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Printable Rorywan said: Anxiety said: This note just came our way:
We understand that several people have had issues with the site, and we're working diligently to address them all as quickly as possible. With the great amount of traffic that we've received there have been some issues getting the large amount of content in the site out to everyone simultaneously. We're currently doubling the size of our server farm in order to make sure that fans can get all of the albums and videos they desire. To accommodate our friends overseas we've relaxed some of the normal security checks put in place by American banks. Since the vault has 3D and video, which is pushing the boundary of the web and current technology, only newer machines can adequately handle it. If fans are experiencing choppy videos in the vault, they should click the fullscreen button on the video and it should improve their experience. Thanks to everyone for their patience while we scale up LotusFlow3r.com to accommodate the great response from Prince fans all over the world. Thanks so much, Scott Oh my god, could he be anymore condescending? Exactly. This guy has a pair o' globes on him. If prince.org were to be made idiot proof, someone would just invent a better idiot. | |
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i feel really bad for prince because i like his music more than anyone could imagine but this has been a disaster for me also.
i have spent 2 days trying to figure out just how to log on i mean really!....i had to read back over all of you guys comments just to figure out how to get into the site. i so wanted this to work out for him. floi | |
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We are the angry mob
We read the papers everyday day We like who like We hate who we hate But we're also easily swayed  | |
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ShadeoViolet said: I just feel, as a graphic design minor, I might have at least a tiny bit of insight on this issue...
When designing anything, we were always taught that FUNCTIONALITY comes before everything else. (Yes, even aesthetics.) The site has to work and work effortlessly. Period. If it doesn't do that, then all of the artistic flourishes are ignored and put to waste due to user frustration.. (Here's an analogy:: Imagine walking into an art gallery, and before you could view any of the beautiful pieces, you had to complete a successful round of Sudoku just to properly view any kind of drawing or painting.. That's just frustrating, isn't it?) I don't know about everyone else, but when I want to visit a Prince website, I just want the music and videos. I don't want to play a game. Heck, that's why we have video game counsels. They are BUILT solely for that purpose. Trying to make a website into some elaborate "Myst" experience is just a very poor idea on its face. Why? Because it all goes back to functionality. Websites are built for this and for accessing information first and foremost. If they aren't doing that very well, then there needs to be a redesign. It really is that simple. Plus, why would you want to alienate a large portion of your fan base who happen to be running PC's with lower specs? If anyone has ever wondered why the "Diablo" video game series has been so ridiculously popular after all these years, I speculate that a large part of its success might have to do with the fact that ANYONE with ANY kind of computer can smoothly run the game. (PC or Mac) This increases your potential market share greatly and ends up benefiting everyone involved.. Basically, it comes down to this:: Make the website leaner, faster, and more straightforward. I say this even as a Graphic Design minor and Art major. There's a time and place for clever Flash tricks.. and this certainly isn't it. See, THIS is why HQ was far better then any Official Prince site. People may vent on Aaron, the mods and all that, but HQ was first and foremost the perfect tool for a prince-fan to get info. And back in the day, to see video, pictures etc. Unless Lotusflower starts providing a substantial amount of interesting unavailable items (these do NOT include candles and insence), I'll be spending some money on music elsewhere and will settle for the cd-set when it hits the stores. The HQ-er formerly known as krokostimpy. | |
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zobilamouche said: ShadeoViolet said: I just feel, as a graphic design minor, I might have at least a tiny bit of insight on this issue...
