Who else thinks Diggnation is falling apart? [Archive]

lorductape

03-16-2009, 11:36 PM

First of all, I just want to say that I've been a loyal fan since the early episodes. Not episode 1, but I probably started around 30 or so. I've even had a story of mine from digg read on episode 100 (intel unveils worlds smallest laptop.)

However... I mean come on... everyone is thinking it from what I've read in other threads.. this show really isn't what it used to be.

For me it went downhill when the tea came in. They stayed sober and there was something about it that took the humor element out of the show. It was still pretty interesting at parts, so I guess it wasn't terrible after that point.

Now, though, the conversation is boring, its a twitter plugfest, kevin IMs during the show, they don't go off on tangents.. Like I read in a different thread (I don't have it open or I'd plug you) they now act like they're reading bullet points.

Here's a rundown of each show now:

Sponsors
Lame attempt at humor
Opening
Laugh at each other for tripping over opening words
TWITTER TWITTER TWITTER TWITTER
what tea we're drinking!
stories. (with occasional pragercam)
INTERLUDE ABOUT TWITTER!!!!
stories.
WE <3 SPONSORS!!!
TWITTERRR!!!!!!!
credits.

The show is dry, predictable, not funny, boring.

Anyone else agree with me?

klitzy

03-16-2009, 11:38 PM

Nope.

darknessgp

03-16-2009, 11:47 PM

partially, I do wish they'd stop the twitter stuff.

masherscf

03-16-2009, 11:53 PM

It's not every week. The live stuff is pretty entertaining. Indeed, the live show is so much better than the normal show, I think they should book a night-club and do it live every week for $10 a head. I'd pay.

However, it's been pointed out that they shoot two-at-a-time. The second one never feels as fresh as the first. Also, I think pod-fatigue is a real factor...which is why the live Diggnations are so much better. The crowd adds a real energy that lacks in the week0to-week show.

But, "Diggnation" is a cash cow. I would expect it to continue for the foreseeable future as long as people keep clicking the download link.

lorductape

03-16-2009, 11:59 PM

It's not every week. The live stuff is pretty entertaining. Indeed, the live show is so much better than the normal show, I think they book a night-club and do it live every week for $10 a head. I'd pay.

Yeah, I def. agree. The live stuff is still good.

kpot2004

03-17-2009, 12:32 AM

kpot2004

03-17-2009, 12:35 AM

Also, did they mention Twitter more then once in the last episode?

lorductape

03-17-2009, 12:46 AM

last episode they barely mentioned anything. it was as short as they get.

kpot2004

03-17-2009, 12:59 AM

Maybe its just me and I am not really listening for it, but I am only hearing 1 or 2 Twitter mentions per episode.. I think you guys need to tone down your expectations a little bit, expection a hour long episode a week is a little unrealistic. Kevin works at Digg and Alex has 2 other podcasts.

darknessgp

03-17-2009, 05:28 AM

Do all the people that complain about the tea episodes and the lack of alcohol ever drink? Its not fun getting smashed all the time when you have to work the next morning.. Believe me, I have tried it. Both Kevin and Alex both have other stuff going on, you can't expect them to be drinking in every episode.

1) I'm not sure what day they actually film on, I believe fridays. but Alex has said before that he rarely drinks, and usually during the week Diggnation was the only time he did.

2) There is a HUGE difference between having a beer or two on the show and downing Jager shots and getting completely hammered.

3) No one is claiming they don't have other things to do, that said Diggnation is a profitable show to them, and they should strive to continue to make it a QUALITY show. Basically what you are saying is like if I worked 2 jobs and started slacking off on one, and I just told my boss "Hey, I have other things to do, I can't be as good of a worker as I was." I'm sure he'd take that as me quitting, and if not, I'd be fired on the spot.

4) They originally said they would be drinking every episode. I can understand some exceptions like being sick or having to film early in the morning. but if my memory serves me right they haven't said otherwise.

Everyone talking about twitter that doesn't understand it, my thing with it is that instead of saying their name they say twitter.com/[username]. and I find it annoying.

kpot2004

03-17-2009, 06:00 AM

So what your saying is that you think the drinking makes Diggnation better, but you don't expect them to drink very much.. So how does this make the show better? People are saying they like the episodes where they are not sober, so 1 or 2 drinks isn't going to do that.

Also, when they film the new shows they usually film 2 at a time because Alex has to fly to San Fran or Kevin has to fly/drive to LA. So for example episode 192 was 47 minutes and episode 193 which was filmed the next day is only 32 minutes.. This seems perfectly acceptable to be, when they film like that the second episode is never going to be as long as the first. Also they rarely drink in the second episode because I am guessing its probably filmed in the morning or afternoon.

If anyone follows Alex on Twitter you will know that his flights to San Fran are always delayed.. I can only imagine having to wait at LAX for 4 hours to board a maybe 30-40 minute flight to San Fran just to shoot a 1 hour podcast. That might explain some of what you guys see as "phoning it in" Although I don't.

badgrenola

03-17-2009, 01:52 PM

I still love it.

xfuuey

03-17-2009, 01:59 PM

nitrus

03-17-2009, 03:19 PM

I think the show has definately lost something, and I don't love it as much as I used to.

But it's understandable after nearly 4 years of the same thing.

Why don't they change it up? Just watched TRS and they had the right idea, switch it up, keep it fresh.

That's what Diggnation needs, and hell if you need a couple of months off to re-think the show or even just to take the much-needed break, then go for it!

I'm sure all the fans would say you deserve a break, especially if it means bringing back what the show has lost.

drukqs

03-17-2009, 03:30 PM

nitrus

03-17-2009, 03:46 PM

i miss the old diggnation also! i saw it coming when kevin said they were going to cut out the drinking on Twit.....i miss it so much.....i have pretty much stoped watching....rev 3 is going down the tubes for sure...TRS is still ok, but thats about it.....i used to watch every single show every day!!! thanks louderback!

Come now, Tekzilla is awesome... Co-op is showing strong promise... despite what people say, I enjoy the Digg Reel...

But Diggnation for sure has changed in a bad way.

darknessgp

03-17-2009, 04:10 PM

So what your saying is that you think the drinking makes Diggnation better, but you don't expect them to drink very much.. So how does this make the show better? People are saying they like the episodes where they are not sober, so 1 or 2 drinks isn't going to do that...

Maybe you should reread my posts. I've never said I think them drinking on the show makes it better, I just find the argument that when they drink they have to get completely smashed. The same way I hate the argument that they suddenly have really busy schedules and therefore diggnation is lacking... like somehow it's this show they do for free or something.

My point is, the show is suffering. Drinking is one of the things that has changed. Alex and Kevin should strive to make a quality show.

artofwar420

03-17-2009, 08:06 PM

It's been almost 4 years since the very first podcast. HA, I remember when I didn't even know what podcasts were.

"You put zombie and you put eerie in the title and I don't wanna do it"

This is what it was like:

http://revision3.com/diggnation/2005-07-01/

I don't feel it's changed that much. (How do you embed shows? Can you?)

msmags

03-17-2009, 10:24 PM

Diggnation as of late has definitely lost some of the old magic. It seems (at least to me) that Kevin and Alex are tired of doing the show, and perhaps would rather be somewhere else doing something else. I agree with some of the above posts, in that the live shows feed off the audience, so those are usually great.

They may just need to 'mix it up' or perhaps take a break. It seems like an awful lot of episodes with no break. Hell, I would get bored too!

I still am a loyal fan of the show, but yes, I have noticed somewhat of a downturn in the quality of episodes over the past few months. I must reiterate that yes, it's free to watch so I don't want to come across as complaining.

These guys do make a great effort each week. But perhaps something new and fresh might help. New format, taking a break, etc. I'm not an expert by any means, but this is simply my opinion.

IanPR

03-18-2009, 01:14 AM

If Alex and Kevin got really drunk every week, I believe a scenario would happen similar to Slurms McKenzie. God that slug loved to party...

murphy1d

03-18-2009, 01:30 AM

I've mentioned it before, but they need to have guest hosts occasionally just to stay sane. I mean, how much fun would it be to have Gary V sit in with Kevin one day and do a show, just the two of them? Or what about Alex and Veronica?

Seriously, if Johnny Carson had guest hosts, why not mix in a person or two every now and then (instead of filming two shows on the same day, then having stale "top Diggs" two weeks later).

Otherwise, I haven't missed a show yet and I still love it.

windshield

03-18-2009, 02:30 AM

Seriously, if Johnny Carson had guest hosts, why not mix in a person or two every now and then (instead of filming two shows on the same day, then having stale "top Diggs" two weeks later).

I like this idea. And I still want to see a Hippie/Prager diggnation.

whoisscott

03-18-2009, 04:08 AM

i really don't agree with any of this. Yes the show is alittle different. I do like the live shows, but never re-watch them as much as previous eps, I don't care much for the playing to the crowd. in fact the only recent ep. I haven't watched more than once is the jimmy fallon ep.

I feel that alot of the end of diggnation is alot of fan worries that are being carried away. also i really don't understand the drinking/tea arguments. Who cares what they are drinking, yes when they are drunk they aren't afraid of saying those funny comments we all love. But to me alot of the joy of this show is the feeling of handing out and talking with friends.

edit: ok i am 5 minutes into the live sxsw show and honistly don't see how anyone could think this show is dieing. Especially Kevin and Alex's back and forth so far

darknessgp

03-18-2009, 04:24 PM

...(instead of filming two shows on the same day, then having stale "top Diggs" two weeks later)...

I agree. and I'm also now confused. How can people be arguing that they are getting burned out if they film only twice a month? would taking off really matter then? They already take about 2 weeks between shootings.

masherscf

03-18-2009, 04:32 PM

I agree. and I'm also now confused. How can people be arguing that they are getting burned out if they film only twice a month? would taking off really matter then? They already take about 2 weeks between shootings.

I think "burned out" is the wrong expression. I think the second of the two is a little stale.

msmags

03-18-2009, 04:52 PM

I've mentioned it before, but they need to have guest hosts occasionally just to stay sane. I mean, how much fun would it be to have Gary V sit in with Kevin one day and do a show, just the two of them? Or what about Alex and Veronica?

Great idea. Occasional Guest hosts or guests in general would be good. Jimmy Fallon episode - probably one of the best in a long time.

tokenuser

03-18-2009, 04:53 PM

I think "burned out" is the wrong expression. I think the second of the two is a little stale.Have you looked over the front page at Digg lately? Half the stories posted are a little stale already.

Kevin and Alex adding another two weeks makes no difference at all.

masherscf

03-18-2009, 04:57 PM

Have you looked over the front page at Digg lately? Half the stories posted are a little stale already.

Kevin and Alex adding another two weeks makes no difference at all.

I didn't mean stories are stale. I don't read Digg regularly, so they're all new to me. But, Kevin and Alex have a certain energy when they first come together that is lost during the second taping. Many times it seems like they're just phoning it in.

This was the digg complaint about "The Digg Reel" wasn't it. The show just rehashed videos on Digg. Solution: Don't watch the videos on Digg. I love how the Digg reel concentrates the delivery for me.

murphy1d

03-18-2009, 05:29 PM

Have you looked over the front page at Digg lately? Half the stories posted are a little stale already.

Kevin and Alex adding another two weeks makes no difference at all.

Unless you use Digg to get that story.

So lets say I read a funny story on Digg on Wednesday the 18th, and they film two episodes on the same day. I hear about the story tonight on AOTS, then on Best Week Ever tomorrow, and through the week on various news shows. By next Wednesday it has been run out, but its OK that Kevin and Alex cover it again on the Wednesday Diggnation.

But by the next show the rest of the top stories from Wed the 18th have now made their way to The Today Show, have been parodied on YouTube, are forwarded by my mother back to me. It's pretty stale at this point.

For example, one of the top stories on Digg from March 3rd was the sleeping dog running into the wall. If this was on Diggnation today (I know its not) it is way too overplayed now.

nitrus

03-18-2009, 06:04 PM

They should do some Upcoming stories.. I agree with Murphy.. some of the stories are very stale and often out-of-date.

They should pick a couple of "hot" Upcoming stories.. throw in some variety...

patrickd

03-18-2009, 06:53 PM

Great idea. Occasional Guest hosts or guests in general would be good. Jimmy Fallon episode - probably one of the best in a long time.

Yes. Diggnation has been running for 13 years now (give or take a decade or two), so give Kevin and Alex a couple episodes off and have some guest hosts. Prager/Glenn would be one obvious one. I don't think a guest host would work for a show like Scam School or Pixel Perfect, but it could easily work for Diggnation.

Nothing against Andrew, but the two weeks of guest hosts for The Digg Reel were among my favorite episodes...if only for the reason that they were different and changed things up for a couple weeks.

lorductape

03-18-2009, 10:51 PM

I'm glad to see so many people agree, and hopefully this means that eventually changes will be in store for diggnation.

The live shows, yes, are still great and funny. It's everything diggnation once was.

But you guys have had almost the exact same routine for almost 200 episodes... I'm the student producer of a school morning show, and my teacher gives me free reign (so long as it remains appropriate) with what to do. If anything is done more than once in a two week span, people just get tired of it! The challenge is always staying fresh and interesting. We get pretty active feedback from people (and yes it's only a high school morning show. shush.) and we've adapted accordingly.

The problem is that diggnation doesn't seem to do this. While the variety in the shows, the freshness used to come from a variety of stories, the same humdrum routine seems to be effecting the HOSTS, which in turn effects the liveliness of the show.

I think it's time for a diggnation survey, not a rev3 survey, to see what the response is from people who won't read this forum. I don't want the show to go away, by any means. I want you to change it up and make it funny again!

Oh and lets get a live diggnation D.C. k thanks. Under 18 venue. Yup.

chuckles

03-18-2009, 11:30 PM

It seems that we get such a thread once every 6 months or so... No.. the end is not near..

-chuckles-

masherscf

03-18-2009, 11:34 PM

It seems that we get such a thread once every 6 months or so... No.. the end is not near..

-chuckles-

Still, you should leak it to Valleywag and watch the fun ensue...

arcticfox

03-19-2009, 10:23 AM

Im glad im not the only one who thinks Diggnation has lost its way.

Though not Alex/Kevins fault as they can only work with what they are given but like the TRS reboot i think they should try and do something with the show instead of the same old cookie cutter workflow they have in every episode which has already been stated a few pages ago.

Guest hosts is an excellent idea and it would give both Alex and Kevin a break as i cant imagine that they are exactly thrilled about reading stories from a laptop week in week out.

It seems that we get such a thread once every 6 months or so... No.. the end is not near..

