Revamp the Vault, Please
by Mike Fagan on Apr 3, 2009 3:53 PM EDT
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The UFC Vault is an invaluable resource, especially for someone like me. Having a library of footage proves invaluable to a gambler or someone working on some sort of referee project (help still needed, we're almost done). Suffice it to say, I use the Vault on a very regular basis.
Unfortunately, the site blows and sucks at the same time, to put it mildly. Over at Sack Mike Goldberg, I wrote up this list of problems:
- Inefficient user interface. Wanna search by event? Good luck with that. Want a less graphic-intesive output to browse through? This is 2009 why would you want something like that? One thing that really grinds my gears: let’s say I’m looking for Gray Maynard and Frank Edgar’s fight (which, by the way, isn’t up for whatever reason). In some cases, if I search for Edgar, I won’t get a result, but if I search for Maynard, I will. What the fuck is going on in the tubes?
- Poor Firefox support. For awhile, you couldn’t use Firefox if you wanted to download fights. Now you can, although the “UFC Download Manager” still opens in Internet Explorer. Which leads me to…
- Internet Explorer blows. I end up using IE because the UFC Vault ends up screwing Firefox up and I can’t download any fights. But IE has it’s own set of hilarious bugs. First off, it’s Internet Explorer. No one in the right minds uses this pile of crap unless they have to. Most glaringly, there’s this huge issue where I never stay logged in. At first, it seemed fairly random, but I concluded that if you aren’t downloading fights one after another like a heroin fiend, the system automatically logs you out. There’s some other bugs tied to…
- Some files are fucked. Two prelims I downloaded from UFC 92 were 1000 MB in size. Yes, that’s 1 GB. For one fight. That’s how big files are for Super Awesome Magical Internet downloads of recent pay-per-views. More annoyingly, some files have critical flaws somewhere in the code that 1) minimize the UFC Download Manager instead of playing the file and 2) crash my file explorer if I try to open them locally. Very nice!
- Where’s the WEC? It’s bad enough that the Pride selection is still rather paltry, but I can at least give them a pass because they should be more focused on getting the UFC collection complete. But why aren’t WEC prelims and archived fights being uploaded? I want to see 135-pound Japanese fighters in American cages, goddamnit.
- The UFC Download Manager is awful. The fights aren’t arranged in any sort of order, and change order after you watch a fight. The video player blows - five preset audio levels, skipping around is damn near impossible, and you get two choices of video size (the default and full screen). Not to mention the ads they plaster on a paid subscription. (By the way, did you guys know Jackson vs. Jardine is March 7th?)
UFC Vault users out there, are you having these same problems?
UPDATE: Nate just pointed something out to me. Go to http://video.ufc.com and click on "Subscriptions." They aren't being offered anymore. Terrible, terrible move. Once my expires, I won't be paying $1.99/fight.
UPDATE 2: Conversation I had with live support on the subject:
Nathan Samwick: Hello! Thank you for contacting UFC Live Support. How may I assist you today?
Michael Fagan: Hello Nathan, I was wondering why you have stopped offering subscription service to the UFC video library?
Nathan Samwick: Sorry currently we do not have any information regarding this.
Michael Fagan: Where can I get this information?
Nathan Samwick: Sorry, we do not know the information you are requesting available to us.
Michael Fagan: But you do know that subscription services are not being offered currently, correct?
Nathan Samwick: Yes, currently there is no subscription service available, we are having only Video On Demand only.
Michael Fagan: OK, why was that decision made?
Nathan Samwick: I'm sorry, we don't have any information available about this.
Michael Fagan: OK, when my current subscription nears expiration, will I be able to re-up it (i.e. some sort of "grandfather clause) or will I be subjected to the On Demand service?
Nathan Samwick: You will be subjected to On Demand, once your subscription gets expire.
Michael Fagan: Can I speak with a manager?
Michael Fagan: Or supervisor or whatever
Nathan Samwick: Sorry, right now no one is available please write your comments to the following address : customer_care@ufc.com
Michael Fagan: Is there a phone number I can call?
Nathan Samwick: We do not have any phone number, We provide only chat / Email support. 
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it's not just the vault.
UFC.com needs an entire upgrade and has get with the world of 2.0. They took a long time to introduce a (poorly regulated) comment section in their news stories, and they lack facebook, digg, and other bookmark/sharing links. I beg them to clean things up.
They want to avoid people buying the one fight they want to see for a few bucks. They want them to buy the PPV.
I’m not talking about a week later, maybe 2 months standard.
by casey manrique on Apr 3, 2009 4:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Probably.
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
I got f'd by Yahoo
Tried to buy a ppv from them and couldn’t get it to play on my computer. I was with tech support for up to 45 mins after the event started. I tried to get my money back, emailed the people the live chat person told me to email, enclosed a copy of the chat transript….and they refused to give my money back.
