New Platform Launch Feedback & FAQ

[elfensky]

I had this problem too.  log out and log back in.  I think the cookie that they store on your end that shows you as a non-premium member needs to be refreshed. 

 

Yup. Contacted support, they fixed it, refreshed the page and finaly got access. I have to say the customer support is amazingly fast. They replied within like, 2 or 3 hours.

[Jensen™]

> from the get-go the GUI looks like w8 tiles

> video/audio is way worse than YT

> loading takes forever

> crashed my browsers multiple times

 

I think this is a big mistake. It all looks great on paper, but its trash in practice.

LTT jumped the bangwagon thinking this is a special deal or something, well its not. From what ive seen anyone with monitization enables can join, ive seen channels that have less than 100 subs and a few 1000s views that went to vessel.

The whole principle of Vessel seems off to me, its a wannabe YouTube that asks you for money.

 

Another thing that bothers me is that they made the biggest giveaway, and the first entry criteria is join Vessel. I mean come on ... the giveaway ONLY EXISTS TO PROMOTE VESSEL.

[jackninja1]

I want to share my two cents about the whole Vessel thing and how things are going with LTT.

This is probably as effective as talking to a wall because nobody is going to read this but still I want to get some stuff of my chest.

 

First and formost: NO WE ARE NOT ENTITLED TO ANYTHING, Linus (and the rest of LTT) can do what they want, when they want it. If they want to upload there video's to PornHub from now on they are free to do so. Linus does not have any obligations with his audience he does not own us anything. And please for the love of god stop using the word entitled because everytime I hear it I trow up a little.

 

Linus moved to Vessel, a online video platform like YouTube but with a monthly subscription fee. Some people say that Vessel is not a competitor of YouTube, I disagree on that. They are in the same market space, target the same audience and want to provide a premium over YouTube by having video's released earlier on there platform and maybe even exclusives. I will be talking about Vessel and it's problems in a minute.

 

Now why does it sting a little (with me) that Linus choose to move Vessel (or rather produce content that will be up on Vessel a week or so in advance)?

I have been a viewer of LTT for a very very long time. Chest mounted tripod, Linus dying his hair about every week or so and also the dark time (the one's who were around back then probably know where I'm talking about). I have seen the channel grow very big and I am pretty happy for LTT and where they are now. It just feels like a kick in the teeth that after all the support and things that LTT have been trough Linus chooses another platform over YouTube, and yes I know it is "OPTIONAL" and "NOTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE" but it just feels weird. After all the "stay tuned for part 1-z of ..." and "This video is brought to you by ...." and of course the new office campaign I just get the feeling that I/we didn't do our "job" correctly and that after all that well at least I have seen it was not enough so just deal with it. It just feels like they say hey everything goes up in advance on Vessel, YouTube is not our platform of choice anymore. Don't get me wrong I understand why LTT keeps teasing video's and doing sponsered video's and I am completely OK with that, YouTube CPM low, and again I completely get that.

 

And the ting is I/we should be more mad at YouTube (or shouldnt we?) for treating it's content providers like shit. They should have gone all out on preventing things like Adblocker (by the way when you use Adblocker you are a douchbag). In my opinion it is absolutely ridiculous that YouTube is not even profitable for Google itself, it is absolutely absurd. 

 

Now about Vessel, oh my Vessel Vessel Vessel you so flawed it makes me cry. 

Here are my problems with Vessel in no particular order:

• No android app
• Ads even tho you pay monthly for it, thats a bit curious for me
• No android app, android has more market share than Apple but no android app in which fucking year are we living
• No proper mobile website
• No android app, seriously? They seem like the kind of guys who would sell an app to you that is secretly just a website
• There needs to be a android app because we live in 2015

That was all, to sum it up: it just stings, I get it but it stings.

Even tho this post is completely pointless (there is no point in arguing when nothing is going to change) I felt like I needed to explain myself more when I said/say: "I am not happy with the fact that Linus has chosen to make video's and put them up on Vessel a week in advance behind a paywal, even tho I understand it I am not happy with it".

