New Platform Launch Feedback & FAQ

[nicklmg]

Vessel user name: Cortek

 

My favorite video from Vessel:

https://www.vessel.com/videos/G-DUjgUyY

https://www.vessel.com/videos/LCoY5zfFf

https://www.vessel.com/videos/JYZEYDYx0

This is actually the feedback thread - we won't be tracking giveaway entries over here.

 

Please post in http://bit.ly/linusgiveawayto enter!

[AxelRantila]

They're using HTML5.

 

Hallelujah! This is something good!

[Dabombinable]

Hmmm, 100GB of internet at $50 a month, and about $10 left over from a reduction in the cost of my plan, yep I can afford it.

[MarkWmDwyer]

I'm signed up to VESSEL with the name I use with this forum: MarkWmDwyer. Links to two of the (favorite) videos I watched and commented on are:

https://www.vessel.com/videos/JYZEYDYx0 (Hardline Water Cooled PC Build Log - Yes, you can play Battlefield on it),

https://www.vessel.com/videos/DkWN4qqW1 (Gigabyte P34W Gaming Notebook).

[rarblaster]

Hey guys,

 

I've been around forums for many years, don't think it has changed much since I stopped coming to internet forums on a regular basis.

 

You would normally read the whole thread before commenting, so the poor LMG guys don't have to answer the same questions over and over again.

 

Vessel seems to be a brand new platform, so they're going to have issues.

 

I suggest instead of dismissing vessel out of hand and saying LMG have "screwed the pooch" by offering the same content over 2 different platforms. Start seeing the bigger picture as to why they're doing this.

 

You will find google will continue to squeeze the big content producers off their platform especially those that do sponsorship deals outside of youtube, you cannot blame google for protecting their revenues, but you feel for the guys who are being pushed off. 

 

They have to look for other sources of income as google are squeezing their incomes from the youtube platform.

 

Don't be surprised when google slap a paywall on youtube for premium content.

[KuronoXD]

I'm just wondering you guys... Is it better for LMG if I watch the content purely on Vessel from now on and? Because there's about 4k of us in vessel in just under 4 hours, so your revenue from views in Youtube might take a hit.

 

Also, as I read you have pretty good communication with Vessel: as there is no Android app yet, I tried watching your videos in my phone's browser, but their mobile page only lets you register, there is no option to log in.

[Slick]

You know what'd be cool?

 

If we can customize how our Vessel UI looks like. For example, I don't like the position or size of the comment section, I just fire up the settings page and move stuff around.

 

Another thing they could add is custom backgrounds. For example if I'm watching a video on LTT channel, there will be a LTT background etc.

 

I know you guys are not Vessel but I feel like you guys would be the best to convey these opinions to Vessel.

You are correct! I will pass this along

 

 

My Vessel name is TonnyKing.

The two videos I've watched and liked and commented on:

5K Nvidia GeForce Titan X SLI Benchmarks: https://www.vessel.com/videos/JemZ8O7Hy

Hardline Water Cooled PC Build Log: https://www.vessel.com/videos/JYZEYDYx0

 

Wrong thread my friend - You're gonna want to post those here : http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/333925-platform-launch-and-massive-giveaway/page-4#entry4530967

 

you said techquickie and channelsuperfun ? can't seem them in vessel

Unfortunately we had some issues importing those videos - they will be up soon

 

Can we Europeans get every Vessel contend or is it like Hulu or Netflix. Because Vessel is offering MSL Games and for Example German IP's can be blocked, because of the Vessel content. If this happens, are you give the Europeans another Early Access Option? 

Honestly I have no idea - I suspect if Vessel content that is on youtube is not restricted then you will be fine

 

For a paid subscription service, videos load pretty slow.

Honestly I'm surprised they are even live right now haha I expected them to go down

 

I understand you're trying to fund your enterprise, but there is just no reason to move over to Vessel for me. I used youtube every day so I more just watch videos out of covnenience.

