I will only find this ok if I don' have to pay on two different accounts for both services.

I am barely accepting to pay 13 bucks for the Instant + DVD service, so if they try to split it just for the sake of starting to raise prices even more later, I will snap.

@Monodi
I'm pretty sure it's confirmed that it's two different businesses/accounts/charges.

Wasn't that also Spongebob's name when they spoofed the Justice League?

Yep, two different charges bro. Said so in some part of the apology press release.

If they can get me games faster than Gamefly, and for equal or less the value of my current Gamefly sub, I'm totally down.

@magnalon

yeah yeah what i understand is that you will be paying for two services, but what I HOPE they do is to be able to link both services in one account.

@Monodi

From what I gather, it should be a slick/seamless transition. Or they would have you believe so! Fingers crossed though.

@Monodi
I was trying to say I'm pretty sure they're not linked.

If gamefly lowers prices by just a bit I'll def rejoin again.

@Monodi
Sorry, found the source - http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/19/netflix-spins-dvd-by-mail-service-off-into-qwikster-says-its/

"He admits two separate sites may make it more difficult to manage a presence on both, but says dropping the need for compatibility between the two will enable new features to balance that out."

I've seen this report on a few other sites as well. "Dropping compatibility between the two" means they're essentially two different entire companies, and 1 login will not work on the other. It looks like you need two logins to go with your two charges.

*grabs a hold of Nick's leg and squeezes tightly*

DON'T GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

:(

Yay, Nick!

I give particularly care since I only stream. That signed like a heartfelt letter, and I'm surprised that they allowed commenting on the page too. The branding doesn't bigger me either, but didn't it seem counterintuitive to have completely separate sites to decide platform, list reviews, and organize your queue?

Ah, ok. In order to justify splitting the services, Netflix gives one a completely different name. That's so lame. I'm still missing half the features of my original Netflix service and being charged the same price. Don't think for a second that a new name will convince me that I'm not getting fucked when giving you twice the money you deserve.

Wait... Video games!? So this + the Netflix streaming service will basically be like the old Netflix + Gamefly for less than what Gamefly charges every month? Well... Fuck me then.

Yay, Nick!

I don't particularly care since I only stream. That seemed like a heartfelt letter, and I'm surprised that they allowed commenting on the page too. The branding doesn't bother me either, but didn't it seem counterintuitive to have completely separate sites to decide platform, list reviews, and organize your queue?

(wow, autocorrect fail)

weird, i think they updated that post since the time I read it. They definitely clarify that account situation, and it reads like Magnalon describes.

Meh.

Accounts are separate... queues are separate... service is stupid. I'd make the scurvy dogs at Netflix/Qwikster (LOLster?) walk the plank fer sure!

nurr, sorry, I'm slow. This is what I saw in the post:

"Its merely a renamed version of the Netflix DVD website, but [with games] [...] You won't have to do anything special if you subscribe to our DVD by mail service."

Yes, they're renting games now. According to the email they're renting 360, PS3, and Wii titles. No mention is made of DS/3DS or PSP/Vita titles though so, unless I'm wrong or they just didn't list it, you won't be able to rent portable titles. I'll stick with Gamefly, for now.

@Magnalon

FUCK

From the blog:

• "A negative of the renaming and separation is that the Qwikster.com and Netflix.com websites will not be integrated."

• "So if you subscribe to both services, and if you need to change your credit card or email address, you would need to do it in two places."

• "Similarly, if you rate or review a movie on Qwikster, it doesn’t show up on Netflix, and vice-versa."

I like this: "There are no pricing changes (we’re done with that!)."

Which is followed by this: "One improvement we will make at launch is to add a video games upgrade option, similar to our upgrade option for Blu-ray, for those who want to rent Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 games."

So they're done with price changes AFTER they add a blu-ray-like charge(which was $2 extra on top of the base price)? Awesome.

Netflix, what have you become?

What's a DVD?