When designing anything, we were always taught that FUNCTIONALITY comes before everything else. (Yes, even aesthetics.) The site has to work and work effortlessly. Period. If it doesn't do that, then all of the artistic flourishes are ignored and put to waste due to user frustration.. (Here's an analogy:: Imagine walking into an art gallery, and before you could view any of the beautiful pieces, you had to complete a successful round of Sudoku just to properly view any kind of drawing or painting.. That's just frustrating, isn't it?) I don't know about everyone else, but when I want to visit a Prince website, I just want the music and videos. I don't want to play a game. Heck, that's why we have video game counsels. They are BUILT solely for that purpose. Trying to make a website into some elaborate "Myst" experience is just a very poor idea on its face. Why? Because it all goes back to functionality. Websites are built for this and for accessing information first and foremost. If they aren't doing that very well, then there needs to be a redesign. It really is that simple. Plus, why would you want to alienate a large portion of your fan base who happen to be running PC's with lower specs? If anyone has ever wondered why the "Diablo" video game series has been so ridiculously popular after all these years, I speculate that a large part of its success might have to do with the fact that ANYONE with ANY kind of computer can smoothly run the game. (PC or Mac) This increases your potential market share greatly and ends up benefiting everyone involved.. Basically, it comes down to this:: Make the website leaner, faster, and more straightforward. I say this even as a Graphic Design minor and Art major. There's a time and place for clever Flash tricks.. and this certainly isn't it. See, THIS is why HQ was far better then any Official Prince site. People may vent on Aaron, the mods and all that, but HQ was first and foremost the perfect tool for a prince-fan to get info. And back in the day, to see video, pictures etc. Unless Lotusflower starts providing a substantial amount of interesting unavailable items (these do NOT include candles and insence), I'll be spending some money on music elsewhere and will settle for the cd-set when it hits the stores. ^^Strange But True  I'll die in your arms under the cherry moon... | |
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I just got 2 emails about my membership and was charge TWICE, I want my $77 back. I ONLY wanted 1 membership! I have sent a few emails now with no reponce. If ANYONE has the correct email AND phone number for problems please let me know . free yo mind! | |
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realm said: We are the angry mob
We read the papers everyday day We like who like We hate who we hate But we're also easily swayed they had their chance to play with Prince but said no ?....love this track .. Da, Da, Da....Emancipation....Free..don't think I ain't..! London 21 Nights...Clap your hands...you know the rest..
James Brown & Michael Jackson RIP, your music still lives with us! | |
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FYI, here is an e-mail I just sent to the lotuslow3r support:
Hi, I just wanted to inform you that it is still impossible for me to subscribe to lotuslow3r.com with a German credit card. It was posted on prince.org that you have relaxd some security checks. However, I just phoned my credit card company, and they told me they have several rejections of payments (from my several attempts to subscribe to lotuslow3r.com) in their system, and that the rejection was due to an issue with the security number (the three-digit code on the backside of the card, I'm not familiar with the exact technical terms). They also claimed that that is a known technical problem with some American websites when you want to purchase stuff with a European credit card. The odd thing is that I was perfectly able to subscribe to npgmusicclub.com years ago with my credit card, so it should be possible to get that problem sorted out. It seems I'm not the only one with that kind of problem, and we all want to spend our money on purchasing Prince's music. Best regards, xxx  | |
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BartVanHemelen said: Scott said: We understand that several people have had issues with the site, and we're working diligently to address them all as quickly as possible. With the great amount of traffic that we've received there have been some issues getting the large amount of content in the site out to everyone simultaneously.
No, the main issue is that it's a pathetic interface. Until you address that, there's nothing you can do that would solve anything. Make this a BASIC website, easy to navigate. Make sure usernames and CERTAINLY passwords can contain more than 10 characters and also characters other than letters and numbers. That is a BASIC SECURITY requirement. Oh, and don't send passwords in plain text via mail. Implement a system where users can RESET their passwords. Bullcrap; You've made a bloated Flash-site, that's what the problem is. Nobody forced you to make it this way, and if somebody did you should have refused to. This is NOT cutting edge at all, I've seen similar pretentious navigation years ago on sites designed by people who want to show off their Flash skills. Scott said: If fans are experiencing choppy videos in the vault, they should click the fullscreen button on the video and it should improve their experience.