[Sakkura]

Default Quality is 480p. Turning the HD option on is 720p. Those are the only resolutions thus far

 

Kinda sad for a content creator shooting everything in 4K to release content first on a service that only supports 480p and 720p. And not even the best-quality 720p you could get.

[MariusJS]

I want to share my two cents about the whole Vessel thing and how things are going with LTT.

This is probably as effective as talking to a wall because nobody is going to read this but still I want to get some stuff of my chest.

 

First and formost: NO WE ARE NOT ENTITLED TO ANYTHING, Linus (and the rest of LTT) can do what they want, when they want it. If they want to upload there video's to PornHub from now on they are free to do so. Linus does not have any obligations with his audience he does not own us anything. And please for the love of god stop using the word entitled because everytime I hear it I trow up a little.

 

Linus moved to Vessel, a online video platform like YouTube but with a monthly subscription fee. Some people say that Vessel is not a competitor of YouTube, I disagree on that. They are in the same market space, target the same audience and want to provide a premium over YouTube by having video's released earlier on there platform and maybe even exclusives. I will be talking about Vessel and it's problems in a minute.

 

Now why does it sting a little (with me) that Linus choose to move Vessel (or rather produce content that will be up on Vessel a week or so in advance)?

I have been a viewer of LTT for a very very long time. Chest mounted tripod, Linus dying his hair about every week or so and also the dark time (the one's who were around back then probably know where I'm talking about). I have seen the channel grow very big and I am pretty happy for LTT and where they are now. It just feels like a kick in the teeth that after all the support and things that LTT have been trough Linus chooses another platform over YouTube, and yes I know it is "OPTIONAL" and "NOTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE" but it just feels weird. After all the "stay tuned for part 1-z of ..." and "This video is brought to you by ...." and of course the new office campaign I just get the feeling that I/we didn't do our "job" correctly and that after all that well at least I have seen it was not enough so just deal with it. It just feels like they say hey everything goes up in advance on Vessel, YouTube is not our platform of choice anymore. Don't get me wrong I understand why LTT keeps teasing video's and doing sponsered video's and I am completely OK with that, YouTube CPM low, and again I completely get that.

 

And the ting is I/we should be more mad at YouTube (or shouldnt we?) for treating it's content providers like shit. They should have gone all out on preventing things like Adblocker (by the way when you use Adblocker you are a douchbag). In my opinion it is absolutely ridiculous that YouTube is not even profitable for Google itself, it is absolutely absurd. 

 

Now about Vessel, oh my Vessel Vessel Vessel you so flawed it makes me cry. 

Here are my problems with Vessel in no particular order:

• No android app
• Ads even tho you pay monthly for it, thats a bit curious for me
• No android app, android has more market share than Apple but no android app in which fucking year are we living
• No proper mobile website
• No android app, seriously? They seem like the kind of guys who would sell an app to you that is secretly just a website
• There needs to be a android app because we live in 2015

That was all, to sum it up: it just stings, I get it but it stings.

Even tho this post is completely pointless (there is no point in arguing when nothing is going to change) I felt like I needed to explain myself more when I said/say: "I am not happy with the fact that Linus has chosen to make video's and put them up on Vessel a week in advance behind a paywal, even tho I understand it I am not happy with it".

I totally agree!

 

The app issue would kind of have been ok if they had no apps, and an ok mobile website, but they seem like they just don't care

http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/24/8280885/try-streaming-service-vessel-free-for-a-year-youtube-hulu

 

In this article they claim it might be months until an Android app launches...

 

Also the video quality is terrible

[MariusJS]

Kinda sad for a content creator shooting everything in 4K to release content first on a service that only supports 480p and 720p. And not even the best-quality 720p you could get.

Probably some of the worst 720P I've seen

[jackninja1]

I totally agree!

 

The app issue would kind of have been ok if they had no apps, and an ok mobile website, but they seem like they just don't care

http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/24/8280885/try-streaming-service-vessel-free-for-a-year-youtube-hulu

 

In this article they claim it might be months until an Android app launches...