@Rammstein

So you can only get the games if you upgrade your service? Thanks for pointing that out. I bet it will be $5 extra, possibly more. Maybe I'll just stick with Gamefly after all.

Rammstein summed up both of my problems: netflix and Big Daddy Nick leaving us for pooopy faced Harmonix. I'll stick with Gamefly

*grabs leg*
DON'T LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAVVVVEEEE. YOU CAN'T TRUST THAT CORGI SHIPPER!

This is kind of sad because Qwikster is going to be like a hospice for Netflix's DVD business. Qwikster is just a resting home for the DVDs by mail service until it is put out of its misery for good when it's no longer profitable, so I'm not expecting a whole lot of innovation coming from that company.

This is unsettling for those customers who enjoy both services. I understand that streaming is clearly the future, but we're not there yet. Sure streaming is convenient but it doesn't come close to matching the selection of movies that the DVD by mail service provides. And they're messing with the way customers have gotten used to interacting with their site by not offering any type of interactivity between the two sites. At least Qwikster can notify you when movies from your DVD queue are available for instant watch (a feature which we now currently get but not for much longer).

This whole thing is a bit premature in my opinion, and Netflix is no longer thinking from the perspective of what the customer truly wants.

Modern Method synergy! I'd rather own games than rent, but if they're able to rent out games at the speed they're known for, I might have to change my stance on that. Otherwise, I'm effectively done with "Qwikster" before it's even begun.

It's two different accounts, but if you already pay for both now, the switch is automatic.

I'm find with this, since, in Canada, we only have the streaming service anyways.

It's also worth noting that Quikster mentioned nothing about renting 3DS and Vita games. Gamefly, on the other hand, currently does rent 3DS games and I have no doubt they'll rent Vita games as well when they're available.

Gamefly has always been good to me and I'll be returning that loyalty by remaining with them.

@TheNephilym: :D I did good journalizms!? If it's anything over $2, that will probably still be cheaper than GameFly but I will not pay for 'qwikster(ugh)' based on principle.

@Epic-Kx: I've got his left leg, you get his right leg! I hate corgis, damn ratdogs! Siberian Huskies all the way!

Netflix is starting to suck Kack!

Netflix has waaaaay faster shipping time in my experience than Gamefly, because they have a distribution center much closer to me than Gamefly does. As long as the upgrade charge isn't ridiculous and they have new games availible for rent on the day they come out in stores (unlike the delay of a couple of months that Blockbuster by Mail has for its games), then I'm definitly adding this option.

Netflix first you made me angry. Now I'm confused.

TIL, Netflix is done.

This is stupid. splitting the company into two different sections is understandable (Microsoft had to do this years ago, but they still all operate under the Microsoft brand), but to totally alienate one business from the other is laughable and stupid.

If you rate movies on your Netflix account, guess what, you have to do it with Qwikster too. On Netflix trying to see if they have a movie streaming or if you have to get the DVD? Now the Netflix site won't give you this information, you have to goto a totally different site, log in with totally different credentials, and then check if they have it for DVD rental.

Couldn't they have just changed the names to Netflix Streaming and Netflix DVD and kept the companies as one but separate. The end user is just getting a lesser and more frustrating experience. Very asinine business decision. Netflix is drowning themselves in this PR nightmare they have created for themselves.

Got the email from Netflix about this this morning. It makes sense to me; I hadn't had them send me a DVD in months, despite having the opportunity. Don't know if I'll patronize them for games though. I'm probably just content enough to buy games cheap on Amazon a month after release.

@Rammstein: Yeah, that "no pricing changes" thing is slightly misleading, but I get what he's saying. There are no more price changes to the existing services (ie- DVD-only plan will still be whatever ridiculous price it is now). However they are rolling out additional options that weren't there before which are, understandably, more expensive, as they have to pay for additional physical libraries and all the other costs therewithin.

