Please offer constructive criticism for Accu-Stats

B

bdorman

Dead money
Silver Member
There's been the typical b*tch*ng and moaning about the stream during this US Open.

But let's try a thread that offers constructive customer (and potential customer) criticism/ideas. Not all of our ideas will be doable or affordable, but it helps to give a business a sense of what improvements the business should consider.

I'll start.

I probably would have bought some or all of the PPV if the matches were archived and I could watch them on my own schedule. I just can't drop everything (work, family obligations, etc) to watch the matches in real time.

Even if they're only available for the next 48 hours...that would be enough "time shifting" to make it worth my money.

Your thoughts? Please make it constructive.
 
I had trouble purchasing a live stream one time recently, and I e-mailed Accu-Stats. I got an IMMEDIATE reply via e-mail.

Not sure if e-mail is the best vehicle to use today, being that today is the Open Semifinals. :)
 
It is rather difficult to differentiate the 3, 4, and 5 balls on the stream. They are using TV balls, which are actually worse then the regular set (which has a purple 4 ball).

I also agree that the ability to watch archived matches would prompt me to buy more of the days. I imagine that would be a logistical and cost challenge for Accu-Stats.
 
jeffj2h said:
It is rather difficult to differentiate the 3, 4, and 5 balls on the stream. They are using TV balls, which are actually worse then the regular set (which has a purple 4 ball).

I also agree that the ability to watch archived matches would prompt me to buy more of the days. I imagine that would be a logistical and cost challenge for Accu-Stats.
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I had trouble ascertaining the colors of the balls, too. The 1-ball looked orange, for example, and the 1, 3, 4, and 5 looked a lot alike on my computer monitor. :embarrassed2:
 
I did the morning matches yesterday, three great matches well worth it.
I was hesitant to buy it because of issues I've had with other streams lately.
I know there has been some complaints about some aspects but I would say
that I would gladly watch streams of this caliber anytime.
 
I had problems with lag and cutting off and on every few seconds for most of the package. I sure hope the finals are a different story. Johnnyt
 
bandwith of the venue sucks...pats equipment is perfect.I cant believe you start a thread to complain-or in polite words offer constructive critisism...
 
BAD POINTS
1) Stream more tables. 1 table out of 9 to cover a tourney of about 120+ is absolutely inadequate. Accu-stats can explore charge bit more for more tables but not excessive.
2) No Replay/archive.
3) Fire bad commentators like Gibbs. We would rather mute if Accu-stats put lousy commentators in booth
4) Sometimes no score or TPA
5) Delayed/ Late information of schedule matches

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GOOD POINTS
1) Low pricepoints compared to other PPV. Most other PPV charge at least $10 or $15 and more for any day
2) clear concise video/ pictures
3) some good commentators and bringing in players as commentators is great.
:grin:
 
It's really mostly about the commenters and camera angles, for me at least. I am a neophyte to Accustats streaming. So my comments have to also be about match videos I have viewed which may or may not have been produced by Accustats.

Fire or re-train or restrain Gibbs, first and foremost. I don't want to mute because I at least deserve to hear the click of the balls and the occasional player speaking. I had to mute Gibbs last night, he was so argumentative and disrespectful and asinine. Not a good experience on my first buy of a stream from Accustats, and I did not buy Saturday because of the quality of commenters I heard on Friday night.

Announce the commenters in advance; it could influence who buys that particular stream.

HIre some professional sportscaster(s) to do commentary - they don't all have to be ex-players, they could be kids right out of broadcasting school. It is tiresome to hear a commenter describe in advance the upcoming shot, only to be wrong time after time as the player plays their game instead of the commenter's game.

Have a color commenter and a play-by-play commenter if two are needed, and train them to keep within their planned role. Right now it is a verbal fight to see who has the best road stories or best gambling experience or used to know so-and-so in the day, or a different fight as to who knows best what shot to play.

Learn silence in the booth; often the game speaks for itself and needs no comment nor any explanation. Learn a tense or stage whisper or voice which can add tension to a match; never talk so loud that it bothers the players. And for sure quit baiting Earl or trying to tell him how to live his life; his behavior tells its own tale in full.

