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falcon_horusHanging everyone outside the 6 countries out to dry as they extended all-access until September 20 (or 19, FAQ has two dates), 2018 without the option for other countries to join in.
"We're sorry... still working on it.", is still their excuse so you can imagine I put little stock in that excuse.
Haven't heard a peep from their staff members since last time they contacted me when I posted my utter disappointment on twitter and they responded with a "We're sorry about how you feel..." (no, you're clearly not) "...and would like to make it a better place for you and your peers..." (no, you don't really) "...so we're working on..." (you always are, but no results are forthcoming) "...things."
That was halfway through April.
If they contact me again, I'll be kindly asking to not do so again and to stick it where the sun doesn't shine (well, not that last part but I'll have to bite my tongue to keep me from saying or typing it).
I was going to ask for a removal of my account but I sorta made a promise about the Proper Stargate Rewatch -- I may still do so because the community is very hostile about anyone criticizing the practice of keeping people out of the all-access area. Then again, most don't even know that access is restricted. They never read the fine print, or in this case the FAQ.
I have deleted all my posts except for the ones about the rewatch, and I am in the process of leaving all discussions so that my notifications don't get cluttered with junk. But damn, did I make a lot of posts. =P More than I thought. Perhaps I should have had my account deleted. Would have been easier.
Anyway, I'm in the market for a stargate community that is not a grand divide between elite and third class, so if you have any leads on that... point me in the right direction, thank you.
"We're sorry... still working on it.", is still their excuse so you can imagine I put little stock in that excuse.
Haven't heard a peep from their staff members since last time they contacted me when I posted my utter disappointment on twitter and they responded with a "We're sorry about how you feel..." (no, you're clearly not) "...and would like to make it a better place for you and your peers..." (no, you don't really) "...so we're working on..." (you always are, but no results are forthcoming) "...things."
That was halfway through April.
If they contact me again, I'll be kindly asking to not do so again and to stick it where the sun doesn't shine (well, not that last part but I'll have to bite my tongue to keep me from saying or typing it).
I was going to ask for a removal of my account but I sorta made a promise about the Proper Stargate Rewatch -- I may still do so because the community is very hostile about anyone criticizing the practice of keeping people out of the all-access area. Then again, most don't even know that access is restricted. They never read the fine print, or in this case the FAQ.
I have deleted all my posts except for the ones about the rewatch, and I am in the process of leaving all discussions so that my notifications don't get cluttered with junk. But damn, did I make a lot of posts. =P More than I thought. Perhaps I should have had my account deleted. Would have been easier.
Anyway, I'm in the market for a stargate community that is not a grand divide between elite and third class, so if you have any leads on that... point me in the right direction, thank you.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-11 01:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-11 11:58 pm (UTC)I don't know if I can explain it right, but I'll give it a try...
So... Once upon a time, there was a company called MGM. They announed in July of 2017 that they were bringing Stargate back, cue the birth of Stargate Origins. A 10-second trailer with footage from the 1994 film has everyone in a tizzy. Fine, it's the 20th anniversary of Stargate SG-1's area, they wanna thank the fans for their continued loyalty. All good.
FF to August 2017 -- the rumors about the digital platform are confirmed and at the same time our suspicion of the paywall is also confirmed. The new webseries is going to be hidden behind a paywall (which most of us assumed would mean US-only -- which seemed logical at the time, something similar to CBS All Access' Star Trek Discovery).
And indeed, there is a restriction on the all-access premium pass, but it's not restricted to the USA. They've added Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Germany to the mix. Minor detail, only the USA can buy on the website and gets early access with a few more extra perks (including a T-shirt). The rest of the countries can only buy all-access through their mobile phones which tracks GPS-location (smart! -- narrows the loophole of VPN).
Everyone can register for an account on the website and install the app (it's available on Android and iOS) but only those 6 countries have access to Stargate Origins, the Dial Home interviews, all the series and films, behind-the-scenes on Origins, extras (from the DVD's I might add), behind-the-scenes on the other series, mission files and whatever else I'm not privvy to know because every all-access member is suspiciously quiet (too quiet, I might add) about their priviliges -- they are literally designated with the following line in the code --> is_VIP: 'true' <-- you can imagine it doesn't give you that warm, fuzzy, welcomy feel you'd expect to have in a place that touts itself as the new official home for all things stargate.
But okay, that was to be expected. No hard feelings... except... and here it comes...
People come in from all over the world, and literally bump into that paywall, and every single question about why we can't have access, or when Origins will be available worldwide, from every single one of these people (from Norway, Sweden, Argentina, Singapore, Belgium, France, Italy, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Honduras, The Phillipines, Latvia, Ireland, Russia, Austria, The Netherlands, ...) goes unanswered and are skillfully ignored by the staff of Command.
Matters are made worse when Stargate Origins goes life on February 15, 2018. Spoilers run wild and thanks to the stargate community I know how the story begins, goes in the middle and how it ends. Thanos demanded silence, but I wish Ra had asked the same. Stargate Command apparently asked their members not to spoil anything, but they did it themselves to the point I had to literally block all images on their website. Users on the message feed spoiled freely and I put close to 20 accounts on ignore. Gateworld followed suit, and spoiled every episode with a nice spoilery image. I asked them, literally, not to do that and Darren answered me that it was MGM's choice of images and that they couldn't change that (yeah right, kiss ass).
The first 20 minutes of the 100 minutes are free-for-all, so anyone's excuse about broadcasting rights flies straight out of the window -- and boy did the disappointed posts pile up when international fans learned they had been baited into watching something they don't actually have access to, and will probably never have access to legally (illegally on the other hand -- I hear it's freely available on YouTube, dubbed in Russian or in English)
Anyhow, FF again to wednesday May 9th, 6 days before All-access is about to end and premium access goes away, and we finally might have a chance at gaining access to some of that premium content -- stargate command extends all-access to September 20th, with still no option for more of us to join in. They literally left us hanging high and dry, and that since September 20, 2017.
They literally have a pop-up window, since the beginning, that reads:
We're sorry...
All-access is not available in your area. We're working hard to find ways for fans in other countries to watch every Stargate movie and episode - including the new Stargate Origins - so stay tuned to the News section of Stargate Command for updates!
That right there is a big fat lie. It might have flown during the first few weeks or months, but you can see how right about now, that just looks like a generic message and well, I finally realized I've been used and they were never going to allow any of us access. They just strung us along cause we hoped for some more Stargate. I sure feel used, and I let that nagging feeling something was not right linger in the back of my mind, never giving it my full attention cause they said they were working on things. Hell, they contacted me personally (albeit at first because I had been reported for bad behavior -- apparently calling the elitist All-access members out on their privilige is not done in their circle) and struck up a dialogue. I hate myself so much right now for falling into their well crafted trap. Oh goddess, how could I ever have been so blind... I feel so incredibly stupid. Goddammit! They had me hook, line and sinker. I really, and truly believed they meant well. :(
Aw, goddammit... *curses some more* ... I'll be hiding in Cinema 4D if you need me, underneath my 3D breakfast table.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-12 02:01 pm (UTC)I'll be honest, I haven't even seen it yet either, and I'm in the US, because I don't want to watch a series that's behind a paywall. (I was going to wait and pick up DVDs from the library once it was released.) But it's really stupid and shitty of them to put it behind a paywall and then block people who want to give them money.
I understand it probably has something to do with streaming rights in those countries, but then they need to explain that to people instead of stalling and stonewalling. Because if people want to spend money on your product and you won't (or can't) let them, you need to explain why before you lose customers (and worse, hardcore fans).