PlexPass family plan?

Feature Suggestions
41

We'll address PlexSync in a similar fashion.

But why is this taking so long? It has been at least 6 months since this was last discussed and teased...

I can only say that I never was and never am going to buy PlexPasses for everyone in my household (4, before too long 5 persons), so the lack of this capability is really just a sad story since it leaves a nice and, it seems, well-functioning technology more or less totally unused in my household... More than anything else, it pushes me towards iTunes or another alternative, which offers similar syncing options for free...

42

If you really believe iTunes can give you the same thing what Plex can do you are really looking wrong. iTunes doesnt support syncing between multiple accounts and devices ;)

Some things might be frustrating sometimes yes, but you are not the only one here and the Plex development team is a small team that already do whatever they can to implement features asap. But due to the fact that we are talking about multiple OS support, and a lot of other things I really ask you to be a bit more patient towards the team as they are really doing everything they can to satisfy everyone. And the littlebit of money they ask for plexpass in my opinion is the least members can do back to support development and make things roll faster ;)

43

If you really believe iTunes can give you the same thing what Plex can do you are really looking wrong. iTunes doesnt support syncing between multiple accounts and devices ;)

Some things might be frustrating sometimes yes, but you are not the only one here and the Plex development team is a small team that already do whatever they can to implement features asap. But due to the fact that we are talking about multiple OS support, and a lot of other things I really ask you to be a bit more patient towards the team as they are really doing everything they can to satisfy everyone. And the littlebit of money they ask for plexpass in my opinion is the least members can do back to support development and make things roll faster ;)

You are totally right - iTunes doesn't offer what Plex does. Nor was I implying that - what I meant to say was that in terms of syncing, for me and my household, iTunes offers what we need for free.

As for the last part of your post: What is wrong with you people - is those pointless talking points something you learn at the Plex Ninja Academy?

Lets break it down:

- "Some things might be frustrating sometimes" - oh, no kidding Sherlock.

- "You are not the only one here" - no, that I know!

- "the Plex development team is a small team" - oh, that's a surprise, I thought they compared to Apple and Google in size...

- "do whatever they can to implement features asap" - no, they don't - they deliberately spend more time than needed and shelves completed features in order to piss off guys like me...!

- "I really ask you to be a bit more patient towards the team" - how can you tell that I am not?

- "they are really doing everything they can to satisfy everyone" - I really don't think that is true, no sarcasm here. And it shouldn't be true, because if you try to please everyone, you'll end up pleasing no one. But you can try to be nice, forthcoming and welcoming towards everyone.

"And the littlebit of money they ask for plexpass in my opinion is the least members can do back to support development and make things roll faster"

- How do you know to what level my support extend? I've donated, paid for the iOS app thrice, evangelized Plex wherever I come, paid for a PlexPass Lifetime pass, contributed code, offered support, offered ideas, helped, interacted and in general been a enthusiastic forum contributor and much more.

As for the substance of this matter, the fact is that elan has "promised" this for at least 6 months - he has even apologised to me that this takes this long. I don't have even the faintest problem with this taking this long - yes, I think it is somewhat frustrating, but I accept that things take time.

I was only asking WHY this is taking so long...

44

...

What is wrong with you people - is those pointless talking points something you learn at the Plex Ninja Academy?

...

- "Some things might be frustrating sometimes" - oh, no kidding Sherlock.

...

As for the substance of this matter, the fact is that elan has "promised" this for at least 6 months - he has even apologised to me that this takes this long. I don't have even the faintest problem with this taking this long - yes, I think it is somewhat frustrating, but I accept that things take time.

...

I was only asking WHY this is taking so long...

First of all, please be courteous to others here on the forum. The "Ninjas" are a group of hardworking volunteers who help out in here out of the goodness of their own hearts, and while they most certainly speak for themselves, many times they are privy to "inside" information that makes them valuable sources of information.

Since it seems like all you're looking for is a reason why this is taking so long, it's frankly because software is hard. We've been speccing the requirements for this feature for a while, and the implementation has (I just counted) over 20 parts. This is not just something you do by writing a few lines of code in an evening over a beer.

I can't promise you when it will be done, but I can tell you that we take the feature seriously and want to get it right :)

45

First of all, please be courteous to others here on the forum. The "Ninjas" are a group of hardworking volunteers who help out in here out of the goodness of their own hearts, and while they most certainly speak for themselves, many times they are privy to "inside" information that makes them valuable sources of information.
 
Since it seems like all you're looking for is a reason why this is taking so long, it's frankly because software is hard. We've been speccing the requirements for this feature for a while, and the implementation has (I just counted) over 20 parts. This is not just something you do by writing a few lines of code in an evening over a beer.
 
I can't promise you when it will be done, but I can tell you that we take the feature seriously and want to get it right :)


Damn, you are too good with words :)
46

First of all, please be courteous to others here on the forum. The "Ninjas" are a group of hardworking volunteers who help out in here out of the goodness of their own hearts, and while they most certainly speak for themselves, many times they are privy to "inside" information that makes them valuable sources of information.

