I hear you. We all hear you. You all know we are constantly tweaking the site to make it easier to use and still highly functional. The New Release page redesign is one step towards the idealized presenting new releases. All I can say is that you have always been very constructive and supportive as we iterated on the Community features (remember how those pages began changing this past summer? Aren't they better now? Aren't they still improving?) I hope you'll give the other teams here the same benefit of the doubt while they work on things. In the meantime, don't forget that you can always get a feed of the movies releasing this week via RSS:
http://rss.netflix.com/NewReleasesRSS
Feel free to post your feedback here. We read 'em all.
SUNDAY MORNING UPDATE 12/23/07 11am:
I noticed that Tygger is making a desperate and valiant attempt to save you all from the site redesign. He found this link, which apparently is the missing page:
http://www.netflix.com/AllNewReleases?lnkctr=NavAllNewReleases
At some personal risk, I reprint this link here; Please note- the fact that it is accessible now does not necessarily mean it will remain there, but on this sunday morning (and in the spirit of the holiday season) I present it.
Since my job is to build features that involve the "Community" -- and this page is not part of my job description (although i assure you that those who matter are reading all of your notes) -- what i am able to do is to hear your comments about the failures of the RSS feed, for THAT is part of my job. If it is lousy then that is my fault. I will work to get an ADD TO QUEUE button to be part of it - that should help. What else?
Anyway, please continue to voice your concerns here, or with customer service, as you feel the need.
THURSDAY MORNING UPDATE: Dec 27,7am:
Enterprising members have created a formal petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/netflix/petition.html
As I've said before, I don't know what kind of response would be required for Netflix to make immediate changes - is it 100 or a million? for instance - and your comments here may be totally sufficient to effect change (that is, you may not need a petition to get our attention. I think you've got it). And remember, i don't think anyone considers the new release areas "done" anyway; regardless of your comments and petition, i believe work will continue to adjust these areas. But as a PM who is responsible for "community" I cannot but encourage you all to do what you must. Anyway, a petition can't hurt.
723 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 1 – 200 of 723 Newer› Newest»Phew! Think you saved more than a few people a conniption, right there. How about adding that feed to the 'new releases' page while the feature is being..... hmmm....'rebuilt'?
two things -
I really do not care what the people in my town are watching. I would like to get rid of that, and add a different genre.
and more important - how do I get to the "releasing this week" page.
Othen than that, I am not sure I like it better than the old pages. I have always preferred the "This Week" page. I always feel like the new release page (and the home page) is trying to gear me towards movies that you want me to rent. Popular blockbusters often do not make the New releases page, presumably to keep down the demand. The This Week page is the only place to find out about them.
Yes, whatever you do, please bring back the 'releasing this week' page! It's cool if you guys want to tweak it and make whatever upgrades, but please don't get rid of that page. That is the primary way I find new stuff to watch and keep track of new releases. Your general new releases page, as mentioned by someone else is, well, generic and geared towards the masses. What I need is the regular releasing this week page which lists everything new you're getting, not just the blockbusters. Please bring it back, don't mess it up too much, and don't hide it. It's probably the most useful page (for me) on your website, and a lot more important to me than all the friends and community stuff (which I also value). Thanks!
I agree with the previous comments. The feature I use the most is "releasing this week." Honestly, not having that feature convenient is enough to stop using Netflix for me. I use it for convenience, not this frustration. I can find a new release easier by driving to the video store. I certainly hope the "rebuild" is quick. In the meantime, I agree with pete that you should have the rss feature linked from the new release page or from the top menu.
By the way... the rss feed that is our alternative right now is just as frustrating! It just has an image and description. You have to click again to be able to see how many stars the movie is and what genre it is. RIDICULOUS!!!!
Have to agree with the other posters that the deletion of movies "releasing this week" is an egregious mistake. Transition or not, there's no reason to relieve your subscribers of the most obvious and simple tool for updating their queues. Browsing through scores of "new" releases in an attempt to locate the actual new releases will be frustrating, if not impossible. And the touted solution--the rss feed--is even worse (plus makes my eyeballs bleed).
And it's especially bad that we lost perhaps the most useful feature at the same time we gained the most useless one: does anyone actually choose movies based on what's most popular in their community? How 'bout eliminating that feature . . . or renaming it: "Sheep"?
I also agree with the above posts, but unless I'm wrong, the "people in my town are watching" thing has been on the Community page for months and I don't think is related in any way to the New Releases. That's right, isn't it Michael?
I agree about the "releasing this week" comments. One further comment I'd like to add is that I don't want to have to click on the left or right arrow dozens of times only to see if there's a new release I'd like to see or not. It's frustrating to have to click over and over only to find out that there is nothing I want to add to my queue. I want to be able to read all the new releases in a minute or less. Don't make me go through a bunch of steps just to see if there's a movie I might like.