Oh for crying out loud. It's choppy because a) you don't have the bandwidth and b) EVERYTHING is filtered through ONE PHP script. I never thought the day would come where I agree with Bart on a Prince-related issue, but I do. This is not an open-access website we're talking about, people PAY for it, so they deserve a proper meal being served! Well, if they CAN pay, since the system still does not accept European credit cards. All of this is amateurish, and if I was Prince, I certainly would sack the guys who are responsible for the site. | |
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Anxiety said: This note just came our way:
We understand that several people have had issues with the site, and we're working diligently to address them all as quickly as possible. With the great amount of traffic that we've received there have been some issues getting the large amount of content in the site out to everyone simultaneously. We're currently doubling the size of our server farm in order to make sure that fans can get all of the albums and videos they desire. To accommodate our friends overseas we've relaxed some of the normal security checks put in place by American banks. Since the vault has 3D and video, which is pushing the boundary of the web and current technology, only newer machines can adequately handle it. If fans are experiencing choppy videos in the vault, they should click the fullscreen button on the video and it should improve their experience. Thanks to everyone for their patience while we scale up LotusFlow3r.com to accommodate the great response from Prince fans all over the world. Thanks so much, Scott The site is a failure Scott. I can definitely see Prince asking for what you produced here, the Myst concept, wherein the interface is the content. It's our job as web professionals to listen to our clients, and translate their wishes into real world applications that can be used by actual real people. On this most basic of premisses you failed to deliver. You listened to Prince and made a visually interesting tech demo, but forgot to make a functional website. Let's look at some lowpoints: * You are sending your customer's credit card details completely in the clear over the wire. You say you relaxed security requirements somewhat, but to basically guarantee that a percentage of your customers will have their CC details hijacked by Russian teens is taking it a bit far. I saw no other option but to subscribe, wait for the transaction to go through and immediately after cancel the card. * The interface gets in the way of the content. Nowhere else is this more clear than in that 3d thingie with the vids and pictures. No normal-people's PC is able to play these video's without the audio breaking up and the video stuttering. The fact that you are suggesting that users play the video full screen shows the scale of this failure ... hey, i made a UI that actually breaks access to the content, so now I'm asking users to click some button that hides the UI so some CPU cycles get freed up so the actual content can play. Form over function to the extreme. * The actual content is a rush job. All video's have been wrongly encoded. Without exception they are wrongly deinterlaced (possibly not at all), often aspect ratio's are incorrect, volume levels haven't been equalized resulting in the user continually adjusting sound levels and the overall shit experience of having sudden really loud noises coming from the UI while you are trying to watch some low low volume video. Then there's the zip files that you can download, which are in some cases actually rar files, that contain a zip file, that contains the files you want, plus lots of MaxOSX files that no one needs. Last but not least there are serious file corruption issues. At least one of the zip archives is corrupted, and this corruption extends to pictures and video in the 3d media thingie as well. "this especially prepared potato is called pomme de terre" | |
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About creditcard:
I was able to pay succesfully with my ING/postbank card (yes, the bankrupt bank) with just the CVC on the back as extra info. No SecureCode check or anything. This is a Dutch card so I would not know why a German card wouldn't work. And yes: The SecureCode is awful. Pills and thrills and daffodils will kill... If you don't believe me or don't get it, I don't have time to try to convince you, sorry. | |
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im glad they aknowledged that fect, that not only do you have to pay 77 to get in...but you must buy a new system to make viewing possible.
but seriously...i am glad to hear they are working on the glitches....its a wonky site. the navigation is horrible....unless you are a mindreader. 
vi  | |
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udo said: About creditcard:
I was able to pay succesfully with my ING/postbank card (yes, the bankrupt bank) with just the CVC on the back as extra info. No SecureCode check or anything. This is a Dutch card so I would not know why a German card wouldn't work. And yes: The SecureCode is awful. I think it was the CVC they were talking about at my credit card company (btw, it's Barclaycard). However, it cannot be our job to figure out how they get that damn system at lotuslow3rcom to actually work. The funny thing is that I purchased my tickets for the O2 concerts in 2007 with that credit card...  | |
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Cuddles said: whats the 3D part
? The 3d is the globe vault. It is done with a technique called flash paper. I have designed some flash paper pages, and they are pretty memory extensive. For the content amount and bandwidth issues, it actually works pretty smoothly. It's difficult for me to tell what sort of math the three albums are resting on out in space, it could be a variety of things. Most sites are moving away from the Flash heavy design side because of the issues, but Flash does present in the most interactive ways. I think a low bandwidth version of the site would be the best solution for those who have slower machines and internet connections. (yes, some people are still playing on 56k out there.) We are all so full of  here | |
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kbarso said: The reason the videos are so choppy is that there are too high of a quality. Lower the quality and then the buffer will fill up faster than the play speed. Same for the audio MP3's. 320kps is over kill is you have the WAV versions. 193 kb s is more than enough if you put them on a portable player. I have a 3.2G machine and 4G memory and get choppy video. We all need a T3 connection. Anyone try the site on their company network?
