F4W/Observer-Is it still worth paying for?

[TGD287]

They're almost always there. On occasion the header is made apart of the opening paragraph, and that may be what you remember, but most weeks it's like how the screenshot shows it.

[Alan4L]

Well this thread is going to cause me to have a tough time fitting my head through doors!

But seriously, very much appreciate all the kind words about my show littered throughout this thread. I've always said I'd always keep doing the show as long as it's fun and as long as I have at least one listener. Thanks for reinforcing that!

[rovert]

Although it is good to get the news from source like Talking Sheet said today free alternatives are getting better while paid websites aren't. Bryan's attitude and familiarity breeding contempt makes the audio hard to get through at times. Meltzer almost always is better on other people's shows. His live reactions at BOLA and that shoot interview he did with Naylor CLEARLY displays he still has a lot of passion for Pro Wrestling.

I know there's a lot of reasons for not reporting everything all the time but the lack of scoops in the Observer the past while has been a bummer when you are waiting for Meltzer to confirm things. Especially when Mike Johnson hasn't had his best year on that front either.

Well this thread is going to cause me to have a tough time fitting my head through doors!

But seriously, very much appreciate all the kind words about my show littered throughout this thread. I've always said I'd always keep doing the show as long as it's fun and as long as I have at least one listener. Thanks for reinforcing that!

You are deadly, Alan. Your enthusiasm continues to shine through. But if you don't cover Becky Lynch on the L DKP show we are done.

[Rob McCarron]

I am a little frustrated with F4W just because I offered a ton of ideas that were ignored regarding bringing new stuff to the site, new forms of content, etc. But that's how it always goes, right? Ideas are ignored so frustration is bred, even if my ideas actually sucked in their mind.

My comp subscription runs out in January, and I don't believe they'll renew it. I haven't listened to an F4W podcast since around after WrestleMania this year, and with the big newsletter news finding its way to reddit within the hour of a new issue, I may end up just not resubscribing until I need to.

I'm unsure. I respect Dave greatly, and Bryan & Vinny was my favorite podcast (I don't listen anymore not because I don't enjoy the show, I just don't have time). So not subscribing isn't necessarily a negative on F4W, just a sign that the value probably isn't as it was a few years ago.

[Joe Gagne]

I'm curious what those ideas were Rob...

I was there day 1 and don't see myself stopping any time soon, but the content has clearly taken a downswing.

--Figure 4 Dailies are a thing of the past, replaced by a short daily show with some terrible callers. The extended Figure 4 Extras look to have been short lived.
--Todd Martin jumped to another site like this was the Monday Night Wars.
--We've gotten a new Josh Nason MMA show, which maybe is super popular but no one ever comments on it on the Board. But there's no lucha show, Adam and Mike only do sporadic shows, and who listens to Wrestling Weekly? God bless Karl Stern and Alan.
--Bryan and Vinny don't bother with Impact, and don't review ROH because it's good and thus nothing to discuss. B&V just isn't as fun as it used to be.

Like I said, I still like a lot of the content and listen to something almost every day, but the site is what encouraged me to do podcasts to begin with, and I don't know if that would be the case today.

[Joe Lanza]

I'm curious what those ideas were Rob...

I'll let Rob answer his own question, but you're seeing some of those ideas implemented here instead.

[MobbVanDam]

Did Todd Martin jump, or was he pushed? I didn't really dig into it when it happened, but I miss hearing that dude a lot even though I hated him at first.

[Ageyev]

I am a little frustrated with F4W just because I offered a ton of ideas that were ignored regarding bringing new stuff to the site, new forms of content, etc. But that's how it always goes, right? Ideas are ignored so frustration is bred, even if my ideas actually sucked in their mind.

My comp subscription runs out in January, and I don't believe they'll renew it. I haven't listened to an F4W podcast since around after WrestleMania this year, and with the big newsletter news finding its way to reddit within the hour of a new issue, I may end up just not resubscribing until I need to.

I'm unsure. I respect Dave greatly, and Bryan & Vinny was my favorite podcast (I don't listen anymore not because I don't enjoy the show, I just don't have time). So not subscribing isn't necessarily a negative on F4W, just a sign that the value probably isn't as it was a few years ago.

This will make you sick then: on Observer Live last week Alvarez said that there are "millions of people working on millions of different things" on the site, he said there are so many people working on things that he doesn't even know who's who, who's doing what or what's going on, he just does audio.

He also said yesterday that he doesn't know if the site has a search function.

[arogers86]

I am a little frustrated with F4W just because I offered a ton of ideas that were ignored regarding bringing new stuff to the site, new forms of content, etc. But that's how it always goes, right? Ideas are ignored so frustration is bred, even if my ideas actually sucked in their mind.