Simplicity is best. Bring back the old style. I don't have a problem with the page loading since I have broadband but think of the others who don't. Can you imagine how long it will take for that page to load for them? Too many "pretty things and buttons" to look at. Not enough content. Please go back to the old format.
Adding to the chorus-- I also use "releasing this week" exclusively (don't have much need for the other features on "new releases"). The biggest loss I see is the ability to visually scan so many genres-- e.g., I know I like indie and foreign films, so I'll click on all 10 that are releasing in a particular week. I have seen so many movies this way without having heard of the titles before (and trust me, I regularly read reviews, etc to keep up). The RSS feed doesn't quite do the trick since I prefer to spend a few minutes on a Monday night, making sure I have all new releases added to my queue. Thanks.
Michael,
When I click on the link you provided it's just the source code. It's the same using Foxfire or IE.
Is this really how that link looks to everyone or is it just my computer?
If source code is what others might see I'd say not to provide it to the public because it will really tick people off to think the former "New Release Page" was replaced with this.
"Transition" sounds like a scapegoat - How hard would it have been for the programers to keep the old page up while releasing the new format?
I also agree that the section showing what people are watching in my area is worthless. I'd love to be able to remove it.
@CHawk : I get a pageful of small posters and movie descriptions, as others seem to be getting (at various levels of disgruntlement!), not source code.
Tks Annon.
Oops I added it incorrectly before. I just tried adding it again. This is a Blogger Blog (same as we are using for the Netflix one) and it pulled up a list of 5 formated like this:
Netflix New Releases This Week
* The Kingdom
* Eastern Promises
* American Pie Presents: Beta House
* Galactica 1980: The Complete Series
* Intimate Affairs
It's just the text of the 5 with no picture. It looks like 5 is the maximum the blog editor will allow it to pull in.
I think I just don't know how to do the feeds.
Chawk: In order to get the RSS link to work you need to subscribe to it using an RSS reader. Just clicking the link won't work and will only show code. You need to find a reader, like Google Reader or Bloglines and then subscribe to the RSS feed, then it will show up properly.
On that note, I'll agree with all the others. The RSS feed is a not useful replacement or even a good temporary fix. We can't add movies from it (there is no "add" button or link, we still need to click through to the site) and we can't even see movies by genre. For me it just shows up as an unorganized list.
The New Releases page is very important, please bring it back and don't complicate it too much. I like to be able to quickly scan the page, find the genres I'm interested in, and then see what's about to be released.
If there's any change I'd like to see it's to have more new releases show up in advance... like movies releasing next week, two weeks from now, etc... like they have on IMDB. I use IMDB and other websites for that info, but it would be nice to not have to if I could get the same info from Netflix. Getting rid of the 'releasing this week' page is a huge step in the wrong direction as far as I'm concerned. I welcome any upgrades or new stuff, but please keep the option to simply see everything that's new being added to Netflix catalog as there are many of us who are interested in seeing it all, and who want to know more of what's new than just what people in our city are watching or the latest Blockbuster movie.
Looks like I'm not the only that is wondering what the heck is going on with new releases.
What would be so hard as to keep a "releasing this week" tab and then have another tab labeled "recentely released?"
The current setup is terrible, it will make me have to go to another website and look for new releases.
This makes no sense, fix it um now!
Add me to the group of people who miss the "releasing this week" page. For me, that was a critical page that I used to browse for movies.
It's cool if you want to make updates or improvements, but don't get rid of the "releasing this week". There is no advantage to it being gone, and it significantly reduces your service level.
I don't care for the new format of "new releases"> My tas=tes are eclectic....I feel like I'm missing most of the new relases! In fact I know I am. Nowhere did I see "Eastern promises" in popular or independent catagories. I searched for the title then added it. PLease change it bage or be sure to include all the categories.
Thank you.
What people are watching in my area is wasted space. What was must useful to me is now gone: The releasing this week page. What possible good can come from that action? The RSS feed is not a link to anything useful. I don't even understand what it is. Just give us back the page, please.
Not only would I like the releasing this week page back, but could you please add a coming soon page. I would like to know what may be coming out in the next several weeks, not just this week.
Bring back the The Weeks Releases page!! Also how about a check box on the New Release page that allows me to add all the New Releases. Its a pain to add 1 at a time to my QUE.
Yes, Michael, the "Releasing This Week" tab needs to return in the same simple configuration it was in last week. Wahh wahh wahh....boohoohoo, ...sniff...snuurff.
OK, nuf said. On to more important things.
My Netflix pal and I had fanned each other. I saw her as 7% sim to me, and she saw me as 43% sim. What the.. huh..weird. it gets better.
We friended each other. I now see her as 78% sim while she sees me at a whopping 97% sim!
