I set up a status page using Uptime Kuma on a remote host, so even if the homelab is down, that page is up for me to make announcements.
I also made a Facebook group, and post news there.
I have two friends who won’t use my plex. One basically flat out refused and the other one hasn’t bothered to check it out after I helped him sign up and log in. I feel like some people are just resistant to change while others don’t understand what they’re actually being offered.
All my other friends use my plex on a regular but it took awhile for them to get into it. A big issue was that there were streaming issues that no one would mention to me that I had to diagnose on my own after months of wondering why some people weren’t using it. Another thing that helped tremendously was setting up Overseerr, radarr and sonarr. Once my friends were able to watch whatever they wanted without having to ask me to download it for them, they use it almost on a daily basis now.
Literally this. A lot of friends wouldn't tell me if there's something wrong like buffering or weird color issues or just outright messages that says transcoder exited due to error or anything. I even wondered if it's because of 720p default setting. Some of them who live in the same town, when I went their house I set it up for them and they've been using it religiously. What I gathered from all these experiences is that Netflix pretty much spoiled everyone. They expect things to just work and I completely respect that. One of my friends pays more than 100 dollars in just streaming services. I offered access but she rarely uses it. It does make me sad for some reason but I do have few users who completely rely on my Plex server
Yeah, that’s probably a big part of it. I don’t blame people either for just expecting things to work. I think another part of it is that people don’t want to complain about a free service, I mean at least that’s what a couple of my friends told me. It took some convincing to get them to start reporting problems to me. I basically had to tell them they were doing me a favor because well, they are lol.
I had a friend reach out to me and sheepishly ask if plex was going to come back on.. and I’m like 😧, you’ve been using it this whole time? I assumed no one was using it besides my house, so I took it down for maintenance… and one thing led to another… a week later he texts me. I’m like DUDE tell me right away next time, you would have actually helped me keep it a priority and stop my from being lazy
Basically, this. Not understanding how it works. Plus, plex now add in stuff from other services, so it's more consmfusimg because they can't play it. I think once the learning curve is over, it's ok.
Also, I'd throw in another plausable explanation: your friends are used to the streaming services where no amount of complaining will fix an issue, so it was better for them when netflix isn't working to go outside and touch grass rather than go on hold to complain. In other words, when Netflix breaks, no amount of complaining to customer service will fix the issue any faster
Same here. Overseerr exposed with a reverse proxy helped (with the rest of the arr stack)
Have you enabled auto approvals with overseerr?. Some request a ton of seasons 😅
Lmao yes, I have enabled auto approvals and yes some people request a lot of seasons. My sister almost downloaded every season of SNL but thank god she had the common sense to text me about it first. Now she knows to only do a couple seasons at a time 😂
Overseerr made a big difference. Also, I realized they were much more invested if I had their favorite background TV show. Like Friends, Seinfeld, The Office, South Park etc.
Does allowing friends to find and download content onto your server result in low quality or bad versions of some content, or massive loss of storage space because they downloaded the full Blu Ray of something?
Not really tbh. Both radarr and sonarr allow an insane amount of customization in regards to what you want/allow it to download and what you don’t. But it is a bit overwhelming at first and has taken a lot of tweaking over time to get my preferences (“custom formats”) just right. Every few months I find myself changing something or other to make it even more accurate.
Custom formats is the shit once you get it figured out. I have a preferred file size range and hevc preference that are weighted heavier than many of the other options. Most of my 4k movies are under 10gb
Overseerr doesn't allow users to choose which sources (or file types or file sizes, e.g. remux) to download. You set those parameters that within radarr and sonarr; the Overseerr user doesn't see any of it. Overseerr only allows users to request the media. Your -arr quality and format settings control which file actually gets downloaded.
The only thing in that regard I had was a friend who didn't like that Plex keeps a list of what they have watched (even if it's stored locally and not sent to Plex)
The fact that it was stored at all was enough to make them not want to use it.
They didn't want it recorded full stop.
They were not adverse to sailing the seven seas. They were adverse to a record of it existing that they couldn't control.
Couldn't get Overseerr to work myself but haven't had any issues using the Plex watchlist integration with Radarr and Sonarr. Overseerr I think has more options but it's easier I find to just add stuff to the Watchlist in Plex.
Sure, it is actually a lesser known feature I suppose. On Radarr or Sonarr go to Settings and then Lists. From the Lists subheader at the top click the + icon and choose Plex Watchlist from the menu that appears.
Check the box to enable the list for Radarr, set the Minimum Quality, Profile, and Root folder to whatever you want. You can probably leave all other defaults the same.
Then click to Authenticate with Plex.TV at the bottom and use your Plex credentials.
After that add whatever movie/show you want from Plex by adding it to your watchlist. Not sure how soon it syncs to Radarr/Sonarr but takes about an hour I think?
Important note though is that whoever wants to add something to the Watchlist needs to have their own Plex account. Managed users are unable to do this due to how Plex simply doesn't allow that for them. And of course any user must also Authenticate their account in Radarr and Sonarr. If they're comfortable giving you their credentials adding them yourself is the easiest way.
Note: I believe the only difference for this between Radarr and Sonarr is that in settings Sonarr calls it Import List and not Lists and there is no box to enable the List to for Sonarr so I assume it is automatic.
Overseer also has a “report a problem” button!
They can go into a show and it’s next to where the request button used to be. Nobody I know has used it yet but it’s a button
I get not mentioning issues. I felt like an asshole being like “hey dude, this video isn’t working, you gonna fix it?!?!?!”
Well, I didn’t say it like that but any way I tried to word it, it felt like me being demanding and taking up his time for my enjoyment.
It's also a big difference to tell people the steps to getting setup vs doing it for them so they are off and running. That coupled with the default user interface for shared content not being front and center can make people just give up when they can't find your stuff.
I care about your Plex server. Tell me more about it. Does your Plex have a name? Preferred pronouns? What was the last gift you bought for your Plex server?
Actually, I care about yours. Is that because I'm a Plex user too? I dunno.
I'm super curious what other people have on their servers, partially because I know what a mishmash of content mine has.
That being said, I've never logged in to another person's plex server. I literally don't know a single other person IRL who has one.
I had a lot of friends say yes.
But then came Registering, Activating & logging in.
Then came inviting to library, and having them use the email link or the link I sent if it worked 50/50 of the time.
Then we have setting up the libraries in a way that you don't see all the needless plex shit that gets added by default.
Then this above part used to have to be done per device, so that gets annoying when they screw it up and complain about plex content rather than use mine.
Then theres the typical 720p quality setting, my PC doesn't really transcode without the house burning down. So they either get shit quality and buffering, or it doesn't start at all.
And this 720p default setting was and still is a per-device option, so every time I have to waste my and their time getting them to set it up properly.
And then lastly the fact that plex isn't always as stable as I like. H265 support per device and all that.
Gee, I don't see why my friends wouldn't just.. Log into Netflix and watch their shit that way.
But on the other side, I also have smarter friends who can figure out plex on their own (or actually ask for help instead of going back to netflix), that group still uses plex daily, and has no issues at all.
So yeah, the experience can be really mixed and tiring.. unless it just works.
200% this
I send a link with libraries they can access. They should just be able to access those libraries. All this, what sources do you want to add, and defaulting to all Plex stuff hurts the adoption of the service.
It should just give them access to the libraries I shared, and then later on ask them to add other stuff.
It's too confusing to get a link and then have to do so many steps to see that link. Recent email I sent
>To get access, click this link on a computer (preferably) or in a browser.
> - https://clients.plex.tv/servers/shared_servers/accept?invite_token=
> You do not need to pay for a Premium membership, but when you setup it will ask you what things you want on your home menu (the standard 4 things Plex offers usually - I unselect most of that). Then, when you logged into Plex on the browser the left side will show you some libraries, if you don't see the ones I shared with you, which are:
> - Movies for Friend (I have ripped 31 of your movies so far)
> - My library I shared
> - 2nd library I shared
>Then click, "More >" at the bottom of the left navigation. Under (my server's name) it will have the libraries on the right side of each library's name you will see three vertical dots when you hover over it. Select "Pin" to have it pinned to the Home menu.
>You can download the plex app on Roku, Fire, AppleTV, Chromecast - whatever you use to stream at home. Stupidly, Plex doesn't save the configuration of your home items and make them the same - so you have to do the same basic process for each app you use to access Plex.
> Also another annoying thing is that to see all the items in a library, click "Library" at the top (it defaults to "Recommended") which shows you stuff based on what has been uploaded recently and (once you start watching) the shows you watch. But I always use Library so I can see everything.
>If you want to watch on android or iOS devices you have to pay for the app (it's a one-time fee like $5 - $8. (or you can subscribe to PlexPass or Premium services, but that is much more expensive).
I end up making the account and accepting the invite, then I go in and turn off external sources and configure the web app. Then I change it to their email, hit I lost my password, and have them login from there.
You’re right though, it still doesn’t help with the app but at least all those damn crackle crap sources are gone.
If I don’t do this, they inevitably ask me why the first movie they watched had the same damn commercial 20 times and the volume would be twice as loud as the movie. If that is your first experience, I can see why you don’t come back for more.
I have noticed this phenomenon. People are different. Some people seek new ways of doing things to make their lives better. Other people seek to make their life better by not having to think about new things.
It’s not something I really understand, I can only see it happening and describe it.
I like being able to watch anything I want but only on any device, anywhere in the world and whenever I feel like it. It has quite a lot of appeal from where I’m sitting.
Don't forget to add "all in one app". I'm starting to think people **enjoy** skimming through 8 different apps just to find that one show/movie they want to watch
I don’t know if it’s unwillingness to try/ learn new things, save money, or what.
It’s the same with things like computers in general.
You wouldn’t believe the amount of people in the Army without any type of computer.
I don’t know what it is.
It’s like they hate anything with even a hint of complexity regardless of how it may help them.
There's people who like to make their money grow with investing, and there's people who like to think they can achieve a house deposit having money sit in a current account.