-chuckles-
No one is saying that Diggnation is coming to an end, they are just commenting on how its lost that little something that made it so popular back in the day, you can only do so much when the premise of the show is reading stories from a laptop.

arcticfox

03-19-2009, 10:25 AM

well that was wierd, sorry for the double post 2 mins apart? :/

xilly

03-19-2009, 02:29 PM

The guest idea is good. They could interview the people involved in popular stories for example. That would add an extra layer to the show. I wonder though, if it's ultimately up to Kevin and Alex to make changes. Rev3 are probably seeing nice revenue flow in with the setup they already have and are probably reluctant to change anything. But it will become stagnated if they don't do something to liven things up a bit.

xfuuey

03-19-2009, 02:56 PM

Ya. This is usually one of those times where I'd normally chime in on other forums saying "we can complain all we want, but nothing will ever change". This is one of the many things I really like about Rev3. They do take viewer feedback into account for the most part, and they try to adapt to it as much as possible.
I've noticed that on several shows now. As long as the feedback stays around 'constructive criticism' zone, there's a good chance there might be some minor changes. Only time will tell.. ;)

snoogans37

03-19-2009, 07:39 PM

I just wanna throw this out there, I believe some of you forget that revision3 does not charge for you to enjoy their shows. Complaining about our FREE weekly enjoyment seems really dumb.

arcticfox

03-19-2009, 08:39 PM

No but we watch the adverts which in turn generates revenue for Revision 3, i think having constructive criticism is better than losing a load of viewers because the format is becoming stale.

darknessgp

03-19-2009, 08:52 PM

I just wanna throw this out there, I believe some of you forget that revision3 does not charge for you to enjoy their shows. Complaining about our FREE weekly enjoyment seems really dumb.

that argument, IMO, is only valid if you assume that they would still make the show even if no one was watching it. Yes, we do not exchange money with Rev3 for their shows, but they do get paid based on the number of people who watch the show.

murphy1d

03-19-2009, 11:13 PM

I just wanna throw this out there, I believe some of you forget that revision3 does not charge for you to enjoy their shows. Complaining about our FREE weekly enjoyment seems really dumb.

Other than the OP headline, I don't think we are complaining. Its like a producer telling an artist that they are starting to "phone it in." It's still good music, and the fans will still buy the album, but the producer knows the talent shouldn't rest on their laurels for too long.

phatlip

03-20-2009, 04:27 AM

I've been watching Diggnation since episode one, and I think it's fine just the way it is. I love the show it evolved to be. :)

lax182

03-20-2009, 05:59 AM

Its starting to feel like the last few episodes of the drome... I keep expecting someone to get punched :(

Mal

03-20-2009, 05:24 PM

I think their problem is they rely on Diggnation too much, so there's a pressure to keep going that's bogging down the show. They should set up a similar style of show with different hosts and do seasons where one show is live and the other is dormant.

artofwar420

03-22-2009, 07:52 AM

Maybe USING SEGUES would make the show seem more fluid.

murphy1d

03-22-2009, 01:21 PM

Maybe USING SEGUES would make the show seem more fluid.

I don't see how they will help??? http://fortuneapple20.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/segwayssk3.png :)

artofwar420

03-23-2009, 02:06 AM

I don't see how they will help??? http://fortuneapple20.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/segwayssk3.png :)

http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/9544/932004-happy_face.png

crabcakes

03-23-2009, 05:15 AM

drinking one beer is not getting drunk. this whole week, which was spring break by the way, i was sick with a stomach virus and i still drank... you don't get sick of it.

my main problem with the show is definitely the twitter crap. people that want to follow them either already are or know how they can do it. i am sick of people spewing out their freaking twitter names so they can advance in a stupid popularity contest on a stupid website. twitter is the worst.

-Alex-

03-23-2009, 12:58 PM

It could do with a little variety of some sort to keep things interesting.

Slightly more drinking to get things going (but not too much, that annoys me). Give a mic to Glenn. Add some funny bits of footage at the end of the show (this seems to have disappeared?), it can change your perception from boring show to "hey, that was funny". More shooting at different locations (eg. the brewery, other peoples houses), some have suggested more live shows, but shooting anywhere different with a small crowd could be more convenient and a bit more interesting.

I just think it gets stuck in a rut if too many episodes are shot at the same place, especially if they shoot back to back episodes.

masterq

03-25-2009, 01:18 AM

I've said this in previous posts and I'll say it again... it feels like they are doing the show to get it over with. The "next story... very quickly" by kevin almost every episode solidifies this feeling. They used to have a good time doing the show and so we had a good time watching it, but lately they seem unconfortable and want to get it over with so they can do other stuff (what happens when you turn a hobby into a job). When they are uncomfortable, we are uncomfortable. I think this is the reason the alcohol episodes are usually much better than the tea episodes, even if the guys only had one or two. It seems like the beer "lubrication" gets things clicking and they have more fun with the show.

Just my two cents... but I agree wholeheartedly the show is not what it used to be and I'm not nearly as interested

also please stop with twitter plugs already. twitter = myspace of 2009.. blah

artofwar420

03-25-2009, 01:25 AM

also please stop with twitter plugs already. twitter = myspace of 2009.. blah

No, I disagree, FACEBOOK is the Myspace of 2009. Twitter is... awesome. :confused:

odium

03-25-2009, 06:58 PM

i just wish every show had the same energy and charisma as the live shows. the sxsw show was so much fun, and relating to what MasterQ just said, they loosen up a bit and have more fun with it.

all in all i still love it.

oh, and yeah, facebook is definitely the myspace of '09..

darkdemon

03-27-2009, 12:22 AM

The slide started when the show went from sometimes topping an hour, to what it is now, about a month ago I think I saw at 20 minute show. 20 minutes a week is not a podcast, it's an advert with some banter around it.

What with moving the sponsors around (And if your like me and watch from the website, the insessent banner Ads in the video), plugging anything and everything, twitter (Which I used to think was fine) and stale stories Diggnation has been getting worse and worse and worse.

And I feel like I've been cheated when I find out that it is no longer "covering some of the hottest user submitted stories on Digg.com" and they are just cranking out out episodes back to back, giving us crap shows in return.

Diggnation needs to remember who's handing revision3 their paycheck. If they keep messing with the show, fans will decrease, and to compensate Rev3 will start having even MORE sponsors until it's a 10 minute long advert voiced by Kevin and Alex..........drinking water.

isamurai

03-28-2009, 05:23 AM

I've started watching Diggnation in the background while doing other stuff. The only reason I still watch every week is because I'm hoping they'll someday read this thread and acknowledge the downhill slide and do something about it. Every week I'm disappointed more and more. I love seeing that diggnation ad that says "rarely sober" or w/e because it should really say "frequently sober"

garyvaynerchuk

03-28-2009, 05:27 AM

isamurai

03-28-2009, 05:35 AM

Gary, this has been an ongoing problem way before this episode and has nothing to do with you. You're probably the most honest and down-to-earth person on web tv. I love that you just tried to be yourself in this episode, something that Kevin and Alex should take a page from.

sozo

03-28-2009, 10:54 AM

This show is simple.

Two guys on a random sofa drinking beers and talking about what makes them laugh on Digg.
Two guys speaking to "tech workers" who join them with suds in hand.
Occasional Shtick about PC vs. MAC experiences.

Then someone said "We can expense travel!" And, everyone received airline travel miles.
"Hey, we're all having fun!" someone said filming in front of live audiences.
Then someone decided it was better to stroke a VP & CEO vision than listen to the audience before them.

"The show is becoming popular, so let's do more live shows and give away some swag!"
A three man show? Glen is great, but he's the camera guy.
Tea is good. Beer drinking audience loves tea?

What? Now Prager is on every show?
Who gave Prager a camera damn it!
Prager is on the set why?

What's with all the the people on location?
It's a single guy's apartment in San Francisco?
Why are there 12 dudes and their girlfriends on location now?

It's a simple show.
Two guys on a random sofa drinking beers and talking about what makes them laugh on Digg.

-daines

03-28-2009, 09:25 PM

The show needs 2 more stories, no tea (unless they're drunk already), less videos, more controversial stories that make kevin and alex disagree (but not to the point where it turns into two guys fighting on a couch), more gary (so far he's the only guest that I've liked, and thought worked well with alex and kevin). The biggest problem with the show is that there haven't any "my sides hurt from laughing so hard" moments in quite a long time; I think kevin's learned to control his mouth too much.

--been watching from #1

logant

03-29-2009, 02:27 AM

The biggest thing I'm sick of is people telling them to drink more beer. Seriously is the target demographic for Diggnation a bunch of drunk frat college douche bags?

Something I would like to see is something like Diggnation after the show or something like that. Where it's just 15 to 20 minutes of Kevin and Alex talking about the most random things.

darknessgp

03-30-2009, 06:31 AM

... more gary (so far he's the only guest that I've liked, and thought worked well with alex and kevin). ...

I believe you are one of very very very very few.

babnert

03-30-2009, 07:29 AM

Gary and Alex are both very upbeat people and I think thats what made that episode kind of chaotic, not to mention all of the other people in the room with them.

masterq

03-30-2009, 10:26 PM

I just wanted to jump in and say i hope I didnt contribute to this thread and that i hope my over the top energy that turned some people off and made many want to punch me in the face doesn't put Alex or Kev in a bad spot with you guys...I wish everyone well and I am sure you understand how much these guys care about u.

not at all gary... i actually loved seeing someone on there that actually knows the guys to bust on them and be busted on. jimmy fallon was great, but he's a professional comedian. i just hope they don't go too crazy with the guests because it is good to mix it up once in a while, but if they start getting random people on that they don't know very well (unlike you), I can see it becoming more of a talk show than diggnation.

Here are some things that I have noticed that differentiate the older shows (good) with the newer shows (not so good):

1. alcohol - it went from heavy use, which was awesome, to moderate use, which was still awesome, to non-existent except for live shows. At least have a drink or two to loosen up before taping. don't kill your livers but tea does not cause hilarious situations. i saw the ad for diggnation the other day and it said kevin and alex discuss the latest digg stories... rarely sober. i thought "ha... those were the days"

2. length - it used to be about an hour long, which to me is the perfect length for a show. we're used to the length from watching tv and it just feels too short if it doesn't reach at least 45 minutes

3. sponsors & plugs - i understand you need to pay the bills, but don't base the show on the sponsors. moving the sponsors before the last story was a bad move IMO because it hurt the flow of the show. also the plugs during the show (ahem... twitter) is seriously annoying

4. back to back tapings = bad. it's a weekly podcast, not a two-part biweekly podcast. it SERIOUSLY hurts the show. not being up-to-date goes against the entire idea of the internet.

5. too many people around - kevin & alex, hippie, and prager. any more than that and it seems way too distracting

that's my list. anyone else have any?

darknessgp

03-30-2009, 10:54 PM

...
Here are some things that I have noticed that differentiate the older shows (good) with the newer shows (not so good):

1. alcohol - it went from heavy use, which was awesome, to moderate use, which was still awesome, to non-existent except for live shows. At least have a drink or two to loosen up before taping. don't kill your livers but tea does not cause hilarious situations. i saw the ad for diggnation the other day and it said kevin and alex discuss the latest digg stories... rarely sober. i thought "ha... those were the days"

2. length - it used to be about an hour long, which to me is the perfect length for a show. we're used to the length from watching tv and it just feels too short if it doesn't reach at least 45 minutes

3. sponsors & plugs - i understand you need to pay the bills, but don't base the show on the sponsors. moving the sponsors before the last story was a bad move IMO because it hurt the flow of the show. also the plugs during the show (ahem... twitter) is seriously annoying

4. back to back tapings = bad. it's a weekly podcast, not a two-part biweekly podcast. it SERIOUSLY hurts the show. not being up-to-date goes against the entire idea of the internet.

5. too many people around - kevin & alex, hippie, and prager. any more than that and it seems way too distracting

that's my list. anyone else have any?

1. Agreed. They don't need to kill themselves, but a few drinks to loosen up like they used to.

2. Agreed on it being short. They need to get it back up to around 40 minutes, doing #1 will help fill time.

3. Agreed. I believe they moved the last story after the sponsors cause people were just skipping sponsors... guess what? I still skip the sponsors.

4. Agreed. It's bad enough that the stories are old when the recent version gets released, but hey there will be some gap. the part 2 is super old when it finally gets released.

5. I somewhat agree. I think it's fine if there are others around, as long as we don't see them or have Kevin & Alex talking to them a lot.

6. Mic Glenn or Prager if you are actually going to talk to them.

masterq

03-30-2009, 11:34 PM

3. Agreed. I believe they moved the last story after the sponsors cause people were just skipping sponsors... guess what? I still skip the sponsors.

The funny thing is that I never skipped the sponsors until they changed the format. I used to watch the whole show and want to see the end credits because they always did some drunk rant or something, so I would sit through the sponsors. Now I'm pissed that I have to wait for the last story, so I just skip to the last story. Kinda defeats the purpose of the format change don't ya think?

Also, the beer itself was a huge part of the content of the show... almost like the 3rd host. They would talk about what they were drinking and what weird thing it tasted like ("it tastes like santa claus" -kevin). they would rip on each other for nursing their drinks, chug once in a while (kevin throwing up on alex's couch is still probably the funniest diggnation moment ever), spill almost every episode, and sometimes even talk about putting giant penises on a large TV. What rev3 and the gang have to realize is the content of the show is NOT the digg stories. We can get those from digg. It's the commentary and reactions about the stories from kevin and alex. Alcohol allows you to say what's really on everyone's mind, which is how we connect to the show. When they are just rattling off stories and saying "thats cool... NEXT STORY!!!! wait... sponsors before last story" theres no show.

rabidbadger

03-31-2009, 12:02 AM

rabidbadger

03-31-2009, 12:04 AM

The funny thing is that I never skipped the sponsors until they changed the format. I used to watch the whole show and want to see the end credits because they always did some drunk rant or something, so I would sit through the sponsors. Now I'm pissed that I have to wait for the last story, so I just skip to the last story. Kinda defeats the purpose of the format change don't ya think?

What's odd, is scam school switched up the ad placement between the trick and the reveal, and it works. Builds a little suspense.

I think diggnation needs to switch it up again. Maybe like Leo Laporte does, quick ads interspersed within the show. Similar how we are used to it with regular TV.

masterq

03-31-2009, 12:12 AM

I think diggnation needs to switch it up again. Maybe like Leo Laporte does, quick ads interspersed within the show. Similar how we are used to it with regular TV.

The original way worked for the viewers, but for some reason or another rev3 thought it would be a good idea to change it. don't fix what's not broke...

i don't think short ads throughout would be good. the flow of the show is ruined already with the pause before the last story. i liked them all in one spot at the very end.

and i agree... people have been saying diggnation is going downhill for a while and they continue to not listen or try new "creative" ways to shake up the show. i dont want a shake up, i want my old school diggnation. cancel the guests, stop brewing the tea, put down the prager cam, crack some beers, and sit down and chill out on a couch while talking about digg stories

frozenipaq

03-31-2009, 12:58 AM

I think the current way Diggnation handles there sponsors are the best of any video podcast. It's much better than Tekzilla's (insert sponsor at random time in the show and take up about half of the show time).

