Why don't you just buy it?

[Foliha 395]

I see a lot of people talking about being stressed because the show could get pulled from Netflix streaming, because You-Tube axes episodes, etc.  I'm wondering why people don't just buy the DVDs? 

 

I know that it may be out of the reach of some finacially, but certainly not all.  If you buy the DVDs you are sending a message to Hasbro - "We like this product and are willing to put our money where our mouths are."  When it comes to making decisions about how many episodes to produce in a season or whether to do another season or cancel a show, product sales matter. 

 

Every time you watch the series on You Tube or rip a copy from somewhere else, you're cutting your own throat.  Dollars are the only language spoken by those who make decisions on how much to spend on a show.  You want high-profile voice talent?  Lots of episodes?  High production values?  Buy what they're selling.

 

I'm on SSI, and if I can "pony up the bucks" for DVDs, so can most other people.  If you are a kid with limited resources, offer to do work around the house for $$$.  Walk a neighbor's dog whiles he/she is at work, rake leaves, pick up aluminum cans and cash them in.  Do pony art and sellit on e-bay.  Where there's a will, there's a way. 

 

Buying DVDs and other licensed merchandise sends a message to the company.  You want ponies?  Buy ponies.  It's the only leverage you have.

[EddG 554]

Because (atleast in the UK)

The DVD's are randomly selected episodes and over priced for usually containing 2-4 episodes per DVD/

I will honestly keep buying the Merch and watch the show an TV and Amazon Instant.

[Jeric 46,880]

While I am against piracy, I can answer your question as to why. Region difference can impact the purchase viability for some. Not every member on MLPF is in North America. Some members simply cannot get Season 4 on a medium suitable for the home country with any measure of convenience. It isn't always lack of funds that pushes piracy, it's the lack of convenience. 

[Discordian 6,020]

Some people feel entitled to watch something regardless of whether they pay for it or not. Some people don't consider the cost worth it, some probably don't even think what they're pirating is worth giving money to at all.

 

Then there's the people who try to justify it by saying "I don't have the money" well fuck you. The rules are if you don't have the money you don't get it. Apparently people forgot about this.

 

Of course, I'm not trying to be the moral police and there's something to be said for watching the show while it's airing so you can discuss it while it's immediately relevant. I've been particularly bad about buying the DVDs so I'm a bit of a hypocrite but only for MLP. I will buy everything else and I still plan to get the DVDs for the show. I'm a little low on cash a lot of the time though and when it comes to buying MLP and buying a video game I'm always going to choose the latter.

 

But there's a reason I only watch the seasons once and never again until I have that DVD...

While I am against piracy, I can answer your question as to why. Region difference can impact the purchase viability for some. Not every member on MLPF is in North America. Some members simply cannot get Season 4 on a medium suitable for the home country with any measure of convenience. It isn't always lack of funds that pushes piracy, it's the lack of convenience.

I should note that my viewpoint applies mainly to the US where the full seasons are available via Amazon. Other countries do what they do but if it's at all possible to purchase the series I would encourage them to do so anyway.

[Silver Letter 1,832]

There is some reason to that. I might get season 4 on DVD. Maybe they'll be selling it at BABSCon. Who knows though.

[CandyStrike 603]

Watching it on netflix is buying it.  Netflix membership costs money.

[Foliha 395]

While I am against piracy, I can answer your question as to why. Region difference can impact the purchase viability for some. Not every member on MLPF is in North America. Some members simply cannot get Season 4 on a medium suitable for the home country with any measure of convenience. It isn't always lack of funds that pushes piracy, it's the lack of convenience. 

Good point.  Best answer I can give you about that is to buy DVDs on e-bay when they appear, and also, region-free players.  Most DVD players are made in a handful of factories in China.  They are all made the same, with regions programmed into them after they are finished.  You can go online and find sites with lists of DVD models and a (usually) 4 digit number you can program into your unit by simply entering them with your remote. 

 

I have a Yamaha DVD player sold as Region One only.  I got the code, programmed it in - it literally takes seconds - and now I can buy DVDs in any region - NTSC and PAL - and it plays them all.  I needed to be able to play region 2 DVDs from Japan, and now I can. 

[Jeric 46,880]

but if it's at all possible to purchase the series I would encourage them to do so anyway.