My comp subscription runs out in January, and I don't believe they'll renew it. I haven't listened to an F4W podcast since around after WrestleMania this year, and with the big newsletter news finding its way to reddit within the hour of a new issue, I may end up just not resubscribing until I need to.

I'm unsure. I respect Dave greatly, and Bryan & Vinny was my favorite podcast (I don't listen anymore not because I don't enjoy the show, I just don't have time). So not subscribing isn't necessarily a negative on F4W, just a sign that the value probably isn't as it was a few years ago.

This will make you sick then: on Observer Live last week Alvarez said that there are "millions of people working on millions of different things" on the site, he said there are so many people working on things that he doesn't even know who's who, who's doing what or what's going on, he just does audio.

He also said yesterday that he doesn't know if the site has a search function.

Now the whole Board reorganization stuff without letting anyone know makes more sense: nobody knows what's going on.

[InYourCase]

I cancelled my sub last week. Cared so little about it that I couldn't even come up with a snarky tweet. I love Alan's show. I think it's up there with the flagship VOW podcast and any number of Zellner's gimmicks as the best wrestling podcast out there. I really enjoyed the classic Observers that Dave was posting, more so because of the All Japan stuff going on than the Monday Night War nonsense, but I found all of those to be very interesting. That being said, I can't pay $10.99 for Alan's show, an occasional Adam & Mike show, and Observer. I stopped reading the Observer during the last month of my subscription. He wasn't dropping anything groundbreaking, they were coming out late on Wedensday nights, and I simply just didn't care. I'm not saying I won't resubscribe soon, but I needed a break. For now, however, I'm greatly missing not having the archvies to DKP/Adam & Mike shows.

[Rob McCarron]

I am a little frustrated with F4W just because I offered a ton of ideas that were ignored regarding bringing new stuff to the site, new forms of content, etc. But that's how it always goes, right? Ideas are ignored so frustration is bred, even if my ideas actually sucked in their mind.

My comp subscription runs out in January, and I don't believe they'll renew it. I haven't listened to an F4W podcast since around after WrestleMania this year, and with the big newsletter news finding its way to reddit within the hour of a new issue, I may end up just not resubscribing until I need to.

I'm unsure. I respect Dave greatly, and Bryan & Vinny was my favorite podcast (I don't listen anymore not because I don't enjoy the show, I just don't have time). So not subscribing isn't necessarily a negative on F4W, just a sign that the value probably isn't as it was a few years ago.

This will make you sick then: on Observer Live last week Alvarez said that there are "millions of people working on millions of different things" on the site, he said there are so many people working on things that he doesn't even know who's who, who's doing what or what's going on, he just does audio.

He also said yesterday that he doesn't know if the site has a search function.

There aren't that many. I know who's doing things, and it is about 5 people.

[arogers86]

I am a little frustrated with F4W just because I offered a ton of ideas that were ignored regarding bringing new stuff to the site, new forms of content, etc. But that's how it always goes, right? Ideas are ignored so frustration is bred, even if my ideas actually sucked in their mind.

My comp subscription runs out in January, and I don't believe they'll renew it. I haven't listened to an F4W podcast since around after WrestleMania this year, and with the big newsletter news finding its way to reddit within the hour of a new issue, I may end up just not resubscribing until I need to.

I'm unsure. I respect Dave greatly, and Bryan & Vinny was my favorite podcast (I don't listen anymore not because I don't enjoy the show, I just don't have time). So not subscribing isn't necessarily a negative on F4W, just a sign that the value probably isn't as it was a few years ago.

This will make you sick then: on Observer Live last week Alvarez said that there are "millions of people working on millions of different things" on the site, he said there are so many people working on things that he doesn't even know who's who, who's doing what or what's going on, he just does audio.

He also said yesterday that he doesn't know if the site has a search function.

There aren't that many. I know who's doing things, and it is about 5 people.

None of those 5 are in charge of communicating with the customer base, I guess.

[Hobbes]

Did Todd Martin jump, or was he pushed? I didn't really dig into it when it happened, but I miss hearing that dude a lot even though I hated him at first.

A lot of the details haven't made public but it had something to do with a message board argument between him and their former MMA writer Mike Coughlin. It sounded like Todd maybe wasn't happy with the way the situation was handled, even though Mike was fired as a result of the incident.

[ErinQuinn]

the retro content and DKP are keeping me there (seriously, Alan has so much positivity i want to rush out and watch everything he raves about); Observer back issues are now at the point where I was a crazed teenage fan, and I'm a mark for old PPV reviews and star ratings. The B&V show still entertains me when they focus on old network content like the Nitros and the RAWs, or when they cover ROH, it's fun to follow along.

Dave's dead pan humor when it hits is a winner for me

[Quentin Moody]

I was never a long time subscriber who had emotional attachment to it, so for me content wise it just isn't worth it.