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 JadedTitan 
Vice Admiral (Moderator)
Joined: Oct 20, 2007
Member#: 19134
Posts: 692
Location: Maryland
    
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 Posted:
Wed Jun 15, 2016 6:52 pm Post subject: |
 
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If you want to know when SAM is in full, or nearly full control of SST, its usually around 7pm SST time till the europeans come on around midnight. I leave work 5pm PST and the queue is usually full of SAM. Exception being when Dragon puts lots in. But again, generalization. So basically when the Americans go home, no one really requests much. But the listener rate is low too, 200 or so (roughly).
The wait used to be 5 mins...so to me, it makes no difference. But as Mol said, valid points being noted.
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The right song can turn an emperor into a laughing stock, can bring down dynasties. A song can last long after the events and people in it are dust and dreams are gone. |
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 Dutchbat
Captain
Joined: Aug 09, 2008
Member#: 22196
Posts: 1875
Location: Roosendaal
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Posted:
Thu Jun 16, 2016 5:06 am Post subject: |
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I took the opportunity to monitor some changes in the times I used to be online and what influence the 5 min. waiting time had.
I took screenshots which I will add to this post as soon as I can get them in my dropbox.
But let me share my outcome first:
* There is no basic difference in requesting order on European daytime when there are enough people requesting. It doesn't matter in that whether it's under or above 1:30
The only shift there was is that the mix up of requesters is more even (so no back-to-back requests)
However, this sometimes, depending on who is requesting, leads to a very incoherent queue as styles get mixed up as well. But this is not a big problem but will downsize the number of listeners for a longer period.
* The timeframes where SAM takes over are grown longer.
This is the case on USA evening and early European mornings. This has mainly to do with the SAM fighters having trouble or leave (as in my case)
Trainmakers weren't bothering any other requestors, but now have to wait an average of 3 min to get the next request in while you could be constantly busy when it still was 2 minutes. Result is that you still have trains (see screenshots later) but less people continueing it.
* The new selection order for SAM is regarded by Cal as an improvement. I hope this is a personal opinion, because what I have seen SAM requesting is nothing to get excited about. I wonder what 'popular tracks' are leading to.
If that's more of the fav lists of ??? or most requested tracks it certainly doesn't help diversity and not everyone is fond of the mainstream popular tracks. (I saw SAM requesting an overload of 'Lord of the Rings, Ron Jones project and Star Trek already and even the much discussed Friday 13th)
* The abundance of albums that are 'least played' or from composers 'least requested' will always have a great stake in the SAM picks.
IMHO this is also the reason why the listener numbers are deminishing last couple of years.
If the overall Q quality scares away a die-hard soundtrack fan like me you might start questioning what can be the cause.
The 5 min wait is part of that.
As you might have seen (if you go back a few hours in history before coming online) there's now SAM until way over 08:00 AM European time.
(see screenshots later)
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take a look at my collection: My album list |
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 DieTeeFee
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: Aug 04, 2014
Member#: 36042
Posts: 291
Location: where the trouble is at.
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Posted:
Thu Jun 16, 2016 5:52 am Post subject: |
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Let me just put here, that i really appreciate that there are less back to back requests. I think it's a good thing that we don't have to listen to the taste of just one person for half an hour anymore. (and yes... i am aware that i am one of the train persons... mostly for the sake of battling SAM) If there are different tastes in the queue that means that different people might like some of them. This can in my humble opinion only lead to MORE people liking the queue, not less, because the good thing with diversity is, that everyone can find something they like.
Of course if you want to listen to a nice queue where everything fits together, you might be better off going to a radio station that has an actual DJ (or whatever that is called) who gets paid to make the music fit together. With people requesting what they like, you will never have a great fit (not even if it is only one person, because most requesters will just request whatever they can think of, and not worry about thematical or aesthetical correctness)
Regarding the SAM times: From what i can see the queue has been fuller lately. I usually come to work at 8 (which equals 2am in the chat time) and there used to be a LOT of SAM going on before i came online. (resulting in lots of Fee trains) Nowadays i come online and the queue is already full. and it stays full until i leave work. I can usually get through my workday without having to do more than 15 requests, where i used to have days where i felt like i was the only one battling SAM for hours. So i can really not see the part where people are requesting less since we have the 5 minutes rule. (Dunno how it works for the people across the pond though...) |
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Dutchbat
Captain
Joined: Aug 09, 2008
Member#: 22196
Posts: 1875
Location: Roosendaal
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Posted:
Thu Jun 16, 2016 5:57 am Post subject: |
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| DieTeeFee wrote: |
| Let me just put here, that i really appreciate that there are less back to back requests. |
Hence your back-to-back request from two Witcher scores AFTER the Witcher score ahead of that?