I have no complaints with the way Diggnation is right now, I've enjoyed every second of it and the sponsors are in a place where we know they are coming up - it's a great way to split up the show and gauge up for the end

heyseuss

03-31-2009, 07:12 AM

Scamschool, Hak5, 2/3rds of TRS, 1/2 of Tekzilla, and Diggreel,

plus 1 part TikiBarTV, shake, pour over ice, sell merchandise, subscribe.

And it's three and half quarters TRS.

randomlyrossy

03-31-2009, 04:18 PM

I feel like we are spitting into the wind here. Krose and Alex are only ever on the forums to spam their next project and then vanish. If they don't wanna interact with us, the most ardent fans, and the whole reason rev3 is,er 3, Internet=interaction, then heck, I'll just continue with Scamschool, Hak5, 2/3rds of TRS, 1/2 of Tekzilla, and Diggreel, where the hosts actually talk to the fans on their fourms.

Kevin will never read this, and never reply. He's too busy working on Twitter. Not pissed off, just a shame.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way, it's part of the reason I stopped following Kevin and Alex on Twitter, Alex especially just seems to be talking at people rather than trying to have a proper interaction, Kevin is just dull.

On TRS whenever Jeff or Dan mention the community and talking to them on the forums etc you can see Alex gets a look on his face like 'oh this bits nothing to do with me'. For a dude who apparently spends alot of time on a computer and makes a living from the internet you'd think he would interact a bit more.

Then again if they did post on here more you'd get the obsessive weird fans piling into threads in the hope of getting a reply or mention or something.

Anywho rant over. As for the show itself, it has lost its way a bit, the format does need shaking up a bit. They really don't seem like their heart is in it anymore (save for the live shows) and that is not helped with taping multiple episodes in one go which I understand will have to be done now and then due to scheduling and such but it shouldn't be just cause of convenience when it makes the show suffer.

rjupiter

04-01-2009, 09:08 AM

I never really post in forum but I was wondering what was going on with this show. to be honest I thought it was me, cause I have a tendency to loose interest in shows after a certain point. however I am glad to see that I am not the only one who noticed the "off" factor.

I will say that I do not believe it has anything to do with what one imbibes or not that makes the show interesting. I generally think Mr. Albrecht is a funny person. What I do see is the plague that "success" brings. with it you have people who are overworked, distracted and probably frankly bored of what they are doing. (I will not leave out but put in these nifty brackets the "big head factor" or "now I am "famous" and I am so over this crap" factor) I mean how many "projects" is Mr. Albrecht into these days? How many shows does he film or work on? People get fried and tried and you can clearly see this happening. Many people see it more on the part of Mr. Rose and the general feel of the show that is always a bit "lets hurry up and finish this".

One major problem I see with the show (and many of the rev 3 shows in general) is that there are no breaks or seasons like regular TV. How full bore , all-the-time, year-round filming can you do before you become exhausted from it all? I believe that maybe if this show, and some others, had "breaks" (maybe 1-3 months off like regualr TV) you would see a change.

I am not defending or excusing the poor quality (old stories/ not know their stories/information well at all) or the lack of my interest in it lately, yes the show has lost something, but I can see it from a different side other then "why don't they drink" and others of this kind.

Maybe in the long run it is better that the show fad out or take a break the slowly alienating people, as many of you feel, and grinding to a halt and killing something that so many people once loved.

P.S. Sorry, if there are spelling/grammar errors is 4am I'm squinting (tired) and I really have to use the bathroom.

cryptic

04-01-2009, 04:51 PM

Rev3 needs to get their hosts working full time in the same city. Then having to shoot multiple shows in one sitting isn't necessary. Obviously, this means one of the hosts would be replaced. I don't want that, but I don't like the direction the show seems to be going in either.

logant

04-01-2009, 10:54 PM

This is what Diggnation needs to be again.

http://vimeo.com/3934635

msmags

04-02-2009, 12:07 AM

randomlyrossy

04-02-2009, 12:15 AM

This is what Diggnation needs to be again.

http://vimeo.com/3934635

Diggnation never was that.

logant

04-02-2009, 01:25 AM

Diggnation never was thata.

No, but what it was long off top discussions, sometimes being really interesting.

randomlyrossy

04-02-2009, 02:23 AM

Personally I don't watch Diggnation for in depth interesting discussions, I watch it for entertaining stories (not necessarily the actual digg stories) and funny banter between the hosts.

cabster21

04-03-2009, 12:08 AM

It's true that these threads do pop up from time to time, and Diggnation is still with us. Although I can't help but see the possible bad side to Chuckles reply, as in; just because you think one or two threads won't stop Diggnation, that doesn't mean they should be ignored. You probably aren't but it still might come across like that.

The layout of the show is pretty simple, very few people watch the show to catch up on the latest stories, if any. I like the idea of guests, but I don't want just randoms from other Rev3 shows, there to plug their show. I personally enjoyed Gary, he clearly enjoyed being there, and we know it wasn't just to advertise his show. He has been plugged in the past, which is how I got to know him. Same reason for the Prager and Hippy. I think it would be great, at least the 4 of them in front of the camera.

Now this part might be more relevant, the UK folks amongst us, might remember the show Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned. For those of you who don't; It was a simple show with comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner, sitting on a sofa in front of a crowd talking about their stories and daily activities.

So some weeks will be better than others. I did wonder about the future of the show some time ago, but still enjoy it.

Truth is, their lives will always get in the way of it. But I'm sure they enjoy it even if sometimes it doesn't seem like they do. A little life could do with being injected, but look at how some of you reacted to Gary... Oh and the people who complain about the 'drunk' episodes. I do enjoy both though, and do prefer it with the traditional beverage review at the start.

So I'm still happy, and would even like to see Gary back again. So yeah I partly agree, some shows do seem like an extended advert, but hey if it keeps the good ones in between coming I'm happy.

djoutlaws

04-05-2009, 07:03 PM

masterq

04-06-2009, 12:02 AM

Nope, YOU'RE getting old.

I've watched since ep 1, and the show is better now than ever.

You're just seeing things through (Kevin) rose tinted specs, look at the early eps on this site, its a MUCH better, slicker, more professional show now, and easier to watch.

You're 100% wrong. It's not better... its different. The whole point of diggnation being so popular from the start was because it was full of good content. There was no production value and they guys weren't really well-known (besides for the people that saw them on TechTV). They turned on a camera and made a show. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy the HD goodness and higher production value now, but only if it doesn't affect the content of the show.

Bottom line: If you paint shit gold it will be nice and shiny, but it's still shit. The show isn't even close to what it used to be (and still could be).

therage800

04-06-2009, 04:58 AM

Bottom line: If you paint shit gold it will be nice and shiny, but it's still shit. The show isn't even close to what it used to be (and still could be).

Not the way I would say it, but, "Well said" anyway!

darknessgp

04-06-2009, 05:01 AM

You're 100% wrong. It's not better... its different. The whole point of diggnation being so popular from the start was because it was full of good content. There was no production value and they guys weren't really well-known (besides for the people that saw them on TechTV). They turned on a camera and made a show. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy the HD goodness and higher production value now, but only if it doesn't affect the content of the show.

Bottom line: If you paint shit gold it will be nice and shiny, but it's still shit. The show isn't even close to what it used to be (and still could be).

I've been watching Diggnation since episode 1 (actually started watching cause of digg and kevin plugging it on tss) and I have to agree with MasterQ. Content is king, not production value.

pmm217

04-08-2009, 08:42 AM

brynomite

04-08-2009, 09:20 AM

masterq

04-08-2009, 03:24 PM

If people think that this show is falling apart because of the "Twitter crap", then they have a screw loose. Seriously, what's your f**king problem? I don't recall these discussions back when they were pimping their MySpace accounts. You guys are idiots. If they want to spend three seconds mentioning their Twitter accounts, so be it. Why do you watch the show anyway? Just so you can come here and bitch about the infinitesimal amount of time they mention Twitter? Are you serious? Really?

Read the whole thread before u blow up... plugging twitter is not the worst thing with the show. annoying? yes, but not the worst thing.

and can we please give it a rest with the guests already? it gets old when u do it almost every week. i think it should be a once every 3 months thing... and don't even think about doing a guest on a live show.

brynomite

04-09-2009, 01:39 PM

Read the whole thread before u blow up... plugging twitter is not the worst thing with the show. annoying? yes, but not the worst thing.

and can we please give it a rest with the guests already? it gets old when u do it almost every week. i think it should be a once every 3 months thing... and don't even think about doing a guest on a live show.

I apologize for my previous explosion. Recently, I've seen lots of postings on this board pertaining the the Twitter-whoring or whatever. I glommed onto that first. For this, I'm a douche.

This show has always been better when they are drunk. This is a fact. We haven't had that many great moments like the whole Siemens monitor discussion or dogs running through fields or Jody Sweetin...

I will give you guys that, BUT they weren't always crap-faced when they would record an episode. There were plenty of great episodes where they seemed totally sober. Now, they're pretty much sober all the time. The shows have been shorter recently and that is lame, but the quality doesn't seem to have changed at all.

Also, I have loved the episodes with the guest hosts. I think that they mentioned a few years ago that they were going to start having guests hosts every once in a while. They didn't get around to it for a while after that and I thought both episodes were great. Also, I understand that everyone hated Gary Vaynerchuk. I can understand why he might be grating to some people. As a fan, I couldn't complain.

Kinda off topic: I am going to assume that they were planning on having Adam Corolla on as a guest host but the episode turned out to be really lame so they didn't air it. That would explain why they were sitting with their laptops on the couch while drinking Michelob beer. Perhaps. I guess we can all be thankful that they didn't air that episode? Maybe?

joeyrock

04-09-2009, 07:40 PM

I used to watch Diggnation the moment it came out.. that's just not the case any more guys. And that's got nothing to do with me suddenly having a life.. cause I don't. The other thread is quite long.. and contains bitching. I thought I'd make one (rather arrogantly) for constructive criticism.

Couple of tips to keep the show from taking a bigger dive than Heroes..

1. Less Adverts and product placement.. non negotiable. It's getting a bit ridiculous now. You can say economy blah blah blah... but devaluing your individual ads by including too many is a bad a mistake. It turns off viewers and it's a slippery slope to wall to wall boredom. Some of us international viewers aren't used to advertising completely overrunning our TV content.. so it's jarring. It also and wastes everyone's time. These days we can watch quality podcasts 24/7 and still not get to watch everything. Be careful you guys don't get bumped way down people's lists.

2. Longer shows... both hosts are busy people we get that. But in rushing through everything with a precisely placed advert between each story; it now just looks like the show is a lip service to us long-time viewers. Now I'm going to attempt a metaphor here... bear with me. (sorry for the length).

TV is a shiny honda civic of video entertainment - maybe it's a bit bland, but it's always there and it'll get you exactly where you want to go the same as it always has... Podcasting is that metal thing a dude next door has built in his garage - you might not trust it to get you to work in the morning, and it's rough around the edges, but you only have to go next door to talk to the guy who built it, it's got character and it can give you some different thrills from time to time.

Soooo.... (here's the important bit) be careful diggnation doesn't end up a busted up 'thing,' which the guy next door has grown tired of. Because he'll go and tack a Civic shell over the top of it before painting a racing stripe down the side.... then he will try and sell to you for $50 and make out it's a proper car.... but it's not a proper car and it shouldn't try to be. Going down that route just adds extra weight to slow you down, and we (the viewers) don't want to see the wheels start to come off when you go round a corner.

3. Where is the show with two guys talking on a couch about random stuff??? Those guys didn't end every sentence with an act of self promotion. People tire of that very quickly.

xfuuey

04-09-2009, 08:34 PM

Try searching for one of the other 300 threads started about this :p

boldfire

04-09-2009, 11:25 PM

I agree, in Britain product placement isn't allowed on television so to see it being rammed down our necks at Revision3 is a bit over powering to us.

I'm willing to sit through adverts to pay for good content, but to me it seems as they have put in more, longer ads the quality of the content has become worse and the show overall shorter :(

I've kept with it the past few months thinking it'll get better but I'm considering taking it off my iTunes if it doesn't improve next week - it's a shame because I've watched since about episode 10, even designed the lower thirds used but I can't sit through 30 minutes of nothing and advertisements just because I have enjoyed the past episodes, unfortunately.

masterq

04-10-2009, 07:21 PM

Try searching for one of the other 300 threads started about this :p

All they have to do is listen to 1... the 299 others are then no longer necessary.

but they don't listen. at least not when its for diggnation

rabidbadger

04-10-2009, 11:31 PM

masterq

04-11-2009, 08:06 AM

The only way rev3 would bother to research this is if the numbers suddenly dropped significantly. Sadly, I don't think a protest "skip the next episode" by a bunch of us, the most involved fans, would make a tiny bump.

I agree, but we shouldn't have to do a protest for a podcast that owes its success to its die hard fans to listen to those fans

cabster21

04-11-2009, 12:37 PM

I'm sure the majority of Diggnation viewers don't use the forums anyway, I know I didn't for quite a long time, after thebroken.org started to forward here I never bothered joining the forums. So at best you would only get a small fraction, that would most likely go un-noticed. Diggnation is built on Digg.com, make an impact on there and you may succeed. But anything detrimental to their success would be taken down.

I'm surprised the likes of Chuckles even entertain themselves by looking at the forums. I mean, do you think the people who make threads about their hair, or "I want Kevins TV!" etc etc, are really going to go against them? And if they even care if the show is a little crappy from time to time.

If you wanted to, you could always get a syndicate going, take it in turns to download it, upload somewhere else, whether it be a torrent or private hosting. Don't download from the site, but you still get your show to view. Obviously don't use any promo codes from the show, there are plenty of other places offering the same deals online. And don't visit sites such as their Michelob video, or their special Ask.com vids etc.

What you guys are essentially saying is, they don't care about the show anymore, it's done the original job, now it's here to generate revenue. So cut that off, and they will listen. Do you remember when you had to pay for the early release? But most people got it early without paying?

Of course you could just not bother and realise that complaining on here probably isn't going to work, if it does Jimbo will start sacking you from the forums!!! :eek:

Yeah so maybe best just to either stop watching or suck it up.

rowlodge

04-11-2009, 06:07 PM

so skimming through the comments ,all of them ,i think the best solution is for kevin and alex to start over again, new show ,new format ,new location, and no advertising, that's because there's too many movie stars, famous people, and such, its like watching ,"entertainment tonight", to all the famous people, , this is (was),for regular normal geeks or whatever, now its BS.

masterq

04-12-2009, 06:28 AM

Do you remember when you had to pay for the early release? But most people got it early without paying?