 

I understand that you're trying to make that jump to be free of youtube, but Im just not interested at visiting a new site.

 

There have been instances of this, or even people paywalling their videos on youtube, they usually get backlash.

 

Since you're putting everything on youtube I don't really care. It makes no real difference to me if I wait a week, because not much of the content is really needed the week its released, its not current affairs. I just don't really want to see a general 'negative' tone around the channel, as that does happen when people try these breakouts.

 

So goodluck guys, I'm not really interested in making the jump straight away, but you seem very open about it. I do feel for you that you build a successful company and are still effectively owned by youtube and have no other real possibility of a popular platform.

We are in no way breaking out from YouTube! Honestly a REALLY important factor for me through all of this is that the youtube viewers would not notice any actual change in their quality of life... there would still be a new video every day with 0 gap and any timely content would still be timely. I doubt you will even notice other than a plug here or there

 

I'll copy and paste my prior into here, so as not to bring distraction from that thread.

The only issue is that it didn't issue me the free year. I personally don't mind, it's not a big deal at all, but for some people it might be.

Otherwise, it worked flawlessly.

And while it's been said already, no doubt..

This is very very cool, guys. This is why this is my tech forum of choice. Not the giveaway, but how well you guys treat us all. No we don't always get along but we always rally. And the people running it really care about the people enjoying it. I got this email at the airport at 3 in the morning and it perked me right up. Keep up the amazing work, fellas. And good luck with the future endeavors!

One giant tech community, I love it.

Thanks for the kind words!

 

Just signed up, this doesn't work well for me. Also why is there no big feedback button on their website, how do I get in contact with them? Actually I already know, their support system, but it took me 20 minutes to find that exists and where it was.

 

Not an amazing support thing though hah. Early days I guess.

Thanks for the feedback - I'm sure they will appreciate it

 

I quite like the idea of diversifying from Youtube and not having your eggs all in one basket, so this seems a pretty good move for LMG. Depending on if the issues that people have been talking about get fixed (app, 4k/60fps playback) I'll probably keep using it for your videos in the future.

I agree! They are developing rapidly, I'm sure they will iron out the issues

[Calavera]

I don't like change, that's something I have to mention up front.

Vessel seems inferior in every way other than you finally being able to make some money. Other than that I can't say I am impressed.

I'll keep watching you on YouTube, I'm affraid Vessel won't be the new platform for me to watch you on. I had you whitelisted on Adblock on both YouTube and on this website here, but I won't go and watch even more ads than I already do, Adblocker barely works anymore anyway and frankly, I'm getting pissed off about how much ads are thrown at me in a day.

[Clubwho]

I find this move to be interesting, my big question is will they upload the videos on Vessel first then YouTube or will there be exclusive videos like there is now?

[suicidalfranco]

feedback time!!!

Love the return of full video buffering (never understood why youtube decided to ditch it), finally i can watch HD videos with my crap connection speed. first bug i may have encountered: when video on pause if i change HD from auto to on or on to auto the player just stops responding and dies; even worse if the fullscreen is enabled, when the player dies there is no way to disable it other than pressing esc on the keyboard (big issue for me since my laptop is plugged to the TV and i mostly navigate using only a mouse)

[marivize]

The text on VESSEL videos are READABLE........................ NOP.

[Dredgy]

@nicklmg @Slick

Feedback for vessel: Video quality isn't great. And I would like dedicated quality toggles - 480p, 720p, 1080p etc. 1080p tends to lag, but I don't want to downgrade all the way to 480p if I can avoid it.

UX is alright, needs some maturation, looking forward to trying it on the iPad, because YouTube's iOS apps are awful.

The platform makes sense since there is 5 or 6 other channels I watch on there.

 

Feedback for you: Diversification is always good, and hope this brings what you need. The poorer quality of video on Vessel though is something I'd be pressuring them on, because your production values are really excellent, and people using the "premium" platform, get worse quality.