Keep the commenters on a leash, supervise them, train them, evaluate and rate them, and train them again. Treat them as employees instead of prima donnas who are free to do whatever they want in the comment booth. If they don't like it they can record their own comments and try to sell their version.

Change ball colors away from the TV balls, or else have the commenters frequently describe the ball in play and where it stands on the table so we can assimilate the new colors. Maybe show visual aids to help viewers learn those ball colors they seldom see.

Get better at camera angles and cutaways - fewer head shots of the guy in the chair, fewer 1/2 body shots of the player at the table, more shots of the layout, fewer last-second cutaways when the shot is about to roll, more of the whole player down on the shot with the table included, and for sure more overheads of the layout. I don't need to see the ball roll in from the perspective of the pocket, nor SVB's poker face or Earl's angry face as they sit in the chair awaiting their turn at the table. But I would like to watch the player's full stroke, when he is shooting, and the cue tip-cue ball at impact, and the roll of the balls without any cutaway.

Allow some sort of archiving or limited time shifting, I suggest 10 days is plenty. Maybe give buyers a discount on videos from a stream already purchased.
 
I tried to sign into chat room on a mobile device. I received a message that mobile edition was not available with this customer. Please make it available.

Please have step by step instructions for both Android and IOS about how to watch the stream. I hate using it but I'm not at home due to work a lot.

Web site needs better layout.

Great stream. I will return to buy your product again.
 
JAM said:
I had trouble ascertaining the colors of the balls, too. The 1-ball looked orange, for example, and the 1, 3, 4, and 5 looked a lot alike on my computer monitor. :embarrassed2:
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Me too Jenny. Had the same problem with those same balls. Do you know if that young girl named Alana Springsteen is related to Bruce Springsteen or maybe related to Barry Berhman??
 
IMO, the Aramith Tournament Balls (TV) used at the 2014 US Open are the best set to differentiate the colors.

This, coming from a color blind person (me) that has absolutely no idea what ball is what on both the Aramith Super Pro set (TV) and the Cyclop ball sets (TV). This was the first tournament I EVER watched online, where I could actually plan a runout pattern, because I knew which ball was which. I've been watching matches online for many years now.

Previously, I thought the Brunswick Centennial Sets (made by Aramith) were the best for ball differentiation. The Aramith Tournament Set is better still.

Please, please, please, keep using this Aramith Tournament Set! :):):):)
 
I can't belive I'm saying this

I am not a fan of Danny Deliberto's commentating. I'm 62 but I don't care one wit about the "good old days" I live in the present. Now, that said, compared to Gibbs and the English clown they had on a couple of matches. Danny D sounds like Vin Scully.

Also, the amount of commentary should be cut by at least a third. I don't need somebody telling me how Efren should play a shot. Just let it happen. If something interesting comes up jump in with a comment otherwise shut up. I'm perfectly fine with what is called "dead air".
 
Some people should not be in the booth. That should end.
Shut your system down to cool off when Barry Berhman takes the Mic. for about 15 minutes. I will not complain.
Try to announce the sched, a bit sooner.

Otherwise, you do a great job.
 
For the most part, Accu-stats provides a good product at a fair price and the arena is set up well. Yes, the stream broke up too often, but I'm sure that will be addressed. I'll focus on other matters.

1. The ball colors are not clear, with the one ball being the hardest to indentify. As it's the ball a viewer most quickly wants to identify after the break, that's a huge problem.

2. I like the fact that we can wan watch players warming up before a match, but the gigantic graphic indicating who will play in the next match blocks the view of half the table. Get the graphic to the side of the table on the screen so we can see the warm-ups clearly.

3. Showing the Accu-stats figures during the match is a very big positive, but the numbers are too small and were, consequently, hard to see, at least for me.

4. The commentators are the biggest issue. Having guest commentators is a good idea but was hit or miss, with refreshing and humorous John Schmidt the very best and Paul Potier the very worst. Not only did Paul analyze poorly and show very limited knowledge of today's pool scene and players but he spent lots of time talking about his students and clearly saw his commentary gig as a chance to promote himself ad nauseum as an instructor. Remarkably, after Potier bombed, he got another chance, surely a sign that commentators are not being evaluated during the event.