 

Also the video quality is terrible

 

Agree completely, can't even change the quality to a known resolution (720p 1080p) no it's just HD on or off.

[Hazy125]

Probably some of the worst 720P I've seen

Whereas YouTube takes into account source bitrate, ie. LMG uploads a higher bitrate than normal and YouTube uses that advantageously, I think Vessel just compresses every video the same 

[mrfeel]

Sorry for my English but I'm writing from Italy and I'm trying to improve it.

I have 2 feedbacks to report.

First, even at SD the buffering is too slow for a fiber connection but I suppose this service has no server in Europe and it's still too young.

Second, through the iOS app sometimes the video stop for too long to the point of asking to restart reproduction and this is very unpleasant.

Anyway Vessel looks great in every device I used it, and iOS UI is beautiful and intuitive.

[mambuco93]

Vessel: mambuco93

https://www.vessel.com/videos/HDN7G5UMs

https://www.vessel.com/videos/Su_Wqd7Vl

[mrcharizard]

Hi LinusMediaGroup, I want to say thanks for all the awesome content you've created for us. I think its very nice that you are figuring out new ways to finance your contents, and I'm really excited for your future videos.

 

However I didn't find Vessel such a great experience, and I find myself rewatching the "early access" videos on Youtube anyways. So I don't think the entire thing makes any sense unless Vessel can really improve and deliver an experience at least better than that of Youtube.

 

The streaming speed of Vessel, at least in my location, is no where near Youtube. In my limited viewing time it stuttered multiple times, which never happened on Youtube(except the time the Fiber broke).

 

As a lot of people mentioned, the video quality isn't so great and without enough graphic options. Even though it supports "HD" I would feel more comfortable to select the resolution myself. This is not just some placebo thing but does influence the entire viewing experience. For instance take myself as an example, even though my internet in general is fast enough for 4K, but during certain periods of the day, say in the evening, internet speed drops and I would want to switch to 1080p. For me the most important issue is not buffer time, but the responsiveness of the video when you are fast forwarding or searching though the video.

 

Which brings me to my next complaint: I didn't find any media control hotkey. I am already accustomed to pressing spacebar to pause the video and left or right to dial back or fast forward. There is a "go back 10s" button, but I didn't really find a way to access that from my keyboard. Also, videos do not open in a new tab when clicked with the middle mouse button, which is frustrating.

 

Complaints aside, I do hope starting at Vessel could lead you guys to a better future

[improbablepants]

General small complaint about vessel... Middle click doesn't work and you cant turn off auto play. Small complaint, but it ma be a deal breaker of me.

[Fabio]

Honestly I am glad you guys are brave and self-confident enough to step up to another video platform such as vessel. Especially since the recent changes in ad policy of YouTube I can understand why this change is so important for you guys. I think as professional creators you need a video platform for professionals and I am would have paid the extra for early access if vessel hadn't offered the free access.

 

But you didn’t say if the vessel videos will have your ad spots? The current vessel videos have “unfortunately” no ad integration. This complaint might sound a little wired at first glance but I think your sponsors such as phantom glass and dollar shave club are not only great companies with very interesting products (which are unfortunately mostly not available here in Germany). And I really like your sponsor spots, especially the Lynda.com ones.

I personally think vessel is a great video platform. And even though I am quite impressed by vessels beautiful website and how easy it is to use, I am disappointed by the video quality of it! You can't even change quality settings in any significant way. I am used to watching your videos in 4K and vessel is a significant step backwards in terms of video quality.

 

But if it allows you to produce better and more videos there is no doubt that everybody will benefit!

Thanks for your amazing videos!

 

Fabio Schmidberger

PS: I am a student form Germany, so please forgive me my English mistakes.

[Dredge]

Although you have no way to further develop Vessel yourself, here are some problems I have with it that I would like to see resolved. I know you've already addressed several of these in other comments, so please bare with me. 