I did pay for the early release for quite some time because I loved the show. Would I do the same now? not a chance.

so skimming through the comments ,all of them ,i think the best solution is for kevin and alex to start over again, new show ,new format ,new location, and no advertising, that's because there's too many movie stars, famous people, and such, its like watching ,"entertainment tonight", to all the famous people, , this is (was),for regular normal geeks or whatever, now its BS.

I don't want a new show... I want diggnation. And if I understand you correctly, you are saying the TechTV-like diggnation is now a G4-like diggnation. If so, I agree 100%.

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/8012/digg4nation.gif

shirts anyone?

randomlyrossy

04-12-2009, 01:58 PM

Personally I think I'm gonna give the show till Ep200, if they can't make the 200th episode awesome then I'm pretty much done till I hear the show has improved.

I used to love watching Diggnation but now it just seems more of a chore that I do out of habit rather than because I want to.

peve

04-12-2009, 07:57 PM

I fear I have to agree with the general consensus. The show has really went down hill compared to the early episodes.

I think they should get to ep200 and then call it quits or at least take a break so that it is fresh or start drinking beer, stop tapping back to back and make it longer.

What really annoys me is that nobody from rev3 has came to address the unhappiness in this thread.

darknessgp

04-12-2009, 08:19 PM

...
What really annoys me is that nobody from rev3 has came to address the unhappiness in this thread.

IMO, it's probably because no one at Rev3 other than Chuckles actually visits and reads the diggnation section.

nitrus

04-12-2009, 09:41 PM

I think it's increbible that noone from Rev3 has looked at this thread and gone:

"Shit, we must be doing something wrong"

And do something about it... or at the VERY LEAST post something in response. It's like they don't care anymore. Seems they are too caught up with all the "celebrities".

The Digg Stories are hardly talked about.

There is more advertising than content.

The guys don't seem to care for it anymore.

If it's going to go on like this then i'd rather you cancelled it and left me with a good memory of the show, rather than me walking away from it.

I agree with the others, im gonna give it a till ep200 and then if nothing changes or nothing has been acknowledged then im gonna give up.

nitrus

04-12-2009, 09:47 PM

This is a poll to try and get someone from Rev3 to acknowledge the problem and at least recognise that something isn't quite right.

This will give them a statistic, if they won't pay attention to words, maybe they will pay attention to numbers.

If you think something isn't quite right with Diggnation, be it too much advertising, too short length etc etc then simply vote "Yes".

If you think that Diggnation is fine and NO changes need to be made then vote "No".

Thank you for your time.

rabidbadger

04-12-2009, 10:43 PM

masherscf

04-12-2009, 11:00 PM

Why don't you vote with your ears?

tokenuser

04-12-2009, 11:05 PM

When a TV show is having problems, the number of viewers drops.
If Rev3 are seeing a drop in download numbers, then they would know something was wrong.

Unsubscribe and stop watching.

phil-mize

04-13-2009, 01:39 AM

what about the viewers who watch it streamed? i dont use itunes or anything i usually just stream all the rev3 shows i enjoy right then and there off the site... can they record how many people do it that way? why should i download something when i can go to their site to watch it anytime... i would just soon delete the episode after watching....

but going off the poll yes diggnation seems different... honestly is it really all that bad to do 6-7 stories and an email? like omg u go over a 30min show... who cares it seems like diggnation has become something of a chore for kevin and alex not a hobbie anymore seriously watch an older episode and then a new one...:o

speed

04-13-2009, 02:31 AM

When a TV show is having problems, the number of viewers drops.
If Rev3 are seeing a drop in download numbers, then they would know something was wrong.

Unsubscribe and stop watching.

Part of the problem is, Rev3 seems to have this attitude of "numbers are low... should we find out what's wrong and see if it's fixable? Nah, screw it! Just cancel the show". Also, I keep watching in vain that they'll listen to us and fix it. It shouldn't have to come down to outright boycott to get them to fix it.

speed

04-13-2009, 02:40 AM

Twit live was razzing on just that thing just a few minutes ago. It's the old model, post tv show, fail, don't interact, explain failure later in a press release explaining company closure.

Looking forward to V01d.

I don't know quite that its so much an old model as the draw to the show is gone. It used to be two techies talking tech. Now they rarely talk tech and focus on other stories that they just don't have anything to add to and Kevin isn't so much as a techie now as he is an Apple fanboy. He might know his code, but he doesn't really seem to know anything about actual hardware or desktop software anymore (except that anything Apple has to win)

rabidbadger

04-13-2009, 03:08 AM

tokenuser

04-13-2009, 03:19 AM

That is definately a perception I agree with, but Kevin never coded, he hires coders. He's not Woz, he's Jobs. Thinking more biz than tech. And alex was never a techie, he just lucked into a tv job or two as a "personality" He don't know shit about tech, beyond being an enthusiastic user. He's an actor.Agree on Kevin, not that there is anything wrong with that. You need an idea guy that can articulate things clearly enough for a tech/do-looper to cut the code needed. I think his biggest asset in this respect is Daniel Burka.
Disagree on Alex. He was a programmer at RAND. A pretty competitive place to work for. Not his thing anymore, but it does not detract from his professional career.

masherscf

04-13-2009, 03:25 AM

And alex was never a techie, he just lucked into a tv job or two as a "personality" He don't know shit about tech, beyond being an enthusiastic user. He's an actor.

Sorry 'badge old buddy. That's just plain wrong. Alex actually has a degree in computer science.

rabidbadger

04-13-2009, 03:28 AM

Hmm, didn't know that about Alex, guys. But kinda proves my point, he just aint a tech guy any more. He switched careers, which is fine. He has been outa touch for a while on tech, though.

speed

04-13-2009, 04:26 AM

When he actually talks tech, he knows what he's talking about, but he never has that opportunity anymore. On TRS, they focus on console games and movie and on Diggnation, they talk about these "general interest" stories that I don't care about. If I wanted to know about the "controversy" over Brittney Spears' newest song, I'd watch ET or MTV (ok, ET, since we all know MTV never covers music), if I wanted to watch the newest viral video, I'd watch The Digg Reel and if I wanted to hear anything to do with Obama, I'd turn on any TV channel. I want to hear tech stories. There are still some, such as how NIN's newest album is online for free (though it's not really news with Reznor), or the Google designer story, but they're so far and few between now.

And, as an avid Twitter user, PLEASE quit talking about twitter. I don't give a fuck about it anymore. Every time I hear some reference to twitter, or twitter followers or a person losing their job due to twitter or Leo whoring his twitter on Twit or even Dvorak bitching about twitter for 50 minutes, It makes me want to shoot something or someone. I have nothing against using twitter, but talking about it as much as they do would be like me talking non-stop about email or MSN messenger. Not necessarily bad things, have their uses and so on, but nobody gives a fuck about them anymore, they're old news.

heyseuss

04-13-2009, 05:14 AM

Hmm, didn't know that about Alex, guys. But kinda proves my point, he just aint a tech guy any more. He switched careers, which is fine. He has been outa touch for a while on tech, though.

Alex used to work IT. He also did improv and played in a punk band in college, I wouldn't say he's too far away from doing the things he was doing while getting his degree. In a way, his career currently encompasses most of the things he was doing at college, including beer and video games. Except for that guy Jason, he's not doing that anymore.

norelec

04-13-2009, 05:55 AM

I've watched Diggnation since episode one, I absolutely loved watching it back then and absolutely loved drinking a couple of beers along with it. I do feel that the quality has gone down hill, however I still find diggnation enjoyable. I would love to see them go back to the old format, or something a bit closer to how it was.

samureye

04-13-2009, 06:30 AM

Part of the problem is, Rev3 seems to have this attitude of "numbers are low... should we find out what's wrong and see if it's fixable? Nah, screw it! Just cancel the show". Also, I keep watching in vain that they'll listen to us and fix it. It shouldn't have to come down to outright boycott to get them to fix it.
There's a reason for everything. You seem to have forgotten that Internet Superstar and Popsiren both went through some changes before getting the boot.

masterq

04-13-2009, 08:25 AM

It used to be two techies talking tech.

That is one thing that has definitely changed. Diggnation has lost a lot of its techiness. And as much as Rev3 wants the show to be mainstream, the fact is that internet TV (besides for hulu...which isn't so much internet TV as it is TV on the internet) is not something that will be mainstream for quite a while. Their main audience right now is the tech community. Appeal to them (us).

I also feel that some of the lost techiness came from the mainstreaming of digg.com. When digg.com began expanding to things other than tech, most of the front page was no longer tech stories. Thus, diggnation was no longer mostly tech stories. I think to balance the show it should be standard that at least half of the stories be tech-related. Don't get me wrong, I love the "two sweaty balls" stories (if you're hardcore diggnation you'll get the reference), but I think the show really shines when tech stories are priority and kevin and alex show more of their geeky sides. And when they're drunk...

cabster21

04-13-2009, 12:41 PM

I think the trouble is, no matter what they do, people will complain. When you have this many people watching, you will never please everyone.

I suppose you could think of it like a store, you have the small tech store who has a few 'techie' customers, who will spend more on a branded motherboard and speak to the shop owners - who are also 'techies'. Then you have your large stores, who sell a lot of cheap crap - but sells - and the majority of people who work there have no interest in what's sold. But overall is a far more successful business. (in terms of revenue anyway)

Every business changes, Mcdonalds was once a good sit in restaurant. Not the 0.4% beef rubbish we have now. But hey, they're not exactly short of a bob or two.

My point being, you try telling someone they should change their show back, and potentially cut profits to please fewer people. Things can change, but only when there is a serious demand for it, and it actually becomes beneficial for them to meet these requests. Such as McDonalds selling more salads.

If drinking more, longer shows and ramblings away from the stories would get more viewers, they'd do it in a flash. You know people complain about the drinking?

nitrus

04-13-2009, 01:24 PM

Part of the problem is, Rev3 seems to have this attitude of "numbers are low... should we find out what's wrong and see if it's fixable? Nah, screw it! Just cancel the show". Also, I keep watching in vain that they'll listen to us and fix it. It shouldn't have to come down to outright boycott to get them to fix it.

I agree with you completely..that's why I haven't stopped watching, I just grow more and more disappointed with each new episode.

Thanks for voting everyone.

masherscf

04-13-2009, 02:38 PM

rabidbadger

04-13-2009, 03:08 PM

No Alex hate, I'm just saying his priorities have changed from tech to entertainment. I love him as an entertainer. I wish him success, he just wants to grow beyond the tech niche and advance his career, which I wish him well on. I'd love to see him on SNL or something, he excels at skit stuff (see his Tiki Bar appearances and CAC scientist bits).

masterq

04-13-2009, 05:45 PM

I suppose you could think of it like a store, you have the small tech store who has a few 'techie' customers, who will spend more on a branded motherboard and speak to the shop owners - who are also 'techies'. Then you have your large stores, who sell a lot of cheap crap - but sells - and the majority of people who work there have no interest in what's sold. But overall is a far more successful business. (in terms of revenue anyway)

Theres a problem with that tho... the mall is only full of techies right now. Like I said in my last post, internet TV is still far from mainstream with the exception of hulu, which is not internet TV but TV shows on the internet. Techies are their main audience no matter how mainstream they try to go.

Think about it... how many people do you know that are not techies that watch shows that are strictly on the internet (meaning not hulu or the like)? I don't know any...

rabidbadger

04-13-2009, 06:32 PM

Theres a problem with that tho... the mall is only full of techies right now. Like I said in my last post, internet TV is still far from mainstream with the exception of hulu, which is not internet TV but TV shows on the internet. Techies are their main audience no matter how mainstream they try to go.

Think about it... how many people do you know that are not techies that watch shows that are strictly on the internet (meaning not hulu or the like)? I don't know any...

I agree, I've been trying to get my friends to get into podcasts for ages. They are younger than me by a decade, some even "starred" in my podcast. But ours was the only one they watched. When it's time for them to zone after work they wanna lay on the couch and watch tv/dvds.

What is crazy is these same friends would absolutely LOVE the TRS show. They love vidgames, comics, and comic-based movies. Yet they still refuse to bother with podcasts.

Rev3 should stick with us techies as the main audience until there is evidence folks will download/watch/listen to something other than recycled mainstream tv and radio shows.

jlouderb

04-13-2009, 07:20 PM

According to the poll here (and btw, thanks for doing it), 20 people would like to see changes made to Diggnation and/or other of our shows. How about some suggestions? Let us know what you think needs changing...

Longer? Shorter? Faster paced? Slower paced? More guests? Less guests? New couch? New hosts? More hosts? More locations? Less locations?

Send us your ideas. Can't guarantee we'll implement all of them, but we're definitely listening.

jim

baldmonkey

04-13-2009, 07:30 PM

Dare to take a break. Take a couple of weeks off and recharge the batteries.

nitrus

04-13-2009, 07:56 PM

This is what I would like to see:

If sponsors are going to be taking up more time than content, then the show needs to be longer.
Maybe a new segment? Like the Kevin & Hippy car journey with the Tea? That was a great little segment. More things like that.
Diggnation is the Digg Podcast essentially.. and Digg has a lot of features, like the DiggBar.. maybe do a "Random Story of the Week" using the DiggBar's random story feature.
Also, Kevin & Alex seem to have lost their enthusiasm for the show, it feels rushed, so if they need a break to regain that enthusiasm then it would be a good idea.
Talking about comments on Digg stories.
Viewer emails is broken, there's thousands of them, maybe do something else with that? Can't think of anything off the top of my head.
More viewer interaction, for example, do a Poll each week, something like "What should we drink next week?" Then give some options, we vote and they drink whatever is voted. something like that.
Maybe do something different with the joke sponsors like TRS did with their intros, mix it up.
Have more guests, but from Rev3.. like Patrick Norton, Veronica Belmont, one of the TRS boys... I think that would be great and I don't think it would be difficult?
Going back to segments.. what about some kind of Challenge segment? Get viewers or someone who works at Rev3 to give them a simple, easy, but funny challenge or something?

A lot of the above is me thinking out loud, I don't know what is pheasable and what isn't.

Thank you so much for posting on here Jim, I hope you guys can work something out.

boldfire

04-13-2009, 08:25 PM

Things I would like improved on / changed / removed - some echo the other guy's post :)

1) Read comments from storys if some stand out as funny or insightful, this would mean having to read them first before the show.
2) Random story of the week using diggbar
3) More stories, it feels like the end comes too soon, and having sponsors before the last story doesn't help that feeling
4) Choose emails carefully before the show, too often they say "I didn't read this before" and choose an email along the same lines as others before it.
5) Have time off. There's nothing worse than the episodes when they're tired and have no enthusiasm for it. If having a week off means the next few weeks will be good, I'm all for it.
6) Try not to overlap with Digg Reel's videos.
7) Live shows occasionally - Diggnation seems like a show that could be done on ustream or something, it's typically a one shot show and having live interactivity could be great.
8) Change up hosts occasionally if needed. Sarah Lane and Martin Sargent do a great job on TWiF which has similarish content to Diggnation, maybe have them cover Alex and Kevin if they need a break.
9) Stop the prager cam, that's really annoying :-P

But I agree wholeheartedly and appreciate Jim taking notice. I am starting to get bored of Diggnation now, but it's not me growing out of it. If I watch earlier episodes I find them fantastic still, somethings down the line changed as Revision3 grew I think but I'm not quite sure what.

chuckles

04-13-2009, 09:04 PM

Part of the problem is, Rev3 seems to have this attitude of "numbers are low... should we find out what's wrong and see if it's fixable? Nah, screw it! Just cancel the show".