This is the first time I have ever seen someone complain that the bitrate for an audio file is "too high of a quality". People have been pushing for years to get mp3s distributed at this quality, and now that someone is listening and doing it you complain that it's too much! | |
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I'm gonna pitch the company I work for to them.
HEY SCOTT!!!! Check out SeaChange International. We are the world leader in VOD and IPTV and all kinds of good stuff like that. We specialize in Digital media storage and delivery. We have fault tolerant servers with patented technology. We deliver On demand content to whole cities, I'm sure we can do it for Prince's fans
and I'm not even in sales.  "not a fan"  yeah...ok | |
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badmofo said: This is why he needs Warner Bros!
LOL WUT? The work. Let me show you it. | |
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I'm just curious if anybody can tell me... since there were problems with downloading the albums, when I read the terms and conditions, it said that you can only download each album once... after that, you can't. Are they going to allow us to try to download them again once everything is fixed? or is the attempt the first time going to keep us from trying again? Anybody? | |
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Purpracer2 said: I'm just curious if anybody can tell me... since there were problems with downloading the albums, when I read the terms and conditions, it said that you can only download each album once... after that, you can't. Are they going to allow us to try to download them again once everything is fixed? or is the attempt the first time going to keep us from trying again? Anybody?
I downloaded MPLsound a dozen of times. Pills and thrills and daffodils will kill... If you don't believe me or don't get it, I don't have time to try to convince you, sorry. | |
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Thus the reason why I have not joined, like i said because they still need to work out the gliches, I knew this was going to happen. Although I like that Scott is addressing the issues fairly quickly, I disagree with his comment to view the videos full screen, that does not take care of choppy videos, it not the viewers issue its the feed the website is presenting that is no good. For the price that is being paid, the website should have HD crystal clear video streams available, for all members to upload.
As far as the servers this should have never been a issue  , the design team and Prince should have anticipated a very large traffic flow, nuf said with that one.
Hope they get this website up to the standards it should be, and what we fans expect and deserve for the $77.00 hard earned money we are paying.  | |
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udo said: Purpracer2 said: I'm just curious if anybody can tell me... since there were problems with downloading the albums, when I read the terms and conditions, it said that you can only download each album once... after that, you can't. Are they going to allow us to try to download them again once everything is fixed? or is the attempt the first time going to keep us from trying again? Anybody?
I downloaded MPLsound a dozen of times. were you able to get the music downloaded to your computer or did it show invalid? I downloaded 2 of the albums twice now, and they won't play... says invalid or nothing on the files... | |
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I think the website has great potential...when it gets fixed. I love the graphics and interactive parts... and I can be patient until I can download the music.. I'll just listen 2 it on my computer until...  | |
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Anxiety said: This note just came our way:
We understand that several people have had issues with the site, and we're working diligently to address them all as quickly as possible. With the great amount of traffic that we've received there have been some issues getting the large amount of content in the site out to everyone simultaneously. We're currently doubling the size of our server farm in order to make sure that fans can get all of the albums and videos they desire. To accommodate our friends overseas we've relaxed some of the normal security checks put in place by American banks. Since the vault has 3D and video, which is pushing the boundary of the web and current technology, only newer machines can adequately handle it. If fans are experiencing choppy videos in the vault, they should click the fullscreen button on the video and it should improve their experience. Thanks to everyone for their patience while we scale up LotusFlow3r.com to accommodate the great response from Prince fans all over the world. Thanks so much, Scott It's cool that they're reacting that fast. Now isn't it odd that they'll use the org as a plat4m 4 communicating with the fans after all the efforts by Prince & his lawyers 2 close this website & others (RIP housequake.com)? [Edited 3/26/09 6:53am] | |
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Shorty said: I'm gonna pitch the company I work for to them.