 

Agreed 100% on that as well. (we are bumping into each other in quick succession).

 

In fact, I believe digital rights purchases are the only way to own them in HD, which is where my dollars will go if there is no convenient streaming alternative like Netflix. Though it remains to be seen if that is a done deal. 

Watching it on netflix is buying it.  Netflix membership costs money.

 

I believe the OP's point was the argument that if/when it leaves Netflix ... buy the show in another format.

[Foliha 395]

Watching it on netflix is buying it.  Netflix membership costs money.

True, but how much of that money is visible to Hasbro?  They don't care if you love the show and watch it religiously - unless they're making the bucks from your views.  While they will recieve revnues from reputable companies, what they want is product sales.  Heck, the show was predicated on the idea that little girls would winge and holler for pony toys.  That's what makes it a viable concern.  High-quality animation is expensive.  Sales is all that make it worthwhile.  No sales - no motivation to produce the show.  End of story.

[Discordian 6,020]

Agreed 100% on that as well. (we are bumping into each other in quick succession).

 

In fact, I believe digital rights purchases are the only way to own them in HD, which is where my dollars will go if there is no convenient streaming alternative like Netflix. Though it remains to be seen if that is a done deal. 

 

 

I believe the OP's point was the argument that if/when it leaves Netflix ... buy the show in another format.

Great minds will always get into collisions continuously!

 

Wait, I think I got that wrong....

 

The great thing about digital distribution is that you don't have to worry about region-specific DVD players or electrical sockets. The most you'd need is maybe a specific media player and I don't think it's as much fuss to get that to work on any ol' system.

 

As long as you can access a website like Amazon that sells the digital version you can likely purchase it and watch it through there.

 

But don't quote me on that. There could still be regional barriers I'm not thinking about.

[TSD 87]

Lot of solid points, but...

 

Cost/Value - Most media isn't worth half the retail. As much as I enjoyed Avengers for example, $30 for the blu-ray is completely ridiculous. When studios pack in the DVD at the same price point, you know they're not losing any money.

 

Seriously, price home releases reasonably and Ill actually pay for them.

 

Digital - Often times isn't any less than physical media. Despite the fact that there are no manufacturing or transportation costs. In addition, you don't OWN anything. Just a license, which can be arbitrarily revoked at any time.

 

No recourse should that license be revoked, no trade or resale value either.

 

Forget that.

 

Also, there was a comment in with regard to quality animation being rather expensive. Flash animation is quickly becoming the standard. Gone are the days of hand drawn and cell shaded features / shorts.

 

I have zero problem with this, where television properties are concerned anyway. Really high end animation can actually hamstring serials. Budgetary limitations keep casts and unique environments to a necessary minimum. Unfortunately, the writing isn't usually strong enough to get past this and things get stale.

 

So like I said, no problem with Flash animation. But lets call it what it is, 'Kay?

 

Cheap and easy.

[mars 4,863]

I don't ever use DVDs. I don't even think my family even owns a dvd player anymore. I watch my shows legally, online on netflix or hulu. I don't really want to buy a DVD player just to watch MLP: FiM. And I can tell you right now, my family doesn't have the funds for something like that.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,164]

With some exception, I've essentially been purchasing movies and TV shows through iTunes. Even then, like with Game of Thrones, which I bought the Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital combo pack, which was a good deal, I've been watching the digital version over the rest.

 

With MLP, unless there is a similarly good deal with future Blu-Ray editions, I'll stick with the iTunes versions.

[GuillermoGage 246]

Goes to check iTunes...

 

Still twenty bucks for the SD and 30 bucks for the HD Volumes of 13 episodes??? Even for Season 1?

 

That's the same as I paid for my Season Pass of Littlest Pet Shop, 20 bucks for SD. Actually, had I bought the HD version of a Season Pass of Littlest Pet Shop... it woulda been only 25 bucks. (But I have to put my PC on High Performance just to make the audio not crackly on my 2GB of RAM and such PC... so I'm not even sure if it woulda been able to even handle even offline playback of HD content via iTunes for some reason)

 

Perhaps people like MLPFiM so much that.. the economics of it... they can get away with charging this much for it??? I've seen it go on sale before sometimes... but not now...

 

It just seems like if they sold the first season for much less, it could hook more people in...

 

It's weird how physical media is still somehow cheaper with some things.

