New PointCast?

Thanks Brandon, I feel better now. ;)

It isn't the fact that it was bad. I never said it was of poor quality. As others have said, I thought it would be longer and show a little more of the pull through.

And Jeff, you've stooped to calling names...that's nice. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

I call it like I see it. You should know that by now. I get really annoyed when people criticize something like this, because the same thankless kids do the same thing to people like us who run sites.

In fact, I'd invite you to go back to late '99 and see just how open Cedar Point was during the construction of Millennium Force. There was very little interfacing with the community, aside from a single construction tour where we weren't allowed to post any photos online. Frankly, you're lucky they do anything at all. God knows they don't need to. It's not like the LA Times is calling anyone here for their opinion.

Jeff, no offense or anything, but you're also the first one to criticize people's videos they link to on here. Or, their coaster re-creations in No Limits. I think people are entitled to say they were expecting more, or they wanted to see more of the actual pull-through. Aren't they "calling it like they see it" as well?

I do agree that we're lucky CP gives us as much as they do. I think its awesome. But, others obviously want more. LOL!

Yes, and the difference is that the guys at Cedar Point are professionals, and they are the source. The video is not only fine the way it is, it's appropriate for Web delivery.

You're entitled to have whatever opinion you want, and I'm entitled to call you out as a whiny enthusiass if I think you're being one.

The funny thing is that if some people would call it like they see it about others, you'd ban them.

So it's OK for you to call it like you see it but not others.

Yep, I should know that by now.

I'd have to agree with Loopy, you are quick to ban the same people who do what you just did Jeff...so you are a hypocrite for talking about people being entitled to their opinions, why should anyone share theirs if the most you can come up with is the highly original : whiny enthusiass. I've heard better.

but moving on...

I don't even think this pointcast was really necessary, I'm surprised they made one. I think they should wait until late March for the next one, since by then there might be more interesting progress. But I give them credit for what they did.

You cats always have to make things about me. Seriously... I'm not that interesting. Ignore me if you don't agree with me.

Did somebody say something?

;)

Are you incorporating an ignore feature in the next version of POP Forums? ;)

As with the other PointCasts, I really liked this one. I think too many people are expecting an hour long Discovery Channel documentary out of these things. They're a really awesome idea, and they're meant to be short and to the point. I'm sure with as long as a pull through takes, someone would have been standing out there for hours to get enough footage to show the train moving 5 feet. Maybe a time lapse wouldn't have been a bad idea, but take what you can get. They didn't have to show us anything.

mk522 said:

I don't even think this pointcast was really necessary, I'm surprised they made one. I think they should wait until late March for the next one, since by then there might be more interesting progress. But I give them credit for what they did.

No one can be happy. This isn't a personal attack on you mk522, by the way. If someone gives you $5 you should be happy. Sure it isn't much, but it's better than not getting $5. You say it wasn't necessary, but if they didn't give us this one and made us wait until March, when things pick up, people here would bitch and moan about the 3 month absense of a PointCast. Be happy with what we got. If you aren't keep it to yourself.

I liked it, and was cracking up after the pull through portion. To me, the comments they made were totally poking some good natured fun at the coaster enthusiasts.

Train moves 1 foot to the sound of a fanfare. "I've been waiting like six months for that!". Great stuff and pretty funny if you ask me.

First, we are not quick to ban anyone. I don't remember for sure the last time it even happened. Probably a few months ago when a kid created another account to agree with himself in a thread. Some people seem to have this very false impression that we delete posts and ban users for dissenting opinions. Trolling or being abusive will get you bounced, saying something that we disagree with will not.

Jeff's "enthusiasses" comment was pointed, but valid. Unfortunately, the tone here was "that's not good enough for me." Still, I fail to see why the thread went so quickly to "Jeff Putz sucks."

The target audience for the blog and the podcast is the casual or semi-casual Cedar Point fan, not the people of PointBuzz, or those who discuss the park daily in an online forum. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with being a hardcore fan or visiting here frequently. I certainly fall under that category and I love it. You just need to understand where they are aiming their message. And, perhaps even more importantly, just because we fall outside that target doesn't mean that it isn't relevant or entertaining to us. I very much enjoy the content they're providing, which is certainly on a higher level than a simple informational message. How do you please a group who tracks the construction on a daily basis? You have to expect some level of, "oh, I already knew that."

What Cedar Point is doing with their web site is awesome, not only considering their intended audience, but for any level of fan. Like Jeff mentioned, it wasn't that long ago when construction tours were limited with strict warnings that pictures couldn't be posted online. It was more than two years before these photos were posted. Now we're able to post photos from off-season visits the same day.

