A newbie's thoughts on Superfan

[bigpro]

I've read a lot from the vets on here about not getting Superfan, not submitting to the HD tax, etc etc. Well, I just hooked up HDTV at my house, activated ST, and here's my thoughts.
After watching a few games in SD, there is NO WAY I'M NOT GETTING SUPERFAN. I mean, are you kidding??? I didn't spend this much on my system to let $99 stand in the way of me and HD NFL games. I can barely watch SD games now as it is. I'll pay $99, hell, maybe more if I had to. And I suspect a lot of new subscribers feel the exact same way.
See, the vets to me are like NHL players. You just didn't realize how good you had it and now that it's time to pay the piper, you're upset. NHL players were making way too much, living off the fat of the land, and fought tooth and nail when it was time to rectify things. The way I see it, DirecTV should have probably been making you pay for HD games from the beginning. That way you wouldn't be complaining now. But you were luckier than I am-- you got to have FREE NFL HD for several seasons. You should just be thankful for that rather than complaining about paying for HD games. Why should SD subscribers pay more to subsidize HD? You're the one that put all that money out for the HD in the first place, and now you're complaining about paying for the extra quality? Once again, D* shoulda just made you pay from the beginning. But instead, they're giving you a $50 price break that I'm not getting just because you got something for free you should have paid for. What are you complaining about again?
I'm sorry, but I see Superfan as worth every got'dam penny (an extra 3 bucks a week for nine games in HDTV). Consider me a Superfan lifer.
I thought you guys should hear what a newbie's take is.

 

[Alvarez]

I don't think the vets are saying so much "don't get it..." hehehehe... More of an issue of complain to D* until you get it for free...

I did and I got it for free AND a $20 credit.

 

[CWS_kahuna]

My biggest problem with the Superfan package is there still is not an HD box available that will play both HD and interactive features on your TV set.

So if your an HD subscriber and you want HD Superfan you have to also pay for an interactive feature you can't use or if you have standard def and you want the interactive features (which only the D10 offers & soon to be released R15) you have to pay for both HD games and interactive features. Now does that seem fair to either subscriber?

Ultimately I feel D* should have split the two features this season, $50 for the HD games and $50 for the interactive. From this they could have then offered a discount to returning ST subscribers.

I cancelled my Sunday Ticket this year but it was not totally because of the increase in price. For me having all my networks in HD + ESPNHD, I realized I have enough HD games available each week to keep me happy.

 

[bigpro]

My biggest problem with the Superfan package is there still is not an HD box available that will play both HD and interactive features on your TV set.

I understand that as well and am a BIT frustrated by it. But I for one am still looking forward to the mix channels. Sure I can't get the separate audios, but I'll listen to whichever one is already active and watch the others that are on there. Then if there's a game I just need to listen to, the channel number is right there for me to switch to. If you think about it, it is REALLY cool to watch 8 games at once without going to a bar. This really maximizes NFLST.

 

[vurbano]

I understand that as well and am a BIT frustrated by it. But I for one am still looking forward to the mix channels. Sure I can't get the separate audios, but I'll listen to whichever one is already active and watch the others that are on there. Then if there's a game I just need to listen to, the channel number is right there for me to switch to. If you think about it, it is REALLY cool to watch 8 games at once without going to a bar. This really maximizes NFLST.

not if you want to see the game in HD. It does NOT take you to the HD channel. And the 8 game mix channel is SD and selecting a game will take you to the SD channel. Worthless. HD viewers will play with the feature for 30 seconds one time and then never waste time with it again.

 

[vurbano]

I've read a lot from the vets on here about not getting Superfan, not submitting to the HD tax, etc etc. Well, I just hooked up HDTV at my house, activated ST, and here's my thoughts.
After watching a few games in SD, there is NO WAY I'M NOT GETTING SUPERFAN. I mean, are you kidding??? I didn't spend this much on my system to let $99 stand in the way of me and HD NFL games. I can barely watch SD games now as it is. I'll pay $99, hell, maybe more if I had to. And I suspect a lot of new subscribers feel the exact same way.
See, the vets to me are like NHL players. You just didn't realize how good you had it and now that it's time to pay the piper, you're upset. NHL players were making way too much, living off the fat of the land, and fought tooth and nail when it was time to rectify things. The way I see it, DirecTV should have probably been making you pay for HD games from the beginning. That way you wouldn't be complaining now. But you were luckier than I am-- you got to have FREE NFL HD for several seasons. You should just be thankful for that rather than complaining about paying for HD games. Why should SD subscribers pay more to subsidize HD? You're the one that put all that money out for the HD in the first place, and now you're complaining about paying for the extra quality? Once again, D* shoulda just made you pay from the beginning. But instead, they're giving you a $50 price break that I'm not getting just because you got something for free you should have paid for. What are you complaining about again?
I'm sorry, but I see Superfan as worth every got'dam penny (an extra 3 bucks a week for nine games in HDTV). Consider me a Superfan lifer.
I thought you guys should hear what a newbie's take is.