 

ANYWAY... As for the opening post... 

Well, I am unemployed... was on food stamps for a year and honestly still should be on them, my mom somehow survives on less than 10 thousand bucks a year (granted, the cost of living is lesser in Indianapolis) and I myself won't find employment until after May when I finish this CompTIA Network+ course.

 

I'm also a die-hard piracy hater in general.

 

Am I gonna get arrested or have my ISP target me? Maybe not. Will media companies stop making media? probably not, since there's always a few demographics out there that don't have the initiative to look into practicing piracy.

 

They'll just get cheaper and more crass and lazy with production values. I don't wanna contribute to that.

 

In order to get movie theater ticket vouchers...

So, even when I was homeless, I'd pick up Coca-Cola caps off the littered ground and save them in case I went somewhere where I could get Internet access and save up my MyCokeRewards points earned almost solely through picking up litter (I certainly cant afford a soda drinking habit even today with a home and stable Internet).

 

I've actually been doing that for years now. I'm actually just three caps away from getting another ticket. Then I'd have two... I wonder what I'll wanna see in theaters.

 

Yeah, I totally agree. Being "poor" is not an excuse for piracy, especially wanton piracy.

 

I was fortunate enough that my local library has the DVD sets. I would have them for a while on and off until I returned them once I got access to Netflix.

Edited February 2, 2015 by GuillermoGage

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,306]

I think Netflix is convenient for the transient viewers / fans; particularly if they don't want the added nuisance of hiding physical evidence of their likely temporary interest in colorful equines.  I've seen the excuse a number of times: "I lost a bet - gotta watch ponies."  Whereas: "I lost a bet - gotta purchase pony DVDs" would probably be the harder-to-swallow fib.  Not that either hold water in my book.  (Hard to swallow water-holding books...  What an odd image.)

 

I, on the other hand, did go the DVD route:

 

Thing is...  I wish these DVDs were blu-rays.  Episodes are available, digitally, in high definition, but DVD is the best you can purchase physically (not counting the EQG movies, which I've no interest in owning).  And Hasbro has this annoying (to me) policy of releasing DVDs including just a handful of episodes well before they'll release the complete season DVDs - with some of the same episodes.  At this point, the message I most want to send to Hasbro is that I don't want precisely what they're selling in precisely the way they're selling it.  I want the complete seasons on blu-ray SOONER; as opposed to these little parades of handpicked episodes that feed the newer episodes to consumers piecemeal.  Granted, I fell for this once already when I purchased the "A Dash of Awesome" DVD. xD  Rainbow Dash is on the cover, the slip cover is sparkly and stuff...  I'm actually okay with it.  But still: What the what?!?

[Foliha 395]

Yeah, I totally agree. Being "poor" is not an excuse for piracy, especially wanton piracy.

 

I was fortunate enough that my local library has the DVD sets. I would have them for a while on and off until I returned them once I got access to Netflix.

I guess being an old fart, er... lady, has it's good points.  I live on just under 9 grand a year and I have gotten pretty good at being creative with keeping life interesting for me, my cat and my Border Collie.  I don't own a car, or a cell phone or a tablet.  I have a corded phone that costs about 8 bucks a month, No cable and an oldish HP desktop computer.  That means I can put more of my money behind my own creative efforts and the creative efforts of those I enjoy.  Including MLP. 

 

Glad to know there are so many anti-piracy people out there.  As a writer and artist I appreciate that.  I am close to signing a movie deal for an animated film being made of a crossover juvenile fiction/fantasy novel I wrote.  It will be months before I see a check, but that's show biz...

[GuillermoGage 246]

Thing is...  I wish these DVDs were blu-rays.

I honestly think that... especially since Blu-Ray disc players are sticking at 70 bucks... they are affordable now and that TV shows should especially use this format for the convenience and disc-saving of fewer discs in the form of fitting more episodes per disc.

 

I wonder what file formats Blu-Ray players are capable of using. Because for something like My Little Pony, the 900-ish GB per 22-minute episode 1080p files look perfect enough to me.The traditional Blu-Ray file format AVC-something uses up like 4 times as much space as the traditional format for DVD video.. meaning that Blu-Rays usually don't have much more time on them when factoring in the HD..

