There's some content I want to watch on Netflix, so I'm thinking of signing up again. It's been about 7-8 months. But I'll probably wait until my Disney annual subscription is up sometime this fall.
I haven't missed Netflix at all. Nothing must-see has aired in all this time, and I imagine I'll feel the same with Disney as their content's been quite mediocre, save for Andor.
Crave is another one I probably won't renew for a while. I think I'm up in a month or so.
I did fall for a series of promos from Paramount recently. First they sent me a 50% off for three months, so I resubscribed. Then about a month ago they sent me another promo to extend that promo for one year.
Prime is probably the worst of all of the streaming services, but I seem stuck with Amazon forever.
I would torrent the odd thing if I knew how anymore. What happened to all the torrent sites the last few years?
Mods delete if necessary, but kickass is your friend.
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The only one actually worth paying for me. Especially since Funimation absorbed them and expanded their library.
2) Crave
HBO seems to know how to produce content. Still pretty underwhelming though
I try not to be a pirate overall, but between having a Prime membership and never finding anything worth watching, having had a Disney+ membership and only having watched Loki and Hawkeye in all that time before cancelling, having used a cousin's Netflix and not even feeling an ounce of disappointment when they finally disallowed sharing of memberships, I really see little value in video streaming.
What is especially a shame is that streaming essentially killed Blu Ray rentals, before 4K even became a thing. Never, and Nowhere can you watch a 4K stream with anything resembling UHD quality. Instead you have to pay $30 for a BluRay purchase. I am not sure I know many people who have actually seen how good 4K can look without streaming compression, a decade into 4K TVs being mainstream. Is that not crazy?
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The only one actually worth paying for me. Especially since Funimation absorbed them and expanded their library.
2) Crave
HBO seems to know how to produce content. Still pretty underwhelming though
I try not to be a pirate overall, but between having a Prime membership and never finding anything worth watching, having had a Disney+ membership and only having watched Loki and Hawkeye in all that time before cancelling, having used a cousin's Netflix and not even feeling an ounce of disappointment when they finally disallowed sharing of memberships, I really see little value in video streaming.
What is especially a shame is that streaming essentially killed Blu Ray rentals, before 4K even became a thing. Never, and Nowhere can you watch a 4K stream with anything resembling UHD quality. Instead you have to pay $30 for a BluRay purchase. I am not sure I know many people who have actually seen how good 4K can look without streaming compression, a decade into 4K TVs being mainstream. Is that not crazy?
Definitely with you there. Always amazed me watching people spend thousands on a really nice tv, then never actually use it close to it's capabilities
So Disney+ announced they adding a advertisement supported tier and raising the non-ad supported tier prices. I think the end goal for all these services is to have it all ad supported on top of a paid subscription. I hope there will just be options to buy or rent individual shows long-term as that is the future for me.
I would not encourage pirating. About once a month we get called by someone who has been served with a Statement of Claim. It happens.
Specifically, don't use torrents without a VPN. Or use other means to download without sharing with others, which is what will cause you to be caught in their net.
I like a lot of their content but it's really niche. They have shows where people play D&D, a game show where the contestants don't know the rules until they start playing, and improvised musicals.
Specifically, don't use torrents without a VPN. Or use other means to download without sharing with others, which is what will cause you to be caught in their net.
They’re all getting worse. Fewer shows, higher prices, no sharing, ads, etc.
Crave is getting gutted. Showtime must be launching their own service because all showtime shows have been pulled from crave, which was a not insignificant part of their library. Between that and losing content to Paramount (trek, South Park) plus the lack of any new movies, crave is gonna ride hbo as far as that takes them.
Netflix sucks and has for a while, Prime has never been great, Disney and crave have the best content for now but Disney isn’t producing many new shows that are any good. Crave still benefits from hbo but their best days are behind them and discovery is going to ruin that channel.
Pirating is becoming more and more attractive.
Between streaming services being terrible and Hollywood being shut down, we’re in for a rough ####ing ride the next little while.
They’re all getting worse. Fewer shows, higher prices, no sharing, ads, etc.
Crave is getting gutted. Showtime must be launching their own service because all showtime shows have been pulled from crave, which was a not insignificant part of their library. Between that and losing content to Paramount (trek, South Park) plus the lack of any new movies, crave is gonna ride hbo as far as that takes them.