So I just go to my buddy Justins house and watch with him.
By the way, Mike.
While you’re probably scouring the posts, I have a database layout for the Fight database already set up, I’m just moving through some Regular Expressions to parse all the data. It’s somewhat time consuming, but the database should be pretty epic.
I’ll have it laid out by event, fight, fighter, and promotion for maximum amount of data goodness. As suggest by szucconi in the earlier thread, I’ll be able to enable it to update via only events later down the road, thus eliminating huge layover waiting for the thing to update completely.
I’ll also spiff up a nice interface for it.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
I have done an endless amount of thinking and mental planing about this kind of DB topology. Not only to keep track of the basics, but to catalog ref, announcers, courner men, cut men, summaries of the action, moves done in the fight, guests at ringside, Info about the camp the fighters had, when they trained with, ect. Just everything there is to know about a fight. Kinda like the Money Ball guy in baseball. Keep all the stats and find out what matters later. Finding out that one cutman has 300% more cut stopages when he is the cut man would be very informative.
I’ve thought about this as well. It, unfortunately, would be a monstrous undertaking.
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
It's something I've thought about also...
maybe once you’re back in the Chicago area and we can meet up and spend some time going over it and everything it will take we can pursue it down the road. But it’s certainly more of a “it’s gonna take some time” thing than a “we’ll have it up in a week”
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
http://CurseOfRonKarkovice.blogspot.com/
by Brent Brookhouse on Apr 3, 2009 5:29 PM EDT up reply actions
If you guys do it or anything like it, I would love to be involved. Mike has my email. I am sure Leland’s DB would be a great jumping off point.
Here’s a thought….
Once the DB is finished, query it for CUT stoppages. That’ll AT LEAST give you a point of what video to watch.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Apr 3, 2009 5:45 PM EDT up reply actions
Honestly, it’d be even more epic if Compustrike had some sort of web service I could query fight stats from and integrate into the system.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Apr 3, 2009 5:52 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, we’ll have to do that. I’d also like to see what Rami from FightMetric rolls out in the next month or two.
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
Oh, and rankings (MMAWeekly, Sherdog, WAMMA, ect.) with a date released so we can see where fighters were ranked when they fought. Can’t tell you how much I would have used that.
Actually...
It’s very doable at this stage. I’d have to create a seperate module, but historically, it could link in the Meta-Rankings.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Apr 3, 2009 6:00 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
It got really nerdy in here really quickly. And considering what might come out of it, amen and god bless the nerds.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
by AJB on Apr 3, 2009 6:06 PM EDT up reply actions
It's interesting...
In my IT field of web development, Internet Explorer version 6 has been hailed as the Anti-christ. Internet Explorer 7 is an improvement, but I hear Internet Explorer 8 is fucking awesome. I will hold my judgement.
The logging out problem sounds like a Session problem, which would be the result of one moronic developer, or it could be IE clearing it out for some retarded reason that leads back to… moronic developer.
Furthermore, it sounds like moronic developers are a trend. Most public facing sites should be working with a multitude of browswers. Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, fucking OPERA for christ sakes.
It’s poor programming like that though that allows my higher ups to value my work.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
I hear ya...
I’m more on the support side (high level incident management) but I’ve heard the same about 8. I’m still not buying it though…
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
http://CurseOfRonKarkovice.blogspot.com/
by Brent Brookhouse on Apr 3, 2009 5:30 PM EDT up reply actions
Chrome is pretty sweet for speed, but it’s failed me as well before, and it isn’t supported by the entire web community in terms of programming specifically for it for user interface design.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Apr 3, 2009 5:52 PM EDT up reply actions
The shame is that the UFC does not give free access to any of the fights. MMA is on the verge of becoming a huge mainstream sport, by restricting access to the casual fan who may watch a fight on the net, they are holding back potential fans from getting hooked on the UFC.
I love the free fights the UFC make available via TUF and all of the Fight Nights on TV, but they need to give more free access to fights on the net too.
—
Speaking of fights on the internet:
Is there any way to see the undercard fights from the most recent Fight Night?
I have all those problems except #6. I don’t bother watching in their embedded player. I just use Windows Media Player, which downloads the DRM. I also never keep the files on my computer after watching them, so the disorganized Manager isn’t an issue.
My big problem is the selection. There’s no excuse to leave off any old fights. It would be a great resource to have the entire fight history in one place, especially for people who pay for the subscription. There are certain fights that I can’t locate at all (anyone know where to find Tanner vs. Haseman? Sherk vs. Nakao?), and this would be the best solution.
I probably should go back to watching in WMP, but that’s a pile of garbage too.
I delete the stuff after I watch it as well, but when I’m doing stuff like the ref project, I’m downloading handfuls of fights at a time, and only watching the first 30 seconds, so that little bug annoys the piss out of me.