[Tiby]

Vessel is just starting up and is backed by Amazon and Hulu (with big budgets behind to support this). Still the quality can't be on par with youtube becasue of Google's sheer server backend power that is massive. 

Like Linus said, it's not that he is leaving youtube, it's just that those that are willing to pay a subscription to see content earlier will do so.

Now there are some problems Linus that I hope you can discuss with Vessel developers:

1. Vessel is not mobile friendly for the moment and they don't have support for TV display (as far as I am aware).

2. There are countries where ISPs block their add service or treat it as malware. This will just scare off potential viewers

3  I'm not sure of the prices here because there are many services that handle this (Twitch, Patrion, etc .. ). Youtubers did this for a couple of years and I don't think most of youtube subscribers almost noticed this.

 

Bottom line is try to thin outside the box and don't forget that there are users worlwide that enjoy your show which currently do have a problem with using Vessel. 

For those complaining about this, it's pure business guys. You need money for running it (more and more as you grow) and you just need to offer a platform for those users that are willing to pay for your services. 

[diracdeltafunk]

So, I too had problems with the "free year" offer.

 

I clicked the annotation, and filled out the form, which only asked for my email and first name. Then... nothing. I didn't get an email from vessel, I didn't progress to another form, absolutely nothing happened.

 

So I figured maybe I had to make an account manually, and the free offer would sync up? There's a message on the free-year referral page that says "You can also sign yourself up and start watching videos immediately over at vessel.com/linustech", so it seemed a reasonable conclusion. I went there, made an account with the normal registration form (using the same email and first name), filled out all their dumb profile-creation forms (you can't make an account unless you select 3 interests!), and that worked... except I didn't have the free year of service! WTF?

I really hope they fix this soon. I just entered an alternate email in the referral form just in case my currently free account doesn't retroactively get the year of service. But I'll be pretty annoyed if they can't fix this. Especially if I can't get the free year at all (through no fault of my own!).

I honestly would never have purchased a vessel subscription, so I'm glad this offer exists, as I am definitely willing to give it a shot with a free trial. If it's good enough, I'd be happy to pay the $3/month... but so far, I haven't been so satisfied with the experience.

[zugop]

Is there a link for channelsuperfun and techquickie?

[Prastupok]

I find this move to be interesting, my big question is will they upload the videos on Vessel first then YouTube or will there be exclusive videos like there is now?

It's not exclusives, they just aren't on YouTube yet it's all early access. But unlike games, they actually will be finished when you see them

[thorpj]

I fully support you guys in what you're doing here. And having watched the recent Wan Shows, i'm aware of why you did it [well, when i say that, i mean i know as much as you've told us].

 

It's fairly obvious that Vessel is a new platform. The quality just doesn't do your awesome camera justice.

 

But, my 4 megabit connection does ok with HD, so i'm happy!

 

Also, LTT practising what they preach, backup!! 

[gonvres]

 

We are in no way breaking out from YouTube! Honestly a REALLY important factor for me through all of this is that the youtube viewers would not notice any actual change in their quality of life... there would still be a new video every day with 0 gap and any timely content would still be timely. I doubt you will even notice other than a plug here or there

 

 

Yeah thats more my point. I think maybe Linus could have stressed that a bit harder. But he was no doubt obviously trying to plug the new service so he didn't want to say 'Hey guys, you don't need to go here" or anything. If you didn't tell anyone about this they wouldn't notice the difference.

 

Hopefully it helps with income and all that, it would be nice to see you move to a more warehouse type setup, honestly watching the room tours makes me feel claustrophobic in your current setup.

[globalwarm26]

Hello, i got a problem and i hope it's only me
I've sign up and the i tried to watch a video, but the video just won't play for me.
So good luck with vessel, LTT.
I'll just wait your videos in youtube 

[Slick]

Hallelujah! This is something good!

