Again, YouTube?

[Hiro Protagonest]

So, YouTube just simplified the way you choose your options for viewing (res and screen and size and annotations). By putting them all into a submenu in the little gear. Great job at totally confusing me, luckily I always set the res myself so I clicked on it right away.

[Tengu_temp]

Can't wait for this layout to work even slower on weak computers!

[Hiro Protagonest]

Oh, and the sound when you skip ads is lagging slightly. It goes on for another second or two. Although... feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, since I did just switch browsers (Firefox was a resource hog, so I switched to Chrome).

Really, YouTube, we don't have to see where the money Google gets from ad revenue is going. If you insist, I'd rather just see pictures of the yacht you bought instead.

[factotum]

Yes, they've now improved things so that, in order to set the resolution to something other than the default, you have to click *three* times rather than two. Truly this is an amazing advancement in user interface design. :smallsigh: If they actually gave you the option to specify what default resolution you wanted that would still be fine, but the only options they allow are either to go full HD (720p or 1080p) or default to 360p--whereas the sweet spot for me is 480p; can't reliably play the higher resolutions, and 360p looks like garbage.

[thubby]

more disturbing is the loss of video replies. many channels depend on that feature for basic discourse.

[Ikialev]

Hey, I'm google, I came about the room? *comes to your house, is cool for a while, then one day you come home and every wall is covered in clocks and his feces*

[Cat Dungeon]

Meh, I don't see what the big deal is. It's a minor change. Nothing really to complain over.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Meh, I don't see what the big deal is. It's a minor change. Nothing really to complain over.

It's because we can compare Activision favorably.

[Cat Dungeon]

It's because we can compare Activision favorably.

Still seems like a very minor thing to complain about.

[tensai_oni]

People are complaining because youtube's interface changed when no change was necessary, and the change is for the WORSE.

[LaZodiac]

Still seems like a very minor thing to complain about.


People are complaining because youtube's interface changed when no change was necessary, and the change is for the WORSE.

This, but literally every update since...like last year has been that.

[Cat Dungeon]

People are complaining because youtube's interface changed when no change was necessary, and the change is for the WORSE.

Oh no! A website that gives people thousands of free hours of videos and asks nothing in return made a change that is slightly inconvenient.:smallwink:

Honestly, just be glad you live in an age where nearly any piece of information can be accessed in a matter of instances and you live in a country where you can do that.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Oh no! A website that gives people thousands of free hours of videos and asks nothing in return made a change that is slightly inconvenient.:smallwink:

I'm pretty sure this is the third change that is slightly inconvenient. Or the fourth.

As for the free videos... YouTube set a new bar. That bar is now there. If it can't hold to its own standard, we complain. We're not asking a lot of YouTube, we're asking them to stop trying to draw in new people by changing the interface a half-dozen times.

[KillianHawkeye]

Yes, they've now improved things so that, in order to set the resolution to something other than the default, you have to click *three* times rather than two. Truly this is an amazing advancement in user interface design. :smallsigh: If they actually gave you the option to specify what default resolution you wanted that would still be fine, but the only options they allow are either to go full HD (720p or 1080p) or default to 360p--whereas the sweet spot for me is 480p; can't reliably play the higher resolutions, and 360p looks like garbage.

My thoughts exactly. C'mon, YouTube! :smallannoyed::smallsigh:

[TheSummoner]

Oh no! A website that gives people thousands of free hours of videos and asks nothing in return made a change that is slightly inconvenient.:smallwink:

There's a world of difference between a person complaining about a free thing and a person complaining that a thing (free or otherwise) has been changed in such a way that makes it worse.

[thubby]

Oh no! A website that gives people thousands of free hours of videos and asks nothing in return made a change that is slightly inconvenient.:smallwink:


it's not free. they spend my time, bandwidth, and screen space. these are things of real monetary value, especially considering how much advertisers pay for it.