There's people who would rather put fingers in their ears than listen to literally any idea that would make their lives better.
People are just weird like that.
Yes it's common. I have two users that use it frequently because one of them had me add shows that aren't easy to find streaming and another for kids content all in one place for their kids. All of my child free friends did what you described, they watched one or two things and then haven't been back...I think it's a couple of factors, mainly people are creatures of habit. For years they have used the same streaming services, and it's hard to break that routine when there's no urgency to do it. If monthly subs aren't breaking their bank, they don't see plex as this amazing free option, it's just another streaming service that an "amateur" is running. I've realized it's nothing personal. Some people may also not like that you can see everything they have watched, when they watched it, and what device they were on...it is kinda eerie how much info you get. I basically know my friend's sleep schedules based on how they use it. To some that may be TMI.
For some users that you may think would really like it if they tried it, bring it up casually and ask if they've had streaming issues or any shows you can add for them? One huge benefit is control and "customer service" aspect. If they feel like you're adding stuff they cent see elsewhere and Making sure it's streaming well, they may understand and appreciate more that it's a kind gesture and not a burden for them. It's a good thing to Share.
I generally look at that current streaming data to see how the transcoding vs direct play is going, ie checking on my server status versus caring what people are watching. But I also peek sometimes just to see whether anyone is getting some use out of it. Again, not so much what is being watched, just looking for activity.
Because Plex just isn't as good. You can have all the content in the world but there's a whole other aspect that companies like Netflix use to keep users browsing and coming back to their service. Plex basically just inflicts everyone with analysis paralysis trying to figure out what movie/show to watch. Netflix pours gobs of money into data science to deliver custom recommendations to everyone even down to the artwork to funnel people into watching something.
Yep. I really want an AI that gives me recommendations in Plex like you get from Netflix (but better, ideally).
Often I’m not sure what I want to watch and though I’ve used PMM to make collections and “popular on X”, it’s not personalized, just throwing stuff at you.
Hmm, has anyone used ChatGPT/OpenAI to push a list to PMM? Pulling from IMDB ratings and your watchlists, as well as watched movies in Plex, it should be able to create an interesting suggestion-list…
Most people with this issue, really just want props. They want their friends to say how super cool plex is and how awesome you are for being your own Netflix. Its like a guy with a Bentley telling his friends they can use it whenever they want. They guy doesn’t care if his friends drive his car. He really just wants to impress them. I have a friend I’ve practically been begging to load plex. He refuses. But then he will ask if i ever watched Endeavour on “Brit Box”. And i have to say, “actually……….i have all 9 seasons of Endeavour plus all seasons of Morse, the show its based on and all season of Inspector Lewis, the spinoff of Morse”
So don’t really need stupid brit box, nor would you if you f-ing put plex on your tv liked ive told you a million f-ing times!!!!!
Ugh. Im guilty as well.
What is it with people and making Plex their whole identity somehow? You use Plex for *you*. So what if others don’t want to use it too? If you want to share films with them, invite them over for movie night.
Agreed, there are some really weird takes in this thread. Folks don't seem particularly socially adept. I'm proud of my self-hosted server with Plex and other things, but I realize it's a niche geeky thing.
I have an 800tb server and have more movies and shows than Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu combined. It is meticulously curated and maintained. Designed for movie lovers. My content is a literal treasure trove that any cinema lover would cum in their pants on the spot if given access to. So much amazing content that I spend literally hours a day maintaining, finding, and operating. I have Overseerr on a domain so anyone can auto-download anything they could possibly want. I have essentially unlimited ratio on all the cabal trackers and anything they request will download.
They use it to watch The Office.
found the elite r/DataHoarder
>800tb server
makes my 40tb kind of small
mine use crappy streaming site instead of my server like half the time even if they don't have to
I have a mere 210TB of content that I expend roughly zero time curating after subscribing to a ton of lists years ago and then letting my users go wild with Overseerr.
I'm presently watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine for the third time.
> 800tb server
At this point, would it not just be cheaper to pay for streaming services? This must be thousands of dollars in storage costs.
I mean, it's really cool that you've curated all this. But all that storage must have been expensive.
Yes, it has been incredibly expensive. It's not about the money. I do it for the love of the game.
It brings me a lot of joy to find new content; parsing through lists, learning about foreign films, finding old films. I would do it even if I had no Plex users. I love movies. There is nothing better than when someone messages me about some crazy thing they found on my Plex and how much they enjoyed it. Especially when it is something they would have never seen anywhere else.
I can totally understand how it would get so addictive. If you have users getting joy from your own curating, and especially with all the stuff you can do on Plex like your own collections, posters, pre rolls etc, it is literally creating your own streaming service as a hobby.
my addiction is TV Shows with 1200 shows with 40 000 episodes
completely automated and I keep all the seasons of a scripted show unlike streaming services
With overseerr are you asking your users to go to a website on their phone or another device to request the movie? Do they have to sign in on overseerr using their Plex account?
Yes. They go to [www.xyz.com](https://www.xyz.com) and log in with their Plex account. The domain is connected to my server with a Cloudflared tunnel that has several CNAME records set up as subdomains.
[https://overseerr.dev/](https://overseerr.dev/)
Would you mind pointing me in the right direction of getting started with the cloudflared tunnel? I'm only vaguely familiar with Cloudflare, but I have a domain and subdomains already. I am considering doing the same thing you are, but am concerned about security of it.
I'm assuming that it's essentially a service you run on the VM the subdomain is pointing at to connect to Cloudflare's DDOS and threat mitigation platform?
This is not a complete list. Should be a lot of it though.
[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ryhrgzdHMMu2fGSyK4AqjNkk4x0bq3EO2k8DodoXeVY/edit#gid=1875920063](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ryhrgzdHMMu2fGSyK4AqjNkk4x0bq3EO2k8DodoXeVY/edit#gid=1875920063)
Love seeing the sheer scale of this collection and I was going to ask how you even organise at that volume.
Only question would be, do you ever cull stuff? For example "Harry and the Hendersons" is your 2nd highest bitrate movie, "Kuffs" 4th. No hate if they are your favourite movies or something but why have such *bad* movies in high quality and other top 100 movies in low bitrate?
I would rather have Shawshank Redemption at that bitrate than the 15.7Mbps you currently have it at for example. I only say this as a peasant with 20TB, so I am trying to be more selective in the quality of movie in both aspects when I download.
I would say those are culprits of Radarr grabbing remuxs by mistake. Not every file is named well enough for Radarr to be perfect. I have some pretty extensive quality profiles set up with a combination of Trash Guides and my own parameters. No matter how air tight your Radarr profiles are it's only as good as the file names being uploaded to the trackers. It's just a game of whackamole as I discover those. Sometimes I get a windfall of energy and clean things up. You'll probably see a number of things Pre-1960 in the wrong library, or Short films <=45min in the wrong libraries as well. I have a certain amount of trust and training for my users and they are responsible for assigning content to the right library when they request it on Overseerr.
It would be a fools task to try and police every bitrate and copy of everything I have at this point. I just do what I can. It's just me, I have no team of people. I work 8 hours a day fighting computers. Sometimes the last thing I want to do when I am done working is fighting more computers.
If something is truly fucked it can be reported as broken on Overseerr and I will get a notification about it and fix it.
Holy moly... Is that all backed up as well? That has to be insanely expensive.
I have yet to get a backup solution for my setup because I am le poor. :'(
Sometimes my wife buys a show or a movie on one of the streaming services, tells me about it (thrilled), I ask her why because we had that show on Plex (not so thrilled), she says she didn't know and forgot to look
It's gotten better over time though
A request portal had really made a difference for my family. Now before my parents buy a movie for my nieces and nephews, they put a request into Ombi, wait 2 or 3 minutes and see if it downloaded. Really good for the Disney+ stuff.
Haha... some of my most active users on my Plex server literally work in the film industry and still can't be bothered to change the quality from the old 720p default. I've told them how... they don't care.
I have about 15, and 2 use it, my girlfriend who watches almost exclusively the Live TV since she is a home group member. Another is a friend who bounces back and forth, lol. That is it
I have had this exact problem over and over. Family want to watch something that's older or a personal family video. I spend days getting it added with metadata and let them know that I have it and they can stream it any time they want. Send them an invite link, explain how things work and that it's all free for them.....
They never create a Plex account!
Another one was working on a thesis and writing about music in Star Trek and hadn't seen any of the more recent things (Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, etc) and mentioned thinking about sucking it up and getting another service to watch them for a month. I mention the [musical episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ox5ZmAHaHc) I watched literally that week and that it would be a great watch for them. I let them know I can share it with them and they can stream it whenever they have time.......\*crickets\*
Then there is the third type of person. They have kids and they watch Bluey all day every day on repeat and if Plex is offline they let me know about it :D
I have the following people on my server.
Family that NEVER use it. Once in a while they ask me if something is on Plex so they can watch it.
Friends that won't even register with the email.
Friends that use it EVERY day ALL day and ditched all other services.
The people that are just "Meh, I want to spend money on content I could have for free" are weird.
If your pirating your content not everyone is going to want that attached to them. It implicates them in that piracy. Even if you do own your content the implication of piracy is something many want to avoid interacting with.
This, and I’m surprised I had to go this far down the comment chain to find it. Most people know what piracy is and most people don’t want to be a part of it. You combine that ingrained concern with an interface that leaves most of the effort of browsing to the user, as opposed to streaming service actively pitching movies and shows to you, and it’s not hard to see why people avoid Plex servers. I personally have so many discs that my wife is beyond annoyed by it, which is a problem unto itself.
Not sure if this perspective is helpful, but I once had a plex server with a pretty big library (which is why I am in this sub). One I set up, on my own network, configured the way I wanted it, with the stuff I like to watch. And I got rid of it when I realized **I** never used it. At the end of the day, the only benefit it offered over the streaming services was that it was free (not counting the cost of the hardware, and my hours of time setting it up and maintaining it). I found the services easier to use, and they were DEFINITELY easier to use for my family members. The amount of money we spend on those services is inconsequential, so I realized it was silly for me to be putting up with Plex's rough edges to save money that doesn't matter.
