RiffTrax playing dirty?

[gammer]

I wonder why when someone does a search on YouTube for Cinematic Titanic, any of the returned video pops up with adds for RiffTrax?

I wonder if Joel and Co. will take this as a joke?

[Isaac S.]

It's really not a dirty trick.  Over on the MST3K Discussion Board, people are making it out to be some dirty business tactic.  Please.  If so, Josh Way is guilty of this same tactic when he tags his Fun With Shorts videos with "mst3k" (and, for that matter, so is RiffTrax).  Tags are meant to help people find things they'd be interested in.  It stands to reason that someone interested in movie riffing from CT might also like RiffTrax.  There's nothing dirty about it.

It's neither a joke nor a dirty trick.  It's smart business and it's totally within the bounds of fair play.

Sorry, I'm just upset over the attitude of some folks on that board (not this one) toward RiffTrax.  It's like they want to make it a fight.  It's one thing to have a preference (Mike vs. Joel, CT vs. RiffTrax, Kevin vs. Josh, Bill vs. Trace, whatever), but it's another to claim that your favorite is the only reason MST3K was ever worth watching.  Like people who love a band's early work, but if their style changes a little, they suddenly hate them, and pine for the old days.  I think it's just human nature -- for some people, anyway.  I'd love to see Mike and Joel riff together some day (and that's probably more possible than ever now), but I'm not looking for an MST3K reunion.  I live in the present, not the past, and I embrace RiffTrax and CT as great products individually.  It's time to move on, guys.  Everyone else has.

Two camps means more riffing for everyone.  We win in the end.  And we're allowed to like both.  You don't have to choose sides.

Mike compared it to the old WWF/WCW Monday Night Wars, and he was joking, but among some of the fans, that comparison seems more apt than ever.  Funny...  During that "war," I chose a side.  And that was actually hostile on both ends.  But for this one, I'll sit out the hostilities.  I like both, and I also know that there's nothing sinister going on from either camp here.  They can be competitors, in one sense, without being mutually exclusive products.

Ay, can't we all just get along?  Some folks need to stop looking for "dirty tricks" on whichever side and just accept that there's no hard feelings between these camps.  There's just not.  Stop trying to create controversy, MSTies!

I'll be honest.  If I had to choose a side, it'd be RiffTrax.  And, yeah, it's a little obnoxious that CT has pretty much pretended they don't exist.  But I really don't think there's anything sinister about it.  They're just going about their business.  Not like you see CT mentioned on the front page of RiffTrax.com.  Sure, it's on the blog, but the CT web site is a lot less developed and really is just there to concentrate on their product.  That's perfectly fine.

I just don't want the great CT vs. RiffTrax War to begin.  Let's just enjoy our movie riffing in two distinct flavors.  A little ribbing between the two would actually be really enjoyable (e.g., Bill's blog post), but an all-out fanboy-style one-or-the-other flame war is what I fear might be slowly developing.  Let's hope not.  But it's still going to be a little obnoxious even if it doesn't get that bad.  It's already hard for me to read the MST3K Discussion Board because of the RiffTrax-hating that goes on from some of the members.

Okay, so that was rambling and mildly off-topic, but there you go.

[mrbasehart]

^

I agree.  I really don't think either one will take business from the other, as fans will be clamoring for anything that the guys put out - especially since MST3k now seems a bit of a hollow shell - so I don't know why there'd be any serious competition.  I think like the guys (and gals) doing the riffing, the competition between fans should remain friendly. 

[Isaac S.]

Exactly.  I mean, really, they're not even competitors.  The people who like this stuff, by and large, tend to like both styles.  And if anything's competing with RiffTrax and CT, it's other forms of entertainment.  Movies, video games, music -- those are riffing's real competitors.  MST3K fans are always pining for more riffing, and there's money for everyone here.  If an us vs. them mentality is going to prevail in the MSTie community, let it be us (the riffing fans) vs. them (the "other forms of entertainment" fans).  That's the real danger -- that neither camp gets any money because people are spending it elsewhere.  We ought to be too busy spreading the word about both to choose sides, even if we each have our favorite.

[JoshWay]

Agree with what has already been said. Meta tags were invented for just this purpose. They don't keep people from finding any content, they just help fans find additional related content they might enjoy.