And this is based on what fact?

-chuckles-

masherscf

04-13-2009, 09:44 PM

And this is based on what fact?

-chuckles-

They've got a spy cam inside your office watching all your dastardly plans.

leftkidney

04-14-2009, 12:26 AM

the only problem I have is the adds before each video before download

look at the topic I started about it

other than that I love diggnation

tokenuser

04-14-2009, 12:41 AM

the only problem I have is the adds before each video before downloadIts ADS damnit! A single "d". Short for advertising. ADDS means to put more of something in, and I don't think that is what you want.

speed

04-14-2009, 03:08 AM

My point being, you try telling someone they should change their show back, and potentially cut profits to please fewer people. Things can change, but only when there is a serious demand for it, and it actually becomes beneficial for them to meet these requests. Such as McDonalds selling more salads.

If drinking more, longer shows and ramblings away from the stories would get more viewers, they'd do it in a flash. You know people complain about the drinking?

But here's the deal (I just realized that I haven't heard that on Diggnation for a while either), that DID bring in viewers. Rev3 didn't change Diggnation because it didn't bring in viewers, they changed it because they looked at mainstream stuff and said "maybe we can get more viewers". It'd be like Sorrentino's saying "maybe we should adopt a fast food model... it works for McDonalds". True, it does, and McDonalds probably makes more overall money, but that's not what Sorrentino's does, so they stick with upscale restaurant. Rev3 needs to realize that they aren't a mainstream network and as long as they are internet based, they never will be. Embrace the techieness.

Also, the people that complained about the drinking were rarely the regular viewers. They were either people who liked to complain for the sake of complaining (watch as that gets spun around to bite me in the ass), people who were also offended by the swearing (which they never toned down), people who refused to be responsible for their own actions and parents who feel that rather than look after their own kids, everyone and everything should be adapted so that they "don't corrupt my little Jacob and Sally".

speed

04-14-2009, 04:03 AM

My suggestions:
1. Shorten down the reading of sponsors.
2. Don't aim for any specific time. it's not so much that the show is too short or too long, it's that it feels rushed. If it takes 30 min to do a good episode, fine, if it takes 60 min, great.
3. Rev3/podcast crossovers. As much as I liked having Jimmy as a guest host, I actually enjoyed GaryV more, since there was already a personal friendship between the two. I'd love to see Jeff, Dan, Shwood, Veronica, etc. on the show.
4. More of a tech focus.
5. Drink reviews. Even if it's just tea, I miss them going into length on their reviews of the drinks (and maybe mention where we can get these drinks if you don't get something avail at every store around).
6. Guest hosts to cover for Kevin and Alex if needed. Give them the occasional week off. One thing we seem to be forgetting is that in the "good ole days", there were times where Kevin and Alex just took a week off.
7. Avoid doing back-to-back shows if necessary. If you absolutely have to (I understand, Kevin, Alex, Glenn and Prager are busy people), then no worries, but it inevitably makes the second episode feel rushed or sloppy.
8. One viewer email per host. I miss Kevin and Alex both having emails and them going into length answering them. Now it seems like it's "ok, here's a picture they sent us, [she's fuckable/that's badass/looks 'shopped], peace out"

edhager

04-14-2009, 04:16 AM

I would prefer longer shows spaced farther apart rather than a show a week when you can tell that several of them were shot in one day.

I watch Diggnation for the interaction between Alex and Kevin more than for the stories they talk about. That is why I don't really like the live shows as much.

dirtyhat

04-14-2009, 05:54 AM

First off, I agree with most things being said... I think a great suggestion was the "Random story Digg Bar" suggestion.

I wanted to give a different perspective... Since starting my own podcast I have realized that sometimes you just don't feel funny or witty on a particular day. I used to feel strongly that, Kevin and Alex should go back to the "old way" of Diggnation. They used to Banter and tangent a lot more, which is more what drew me to the show rather than the actual stories. But now, trying to produce my own, I can see that sometimes you just can't come up with anything to say. And we are only 8 episodes deep... I can imagine being almost 200 deep, I might feel like I've exhausted all my 'talent' by that point.
Personally, I think I'm hilarious... off camera, but sometimes when you have a specific topic to talk about you can't come up with anything 'on the spot'. I can't even tell you how many times, while editing after the shoot, I've said, "Damn! I should have said (insert witty comment here)"

...anyways back on track...
Don't get me wrong, Diggnation is still a good show... but I believe Kevin and Alex still have it in them to produce a GREAT show... What will it take for it to get back to that, The people you really need to ask, are Kevin & Alex.

radzack

04-14-2009, 07:10 AM

There's a reason for everything. You seem to have forgotten that Internet Superstar and Popsiren both went through some changes before getting the boot.

I knew you would love Entourage

stragee

04-14-2009, 08:09 AM

According to the poll here (and btw, thanks for doing it), 20 people would like to see changes made to Diggnation and/or other of our shows. How about some suggestions? Let us know what you think needs changing...

Longer? Shorter? Faster paced? Slower paced? More guests? Less guests? New couch? New hosts? More hosts? More locations? Less locations?

Send us your ideas. Can't guarantee we'll implement all of them, but we're definitely listening.

jim

I stressed my concerns in this thread:

http://revision3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27397

I appreciate that you're reading this! Thanks much. Obviously I voted that
there needs to be some changes made.

md2389

04-14-2009, 08:22 AM

I agree with some of the posters here, that the show could use some extra length to off-set the sponsor adverts. Instead of doing three or four stories, go back to the old format of atleast six. As for guests, FFS don't bother with an interview. Just have them chill with Kevin & Alex and go from there. Lastly, bring back tech related stories! They don't ALL have to be tech related, but I'd like to have atleast SOME of them be related.

joeyrock

04-14-2009, 12:55 PM

According to the poll here (and btw, thanks for doing it), 20 people would like to see changes made to Diggnation and/or other of our shows. How about some suggestions? Let us know what you think needs changing...

Well, a quick glance at these very forums... there appears to be all these threads, which contain many many helpful suggestions.

http://revision3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27567
http://revision3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27397
http://revision3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27499
http://revision3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26984
http://revision3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26006

and then there's the last episode thread. Which is full of useful tips.

http://revision3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27474

This isn't a problem with the show, per se; of course you can't release a train wreck, we get that. But maybe Jim you could explain why the Adam Carrola Episode wasn't fit for release? It has been confirmed to me by some one that the show got canned (not that it needed confirming). Maybe a little conversation in the forum about this stuff would help people feel like the forums aren't almost totally ignored.

masterq

04-14-2009, 03:34 PM

My suggestion: watch an old episode of diggnation (episode 1-100) and notice the differences between those episodes and the last 50 or so episodes.

i know this has been said way too many times, but please bring back the beer. and not just one beer during the show. have the guys have two before they start taping so they loosen up. the shows are better when they are having a good time.

to go along with the previous suggestion, bring back the 2 minute or so beer discussion. the episode where kevin said his beer tasted like santa claus was classic.

please stop with the guests all the time. it should be a special occasion thing IMO.

make the show longer. there are too many ads and not enough content for the current length. again, look at the old episodes. they ran about an hour in length with only 1 small godaddy ad copy being read. there were no huge michelob segments and such like there are now.

add more tech. digg went mainstream and so did diggnation. the problem with that is digg's audience is mainstream and diggnations is not. the show should focus more on tech-oriented stories and a less on the random stories. the random stories are cool, but its not good when the show is completely random stories.

also, maybe try to take some of the formatting aspect away from the show. the old shows didn't have a clear cut format to them (example: "welcome to diggnation episode XXX, i'm alex albrecht. and i'm kevin rose. diggnation covers some of the weekly (kevin improv here) digg.com. thats d-i-double g dot com."). they said all of that in the old shows, but it wasn't always the same.

thanks for listening, jim.

masterq

04-14-2009, 03:41 PM

Rev3 needs to realize that they aren't a mainstream network and as long as they are internet based, they never will be. Embrace the techieness.

Also, the people that complained about the drinking were rarely the regular viewers.

exactly.

EDIT: the banner at the top of my page just now said "Kevin and Alex discuss the latest digg stories... rarely sober." it should read "always sober except for live shows and drinking tea"

isamurai

04-15-2009, 05:15 AM

I don't really have anything else to add as most of my feelings have already been expressed by other members. The ad-content ratio needs to be fixed. I'd love to know why they keep cutting it shorter and shorter while everyone in the forums keeps complaining about the shortness.

Thanks for coming in here Jim, but why did it take so long for you to recognize this? We have been posting for months and months almost every week and noone has listened...until now. I suggest looking through @joeyrock 's threads he listed for more ideas.

In short : bring back beer, take breaks if needed, stop with back-to-back recordings, and increase the length (I'd prefer nothing under 40mins; but don't want it to feel forced either)

f8tality

04-15-2009, 05:48 AM

I think Kevin and Alex are great. Keep doing what you do. I'm entertained.

babnert

04-15-2009, 08:42 AM

ill keep it short

Beer,
Longer,
Lose boring stories that dont create discussion between Kevin and Alex,
Dont rush,
Dont shoot multiple episodes at once - the 2nd one always feels worse

Everyone else pretty much nailed the problems in more detail.

Also Hippie Glenn should get his own show on Rev3.

dirtyhat

04-15-2009, 09:22 AM

Also Hippie Glenn should get his own show on Rev3.

I'll back that... Just from a couple of his short independent videos on Vimeo (http://www.vimeo.com/dirtsalad) (Haircut tips, Healthy pocorn, editing day)... you can see hippie is an untapped talent, not only editing but in front of the camera talent as well.

...I would love to see more Hippie recipes, maybe a hippie food show?

babnert

04-15-2009, 09:46 AM

I'll back that... Just from a couple of his short independent videos on Vimeo (http://www.vimeo.com/dirtsalad) (Haircut tips, Healthy pocorn, editing day)... you can see hippie is an untapped talent, not only editing but in front of the camera talent as well.

...I would love to see more Hippie recipes, maybe a hippie food show?

Yeah i love his vimeo videos. If he had his own sort of "tips on how to live your life with hippie glenn" show that would be really awesome.

donoram

04-15-2009, 07:24 PM

It's great to see all these cool ideas. If nothing else, threads like these let Rev3 how passionate we all are about the programming and Diggnation, specifically.

I think I've echoed the "Bring back the beer!" sentiment enough times that I don't think I need to again (Bring it Back!), but I personally love a couple of the newer parts of the show and think they integrate well.

Please keep the Prager cam! It's fun to have a different view once in a while. Also keep the tea! While I am a beer man, Kevin MADE me a tea man, so I can love both kinds of episodes. Finally I love the more frequent practice of having guests, even for two second segments *coughadamcarollacough*, but maybe if they brought a couple digg stories to the table to talk about? Or a tech/digg/beer/tea whatever related story, something that fits in with the culture of the show.

Great to know big brother's watching! Err... or...

subigo

04-15-2009, 08:31 PM

I'm giving them until ep. 200... If something doesn't change, I'm done. The past 50 or so episodes have just been painful to watch.

cryptic

04-16-2009, 12:20 AM

1. Mix in guest hosts instead of shooting back-to-back episodes. The content needs to be fresh. Use this as an opportunity to develop new talent or cross-promote shows.
2. Cover stories that spark discussion between the hosts, not just what garnered the most diggs.
3. If you have a guest on the show, feature a news item they have an interest or passion about.
4. The show should be longer to offset the additional ad time. If the changes listed above are made, this shouldn't be an issue.
5. Cut down on the entourage distractions. If the guys really need input from someone off camera, at least have a mic available so we can hear these contributors.
6. Tighten up the time spent on the in-show sponsor.

masterq

04-16-2009, 12:26 AM

please realize there is a difference between content and sponsors. using michelob taste tests or things like that in place of content is not good because when it comes down to it, its an advertisement. we can tell the difference.

The sponsor before the last story ruins the flow discussion and the flow of the show. It needs to be moved back to after the stories and before the email.

please don't do the "Coming up on this episode of diggnation" intro. It works for something like tekzilla but diggnation is not supposed to be that formatted. Its kind of hard to explain, but it ruins the closeness (for lack of a better term) of the show. It makes me feel more like I'm watching a news show than sitting down to hang out with the guys.

as for the guests... i wouldn't mind a once in a blue moon kind of guest (like jimmy fallon seemed to be) but PLEASE don't make that a normal thing on the show. I would say once every 6 months or so. It turns the show into a talk show, which is not what diggnation is about.

Remember, the original idea for the show worked. It's just been twisted too much into what we have now. Slow down with things and go back to the original idea. Obviously production value and the sort are not what we are after because we all seem to like the older lower production value shows better, so don't spend so much time making it look good and spend more time making it feel good.

pmm217

04-16-2009, 01:08 AM

For the amount of ads now shown in Diggnation the episodes should be about an hour long. Each episode has more ads than ever and the show is as short as it has ever been. Reomving all the ads and you have about a 20 minute show. Kevin and Alex need to stop rushing, it feels lately like they just want to get it over. The show has lost that special something that made it so great.

pmm217

04-16-2009, 01:10 AM

I've unsubscribed from Diggnation and I've been watching since ep 1. The show isn't funny anymore, has way too many ads, is too short and Kevin and Alex seem like they just want to get each episode done as quickly as possible.

rabidbadger

04-16-2009, 02:29 AM

me too. not seen this new ep, and won't til I hear things change.

summx

04-16-2009, 05:46 AM

wow, this weeks show was a mess. Seems like they just called it in. Doing the show at 11am is not the way diggnation should be shot, they took 2 sips of beer and just ran through the motions. Weak stuff

phatlip

04-16-2009, 06:02 AM

I still love Diggnation. Some episodes are better than others, but overall I think it's still a great show.

klitzy

04-16-2009, 07:34 AM

I want to throw in my two cents here after doing what someone suggested and watching an old episode and comparing it to a new one. Which was an enlightening and a very good idea if I do say so myself.