[Taffimai]

Oh no! A website that gives people thousands of free hours of videos and asks nothing in return made a change that is slightly inconvenient.:smallwink:

Youtube does not give me videos, it allows other people to give me videos, and it makes quite a bit of money off of "their" videos. Yet, noone is complaining about the ad creep, or writing them huffy e-mails, or saying they don't have the right to do what they want with their website. It's just some good-natured griping amongst friends about the good old days when music was still music, young people knew how to dress properly and only polite, well-spoken people used the internet :smallcool:

[ghost_warlock]

Yet, noone is complaining about the ad creep

That may be because those of us who would complain about it are already using AdBlock. :smallwink:

[Hiro Protagonest]

Ugh, I really don't want to get into the support-YouTubers vs don't-support-Google argument.

...I say that, but I have really strong opinions on stuff. Okay, Google already has tons of money, YouTubers don't. Please support YouTubers.

Also, can't you add exceptions? If you add exceptions, I'm totally fine with that.

[factotum]

I have to partly agree with Jade Dragon--watching a 30-second advert prior to a 20-minute video, in order to ensure the content creator gets a bit more money, is fine with me. (I *do* draw the line at watching a 3-minute advert on a 2-minute video, though, that's just silly). Youtube gives you the option of skipping an advert after 5 seconds anyway, so I don't see why you need Adblock for it in the first place!

[Killer Angel]

Honestly, just be glad you live in an age where nearly any piece of information can be accessed in a matter of instances and you live in a country where you can do that.

I'm glad for it.
I'm also glad that i live in an age where I can complain if a service given to me becomes (even slightly) worse.

[Hiro Protagonest]

I have to partly agree with Jade Dragon--watching a 30-second advert prior to a 20-minute video, in order to ensure the content creator gets a bit more money, is fine with me. (I *do* draw the line at watching a 3-minute advert on a 2-minute video, though, that's just silly). Youtube gives you the option of skipping an advert after 5 seconds anyway, so I don't see why you need Adblock for it in the first place!

Yeah, any ad longer than thirty seconds (or is it twenty?) can be skipped after five, although there was apparently one ad a while back that was three minutes and didn't let you do that.

A lot of companies seem to be adapting, though, since I've seen a lot of fifteen-second ads lately.

So like I said, if you use AdBlock, add exceptions for your favorite producers/actors/comedians (sounds more professional than YouTubers).

[Balain]

... (Firefox was a resource hog, so I switched to Chrome)...

If I remember right chrome is more of a resource hog than Firefox, chrome is one of the biggest resource hogs ( I think I will double check when I get home)

A browser that uses very little resources is opera.

[Hiro Protagonest]

If I remember right chrome is more of a resource hog than Firefox, chrome is one of the biggest resource hogs ( I think I will double check when I get home)

Well, maybe Firefox doesn't take enough resources them. I try loading up three videos at a time (yes, it's something I do) on Firefox, and it lags out horribly. Whole browser freezes. I can load twice that much on Chrome and it works fine. I have a beast of a computer, so it doesn't really matter to me how much of my processor it takes in the short term.

[Mercenary Pen]

Ugh, I really don't want to get into the support-YouTubers vs don't-support-Google argument.

...I say that, but I have really strong opinions on stuff. Okay, Google already has tons of money, YouTubers don't. Please support YouTubers.

Also, can't you add exceptions? If you add exceptions, I'm totally fine with that.

I generally prefer to support YouTubers through means that don't involve getting bombarded by every random company who can afford to pay hand over fist for google's going rate- preferring means such as merchandising by the YouTubers in question or crowdfunding support methods such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo and Subbable.

[Hiro Protagonest]

I generally prefer to support YouTubers through means that don't involve getting bombarded by every random company who can afford to pay hand over fist for google's going rate- preferring means such as merchandising by the YouTubers in question or crowdfunding support methods such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo and Subbable.

Hm, you could see if they have a Twitch account, and if they do then you subscribe to that (costs five dollars a month).

[LaZodiac]

So, I just started watching season 3 of Avatar.

This...this is the season people say is the weakest, right? Because...it's opening episode is the best opening episode of the three seasons. It's...going to be quite interesting to see how and why this becomes the weakest season.

[Hiro Protagonest]

So, I just started watching season 3 of Avatar.

This...this is the season people say is the weakest, right? Because...it's opening episode is the best opening episode of the three seasons. It's...going to be quite interesting to see how and why this becomes the weakest season.

Wrong thread.

