The Zero Dilemma [dltms0 - June Edition] Page 15

Started by machomuu June 22nd, 2016 12:41 PM
  • 108078 views
  • 2553 replies

donavannj

Age 32
Male
'cause it get cold like Minnesota
Seen 9 Hours Ago
Posted 1 Week Ago
22,513 posts
18.2 Years
... you can ignore the rant/reply in the spoiler below, then, if you want. Leaving it there because that took a decent bit of time to write up. Because the fan-made app serving their higher quality content probably means one or both of these two things are true:

Android devices are capped because a lot of them cannot actually handle 1080p and Crunchyroll doesn't want to deal with the sea of complaints from users trying to play 1080p on devices that can't play them, or that they are capping the resolution on Android so they avoid getting sued because an idiot watched tons of 1080p content on their capped mobile data connection and wants to deflect the blame away from their own personal irresponsibility and inattentiveness.

Spoiler:
I use the Android applications.
Well, yeah, but which versions of the Android apps? Some devices are stuck on older versions because those devices are stuck on older flavors of Android.

Image quality is glaringly obvious to me on my 9 inch 1536p tablet's screen. Even more so is the sound quality.
The native resolution of current anime is higher than 720p more often than one might think, as well. 900p and 1080p are both common sights. And even with upscaling, the low bitrate and artefacting of a 720p stream tend to make the picture much less crisp and pleasant than that of a 1080p one. Even if it's downscaled to a 720p screen. Hell, especially then.

I'm sure the possibility exists that the app is limiting itself by how it perceives my connection, in which case I'd wish it to bloody well give me the manual choice instead, since I can watch 1080p video fine on other services over Wi-fi. As for the manga issues, they seem to have to do with how sloppily the application handles the storing of pre-loading data. Many seem to share the issue. (It's not like I got CR for manga anyway, so eh. I just won't use it.)
The lack of being able to set anything beyond high and low for manual settings is annoying. Though the more I look into it, the more I see that a lot of streaming is capped at 720p across many of their platforms, which makes me think it's either an infrastructure thing on their backend (plus issues getting CDN servers downstream, though this is less likely) or a licensing rights thing where companies don't want to give rights to Crunchyroll for anything that's better than native 720p or upscaled 1080p. Gotta move those BDs somehow, and smart Japanese consumers could save a ton of money by attempting to use VPNs to get access to overseas Crunchyroll streams if they got those rights. I suppose it could also be in how the apps are designed to render the video on the system end.

The manga app pre-loading issues have been around a while as it's probably not a high priority fix since they make dramatically less money off of that than off of anime. When those weren't happening it was certainly usable. Uninstall/reinstall was the longer-term fix.

You know, as I take a look at the Crunchyroll forums (granted, a bad idea to begin with) to read discussions on legitimate usability and quality issues, I find that threads are littered with responses using logic along the lines of "I personally don't mind inferior quality, ergo this is a non-issue", "at least you get to watch anime/it's better than nothing(!), so stop complaining", after which some CR representative dryly posts that there "are no current plans to change this", and that's the end of that.
You know, I think it's this that aggrevates me the most. That people defend the issues, as if someone's doing us a favour, rather than providing a premium service.

I suppose, if anything, it should be considered a success in a company's PR if they have managed to create that kind of view of themselves in the minds of its users. Psyduck that, though.

Yes, I'm annoyed.
It is a niche service they're providing and one that is generally more convenient than trying to sail the high seas.

Their existence is also seen by some as bucking the "BIG EVIL MEDIA CONGLOMERATES" establishment. That Crunchyroll is one of the better services we have in general (not just in anime streaming; Netflix is clearly the leader in the field, but Crunchyroll could be argued to be in that next tier below it, having lower resolution content than Hulu but being dramatically cheaper for commercial free streaming, while also having a bigger library of content for the price-point than single-network services like HBOGo and CBS Now) speaks volumes about the plodding pace media companies took to get to this point. It also won't get better if they don't have the capital to improve.



... and now I want to figure out what resolution I'm getting to my own PS3 via CR, because according to my TV, the system outputs at 1080p and 60 fps for the home screen, but this Wagamama High Spec stream doesn't quite look 1080p on my TV, though it doesn't really look any different when I pull it up on the website on my Surface with 1080p selected.

8
whoops

Pokestick, good times.

cheeky

Age 27
he/they
Stockholm, Sweden
Seen October 31st, 2022
Posted June 20th, 2022
7,521 posts
14.1 Years
9

It was a nice rant/reply, though.

Oh, and that's just Wagamama High Spec being itself. I mean, it's an advertisement for an adult dating sim. The native content was produced in 720p (tops), and then upscaled and gaussian blurred so the edges wouldn't look weird.

Pokestick, good times.

cheeky

Age 27
he/they
Stockholm, Sweden
Seen October 31st, 2022
Posted June 20th, 2022
7,521 posts
14.1 Years
11

For all the talking I do, I don't watch much either.