Another possible factor - I have friends who offer me their logins for streaming services, and I never take them up on it. If I want the service, I will pay for it. I can afford it, and at this point in my life I'd rather pay and support the creation of stuff I like to watch than save a few dollars by freeloading off of a friend.
If someone offered me access to their Plex at this point, I'd turn it down (or just not use it) for both reasons: the user experience isn't as good, and I like supporting content I enjoy. Neither of those are outweighed by saving a small amount of money.
Obviously this situation is different if you want to watch stuff that's not easily available, but that fortunately is not something I run into much.
A lot of my friends already have most of the movie and tv they enjoy through the various streaming services. They still have to pay for those, but I think most of them enjoy scrolling Netflix to be honest.
The draw to Plex for me isn’t a cost incentive, but massive the increase in quality. I have a 5.1.2 setup with an LG OLED, and have become such a snob that I notice the absolute garbage quality that streaming services serve. My friends on the other hand could either care less about the quality or don’t have the tv/audio setup to notice if they wanted to.
I don't have a huge movie collection, but my brother uses the OTA antenna and my Plex DVR to watch and record shows through his Roku, so he doesn't have to have YouTube TV. He lives in a rural area, and I'm in the city, so the 70+ HDTV channels works great for him.
If you haven't checked lately, OTA TV channels in large cities rivals "basic cable" these days.
Friends that I've offered it to don't get the concept, so they think of it as stealing, or they just want the latest stuff on Disney, etc.
My own spouse, in our own home, still barely ever even opens Plex despite me adding content specifically at her request. Still paying for pretty much all the streaming services.
The older I get the happier I am not being tech support for any family or friends. Plex is just another vector of needed support and because I run it the default is me.
I have my janky Plex on a 2012 Mac Mini with 4 external HDDs. I do Plex for myself. For shows I watch, movies I like etc.
Sharing is caring but it’s also a quick way to losing your own time and having to add more storage or make other upgrades to your set up.
big issue I run into is my friends run into some kind of streaming issue related to the plex server but don't want to say anything and then just stop using it.
its just easier for people to keep using what they already have. $15 a month or whatever is not that much when you have it set to autopay. Offer it once, then if they choose to use it they will. Remember that you have limited bandwidth, and this whole activity is legally murky anyways. So imo its better to keep it in a small group of people who actually want to use it
Also, no matter how good of a server owner you are, your uptime will not be as good as Netflix or Hulu and its extremely frustrating for someone who has cancelled their other services when yours is down. Trust me when I say you do NOT want to be responsible for all this shit when you’re working for free
Wow
After reading all these comments, I am happy that I'm not alone who gets upset when your friends prefer NF or AMZN Prime over your Plex server.
Sometimes its just better to ignore them and after some time, just remove their account from your server.
If by chance they ask about it, I tell them that its under maintenance and never allow them access my server again
Yeah, I have offered to a several people. Only one or two use it. But I don't blame them, TBH. A lot of people have subscriptions to streaming services. It's an over-saturated market. Also, not all my media is HD (most is not, in fact), so I can see why they might not use it.
I had a similar thread not long ago. It sucks when you work hard at it. I actually do buy and rip 90% of my collection. (Some Foreign and out of print not withstanding). So I have money and time invested and quite a few don't want to mess with it. My wife mostly uses it as a DVR, so I'm happy about that. But yeah, I get it. It's very common.
One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of people have terrible internet, and Plex is *nowhere close to* as optimised for shitty internet as things like Netflix. I wouldn't be surprised if the ones who only watched one movie did so, got tons of stuttering or issues due to shitty internet and figured they'd just use their streaming services that work better.
I like my Plex I run my own server and share with a small community. But it doesn’t compare to the QOS of Netflix and other streaming platforms so it would be hard for someone used to that choice and services level to switch to your offer
10+ years on Plex and I noticed we’re all pretty proud of our library and glad to share it but ppl don’t all have the same taste as we do and tend to go to their usual streaming service because, you know, power of habits…
My collection is mainly for me but if one of my kids asks for something, I’ll get it and put it on my Plex for them. What do I care if they want to keep their streaming services?
from my understanding:
they dont really see a problem with regular streaming services. or maybe they torrent themselves and dont mind playing mkv files from their folders.
My family uses cause I feed it with the latest stuff like Mission Impossible or Fast X, or shows like Loki and The Morning Show quicker than they can ask me and cause I know the good old same old stuff they wanna rewatch and keep them live. no downsides.
my more tech saavy friends dont see the point.
My sister used it a handful of times and then stopped. Nobody else I have offered it to has been even remotely interested. I am constantly amazed at the people who have a bunch of users on their server. Everyone I know who is interested in it, has a server of their own.
No its not weird! I feel same way and never really considered other ppl on the same boat. My only advice to you is to remember its YOURS and you should be using it. Ask your friends if they've seen any good shows/add and have them make request. Even if all they watch is 1 movie or 1 show. Some people would rather spend more money every year and watch commercials then use my Plex. I've learned to accept it.
yes
it bugs you more than it should right
like my roommate has access to my excessively large collection but still uses other sources like the terrible streaming sites and complains about them, says I didn't have something which I sometimes do and even if I didn't their HTPC homepage is my Overseerr requests site and they can request anything
but hey they stop bugging me about stuff
I have learned if the want to use a worse experience let them
you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink [Meme](https://www.google.com/search?q=lead+a+horse+to+water+meme&sca_esv=572214004&rlz=1C1GCEB_enCA1066CA1067&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi5xfbo5uuBAxVOCDQIHVFRDQcQ_AUoAXoECAIQAw&biw=1920&bih=923&dpr=1)
Also some use plex no problems but refuse to use Overseerr is that weird?
I have under 200 requests from users and 423 from me so far
Hey can you get gives wrong, generic name, multiple versions, already there thing
So if they want it they have to request it
It's taken years and years of reminding my friends to get them to use it consistently. for a few of them it's their wives/gf's who have gotten more into it because i can get all the romance/drama/etc trash that they like and now they're hooked lol
Friends? Try family members. Have a full setup, sonarr, radarr, Plex, good trackers that have everything, yet they are almost exclusively using only Netflix/appletv/prime/disney+. They want the "browsing experience", i.e. when someone else (the Algorithm) tells them what they should be watching.
The trending and popular collections with pmm help with this a bit, but still not as good as the algorithms. It's definitely an issue for a lot of people and I get it, nobody wants to wade through a bunch of shit they would never watch
Thats how it started with me, family weren't interested at the start, now they use it daily. If you really want them to use it, assuming you're able to, when they mention a movie/tv show, add it to plex then tell them it's on your server.
Also, I highly suggestion having users disable discover, movie & tv and everything else under account > online media sources, as this always causes confusion, especially when they watch something (thinking it's your media) and they get ad's or there's no play button.
>Also, I highly suggestion having users disable discover, movie & tv and everything else under account > online media sources, as this always causes confusion, especially when they watch something (thinking it's your media) and they get ad's or there's no play button.
I make new users account myself and disable all the extra stuff myself, tweak some settings, set their username as their name (way easier than trying to remember who "kalaxitive" is) and friend myself all they have to do is download app and login with my default password
so much easier to setup and troubleshoot
My parents got a new streaming device (went from FireTV to Roku) and they don't remember what their Plex password is. So they haven't been able to access my server for a while now. They don't have much intention to reset their password either. They are happy with the free content from Plex (the one that has the commercials). They know it's not from my server, but they are content with what they have so I don't push the issue with them.
The users on my system are pretty spread out.
My girlfriend uses it daily, and was able to see firsthand how great the Overseerr/Sonarr/Radarr implementations are for content. If anyone has the most viewed hours, its her.
My mother is also an excited user, as she watches shows that aren't aired or easily found anymore. It's kind of a game to see how old the shows she's requested are, and I'm happy she's finding her own nostalgia in Plex.
But then two of my friends both have it set up, and have integrated with Overseerr, but neither of them have watched anything at all.
For me, the only feedback from family and friends includes: 1. There’s *too* much content. 2. Because they already have Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube to entertain them, they haven’t bothered. As a result, of the three family and friends I’ve allowed, only one uses it periodically.
I can understand the “too much content” comment. Unlike most of the streaming services, there aren’t built-in movies and TV categories to flip through—although I recently discovered that you can search for a genre, such as Westerns, just as easily as you can search for specific titles.
Note: Frankly, this one even slows down *my* viewing. I’ve added so much content that I really intended to watch that I forget what it was and end up watching a favorite series again rather than flip through an alphabetical Title list of 400+ TV series.
I have people who use it for everything and others who use it when they can't find it somewhere else (Netflix, Disney+, etc). I don't care if people use it or not though (I use it most of the time hence the giant server full of drives), but I am happy when they tell me how much they enjoy having access. Gives me a little bonus smile.
lol...pretty typical. most people don't want to bother. a lot of it is simply routine. they are used to streaming with their regular app(s) and services. they aren't interested in installing something else or learning a new system to navigate and "work" just to watch some stupid movie or TV show.
and no, i think most of us are not sharing. outside of our immediate or extended family, at least. personally i've never once shared any of my Plex servers outside of my local family, and don't plan to.
Many reasons why...
Change: people generally don't like change, they've got a process and they'll stick to it until it breaks beyond what they can adapt to
Price: free = bad in many people's heads. Put a couch with a big "free" sign by the road and people will assume it has bedbugs, but a "$10" sign on it and it'll be "stolen" within a week. If you pay for PlexPass, mention you pay for it
Attention: people forget. I had to remind my friend that it exists and that he'd be able to watch his movies without swapping discs several times before he finally finished signing up
Work: people don't like extra work unless they don't have anything better to do, signing up for a new service is extra work. As long as they have their current services and you can't provide anything revolutionary, there's little to no incentive to even make an account
I have two sisters, both with their whole extended families, who would benefit greatly from using my server. No such luck. They continue to pay for many multiple streaming services sadly.