I now wonder if it's possible to advance this Netflix freindship to another level. Do you guys offer some tab I can click on like: "Netflix Love"? How far can I go with this? And should I really be trusting the info I'm getting from you? I mean, 7% sim to 97% sim seems to be a really huuge discrepancy.
Im confused. Should I just go with my feelings and start with the "notes"?
Thanks for all you do.
Oh, that slider thing is horrible. I don't like it on the friends home page and I don't like it here. It's just not user-friendly, imho.
The new release site isn't worth anything without the "releasing this week" link. Not to mention...why do I care what other people are watching??? I live near a college...of course they all watch drinking comedies. Doesn't do much for a stay at home mom.
How about matching up the movies that other people who are like me (the percentage thing always shown) are watching. We probably have movies or actors in common that we like.
Oh, and while we're all bemoaning the sudden and inexplicable loss of the "releasing this week" page and doing our best to get you to realize that was a terribly bad idea and to bring it back... please do so BEFORE this Sunday (when it usually gets updated), otherwise you will have officially screwed up my following weeks worth of movie watching. K thx bye!
i read that you hear us on the blog, but on netflix i dont see the results of the talk about hearing us...takes no effort to put a link back up for releasing this week, and as others above have said i could care less what people in my area are watching, peoples taste in movies is different just in their house holds much less the neighborhood, drop that feature....
I had to go to Blockbuster.com to find out the new releases and what released this week. Are you trying to drive us to Blockbuster.com? I have never had six movies in my queue on a short or long waiting list until recently. You've got problems and I'm only giving you 30days to figure it out.
Wow this is craptacular! Bring back the releasing this week page. It was the only page I used to update my queue. I live in the hinter lands and do not have broadband. You have just made using your website as bad as driving to the video store. Bring back releasing this week, or you will lose customers, starting with me.
bring the old releasing this week page back! put it as a link right off the front page where it should be, or where it was when you click new releases.
dont force us into this new fancy style that still shows us the same movies I didn't want to select when they showed up on the new releases page to begin with.
Why did you have to go and screw up something that already was working just fine?
I'm sure this new format will discourage all sorts of people who are getting netflix for Christmas, and they'll say, it's too hard to search for things. How do I know what is coming out? how do I know this? A friend already got it for Christmas and was telling me she won't keep it because it's too hard to find things and there aren't enough new movies. I said what? Went over to show her how wrong she was, and I was met with this new stuff and no option to go back to the old version.
Fix it soon please!
@Anon 5:58pm
"You've got problems and I'm only giving you 30days to figure it out."
Wow, we better get Jack Bauer on that right away. I seriously don't think I have seen more crying on this site than today.
"I can't find my new releases coming out this week!" Oh my God, please put them back or the world will suffer.
"I'll go to Blockbuster!" -- Please do, then you can cry on their blog. Oh, do they have a blog? Hmm.
I have seen people talk about things on this blog that actually matter -- like instant viewing. Funny how the new release page has never caused my rental to skip.
I'm off my horse, now. Please continue on with your crying. I'll even join you -- boo hoo hoo hoo whah whah whah.
I miss the 'Releasing This Week' page. I don't care to see any of the 'new' movies as I pop right to the week's releases and add from there. Otherwise I'm just going to use the search feature. I know it's a marketing thing, but that's not what influences me. Please bring back my 'Releasing This Week' section. =(
several comments:
yes, 'releasing this week' has to come back!
lose 'favorites in my town'
'similar to you' does not seem effective
Is someone working on 'instant viewing' for Mac users? No discrimination please!
Otherwise great job you guys!!
Who got the vacation from the movie companies? I got an idea. Limit my new release chocies to nothing i want. Give me no real options of what is relasing this week and show me only what you want me to rent? Brilliant! Somebody had to get a ass load of cash to do somthing this bold and selfish, or they are just arrogant and out of touch. Changing your new release page is a horrible new idea! Have you ever heard of a test market? Please fire or repremand this person. I really dont want to go back to video stores.
Please bring back the Re;leasing this week page! I loved it and don't like the new one. I found myself renting more movies by using the "releasing this week" page.
The new "new release page" SUCKS
I do not like the new format at all...please change it back. I need the "releasing this week" page.
My Sunday morning usually consists of several cups of coffee, muffin, and the Releasing This Week page. This way I can see what great or weird or forgotten disc I want to see.
You guys are really dim to get rid of the only page I look at. I could not care less about Top 100 or the silly Local Favorites (from a town one and a half hour drive away!)
I really hate the new side-scrolling format. I would much prefer to see them all on one page.
Very bad "improvement" in all respects.
NetflixJunkie said: "I have seen people talk about things on this blog that actually matter -- like instant viewing."