And it's the weakest because of the amount of filler. The stuff that's actually about the main story is great. The filler is terrible.

[Finlam]

So, I just started watching season 3 of Avatar.

This...this is the season people say is the weakest, right? Because...it's opening episode is the best opening episode of the three seasons. It's...going to be quite interesting to see how and why this becomes the weakest season.

Wrong thread indeed, but there's some facts about the production you should know when watching season 3. Most notably, the writer's strike occurred after the 6th (iirc) episode and the rest of the season dramatically changed. Bear that in mind when you hear criticism.

As for the topic at hand: it was kind of inevitable. There's a lot of people on the 'cutting edge' of UI design trying lots of new things. It just so happens that most of those things are retarded and it was only a matter of time before youtube tried newer and 'better' things as well. In short, some UI designer craps out a 'great idea' and the whole service suffers. They will change it again in the future, they will not reverse the change, but it may get better at some point.

[The Bushranger]

And right now, I have NoScript throwing up 'blocked a potential cross-site scripting (XSS) attempt' warnings on Youtube. Apparently somebody borked something in their code. :smallsigh:

[Jimorian]

Speaking of "features" of YouTube. I just uploaded a game play video for the online medieval combat game Chivalry, and as an experiment, I let YouTube "stabilize" the footage. The result of whatever algorithm from hell they unimaginably feel is appropriate for fixing "shaky cam" is quite literally nauseating (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXoYmOmZyso).

For those who aren't familiar with how steady cam should work, you basically take a each frame, then zoom in a bit to give a margin around the whole picture that you can then use to shift the frame around enough to cancel out motion of the camera. The result is sometimes quite amazing with an algorithm that does nothing else but make this physical shift.

However, YouTube, and some editing software, make this really weird assumption that if you fixate on the subject, and warp them and the surroundings around in such a way that they stay in the same place over several frames, you end up with an acceptable end product. However, turning peoples' arms and legs into wiggly noodles, and the background into a bad acid trip does NOT make for a better video product UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE.

[zilonox]

I saw a facebook post about this and I agree: Youtube obviously watches us while we watch videos because they sometimes play ads that are very specific to my locality - so why do they insist on playing ads for horror movies while we're in the middle of a Disney Jr. marathon? Very frustrating.

On topic, I used the three screen sizes they offered quite a bit, and I also found that 480p was the sweet spot for me as well. Here I assumed they just removed a bunch of options rather than simply moved them, so I learned something from this thread at least. It is most certainly a worse design than they had and I do so hope they find a better one soon. :smallfrown:

[Avilan the Grey]

If I remember right chrome is more of a resource hog than Firefox, chrome is one of the biggest resource hogs ( I think I will double check when I get home)

A browser that uses very little resources is opera.

Opera is too ugly to use. Seriously.

AFAIK, Chrome uses more resources per new tab than FF. FF uses more resources for a single tab, but if you are a "multi tabber" Chrome will eat more.
Part of that, of course is that Chrome has every tab as an individual Instance, to protect from crashes.

Edit: The new placement for window size IS annoying.

Also, there is the problem with Scandinavia and buffing, about once every quarter Youtube refuses to play because the videos refuse to buffer. It is a known problem, apparently, because Google supposedly is in talk with Telia, the biggest ISP in Scandinavia, to fix the problem.
They must have been talking for two years now...

On the other hand I have read a lot about how Youtube wants to hide our subscription list from us, but I don't understand that complaint. It is still extremely easy to find, both on Android, iOS and in Browser.

[Hiro Protagonest]

And now upvoting/downvoting of comments is no longer a thing.

[factotum]

And now upvoting/downvoting of comments is no longer a thing.

It is? That's both a good and a bad thing, mind you...I've seen plenty of perfectly reasonable comments get labelled as spam because the poster committed the heinous crime of not having an encyclopaedic knowledge of the channel and got piled on by regulars.

[Hiro Protagonest]

It is? That's both a good and a bad thing, mind you...I've seen plenty of perfectly reasonable comments get labelled as spam because the poster committed the heinous crime of not having an encyclopaedic knowledge of the channel and got piled on by regulars.

Oh no, they kept the "flag as spam" button.