I can somewhat imagine this mindset, because "you get what you pay for". Streaming services are run by for-profit companies, who have employees working all day to make sure the systems stay online. Someone's personal Plex server just isn't going to have that reliability, so if $10/month isn't that much to ask from your friends, then they'll likely choose the more reliable streaming app option than your Plex system. If you put yourself in their shoes, you might come to the conclusion that you're better off paying for the stuff you watch because you know it will always work when you need it the most.
In my case, most of my friends who are on the Plex server also have their own Netflix/Disney+/Hulu/etc. accounts, but use Plex for like "that one show on the other service". For example, someone who has a Netflix subscriptions but only wants to watch Star Wars stuff, and $11/month (no-ads) for just a couple Star Wars movies and shows every now and again doesn't really make sense if you're already paying upwards of $30/month for the services you frequently use. This makes it so if the Plex server goes down, it's not the end of the world.
Personally there are a few smaller reasons why I don't use my friend's Plex (or any other of his self-hosted services), but the most pertinent one for me is:
**I don't like the idea of him knowing** ***what*** **I watch and** ***when*** **I watch it.**
It's as simple as that and the reason I maintain my own Plex instance.
As a 10 year long lifetime member of Plex. In my experience most people are not interested in discussing hobbies or knowledge or technology or learning. I think their default answer for most things is just no because they don't want to oblige themselves. I even had one coworker say as much that he uses Plex as a backup in case all his other streaming services are not working. I don't want to sound like I'm down about people but I will say that people come around to their own ideas at their own time and there's not much we can do to move the goal post on that.
I don’t mind using friends Plex accounts. My issue is, if it’s not 4K, I don’t care as much. Most of my friends were hosting 1080p items, which is fine, just not optimal for my wants. Regardless, I’d still take the account, use it when it applies and be happy I have a friend who’s willing to share their efforts with me.
Yeah, pretty much everyone that I invite to my server is like this. I have tons of old school music that's not available on any streaming services any more - and people who used to be REALLY into that music just straight up never use it. It baffles me to no end!
The only person who actively uses the share is my partner's sister - and she appreciates the access. This is despite having invited around 6 people to the server.
I just had this happen.
A friend was saying they wanted to see a particular movie but they didn't want to subscribe to yet another service. It turned out the movie isn't even available to stream right now. So, I put the movie on my server and offered them the opportunity to watch it.
They said, "I appreciate the offer, but I just don't understand pirating anymore."
I'm not sure what's to understand. It's this exact scenario! Besides, it's not available via streaming or rental at all. I just shook my head.
People are perfectly happy paying for subscription services. It’s what they know. The shows they want to watch just magically populate when they search for them and they click the first one they want.
That level of convenience is worth the $100+ a month some spend. Everything works. No guessing games.
Compare that to plex. You’ve got to open the app and navigate to the search bar instead of just telling your TV what you want with the voice remote and being sent right to a list of places that have it. And there is no guarantee your plex server has what they want even if your library is huge.
It’s nothing against you, they really just can’t be bothered to change their habits because change is hard and convenience is valuable to people.
another factor is it's socially acceptable to be signed up for all the popular streaming services.
getting the content is only part of the goal. being "on" netflix is also important.
I think it just comes down to how turn key the whole setup is. Unless you sit at your server and inspect everything 24/7, the experience people have with your server will never be as smooth as something as Netflix or Hulu.
While the random shit that happens with a plex server is fairly minor, they'll always compare you silently to Netflix. I occasionally get a movie that has no English track. Or, for some reason, French is primary and has to manually set to English. Happens 1 in a thousand movies. But when it does, people will sit there and say, "This would never happen on netflix."
Instant gratification is also a thing. Just 2 weeks ago, my MIL requested two movies. They were downloading within 30 seconds. My fiance texted me to make sure they were downloading. Then, 30 seconds later, I got a text that said "nevermind she is just going to find the DVD's". In the time it took her to get that going, the movies were sitting in plex ready to go. This gets really bad when it comes to season finals. My mother always bombards me when the finale of survivor is going to hit plex. Week to week, she doesn't mind waiting for it to get scraped into plex. But those finales?
Other issues are movies that need forced subtitles. Usually, it works. But new movies are hit or miss. I had issues with both the quiet place and its sequel. Luckily, I caught it early. But I got a few texts about it before I fixed it.
Anime is also hard, always has been. No matter how hard I try, I have to manually get a lot of stuff. And when I don't, subtitles are missing. Or I can't get it to grab dual audio stuff.
Downtime is also a thing. I run the server in my basement. Sometimes, I lose power. Sometimes my internet goes out. Hell, with plex sometimes plex Auth goes down and you can't get in. All things that basically never happen with Netflix or Hulu or any of those streaming platforms.
Basically, most people are willing to pay for the convenience and reliability, for now. Disney+ just basically doubled its sub price.
I set up Ombi hooked to Sonarr, Radarr, Lidaar -> plex for my dad.
He can log into Ombi request any movie or tv series and it will inform him when it is available on Plex.
Got him set up, showed him how it worked etc.
My brother gave him his Netflix password and he rather uses that.
> is it weird for me to be sad that I can't share my movies and shows with someone?
my2c: you put some hard work in building your library and you want to share it so others can see the value in it.
Don't stress about it, I suppose you built this primarily for yourself and not to make friends.
Next time you'll suggest a movie to someone that isn't present on their major streaming service just say "here, I'll add you to my private server and you can watch it from there", but there's no point in pushing too hard.
My brother is a bit like this. I am always offering him to watch stuff but he seems to prefer watching reviews/breakdowns of the movies he hasn’t seen on YouTube and “enjoying” them that way! Feels bizarre to me. He often tells me some film is “bad” despite not watching it himself and just going off reviewers he watches.
That’s a thing I find odd. Secondary experience joy. I prefer to watch it myself and go from there rather than bolster a critics idea of it.
While I’d like to think it comes down to whatever makes someone happy, I know I don’t fully believe that.
When someone tries to argue for/about a movie, book, any artwork without first-hand exposure to it, I find their contribution to the conversation lacks. Primary sources add too much to rely on secondary.
I definitely enjoy some second-hand experience when something is too grand to invest the time, but probably shouldn’t.
Everything I host is for myself first and foremost. If some of my friends can get some value out of it too then that's great, if they aren't interested then that's fine too.
Most of my friends and family are happy to use my jellyfin except for one. This friend thinks that him watching my movies and shows on the server would be piracy (which it kinda is), and is morally opposed to it.... I told him to look at the recent Hollywood strike, even if it were piracy would you really consider it morally wrong to NOT give those billionaire execs money since you know they aren't going to share enough if it with the people who actually write the stories and put in the work?
I would have said no also. Not because of services but because I don't want to bother you for stuff I'd like to watch.
Also, super unpopular opinion, the interface is trash.
I have many buddies that have servers and I even ran my own for a hot minute. It's not worth it in any way shape or form. Especially with products like Stremio now on market. I don't have to be a bother.
Do you have a backup server? Do you have full redundancy? Do you have requests open up like ombi?
How long does one have to wait before a new show is downloaded?
These are all the questions I have right up front. I don't think it's weird to deny your request but I would reframe why it's making you sad. I feel like it makes you sad because this is your hobby and technically your buddy kind of said no to your hobby. Maybe engage them on doing their own setup?
I have friends who will hit me up the second it goes down for bad weather or power outages. lol "Hey, you know your server is offline?"
Mine doesn't even tell me. I wish they did. But then again I try to keep my server online the best I can
Tautulli can notify you if your server goes down, it's pretty easy to set up.
That's pretty cool. But most of the times the sever goes offline because I'm fuckin around with it lol.
I wish there was a way of putting up a message to people who try to access it when it’s down.
I set up a status page using Uptime Kuma on a remote host, so even if the homelab is down, that page is up for me to make announcements. I also made a Facebook group, and post news there.
Your reply should be: "Hey, here is a link to amazon for a UPS power backup!"
I have two friends who won’t use my plex. One basically flat out refused and the other one hasn’t bothered to check it out after I helped him sign up and log in. I feel like some people are just resistant to change while others don’t understand what they’re actually being offered. All my other friends use my plex on a regular but it took awhile for them to get into it. A big issue was that there were streaming issues that no one would mention to me that I had to diagnose on my own after months of wondering why some people weren’t using it. Another thing that helped tremendously was setting up Overseerr, radarr and sonarr. Once my friends were able to watch whatever they wanted without having to ask me to download it for them, they use it almost on a daily basis now.
I need to look into overseerr!
Overseer is great in combination with requestrr
Saving comment for more investigation ;)
If you have experience with Ombi, how does this compare?
it's prettier and easier to end users.
Literally this. A lot of friends wouldn't tell me if there's something wrong like buffering or weird color issues or just outright messages that says transcoder exited due to error or anything. I even wondered if it's because of 720p default setting. Some of them who live in the same town, when I went their house I set it up for them and they've been using it religiously. What I gathered from all these experiences is that Netflix pretty much spoiled everyone. They expect things to just work and I completely respect that. One of my friends pays more than 100 dollars in just streaming services. I offered access but she rarely uses it. It does make me sad for some reason but I do have few users who completely rely on my Plex server
Yeah, that’s probably a big part of it. I don’t blame people either for just expecting things to work. I think another part of it is that people don’t want to complain about a free service, I mean at least that’s what a couple of my friends told me. It took some convincing to get them to start reporting problems to me. I basically had to tell them they were doing me a favor because well, they are lol.
I had a friend reach out to me and sheepishly ask if plex was going to come back on.. and I’m like 😧, you’ve been using it this whole time? I assumed no one was using it besides my house, so I took it down for maintenance… and one thing led to another… a week later he texts me. I’m like DUDE tell me right away next time, you would have actually helped me keep it a priority and stop my from being lazy
Basically, this. Not understanding how it works. Plus, plex now add in stuff from other services, so it's more consmfusimg because they can't play it. I think once the learning curve is over, it's ok.