My first and probably most important point...at the end of the day guys, diggnation is a show based on spur of the moment stories, spur of the moment humor, spur of the moment character. Listen, let's remember...this is not traditional media that we are dealing with. A show is not good because they aren't writing it well enough. A show is simply not good because they didn't come up with something funny right at the perfect moment. These guys are human too and can't always be comedians and hugely entertaining. They don't have a group of 15 writers. So, like I said...at the end of the day, some episodes are going to be better then others simply because of luck. Just because there hasn't been that "LOL" moment for 4 or 5 episodes does not mean that they are two totally different characters and don't care about the show anymore.

Second, with that said...there are situations that can set up for humor and a good show and I will agree with some people, I think that when revision3/diggnation changed the format, it hurt itself a little. I still love it. I have been in love with it from the day it began. But, when I started watching again and noticed advertisements in the middle and what seemed to be less stories....my first thought was "uh oh."

So for that first issue...revision3. Put the ads back at the end of the show. It interrupts the flow of the stories to put the ads in the middle and disrupts the feeling. Let's face it...Alex and Kevin are used to having ads last and if you put it before, pure human cognitive response tells them that they are done with the show. Second, someone can correct me but there is some validity in that it seems like the pure number of stories has decreased. Maybe it used to be seven or eight and now its five or six....does seem like a little less. Maybe that is to my first point of them just not having much to say because...it is...a show based on natural human conversation.

In conclusion, let's not be too hard on these dudes. Yes criticism is awesome! And it is what has made revision3 so awesome because they listen but let's not over dramatize this whole thing into saying "Kevin and Alex don't care anymore." No. That's simply not true. They do care. If they didn't care...they wouldn't be doing it.

That is all I will say for now. I am loving the show. I have loved to watch it grow, loved to watch its evolution, their evolution, revision3's evolution. I have loved the community it has provided, the friends I have met, and the laughs I have had. Diggnation lives on. Lurkers who still enjoy and love the show....come out! Hehe.

klitzy

04-16-2009, 07:35 AM

masterq

04-16-2009, 09:03 AM

My first and probably most important point...at the end of the day guys, diggnation is a show based on spur of the moment stories, spur of the moment humor, spur of the moment character. Listen, let's remember...this is not traditional media that we are dealing with. A show is not good because they aren't writing it well enough. A show is simply not good because they didn't come up with something funny right at the perfect moment. These guys are human too and can't always be comedians and hugely entertaining. They don't have a group of 15 writers. So, like I said...at the end of the day, some episodes are going to be better then others simply because of luck. Just because there hasn't been that "LOL" moment for 4 or 5 episodes does not mean that they are two totally different characters and don't care about the show anymore.

If this is true then the quality would have been consistently like it is now from the very beginning. It wasn't. All the shows were hilarious, there was in-depth tech discussion, ads were kept separate from content, the shows were consistently long, etc. The fact that the shows just started getting bad in the past 50 episodes or so completely disproves what you are saying.

A lot of the problems with the show has nothing to do with the guys not being funny. Sponsors were moved before the last story, the length is shorter, they added the stupid "coming up on diggnation" before the intro, they shoot back to back shows, there is absolutely no drinking (one beer because its a sponsor doesn't count), they keep trying to make it into a talk show with guests, there are hardly any tech stories, they plug twitter every 2 seconds ...should I go on? Every one of these things are completely controllable.

masterq

04-16-2009, 04:07 PM

My first and probably most important point...at the end of the day guys, diggnation is a show based on spur of the moment stories, spur of the moment humor, spur of the moment character. Listen, let's remember...this is not traditional media that we are dealing with. A show is not good because they aren't writing it well enough. A show is simply not good because they didn't come up with something funny right at the perfect moment. These guys are human too and can't always be comedians and hugely entertaining. They don't have a group of 15 writers. So, like I said...at the end of the day, some episodes are going to be better then others simply because of luck. Just because there hasn't been that "LOL" moment for 4 or 5 episodes does not mean that they are two totally different characters and don't care about the show anymore.

*Also copy and pasted from other topic

If this is true then the quality would have been consistently like it is now from the very beginning. It wasn't. All the shows were hilarious, there was in-depth tech discussion, ads were kept separate from content, the shows were consistently long, etc. The fact that the shows just started getting bad in the past 50 episodes or so completely disproves what you are saying.

A lot of the problems with the show has nothing to do with the guys not being funny. Sponsors were moved before the last story, the length is shorter, they added the stupid "coming up on diggnation" before the intro, they shoot back to back shows, there is absolutely no drinking (one beer because its a sponsor doesn't count), they keep trying to make it into a talk show with guests, there are hardly any tech stories, they plug twitter every 2 seconds ...should I go on? Every one of these things are completely controllable.

jimi_treo

04-16-2009, 04:32 PM

The show has certainly changed. Not an intentional thing, but just a natural evolution as the hosts have grown and become more and more successful outside of diggnation. Maybe it's time that they embrace the change.

1. Keep the 2 guy on a couch format talking about Digg stories, but replace Kevin and Alex. Get kids that are a bit younger and willing to drink and be assess while they talk about the stories. (I feel like since they are now so well known they are reluctant to be themselves in front of the camera anymore - especially Kevin).

2. Kevin and Alex should still have a show together. They are both interesting, influential, and have good chemistry. Instead of talking about Digg stories, talk about tech, like they used to. Not in a Tekzilla way, but in a commentary way. An opinion talk show based on technology with Kevin and Alex would be a hit. Forget the drinking and the Wayne and Garth couch bit, leave it in the past, and for the new kids.

hellfighter

04-16-2009, 05:06 PM

@jlouderb:

As of the last week or so, I've finally lost interest in bothering to watch Diggnation because I know it's always the beast I don't like anymore. This is by no affectation in my choice. I started disliking it every week a long time ago, but kept watching out of habit and it being that time killer I had where there was an open slot. I just decided to see the progress of this thread and thought I'd give some input to Jim's invitation, as succinct as possible.

I've watched since the first episode, been there when TSS moved to LA, the creation of Digg, and before they moved and people who were just fans of that show and were interested when the "dark tipper" (sounds dirty now), would return to deliver the goods we related to.

What made Diggnation in the start was that it wasn't necessarily a show, but a broadcast of the guys' discussions. It was a good chunk of time and they went into depth exploring them. --And they were funny - trying to make each other laugh.

I think trying to break it down to anything more would just be manufacturing one's own subjective interpretation of show making. "It was this! It wasn't this! IF you did this, then this!" But when it comes down to it, it was that simple thing that I looked forward to, and only when it started to become something else, did the composition of what it was became apparent.

I noticed when the show suddenly was extremely short as someone who watched it from the start. One day, it was over before it felt like it began. They only sometimes chance upon the chemistry of authenticity and making each other laugh anymore. Now they don't go into depth, they read less stories, they resist exercising any real critical thought on the topics (they did used to cover tech stuff and try to explore each and every story with what they knew), and try to come up with something funny to say toward one another for the show, it seems. (At that, I've come to find Alex painful, and especially when put next to talent.) Also, after enough time to get a sense of who they are as people, I found I just don't relate anymore. I think when they at least were saying something stimulating in tech discussions, anything else seemed inconsequential. Now it's all non-stimulating in general.

It's a formulaic institution now. This is what I expect and always get every week: fake ad, list of sponsors, say hardly anything to buffer introductions and stories, read 4-5 stories, say bare minimum as if staying within safe bounds of not sounding like an idiot, there is a potential a slight tangent might be had and it will be short-lived, some mild chuckles to be had, stumbling over time to read advertisements for too long that I decide to skip like I do with my DVR, there's bound to be an announcement on the show itinerary to remember to do and linger around in stumbling through it, then fulfill the last story with no momentum and-- wrap it up! "That's it blah blah blah, I'm Alex/Kevin..."

Immediately they're out of it because they're not even there anymore. The whole thing is one not engaging stroll through an itinerary of things to do. Now it's a whole ordeal of them having a little audience of their business relations and networked pals hanging around, hovering around with cameras and conversing with each other--but about shit I don't care about.

Hope that contributes to thinking about the show. I'm taking a break now. There are other podcasts that have substance. And that equals stimulating. No offense.

philbert

04-16-2009, 05:45 PM

The poll question is kind of vague. What does this change entail? Does it mean something like more or less from Glenn, or is it a complete shift in the way the show works? The only problem I have is that there are much less stories in each episode. In the early episodes there were 8-10 stories, now there are 4 or 5. I actually went and figured our where the change happened once, I forget what my conclusion was, somewhere around episode 55 or something.

One thing that I have noticed is that the episodes with some non-usual people like Heather or when Jimmy Fallon was on, are much funnier and I think that maybe Kevin and Alex have gotten used to each other and kind of already know what the other will say, so it has gotten a little stale maybe. So perhaps any kind of change would be good to mix things up a little and freshen the atmosphere.

jonnywb

04-16-2009, 08:19 PM

I'll just say a couple of things,

1. Don't bother recording 2 or more shows at once. If you can't make a time for the next week just take the week off or something. (IMO - as long as it's not too often) - I'd rather watch one good show that isn't rushed and is as long as possible, than 2 shows that are shown different weeks meaning that one week isn't going to be up to date stories.

2. More Viewer Interaction. TRS now has the intro segment, the emails and the Backgrounds. I think it would be nice for diggnation to have something more too. More things like the Netflix Remix!! I thought that was awesome when it happened.

I'm not completely sure how the latter could be done well, and it doesn't have to be every week... I just think it could be a good idea and get more people involved.

EDIT: I do like the idea of more guests too.

xtsquintx

04-16-2009, 08:40 PM

I would like to see less people involved/on the show. It seems like there's an entourage in every episode now, and the more frequent "guests" that show up make the guys act more like lame-ass TV personalities. That recent episode with Gary V was horrible and annoying to watch; first off, Gary sucks and would not shut up for 5 minutes with his "Joe Pesci from Lethal Weapon 4-esque" persona and commentary. And what was the point of the little Adam Corolla "hang out session"? Both of those episodes make the show seem like it's turning into a hackney late night program in general.

I understand that since it is Rev 3's flagship program that Brad seems to always be there to ensure that the proper copy is read for the sponsors... but shouldn't all of that stuff be done by Prager? In addition to Brad, or in place of him, there always seems a woman on set, which I was assuming was a representative from one of the sponsors. Also, it's way more obvious for live shows, but there is someone else there with a second/third camera the whole time. The point of all of this is that Diggnation is turning into an "operation" rather than a simple podcast like it used to be. And because of that, I feel that Alex and Kevin are acting more like rockstars because they constantly have an audience around them during tapings. Back when it was just the four of them, the shows were much more laid back and entertaining. All this staging and ego-boosting bullshit is a real drain on the show's overall performance.

Someone else started a post on the fact that the multiple shows are being taped at once, which is something that I also don't like. Once again, we all know how busy the guys are nowadays, am I understand that flying to and from SF or LA for either one of them can be a pain in the ass. However, when they're covering headlines that I remember seeing three weeks ago, it really takes me out of the moment. Maybe the show doesn't need to be once a week if it's such a problem for the two of them. If everyone is too busy, then just don't shoot another episode until everyone's free. It's obvious that the show has focused less and less on the actual Digg stories as the years have gone by, so when the stories themselves are dated, it makes it that much worse.

So to wrap it up:
- get rid of all the extra people on set (including ad sales, buddies and guests)
- make the content fresh (the time between shoot date and release date should never be more than three days)

I would hate to start hating Diggnation after being a fan for so many years.

cryptic

04-16-2009, 10:58 PM

The only reason early Diggnation focused on tech was because tech enthusiasts dominated Digg early on. The show is staying true to their mission in focusing on the stories most popular among all Digg users. Any change forcing a focus on tech immediately makes this show no different than all the other tech news podcasts.

If Alex and Kevin can't be entertaining without drinking, then maybe the show isn't all that great to begin with. An occasional tangent of drunken silliness is fine, but the best aspect is when they would discuss stories they care about. As for the guys being more cautious, they should be. Alex is attempting to get a mainstream acting gig and that window of opportunity is fading fast. Kevin, on the other hand, is at the head of a few companies and has responsibilities as the public persona. Kevin seems more suited to interviews of late -- at least the interviews seem more entertaining. As others have suggested, maybe a change in the Diggnation hosts are in order.

cabster21

04-17-2009, 01:29 AM

I don't think the new hosts idea is bad at all.
Maybe Kevin and Alex could continue to film a Diggnation every two weeks, or even continue filming 2 episodes at once, but just monthly. So we still get 2 shows with them a month, and 2 with the new hosts. They may also be more inclined to have a drink, seeming it's once a month they get together. If they just did one episode a month, they could cover their best stories of the month.

So the Kevin and Alex junkies still get their hit, while getting used to the new hosts. And as said, they would need to be up for a drink, and not shy in front of the camera. It would also be nice to catch up with them once a month, just to see what is going on. And plug any new features coming up.
Maybe someone could make a poll, and see how many people would mind seeming some new faces?

Then if the shows are a bit longer, all the ads won't be as noticeable.

rabidbadger

04-17-2009, 05:55 AM

isamurai

04-17-2009, 05:56 AM

The show is staying true to their mission in focusing on the stories most popular among all Digg users.

They don't cover the most popular stories on digg and they never did. It was just stories that they dugg and felt like sharing with the audience and a friend (be it Kevin or Alex).

masterq

04-17-2009, 06:06 AM

So to wrap it up:
- get rid of all the extra people on set (including ad sales, buddies and guests)
- make the content fresh (the time between shoot date and release date should never be more than three days)

I would hate to start hating Diggnation after being a fan for so many years.

Agreed. Guests ruin the show. If Rev3 wants guests, make a talk show.

I also agree with there being too many people around. Kevin, Alex, Glenn, Prager... sitting still (Read: no prager cam). Distractions and people watching ruin the fluidity of the show. Also, the guys are professionals. IMO they don't need someone there to make sure they read the copy correctly. Read whats on the screen and be done with it... its diggnation, not a state of the union address.

isamurai

04-17-2009, 06:14 AM

They tried the talk show, the revamped Internet Superstar. I, personally, loved the Internet Superstar interviews, but I can't stand Martin's humor. I grew out of it when I was 6.

masterq

04-17-2009, 06:29 AM

They don't cover the most popular stories on digg and they never did. It was just stories that they dugg and felt like sharing with the audience and a friend (be it Kevin or Alex).

They cover a few stories that they pick out of the front page stories on digg, as well as some random ones that Kevin or Alex think are cool that didn't make the front page. The problem with "staying true to this mission" as someone previously said is that diggnation's main audience is the tech community. When digg went mainstream and not so much only tech stories, diggnation didn't adapt to the change. Digg is a mainstream site, but lets face it: podcasts are not mainstream, and podcasts like diggnation are primarily viewed by the tech community. The random stories are cool but diggnation...

drum roll please....

IS A TECH PODCAST.

Don't give me that "not necessarily, because it goes by whats on digg" bullshit. What category is it in on iTunes and everywhere else it's listed? Technology.

