long waits on Netflix

[RoJoHen]

Temis the Vorta wrote:

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Also, I never see movies "by other means" because I am totally pigheaded and DEMAND that Netflix send me the damn movie like they're supposed to!

Well, when I say "by other means," in this instance I mean my sister ordered it OnDemand from Comcast, and I happened to be around to watch it.

[Professor Zoom]

Temis the Vorta wrote:

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I got over 200 DVDs in my queue but not those. Because I heard they suck.

Well, Julie and Julia does suck. I haven't seen the others.

They just happened to be the first three movies I saw on the Watch Now New Releases section.

I chose the first three to show that "old as dirt" is a lie or an exaggeration.

[Temis the Vorta]

I chose the first three to show that "old as dirt" is a lie or an exaggeration.

Yeah, the only problem titles are the ones that are both new and highly popular mainstream movies like The Hangover. Those titles you listed aren't highly popular. The lack of popularity of Angels & Demons (which did decent box office) also suggests a refinement: that "highly popular" is according to Netflix's demographic. Not really mainstream America, but the snotty urban intellectual elite. If your tastes matches that groups', and you send back DVDs quickly, Netflix has got your number.

Unless you use the Phantom Profile dodge. Just returned another DVD, and yet another Long Wait "miraculously" became available.

Okay, I think I can declare the first phase of the experiment a success. Next phase: redistribute my DVDs from being 2 from the Long Wait specific profile to 1 for each profile. Will Netflix only send DVDs from my regular profile, or give some consideration to the "other guy"?

[John Picard]

I had the movie Tron in my queue for a couple of weeks and now it went to Long Wait status.

Honestly, I think it all boils down to the Netflix scheduling system estimating if/when that title will be available based on current factors (ie sudden interest in scheduling, number of queues waiting, estimate turnaround time for copies currently rented, etc).

[RobertScorpio]

I had no problem getting ANDY WILLIAMS LIVE AT ALBERT HALL!!....You have to know that this title is on EVERYONEs must see list...

I have had no problem ever getting new releases from Netflix. Maybe its one of the benefits living in San Diego california.

Rob

[Temis the Vorta]

Honestly, I think it all boils down to the Netflix scheduling system estimating if/when that title will be available based on current factors (ie sudden interest in scheduling, number of queues waiting, estimate turnaround time for copies currently rented, etc).

Yep. But if Person A has only six movies in their queue and they're all Long Waits, and Person B has those six movies and 200 more in their queue, mostly available now, then Person A will get those six movies long before Person B does - even if all other factors are equal.

And to the extent Netflix users have figured this out - and what would stop thousands of users from figuring it out the same way we have here? - they will all imitate Person A. The more Person A's there are out there, the more anyone who doesn't imitate them gets screwed.

So we should all be Person A's and break Netflix's system.

I have had no problem ever getting new releases from Netflix. Maybe its one of the benefits living in San Diego california.

I haven't been able to discern any difference in big city vs being in the sticks. Most likely, your tastes do not coincide as heavily with the tastes of Netflix's user base like mine do. The more your tastes vary from the Netflix average, the less competition you'll have for titles. My shorthand guess about the average taste of Netflix users is that they are ten million times more likely to rent The Hangover than Angels & Demons.

[RobertScorpio]

Actually, Angels and Demons is offered via streaming..in fact, most of the new releases are it seems to me...

Rob

[Witterquick]

Okay, I think I can declare the first phase of the experiment a success. Next phase: redistribute my DVDs from being 2 from the Long Wait specific profile to 1 for each profile. Will Netflix only send DVDs from my regular profile, or give some consideration to the "other guy"?

What do you mean? Put only one long-wait title in your phantom profile and see if they send you?

[Temis the Vorta]

Witterquick wrote:

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What do you mean? Put only one long-wait title in your phantom profile and see if they send you?

Yeah, like this:

Profile 1 - no Long Waits - 1 DVD assigned
Profile 2 - all Long Waits - 1 DVD assigned

Do I get one from Profile 1 and one from Profile 2, or two from Profile 1?

Actually, Angels and Demons is offered via streaming..in fact, most of the new releases are it seems to me...

Not according to my queue. These recent (or fairly recent) releases are not offered by streaming: Inglorious Bastards, The Hurt Locker, 9, Up in the Air, Afghan Star, The Informant!, Up in the Air, This is It!, The Princess and the Frog, Brothers, An Education, My One and Only, Zombieland, The Damned United, Where the Wild Things Are, The Cove, A Serious Man and Precious.

There are several titles in my queue offered via streaming, but mainly they are TV series and older movies, and nothing I'm in a big hurry to see. The high-demand movies that get Long- or Very Long-Waited for me are never the ones offered by streaming (probably because the streaming option mitigates demand for the DVDs).

[RobertScorpio]

Maybe its regional..we almost watched ANGELS AND DEMONS last night but got side tracked by LOST--HUMAN TARGET and 24 (season one, which I am NETFLIX streaming). And last night, there again, I saw Angels and Demon. When I get home tonight I'll see where I actually saw it, but I believe it was in the New Release section. I remember it because of Hank's strange hairdoo on the cover...

Rob

[Temis the Vorta]

I don't think any of those titles you listed are the sort to be Long Waited. TV series in general don't get impacted much - HBO and Showtime maybe some, regular network not at all.

[RobertScorpio]

Okay..once again..ANGELS AND DEMONS is in my 'streaming' NEW RELEASES catagory...right there on XBOX360...maybe its exclusive to X360, but we're going to watch it tomorrow (we just completed 24's first season..awesome by the way)..

Rob

[RoJoHen]

^Nope, it's not just an XBOX thing.

[Temis the Vorta]

I don't get the point...XBOX makes it less likely to be Long Waited? I don't think something like Angels & Demons would be Long Waited anyway. Only certain titles get impacted, and the trend seems to be the titles that target what I presume is Netflix's key demographic - young, urban, male, tech-focused early adopter, relatively high income/education. Not the Angels & Demons audience at all.