In any case, this seems to primarily be a PR move against the backlash Netflix has been getting lately with its increased price and decreased content. Unfortunately, rebranding rarely seems to be very effective in improving PR. Fortunately for me, I dropped DVD service with the price hike (at my current rate of 1 DVD/month, it just wasn't worth it), so I never have to worry about this silly Qwikster thing. I hope.

I think it will be more interesting to find out how they deal with the the impending loss of Starz streaming content.

I'll remain cautiously optimistic about netflix. I quit the DVD service already and I'm giving them 6 months to increase their streaming selection and quality.

If selection doesn't increase to include new releases and if the streaming titles don't get more HD options I'm quitting their company for good. I don't feel like I've been rewarded for my loyalty so I'll switch to Redbox which is about 150 feet from my front door at the Albertsons across the street.

I haven't used Redbox yet but some of my friends swear by it. We'll see what happens, I guess.

If both services combined are cheaper than Gamefly, then I might bite. Even if they're just a little more, it's still not that bad, but if it's not, then I'd have to pass.

F netflix. I will gladly pay an extra dollar to get movies somewhere else just because of the greedy behavior of netflix. I switched to blockbuster for 10 dollars a month i get access to dvds, video games, etc by mail and trade mailed discs in store for another game/dvd. So, blockbuster saved me from having gamefly and netflix.

Personally, I'm really excited about this. Gamefly's terrible turnaround time has always really bothered me (last time it took two weeks for me a get my next game). If Qwikster can keep up the fast shipping and offer all the new console releases, I'll gladly cancel GF and never look back.

@Yenner
Gamefly has recently established a "Fast Return" system. As soon as the Post Office boys pick up your game, they scan a bar and immediately ship out your next game.

@Epic

That would be amazingly awesome, if not for the fact that a lot of backwoods post offices (like mine) don't possess the necessary equipment, so my shit still has to make the full trip back. Feels bad, man. Still, <3 Gamefly. I don't blame them.

This makes me laugh heartily. The 60% price hike for me justified a complete swap over to GameFly, because for that price I'd rather have video games delivered to me. If they were honest about it from the beginning, I wouldn't have jumped on GameFly so readily. I definitely would have ridden it out to give their new service a chance. Instead, I'm completely turned off from ever dealing with either of their companies again.

So having to check two different sites for movie/show availability is supposed to make things easier? Are they smoking crack or what? This is going to be more hassle than anything else. Netflix, you don't know what you're doing.

I may give this a month or two, but if it ends up being a clusterfuck as I think it'll be I'll be done with Netflix for good. I don't really care about game rentals - I've got a continuously growing backlog that may never end.

@Epic-Kx
If by "recently", you mean "three years ago when I first signed up", then yes, I'm aware of that. And unless it takes the post office 3 days to scan these envelopes, I don't think it works as advertise.

To be fair, GF is pretty good with most of their games. It's the new releases that it struggles with. And as much as I complain about it, I still think I get enough value outta it that I've stuck with it for three years. I'm just excited for a new competitor and hope Qwikster can step up and offer a superior service on console games.

Nice job assholes. Put all your major retail competition out of business, and within a year you are already planning to more effectively kill off your own dvd rental completely.

@Epic I noticed that also. I wonder if it's cause they heard about Qwickster.

Funny thing is the week they started that my games took LONGER to be returned and arrive than before. I was notified quicker though...

A lot of people are overreacting to this. All the guy is saying is they're taking the company and splitting it in two in every way, including price.

All it means is that you'll have 2 separate websites to log into, manage queues in, and put credit data into, instead of 1, and at the end of the month both of those charges on your card will equal what we're paying now, if you opt to use both halves of the service.

Thats not to say there isn't a list of stupid things that go with this, the biggest of them being the fact that they're going to have to spend (Read: Waste) a lot of cash to not only sell the new name and website, but also re-educating even existing customers (who don't pay attention to the Netflix blog, sites like this one who report on such things, or their spam-like emails) on the new set-up, which includes reprinting a shit-ton of labels and mailers.