Whatever man. Different things are important to different people. I don't use 'Watch Now' and could care less about it, yet I understand why those having problems with it complain. Obviously there are many of us here expressing that the 'Releasing this Week' page was very important to us, so why does it bother you so much that we want it back? 'Watch Now' could be removed from the site all together and I wouldn't care, removing the 'Releasing this Week' page though affects me directly, and I care a lot.
In other words, if you don't have anything useful (or nice) to say, they don't say anything.
I like the new format. I don’t know why so many people are being so inflexible, as the top column still shows new releases. Since I can now select a specific genre easily, it’s a much more efficient way to check out what’s new in the genre that I care about. I am particularly fond of the middle column which selects a sub-genre based on my previous ratings. In my case, new releases in classical instrumental music are shown, and I was able to add a dozen DVDs that I would not have known about otherwise. The bottom column shows the most popular DVDs from 1 year ago, which to me is useless, but I am guessing that it rotates and various other lists are going to be shown in the bottom column.
Thank you for the thoughtful improvements.
@anon 10:31pm
"...so why does it bother you so much that we want it back?"
It doesn't bother me that you want something back. The way these users are crying is what bothers me.
There is nothing wrong with having passion about your point of view; but there is certainly a few Anons here that could stand to grow up a bit.
Swearing and demanding the firing of people doesn't come off as adult to me. Maybe it does to you?
I only mentioned the "Watch Now" stuff because there was some intelligent discussion about it from some users. In this subject, that seems to be lacking for the most part.
So... to your "Whatever", I place my thumbs to my ears, waving them comically while blowing raspberries at your comments. How's that for mature?
Now, please continue on with your babble.
I like the 'my area' feature; it's neat for curiosities sake. I say keep it!
I've never used Netflix's New Release page anyway. This one is better: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/schedule/
or even this one:
http://www.onvideo.org/calendar/cal_dvd.htm
Bring back the "Releasing This Week" page. The new format is a complete waste of my time. It makes me keep pressing arrows to scroll through endless multiplex crap that came out not this week, but some time in the past six months. I suspect that that is the real point of the redesign. Without the "releasing this week" page, I might as well be renting from Blockbuster.
seth said: I've never used Netflix's New Release page anyway. This one is better:
But why would I want to go to another website when previously I could see everything I wanted to see on Netflix and add the movies directly to my queue at the same time? There are plenty of other sites that list new releases but it makes a lot more sense to have this info on Netflix where we need it and can make use of it.
Where the hell are the new releases? This new only four at a time format is very frustrating. I want to see ALL the new movies on one page, or as least a good list.
I also highly agree with another user who stated that the new release page is not showing me all new releases but only ones you are trying to show me. This is VERY frustrating. If I want to see new movies, show me ALL the new movies!
The "New" new releases pages is absolutely horrible. Every comment above says so as well. Netflix, are you listening? It is the feature we use the most, and honestly I do not understand why you would want to do something that jeopardizes your subscriber list like this does. If the now useless new releases page does not return to its previous useful incarnation, you will be losing customers. This is so sad. PLEASE fix it. If you wanted feedback, you sure are getting it - I hope you are listening!
I was just checking out block buster's site and I like the way they handle new releases. Not only do they show new releases, they have releasing this week, new to DVD and what's in theaters. It's not pretty or fancy but the pages load quickly and it has all the info I would be interested in. Hopefully Netflix listens to all its members and incorporates some of the things they're talking about.
I can deal with having old movies listed in ""Releasing this Week"", fine. I can even take the fact that not all movies that are released on dvd are listed on the ""Releasing this Week"". But make it so i can even find a new release without going through all the junk!!!that the final straw!!! I bet blockbuster makes it easer to find a dvd.
Yes,please please bring back the releasing this week page! I don't care what the Netflix algorithms calculate what I am supposed to be interested in,I want to pick from a full menu!
this company is a joke.lucky too get one movie a week.odered grind house all i got was the bonuse disc i will cancell at the end of month and go with BLOCK BUSTER ON LINE.ThIS COMPANY TOO MESSED UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've been a Netflix subscriber and fan since 2000. Haven't found a service to beat it. Great customer service and almost every movie available. That being said, not sure I'm too crazy about the "New Releases" link. You can "pretty up" the old page, but I liked the organization and counted on it every week to tell me what's out and what's coming out. Sometimes it's ok to just keep on doin' what you're doin' and not get too fancy.
Please bring back the Releasing This Week in an easy place....I still can't figure out why you changed it, unless you don't want people to get them put into their queue in a timely manner....which wouldn't surprise me at all, since there is the tendency already when adding movies to say available now and in the next day or two it will say short wait or long wait.
Just put it back where it is easy to find, and with the categories like before. I not only subscribe to you, but have bought friends gift subscriptions. I'm not at all happy about this new change....it stinks.