Most I get done on anime/movie nights with friends. Last time we saw three films and a half, two anime episodes, and 20 short-form anime episodes. Sleep was not had.
Age 31
Male
A place you dread and envy
Seen May 18th, 2022
Posted May 17th, 2022
2,964 posts
7.3 Years
12

Think I'll watch some more tonight. wowow

Have just about convinced myself to leave these stupid Death Mode Sound Shapes levels until I've gotten myself a Vita. Did a few but they're too frustrating on a big screen. Main campaign levels are so easy they call them experiences, not a game, but you should play them for the sweet beck levels (one of them is more autistic than the deadmau5 ones).

donavannj

Age 32
Male
'cause it get cold like Minnesota
Seen 9 Hours Ago
Posted 1 Week Ago
22,513 posts
18.2 Years
17. Making money playing video games requires either immense gaming skill at any multiplayer game with a competitive gaming scene (see those gamers who are part of competitive gaming teams as their full-time job), an entertaining personality (MiniLadd kind of fits here, as does JackSepticEye), or the ability to maintain an entertaining persona (see PewDiePie and SilentDroidd). That or an ability to write entertaining skits and having the patience to set those up and play them out (see SilentDroidd, The Terroriser, and Vanoss Gaming with the skits). Playing a new and popular game helps. And if you're YouTubing, you'll need good video and audio equipment, too, and the video editing skills and patience to go with it. And enough free time to devote to it when you first start out.

As I personally lack pretty much all of the things required, I won't be starting a channel anytime soon.

I am looking into it down the line as a way to earn a tiny bit of money on the side (if I earn enough to fund even one of my hobbies, it's a win), but the first step to that is to get decent video recording equipment.
whoops

Pokestick, good times.

cheeky

Age 27
he/they
Stockholm, Sweden
Seen October 31st, 2022
Posted June 20th, 2022
7,521 posts
14.1 Years
19

The best way to get into vidya youtubing is to play minecraft in early 2011.

Hey, Felix Kjellberg is a pretty chill guy. He just has an immeasurably annoying persona.

donavannj

Age 32
Male
'cause it get cold like Minnesota
Seen 9 Hours Ago
Posted 1 Week Ago
22,513 posts
18.2 Years
22. Holy hell did people really get into that game back in the day. First time I've seen that.

In all seriousness about X11 videos, I would not watch. The game just doesn't lend itself to the video format because it's locked into a real-time clock, so any video content is going to be boring unless it's compiled over an entire season.
whoops
Age 31
Male
A place you dread and envy
Seen May 18th, 2022
Posted May 17th, 2022
2,964 posts
7.3 Years
23

Yeah, although it was still relatively small compared to some of it's rival sites there were a few really dedicated folk. Mostly gone now but still a few about.

Indeed, it would take a hell of a lot of effort to make something like that watchable. Bet somebody would have tried had the game been peaking now instead of a decade ago mind. Watching somebody livestream themselves staying up 'till 4 waiting for a CR would still be more entertaining than Pewdiepie .

I just hope the game survives long enough for me to see this kid's career out. People in the league laughed when they saw the price I paid, just another year or two until he becomes the demon.
Spoiler:

donavannj

Age 32
Male
'cause it get cold like Minnesota
Seen 9 Hours Ago
Posted 1 Week Ago
22,513 posts
18.2 Years
People have Livestreamed similarly mundane things in the past. I'm lucky that's only 10 PM in my time zone, so I can check before I go to bed on a typical update night.

That's a much more impressive youth than anything I've ever churned out on any of my teams. Mine all generally are only 19/6s and 19/7s at that age. What did he start at? a 17/5? 16/4? A shame he doesn't have FK taker and Goal Instinct as well. You could totally wreck that league in 3 or 4 seasons if his teammates keep pace.

24.
whoops
Age 31
Male
A place you dread and envy
Seen May 18th, 2022
Posted May 17th, 2022
2,964 posts
7.3 Years
25

Bought him as a 17/5. The team he's in has given me a string of good players actually, so I signed a few more and have really focused on development.
Spoiler:


>Cowdry
>Rimbert (if only he wasn't a defender)
>Narraway
>Khadduri
>Simpson

Also got this freak in another team, he was shortly ffollowed by a vanilla 16/4.
Spoiler:


These are all since coming back from my 2 year break, never got this lucky in the past.

donavannj

Age 32
Male
'cause it get cold like Minnesota
Seen 9 Hours Ago
Posted 1 Week Ago
22,513 posts
18.2 Years
Nice. Certainly looking better than most of my projects. The only team that even compares right now is the operation in my official league team.

A bit jealous, really. I'd probably be there if I actually took the time to make a roadmap for each of my teams.

I did get lucky over the years and wind up with a string of strong mids in my official team, though none of them were on a better path than the 17/4 path. One of them had 241 points in 252 games played, and probably missed 35 to 40 games strictly because of cards. He had a fleet of SQs like that Norwich City defender of yours. He had FK taker, Cool, Goal Instincts, Hard Trainer for good ones, then tough, cheats, and trash talker for the negative ones. Managed to get him to peak as a 16 skill in his early 30s. On raw talent, my current best midfielder will probably peak higher, but he would have to average nearly 2 points per game to even approach my best midfielder's point total because he's only got the cool SQ. Granted, the highest that ever got me was a 7th place finish in the Power League's Division 2 just after he retired.


26.
whoops

donavannj

Age 32
Male
'cause it get cold like Minnesota
Seen 9 Hours Ago
Posted 1 Week Ago
22,513 posts
18.2 Years
28. The RSE box sets, too? That's pretty pricey. I was going to buy the ultimate Haruhi Collection from Funi until I found out how much a problem on my car (control arms are being problematic on warm, humid days) was going to cost to fix. $900 for the one and $1550 to do all four.
whoops