Like I said before, they should try to keep at least half of the stories dealing with technology with at least one very techy tech story, meaning not "New web 2.0 company launches" or "new twitter client/addon."

cabster21

04-17-2009, 10:43 AM

I don't want them "plugging" any other project/product. Diggnation is the product/project I been watching for years. If it can't stand on it's own, then it fails. I'm not gonna watch a KRose/AAlbrecht informercial anymore after supporting them and their advertisers after all the decidcated years I been watching.

They should entertain us, or just call it "plugnation" and get it done with.

It is not quite pluggnation, but it is pluggdigg. I mean I got the impression that was what the show was about, to get people using Digg.com. Whenever something new happens, Kevin explains it. Whenever they have done something new they have told people about it. It sounds more like you're just in a huff.

If it can't stand on it's own, then it fails. Well, it has been standing on Digg.com since the begining... They're not the same thing, if you use digg.com you don't have to watch diggnation vice versa.

Don't give me that "not necessarily, because it goes by whats on digg" bullshit.

I don't know who wrote that, but they're right. Okay you want to see more tech stories. Fair enough, you've made that clear. But it simply isn't bullshit; what do they say when they introduce the show? "Diggnation covers all the top stories on the social bookmarking and news technology site digg.com" So a lot of the early stories were tech orientated, but as you know Digg grew and added the likes of celeb etc.

What do they say now? "Diggnation covers some of the hottest stories submitted on the social bookmarking news site Digg.com"

You've said many times what you want. That's great, but you don't have to keep posting the same thing. It just becomes moaning, and doesn't help. Diggnation has always been about Digg.com. You don't like it anymore, okay post what you don't like and leave it. Every time someone leaves their opinion there is a handful of people who come in just to bitch.

cryptic

04-17-2009, 05:39 PM

So, MasterQ, you believe that just because Revision3 hasn't updated their iTunes categorization that they are a tech podcast. The point is the show is called Diggnation, not Diggnation Tech. The site used to be dominated by tech stories, but not so much anymore. And frankly, I don't know if it really should be tech focused. Rev3 started as a network catering to tech enthusiasts. However, it isn't really a secret that the network wants to be an alternative to the major networks, not just a TechTV replacement. If you want a show discussing tech issues, that's great. Just name it something other than Diggnation.

masterq

04-17-2009, 06:37 PM

So, MasterQ, you believe that just because Revision3 hasn't updated their iTunes categorization that they are a tech podcast. The point is the show is called Diggnation, not Diggnation Tech.

I agree with what you say in some ways, but not in others. Digg.com evolved from being a web site focused on tech stories to one focusing on all stories. That works for websites because websites are viewed by everyone, not just a certain community, so if you include everything you reach a broader audience. However, when it comes to something like a podcast on an internet-only network like revision3, that broad audience isn't there. The fact is that the main audience on Rev3 is the tech community that embrace the new methods of media. As I said in a previous post, how many people do you know that aren't into tech and watch podcasts that are strictly online?

As for the technology category on iTunes... rev3 would have updated the category if the show was not meant to fit it. You can change the premise of a show over time, but you become an 'Attack of the Show' evolving from 'The Screen Savers.' I don't want that to happen and I'm sure all of you don't want that to happen.

All I'm saying is take a good look at the audience...

You've said many times what you want. That's great, but you don't have to keep posting the same thing.

I'm sorry, I thought forums were for discussion. I'll make sure not to make that mistake again. Bitching about my bitching is the pot calling the kettle black.

cabster21

04-17-2009, 08:32 PM

MasterQ, I don't know who you are, but I'm sure you're not five years old. So no need to act like a martyr. I'm trying to point out it's not helpful moaning about the show and reiterating one point multiple times, that's not a discussion, as you put it.

Jim posted in another thread, put your point across well there and it is less likely to be ignored. Feel free to bitch as much as you want, but it rarely achieves anything.

heyseuss

04-17-2009, 08:36 PM

I'm too astounded at how wrong and clueless Master Q is, to reply accordingly.

darknessgp

04-17-2009, 11:32 PM

Not to try and get involved in whatever argument is going on...

Diggnation does not use the top stories for the week from digg. Seems they use any front page story, are those really the "top" stories? Or just popular stories? Also, it seems more and more Kevin is pulling stuff that never made it to the front page, only to get there because it was on diggnation...

In any case, the issue IMO isn't the type of stories they do, whether tech or not. It's that the discussion between the two has been crappy, and consistently crappy.

masterq

04-17-2009, 11:38 PM

MasterQ, I don't know who you are, but I'm sure you're not five years old. So no need to act like a martyr. I'm trying to point out it's not helpful moaning about the show and reiterating one point multiple times, that's not a discussion, as you put it.

You would be surprised to know who I am... but thats not really important. Point taken. I guess I'm getting too frustrated over the show. I used to love sitting down on fridays and watching the show and laughing my ass off, and it just annoys the hell out of me because I don't have that same show to watch anymore. I'm stuck watching nothing but ads and completely non-tech-related stories being skimmed over just to get the show done so they can read more ads and go on to do other stuff. I know some others feel my pain too but it seems like a lot of people who haven't watched since episode 1 don't really get how much the show has changed and still think its good. Responding to those people is the reason I keep posting, in the hopes that the good old diggnation returns and kicks it rock lobster style.

rabidbadger

04-17-2009, 11:39 PM

This Week In Fun with Martin Sergeant and Sarah Lane are beating Diggnation on iTunes. That says something. (yeah, I know that's new subs, but still).

msmags

04-18-2009, 05:54 AM

I haven't watched the last two Diggnation episodes, and to be honest, I don't think I'm missing much. :(

This used to be my favorite Rev3 show. Ugh.

motvind

04-18-2009, 11:42 PM

I don't know. Sometimes it just feels like I'm getting old, and with me, all the things I enjoy. I'm about the same age as Alex and Kevin. Inevitably, you get older, more mature and slightly more boring. You're not up to crazy shit anymore and you start to pile up on memories of the past and how everything was better "back then".

I don't know. I'm just getting old. The line between nostalgia and reality is getting thinner by the year and it's getting increasingly harder for me to distinguish if I don't like the show as much anymore because it's actually gotten worse or because I've lost that "falling in love" feeling I used to have for it.

number_01

04-19-2009, 12:42 AM

First of all anyone else notice how Alex seems to goto SF way more than Kevin flys to LA? I think Alex might get a TV show while Kevin will start up a few new web ventures. I actually asked Alex about this in person when I thought he didn't like to fly and he said it was Kevin who didn't like to fly.

Alex is definitely smarter than Kevin, he has a Computer Science degree (Didn't he goto Syracuse or somth) and Kevin dropped out of the CS (right??). To exemplify this you can see how often times Alex corrects Kevin is able to lead into some pretty creative punch lines (which makes Kevin appear funnier) , I think a lot of the Prager and Hippie Glen talk is a sign of the downhill slope too as what used to be there were drunken rants and Mac VS PC and techie talk.

It almost seems like after Alex got married they both started to become slightly more serious and I think Kevin and Alex will be doing it until Alex gets a gig that pays more then the Rev3 stuff he's putting out.

If there was no Diggnation would there still be a Rev3?

masterq

04-19-2009, 03:58 AM

Alex is definitely smarter than Kevin

I don't know if I agree with that. I think they are both smarter than each other in different areas. Alex is definitely geekier than Kevin. He gets technology a little more, and he's in to most of the things that typical geeks are in to (world of warcraft for example). However Kevin gets how things work or how they are going to work society-wise, particularly in the area of technology and web companies. He is a geek, but he is more of the fad type of geek. He knows his tech, but he's the 'I like apple products so I'm a geek' kind of geek.

First of all anyone else notice how Alex seems to goto SF way more than Kevin flys to LA? I think Alex might get a TV show while Kevin will start up a few new web ventures. I actually asked Alex about this in person when I thought he didn't like to fly and he said it was Kevin who didn't like to fly.

I think kevin going to LA as much as alex goes to SF would make the show a little less typical.

cryptic

04-19-2009, 04:41 AM

Alex is definitely smarter than Kevin...

The most brilliant computer expert I know never went to college because he didn't need to. Both guys have their strengths and weaknesses tech-wise. I'm not sure it really matters who is more intelligent. Alex is definitely more entertaining without help, while Kevin is a bit dull when not drinking. That said, the duo seems to work well, albeit not like the "good ol' days".

murphy1d

04-19-2009, 01:03 PM

masterq

04-20-2009, 01:07 AM

They tried the talk show, the revamped Internet Superstar. I, personally, loved the Internet Superstar interviews, but I can't stand Martin's humor. I grew out of it when I was 6.

Martin is a funny guy. I think it was the story-line of infected and internet superstar that ruined the humor. Watching This Week in Fun shows more of the natural humor.

jordanm85

04-20-2009, 04:28 AM

Well, I have been watching Kevin and Alex ever since The Screen Savers and Attack of the Show. Seen every episode of Diggnation and TRS as well. So I have a good idea of how they act around each other, and around other people.

I don't think the problem is anything other than them getting tired of doing the show. It seems like they are doing a job, rather than hanging out and having a good time chatting on the couch.

A few recommendations to help fix that:

off the couch segments. Maybe trying out products, or doing anything really. There have been clips from the live shows of the guys around the towns, and those are great. I would love to see that every week.

I hate to say it, but look at what AOTS is doing right. Do that. Talk about your favorite things happening on the whole internet, don't limit it to just digg.com stories anymore.

Send Diggnation on a tour around the US. They draw huge crowds, usually more than the buildings will even allow. Maybe even get some geek type bands to tour with them (Jonathan Coulton), I could definitely see that working.. especially with special guest hosts at some of the stops.

Finally, loosen up some. Make the shows like they used to be. And I don't necessarily mean drink more (Although, that might help) I mean, Kevin and Alex have dream jobs for a lot of people, and they seem to just want to get it over with. And again.. that would be the main thing that is hurting the show.

masterq

04-20-2009, 04:47 AM

off the couch segments. Maybe trying out products, or doing anything really.

I think trying products is a bad idea. They have a hard time separating content from ads now anyway with all the michelob segments. I don't want to see them trying a product because in reality its an advertisement not content

jordanm85

04-20-2009, 07:13 AM

I think trying products is a bad idea. They have a hard time separating content from ads now anyway with all the michelob segments. I don't want to see them trying a product because in reality its an advertisement not content

I definitely did not mean trying/reviewing advertisers products. A lot of times one of them will say we need to try that and review it on the show... that never happens.

summx

04-20-2009, 08:50 AM

Its all breadth of knowledge vs. depth of knowledge.

Alex: Breadth of knowledge. Just watch TRS.
Kevin: Depth of knowledge. He knows his shit and knows it well.

Can Alex design an effective business model that's profitable? meh, who knows.
Can Kevin name 10 members of the Green Bay Packers? We already know that's a no. :)

kevin's knowledge is limited to running a business, some specific tech development and tea. Alex connects more with average viewers. He is an avid gamer and overall regular dude, not a whole-foods shopping, non-meat eating, wine drinking guy. Not to diss eating healthy, i try to eat healthy stuff but i just kinda dislike the mr. organic, wine drinking smugness from people like kevin.

cabster21

04-20-2009, 01:58 PM

Don't hold back suMMx, say what you really think :D

masterq

04-20-2009, 03:06 PM

Don't hold back suMMx, say what you really think :D

The anonymity of the internets brings out the best in people :)

I tend to agree with suMMx though. Places like whole foods, starbucks, etc aren't really any better than other places, and the illusion that eating things from whole foods is eating healthy is just that, an illusion. I think the south park episode where kyle moves to SF shows what the area is like lol

EDIT: I think we're getting a bit off topic here... wasn't this thread supposed to be about the downhill-ness of diggnation?

masterq

04-20-2009, 03:10 PM

I definitely did not mean trying/reviewing advertisers products. A lot of times one of them will say we need to try that and review it on the show... that never happens.

go back to reviewing the beer... remember when they did that way back in the day? haha

cryptic

04-20-2009, 06:41 PM

The anonymity of the internets brings out the best in people :)

I tend to agree with suMMx though. Places like whole foods, starbucks, etc aren't really any better than other places, and the illusion that eating things from whole foods is eating healthy is just that, an illusion. I think the south park episode where kyle moves to SF shows what the area is like lol

EDIT: I think we're getting a bit off topic here... wasn't this thread supposed to be about the downhill-ness of diggnation?

True. However, I think this shows the disconnect that Kevin has from his fans. He has changed from the perception his fans had when Diggnation started.

warzprite

04-21-2009, 02:11 AM

While I think there are a few things that need a little freshening, but I dont think its nearly as doom and gloom as some would believe.

-A little research on the chosen stories before reading them out, a lot of the time it seems a story was chosen because of its title alone and not interest. the research would give a little more discussion potential between the boys.
- Taking a break: If the boys are on contract for a total number of episodes or something, by all means, skip a week instead of shooting 2 eps back to back, the second ep is always tired. If they arent on contract, it seems like a bad idea for the show to let them skip because they will easily fall out of the cycle of doing the show, and will have replaced that "time" and may just walk away alltogether.
- Guests - the odd guest is cool, the Fallon Ep had me in stitches, Gary was cool since he is just a genuine guy and enthusiastic, Adam Carolla was friggin pointless and far too soon after Gary anyhow. If someone else is to share the couch, pull someone out of another Rev3 show, TRS, Tekzilla, Co-oP but infrequent.
- Dont remove the people in the room, they help keep things going sometimes by having a voice, I like hearing from Glenn or Prager now and then, and I know many others do as well.(it would be nice to hear them more clearly from time to time) The boys shouldnt be shut in a room by themselves with a camera, it would be a deathknell for the show.
- Definitely lengthen the show, 35 min with 10 min commercials or more is WAY too short, 45-50 min for that length of commercials is much better. Right now, with it being so short, it feels like they are trying to tear through the show and get outta there.
- Random diggbar story might be cool, but unless they prep it before hand, it will lead to a delay while they READ the story and then discuss, also another problem is the amount of garbage stories submitted to digg, the chances of getting something WORTH reading is slim.
- Comments on the stories, for the love of cheese, under no circumstances should they be reading comments, almost every comment posted these days on digg causes massive braincell loss from the sheer number of mouthbreathers posting their own personal "me too" with zero substance.
- More beer, more drinks.

Im sure I have more, but Im tired of typing for the moment.

summx

04-21-2009, 08:06 AM

True. However, I think this shows the disconnect that Kevin has from his fans. He has changed from the perception his fans had when Diggnation started.

this is exactly why i made that comment. I don't think I was flaming him or anything, im just stating the obvious and explaining why i think it hurts the show.

slomotionaddict

04-21-2009, 09:39 PM

I have noticed a change in the show. It's a lot shorter now (or at least seems that way) and it seems like the guys are rushing through it when they do compared to them straying WAY off topic and adding their humor.