HEY SCOTT!!!! Check out SeaChange International. We are the world leader in VOD and IPTV and all kinds of good stuff like that. We specialize in Digital media storage and delivery. We have fault tolerant servers with patented technology. We deliver On demand content to whole cities, I'm sure we can do it for Prince's fans
and I'm not even in sales. www.schange.com ohh..did I just bump my own post?  "not a fan" yeah...ok | |
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Oh one more thing, I can go to numerous internet sites, and watch crystal clear HD videos, one being youtube, without paying a dime. So why would I want to pay for poor quality videos, do the math it. | |
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since the "3D" portion of the site is not really 3D at all and the
whole flash portion offers nothing (absolutely zero) to the entire experience but delays and stutters, i simply can't understand why they didn't create a 'normal' site. all this gaudy artwork could have simply been static and layed out much more clearly/logically. it starts with the original sign up. people are trying to sign up to the site multiple times with the initial username/password they used for site updates. but now you need to register *again*. so when you finally figured that out you're already pissed off over that stupid ticked stub on the site with the 1986/Los Angeles riddle. if it weren't for the org i would have just stopped right there and not bothered. how f*cking childish is that anyway? then you have to make up crap for their state/provice/postal code boxes to register since you are forced to put in date even if you live in a part of the world where your entire adress is supposed to be written down in the 2 adress lines and requires no more room. next up you hit the credit card 'wall'. does that whole farce mean that NO ONE actually checked this before the site went live? that's incredible. absolutely incredible. finally you're in, after your creditcard has been billed 7 times for each failed try to enter the site and you're checking your cc status to see if those 6 empty tries are being removed from your charge. the inside site is just like previous prince websites, clouded and irritating. slow on the move and hard on the nerves. glitches and frozen screens. navigation is a total bitch. especially if you're a grown man and not a 14 yr old who likes computer games. no where is there a sitemap where you can see exactly what there is on offer on this site and where you can get it. so you click and you click and gather up the content you payed for. all the while the screen keeps freezing up, your downloads are impossible to unzip or the original files are simply corrupted. the main album on which this entire franchise is built, you find out only when downloading, is butchered in the first 15 minutes of play because the lead off single is taken off and crudely replaced by a 2 minute throw off track. you signed up to get it early, but hey, it isn't what you went in for. too bad. you can get the real deal at a target store though. sigh. customer support is slow and the video section is so slow it's just a nightmare. 36 hours after joining i have yet to watch a single video in it's entirety. the stop/start clay animation is just not my cup of tea. funny side note: the sacrifice of victor continues another trent that started over at the npgmc, selling COPIES of original stuff. this one even has japanese subtitles. was it recorded from japanese tv? wow?! the rest of the content on the site is not exactly what was promised in the press release. where are the outtake pictures of previous cd's? and there was more but i was so tired by now that i gave up. haven't been back yet. i'll try again when i hear news of something new being up no the site, like music for instance. all in all he built a website that is a bitch to run and contains a plethora of glitches when all the while the little content that is on there could easily be distributed by a site no bigger than a thread on the org.  and true love lives on lollipops and crisps | |
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squirrelgrease said: Rorywan said: Oh my god, could he be anymore condescending? Exactly. This guy has a pair o' globes on him. really? i thought it was a very professional, very nicely worded message. maybe i just get off on being condescended to.  | |
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danzakairos said: Oh one more thing, I can go to numerous internet sites, and watch crystal clear HD videos, one being youtube, without paying a dime. So why would I want to pay for poor quality videos, do the math it.
and why not simply have a you-tube like lay out where you can watch ALL his past video's including a few unseen ones. there's handfull of "official" videos and a bit of live material and then there's the sacrifice of victor video. this doesn't look like the prince vault it looks like a mislabeled folder on my old pc where i would store some videos as i stumbled onto them here or there. the lay out is glitchy, there's pictures from the 21 nights book all between them. it's just a nightmare in regards to lay out. what are they thinking? besides, the content is bafflingly small and the quality of the vids is overall quite poor. and true love lives on lollipops and crisps | |
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I checked Lotus early this morning it seems they have added security certificates to the site (note the pad lock in bottom right corner of your browser) and the streaming video is running smoothly in both regular and full screen modes.
It seems the developers are working to correct the issues. | |
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