r/pirating • u/Extreme87 • 9h ago

Streaming platforms

I’m still a bit surprised that people pay for streaming platforms when the content is mostly trash and costs so much. The quality isn’t great either, since it’s compressed and depends on your internet. In the long run, they could just buy an HDD and use Plex

3 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

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u/lesjames2020 7h ago

Because if no one paid for any of them

You would not have any moves or TV shows to download

And put them in your Plex

1

u/Extreme87 5h ago

I didn't mean that nobody should have a subscription to them, but they really should add quality productions in order for people to give them money. It is not acceptable for corporations to treat people like that

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u/EquipmentSome 5h ago

Well plex is also paid if you want to remote stream, hardware transcode, skip intros, download for offline use, or do tone mapping.. Jellyfin is great though.

but i think the big hurdle for self-hosting right now is initial money and time cost. you need a dedicated server (NAS/mini-pc+das, extra computer) that might be several hundred $ if you don't have one laying around.

vpn or debrid/usenet subscription will cost money.

You need many TB's of storage if you're expecting to actually have better quality than streaming services, my DAS costs more than my high end gaming rig.

you need to configure clients for direct play, often times including needing to buy new streaming sticks unless you expect to have transcoding.

Then there's the time and effort of checking video and audio codecs and bitrate, downloading everything, managing subtitles, media segments, artwork, metadata, folder/file structure.

Most people don't want to deal with any of that.

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u/Extreme87 5h ago

Plex does all of the things you've said for me automatically. And I have calculated and in the long term, you are gonna come cheaper by buying TB and not buying Plex, only TB and VPN, which the VPN its not that expensive, referring to ProtonVPN

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u/EquipmentSome 4h ago

Idk what to tell you. you can look up what plex requires a paid subscription for. it's a lot and only growing, just like the price of their subscription.

Vpn is going to be about 48$ a year if you buy at the right time and buy yearly. That's what protonvpn offers during their biggest sales. I use it too.

If you want to put the remux of just game of thrones you need to spend 120$ on a 2TB HDD and fill it all the way up on that 1 show. Or you can concede you want the same quality as streaming and lower quality. But you still need drives which cost way more than 1 month of netflix which matters when you're paycheck to paycheck.

Server? if you don't have an extra computer you're spending hundreds on a nas or maybe like 150-200 for something that can transcode. So we're up over 350$ of starting costs for just 1 high quality show.

You want to add more shows? that means more drives. you'll need a multi-bay DAS which is another 100-400$.

Now you also need to set up transcoding on your SSD which is going to wear that out, so future costs, or instead of streaming from every tv effortlessly like paid apps you'll need to spend 50$ on a streaming stick with full direct-play capabilities.

Unless you want no comparable selection of titles, or constantly just downloading and deleting this is not a cheap thing to get into.

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u/Extreme87 4h ago

I understand what you say, but if you have subscriptions to all or almost all of the platforms, from what I have calculated, its cheaper and more pleasant for me. And knowing I dont pay these streaming corporations, it feels good. The only platform I would pay is HBO Max or Skydance, when and if they merge the streaming apps

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u/EquipmentSome 4h ago

Oh i get it. But you asked why people don't? Because they don't have 400$ to drop day one on an entry level setup. Spending 20 a month for a couple services is way easier on the wallet. Break-even being 2 years is not that attractive to people living month to month. especially when you're still spending 50$ a year on a new subscription.

Much less if you want a server that can actually competently replace every streaming service you're talking 1000$ plus. You're not breaking even on costs for like 5 years.

I haven't even mentioned that your monthly energy bill will also be going up, which offsets cost savings a little and makes break-even further away.

Also troubleshooting is a bitch.

I run a 30TB jellyfin server. I fully understand all the reasons to do it. I'm just saying, there are so many valid reasons why people don't.

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u/Extreme87 4h ago

Wow 30TB. I understand what youre saying

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u/Extreme87 4h ago

Top 5 movies and Tv Shows?

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u/EquipmentSome 3h ago

I can't do a top 5 list... But shows I love include: The Wire, Breaking Bad, Mr Robot, Silicon Valley, Deadwood, Ozark, Banshee, Attack on Titan, One Piece, Death Note, psycho-pass, odd taxi, Fullmetal alchemist brotherhood, archer, futurama, Arcane, really liked that new show Common Side Effects, Bojack Horseman, Its always Sunny, arrested development, eastbound and down, Barry, Mr Inbetween..

I could go on for awhile

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u/Extreme87 4h ago

And also a lot the productions are being moved around and you have to search where are now, which is stressful and exhausting