WOW! I take back my previous thoughts. I never found the Releasing this week page very useful because dozens of sites have releasing this week/month lists that are very easy to find. I Chat on IMDB and rate on MSN Entertainment, Plus, Seth listed two other great ones. I could rattle them off too but on google search will give you 50 more. I never realized there was any reason to care, expect for the fact that Netflix list is incomplete. It is *only* the one Netflix is getting so I have always preferred the others.
I never realized so many people needed Netflix for this. Since I wasn't paying attention to this feature, I wonder if it became something tremendously more than just a list, while I wasn't looking? Huh. Well, for those who need/want it I guess it makes sense. It is interesting how different people have different priorities.
Well...
Cheers All! and a VERY Merry Christmas too!
-Matt
Man do I hate the New Releases area. I always loved going to the "releasing this week" area every Sunday and adding new DVDs to my queue. Really if I can't do that then I'd stop renting DVDs. The way it is now is horrible. It just shows me DVDs that aren't new.
I went to the New Releases area and I am so mad. Where's the "releasing this week" tab? Without it I'm totally lost. I don't want to have to go to other sites just to update my queue. The "releasing this week" tab was my favorite thing on Netflix. If it doesn't come back then I'm leaving Netflix. I like how you guys try to improve things but getting rid of the most important thing to me is so dumb. I get back from Christmas vacation at the end of the week and if the "releasing this week" tab is still gone I think I might just start going to my local video store since they have all the new releases on the rack. I hate this side scroll crap. Please Please bring back the feature!!!
@Phatz - Ditto. I never really found the new releases page that useful either. But then, I add the vast majority of movies I am interested in to my "saved" queue long before they come out on dvd (usually before they even come out in theaters). I only look at the "new to dvd" page every couple months to see what classics have recently come to dvd.
People like us are willing to spend many hours a week futzing with our queue and other things on Netflix. The irate people here are the majority who don't want to spend more than an hour a week on such things. For them the thought of going to another site to find new releases is mind boggling and time they are not willing to spend to replace the one page they regularly visit on Netflix.
They want simplicity and they want it now. Unfortunately they are likely going to have to wait until after Christmas before everyone gets back into the office and they can roll back this change. Might happen before then, but I wouldn't count on it. Its possible it may not get changed back until after the new year.
Netflix has certainly seen the error of their ways now, but a lot of people are going to be on vacation this week, and there isn't much that can be done to change that now. We certainly don't want people to miss out on the holidays with their families just to fix the new releases page.
So, everyone please have a bit of patience for the next week or 2 while they get it fixed back to the way it was (or something similar). I'm sure they will make it a top priority.
the New Releases section is horrible now.
Please go back to the old way it was.
Everything was on one page before , now i have to play scrolling games just to find whats coming out.
I cannot find anything now.
Give people the option what to look at not force this horrible new system on everyone.
I cannot find crap now
If i cannot see whats coming out i have no reason to keep my membership here.
the New Releases section is horrible now.
Please go back to the old way it was.
Everything was on one page before , now i have to play scrolling games just to find whats coming out.
I cannot find anything now.
Give people the option what to look at not force this horrible new system on everyone.
I cannot find crap now
If i cannot see whats coming out i have no reason to keep my membership here.
There's something about "don't fix it if it aint broke". It is the most useful feature of the website.
"don't fix it if it aint broke"
In their defense, Netflix has a pretty good track record on improving things that "ain't broke". The vast majority of changes over the last year have been fixes to unbroken things. I think most would agree that the vast majority of the changes have either been an improvement or at least done no harm. This is the first one I have seen that has had such in instant overwhelmingly negative response.
They obviously blew it on this one. Personally I don't want to see them stop improving the site just because they made one mistake that can be undone with no lasting harm.
baff said: People like us are willing to spend many hours a week futzing with our queue and other things on Netflix. The irate people here are the majority who don't want to spend more than an hour a week on such things. For them the thought of going to another site to find new releases is mind boggling and time they are not willing to spend to replace the one page they regularly visit on Netflix.
Actually you're totally wrong. I spend as much time as you "futzing" with my queue and discovering new movies elsewhere. Netflix doesn't always add stuff to their catalog way in advance, and sometimes the only time some things will show up in the Netflix catalog is when they add them in with the new releases... which would then show up for the first time on the 'releasing this week' page. Not every coming movie can be added as 'saved' in advance if Netflix hasn't added it yet.
Even though I spend a lot of time learning about new movies elsewhere, there's always some movies in some genres that are bound to be missed. Therefore having that page the way it was, was an important and valuable way for me to discover even more new movies, as well as movies I'd never seen or heard about elsewhere.