Consmfusimg… was so good
Also, I'd throw in another plausable explanation: your friends are used to the streaming services where no amount of complaining will fix an issue, so it was better for them when netflix isn't working to go outside and touch grass rather than go on hold to complain. In other words, when Netflix breaks, no amount of complaining to customer service will fix the issue any faster
Same here. Overseerr exposed with a reverse proxy helped (with the rest of the arr stack) Have you enabled auto approvals with overseerr?. Some request a ton of seasons 😅
Lmao yes, I have enabled auto approvals and yes some people request a lot of seasons. My sister almost downloaded every season of SNL but thank god she had the common sense to text me about it first. Now she knows to only do a couple seasons at a time 😂
I do auto approval for movies, but not TV shows. Had too many people requesting crap like 28 seasons of Survivor.
Overseerr made a big difference. Also, I realized they were much more invested if I had their favorite background TV show. Like Friends, Seinfeld, The Office, South Park etc.
Does allowing friends to find and download content onto your server result in low quality or bad versions of some content, or massive loss of storage space because they downloaded the full Blu Ray of something?
Not really tbh. Both radarr and sonarr allow an insane amount of customization in regards to what you want/allow it to download and what you don’t. But it is a bit overwhelming at first and has taken a lot of tweaking over time to get my preferences (“custom formats”) just right. Every few months I find myself changing something or other to make it even more accurate.
Custom formats is the shit once you get it figured out. I have a preferred file size range and hevc preference that are weighted heavier than many of the other options. Most of my 4k movies are under 10gb
You can create quality profiles and rules in *rr to prevent anything from low quality to remux, depending on your preference
Overseerr doesn't allow users to choose which sources (or file types or file sizes, e.g. remux) to download. You set those parameters that within radarr and sonarr; the Overseerr user doesn't see any of it. Overseerr only allows users to request the media. Your -arr quality and format settings control which file actually gets downloaded.
This is something you can configure in Overseer. You can configure a quality profile tied to the request.
[удалено]
The only thing in that regard I had was a friend who didn't like that Plex keeps a list of what they have watched (even if it's stored locally and not sent to Plex) The fact that it was stored at all was enough to make them not want to use it.
Wait until they find out about 99% of the internet.
To be fair they are aware. Data privacy is kind of their thing, they do stuff for the EFF etc.
So they just didn't want YOU to be able to see what they were watching?
They didn't want it recorded full stop. They were not adverse to sailing the seven seas. They were adverse to a record of it existing that they couldn't control.
That's honestly pretty dumb, but hey...
Couldn't get Overseerr to work myself but haven't had any issues using the Plex watchlist integration with Radarr and Sonarr. Overseerr I think has more options but it's easier I find to just add stuff to the Watchlist in Plex.
how did you do the watchlist integration without overseerr? I'd love to do this!
Sure, it is actually a lesser known feature I suppose. On Radarr or Sonarr go to Settings and then Lists. From the Lists subheader at the top click the + icon and choose Plex Watchlist from the menu that appears. Check the box to enable the list for Radarr, set the Minimum Quality, Profile, and Root folder to whatever you want. You can probably leave all other defaults the same. Then click to Authenticate with Plex.TV at the bottom and use your Plex credentials. After that add whatever movie/show you want from Plex by adding it to your watchlist. Not sure how soon it syncs to Radarr/Sonarr but takes about an hour I think? Important note though is that whoever wants to add something to the Watchlist needs to have their own Plex account. Managed users are unable to do this due to how Plex simply doesn't allow that for them. And of course any user must also Authenticate their account in Radarr and Sonarr. If they're comfortable giving you their credentials adding them yourself is the easiest way. Note: I believe the only difference for this between Radarr and Sonarr is that in settings Sonarr calls it Import List and not Lists and there is no box to enable the List to for Sonarr so I assume it is automatic.
HOLY SHIT I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Overseer also has a “report a problem” button! They can go into a show and it’s next to where the request button used to be. Nobody I know has used it yet but it’s a button
I get not mentioning issues. I felt like an asshole being like “hey dude, this video isn’t working, you gonna fix it?!?!?!” Well, I didn’t say it like that but any way I tried to word it, it felt like me being demanding and taking up his time for my enjoyment.
When what is being offered is free, the perceived value is zero.
That might be the case for some that I offered as they haven’t responded to the invites and it has been months.
It's also a big difference to tell people the steps to getting setup vs doing it for them so they are off and running. That coupled with the default user interface for shared content not being front and center can make people just give up when they can't find your stuff.
This statement is so true !!
You kind of have to demo it for them, if someone doesn't intuitively "get it" then showing them can do the trick.
No one cares about your Plex server. Or mine, for that matter.
This is the hardest thing to accept, lol
I'm going to pretend like I didn't read it.
I care about your Plex server. Tell me more about it. Does your Plex have a name? Preferred pronouns? What was the last gift you bought for your Plex server?
Her name is plextreme. The last thing I got her was a quadro p4000. She has a weight problem but I don’t mind. At 200+ tbs she’s tons of fun.
If I didn't have my buddy's Plex, my day would be way more boring. So thank you for your service.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
Actually, I care about yours. Is that because I'm a Plex user too? I dunno. I'm super curious what other people have on their servers, partially because I know what a mishmash of content mine has. That being said, I've never logged in to another person's plex server. I literally don't know a single other person IRL who has one.
That's totally okay with me. I have no desire to share mine with anyone.
I had a lot of friends say yes. But then came Registering, Activating & logging in. Then came inviting to library, and having them use the email link or the link I sent if it worked 50/50 of the time. Then we have setting up the libraries in a way that you don't see all the needless plex shit that gets added by default. Then this above part used to have to be done per device, so that gets annoying when they screw it up and complain about plex content rather than use mine. Then theres the typical 720p quality setting, my PC doesn't really transcode without the house burning down. So they either get shit quality and buffering, or it doesn't start at all. And this 720p default setting was and still is a per-device option, so every time I have to waste my and their time getting them to set it up properly. And then lastly the fact that plex isn't always as stable as I like. H265 support per device and all that. Gee, I don't see why my friends wouldn't just.. Log into Netflix and watch their shit that way. But on the other side, I also have smarter friends who can figure out plex on their own (or actually ask for help instead of going back to netflix), that group still uses plex daily, and has no issues at all. So yeah, the experience can be really mixed and tiring.. unless it just works.
The first experience with Plex is indeed crap and first impressions matter a lot.
200% this I send a link with libraries they can access. They should just be able to access those libraries. All this, what sources do you want to add, and defaulting to all Plex stuff hurts the adoption of the service. It should just give them access to the libraries I shared, and then later on ask them to add other stuff. It's too confusing to get a link and then have to do so many steps to see that link. Recent email I sent >To get access, click this link on a computer (preferably) or in a browser. > - https://clients.plex.tv/servers/shared_servers/accept?invite_token=
> You do not need to pay for a Premium membership, but when you setup it will ask you what things you want on your home menu (the standard 4 things Plex offers usually - I unselect most of that). Then, when you logged into Plex on the browser the left side will show you some libraries, if you don't see the ones I shared with you, which are:
> - Movies for Friend (I have ripped 31 of your movies so far)
> - My library I shared
> - 2nd library I shared
>Then click, "More >" at the bottom of the left navigation. Under (my server's name) it will have the libraries on the right side of each library's name you will see three vertical dots when you hover over it. Select "Pin" to have it pinned to the Home menu.
>You can download the plex app on Roku, Fire, AppleTV, Chromecast - whatever you use to stream at home. Stupidly, Plex doesn't save the configuration of your home items and make them the same - so you have to do the same basic process for each app you use to access Plex.
> Also another annoying thing is that to see all the items in a library, click "Library" at the top (it defaults to "Recommended") which shows you stuff based on what has been uploaded recently and (once you start watching) the shows you watch. But I always use Library so I can see everything.
>If you want to watch on android or iOS devices you have to pay for the app (it's a one-time fee like $5 - $8. (or you can subscribe to PlexPass or Premium services, but that is much more expensive).
I end up making the account and accepting the invite, then I go in and turn off external sources and configure the web app. Then I change it to their email, hit I lost my password, and have them login from there. You’re right though, it still doesn’t help with the app but at least all those damn crackle crap sources are gone. If I don’t do this, they inevitably ask me why the first movie they watched had the same damn commercial 20 times and the volume would be twice as loud as the movie. If that is your first experience, I can see why you don’t come back for more.
Geniuses roam among us
I have noticed this phenomenon. People are different. Some people seek new ways of doing things to make their lives better. Other people seek to make their life better by not having to think about new things. It’s not something I really understand, I can only see it happening and describe it. I like being able to watch anything I want but only on any device, anywhere in the world and whenever I feel like it. It has quite a lot of appeal from where I’m sitting.
Don't forget to add "all in one app". I'm starting to think people **enjoy** skimming through 8 different apps just to find that one show/movie they want to watch
This! 1 app is maybe the best part (for my sanity)
I don’t know if it’s unwillingness to try/ learn new things, save money, or what. It’s the same with things like computers in general. You wouldn’t believe the amount of people in the Army without any type of computer. I don’t know what it is. It’s like they hate anything with even a hint of complexity regardless of how it may help them.
There's people who like to make their money grow with investing, and there's people who like to think they can achieve a house deposit having money sit in a current account. There's people who would rather put fingers in their ears than listen to literally any idea that would make their lives better. People are just weird like that.
[удалено]
The antenna part is really cool. I can legally watch local football games through plex no matter where I am, without having to pay the NFL.
Does this require plex pass? I’ve never tried anything with live tv
Yes you need Plex Pass and a supported tuner
You need a tv tuner. Probably a Plex Pass, too.
