The Virtual Set Tour Fiasco

[Sarah]

There have been worse first runs.

[Ryanxpark]

When ya gotta go, ya gotta go…

[Yorkshire_Paul]

Yeah but at least that guy actually got to meet someone from the cast!

[Ryanxpark]

Don’t you mean “meat”?

[Yorkshire_Paul]

Sorry, you’re right. I meant to say ‘At least that guy got to be meat for cast’.

Guessing that wasn’t an option for the recent Kickstarter?

[Ryanxpark]

That’s the Earth vs Soup Reward

[CLANG_Potroast]

“That IS Dark, Sirs!”

[ivan]

Hey @Bloo, I wanted to take a moment to respond to your message, and also to share some information that you might have missed in some of our previous backer updates, as well as in an earlier post in this thread.

First: I’m beyond sorry that this was such a disappointing experience for you.

As I noted above, we were experimenting with a new tech platform that we hoped would let us transmit higher quality video during the Q&A segment, and while it behaved fine during the tech test, it choked hard during the livestream itself.

The reason we kept going – as I posted in the live chat during that session – was because we were at least capturing HD video of the conversation, which meant we’d be able to edit together a very watchable version of the conversation for all Virtual Set Visit backers to access in the future. (I’ve been working on assembling that for a week, and we’re hoping it’ll be ready to share with those backers – yourself included – tomorrow.)

@Bloo

They just kept plowing through, no real acknowledgements that anything was amiss.

I understand why it might feel that way, but for what it’s worth, that’s because (a) none of the panelists could see the actual livestream that was glitching, only the studio they were in, which was reasonably high quality, and (b) while I posted something in the chat about what was going on, and why we weren’t stopping, I was too distracted trying to fix the problem in real-time to consider canceling or rescheduling the session.

@Bloo

The right thing to do should have been to cancel right there. Reschedule it or at least allow us backers to make it to another seminar coming soon. It feels like we were the canary in the coal mine and none of us came out singing. A complete waste of time and money.

I get where you’re coming from, truly. And I know this might not feel like an important consideration, but getting all of those people together to talk at the same time is a scheduling challenge, especially with production starting so soon (on Monday!), and we didn’t want to lose the chance to have them answer as many questions as possible. And before the session ended, as you’ll see in the edited video, they did answer as many backer-submitted questions as they could.

@Bloo

I love MST3K more than almost anything and looking forward to this “visit” is one of the things which has kept me going for months, facing some dire health issues. Now it just feels like meh, they don’t care about us or putting on a good show like they used to. It affected all my anticipation of the new season even.

I totally understand if this is how you felt, and for what it’s worth, nothing you could say would make me feel worse about what happened, or about your experience. Especially amidst health problems, I’m sorry that our technical challenges were the source of such extreme disappointment for you.

I’ll email you separately to see if there’s anything we can do to make up for that negative experience.

That said, I do want to respond to one specific point you made, because it seems like you might have a misconception about how the virtual set visits are going to work.

As a Virtual Set Visitor, you don’t just get access to that one session – that was the first of at least four that we’re planning, about all different aspects of production… and your reward includes access to all of them, not just this first one. I’m sorry if we weren’t clear enough about this, since it seems to have been a huge factor in your disappointment!

If you check last week’s backer update, we explained this, noting:

We’ll do our best to make sure this doesn’t happen again, and we’ve got at least 3 more virtual set visits planned throughout production, so you’ll still get more chances to ask questions.

So, to address this last comment:

@Bloo

Knowing they will get it right later for other backers doesn’t alleviate the sting because that was the only one I could afford.

I’m so sorry that you were under the impression you were only getting this one. Our aim isn’t to get this right later “for other backers” – it’s to get it right for you, and for every other backer who pledged for this reward. I hope that knowing you’ve got several more virtual set visits to look forward to will help ease some of the frustration and disappointment.

But again, the last thing we want is for a single backer to feel taken advantage of, disappointed, or like they got a raw deal. We have a very small team – mostly me, to be honest – handling backer support issues, but we are committed to doing everything we reasonably can to keep everyone happy, because we know that we wouldn’t be making another season without each and every one of you.

So, while I hope some of your disappointment is a simple misunderstanding, we also take your feelings seriously, and aren’t just ignoring you. I promise.

If you’d like to discuss this more, I’m happy to respond further in this thread, or via email or private message. Just let me know what might help.