_________________
take a look at my collection: My album list |
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DieTeeFee
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: Aug 04, 2014
Member#: 36042
Posts: 291
Location: where the trouble is at.
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Posted:
Thu Jun 16, 2016 6:02 am Post subject: |
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yup... i always request the witcher soundtracks one after another. Just because they are in my fav album list in that order. But that is EXACTLY what i said. people (including me) dont think about which tracks fit nicely here or there. They request as they like it. So since the 5 min rule there is at least a greater chance of other people putting in something different before i do the next witcher request. |
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JadedTitan
Vice Admiral (Moderator)
Joined: Oct 20, 2007
Member#: 19134
Posts: 692
Location: Maryland
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Posted:
Thu Jun 16, 2016 12:09 pm Post subject: |
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On an unrelated note, Dutch, since the server crash 4...5? (im bad with dates) years ago the queue has never recovered. The listener count has never been as high as it was back then and the queues are way shorter. My observation. That huge amount of downtime and unpredictability led a lot away and most did not come back. Think Alien pointed it out that US daytime queues were regularly 2.5 to 3 hrs. Now its lucky if they get over 1.5 (US daytime is my mind set)
Not that any of that is directly relevant, but i think you assuming that the longer VIP wait drives away listeners is wrong, Dutch. I see the listener rate consistent with what it has always been. Some people are suuuuuper picky on what is good or bad, its all a matter of opinion. So SAM picks will always just be what they are, random. If you want just what YOU like, go listen to your own stuff (as i know lots do, myself included) Wait time does not change much in variety, my opinion of course...
_________________
The right song can turn an emperor into a laughing stock, can bring down dynasties. A song can last long after the events and people in it are dust and dreams are gone. |
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 Dragonel
Vice Admiral (Moderator)
Joined: Jul 16, 2008
Member#: 21881
Posts: 411
Location: Dragonia, US
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Posted:
Thu Jun 16, 2016 2:33 pm Post subject: |
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| JadedTitan wrote: |
| If you want to know when SAM is in full, or nearly full control of SST, its usually around 7pm SST time till the europeans come on around midnight. I leave work 5pm PST and the queue is usually full of SAM. Exception being when Dragon puts lots in. But again, generalization. |
I don't know if you've noticed, but I haven't often stuffed the queue since the change. Two reasons ....
1) other people are requesting a lot more in those few US afternoon hours ... I think some are still SAM battling by picking longer tracks but there seems to be more people joining in. This seems to give a better listening experience for me.
2) having asked for the SAM changes, I tried to let him play. So far the few times he's got in have been fine imho (I thought I posted something in favor a day or so back, but seems it didn't take) |
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starstudios
Cadet 3
Joined: Oct 26, 2005
Member#: 12158
Posts: 10
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Posted:
Thu Jun 16, 2016 2:45 pm Post subject: |
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[quote="SiriusCreations"]
| starstudios wrote: |
| The 5 min wait time for VIP members who have paid to request songs is not only disturbing, it violates the agreement we made when we paid the money to become VIPs. I cannot tell you how many times I have been on SST at night and must wait an hour while system/admin plays some of the most bizarre and random tracks before my requests are even played. This is not a good development. Further, "more variety" in soundtrack music means random video game themes and cartoons, SST will suffer. |
Umm, no you missed my point. Listeners were promised a 2 min wait time when they paid to become VIPs. Then, without warning or notice, SST changed the wait time to 5 min for VIPs. As a yearly VIP who has paid in full, that is not the deal that was promised. |
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Caliburn
Guest
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Posted:
Thu Jun 16, 2016 2:47 pm Post subject: |
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Can you show me this promise? |
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 olaziolek
Lieutenant
Joined: Dec 02, 2008
Member#: 23654
Posts: 215
Location: the middle-earth of poland
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Posted:
Thu Jun 16, 2016 4:50 pm Post subject: |
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| Dutchbat wrote: |
However, this sometimes, depending on who is requesting, leads to a very incoherent queue as styles get mixed up as well. |
incoherent queue...
