The Org Redesign - What's wrong with the org?

[Pwolf]

That's all I am asking for. I am not a programmer, so I have no idea how hard it may be to implement an opt-out feature. As long as the real reason that I cannot be exempted from a feature I dislike is because the coding is difficult or impossible, that won't bother me.

it wouldn't be that difficult...

[Zarxrax]

it wouldn't be that difficult...

Well, maybe not, but one thing I was talking to kionon about, if he wants to opt out of, say, receiving star ratings on his videos, that creates some issues because a lot of search/recommendation/rating features take the star ratings into account. Will it really be simply to get around all of that?

[Corran]

That's all I am asking for. I am not a programmer, so I have no idea how hard it may be to implement an opt-out feature. As long as the real reason that I cannot be exempted from a feature I dislike is because the coding is difficult or impossible, that won't bother me.

it wouldn't be that difficult...

If it is a matter of disabling input from being accepted and doing nothing more then I would agree, but it really depends on how you implement it.

With streaming opt-out it wasn't simple. Since we didn't want a single person dictating the streaming availability of a collaborated video we had to check if all the other editors that participated in a collaboration also had streaming disabled before those previews would disappear. If you look at the db schema, checking those kinds of things is not a matter of a simple query. Using OOP helped encapsulate the logic to a couple method calls, but the implementation of those methods, and making sure that every part of the site was respecting the opt out was annoying.

Well, maybe not, but one thing I was talking to kionon about, if he wants to opt out of, say, receiving star ratings on his videos, that creates some issues because a lot of search/recommendation/rating features take the star ratings into account. Will it really be simply to get around all of that?

With the current implementation, trying to disable star-ratings would not work without significant changes to code or db schema. In a forward-thinking, complete re-write of the site it shouldn't be a big issue as long as it is a thought out design goal.

As long as it is opt-out rather than opt-in I think it would be fine. I don't think everyone would just "abandon ship" on the system. If a user opts out and are not a donator they ought to lose the benefits of the system (i.e. unable to sort by star rating in search results, unable to view top star ratings) There needs to be some incentive to actively participate and not be a leech. This way, those that care about the system can participate and "theoretically" ratings become a more accurate representation of user opinion since there won't be as much excuse to blindly give 3's to everything.

[Pwolf]

Personally, I think a global star rating system should be in place no matter what... you can't opt out of it. Having the ability to disable comments and or streaming I really don't think would be that difficult. We aren't implementing on top of the existing code, we are rewriting the databases and the code. Although, I really think it would be as simple as adding an extra field or two in a table as a flag and then when the code to display or allow comments is run, it checks for those flags. For meps, it would be a simple check to see if all the members have the flag.

And again, another reason why starting to discuss stuff like this before coding and "finalizing" database designs, something like this opt-out option is a significant thing to consider. And a lot of the "who gets to control what happens to the video" stuff really should be worked out now rather then later. We discussed studios and how those should be handled, but what about meps?

[Zarxrax]

We discussed studios and how those should be handled, but what about meps?

One little idea that I had running around in my head for MEP entries, and maybe this is not a good idea, but its just something I thought of...
Currently, the person who enters the video info is the one who writes all of the video info and everything.
What if each contributor could write something that would be displayed in addition to that? For big projects, maybe that could start to get a little out of hand though.

[godix]

Speaking of opt out, users should be able to opt out of preview on a per video basis. As an example why, I got a 1600x480 vid I'm gonna be uploading once the AKROSS contest is done. Right now, I have a choice, let preview turn that into something that looks like total and absolute ass or disable previews on all of my videos. A lot of people only view the preview and never download; what they'll see on preview will look so bad they'll absolutely hate it. Almost like it was a Kionon vid or something. However, I like preview. I don't want to disable it on all my videos, and any future videos. If disabling previews is going to be allowed anyway, why not allow it on a per video basis?

[BasharOfTheAges]

Speaking of opt out, users should be able to opt out of preview on a per video basis. As an example why, I got a 1600x480 vid I'm gonna be uploading once the AKROSS contest is done. Right now, I have a choice, let preview turn that into something that looks like total and absolute ass or disable previews on all of my videos. A lot of people only view the preview and never download; what they'll see on preview will look so bad they'll absolutely hate it. Almost like it was a Kionon vid or something. However, I like preview. I don't want to disable it on all my videos, and any future videos. If disabling previews is going to be allowed anyway, why not allow it on a per video basis?

100x this. Some things just don't work in preview mode. Namely anything with HUEG dimensions.

[Zarxrax]

100x this. Some things just don't work in preview mode. Namely anything with HUEG dimensions.

Doesnt the preview encode get downscaled? If not, thats something that needs to happen.

[Kionon]

As long as it is opt-out rather than opt-in I think it would be fine.

Right, and this is the compromise. It's no secret that if this were KiononMusicVideos.org, there would be no star ratings at all, but it's not, and it shouldn't be, so I am not asking for an opt-in. I don't think that would be fair.

I don't think everyone would just "abandon ship" on the system.

Nope, but I wouldn't be the only one. I guarantee it.

If a user opts out and are not a donator they ought to lose the benefits of the system (i.e. unable to sort by star rating in search results, unable to view top star ratings) There needs to be some incentive to actively participate and not be a leech. This way, those that care about the system can participate and "theoretically" ratings become a more accurate representation of user opinion since there won't be as much excuse to blindly give 3's to everything.

Can I get clarification? I'm a donator, and I don't want to sort by star rating, or even view star ratings, let alone give them (blind 3's is exactly what I do). I wasn't even asking for an opt-out of the current annoying YOU MUST GIVE STARS BEFORE DOWNLOADING, but if you would do that, if you would really get rid of everything star related for the opt-outer, I would seriously love you forever. That's way more than I expected, and I would be very happy about that.

[BasharOfTheAges]

100x this. Some things just don't work in preview mode. Namely anything with HUEG dimensions.

Doesnt the preview encode get downscaled? If not, thats something that needs to happen.

It does - that's the problem. Loss of video quality on a site that's primarily focused with such things or problems in a video where detail is important and is lost in the downscale.