I hope that you mean that this courteousness goes both ways? I am being courteous 99% of the time, but the post by tcviper contained absolutely no inside or any other valuable information and was clearly just a lame way of trying to quench semi-critical questions that you don't like... In addition, it was so marketing department-like that I thought it warranted a bit of sarcasm.

Next, are you only "hardworking volunteers who help out of the goodness of their own hearts" if you carry the Ninja badge?

Finally, I can just repeat that I don't have any problems with this taking so long. I fully accept, but, yes, am a bit surprised that this is a complicated matter. Do you want me to write it 100 times on a blackboard?

47

 hope that you mean that this courteousness goes both ways? I am being courteous 99% of the time, but the post by tcviper contained absolutely no inside or any other valuable information and was clearly just a lame way of trying to quench semi-critical questions that you don't like... In addition, it was so marketing department-like that I thought it warranted a bit of sarcasm.

Yes, it does go both ways, of course. What tcviper said might not have satisfied you, but everything he said was true. We all a small team. There are a lot of platforms. You can't just brush that off as "marketing" if it's the truth.

Next, are you only "hardworking volunteers who help out of the goodness of their own hearts" if you carry the Ninja badge?

No, the Ninjas have been recognized by us as a group of people who go above and beyond, and have consistently done so for a long period of time. They work behind the scenes with us to test new features, new builds, etc.

Finally, I can just repeat that I don't have any problems with this taking so long. I fully accept, but, yes, am a bit surprised that this is a complicated matter. Do you want me to write it 100 times on a blackboard?

Are you a computer scientist? Do you write software? If not, you're probably not well-equipped make estimates as to how long a feature should take.

Furthermore, you act like the entire team is focused 100% on this as THE TOP PRIORITY. We're not. There are lots of balls up in the air, as they say.

48

Yes, it does go both ways, of course. What tcviper said might not have satisfied you, but everything he said was true. We all a small team. There are a lot of platforms. You can't just brush that off as "marketing" if it's the truth.

It didn't dissatisfy me - but it brought nothing new to the table, and I thought it was somewhat insulting to try to get me to stop asking valid questions by saying things that we all know to be true. Try stating the opposite of what tcviper posted - it'll make no sense, and for that reason alone the post was just noise and, I'm sorry, stupid. I tried to convey that in a sarcastic tone.

No, the Ninjas have been recognized by us as a group of people who go above and beyond, and have consistently done so for a long period of time. They work behind the scenes with us to test new features, new builds, etc.

But please, you should recognize that non-Ninja posters can also be helpful and enthusiastic - why else would they spend their time in the fora, helping out (to a lesser extend compared to the Ninjas, yes, but still) let alone even participating and "consuming"?

Are you a computer scientist? Do you write software? If not, you're probably not well-equipped make estimates as to how long a feature should take.

Furthermore, you act like the entire team is focused 100% on this as THE TOP PRIORITY. We're not. There are lots of balls up in the air, as they say.

I don't understand, simply don't understand, how you can conclude that I think this should be the top priority? I don't think that. There are many things that I think should be your top priority, but that also means that I understand that nothing can be the top priority...

And no, I'm not a computer scientist - but for that matter, I am a medical researcher with a big pharma company and from that work I know that timelines slip; but they slip even more if you are not "kept to the fire" by other than your closest "friends"...

49

It didn't dissatisfy me - but it brought nothing new to the table, and I thought it was somewhat insulting to try to get me to stop asking valid questions by saying things that we all know to be true.

If you cease asking questions that have obvious answers, you'll stop getting content-free replies :)

As far as I know, the question you had in the OP was "WHY this is taking so long?". I hope I've provided sufficient answer, but feel free to ask followups.

But please, you should recognize that non-Ninja posters can also be helpful and enthusiastic

I've never stated or suggested otherwise. I love our entire community, we're lucky to have such an amazingly cool forum.

they slip even more if you are not "kept to the fire" by other than your closest "friends"...

Keep holding us to the fire, I would expect nothing less.

50

I don't think that my question had obvious answers - not here, not previously and not for example for the Bonjour/sleep-wake question...

As far as I know, the question you had in the OP was "WHY this is taking so long?". I hope I've provided sufficient answer, but feel free to ask followups.

Well, elan, you already once apologized for this taking so long, so you obviously recognize that it is taking longer than it should or what is fair.

I don't know how you plan to address this, but I'm still not convinced that this is complicated - you could make it possible for non-Plexpass users to use PlexSync with servers published with an PlexPass myPlex account on the LAN. I doubt that will take more than 6 months to implement.

Keep holding us to the fire, I would expect nothing less.

I will.

51

Well, elan, you already once apologized for this taking so long, so you obviously recognize that it is taking longer than it should or what is fair.

Don't put words in my mouth. I'm an optimist, glass-half-full sort of fellow. I wish everything took less time than it did. But fairness has nothing to do with it.

but I'm still not convinced that this is complicated

That's your prerogative.