[ChrisHanel]

Also jumping in on the /agree bandwagon, please refer to my very long post in the original Cinematic Titanic thread. If I have to go through another flamewar over this whole thing, I'm going to cry. Like, I'm going to put Chris Crocker to shame.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO HATE ONE IN ORDER TO LIKE THE OTHER.

//slams head against desk
//slam
//slam
//slam

[torgosPizza]

You guys should read the thread at mst3kinfo. Pretty amazing, I think. (And sad.)

http://www.mst3kinfo.com/?p=240

[BEERxTaco]

So much hate in the world, do we really need to get upset over the stuff we love?

They're trying to ruin Christmas, these haters...

If this sort of crap continues, I will just avoid message boards and the juvenile minds that spoil them. I don't need it. I'll be happy to purchase the riffs of my choice from BOTH camps and enjoy them with my REAL friends in REAL life.

People get weird in front of a computer screen...

Sad isn't it that the people who are supposed to "get it" just don't...

[Isaac S.]

You guys should read the thread at mst3kinfo. Pretty amazing, I think. (And sad.)

http://www.mst3kinfo.com/?p=240

Sigh.  I'm seeing a lot of RiffTrax-hate on the MST3K community sites.  It's really annoying.  How can these people, fellow MSTies who enjoy the same kinds of humor I do, not get it?  If I were to choose a side, I suppose I'd pick this one.  But only because the people here are sane enough to realize there's no need to choose a side!

[Edward J Grug III]

So much hate in the world, do we really need to get upset over the stuff we love?

Welcome to the internets!

[Chaos]

What I don't get is how the crazy people over at the mst3k info forums (and a couple of others) have convinced themselves that it is somehow RiffTrax's doing that those meta tags are there. Um... so, RiffTrax is posting videos of Cinematic Titanic on YouTube and tagging them with RiffTrax meta tags? WTF?? Those tags are put there by the people who post the fucking videos. RiffTrax has nothing to do with it.

And I agree with everyone else here... while I personally have not been impressed with CT's business performance thus far, I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with their existence... I think having some more groups out there doing riffs is defintely a good thing for the industry (not that I'm biased or anything ).

I know this is the interwebs and all, but seriously, people... haters need not apply (not you guys here at the Round Table... those other sad losers).

[mrbasehart]

Okay, I gotta know: Is there any links to these Joel vs Mike flame wars? I've only heard about 'em and it was before my time - I'm not sure I even had the internet then.

[ChrisHanel]

Yes, this almost certainly has its roots in the old Mike vs. Joel flame wars. I would not be shocked if some of the same people are involved.

I apologize if the following statements generalize, but people who argued on the "Joel" side tended to be angrier and more prone to be polarized on the issue. At the time, MST3k was still going with Mike in the lead role, and there was a finite number on Joel's episodes -- if you didn't like Mike, it was a very sad time from you, and therefore I can understand a much more emotional response to things.

Yes, it's extremely sad, but predictable. I was afraid of this from the beginning of Cinematic Titanic, and now it's starting. Can't say I'm surprised.

-Chris

EDIT: Going back and following that link posted earlier to mst3kinfo.com, looks like things are patching up with some of the more vocal people. There's hope! Yay for Torgospizza!

[Bob]

I guess some folks just like to complain and make their preference seem better by saying bad things about the other choices.   Some of the comments over there make Maude Flanders seem reasonable.

[gammer]

Sigh.  I'm seeing a lot of RiffTrax-hate on the MST3K community sites.  It's really annoying.  How can these people, fellow MSTies who enjoy the same kinds of humor I do, not get it?  If I were to choose a side, I suppose I'd pick this one.  But only because the people here are sane enough to realize there's no need to choose a side!

What I'm finding with the folks who are misties, but don't like RiffTrax, is that these particular folks are only fans of old 'B' movies being riffed. Also, these same folks tend to want skits like we saw in MST Host Segments on in the FilmCrew.
When they found out that the majority of RiffTrax are of more modern movies, they instantly turned on their blinders and say: "I hate RiffTrax".
Personally, I don't agree with it. I'd rather keep a more open mind and enjoy riffing on all types of movies. But I guess if you're not one for change then this is how you deal with it.

Either way, its inevitable to have CT vs RiffTrax wars now. Its just a given.