Pete is right. This last PointCast was well done. I very much enjoyed it. We got to see shots from the construction, there was an update on what's been going on, and a little bit of humor. The production was good and not at all "amateurish." That does make a difference. Come on, who didn't think the gratuitous train shot was funny! There was even some inside humor with the, "I've been waiting like six months for that" comment.

TTD 120mph said:
I agree, hold off the next PointCast till more interesting things start to happen

Any bets on how long it would be before someone complained? :) I think the podcast had some great content, even though there wasn't anything new that was earth shattering. If their schedules permitted, they could probably do it once a week and still be able to do it with worthwhile content. I'm not saying that producing a podcast that often is necessary or a good idea. My point is that frequency isn't the issue, but rather expectations.

halltd said:
you're also the first one to criticize people's videos they link to on here

It may sound odd, but that's a different situation. It's one thing to criticize the quality, but what is being criticized here is that the enthusiast soul wasn't being fed enough. When you get down to it, the complaints in this thread have nothing to do with the video. They are centered around the park not producing the depth of content that some are expecting.

Maybe what Tony and Tyler need to do is just make a music video with a techno or metal soundtrack and a bunch of transitions. That kind of video seems to get praised around here. :) I personally prefer something more produced, with sounds from the park. After all, Cedar Point is its own soundtrack.

Yeah I guess I should have thought about that before I posted it.
And I loved the fanfare music along with the 1 foot train movement, great stuff.:)

The video could basically be described as "short sweet and to the point" (no pun intended). I commemorate T&T for putting up with the weather AND their busy schedule to give us this great opportunity to get behind the scenes information.

*** Edited 2/2/2007 1:44:55 PM UTC by TTD 120mph***

bholcomb said:
Are you incorporating an ignore feature in the next version of POP Forums? ;)

Actually, something Digg-like will make it into the final version, but not the early iterations.

Walt has a lot more patience than I do. :)

I honestly don't see a difference in someone complaining about the quality of a video and someone complaining about the content. In either situation, they thought the video was bad. It doesn't matter if it was the content or the quality. They still didn't like it. So, when it boils down to it, Jeff complaining about people's personal videos is just as bad as someone complaining about the PointCasts. Come to think of it, I would venture to say complaining about an amateur video is worse than complaining about a "professional" one because the professional one should be better by default.

I really think the thread turned into a Jeff thread because it never seems like he is open to opinions other than his own. If he thinks something sucks, so should everyone else. If he likes something, so should everyone else. I think there are a lot of people on here that can say, "Yeah I thought that PointCast was really good, but I can also see where some people would think it wasn't enough." Being able to see situations from different people's perspectives is the thing in question really.

Amen.

MrScott

halltd said:
I honestly don't see a difference in someone complaining about the quality of a video and someone complaining about the content.

There is a difference. He didn't make his comment because people complained about the quality or the content. His comment was directed at the "give us more" mentality.

If he thinks something sucks, so should everyone else. If he likes something, so should everyone else.

Where did that happen?

"Yeah I thought that PointCast was really good, but I can also see where some people would think it wasn't enough."

There's nothing wrong with saying, "Yeah I thought that PointCast was really good, and I think you're wrong when you said it wasn't enough."

Is Jeff in the same extremist group as T&T? That would explain why he hates baby Jesus.

Walt said:

halltd said:
I honestly don't see a difference in someone complaining about the quality of a video and someone complaining about the content.

There is a difference. He didn't make his comment because people complained about the quality or the content. His comment was directed at the "give us more" mentality.

Jeff said:

What a bunch of whiny little enthusiasses. What the hell were you expecting? Fireworks and a light show? They showed you exactly what's going on, and guess what... it's not that exciting.

His comment WAS made toward the content. Truly, what's the difference between wanting more content and the "give us more" mentality? Nothing.

halltd said:
If he thinks something sucks, so should everyone else. If he likes something, so should everyone else.

Walt said:
Where did that happen?

Don't you mean, where doesn't this happen? OK, maybe that's a bit extreme but really Walt, it happens often and I know you're not that naive that you don't see it.

Walt said:

There's nothing wrong with saying, "Yeah I thought that PointCast was really good, and I think you're wrong when you said it wasn't enough."

And that is a perfectly good response to a complaint about not having enough content, but that was most certainly not how Jeff put it.

*** Edited 2/2/2007 4:09:11 PM UTC by Loopy***