When do the Canadians get screwed like the AMericans? They are getting it all, HD and SD for less than $100 bucks vs the American $318 SuperSuckerFan price.

 

[bigpro]

not if you want to see the game in HD. It does NOT take you to the HD channel. And the 8 game mix channel is SD and selecting a game will take you to the SD channel. Worthless. HD viewers will play with the feature for 30 seconds one time and then never waste time with it again.

Oh my goodness what a terrible hassle.

C'mon, think about what you're watching. 8 NFL games at the same time in your living room. One thing I loved about going to a bar was watching multiple games at the same time. Now you can do it at home.

You don't think that's AWESOME??

Cuz it sure is a pain in the arse to look up the HD game's channel. Some of the things people complain about....

 

[vurbano]

Oh my goodness what a terrible hassle.

C'mon, think about what you're watching. 8 NFL games at the same time in your living room. One thing I loved about going to a bar was watching multiple games at the same time. Now you can do it at home.

You don't think that's AWESOME??

Cuz it sure is a pain in the arse to look up the HD game's channel. Some of the things people complain about....

I think its a gimmick. Basically worthless for HD.

 

[JustBob]

bigpro - For an HD newbie you sure have some strong words to say about people that have been HD viewers for a lot longer. I agree that I wouldn't get the NFL ST without the Superfan package. I don't usually bother with the SD games anymore. I've had HD for just about 4 years now and I've had DirecTV's Sunday Ticket for about 6 years. I can honestly say (and I think I have) that I was very happy last year with all the HD games on Sunday Ticket. It was great! Except for blacking out my local game even though I couldn't get it locally in HD, but that's a different story. The previous year Sunday Ticket only had 1 HD game per week from CBS and 2 ED games from Fox (remember Fox Widescreen?). That wasn't bad, but I don't think you could charge for it.

I was very close to pulling the plug on Sunday Ticket this year. I forget what it was when I first started getting it (<$100?). But every year it's gone up. Now I can understand a premium for the HD games. But $99 is a bit much, especially with the base package going up as well. If you don't think money from the SD customers should be going towards the HD services then can I choose to have some of my money back that's going to all the channels that I don't watch? I know there's a lot. I've also been paying for the $10.99/month HD package since it came out (2 years ago now?). It was believed at the time that more HD channels would be added because for $10.99/month for 4 channels, you weren't getting much. Well, we're still not getting much for that package. Most of the early HD adopters have been very patient waiting for HD content. It's been very frustrating. We pay a lot and don't get much. But we're hooked on HD so you pay.

As for the gamemix channel. I agree that most HD viewers won't be using this channel. At least not very much.

-JustBob

 

[satjay]

I think (at least for me) the Mix/super fan features were designed especially for Fanatsy Football Diehards! (like me) I also was reclutant adding superfan, but I think the monitoring of eight games will be great for us Fantasy players.

 

[Mr Tony]

When do the Canadians get screwed like the AMericans? They are getting it all, HD and SD for less than $100 bucks vs the American $318 SuperSuckerFan price.

vurbano

The 100 CAD tag is StarChoice. You get all the SD games and maybe 3 HD games (whatever CBS & FOX from Detroit & Seattle have)

ExpressVu is 179 and would be a better comparison to the DirecTv supersuckerpack. They have all the HD games

 

[bigpro]

bigpro - For an HD newbie you sure have some strong words to say about people that have been HD viewers for a lot longer.

I agree, maybe a little over the top. But I've spent A LOT of time reading the posts about this and the giant 6,000 page threads, originally thinking, "Yeah, what the hell, why's D* screwing us??" etc etc. People would get very fired up about this. But now that I'm amongst the ranks, I see it from a different angle than most and wanted you to know my thoughts.
This post has NOTHING to do with what you guys paid for 4 channels. That's a legit beef. This post has to do with Superfan, strongly worded in the hopes that you can see my point of view and why I'm most definitely NOT a "super-sucker".