So now it's like you can downvote but not upvote.

[The Bushranger]

And now upvoting/downvoting of comments is no longer a thing.

Is this on all channels? Or just some? Because I noticed on TotalBiscuit's channel you couldn't do that awhile back, but still could on others...

[Hiro Protagonest]

Is this on all channels? Or just some? Because I noticed on TotalBiscuit's channel you couldn't do that awhile back, but still could on others...

...Hm, it was on TB's channel that I noticed that. And now I'm looking at some other comments and they do have the up/down voting. Of course, they still won't let you see the number of votes on most of them.

[The Bushranger]

Yeah, apparently it's disabled on his channel.

Given the firestorm that the comments section on the Hearthstone video he did with Northernlion (on the latter's channel) became, I can't say that I blame him.

[Jimorian]

Upvoting/Downvoting of comments is something you can choose to allow per video on your own channel.

You can also choose to allow all comments, only approved comments, or no comments. And you can choose to not let viewers see the rating score of the video.

[KacyCrawford]

I really liked the new update.

[LaZodiac]

So, I just started watching season 3 of Avatar.

This...this is the season people say is the weakest, right? Because...it's opening episode is the best opening episode of the three seasons. It's...going to be quite interesting to see how and why this becomes the weakest season.

Um...wow I'm sorry guys, I must of been exhausted back then :smallredface:

Anyone, on the subject on hand, I too dislike the changes. It's so nice having to navigate a menu to increase the video player size instead of just one button.

[Fredaintdead]

I really liked the new update.

Would you perhaps be willing to explain what you liked about it? I'm not looking for an argument, I'm just interested as to see what positives can be taken from this update.

[Loki_42]

So, Youtube just asked me to use my full name after making a comment, as it likes to do. Of course, I said no. It then, however, asked me if I would like to change my youtube account name, and that I could now use spaces if I would like.

That sounded entirely reasonable, so I clicked yes, and changed the HansBachmanBand to the Hans Bachman Band, because why not?

Because apparently changing my account name made Google decide to split my accounts into two, one named Hans Bachman Band, and one sharing a name with my gmail account, which I created just to have a Youtube account. The gmail account has all of my subscriptions on it, but none of my videos or channel description or anything. When I look at Hans Bachman Band, it seems to have all of my videos still there, as well as every change I've made to descriptions and channel activity and all that. Of course, I can't check to see if it has all of my subscriptions or not, because I AM INCAPABLE OF LOGGING INTO MY YOUTUBE ACCOUNT!

When I attempt to log in, it asks for my information, which is the same as the information for my gmail account that it just made a channel for(again, I made this account just for Youtube. I wanted my friends to be able to upload to Youtube. They never do, but it's supposed to be a communal account). When I put in this information, it then pops up a screen asking me if I want to sign in to Hans Bachman Band(yes) or my gmail account(no). When I click on Hans Bachman Band, it redirects me to the Youtube homepage. Unlogged in.

I've never had major problems with Youtube, unlike basically every one else who uses the site, but this has really made me upset. I mean, the videos sucked for the most part, but I still don't want Google to just take them away from me.

[AdmiralCheez]

That reminds me of something that's been bothering me - Why do they need my cell phone number to "verify" my YouTube account? Why is a cell phone more secure than just a secondary email address? How do I know this won't lead to my number getting sold to telemarketers? I'd be fine with remaining "unverified" forever, but I don't like the restrictions they've put in, like a limit on data size and video length.

Gmail bugs me about it occasionally too, but it doesn't look like I get anything for surrendering that information. Besides, I have an android smartphone that made me create a Gmail account to do anything with it, so they should already have that number.

[KacyCrawford]

Oh no! A website that gives people thousands of free hours of videos and asks nothing in return made a change that is slightly inconvenient.:smallwink:

Honestly, just be glad you live in an age where nearly any piece of information can be accessed in a matter of instances and you live in a country where you can do that.

Completely agree with you.

[Mercenary Pen]

Now youtube is having a tantrum and not updating the videos to my subscriptions page... Why on earth must you keep slaughtering end user functionality youtube?

[ef87]

seriously! why fix what isnt broken?

