Riffworks/Rifflink Problems- please all contribute....

[cwight]

Ok, let me preface this by saying how much I love this program and how it's not (at least for me) matter of money. I mean I really do think this program is just about the best thing for musicians since home recording became a possibility.

But the problem is guys/gals the the upgrade seems at least to me to be a backwards step. Now this might just be a case a teething problems, but I wanted to indicate what's happening just in case you don't know.

First, the system seems a lot less stable than before the upgrade. I'm virtually getting booted of Rifflink everytime I try to do something, and i know I'm not the only one. I've also got quite a powerful and up to date PC so I know it's not that, and it didn't happen that often before the upgrade.

Second, there are a lot of people trying to contribute who haven't got their Avatar's sorted out yet. This may be that they haven't done it yet and thus it's their fault. But I know of some people who have tried (JojoWiese, or is it Weise?) and it hasn't worked for them. Also I know Jojo has not been given Creator status, and i thought everyone got that for 60 from the upgrade. Maybe this is not such a problem, but it means that it is extremely difficult to know who has done what on riff, since many of the layers just have the little guy with the guitar. Not that I've got anything against the little guy.

Finally, yes you guessed it the drums (broken record?). I've thought about this, and I can't see how the copyright issues really play out given that once tracks are casted everyone gets to hear the drums anyway. So why, in copyright terms, can it just be set up that all users can hear any drum set, but that only those who have purchased them can change them? Or why not have it set up so that on public collabs only the demo drums can be used and that if people want to use alternative drums sets they need to do it through the private (invites) collabs section?

The bottom line is that unless the program has a minimum level of stability and that we can hear the drums, people are just going to drift away.

That would be a disaster for all of us. Please guys, the customer really is always right.

Thanks,

[cwight]

Sorry, I should have added, and don't have a go at me for giving this way you lot. But there is a workaround the drum problem that everyone is using, but that is potentially a real problem. If you duplicate a riff, you get control of it and can add you own drums; basically returning the listening situation to what it was before the upgrade. The problem with this however, is that the song files are doubling in size and take ages to load, and may be be contributing to the instability factor...

[gatorjj]

First, the system seems a lot less stable than before the upgrade. I'm virtually getting booted of Rifflink everytime I try to do something, and i know I'm not the only one. I've also got quite a powerful and up to date PC so I know it's not that, and it didn't happen that often before the upgrade.

One thing you can't do well in a beta is pound the server to see if there's issues. So perhaps there's some capacity issues the guys need to look at. The other unknown is what's going on in the internet. Granted usually it's fine, in the last several days I've had lots of general issues going on while transferring large files, both for me and others sending files to my web server. So it might just be one of those things.

Second, there are a lot of people trying to contribute who haven't got their Avatar's sorted out yet. This may be that they haven't done it yet and thus it's their fault. But I know of some people who have tried (JojoWiese, or is it Weise?) and it hasn't worked for them. Also I know Jojo has not been given Creator status, and i thought everyone got that for 60 from the upgrade. Maybe this is not such a problem, but it means that it is extremely difficult to know who has done what on riff, since many of the layers just have the little guy with the guitar. Not that I've got anything against the little guy.

I think you are correct on the creator thing, if JoJo has an issue he should probably contact Sonoma. As to the little guy with the funky hair, he can really play It's only been up for a few days...the problem should settle itself out as the RiffLinkers get their avatars up.

Finally, yes you guessed it the drums (broken record?). I've thought about this, and I can't see how the copyright issues really play out given that once tracks are casted everyone gets to hear the drums anyway. So why, in copyright terms, can it just be set up that all users can hear any drum set, but that only those who have purchased them can change them? Or why not have it set up so that on public collabs only the demo drums can be used and that if people want to use alternative drums sets they need to do it through the private (invites) collabs section?

I personally have a couple concerns about this part. First, drums are a local resource, which is why they still sound excellent in RiffLink. Streaming them will just eat up more bandwidth, kill the quality, and the stream has to come from somewhere which currently it doesn't. Second, and this is just a guess, but I expect there are royalties paid on each drummer licensed. Having one person create a collab with drums and another use them without licensing them probably breaks all the legal agreements Sonoma currently has in place. Sure, you hear them when RiffCast but you can't really use them in RiffWorks once they are there. Maybe something will be worked out in the future both technically and legally.

The bottom line is that unless the program has a minimum level of stability and that we can hear the drums, people are just going to drift away.

That would be a disaster for all of us. Please guys, the customer really is always right.

Thanks,

I agree totally, and hopefully things will settle down soon! As a customer if I want to collab and use drums I don't have, I typically ask the guys to riffcast the song so I can hear 'em or go listen in the store, and if I want to buy them and join the collab I drop $10 and 5 minutes later I'm in. The drums are gonna give value long after the collab has been hijacked!

I'd hate to limit public collabs to demo drums only, that would be the quickest way to lose the crew en masse. Some folks won't want to pony up for new drums all the time, that's fine. They don't have to play in every collab, or can coordinate with their regular people on what drums each have in common. Rex files are another excellent alternative, especially for coordinated collabs, somebody can post them to a free file share and put a comment where they are at. There's some "human" etiquite needed but I hate to try to fix that problem with technology...it usually makes things worse.

Hang in there cwight!

Cheers,

J.J.

[pooterpatty]

I think the drum issue has been beaten to death. The folks at Sonoma know it's an issue, it's been raised countless times by countless different people, and I know they're working on it.

[cwight]

Thanks gatorjj for the responses, and pooter, you may be right about the drums. But the point is that after the upgrade things have changed for the worse. Before the recent upgrade the drums weren't locked out, which meant you could change them. Now they are locked, and you can still change them, but only if you duplicate the riff; this just creates additional problems....

And yes the little guy can really play...in fact all of them....

As I say, for me it's not about money and the amount for drums is negligible (particularly given the current exchange rate), but not everyone is in the same situation.

[michelle]

We are listening.

We just launched the Standard update a week ago and the update for RiffWorks Line 6 Edition just went out - it will take users a bit to update their profiles and avatars.

As mentioned, we are aware of the drum issue and want it to be fun for everyone. For now, buy drums if you want to hear them. There are some coupons on this page that you can use as many times as you want for a limited time. More drums is always fun

http://www.sonomawireworks.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2

[cwight]

Hi Again Michelle, just zipping round the forums. More drums is always fun and none is not......Well unless it's intended. Glad you are listening. getting heard is what the forums are about.