Just because it wasn't a useful page to some of you doesn't mean that the rest of us who liked and used it are a bunch of idiots. My Netflix ranking is not that far off from yours so I'm probably about as much of "power user" of Netflix as anyone else here, and I for one really hope they bring that page back (whether it be improved and still functional or left just the way it was).
p.s... for what it's worth I realize the rankings don't mean squat. I only brought it up to show that it's not only the 'mindboggled' ignorant masses who are very unhappy about this change.
"For them the thought of going to another site to find new releases is mind boggling "
When I said this, I didn't mean to imply that anyone was an idiot (power user or casual user). I simply meant that people who are regular users of the new release page would find it ludicrous to suddenly be told they need to use another site just to be able to do what they have been doing on Netflix.
I also didn't mean to imply that only casual users use the new release page. When I said "us", I simply meant those of us who are a bit surprised by the massive negative response over what we see as a minor change.
"Netflix doesn't always add stuff to their catalog way in advance"
Thats the main reason I use other sites, so I can request movies not in their catalog before they come out.
Bring the Releasing This Week page back!
The new layout is just utter shite and there is no way I'm taking the time to click thru all those movies!
Keep It Simple Stupid!
Or are you guys at Netflix just trying to lose customers so you neednt worry about the extra shipping charge "The Man" may charge if you dont change the DVD envelopes?
The New Releases looks like it was setup for old timers or the blind. It will literally take me hours to go through all the genres and click through 4 movies at a time to see whats new. Are you kidding me? Who has time for this? I used to go to the releasing this week page... scan up and down the page, pick what I want in all of what 5 minutes tops?
Oh and I agree with others. What do I care what people in my area are renting? That whole idea is a waste of space and time seriously!
Good news: The page can still be accessed, just not from a link on the site.
Bookmark this link:
http://www.netflix.com/AllNewReleases?lnkctr=NavAllNewReleases
and you will be able to view the Releasing this week page, and quit posting mean and threatening messages.
Let's try this again because it truncated the link:
Releasing this week
tygger,
You are God!!
Thank you, I love you!
ps, does anyone else get the strange feeling that 90% of these mean complaining posts are authored by one single "anonymous" meanie? (spammeanie)?
michael, you don't have the ability to verify this, do you?
The annonymous post listed at 3:27pm today was made by me. I only posted the one comment. It's just easier to click anonymous then to log into an account or come up with a silly name!
Thanks tygger for the link... you rock!
Let me add my voice of frustration with this change of such a useful feature. The new page is almost totally useless to me. Give me a list that I can peruse and I'm much happier.
I get the tweaking, but in this case, for me, and it seems MANY others, it sucks. Sorry to be blunt, but I was so surprised that the "Releasing This Week" page disappeared I spent almost 30 minutes searching for it, and then another 15 minutes trying to find a way to complain in a public forum.
Thanks for providing that.
I love Netflix, it's made my life easier, but this was a move in the wrong direction.
I'm glad to hear it's coming back, please do it ASAP.
Matt
I actually had a panic attack last night when I went to check the New Releases section and found that it had been replaced by the pretty but impractical sort of thing your competitors would use. Noooo!
I called the Help Line for the first time to find out what the heck happened to it. While I have to commend the help line (brief wait and very nice), I agree with others here who want the Releasing This Week and Now on DVD sections added back. It's great if you want to expand the New Releases section to show blockbusters and what's hot in your city or even reorganize it to make it easier to use but don't replace it with features that don't provide the same information. And we all know RSS is not the same thing. Many of your customers probably have no idea what RSS is or how to use it.
If you want us to go look up new releases on a competitor's site do you want us to just go ahead and rent from them as well? I'm a diehard Netflix fan but this is the kind of thing that could make me jump ship. I guess selling my Netflix stock was the right decision. Do the words "New Coke" mean anything to you?
e asked: does anyone else get the strange feeling that 90% of these mean complaining posts are authored by one single "anonymous" meanie? (spammeanie)?
Actually, I don't think that's the case. I think this change has made a lot of users (like me) who've never complained about anything search out a place to provide feedback and to let Netflix know that this change could lose them as a customer. This is a BIG DEAL to those of us who use this feature a lot.
I choose alot of my movies based on the Releasing this Week page, and I rarely get blockbusters. It's the movies/documentaries that aren't well promoted that I find there. Also, the feature about what is popular in my town is UNBELIEVABLE STUPID. Why would I care what the rednecks here rent?
PLEASE bring back the "releasing this week" page similar to the way it was. I want to be able to look them up by genre, and not that right arrow to left stuff. Not good for those of us who are "visuals".
thankyouverymuch for all yr hard work.
Thats the main reason I use other sites, so I can request movies not in their catalog before they come out.
Right, but then there's still no way to know when it actually does make it into Netflix after you've requested it. You can request it, but it's not like they then notify you once it's available or add it automatically to your queue or saved list. You still need to know when Neftlix does finally get the movie so that you can add it. The 'Releasing this Week' page provided that information in one easy to use and easy to find location.