52

Don't put words in my mouth. I'm an optimist, glass-half-full sort of fellow. I wish everything took less time than it did. But fairness has nothing to do with it.

I'm sorry, didn't mean to - wasn't ... fair :)

That's your prerogative.

:D

53

Computer scientist here :-) 

And no, I'm not a computer scientist - but for that matter, I am a medical researcher with a big pharma company and from that work I know that timelines slip; but they slip even more if you are not "kept to the fire" by other than your closest "friends"...


Some people take things for granted, but getting things working from a software engineering context is a special kind of beast. It's so much more than just timelines slipping. Elan and the rest of the Plex team are doing amazing work, and I'm sure they're hard at work doing even more amazing things. It would be awesome if all of the features would be available right away, but let them do their jobs, and every once in a while come here to tell them how much of an awesome job they're doing :-)

54

Computer scientist here :-) 


Some people take things for granted, but getting things working from a software engineering context is a special kind of beast. It's so much more than just timelines slipping.

Please don't put yourself up on a pedestal thinking that software engineering is more difficult than other kinds of disciplines. When you get to a certain level of awesome, everything is complex and difficult - that is why you have people like the Plex devs doing their job (i.e. they are great engineers).

But that doesn't mean you can't ask more of them - or try to influence their priorities...

It would be awesome if all of the features would be available right away, but let them do their jobs, and every once in a while come here to tell them how much of an awesome job they're doing :-)

I also do that - repeatedly (telling them that they are doing an awesome job).

But again, what you are asking is not what you'd want: elan just stated that he loves the engaged user base, and this very forum is called the "Feature & Bug Voting" forum. We even pay to be able to request and suggest and discuss. So no, I won't just "let them do their jobs" and then just come in here every 3 months or so offering universal praise. If that would be the norm, Plex would quickly deteriorate, I think...

:)

55

Please don't put yourself up on a pedestal thinking that software engineering is more difficult than other kinds of disciplines. When you get to a certain level of awesome, everything is complex and difficult - that is why you have people like the Plex devs doing their job (i.e. they are great engineers).

I'm not saying it's more difficult; just that it's a special kind of beast :-)

I'm all for requesting features, and reporting bugs and the like. I just don't think that it's right to get snarky about it.

But again, what you are asking is not what you'd want: elan just stated that he loves the engaged user base, and this very forum is called the "Feature & Bug Voting" forum. We even pay to be able to request and suggest and discuss. So no, I won't just "let them do their jobs" and then just come in here every 3 months or so offering universal praise. If that would be the norm, Plex would quickly deteriorate, I think...

:)

56

I'm not saying it's more difficult; just that it's a special kind of beast :-)

OK, fine :D

I'm all for requesting features, and reporting bugs and the like. I just don't think that it's right to get snarky about it.

That wasn't what you wrote... ;)

I only got snarky when I was essentially asked using pointless marketing BS to keep quiet by tcviper - my original question simply was why this is taking so long (absolutely nothing snarky there)... :)

57

Perhaps it was unintended snarkiness.


I can only speak for myself, but I’m pretty sure this holds true for most, if not all software developers. If you are not involved in the project, and don’t understand how software development works, then for the love of God, don’t ask why something is taking so long. Even if you don’t mean it negatively, and are just being inquisitive, do not ask that question.


Another no-no is saying that something shouldn’t be so complicated. Maybe it should be or maybe it shouldn’t be, but sometimes it just is

58

I am a medical researcher with a big pharma company

Why the hell is there no cure for Alzheimer's yet??? How hard can it possible be? Obviously you just need some sort of neuron cleaner thing, that seems pretty simple to me.

59

The last time I checked Plex Inc. is a US based company, Elan lives in Maui, not Pyongyang, his pet is a dog called Barkley, not the people of North Korea, and his title is Sheriff of Plexville, not Dear Leader. :)

Critical questions, also by regular users or users who are not software engineers by profession, should be welcomed.

The reason things might take a long time could be that it is a complicated matter - but there might also be other reasons, such as market strategy or fiscal considerations... :)

60

Why the hell is there no cure for Alzheimer's yet??? How hard can it possible be? Obviously you just need some sort of neuron cleaner thing, that seems pretty simple to me.

Here's your cure: No beer (alcohol) and ample sleep! That might be helpful, but I guess you wouldn't want that cure, right? :)

Seriously, though, I know they are working hard and rapidly closing in on an effective vaccine (yes, sounds crazy but nevertheless) against Alzheimer's. And my company might be on the cusp of a very effective symptomatic treatment option (that may cure the disease if you have been so unlucky to acquire it)  :) So don't despair!

If the above turns out not too work, I guess health science and computer science need to work together to once and for all develop those nanobots that will travel your blood stream and zap those evil plaques that kill your neurons :D

Software engineering were invented by humans to be used by humans (or semi-gods like the Plex team) - the human brain was invented by something else and we know almost nothing about it...! That is the important difference... :)