Netflix sucks and has for a while, Prime has never been great, Disney and crave have the best content for now but Disney isn’t producing many new shows that are any good. Crave still benefits from hbo but their best days are behind them and discovery is going to ruin that channel.
Pirating is becoming more and more attractive. They mostly bank on people being excited about 2-5 shows a year, it's absurd.
Between streaming services being terrible and Hollywood being shut down, we’re in for a rough ####ing ride the next little while.
I have refused to pirate so far, but yeah there's no way in hell any single service is worth the $10-$20/month ($120-$240) for what they're delivering. They all just get thinner and thinner and rely on the public saying "well $10-$20 isn't that much, so I won't cancel".
They’re all getting worse. Fewer shows, higher prices, no sharing, ads, etc.
Crave is getting gutted. Showtime must be launching their own service because all showtime shows have been pulled from crave, which was a not insignificant part of their library. Between that and losing content to Paramount (trek, South Park) plus the lack of any new movies, crave is gonna ride hbo as far as that takes them.
Netflix sucks and has for a while, Prime has never been great, Disney and crave have the best content for now but Disney isn’t producing many new shows that are any good. Crave still benefits from hbo but their best days are behind them and discovery is going to ruin that channel.
Pirating is becoming more and more attractive.
Between streaming services being terrible and Hollywood being shut down, we’re in for a rough ####ing ride the next little while.
I have refused to pirate so far, but yeah there's no way in hell any single service is worth the $10-$20/month ($120-$240) for what they're delivering. They all just get thinner and thinner and rely on the public saying "well $10-$20 isn't that much, so I won't cancel".
They all rely on 2-5 shows a year with all the hype that goes with it.
I would not encourage pirating. About once a month we get called by someone who has been served with a Statement of Claim. It happens.
I'm curious, do those actually go anywhere? I remember years ago they were just threats, but it was never worth their time to actually take them to court. Can you share how these cases typically play out?
They don't go anywhere. No disrespect to troutman, but it's simply not worth it for ISPs to compromise their customers' personal information considering the negative implications.
Pirating has been a thing since Napster, almost 25 years ago. How many have been convicted of anything?
I am baffled that jayswin, who I believe to be around my vintage (27), has never pirated anything.
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Last edited by cam_calderon; 08-11-2023 at 08:17 AM.
They don't go anywhere. No disrespect to troutman, but it's simply not worth it for ISPs to compromise their customers' personal information considering the negative implications.
Pirating has been a thing since Napster, almost 25 years ago. How many have been convicted of anything?
I am baffled that jayswin, who I believe to be around my vintage (27), has never pirated anything.
A Statement of Claim is not like the notices your ISP sends you. It means the content owner got your info from the ISP and they will take you to court if you don't pay up. Ignoring it will mean a judgement against you.
I believe Troutman when he says they get calls about them regularly. They're common enough that I wouldn't pirate without precautions, or at all if I wasn't technically savvy.
As for the ethics of pirating, I actually enjoy supporting creators, especially small, independent ones. I pirate stuff I can't buy legally or have bought legally that I want to enjoy in a different format, or all in one place (Plex).
The steaming companies suck, but not paying them means they don't pay the actual content creators. The SAG and WGA strikes show you they already do that enough. So pirate if you need to, but don't bitch that there isn't much out there to watch.
I think the value of the streaming services is still OK if you only subscribe to 2 or 3. When I think about what I paid in the pre-streaming days for cable plus movie rentals and adjust for inflation I'd be coming out ahead. What the increasing number of services means to me is it makes sense to subscribe short-term. I'm probably going to cancel Crave for now, maybe try Apple for a few months. When Strange New Worlds season 3 comes out I'd subscribe to Paramount for a bit and cancel when it is done. A bit more of a nuisance than just keeping 2 or 3 services full-time though.
Those are the 4 I have. Prime has only 3 shows I like (The Boys, Bosch Legacy, Invincible) but the other benefits from Amazon make it worth keeping. I have an almost 7 year old so Disney still has value plus I am a Marvel/Star Wars fan. Netflix is kind of the king in my opinion with the amount of content it has. I like it more for limited series and documentaries. I think my Daughter watches Netflix more than Disney as well. Crave is the best for me due to new movies, HBO, Starz etc.
I know there would be shows I watch on Apple and Paramount but I do not want to add more services
