thread.
This is hilarious. The forum is going ape-shit about this show, about how it's the newest and greatest show for ages, and how you just can't get enough of it.
And now you can't watch it for free.
But you can't bring yourself to pay for it on iTunes. Three dollars? That's seriously too much for latest and greatest show? You're wanting to chip in money and break iTunes DRM? And you call yourselves fans? Man up! Either say "Fuckit, it's just a dumb cartoon" and go on with your life without it, or pay the TINY cost of watching the show, as requested by the genius creators you so love.
I would happily buy the episodes if I could get them in a non DRM'd format. I don't want to carry the episodes on an iPod, I want to use them on my Zune or maybe even my PSP. I do also plan on buying the DVDs/Blu Rays. EDIT: And to answer Rym's question, I am annoyed by the assumption that "It's available on iTunes" is good enough for everyone. If you use an iPod as your regular portable media player, then that is great for you, absolutely spectacular, but I do not. As best I know, the show is not available through the Zune store, though even that would not be ideal since it also has DRM. I am willing to support the show but it is difficult for me to do aside from buying their poorly made toys or buying episodes through a service I don't really use.
I would happily buy the episodes if I could get them in a non DRM'd format.
This I agree with. I would even consider paying the $3 per episode if they were full quality and DRM-free. Partly, it's because I intend to use the video sources for other things, so it's a worthwhile investment.
It's funny that I would pay for something that's trivially pirated only if there were no protection, but will refuse pay if protection exists (due to the inconvenience said protection causes for me).
Otherwise, my point is that the precious ponies jumped all over a very benign and astute observation. ^_~
I would happily buy the episodes if I could get them in a non DRM'd format.
This I agree with. I would even consider paying the $3 per episode if they were full quality and DRM-free. Partly, it's because I intend to use the video sources for other things, so it's a worthwhile investment.
It's funny that I would pay for something that's trivially pirated only if there were no protection, but will refuse pay if protection exists (due to the inconvenience said protection causes for me).
Otherwise, my point is that the precious ponies jumped all over a very benign and astute observation. ^_~
We'll get there soon. Convenience always wins in the end and the easier companies make videos to purchase and watch, the more willing people will be to pay for them. I've switched from a diehard fansub watching and defender to a champion of Crunchyroll just because of how dead simple it is to watch the content I want to watch.
Comments
Besides, I simply cannot buy this show on iTunes, because I don't have access to the U.S. iTunes store. If I was offered a high-quality DRM-free episode at a reasonable price here in Australia, I'd go for it. However, in the absence of an official release, I don't see how it does anyone any good if I choose not to watch it.
I'm sure there will be a DVD release or it eventually will be on netflixs or HULU.
On that note, i would totally get a box set of this if it is released. Together with frills and ribbons if they deem it decorative enough (ok i may have to think about that..)
Nonetheless, the main draw for the show is the community. Waiting a long time for a decent release would lose quite a lot of the value of - any episode watched would already have been discussed to death on the forum a long time ago.
I would like to support this show, but as far as episode downloads go the only release I would want to support would have to be high definition, DRM free, reasonably priced, and released at most several hours after the show airs on TV. It is said you "vote with your wallet" - well, I'm definitely not going to vote for DRM, nor for $9/hr television.
I would much rather just download a high quality episode elsewhere at the time of release, and support the creators in some other manner. If they do a good job with the release of a Blu-Ray box set, I'd be willing to buy it later on down the track. However, if I intend to buy a Blu-Ray later, that is no reason why I shouldn't watch the episodes as they are released.
I could do this job, but I don't really have that much time. Does anyone else want to do it, now what we know it can be done.
My current way of finding episodes is simply to check here. However, I would prefer an RSS feed, especially if it was set up for automatic downloading.
Also, Scott, what kind of DRM is on iTunes video content? How bad is it?
Try to play a DRM video in another player, and it completely fails. It even crashes VLC.
Here's the thing: nobody is forcing you to pay that money. Wait for 6 months, and you'll be able to get the full box set for way less. But for now, the creators and copyright holders have decided to put the $3 price on it. If you're a true fan, you'll pay what they ask. Just like last year I only bought one hard back book, the day the novel came out, because I'm a big fan of the author, and wanted to support him and his publishing efforts. Other books? I'll wait 6 months for the cheaper options. There is no TV show I'll buy at the DVD price when they are first released, but I'm fine to wait a year for them to drop in price if it's a show I like.
But I don't get to set the price or the terms of new content. Nor do I have any right to bitch and moan if the price and terms aren't exactly as I'd like.
In this case, I'm finding it hard to believe you will all go to so much trouble to find rips and torrents and all that, for shows you've already seen, and yet are unhappy paying 3 dollars each for the last few episodes of a show you seem to agree is continually improving. Or just 1 dollar to rent for 24 hours. My mind boggles! This thread is way more entertaining than the show itself. I get to pick up on the energy and the highlights of the community aspect of the show, without having to bother watching the show itself.
Like we always say, you can't compete with the past. If they make it so impossibly difficult to watch MLP, I'll just watch something else. I have plenty of unread comics, plenty of unread movies on Netflix, plenty of unread books, and plenty of unbeaten video games. The supply of entertainment that can occupy my time is so incredibly vast. When supply is so high, no amount of demand can raise the price I'm willing to pay.
This isn't a new argument. It's the same argument the Internet has had regularly since the first clip of the first song was made available online by someone other than the copyright holder. There are valid points to be made.
BUT.
The immediate and overwhelming defensiveness most of you are displaying at what was a relatively benign comment belies your cause. You doth protesteth too much. If you were comfortable with your decisions, why the surprising and largely unwarranted defensiveness? Did what Like said make you uncomfortable? Did he hurt you? Did he scare you?
EDIT:
And to answer Rym's question, I am annoyed by the assumption that "It's available on iTunes" is good enough for everyone. If you use an iPod as your regular portable media player, then that is great for you, absolutely spectacular, but I do not. As best I know, the show is not available through the Zune store, though even that would not be ideal since it also has DRM. I am willing to support the show but it is difficult for me to do aside from buying their poorly made toys or buying episodes through a service I don't really use.
It's funny that I would pay for something that's trivially pirated only if there were no protection, but will refuse pay if protection exists (due to the inconvenience said protection causes for me).
Otherwise, my point is that the precious ponies jumped all over a very benign and astute observation. ^_~