Of the regulars, Wilson, Forsyth and Wych all did a great job and Gibbs was passable, but Geoff Conway, widely regarded on this forum as the worst commentator in the sport, leaves one almost speechless:

a) His predictions make it super-clear that he has no sense of the game or its underlying theory. and he often claims to have been right when he was wrong.

b) He is rarely correct when identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the players .

c) He seems to have little sense of the players' accomplishments in competition, hard to fathom given how many events he attends

d) He drags down any commentator with which he is paired.

e) He sometimes thinks the commentary is about him. In one match, he spent some time talking about the time he backed Jeremy Sossei in an event in Texas and how he made a good score on it. Sossei had already been eliminated a few rounds earlier!

Geoff is a fine pool journalist for NYC Grind and his tournament coverage articles are usually solid, but he should never be permitted to commentate in any pay-per-view event, let alone an elite event like the US Open.

Yes, poor commentary was a big problem this year and it needs to be addressed.
 
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I'd like to see some player interviews in between matches, similar to what they do in the WSOP main event. So many world class players in this event, I'd like to see what they have to say.
 
JAM said:
I had trouble ascertaining the colors of the balls, too. The 1-ball looked orange, for example, and the 1, 3, 4, and 5 looked a lot alike on my computer monitor. :embarrassed2:
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Same here. Colors seem a bit too saturated and contrast is too high. Lighting is a challenge in HD video and pro lighting can cost thousands of dollars and produces lots of heat. The Accu-Stats setup works just fine for me with a little tweaking.

I could adjust the color a little on my TV and it made them look better, but on my iMac I had to recalibrate the display to get the balls to look right. I'm very much NOT color blind, so these things can drive me nuts.

Here's a screen capture of how I got the ball colors to look on my computer. They're all easy for me to differentiate now. I'm curious to know if this looks better to you than the actual stream you are watching now.

FWIW I prefer the regular color balls with HD video. The TV balls were created for SDTV (standard definition) video, not HDTV. No need for these colors anymore I've been told, and I like the tradition color scheme much better.


Edit:

The blurriness and pixel scatter around the balls in the photo are just artifact, the actual stream is crystal clear on my computer.
 

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"Well, the 1 ball is hanging in the corner and we're going to wager that that's where he's going to play it. Yep, he did just that. Notice how he repositioned the cue ball for the 2 hanging in the side pocket. The 3 is down table, so he got a slight angle so the cue ball can travel down towards the bottom rail. Yea, this is a text book run out, but oh, look what he did. Now that's another option available with a less severe angle, so he chose to play it that way. Snooker players will do that but Garth Fargle here has never played snooker. He told me he first started playing 25 years ago at Kansas State Penitentiary and was 8 ball champ there for over 20 years."
 
bdorman said:
There's been the typical b*tch*ng and moaning about the stream during this US Open.

But let's try a thread that offers constructive customer (and potential customer) criticism/ideas. Not all of our ideas will be doable or affordable, but it helps to give a business a sense of what improvements the business should consider.

I'll start.

I probably would have bought some or all of the PPV if the matches were archived and I could watch them on my own schedule. I just can't drop everything (work, family obligations, etc) to watch the matches in real time.

Even if they're only available for the next 48 hours...that would be enough "time shifting" to make it worth my money.

Your thoughts? Please make it constructive.
Click to expand...

I think they do that for DVD sales purposes. If you miss it live, buy the DVD.

I do like how TAR did their matches, they looped the prior night till the next day's play started.

And the ability to buy the match later at a pretty cheap price was a bonus, the Accu-Stats stuff is a bit pricy for the most part for one race to 9 or 11. TAR you get a race to 25, or 100 or 3 races to 25 and such for the same price.

The colors did look funny, the redish balls all looked just about the same to me.
 
this company is so behind, they were still peddling vhs when dvds came out and still with the dvds in 2014

prices are fair, but quality is absolutely poor in every respect

i'll try and support a while longer but seriously they need to get out of dinosaur mode
 
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