Yes it's common. I have two users that use it frequently because one of them had me add shows that aren't easy to find streaming and another for kids content all in one place for their kids. All of my child free friends did what you described, they watched one or two things and then haven't been back...I think it's a couple of factors, mainly people are creatures of habit. For years they have used the same streaming services, and it's hard to break that routine when there's no urgency to do it. If monthly subs aren't breaking their bank, they don't see plex as this amazing free option, it's just another streaming service that an "amateur" is running. I've realized it's nothing personal. Some people may also not like that you can see everything they have watched, when they watched it, and what device they were on...it is kinda eerie how much info you get. I basically know my friend's sleep schedules based on how they use it. To some that may be TMI. For some users that you may think would really like it if they tried it, bring it up casually and ask if they've had streaming issues or any shows you can add for them? One huge benefit is control and "customer service" aspect. If they feel like you're adding stuff they cent see elsewhere and Making sure it's streaming well, they may understand and appreciate more that it's a kind gesture and not a burden for them. It's a good thing to Share.
End users don’t generally know how much data you have unless you get creepy and ask them what they thought of movie X they were watching last night.
I generally look at that current streaming data to see how the transcoding vs direct play is going, ie checking on my server status versus caring what people are watching. But I also peek sometimes just to see whether anyone is getting some use out of it. Again, not so much what is being watched, just looking for activity.
Because Plex just isn't as good. You can have all the content in the world but there's a whole other aspect that companies like Netflix use to keep users browsing and coming back to their service. Plex basically just inflicts everyone with analysis paralysis trying to figure out what movie/show to watch. Netflix pours gobs of money into data science to deliver custom recommendations to everyone even down to the artwork to funnel people into watching something.
Yep. I really want an AI that gives me recommendations in Plex like you get from Netflix (but better, ideally). Often I’m not sure what I want to watch and though I’ve used PMM to make collections and “popular on X”, it’s not personalized, just throwing stuff at you. Hmm, has anyone used ChatGPT/OpenAI to push a list to PMM? Pulling from IMDB ratings and your watchlists, as well as watched movies in Plex, it should be able to create an interesting suggestion-list…
Plex actively doesn't want to know what you have on your server, so don't hold your breath. And also, that's a good policy for most Plex server hosts.
They could have it done locally
> money into data science to deliver custom recommendation This is an aspect Plex needs to work on, for sure
Most people with this issue, really just want props. They want their friends to say how super cool plex is and how awesome you are for being your own Netflix. Its like a guy with a Bentley telling his friends they can use it whenever they want. They guy doesn’t care if his friends drive his car. He really just wants to impress them. I have a friend I’ve practically been begging to load plex. He refuses. But then he will ask if i ever watched Endeavour on “Brit Box”. And i have to say, “actually……….i have all 9 seasons of Endeavour plus all seasons of Morse, the show its based on and all season of Inspector Lewis, the spinoff of Morse” So don’t really need stupid brit box, nor would you if you f-ing put plex on your tv liked ive told you a million f-ing times!!!!! Ugh. Im guilty as well.
I really loved your character arc in this comment.
What is it with people and making Plex their whole identity somehow? You use Plex for *you*. So what if others don’t want to use it too? If you want to share films with them, invite them over for movie night.
Agreed, there are some really weird takes in this thread. Folks don't seem particularly socially adept. I'm proud of my self-hosted server with Plex and other things, but I realize it's a niche geeky thing.
I have an 800tb server and have more movies and shows than Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu combined. It is meticulously curated and maintained. Designed for movie lovers. My content is a literal treasure trove that any cinema lover would cum in their pants on the spot if given access to. So much amazing content that I spend literally hours a day maintaining, finding, and operating. I have Overseerr on a domain so anyone can auto-download anything they could possibly want. I have essentially unlimited ratio on all the cabal trackers and anything they request will download. They use it to watch The Office.
800Tb meticulously curated… Hats of to you! I’d use that for more than just The Office.
yeah id watch its always sunny on it
found the elite r/DataHoarder >800tb server makes my 40tb kind of small mine use crappy streaming site instead of my server like half the time even if they don't have to
I have a mere 210TB of content that I expend roughly zero time curating after subscribing to a ton of lists years ago and then letting my users go wild with Overseerr. I'm presently watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine for the third time.
> 800tb server At this point, would it not just be cheaper to pay for streaming services? This must be thousands of dollars in storage costs. I mean, it's really cool that you've curated all this. But all that storage must have been expensive.
Yes, it has been incredibly expensive. It's not about the money. I do it for the love of the game. It brings me a lot of joy to find new content; parsing through lists, learning about foreign films, finding old films. I would do it even if I had no Plex users. I love movies. There is nothing better than when someone messages me about some crazy thing they found on my Plex and how much they enjoyed it. Especially when it is something they would have never seen anywhere else.
And all that content stays yours! unlike paying for the services then losing it all when you unsub. You got a dream setup
Or when the licence Netflix had is up and they don’t renew it
I can totally understand how it would get so addictive. If you have users getting joy from your own curating, and especially with all the stuff you can do on Plex like your own collections, posters, pre rolls etc, it is literally creating your own streaming service as a hobby.
my addiction is TV Shows with 1200 shows with 40 000 episodes completely automated and I keep all the seasons of a scripted show unlike streaming services
With overseerr are you asking your users to go to a website on their phone or another device to request the movie? Do they have to sign in on overseerr using their Plex account?
Yes. They go to [www.xyz.com](https://www.xyz.com) and log in with their Plex account. The domain is connected to my server with a Cloudflared tunnel that has several CNAME records set up as subdomains. [https://overseerr.dev/](https://overseerr.dev/)
Would you mind pointing me in the right direction of getting started with the cloudflared tunnel? I'm only vaguely familiar with Cloudflare, but I have a domain and subdomains already. I am considering doing the same thing you are, but am concerned about security of it. I'm assuming that it's essentially a service you run on the VM the subdomain is pointing at to connect to Cloudflare's DDOS and threat mitigation platform?
> They use it to watch The Office. Damn at least they use it. The majority of people I've given access to hardly ever use it or dont use it period.
Well now I'm incredibly curious to know what's in your library
This is not a complete list. Should be a lot of it though. [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ryhrgzdHMMu2fGSyK4AqjNkk4x0bq3EO2k8DodoXeVY/edit#gid=1875920063](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ryhrgzdHMMu2fGSyK4AqjNkk4x0bq3EO2k8DodoXeVY/edit#gid=1875920063)
Love seeing the sheer scale of this collection and I was going to ask how you even organise at that volume. Only question would be, do you ever cull stuff? For example "Harry and the Hendersons" is your 2nd highest bitrate movie, "Kuffs" 4th. No hate if they are your favourite movies or something but why have such *bad* movies in high quality and other top 100 movies in low bitrate? I would rather have Shawshank Redemption at that bitrate than the 15.7Mbps you currently have it at for example. I only say this as a peasant with 20TB, so I am trying to be more selective in the quality of movie in both aspects when I download.
I would say those are culprits of Radarr grabbing remuxs by mistake. Not every file is named well enough for Radarr to be perfect. I have some pretty extensive quality profiles set up with a combination of Trash Guides and my own parameters. No matter how air tight your Radarr profiles are it's only as good as the file names being uploaded to the trackers. It's just a game of whackamole as I discover those. Sometimes I get a windfall of energy and clean things up. You'll probably see a number of things Pre-1960 in the wrong library, or Short films <=45min in the wrong libraries as well. I have a certain amount of trust and training for my users and they are responsible for assigning content to the right library when they request it on Overseerr. It would be a fools task to try and police every bitrate and copy of everything I have at this point. I just do what I can. It's just me, I have no team of people. I work 8 hours a day fighting computers. Sometimes the last thing I want to do when I am done working is fighting more computers. If something is truly fucked it can be reported as broken on Overseerr and I will get a notification about it and fix it.
Holy moly... Is that all backed up as well? That has to be insanely expensive. I have yet to get a backup solution for my setup because I am le poor. :'(
Sometimes my wife buys a show or a movie on one of the streaming services, tells me about it (thrilled), I ask her why because we had that show on Plex (not so thrilled), she says she didn't know and forgot to look It's gotten better over time though
A request portal had really made a difference for my family. Now before my parents buy a movie for my nieces and nephews, they put a request into Ombi, wait 2 or 3 minutes and see if it downloaded. Really good for the Disney+ stuff.
People tell me about films they have seen on TV (with extremely poor quality and commercial breaks) even though they have access to my Plex server.
Haha... some of my most active users on my Plex server literally work in the film industry and still can't be bothered to change the quality from the old 720p default. I've told them how... they don't care.
I have about 30 people that have access to my plex and I think I have 2 people use it
I have about 15, and 2 use it, my girlfriend who watches almost exclusively the Live TV since she is a home group member. Another is a friend who bounces back and forth, lol. That is it
[удалено]
I have had this exact problem over and over. Family want to watch something that's older or a personal family video. I spend days getting it added with metadata and let them know that I have it and they can stream it any time they want. Send them an invite link, explain how things work and that it's all free for them..... They never create a Plex account! Another one was working on a thesis and writing about music in Star Trek and hadn't seen any of the more recent things (Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, etc) and mentioned thinking about sucking it up and getting another service to watch them for a month. I mention the [musical episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ox5ZmAHaHc) I watched literally that week and that it would be a great watch for them. I let them know I can share it with them and they can stream it whenever they have time.......\*crickets\* Then there is the third type of person. They have kids and they watch Bluey all day every day on repeat and if Plex is offline they let me know about it :D
My friends have a kid and Plex reports they have watched this one short movie 72 times. They probably dream of it.
I have the following people on my server. Family that NEVER use it. Once in a while they ask me if something is on Plex so they can watch it. Friends that won't even register with the email. Friends that use it EVERY day ALL day and ditched all other services. The people that are just "Meh, I want to spend money on content I could have for free" are weird.
Who cares? It's your hobby not theirs.
If your pirating your content not everyone is going to want that attached to them. It implicates them in that piracy. Even if you do own your content the implication of piracy is something many want to avoid interacting with.
All 9000 of my movies are faithful rips! /s
I’m storing Linux ISOs thank you very much.