Something I do on each and every youtube song i listen to is change the quality to the max possible for that video. Before it was a total of two clicks. Now, it is three! not a HUGE deal but when you listen to a lot of YT music vids, those clicks add up!

[Hiro Protagonest]

Completely agree with you.

That doesn't answer the question of why you think this update is good.

And besides, time is money. It's a resource, like any other. And it's not just a matter of time, YouTube is making money off of us for watching the videos they host, unless we use AdBlock. And if we use AdBlock, then the guys who made those videos won't get money unless they hold fairly regular t-shirt drives or something. There really is no such thing as a free lunch. And then they decide to just throw in whatever this week's best (not to be confused with good) design idea was.

[Mercenary Pen]

Now youtube is having a tantrum and not updating the videos to my subscriptions page... Why on earth must you keep slaughtering end user functionality youtube?

Okay, this seems to have been fixed for now- but I suppose its only a matter of time until they have their next bright idea

[Mc. Lovin']

I hope this isn't hijacking the thread, it's certainly along the same lines:

Again, Chrome?

What is up with the new update? My new tab page now has a completely useless "Google" search thing, when the web bar already has a google search function! And they are pushing "Plus" on me in the top right corner. I am thinking of switching back to firefox :smallannoyed:

[factotum]

And they are pushing "Plus" on me in the top right corner. I am thinking of switching back to firefox :smallannoyed:

Google pushing their stuff on you via their own browser? Gosh, that's an entirely unexpected and in no way obvious-they-were-going-to-do-this-as-soon-as-they-announced-the-browser move... :smallamused:

[Mc. Lovin']

Haha, yeah I guess I should have seen it coming. Especially with all this stuff on youtube with them trying to force me to use my real name! Hopefully someone comes up with a site which is better than YouTube soon. And hopefully people don't stick with it just because everyone uses it.

[Jimorian]

Haha, yeah I guess I should have seen it coming. Especially with all this stuff on youtube with them trying to force me to use my real name! Hopefully someone comes up with a site which is better than YouTube soon. And hopefully people don't stick with it just because everyone uses it.

The way to get around this is to unlink the YouTube from the G+ personal account, then make a G+ page for the actual channel. This way there's no restriction on what the channel (and thus your YouTube user name) can be. So your personal G+ is Joe Myrealname, your YouTube URL is youtube.com/jname but the Channel title/username can be "1337 Joe C00L".

A friend of mine is stuck because Google+ flagged her personal account for not being a real name, even though it IS her real name. But because her name consists totally of everyday nouns (Autumn Sky), they think she's faking, and the appeal process is designed to be almost impossible to navigate so that a real person on their end never has to actually make a decision.

[Red_Boulder]

{scrubbed}

[Lettuce]

There, I fixed your post for you.

No need to make a personal attack. OP made a civil and valid observation; let's discuss the content of the post.

On that note, I'm not particularly fond of the change, myself. 480p is what I like to use, too. I think the ideal solution would be to have customizable layout options, or at least a couple of different templates to choose from. After all, apparently some people like (or rather, don't dislike) the change.

[Hiro Protagonest]

{Scrubbed}

[Salbazier]

Off topic a bit
Opera is too ugly to use. Seriously.
AFAIK, Chrome uses more resources per new tab than FF. FF uses more resources for a single tab, but if you are a "multi tabber" Chrome will eat more.
Part of that, of course is that Chrome has every tab as an individual Instance, to protect from crashes.

Oh, that's explain it. Once a problem in my older PC which have smaller RAM (not that I use Chrome on the new one)


What is up with the new update? My new tab page now has a completely useless "Google" search thing, when the web bar already has a google search function! And they are pushing "Plus" on me in the top right corner. I am thinking of switching back to firefox :smallannoyed:
...I'm glad I keep sticking to firefox despite everyone keep asking me 'why not use Chrome?'

On topic, my annoyance with youtube:
1) There's no 'stop download' option anymore. That was nice because I often open a vid just to see the related suggestions on the side.
2. Continuously asking I if want to use my real name. Can't understand why one 'NO' isn't clear enough.
3. Isn't actually annoying, but because the cosolidation into that little gear I once thought they erase the 'bigger player' option as well.