i've been here for quite a long while on SST and i've never seen the queue having a 'style'. how can you expect one style of a playlist consisting of requests from dozens of people, from all over the world, each with different taste in music? people once picking tracks they like and the other time picking a track at random just because they're curious what it is? plus no-one likes just one 'style' of music. i constantly find myself liking things i never would have tried if not introduced by some SST member's request. if you're looking for a 'coherent' playlist go to spotify or sth where the algorithm picks tracks for you based on what you already like and will never go outside these boundaries. i come to SST to discover things. go incoherence!
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DRAGON SICKNESS |
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Caliburn
Guest
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Posted:
Fri Jun 17, 2016 8:05 am Post subject: |
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For the record, I will decrease the VIP-time again for this weekend to 2 minutes. (around 5 hours after making this post).
I am still curious when the SAM is taking over most of the time during the day. It is technically possible to make the VIP-time 2 or 5 minutes during different periods of the day (and week). |
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Caliburn
Guest
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Posted:
Fri Jun 17, 2016 8:36 am Post subject: |
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| JadedTitan wrote: |
If you want to know when SAM is in full, or nearly full control of SST, its usually around 7pm SST time till the europeans come on around midnight. I leave work 5pm PST and the queue is usually full of SAM. Exception being when Dragon puts lots in. But again, generalization. So basically when the Americans go home, no one really requests much. But the listener rate is low too, 200 or so (roughly).
The wait used to be 5 mins...so to me, it makes no difference. But as Mol said, valid points being noted. |
Oh missed this post :-)
Thanks Jaded! |
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Caliburn
Guest
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Posted:
Sat Jun 18, 2016 4:14 am Post subject: |
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So I made some changes to the request times:
It should be 5 minutes during weekdays from 2 AM to 5 PM SST time. The other hours is 2 minutes.
Also SAM is still learning to pick better songs. So if no-one is requesting the quality of SAM should improve over the next weeks. |
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 GalFin
Captain
Joined: Nov 20, 2006
Member#: 16241
Posts: 1724
Location: Oulu, Finland
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Posted:
Sat Jun 18, 2016 5:10 am Post subject: |
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I didn't mind the change to 5 min waiting time for the VIPs because it used to be that earlier, as was also pointed out.
However, I think that Cal's current solution with the 2 min request time in weekends and slower SST times is just fine. Let's see how this works. I'm also curious to see how SAM will learn more. (Really interested to know what kind of algorithm Cal is using...)
I think that currently we'd need more VIPs because that would give more monetary support for SST. If we don't get more VIPs, I think that members should help out by money donations and also by donating some current "big movie" score albums to SST so that we have possibly interesting new scores that would perhaps encourage members to request more. Maybe we get more interesting and varied queues, more listeners, more active members, more support etc. I'm not saying that big movies have the best scores, often it's quite the opposite, but I'm sure many people want to see those albums added, too.
I myself listen to SST to find new interesting scores and for the variety that I'll find here. I've had periods when it's been almost impossible to listen to SST or request here due to changes at work but I still try to be a somewhat active member of this community.
(And I'm trying to do my 2 cents worth also. I'm due to renew my yearly VIP later this month.) |
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alien_avatar
Captain
Joined: Oct 28, 2006
Member#: 16007
Posts: 1342
Location: Berlin
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Posted:
Sat Jun 18, 2016 8:58 am Post subject: |
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| GalFin wrote: |
| I didn't mind the change to 5 min waiting time for the VIPs because it used to be that earlier, as was also pointed out. |
There was a (short?) time when VIP req wait time used to be just one minute. 
...or am I misremembering things?
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- Peter F. Hamilton, The Evolutionary Void |
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