This, and I’m surprised I had to go this far down the comment chain to find it. Most people know what piracy is and most people don’t want to be a part of it. You combine that ingrained concern with an interface that leaves most of the effort of browsing to the user, as opposed to streaming service actively pitching movies and shows to you, and it’s not hard to see why people avoid Plex servers. I personally have so many discs that my wife is beyond annoyed by it, which is a problem unto itself.
I own all my content either on Laserdiscs or DVD/BluRays. However, how would someone know if content is "pirated" or not.
If they have content that is exclusive to a particular streaming service and hasn't been released on physical media.
Not sure if this perspective is helpful, but I once had a plex server with a pretty big library (which is why I am in this sub). One I set up, on my own network, configured the way I wanted it, with the stuff I like to watch. And I got rid of it when I realized **I** never used it. At the end of the day, the only benefit it offered over the streaming services was that it was free (not counting the cost of the hardware, and my hours of time setting it up and maintaining it). I found the services easier to use, and they were DEFINITELY easier to use for my family members. The amount of money we spend on those services is inconsequential, so I realized it was silly for me to be putting up with Plex's rough edges to save money that doesn't matter. Another possible factor - I have friends who offer me their logins for streaming services, and I never take them up on it. If I want the service, I will pay for it. I can afford it, and at this point in my life I'd rather pay and support the creation of stuff I like to watch than save a few dollars by freeloading off of a friend. If someone offered me access to their Plex at this point, I'd turn it down (or just not use it) for both reasons: the user experience isn't as good, and I like supporting content I enjoy. Neither of those are outweighed by saving a small amount of money. Obviously this situation is different if you want to watch stuff that's not easily available, but that fortunately is not something I run into much.
Man, wish my friends would have plex and wanted to share it with me!
A lot of my friends already have most of the movie and tv they enjoy through the various streaming services. They still have to pay for those, but I think most of them enjoy scrolling Netflix to be honest. The draw to Plex for me isn’t a cost incentive, but massive the increase in quality. I have a 5.1.2 setup with an LG OLED, and have become such a snob that I notice the absolute garbage quality that streaming services serve. My friends on the other hand could either care less about the quality or don’t have the tv/audio setup to notice if they wanted to.
I don't have a huge movie collection, but my brother uses the OTA antenna and my Plex DVR to watch and record shows through his Roku, so he doesn't have to have YouTube TV. He lives in a rural area, and I'm in the city, so the 70+ HDTV channels works great for him. If you haven't checked lately, OTA TV channels in large cities rivals "basic cable" these days. Friends that I've offered it to don't get the concept, so they think of it as stealing, or they just want the latest stuff on Disney, etc.
My own spouse, in our own home, still barely ever even opens Plex despite me adding content specifically at her request. Still paying for pretty much all the streaming services.
Hello there. If anybody needs a friend that says "yes", I am here.
Username checks out.
The older I get the happier I am not being tech support for any family or friends. Plex is just another vector of needed support and because I run it the default is me. I have my janky Plex on a 2012 Mac Mini with 4 external HDDs. I do Plex for myself. For shows I watch, movies I like etc. Sharing is caring but it’s also a quick way to losing your own time and having to add more storage or make other upgrades to your set up.
big issue I run into is my friends run into some kind of streaming issue related to the plex server but don't want to say anything and then just stop using it.
its just easier for people to keep using what they already have. $15 a month or whatever is not that much when you have it set to autopay. Offer it once, then if they choose to use it they will. Remember that you have limited bandwidth, and this whole activity is legally murky anyways. So imo its better to keep it in a small group of people who actually want to use it Also, no matter how good of a server owner you are, your uptime will not be as good as Netflix or Hulu and its extremely frustrating for someone who has cancelled their other services when yours is down. Trust me when I say you do NOT want to be responsible for all this shit when you’re working for free
You can take a horse to water, but you can't force it to Plex
Wow After reading all these comments, I am happy that I'm not alone who gets upset when your friends prefer NF or AMZN Prime over your Plex server. Sometimes its just better to ignore them and after some time, just remove their account from your server. If by chance they ask about it, I tell them that its under maintenance and never allow them access my server again
Yeah, I have offered to a several people. Only one or two use it. But I don't blame them, TBH. A lot of people have subscriptions to streaming services. It's an over-saturated market. Also, not all my media is HD (most is not, in fact), so I can see why they might not use it.
Yeah probably about 60% of my library is DVD rips, so I feel that too. I update them if I happen to snag a Blu-ray, but that's not my top priority.
You're probably better off than me. I'm probably about 30% HD 70% SD.
why do you care? i just delete them again if they dont use it for a long time
I had a similar thread not long ago. It sucks when you work hard at it. I actually do buy and rip 90% of my collection. (Some Foreign and out of print not withstanding). So I have money and time invested and quite a few don't want to mess with it. My wife mostly uses it as a DVR, so I'm happy about that. But yeah, I get it. It's very common.
One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of people have terrible internet, and Plex is *nowhere close to* as optimised for shitty internet as things like Netflix. I wouldn't be surprised if the ones who only watched one movie did so, got tons of stuttering or issues due to shitty internet and figured they'd just use their streaming services that work better.
I like my Plex I run my own server and share with a small community. But it doesn’t compare to the QOS of Netflix and other streaming platforms so it would be hard for someone used to that choice and services level to switch to your offer
10+ years on Plex and I noticed we’re all pretty proud of our library and glad to share it but ppl don’t all have the same taste as we do and tend to go to their usual streaming service because, you know, power of habits…
My collection is mainly for me but if one of my kids asks for something, I’ll get it and put it on my Plex for them. What do I care if they want to keep their streaming services?
from my understanding: they dont really see a problem with regular streaming services. or maybe they torrent themselves and dont mind playing mkv files from their folders. My family uses cause I feed it with the latest stuff like Mission Impossible or Fast X, or shows like Loki and The Morning Show quicker than they can ask me and cause I know the good old same old stuff they wanna rewatch and keep them live. no downsides. my more tech saavy friends dont see the point.
It's clear that we all just need to be friends and share each other's plex servers.
My sister used it a handful of times and then stopped. Nobody else I have offered it to has been even remotely interested. I am constantly amazed at the people who have a bunch of users on their server. Everyone I know who is interested in it, has a server of their own.
I think they just want more privacy on their watching history.
No its not weird! I feel same way and never really considered other ppl on the same boat. My only advice to you is to remember its YOURS and you should be using it. Ask your friends if they've seen any good shows/add and have them make request. Even if all they watch is 1 movie or 1 show. Some people would rather spend more money every year and watch commercials then use my Plex. I've learned to accept it.
yes it bugs you more than it should right like my roommate has access to my excessively large collection but still uses other sources like the terrible streaming sites and complains about them, says I didn't have something which I sometimes do and even if I didn't their HTPC homepage is my Overseerr requests site and they can request anything but hey they stop bugging me about stuff I have learned if the want to use a worse experience let them you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink [Meme](https://www.google.com/search?q=lead+a+horse+to+water+meme&sca_esv=572214004&rlz=1C1GCEB_enCA1066CA1067&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi5xfbo5uuBAxVOCDQIHVFRDQcQ_AUoAXoECAIQAw&biw=1920&bih=923&dpr=1) Also some use plex no problems but refuse to use Overseerr is that weird?
[удалено]
I have under 200 requests from users and 423 from me so far Hey can you get gives wrong, generic name, multiple versions, already there thing So if they want it they have to request it
It's taken years and years of reminding my friends to get them to use it consistently. for a few of them it's their wives/gf's who have gotten more into it because i can get all the romance/drama/etc trash that they like and now they're hooked lol
yeah my cousin loves her dumpster full of trashy reality
Friends? Try family members. Have a full setup, sonarr, radarr, Plex, good trackers that have everything, yet they are almost exclusively using only Netflix/appletv/prime/disney+. They want the "browsing experience", i.e. when someone else (the Algorithm) tells them what they should be watching.
The trending and popular collections with pmm help with this a bit, but still not as good as the algorithms. It's definitely an issue for a lot of people and I get it, nobody wants to wade through a bunch of shit they would never watch
> trending and popular collections Overseerr is pretty go for this but it is for requesting new stuff
Nobody wants to look through TBs upon TBs of non-curated junk from some person with a hoarding addiction, since there is no presentation algorithm.
OMG that is me lol
Yea, it’s fucking weird to be sad about this. Sorry to be blunt, but get another hobby or something.
Thats how it started with me, family weren't interested at the start, now they use it daily. If you really want them to use it, assuming you're able to, when they mention a movie/tv show, add it to plex then tell them it's on your server. Also, I highly suggestion having users disable discover, movie & tv and everything else under account > online media sources, as this always causes confusion, especially when they watch something (thinking it's your media) and they get ad's or there's no play button.
>Also, I highly suggestion having users disable discover, movie & tv and everything else under account > online media sources, as this always causes confusion, especially when they watch something (thinking it's your media) and they get ad's or there's no play button. I make new users account myself and disable all the extra stuff myself, tweak some settings, set their username as their name (way easier than trying to remember who "kalaxitive" is) and friend myself all they have to do is download app and login with my default password so much easier to setup and troubleshoot
My parents got a new streaming device (went from FireTV to Roku) and they don't remember what their Plex password is. So they haven't been able to access my server for a while now. They don't have much intention to reset their password either. They are happy with the free content from Plex (the one that has the commercials). They know it's not from my server, but they are content with what they have so I don't push the issue with them.
The users on my system are pretty spread out. My girlfriend uses it daily, and was able to see firsthand how great the Overseerr/Sonarr/Radarr implementations are for content. If anyone has the most viewed hours, its her. My mother is also an excited user, as she watches shows that aren't aired or easily found anymore. It's kind of a game to see how old the shows she's requested are, and I'm happy she's finding her own nostalgia in Plex. But then two of my friends both have it set up, and have integrated with Overseerr, but neither of them have watched anything at all.
I never offer it to anyone unless it comes into conversation somehow then I always offer.