HURRAY

 

Hmmm, 100GB of internet at $50 a month, and about $10 left over from a reduction in the cost of my plan, yep I can afford it.

It's free for a year!

 

I'm signed up to VESSEL with the name I use with this forum: MarkWmDwyer. Links to two of the (favorite) videos I watched and commented on are:

https://www.vessel.com/videos/JYZEYDYx0 (Hardline Water Cooled PC Build Log - Yes, you can play Battlefield on it),

https://www.vessel.com/videos/DkWN4qqW1 (Gigabyte P34W Gaming Notebook).

Your princess is in another castle! -> post over here man http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/333925-platform-launch-and-massive-giveaway/page-5#entry4530988

 

Hey guys,

 

I've been around forums for many years, don't think it has changed much since I stopped coming to internet forums on a regular basis.

 

You would normally read the whole thread before commenting, so the poor LMG guys don't have to answer the same questions over and over again.

 

Vessel seems to be a brand new platform, so they're going to have issues.

 

I suggest instead of dismissing vessel out of hand and saying LMG have "screwed the pooch" by offering the same content over 2 different platforms. Start seeing the bigger picture as to why they're doing this.

 

You will find google will continue to squeeze the big content producers off their platform especially those that do sponsorship deals outside of youtube, you cannot blame google for protecting their revenues, but you feel for the guys who are being pushed off. 

 

They have to look for other sources of income as google are squeezing their incomes from the youtube platform.

 

Don't be surprised when google slap a paywall on youtube for premium content.

 

I'm just wondering you guys... Is it better for LMG if I watch the content purely on Vessel from now on and? Because there's about 4k of us in vessel in just under 4 hours, so your revenue from views in Youtube might take a hit.

 

Also, as I read you have pretty good communication with Vessel: as there is no Android app yet, I tried watching your videos in my phone's browser, but their mobile page only lets you register, there is no option to log in.

HONESTLY it's better for us if you enjoy the platform that you're watching on - I would rather you were comfortable with the experience you had instead of pushing you to a platform you don't want to be on.

[pcman2000]

Vessel pls.

You're launching a new video distribution platform to compete with YouTube, yet you have no Android app or mobile web support.

I can't watch Vessel videos on my phone or tablet. Really?

Come on.

[nicklmg]

 

I don't like change, that's something I have to mention up front.

Vessel seems inferior in every way other than you finally being able to make some money. Other than that I can't say I am impressed.

I'll keep watching you on YouTube, I'm affraid Vessel won't be the new platform for me to watch you on. I had you whitelisted on Adblock on both YouTube and on this website here, but I won't go and watch even more ads than I already do, Adblocker barely works anymore anyway and frankly, I'm getting pissed off about how much ads are thrown at me in a day.

 

Definitely - if you still want to watch on YouTube then by all means, go for it! We want to be available to as many people, on as many platforms, as possible. That's the reason behind the addition of Vessel to our lineup.

 

I find this move to be interesting, my big question is will they upload the videos on Vessel first then YouTube or will there be exclusive videos like there is now?

All videos will be posted to YouTube 7 days after they are posted to Vessel. They are "timed exclusives."

 

feedback time!!!

Love the return of full video buffering (never understood why youtube decided to ditch it), finally i can watch HD videos with my crap connection speed. first bug i may have encountered: when video on pause if i change HD from auto to on or on to auto the player just stops responding and dies; even worse if the fullscreen is enabled, when the player dies there is no way to disable it other than pressing esc on the keyboard (big issue for me since my laptop is plugged to the TV and i mostly navigate using only a mouse)

Thanks for the feedback!

Definitely a weird issue. Can you either submit through their support or PM me with specific details so I can pass it on to their feedback team? Thanks!

 

The text on VESSEL videos are READABLE........................ NOP.

Sorry, can you be a bit more specific?