Personally I'd rather not have to waste the time to keep looking up the same movies over and over again, waiting for Netflix to add them to their catalog. One page where you can see everything that's about to be released or new to the catalog is the simplest way to know what's about to become available. In the past I have requested movies, and then I would know when they were about to be added to the Netflix catalog ahead of time when they eventually showed up on the 'Releasing this Week' page.
I find it so strange that there's people out there actually taking the time to argue against the usefulness of this page, or putting people down for being upset that it's gone.
And thank you to the person who posted the link to the old page! I wonder though if they're going to keep updating it now that it's disappeared from the sites main menu? I guess we'll find out on Sunday.
Blockbuster has a very easy to use realeasing this week search functionality... now I love my Netflix... oh those lovely red envelopes... but I wanna know whats out this week that isn't being driven by a major studio down my throat... just food for thought
In total agreement with Anon-2:34 and in total disagreement (for the first time) with Baff. I spend what is probably an unhealthy amount of time (hours upon hours) on the site each week-- reading reviews from my faves and fans, futzing with my queue (mostly to figure out what I have to drop from my 500 to add a new one!), and leaving notes for my friends who rarely use the site. Yes, I do read other sites for upcoming releases, however, "releasing this week" often included (what I thought, and I could be wrong), "new" releases to the Netflix catalog. No other website can give me this information. Also, considering the sheer number of titles in "releasing this week" within each genre, this list has been so much more useful to me, as one who watches random, quirky, indie movies (in addition to the blockbusters), rather than a list of "new releases" on another site (which typically lists maybe up to 10 new releases). I can wait for Netflix to resolve this issue (or for Michael to tell us more about it). I will not cancel my subscription (which is a tad histrionic, imho), but I would like to see this feature back because I used it often. Thank you. -- Eleni (never an anonymous poster; a semi-power user, I suppose, with a rank ~26,000)
The best thing you had was releasing this week in different categories --
Now it is GONE.
You need to get that back -- not sure why it is gone.
:(
I really enjoyed being able to browse all the categories of new releases, now you only let me have drama, comedy, denver (uggh!), and new releases. I can,t browse what has just been released this week. If you dont change back,or at least give me the option of browsing what has been released this week, I am going to cancel my subscription.
I'm glad to see that others are as angry as I was about the elimination of the new release page. I am shocked that the people who had manning the phones were unaware of the change until I called up about it a couple of days ago. If the page that was up this week was brought back with pages for the following weeks, that would be helpful for a period of a couple of weeks to allow subscribers to play catch up with the releases they want in their queues. Also, the what's popular in my town section is useless - who really cares? Some of of the recommendations are useful and I've seen some good films I might otherwise have missed, but I do like to know of everything available because it may spark my interest.
Ironically, I think this is the best change to the site for me personally in the last year. Despite that, I completely agreed that Netflix should change back to the old page.
I just stepped into the thread to call for a little bit of patience, not to argue for keeping the page as it is now.
The new page is pretty, but I'd still like the old "releasing this week" page with all the week's releases on one page so I can quickly browse and add them.
Related to this, I wish you'd let me pick a week to view... I'd always have to wait for Sundays to see the upcoming Tuesday releases. It would be nice to check the next week and the next couple of weeks at any time.
Sorry to be a broken record, but bring back the "Releasing This Week" page. I've been a member since 2004 and have used that page to add to my queue since day 1.
You can keep the pretty page with the scrolling thumbnails, but the original "Releasing This Week" page has to be accessible also.
It is INVALUABLE to seeing everything that's come out in the last week: weird old TV shows, foreign movies, oddball stuff that you may otherwise miss if it's not advertised on the main pages.
You have to bring that listing back.
Bring back the "Releasing This Week" page.
Remember, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I'm with Baff, let's show some patience now. I think they get the idea. All will be well soon.
And why do people freak out about "What's Popular in My Town"? You may find it useless, but so what? It isn't begging you to look at it, and I say it's darn interesting, anyway. Just ignore it if you so choose.
That should tell you something if so many people are complaining about this change. Seriously, there was no need to change that page, since it seems the majority of users go straight there. Without it, I would have to reconsider whether I want to continue with Netflix or use another subscription service where I could more easily find new releases.
People that you have selected as "Faves" should be influencing your recommendations.
For example. If I have 10 Faves, at least 5 of whom have rated a particular movie 4 or 5 stars, and I haven't rented it yet, it should instantly be added to my recommendations.
This human element is the "X" factor that is missing from the current Netflix recommendation algorithm.
Thank you for the wonderful community features!
Daniel in CA
Thanks for listening,
Daniel Alvarado
Removing the "Releasing this Week" page was an incredibly stupid idea - the current new release page is worse than the old one.