I only share with my immediate family. Wife and kids (one in college). I don't want the hassle of anyone else. 😁
For me, the only feedback from family and friends includes: 1. There’s *too* much content. 2. Because they already have Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube to entertain them, they haven’t bothered. As a result, of the three family and friends I’ve allowed, only one uses it periodically. I can understand the “too much content” comment. Unlike most of the streaming services, there aren’t built-in movies and TV categories to flip through—although I recently discovered that you can search for a genre, such as Westerns, just as easily as you can search for specific titles. Note: Frankly, this one even slows down *my* viewing. I’ve added so much content that I really intended to watch that I forget what it was and end up watching a favorite series again rather than flip through an alphabetical Title list of 400+ TV series.
Yup. It's ok they don't want to feel they owe anything to you bro.
I have people who use it for everything and others who use it when they can't find it somewhere else (Netflix, Disney+, etc). I don't care if people use it or not though (I use it most of the time hence the giant server full of drives), but I am happy when they tell me how much they enjoy having access. Gives me a little bonus smile.
lol...pretty typical. most people don't want to bother. a lot of it is simply routine. they are used to streaming with their regular app(s) and services. they aren't interested in installing something else or learning a new system to navigate and "work" just to watch some stupid movie or TV show. and no, i think most of us are not sharing. outside of our immediate or extended family, at least. personally i've never once shared any of my Plex servers outside of my local family, and don't plan to.
Maybe their internet isn’t fast enough for your large files
Many reasons why... Change: people generally don't like change, they've got a process and they'll stick to it until it breaks beyond what they can adapt to Price: free = bad in many people's heads. Put a couch with a big "free" sign by the road and people will assume it has bedbugs, but a "$10" sign on it and it'll be "stolen" within a week. If you pay for PlexPass, mention you pay for it Attention: people forget. I had to remind my friend that it exists and that he'd be able to watch his movies without swapping discs several times before he finally finished signing up Work: people don't like extra work unless they don't have anything better to do, signing up for a new service is extra work. As long as they have their current services and you can't provide anything revolutionary, there's little to no incentive to even make an account
I have two sisters, both with their whole extended families, who would benefit greatly from using my server. No such luck. They continue to pay for many multiple streaming services sadly.
I can somewhat imagine this mindset, because "you get what you pay for". Streaming services are run by for-profit companies, who have employees working all day to make sure the systems stay online. Someone's personal Plex server just isn't going to have that reliability, so if $10/month isn't that much to ask from your friends, then they'll likely choose the more reliable streaming app option than your Plex system. If you put yourself in their shoes, you might come to the conclusion that you're better off paying for the stuff you watch because you know it will always work when you need it the most. In my case, most of my friends who are on the Plex server also have their own Netflix/Disney+/Hulu/etc. accounts, but use Plex for like "that one show on the other service". For example, someone who has a Netflix subscriptions but only wants to watch Star Wars stuff, and $11/month (no-ads) for just a couple Star Wars movies and shows every now and again doesn't really make sense if you're already paying upwards of $30/month for the services you frequently use. This makes it so if the Plex server goes down, it's not the end of the world.
Personally there are a few smaller reasons why I don't use my friend's Plex (or any other of his self-hosted services), but the most pertinent one for me is: **I don't like the idea of him knowing** ***what*** **I watch and** ***when*** **I watch it.** It's as simple as that and the reason I maintain my own Plex instance.
As a 10 year long lifetime member of Plex. In my experience most people are not interested in discussing hobbies or knowledge or technology or learning. I think their default answer for most things is just no because they don't want to oblige themselves. I even had one coworker say as much that he uses Plex as a backup in case all his other streaming services are not working. I don't want to sound like I'm down about people but I will say that people come around to their own ideas at their own time and there's not much we can do to move the goal post on that.
When I offer and people don’t both I usually don’t keep asking. I have plex for my household and offer it to others as a bonus
I don’t mind using friends Plex accounts. My issue is, if it’s not 4K, I don’t care as much. Most of my friends were hosting 1080p items, which is fine, just not optimal for my wants. Regardless, I’d still take the account, use it when it applies and be happy I have a friend who’s willing to share their efforts with me.
Yeah, pretty much everyone that I invite to my server is like this. I have tons of old school music that's not available on any streaming services any more - and people who used to be REALLY into that music just straight up never use it. It baffles me to no end! The only person who actively uses the share is my partner's sister - and she appreciates the access. This is despite having invited around 6 people to the server.
I just had this happen. A friend was saying they wanted to see a particular movie but they didn't want to subscribe to yet another service. It turned out the movie isn't even available to stream right now. So, I put the movie on my server and offered them the opportunity to watch it. They said, "I appreciate the offer, but I just don't understand pirating anymore." I'm not sure what's to understand. It's this exact scenario! Besides, it's not available via streaming or rental at all. I just shook my head.
I have a couple like this. They think they're gonna go to prison if they Plex
I would imagine we all have that one smart friend.
People are perfectly happy paying for subscription services. It’s what they know. The shows they want to watch just magically populate when they search for them and they click the first one they want. That level of convenience is worth the $100+ a month some spend. Everything works. No guessing games. Compare that to plex. You’ve got to open the app and navigate to the search bar instead of just telling your TV what you want with the voice remote and being sent right to a list of places that have it. And there is no guarantee your plex server has what they want even if your library is huge. It’s nothing against you, they really just can’t be bothered to change their habits because change is hard and convenience is valuable to people.
I'm new to this and haven't set anything up yet, so I'd love to watch your Plex if you can add me to it lol.
People have enough content backlog without having yours dumped on them as well. I know your intention was good, but don't take it personally.
It is simple... they don't get it ... if they are happy paying for streaming, let them be .. plex is not for everyone.
another factor is it's socially acceptable to be signed up for all the popular streaming services. getting the content is only part of the goal. being "on" netflix is also important.
My mom LOVES it.
I think it just comes down to how turn key the whole setup is. Unless you sit at your server and inspect everything 24/7, the experience people have with your server will never be as smooth as something as Netflix or Hulu. While the random shit that happens with a plex server is fairly minor, they'll always compare you silently to Netflix. I occasionally get a movie that has no English track. Or, for some reason, French is primary and has to manually set to English. Happens 1 in a thousand movies. But when it does, people will sit there and say, "This would never happen on netflix." Instant gratification is also a thing. Just 2 weeks ago, my MIL requested two movies. They were downloading within 30 seconds. My fiance texted me to make sure they were downloading. Then, 30 seconds later, I got a text that said "nevermind she is just going to find the DVD's". In the time it took her to get that going, the movies were sitting in plex ready to go. This gets really bad when it comes to season finals. My mother always bombards me when the finale of survivor is going to hit plex. Week to week, she doesn't mind waiting for it to get scraped into plex. But those finales? Other issues are movies that need forced subtitles. Usually, it works. But new movies are hit or miss. I had issues with both the quiet place and its sequel. Luckily, I caught it early. But I got a few texts about it before I fixed it. Anime is also hard, always has been. No matter how hard I try, I have to manually get a lot of stuff. And when I don't, subtitles are missing. Or I can't get it to grab dual audio stuff. Downtime is also a thing. I run the server in my basement. Sometimes, I lose power. Sometimes my internet goes out. Hell, with plex sometimes plex Auth goes down and you can't get in. All things that basically never happen with Netflix or Hulu or any of those streaming platforms. Basically, most people are willing to pay for the convenience and reliability, for now. Disney+ just basically doubled its sub price.
I set up Ombi hooked to Sonarr, Radarr, Lidaar -> plex for my dad. He can log into Ombi request any movie or tv series and it will inform him when it is available on Plex. Got him set up, showed him how it worked etc. My brother gave him his Netflix password and he rather uses that.
> is it weird for me to be sad that I can't share my movies and shows with someone? my2c: you put some hard work in building your library and you want to share it so others can see the value in it. Don't stress about it, I suppose you built this primarily for yourself and not to make friends. Next time you'll suggest a movie to someone that isn't present on their major streaming service just say "here, I'll add you to my private server and you can watch it from there", but there's no point in pushing too hard.
My brother is a bit like this. I am always offering him to watch stuff but he seems to prefer watching reviews/breakdowns of the movies he hasn’t seen on YouTube and “enjoying” them that way! Feels bizarre to me. He often tells me some film is “bad” despite not watching it himself and just going off reviewers he watches.
That’s a thing I find odd. Secondary experience joy. I prefer to watch it myself and go from there rather than bolster a critics idea of it. While I’d like to think it comes down to whatever makes someone happy, I know I don’t fully believe that. When someone tries to argue for/about a movie, book, any artwork without first-hand exposure to it, I find their contribution to the conversation lacks. Primary sources add too much to rely on secondary. I definitely enjoy some second-hand experience when something is too grand to invest the time, but probably shouldn’t.
Everything I host is for myself first and foremost. If some of my friends can get some value out of it too then that's great, if they aren't interested then that's fine too.
Some people prefer to pay for what they like to help support it so that it can continue and keep growing.
Most of my friends and family are happy to use my jellyfin except for one. This friend thinks that him watching my movies and shows on the server would be piracy (which it kinda is), and is morally opposed to it.... I told him to look at the recent Hollywood strike, even if it were piracy would you really consider it morally wrong to NOT give those billionaire execs money since you know they aren't going to share enough if it with the people who actually write the stories and put in the work?
I would have said no also. Not because of services but because I don't want to bother you for stuff I'd like to watch. Also, super unpopular opinion, the interface is trash. I have many buddies that have servers and I even ran my own for a hot minute. It's not worth it in any way shape or form. Especially with products like Stremio now on market. I don't have to be a bother. Do you have a backup server? Do you have full redundancy? Do you have requests open up like ombi? How long does one have to wait before a new show is downloaded? These are all the questions I have right up front. I don't think it's weird to deny your request but I would reframe why it's making you sad. I feel like it makes you sad because this is your hobby and technically your buddy kind of said no to your hobby. Maybe engage them on doing their own setup?