Also, I think you'll change your mind about GameMix. A lot of people say "Why get ST, you can only watch one at a time!". Well, now you get to watch 8 at a time. Plus, SD looks better on my HDTV in a smaller window, so I think the 8 games will have a tolerable appearance. I for one know that I'll be watching an HD game that interests me, but the 'prev' button on my remote will be going back to the GameMix frequently, esp during commercials. I'm actually very surprised that people don't think this is as cool as I do.

And I didn't mean to offend anyone. Just trying to get my point across.

 

[NVBlue]

If one enjoys football in HD why not pay a few extra bucks. It is an additional service and they are justified in charging an extra $49. Just take it from the kids' future inheritance or buy a few less beers!

 

[Madtown HD Junkie]

I had ST for past 5 years and this is first without it. The reason is the $99 hike for an included service last year. I understand D* thinks people with HDtv's are capable to drop an extra $99 to get their HD NFL, but , the issue is the way it was went about for me. to jack it up so much was a bad marketing decision. The only reason it went to $49 was the furor on the site and probably others. Plus I get local cbs and FOfuture NBC) OTA plus ESPNHD for Sunday or Monday nights...also New York HD Feed on CBS (which I shouldn't but I don't complain) so to pay an extra hondo for 1 or 2 games a week was silly.

they simply priced themselves out of a reasonable ROI on their required price. Plus all the other things mentioned here like no interactive receiver etc...

 

[lou_do]

That entire football package is way over priced. They can keep mine, it is canceled. Got an antenna in my attic and will be satisfied to see the games broadcast locally, in HD. The greed of everyone involved in football is really starting to turn me against the sport. Sunday afternoons are a good time to go and play golf, anyway. Hockey is back, so no way am I going to buy their overpriced ST package any more.

 

[Jimbo]

This is the way D* can screw all of us and not bother to blink,
IF they wanted to be fair, they would have charged $ 50 for HD and $ 50 for the Super fan package, thew actual super fan stuff is the extra channels (8 games in one, game remix ect.) things I could care less about.
I wanted all my games in HD, not all the other BS.

I DID NOT buy a 60" HD XBR, so that I could clutter up my screen with a bunch of games I am not interested in.
Most of the other channels are already doing that enough, thanks alot CNN.

Give me 60" of crisp sharp football in HD

Go Steelers !!!

Jimbo

 

[bigpro]

I wanted all my games in HD, not all the other BS.

You're getting over half the possible games in HD. In fact, D* advertises 200 games with ST, 125 in HD with SuperFan. Not worth 3 bucks a week to ya, huh?

 

[bigpro]

I had ST for past 5 years and this is first without it. The reason is the $99 hike for an included service last year.

Again, they should have just had you paying from the beginning (see my NHL comparison above). That way, you wouldn't be complaining now.

And you know it's true. If you had to shell out 20 bucks 3 years ago, 50 bucks 2 year ago, and 75 bucks last year, everyone would be saying what a great deal SuperFan is with so many more games in HD than previous seasons and the extra superfan features.

 

[Jimbo]

bigpro,

Not worth 3 bucks a week to ya, huh?
I am paying $100 for the SF, that I don't want, just so I can get HD,
I cannot get it for half price like some of you.
As I posted before, It should have been $ 49 for HD and $49 for All the super fan stuff, What good does it do for me to spend SF money , they will send me Highlights ? I don't have thier DVR, so what good does that do me ?
Oh ya, I still have to pay for it.

I had ST for $ 99 originally, now they want $329, Cost of living, I think not . :shocked

Get 125 games in HD, out of a possible 256, ,however they do not give you a listing so you know if YOUR game IS in HD, until a day before the game ?

They block out ALL games that I might be able to get over the AIR , IF I spend MORE money to get an antenna ($ 100) and a rotor($ 95) and an preamp ($75)
So there is another $270, thats if I can get locals with out a tower,
Remember NOT EVERYONE CAN GET LOCALS, AND OR D*'S LOCAL..

I cannot even get my local RSN from D*, I am 500 ft from the state line, and 300 miles from the RSN they would like me to like.

They D* are not doing anyone any favors,
WE are paying for eveything we want.

Jimbo

 

[tdogg]

D* ST in HD

To all concerned about having to pay for Superfan to get the HD games,
A CSR at D* told me that the HD games would still come with the regular ST plan. I did not beleive this so I paid the 49.99 price for Superfan. Today D* website has listed that with both ST and with SF that you would receive the HD games.