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
IE Tab Add-On
There’s a great add-on for Firefox that converts any open window into an IE-based window, so you don’t get the bugs, but you can still do IE-only stuff in it. It’s how I stream Netflix – works great.
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on Apr 3, 2009 3:49 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Rec'd
I love IE Tab.
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
Very useful
However, more and more people use Firefox or Safari even. IE is usually the last browser to code for.
AWmusic - mp3 blog on independent music..
WEC prelim video has been signed off to Versus as part of their new deal. All of your other gripes are legitimate though. I would add the following:
-Paying 2 bucks apiece for the prelims of a PPV is absolutely a ripoff. PPV customers should get some kind of access code that lets them get the other fights for free.
-You don’t even own the videos after you download them! The draconian DRM they use only lets you play the fights on the provided video player. Essentially you are paying to rent the videos.
To add to #4 in your list, the files seem to be different shapes and sizes every time. Sometimes they have big black letterboxes, sometimes they are stretched to shit, sometimes they are encoded in a really shitty bitrate… it doesn’t make any sense.
Download the prelims somewhere else. UFC’s service is a waste of time.
by smoogy on Apr 3, 2009 4:04 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs
I couldn’t agree more.
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
I need to acquire one of these nerds you speak of.
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
I do too. Can you get them at Best Buy?
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
by AJB on Apr 3, 2009 6:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Excellent; my brother is a Best Buy General Manager. I’ll ask him to ship me one.
…stupid question, but what do I feed it?
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
by AJB on Apr 3, 2009 6:59 PM EDT up reply actions
mountain dew and hot pockets. They like cheese curls, but its a mistake to give them cheese fingers and let them touch your stuff.
This nerd requires beer, women, and a constant flow of MMA.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Apr 3, 2009 7:23 PM EDT up reply actions
The more I get to know you...
the more you seem like my kind of guy.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
http://CurseOfRonKarkovice.blogspot.com/
by Brent Brookhouse on Apr 3, 2009 7:24 PM EDT up reply actions
Why don’t you just hire him already (starts crying)
by Derek Suboticki on Apr 3, 2009 7:35 PM EDT up reply actions
Brent, you’re in Chicago?
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Apr 3, 2009 7:47 PM EDT up reply actions
Oh god, if you’re in Chicago too, we might have to have a nerdfest when I get back.
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
I’m in Central IL, but regularly hit the area.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Apr 3, 2009 8:32 PM EDT up reply actions
Not anymore...
I was in the ‘burbs (Lisle and Lombard specifically) from 04-08 but just moved back to southwest Michigan. Still it’s a 90-120 minute drive to Chicago and I go back frequently as I technically am “based” out of Chicago for work, I just have the ability to work remotely. But as I said, I go back frequently to hang out at the office, visit friends and family..etc.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
http://CurseOfRonKarkovice.blogspot.com/
by Brent Brookhouse on Apr 3, 2009 8:21 PM EDT up reply actions
“Beer, women, and a constant flow of MMA” is pretty much standard for many of us around here, I’d venture…
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
by AJB on Apr 3, 2009 11:40 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Huge issue in the digital world. Big companies hate piracy but are slow as molasses making the content available themselves (or lock it down with DRM to enforce extremely restrictive usage rules when they do make it available.)
I would definitely pay $2 -$3 a fight if I was able to keep the fights on my computer but I’m not going to pay that for what basically amounts to a pay-per-view VOD service. I’m guessing that I’m not the only one.
"Japan is half-Machida" - iiowyn
They killed the subscription service
so if you let your subscription expire you can’t reup.
"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"
Guys, I hate to have to do this kind of stuff, but please do not discuss where you can get fight videos. I hid some comments that are borderline, as a result. You guys didn’t do anything wrong, but I’m just playing it safe. Thanks.
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
I feel ya Mike, I feel ya
I work for a web design firm in DC (as a designer) and you’ve just pointed out one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to large organization websites. There is NO reason for a company like the UFC to have a website that has such poor user interface, works only with IE (seriously) and obviously has a faulty database query system in place. What’s the point of having a search function if it only half-ass works Ugh…
I'm the kind of girl who loves to watch a GOOD fight!
--------
Join the DC Area UFC Meetup Group
http://www.meetup.com/DCUFCGroup
Nathan Samwick: You will be subjected to On Demand, once your subscription gets expire.
ONCE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION GETS EXPIRE, ALL YOUR DOLLAR ARE BELONG TO US
Haha, that has me rolling. I thought it was funny that he repeated my use of the word “subjected.”
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
That’s some stellar customer service. Were I you, I’d feel serviced. Or maybe violated. Hard to say.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
by AJB on Apr 3, 2009 5:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Oh shit...
I missed that the first time. That is AMAZING.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
http://CurseOfRonKarkovice.blogspot.com/
by Brent Brookhouse on Apr 3, 2009 6:41 PM EDT up reply actions
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