 

But ..Blu-Ray players have firmware updates. So, they could manufacture a complete first season using a modern efficient good-looking video file on only one disc I reckon.

 

 

As for watching this cartoon in higher pixel count resolutions... I sometimes worry about background details in such a 2-dimensionally rendered cartoon being too... full of little minute details. But I suppose it is a good thing that helps tell the story or give little shout-outs in the background.

[alpinefroggy 451]

The unfortunate problem with buying dvds and spending money vs pirating for people is convenience.  dvds and many movies are exspensive to buy sometimes so if I can just sit on my bum and get a movie/show for no cost to me is way more attractive.  That being said I dont like the idea of pirating and dont do it myself.  I use netflix and other resources for mlp episodes

[Admiral Regulus 2,769]

1. I don't buy DVDs because I like my media in 1080p HD. DVDs were obsolete almost 10 years ago.

2. I don't have a blu-ray player on my computer, so I can't rip the episodes that way, even if they release them in that format. Even if I do have a blu-ray drive on my computer, it's still very difficult to make rips.

3. Optical media is easily scratched and much more difficult to keep up with. I really just can't be assed to start building a collection, just to have it sit in my closet.

 

I have never bought a DVD before. Never. I used to rent them from Blockbuster or what-have-you back in the day, but not anymore.

 

I watch most of the episodes live on TV, or on YouTube later that same day, before they get taken down for copyright. The former is legal, the latter isn't... but ehh, morally there isn't any difference.

 

I would buy the episodes on iTunes, but I'd rather not have to explain that one to my parents. My roommate has Netflix, so there's no reason for that, anyway.

Edited February 2, 2015 by Admiral Regulus

[Confucius 194]

I know with some people they are afraid of others knowing their bronyness. They don't buy the DVDs because their parents wouldn't let them, they don't have Netflix, etc. Thats why some people pirate. I admitt I have watched a pirates season 1 but have been trying to buy the show off iTunes despite the horrid prices. Any suggestions for me to get my hands on cheap legal stuff for a closet brony?

[LZRD WZRD 1,929]

I'm broke, that's why

 

If I had money and access to buy everything I would certainly purchase it. Unfortunately I usually lack at least one of those things.

 

For the record, when I can I do buy things I like, for collection purposes. I've got like 50 CDs and a dozen DVDs sitting behind me that I purchased with my own money. Several of the them I downloaded first. So nobody lost in the end.

[KatonRyu 1,036]

I refuse to buy anything on iTunes because I loathe Apple (the company, not necessarily its products even though I don't use them) and the only DVDs I've seen in this country were Dutch only, and the Dutch voice work is...not very good. If I could get region 2 discs, all seasons I probably would because this is a show I'd support.

[Starshine 16,335]

I'd buy all the DVDs and any merchandises at the first sight... if they're actually sold around my place. Tried ordering online, the postage conveniently 'lost' it on the way, costing me a whopping amount of cash on the botched shipping.

 

Illegal ways are pretty much the only way I can watch the episodes

[Odyssey 5,719]

I would love to support MLP:FiM as much as the next guy, except Full Season Sets and Netflix are not in my country. And to be blunt, I don't care if I have to force myself to download things illegally. Yes, I know it's bad, but what other way can I watch MLP:FiM, besides watching it on streams and Youtube?

[Confucius 194]

@ Google/Apple has it, but the episodes might not be 100% up to date. It takes a bit for them to be put up someitmes. Good luck!

 

Pirating is noticeable nowadays and the only way to really do it and not care is to do it on public Wifi. Even then you can't do it for very long cause they can probably track the place and show up to find a pirate. I mean the REALLY public kind. Not Optimum Wifi where you need to sign in as yourself and they know it's you. I'm talking about go to a coffee shop or anything else advertizing Free Wifi and do it. My friend had NEVER pirate downloaded in all her life. She downloaded ONE movie illegally. Just one. Then next week she gets a letter from her internet provider to the tune of don't do it again or we'll drop you as a customer. Internet companies nowadays have ways of finding out.

 

The alternative is to just watch uploaded stuff. Since you're not actually downloading but streaming, it's just watching a video online and I haven't heard of this getting anyone in trouble.

Thats how I watched season

1 and sometimes season 2. You could just find the vid online. I thought pirating is when you watch something without paying online. I guess I never was a feared Buccaneer after all :'(