[ivan]

@Teflon93, I also meant to respond to this post sooner, but it’s been a sort of insane month as we race to be prepared for our first episode shoot next week.

First, a lot of other people have jumped into this thread, including @Lesley, so I suspect you’ve gotten some sense of what happened, and are aware that we’re going to do everything we can to improve before the next virtual set visit.

Beyond that, a few points I did want to address:

@Teflon93

Ivan pretty quickly indicated in what was supposed to be the video chat room where backers were to ask questions on camera that there were technical issues then shut it down, never to return. My 13 year old son was all set up to ask his question but had to sit there mystified while nothing happened.

We definitely don’t want your son to be disappointed, so – as we said in the email we sent around to Virtual Set Visit VIPs before the session, which provided the link to ask questions via video – please email kickstarter@mst3k.com and let us know what his question was, so we can make sure we follow up with our writers and get an answer for him. I know it’s not the same as appearing live during the livestream, and we really had hoped to make that happen… but that appears to be the variable that created most of the technical problems, so we had to postpone it this time.

@Teflon93

An event that was geared toward making backers feel like insiders made us even more clearly outsiders based on how poorly it was staged. Joel took off early—-he seemed uncomfortable with how things were going.

I’m so sorry to hear you felt that way, and we’ll do our best to be conscious of that unintended possible outcome for future sessions. That said, what you were seeing was exactly the kind of thing our past set visitors have gotten to see – these are people who are basically stepping out of their work day to share a little bit about what they’ve been doing, and you saw them on their final day after months of intense, time-pressured writing. I don’t think anyone meant for the backers to feel left out at all, and I’m beyond sorry if that was the resulting experience you had.

As for Joel leaving early: he left because he was scheduled to leave, and had to get home for dinner with his family. He hadn’t originally been scheduled to participate in this session at all, but wanted to stop in before he left the office, because he wanted to make an effort to be more available to backers. I apologize that the technical difficulties prevented us from getting to backer questions while he was still there.

@Teflon93

We were promised the opportunity to ask questions on camera—-that opportunity disappeared without comment, really.

Actually, there WAS comment in the chat room – but (and this is my fault as well), I was too busy during the livestream trying to see if we could fix the problem to explain how we’d make up for the technical hurdles that arose. As we’ve since announced, we’re working on figuring out how to fix this for future sessions.

@Teflon93

They had sent out the instructions as to how to do this for those backers in that category. No one was promised they would get to do so—-but no one was able to do so either. Don’t advertise what you can’t deliver.

This is one of just two places where I – respectfully – would like to challenge what you’re saying. I don’t believe that we “advertised what we couldn’t deliver.” I do believe that this was our first time trying a new system, that it was successful in all of our tests before the actual live session, and that we intended for it to work. In addition, the email with instructions that you mention also included a specific request to email us if you had a question that we didn’t get to during the livestream, so we could attempt to get an answer after the fact – and for the very few people who actually took us up on that offer, we’ve been doing just that.

@Teflon93

This board isn’t really interactive either in that you see few posts from the cast and crew.

This is the other point that I strongly disagree with. At no point did we say – nor was it ever our intention – that this board would be “interactive” based on regular involvement from the cast and crew, who are all working insanely hard right now to make the show, which was the actual promise of the Kickstarter. I understand you saying that we shouldn’t advertise what we can’t deliver – but it seems that you’re also criticizing us for not delivering something we never advertised, or even implied.

The most important goal in setting up these forums was not to create a special space for talking directly with the cast and crew, though lots of us do like having a direct channel to interact whenever we’re able. It was to create a space for all of you to interact with each other, and to support a much stronger level of community connection than we’re able to achieve using Kickstarter’s comment threads. I hope most users on these forums will agree that it’s been successful in doing just that.

@Teflon93

If a bunch of investors showed up where I work, I wouldn’t ignore them and just goof around.

Here, too, I think your metaphor is a little bit unfair. No one “ignored” the backers who were participating – the panelists answered a ton of questions that I passed along. They were unable to see the chatroom themselves, because we asked them to devote ALL of their bandwidth to the video upload. (Which obviously didn’t help.) But the hour you’re complaining about was intended to be a discussion panel where they could share more about how the process works, and what their experience has been like, with a period set aside for Q&A at the end. Technical glitches aside, that’s exactly what we tried to do, and exactly what we plan to do during future sessions.