I try not to count how funny a show is against them cause honestly we can't all be funny 24/7 and the show is mostly unscripted so it still seems the same to me. The beers are a good addition because I think they bought become a bit more relaxed.

There does need to be some new elements to make the show a bit fresh.

glugory

04-21-2009, 10:44 PM

While I don't think Diggnation is as bad as many on here seem to think it is, I definitely agree that the quality has been going downhill.

1. Quit with the 30 minutes or less shows. It's barely even worth it at that point since the sponsors take about 5 - 10 minutes. It always feels rushed, and those episodes are never as good. So please, if you don't have the time to commit to a FULL episode, I'd say just don't bother.
2. STOP shooting more than 1 episode at a time. The only exception should be because of live shows. Obviously the travel is going to mess up schedules and what not, so that's understandable. But just shooting 2 in a day seems to make both episodes feel rushed and, ultimately, not nearly as fun to watch.
3. I know you guys (Rev3) say you pay attention to the forums and stuff, but the fact that we still don't know what the hell is up with the abandoned Adam Carolla episode shows that this isn't nearly the two way street that you guys say it is. Get Kevin and Alex to post on the forums some more. The post-TRS forum browsing and seeing Dan and Jeff interacting with fans is one of the best parts of TRS. I know Kevin occasionally comes here (and by occasionally I mean once every 6 months), but when was the last time Alex even logged into his account? According to his profile: "Last Activity: 01-10-2008." I'm sorry, that just sucks.
4. MORE BEER! The guys are just more loose and comfortable when they're a few beers in when they start the show, Kevin especially.
5. Get some Rev3 crossover guests onto the show. I'd love to see Veronica, Patrick, or one of the TRS guys on the show. AND, this can be how you fix #2!!! If Alex or Kevin can't shoot an episode that week, just replace them with another Rev3 personality. You seem very comfortable doing it with Tekzilla, why not Diggnation? It breaks the norm and it gives us something different and completely unique, but for some reason you guys seem scared to do this with Diggnation. Now that you're more comfortable with official guests, get some guest hosts when one of the guys can't make it!

jafarykos

04-22-2009, 01:27 AM

I enjoy the guests so long as they're being constructive and not chatty. I like Gary V, but I imagine he's hard to bottle up and sit still... that is after all his "hyperkinetic" personality.

Secondly, I enjoy the people around the Diggnation scene. Glenn is wonderful to listen to and Prager lets homeless people hang out at his house. I think conversation between the interesting individuals around Diggnation is valuable. It is important to reiterate that I'm not talking about "chat", but thoughtful conversation.

I think the sponsors should be moved to the end and shortened. If I am interested in a service then I will generally make that decision whether or not you talk about it on end or surprise me with a sponsorship early. I download the show, so if I want to skip the sponsors then I can regardless of where it shows up in the show.

I also concur that I'd rather see a longer show every two weeks than 1 show a week where they film back to back. I wonder if your sponsors will let you try that out.

orsenfelt

04-22-2009, 12:55 PM

I have noticed a change in the show and I don't think it's just down to getting tired of doing it or wanting to other things.

I feel like the show has moved far too mainstream and 'official'. Back in the day it was just 2 guys talking about what they are interested in. I don't think anyone ever watched it for the stories, did they? I sure don't. I'm a digg user, the stories that are talked about I have usually read a good few days before. I watch for their take on it, the chat between them and the general feeling between everybody there. Occasionally something is said that sounds risky (Kevin's nipple cutting joke comes to mind) but that should be allowed. It's not mainstream, it is niche and I think it's fair to say that the vast majority of diggnation viewers are not getting offended by this kind of thing, it's our kind of humor...

Seems like a lately there has been a lot of watching their mouths to make sure the don't say anything that might upset the sponsors.... Which makes it feel mainstream and clinical, which is not why I personally started watching.

heyseuss

04-25-2009, 06:13 AM

I'd like to see Alex wear pasties on his boobses once a month.

whoisscott

04-25-2009, 07:09 AM

the only thing i'd like to see is a longer (40 - 45 min) runtime. I do not care for guest hosts, adam carolla and jimmy fallon, i watched the eps, wasn't excited for either, I was happy to watch kevin and alex.

Also i like to see kevin and alex go off topic, rant, and express their opinions. don't be afraid to stray from the stories or banter before actually discussing stories

masterq

04-26-2009, 03:48 AM

Revision3... watch episode 75. That episode is everything diggnation should be.

tokenuser

04-26-2009, 04:21 AM

http://dansemacabre.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/flogging-dead-horse.jpg

speed

04-26-2009, 05:00 AM

masterq

04-26-2009, 05:15 AM

After watching episode 75, I have to say, go back to tech stories (real tech stories, not twitter or facebook crap), keep the episode at at least 45-50 minutes and (most importantly) have fun doing the show.

I don't care if Digg is mainstream now and covers a wide variety of stories, stick with the tech. This show is, and always will be, a niche show with an audience of techies (and no one else).

I like the random stories once in a while, but I agree that it is a niche show and does not really fit the mainstream audience, so why try to make it mainstream? Stick with mostly tech stories. Episode 75 is a good choice too... thats the one I recommended in the other thread for rev3 to use as the "perfect diggnation" example. ("i'd have my wii up on there. wait, no..." lmao)

EDIT: it looks like tokenuser in his infinite wisdom thinks this topic is "beating a dead horse." Not only did he edit my poll on which day diggnation should be released to include two more options that HE wanted, he closed the other thread discussing what should be changed on diggnation. I guess things just aren't as good as they should be without his input. We better stop giving input or he might close this thread too. Being a mod and keeping things controlled is one thing, but using your powers to edit people's posts/polls and close topics at will because you think the discussion is over is just abuse of power.

tokenuser

04-26-2009, 02:26 PM

I like the random stories once in a while, but I agree that it is a niche show and does not really fit the mainstream audience, so why try to make it mainstream? Stick with mostly tech stories. Episode 75 is a good choice too... thats the one I recommended in the other thread for rev3 to use as the "perfect diggnation" example. ("i'd have my wii up on there. wait, no..." lmao)

EDIT: it looks like tokenuser in his infinite wisdom thinks this topic is "beating a dead horse." Not only did he edit my poll on which day diggnation should be released to include two more options that HE wanted, he closed the other thread discussing what should be changed on diggnation. I guess things just aren't as good as they should be without his input. We better stop giving input or he might close this thread too. Being a mod and keeping things controlled is one thing, but using your powers to edit people's posts/polls and close topics at will because you think the discussion is over is just abuse of power.Yep.

You keep reiterating the same points and (as shown by the voting on the options I added) your poll was flawed.

masterq

04-27-2009, 01:00 AM

We have all voiced our opinions on diggnation and it is very evident that most of the fans feel that diggnation is not what it used to be. Jim Louderback came on here and told us that Revision3 was definitely listening (thanks Jim!), but we never heard if things are going to be changed and, if so, when we could expect the changes. Can you give us some more information on what is or isn't being done to restore the Rev3 flagship show? Thanks!

Here are the threads covering users' suggestions:
http://revision3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27543
http://revision3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26984

tokenuser

04-27-2009, 01:21 AM

You forgot:

http://revision3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27769
http://revision3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27746
http://revision3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27397

What do you want?? A free tshirt??

http://blogs.business2.com/apple/images/2007/09/07/picture_10_2.jpg

Constructive criticism is one thing, but continual whining (look at the content of your posts since January this year) and making demands from senior management gets you noticed for all the wrong reasons.

masterq

04-27-2009, 01:32 AM

Constructive criticism is one thing, but continual whining (look at the content of your posts since January this year) and making demands from senior management gets you noticed for all the wrong reasons.

I would call my criticism constructive. If you think it's not then that is your opinion and you are entitled to that. I am not demanding anything from senior management, I am simply asking a question.

You have stated your opinion about me twice already, closed threads, posted many witty images at me (like the one above), and edited my poll (which completely skewed the purpose of the poll. I wasn't interested in if people didn't care what day, I wanted to know what day the people who had a definite opinion preferred. If you thought the poll was flawed, you are free to make your own poll. Please do not edit mine.) Do you have a personal problem with me? Again, I'm not looking to start trouble, demand anything, or feel that I am entitled to anything. I was simply asking a question because I'm sure other people want to know the same thing. If Revision3 chooses to answer, I am very grateful for that, but I am not demanding nor expecting them to do any favors for me.

And, with all due respect, I am talking to the people that actually work for Revision3, not people who simply moderate their forums.

masherscf

04-27-2009, 01:58 AM

And, with all due respect, I am talking to the people that actually work for Revision3, not people who simply moderate their forums.

With all due respect. Send Email. This forum is not a personal messaging board. Jlouberb has responded on this issue. That's as senior as you're going to get.

I'm sure everyone appreciates your point of view. But, the constant nagging in a public forum is spammish. Please review forum rules of conduct #3.

3. Be kind to other members by showing respect to their opinions and feelings. Making false claims about a person or company is prohibited. The use of the Revision3 forums is a privilege, not a right. Having a negative attitude, being a snob, and flaming will not be tolerated anywhere.

maxxx

04-27-2009, 02:37 AM

The other threads were closed for a reason, the mod closed them and yet you start another thread with the same mentality.

guytheninja

04-27-2009, 03:02 AM

I would call my criticism constructive. If you think it's not then that is your opinion and you are entitled to that. I am not demanding anything from senior management, I am simply asking a question....

And, with all due respect, I am talking to the people that actually work for Revision3, not people who simply moderate their forums.

Hey MasterQ,

I can understand your pain. I stopped watching this show after episode 186 (live Los Angeles show). I must admit, I didn't like Ep 186, much at all (especially the Alabama comment).

Did I get angry and make a post on this board? No, I simply decided to vote with my feet and watch another show in its place. Instead of watching Diggnation, I now watch Hak5. I am very happy with this switch, and no, I harbor no ill will towards anyone associated with Diggnation.:D

If you love the show and want to see it do well. That's great, but you need to allow Mr. Louderback and the senior officers to do their job. It is up to them to make the judgment call as to what is best for this show. You will just have to trust them and let them get back to you and the fans in their own time.

If they make the changes, great. If they don't, unsubscribe and look for another show.

masterq

04-27-2009, 03:49 AM

3. Be kind to other members by showing respect to their opinions and feelings. Making false claims about a person or company is prohibited. The use of the Revision3 forums is a privilege, not a right. Having a negative attitude, being a snob, and flaming will not be tolerated anywhere.

Did tokenuser respect my opinion/feelings when he edits my posts to his own liking? Are you not having a negative attitude by complaining about my posts?

Again, I am voicing my opinion and kindly asking for a response in a public forum. I am not flaming or spamming and I am trying to be calm and reasonable. I realize that email is a more effective form of person-to-person communication, but I am not looking for person-to-person communication. I am asking as part of a community because, as I stated earlier, I am sure others would like to ask the same question. If you don't think so, then I respect your opinion and you are entitled to it just as I am entitled to mine.

If I am breaking the rules in any way by simply asking a question, please feel free to do what you think is necessary, but please stop trying to make this a big deal when all I am trying to do is ask a question.

Instead of watching Diggnation, I now watch Hak5. I am very happy with this switch, and no, I harbor no ill will towards anyone associated with Diggnation.:D

If you love the show and want to see it do well. That's great, but you need to allow Mr. Louderback and the senior officers to do their job. It is up to them to make the judgment call as to what is best for this show. You will just have to trust them and let them get back to you and the fans in their own time.

I have no ill will towards anyone associated with diggnation either. I also realize that it is the judgement call of Rev3 on what goes into a show. However, I believe that a show that relies on the community for its content should take input from the community, especially when most of the fans ask for a change. That is the spirit of digg.

I don't want to reiterate everything that was already said, but I was not demanding anything. I am simply asking if Rev3 would be so kind as to let the community know if changes are in fact going to be made, and also when we may expect them. That's all.

tokenuser

04-27-2009, 04:05 AM

Did tokenuser respect my opinion/feelings when he edits my posts to his own liking? Are you not having a negative attitude by complaining about my posts?I edited your poll to add 2 additional options because your poll was flawed and would never reveal a valid or meaningful result as is. Did you notice the result that adding those options showed? Did you read the comments in the thread you created?

You are also confusing moderating according to the rules of the forum with complaining ... and once again drawing negative attention to yourself.

masterq

04-27-2009, 04:19 AM

I edited your poll to add 2 additional options because your poll was flawed and would never reveal a valid or meaningful result as is.

The fact of the matter is that I made the poll that way for a reason. If I wanted to add the additional options, I would have. If a post breaks the rules, by all means change it. However just because a post isn't the way you think it should be doesn't give you the right to change it simply because you have the ability to change it. It was a matter of your opinion and is no more valuable than mine. I feel that you were abusing your power as moderator.

If you felt that the poll was flawed, you could have created your own poll.

tokenuser

04-27-2009, 04:31 AM

The fact of the matter is that I made the poll that way for a reason. You conveniently ignored the second poster in that thread who said:

So don't watch it till Friday... that's the beauty of the internets...

That is the option I added, and in all fairness, since you like whining about how bad Diggnation has become, I also added the "I don't watch it any more" option.

Since January, you have done nothing but bitch and moan. Yes, that is a personal opinion, but one supported by others based on comments in the forums.

Would you like to see examples of how to voice an opinion?

http://revision3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27746 - great example.
http://revision3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27769 - also good.

I have no issues with people expressing a dissenting opinion, but when they continue on with the same half assed, whiney arguments, it gets old real fast. Those are threads that need to be locked and allowed to die ... much like this one.

claudius07

04-28-2009, 10:48 PM

Hello Friends!

I have been watching rev3 for about a year now and I have been reading posts about diggnation going down in quality for a few months now. I partly agree with all these complaints but I am getting very frustrated with reading new threads about how bad each episode of diggnation is getting. I have never complained on the forums about the show so this will be my first and last "whining" post. The complaints are all over the forums and all of the community knows them. The show is to short,the ads are too long, the content is too dull, the hosts seem like they dread doing the show, etc. I want everyone who reads this and who agrees with all these complaints, to just stop watching for a month. I will be doing this for the next month in the hopes that the digg crew will notice this ,if enough people boycott it for a period of time. I am not trying to start controversy or to get people riled up, but for everyone who has the same opinions as me to get together and send a simple message, the message is this - the drop in views (if there will be any) are the people who want some things to change. After that rev3 will know exactly how many people are bothered by the way things are going and then they will be able to make decisions on whether to keep things the same or to make some changes based on this new data. Now whether this works or not this is my one and only attempt to try and help the show. After this I will not post any negative comments about diggnation nor will I be complaining and I want others to do the same. Make your voice heard once and for all and after that just let it go and don't be negative or complaining on the forum, whether changes take effect or not.