Return to the old format (or something very similar) or you're going to lose this customer.
I am really dumbfounded thinking about who planned this change
If customers are forced to go to a different site to find out what is releasing this week (as opposed to going by choice) you stand a chance of losing a certain number of subscribers. Then someone at Netflix will be scratching their head and saying they don't understand why subscribers are leaving. You've just put up a pretty big obstacle for people to work around. You've made something that was simple and efficient into something difficult and inefficient. You could always have BOTH pages and give people another choice, but please don't make it more difficult/time consuming. Everything was in one place and EASY and QUICK. For the love of cinema, please bring back the "releasing this week" page.
Yes, please bring back the new release page. Why was this change in the first place anyway? Are your programmers sitting around with nothing to do and decided the best way to spend their free time is by frustrating their customers? Please tell them to take a nap or go out for a walk the next time they are sitting around idling. Finding way to piss off their customers is not a good use of their free time.
if the "releasing this week" section doesn't come back very soon, it's likely i'll cancel my account. the rss feed is not an equal alternative; no way to browse by genre. please bring it back asap.
As stated my many, many other customers, the deletion of the "releasing this week" page is frustrating. I came here this morning to update my queue and all I find are a few genre options. Totally useless. Please bring back the old page!
BRING BACK THE NEW RELEASES FOR THE WEEK PAGE !
This new format is useless to me.
As a subscriber who watches a lot of different types of movies that aren't likely to make any "top new releases" list, I urge you to bring back the Releasing This Week page. I can imagine that such a feature might be causing a bottleneck in demand for your hot titles, but how is that different from a bricks-and-mortar store? Indeed, if I have to use other web sites or go to a brick-and-mortar video store (and there's a great one near my house) to get a comprehensive look at what's new, then a significant part of why your service is useful to me will be gone.
Thanks Tygger! I appreciate the link. I sure hope they listen to the masses. I work overnights on saturdays and part of my ritual when I get home sunday morning is checking out the "Releasing this Week" tab. Without the link I may not have been able to sleep this morning! Thanks again.
hello--just wanted to add my voice to the group of people complaining about the lack of 'releasing this week.'
but i'll give a compliment at the same time: it's great that netflix has this blog. even though i don't read it very often, it's fantastic that netflix provides a place to let users' opinions be known. when i saw that the feature that i use regularly (releasing this week) changed, i came right here, and knew that i'd find information, and could express my opinion. so thanks for the blog.
this new way of finding new releases just sucks, i down graded my plan today and will cancel within a month if its not fixed. the old way worked great for people with a life who dont want to have to nitpick through a website for hours to find something. way to go , just when it looked like you could knock out the competition you make a bonehead move like this. I have been a loyal customer, but will not use this service the way it is! oh and I am not going to rss or whatever to find this weeks releases, I shouldn't have to, noone should we never had to before.just the fact I have to take time out to write this is irritating as heck. If you don't fix this soon you will have an exodus of epic proportion on your hands. The plus side is you will make this years biggest corporate blunders article in the news!
NO!! I will not be patient with Netflix Baff. The old page was simple and easy to use. It also helped with the fact that I do not have high speed internet. If you make something fancier it takes forever to load. I also do not care if it is the holidays. They can spend all Christmas day fixing this for all I care. No one aked them to change/break it in the first place. I am furious that they did this.
Honestly the more i look at it the more I think there is something a miss, first check who's idea it was to do this and if it was planned to coincide with blockbusters jacking up there prices, which was on the news this week. I don't know how you run your company, but you just went from the top of the class to the bottom. It may sound dumb But I root out corporate spies for a living, and find it impossible that someone with netflix best interest in mind would do something this blatantly wrong. But thats your problem, I went on blockbusters website for the first time today, and they are using basically the same system you had until yesterday. Count me gone next week this time unless you correct this and I have been a member since you started business
I totally agree that eliminating "Releasing This Week" is an inexcusable travesty. The best workaround I could come up with quickly is on Rotten Tomatoes:
www.rottentomatoes.com/videodvd/upcoming.php
Please bring back the releasing this week page. I look at it every Sunday morning. Netflix won't be the same without it. I may not keep my subscription.
PLEASE give the option of having the 'old' new release page!!! I want to see 'what's releasing this week' and none of those options now give me that!!! It might include SOME items that are releasing this week but it also includes items that are already available....
the netflix 'releasing this week' page was where i'd go every sunday morning to add items to my queue....now you've given me a headache and i have no idea where to go to get a list of new releases....
PLEASE give people the option of having the old one---or at least add a module 'releasing this week'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i see other people want it back too!!! It really is the most important netflix page for me (and others)....why get it rid of something people use???????? BRING IT BACK PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!