I understand that the experience didn’t live up to what you expected from it, and a huge portion of that failure lies with me, since I’m responsible for finding and implementing technical solutions we can afford. But I think your posts here have gone a little beyond constructive attempts to suggest what we could improve on, and into the realm of semi-personal attacks about our motives, our attitudes, and our commitment to the backer experience. I’m hoping that everything else we do – from setting up these forums to sending updates every single week updating backers on the process, and planning not one, but at least four virtual set visits – will be sufficient for most people to believe that we are, indeed, committed to giving backers an exceptional experience.

But regardless, if you’re disappointed, we do want to hear about your experience, and we are committed to doing what we can to make up for reasonable disappointment.

So, short story long, my point is:

We hear you, we share a lot of the concerns you voiced (if not all of them), and we really are committed to improving in future sessions. And, as always, my email remains open to any backer who feels disappointed or upset with the experience they get in exchange for their pledge, with a promise to do what I can to help.

[ivan]

Before calling it a night, I also wanted to quickly comment on this:

@Ryanxpark

So if that isn’t a sufficient salve for the first of multiple set visits, then it obviously will never be enough. And you should email alternaversal, request a refund, and then exit the forums- because this isn’t a place for you.

@Ryanxpark, I appreciate that a lot of people had strong feelings on both sides of this particular discussion, and I appreciate your help in clarifying that there will actually be multiple set visits, since I think it’s clear that a lot of people – @Bloo included – might not have been aware of that detail.

That said, I also want to gently push back on your comment here, or at least part of it.

I do agree that if any backer is that upset, they should reach out to us via email and let us know, so that we can do something about it – whether that means offering an apology, a refund, or some way of making up for reasonable concerns and disappointments. In many cases, we’re happy to have the chance to do that, and to make people feel better when stuff goes wrong.

But whether someone contacts us or not, I want to be sensitive to the fact that the forums are a place for all MSTies, including those who want to criticize or voice dissatisfaction with Alternaversal and the show.

As always, we just ask that these conversations – on both sides of any given debate – be approached with respect. If @Bloo didn’t realize that this was the first of several set visits – and especially if dealing with chronic health issues – I can understand being upset, and feeling taken advantage of.

So, TLDR: we ask that everyone continue doing their best to respect differences of opinion on these forums, and – at the same time – we hope that when people do choose to express grievances, they’ll give us a chance to help make things better, and reach out to us directly for solutions.

We’re grateful for all of you, and the time and love you’ve invested in MST3K and these forums.

[Ryanxpark]

I definitely wasn’t reacting with due consideration for other people’s feelings, so for that, I am sorry.

There is more at play for others than what I perceived as “complaints for the sake of complaining” or applying the filter of modern “outrage culture” to these situations.

So I see where I overstepped, and I understand that the impetus came from a personal focus rather than looking at the situation as a whole.

[Teflon93]

Fair enough, Ivan, and God knows I’ve been in somewhat similar shoes. The interactivity is what makes the MSTie community so special; this is OUR thing, not just the folks on camera or behind the scenes, but also fans and backers. We support the Kickstarters, pack the live shows, buy the merch, talk up the franchise, circulate the tapes, and ensure that the next generation will love MST3K as much as we did. We’re not mere customers—-but friends. And friends get peeved when they feel excluded. I’m not asking for VIP treatment or perfect execution—-just keep on trying. You and Leslie replying is more than sufficient for my money—-you’ve heard what I had to say and even where we disagree nothing’s been dismissed out of hand. Thanks for all you do.

[mdoddio73]

Blockquote
So is it going to be up today?
Just need to know if I should be refreshing my browser today of just watch the Eagles lose. Again.

[mdoddio73]

Any idea if the remastered set tour is going up this afternoon? – It said “sunday afternoon” in the last kickstarter update. It’s almost 4 here in new jersey.

[ivan]

Within the hour!

[mdoddio73]

awesome! Thanks

[Lesley]

Check your email, everyone! You should have the set visit info now. Please be aware the link and password have changed, so follow the email instructions.

We hope y’all enjoy it!

[macwhiz]

Lesley,

Not only haven’t I gotten that email… I emailed support and haven’t gotten a reply. No, it’s not in my spam box. Can you or Ivan assist?

[LadyShelley]

@Lesley and @ivan FYI to the above message.

[Lesley]

Hello! I’m so sorry you didn’t get the message – did you follow these instructions for contacting support? If so, try it again and cc me at lesley@mst3k.com and I’ll see what I can do to sort it out!