 

• Lack of Andriod App
• Videos seem to be in a lower quality
• Unable to simply "middle-click" or "right-click" to open a video in another tab. I have to literally open the video, copy the URL, and open a new window to paste it in.
• No "Following" Menu where I can easily just view a list in ascending order of most recently uploaded videos from channels.
• No "Playlist" or "Watch Later" feature

 

Just something I would also recommend doing throughout the next year and on in the future, is giveaways for a year of Vessel. Like if you had a different monthly competition every month where the winning got a year of vessel premium, it would make a lot of fans happier...especially the ones where it's a burden to have vessel.

[koenlode]

why is the video about the giveaway not showing on YouTube? don't you want extra vessel sign-ups? 

[Hvaheterdu]

Links that are clickable directly in the details and manual resolution changer

[Sedare]

Does this also mean that we have to wait for x amount of days when the video is finally on YouTube for official video forum threads to be created?

[Ena]

No clickable links in the description, really? and i really with i could control vessel video player with the keyboard, i was so used to press left on the keyboard to back some seconds to re listen something. i am really liking the vessel plataform so far, but it has alot of room for improvement.

 

pece out dudes

 

keep growing.

[Gachr]

It's also a feedback thread, so here we go.

I like the fact that youtube has some alternatives. I like the concept and the whole technical side of Vessel, but... its UI is completely terrible. They are the next guys who want to go into the whole mobile/w8 theme, but it just doesn't work for everybody. The UI would be great on a netbook, smartphone or tablet, but on a desktop... it's a torture. All the elements are way too big, so there is very little content on the screen. While it would work with something like Netflix, Vessel is aiming for short videos, so you will watch a lot of different ones, and you need to browse quite a lot because of that. And because of the UI, browsing experience is disastrous.

I won't even ask why I need to click on a menu icon when I need to go to it...

[Mcrxducky123]

I think it is awesome

[adhisakti]

I appreciate LMG's move to Vessel for better revenue, but Vessel really need to improve a lot.

 

1. It's soooo slooowww, with Google's server placed around the world, YouTube load a lot faster than Vessel

2. With my crappy 1mbps internet speed, it is difficult to not have an options to select video resolution, with my internet speed, YouTube only plays without buffering on 360p, lack of resolution selection and slow access from my country make my experience a disaster, but fortunately I can download Vessel videos with IDM, so yeah thats a little bit good thing

3. The UI is terrible and so heavy, with my i5 gaming PC its not a big problem but viewing it with my old Core2 Duo laptop is so heavy and slow

4. I think YouTube UI and comment system is bad, but Vessel is really-really bad, the thumbnail and video was taking to much space, no subscription list, worst comment system that I ever see, and why do they place the comment section at the bottom page after a bunch of thumbnail of other videos, that I need to scroll and click Load More to view all comments?

[Vynlovanth]

So far, not really enjoying the Vessel experience.  I can deal with the "mobile" like UI, it's alright even though I'm using it on a desktop where YouTube UI is more suited for it.

 

But it feels like I've gone back to dial-up as far as the buffer speeds go, and it doesn't seem to buffer more than 2 seconds ahead of time.  If I leave the video open but paused, it will just buffer the next couple seconds, which I can then play, and then wait for buffering again.  If I leave it too long, I'll watch those 2 seconds and then have to refresh the page because it will refuse to buffer any more video.  This is with the "HD" setting on "Auto", which looks like it is just giving me 360p.  Turning it to "On" turns it into half-second stutters of video (at 720p) and sound followed by a second of buffering for another half-second stutter.

 

Once they fix their bandwidth/buffering issues, they really need to add more to the video settings then just "Auto" and "On".

 

Meanwhile I can watch 4k and 1080p60fps on Youtube with none of these problems.  Vessel has a bit of work ahead of them.

[s3ns3]

i don`t like vessel,i will never use it

[k2k2]

I signed up for vessel the day this post was made and was able to watch the vids. now its saying that i need to add "early access" for 3/month? what happened to one year free? whats up with this?

[Gumi Rokkaku]

What is this news letter, and how do I subscribe to it?
Also, why is this video private? I don't see a need to hid it from the general youtube audience.
That being said, if you guys think this is the right plan, go for it. I think it needs a mobile app though.