 

@nicklmg @Slick

Feedback for vessel: Video quality isn't great. And I would like dedicated quality toggles - 480p, 720p, 1080p etc. 1080p tends to lag, but I don't want to downgrade all the way to 480p if I can avoid it.

UX is alright, needs some maturation, looking forward to trying it on the iPad, because YouTube's iOS apps are awful.

 

Feedback for you: Diversification is always good, and hope this brings what you need. The poorer quality of video on Vessel though is something I'd be pressuring them on, because your production values are really excellent, and people using the "premium" platform, get worse quality.

Yep quality improvements are something they will be addressing as they go.

 

Let us know how the iOS app is!

 

Vessel is just starting up and is backed by Amazon and Hulu (with big budgets behind to support this). Still the quality can't be on par with youtube becasue of Google's sheer server backend power that is massive. 

Like Linus said, it's not that he is leaving youtube, it's just that those that are willing to pay a subscription to see content earlier will do so.

Now there are some problems Linus that I hope you can discuss with Vessel developers:

1. Vessel is not mobile friendly for the moment and they don't have support for TV display (as far as I am aware).

2. There are countries where ISPs block their add service or treat it as malware. This will just scare off potential viewers

3  I'm not sure of the prices here because there are many services that handle this (Twitch, Patrion, etc .. ). Youtubers did this for a couple of years and I don't think most of youtube subscribers almost noticed this.

 

Bottom line is try to thin outside the box and don't forget that there are users worlwide that enjoy your show which currently do have a problem with using Vessel. 

For those complaining about this, it's pure business guys. You need money for running it (more and more as you grow) and you just need to offer a platform for those users that are willing to pay for your services. 

1. Already brought those points up with them. They have a team working on moving to new platforms, but their time is relatively small at this point. Their focus pre-launch was on acquiring solid talent to back the platform, hopefully they'll expand soon.

2. Oh interesting... I will definitely pass this on. Can you specify which countries are affected?

 

Thanks for the feedback!

[TheGamerBloke]

I checked this page. https://www.vessel.com/creators It say's "Best of all, they can try Vessel for free! There are no commitments, and they can cancel anytime if they aren't loving early access. If, at the end of the free trial, your fans choose to stay, we'll give you $7 for each new referral." So this is NOT A GIVE AWAY IT IS A CASH GRAB. 50,000 people you want to sign up.

[marivize]

Why did you started on Vessel?
Are there any money problems in LinusMediaGroup?

7*50000=350000$...

that's why?

Linus is not a Dumb sucker, so he must gotten a better deal... Still

The free web treats every view equally. On Vessel, your superfans get exclusive, early access in a premium environment. During the early access period, you get 60% of subscription dollars and 70% of advertising dollars.

We estimate that videos will earn approximately $50 per 1,000 views while in early access. This is up to 20x more per view than creators earn from free web distribution.

[builder408397]

The service doesn't seem to have the same backend as Youtube (Google) and that is really evident, I get so much buffering on HD (doesn't load sometimes) and no HD is yuck. Also what if someone downloaded the videos on vessel and started posting them somewhere, on the fourm or another youtube channel, DaliyMotion, website. What would happen? 

 

But, if I get videos like this, a week early for just 3$/month. I guess it is pretty okay, just need to improve on that caching in the backend like Youtube (Google) does and 1080p will be usable.

 

P.S. The reason I asked about the downloading/uploading thing, that is how I am watching it on vessel. I start the download, go do somethings and come back and watch it. I won't upload it somewhere but it came to mind when I was downloading it and I just want to know what would happen if something did happen.

 

BTW I am in Australia, I just might point that out if you decicde to pass information on about the issues, also using WaterFox.

 

@nicklmg

 

Also while I am reporting something. I find this weird bug watching the Two GTX titan video at 5k. Around the two minute mark the video will stop (maybe to buffer but) and it just won't start again. And the whole player freezes and I have to refresh the page.

 

Again, WaterFox verison 35.0

OS Mac OSX 10.10.2