Its all a lot of wasted money/marketing when all they needed to do is follow a simple approach of separating the company into two divisions (which it should already have been at this point) and forming 2 websites under the same NETFLIX name, that -at least initially- get redirected (specifically when new customers come looking to sign up) from the Netflix site we have now, depending on which service they look for; instead of a total re-branding of the DVD name. For Example: NetflixDisc.com for the disc based service, and NetflixStream.com for the streaming based service. The idea is pretty much exactly the same as they're running with now, but the ins and outs of it would make it much cheaper to market in the long run -like they could mailers and labels exactly as they are.

When it came to opting into the two sites, all they needed to do is cross integrate the log-in information and credit info for all the existing users, 1 set of info for both sites, and then ask on the first log in on either site if they'd like to opt in for both services, or drop one service and lower their bill -making the transition much easier then it sounds like it'll go when Netflix starts going through the motions.

From there they'd only need to spend the cash to re-educate existing customers of the change -something they shouldn't really need to do in the first place if people payed attention to the fact that the company has offered the plans separately for a while now, and should be handled when they log into the Netflix site, or app, the next time they use it. New customers could have simply gotten a screen on the existing website (which, in my vision, now acts as a portal) that asks if they wanted DVD rentals or Streaming, and explains if you want both, then you have to go to each site separately. After signing up for one site, the site will ask you immediately if you want to sign up for streaming also, and will take you over to that site to fill in that info.

The other less then stellar thing about all this is announcing something this big in an apology statement that starts and ends as a slap on their own wrists about the lack of communication they've had with their customers. He asks for customers trust back at the end, but just spent the prior moments blindsiding people with an announcement they obviously (based on the reactions) didn't understand. Thats not a good start to the new structure! And now doesn't that mean that BOTH sites will end up needing to communicate more with the customers, making it twice as much work for them to keep up with overall?

One other qualm is the fact that he's talking about the main force behind this being to expand both sides without having to worry about the other. Which means, among other things, expanding the scope of the streaming leg of the organization. And that's fine, but if they're going to do that then they really need to work on behalf of the people (their customers) and advocate for better/competitive speeds and prices from the ISPs. Its getting really fucking ridiculous trying to stream on 3mbps ATT line when ATT won't open up higher speeds (or offer their U-Verse packages) in an area that should be considered a major city. If Netflix is really going to expand down this avenue, and want people to continue following them with their money, they're going to need to help us be able to actually watch it without interruptions, instead of just adjusting the player/resolutions on their end of things.

Also, the last thing, Their customer service really should be (Read: needs) expanded exponentially in regards to both the sites with this change. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to look for an answer to a question I've had about something on the service only to be reminded that the site has no actual database of info, leading everyone into either using menus that rarely go to solving the issue your having, or having to call and talk to a person you shouldn't otherwise have to bother (or bother with.). This would help greatly, specifically, with the streaming site. It would be absolutely AMAZING to know why, if anything, Netflix related (high user presence, outage at a streaming facility ect.) is causing bad streaming speeds and interrupts, instead of me running around cussing out ATT or someone else (specially one one show or movie works great, but the next one acts like someones gnawing on the lines). If they really want to improve communications with customers and win back trust, that would be a great place to start.

WTF these guys are fucking stupid, they got rid of profiles for being to confusing, now they just up and make a new company to send out the DVDs. Ya this isn't going to confuse the fuck out of anyone. I'll watch but I almost want to distance myself from this crapfest by canceling.

I'll go back to in-the-mail game rental now, since GameFly sucks ass. Shipping takes too long, acknowledgement of returned games takes too long, brand new games are never available, and the price is a bad joke.

Wow! I'm looking forward to seeing how this will work out. I've been considering signing up for Gamefly within the next year, but I have Netflix already. If they're going to dabble in games, I'll definitely try it out!