FAQ
READ ALL BEFORE JOINING
Step One: Understanding what the club is and does
We are a club that watches anime together and talk about the anime while watching. This means that you will need to split your screen or have different screens. We get into a skype group chat and then countdown 3,2,1, go and everyone plays at go. There are other ways to do this but we do it the most simple and easy way.You need to have a skype account and download skype if you do not have it. We DO NOT use a mic or camera in our communication. When we say "talk", it does not refer to a skype call but rather a skype chat, where you type. We follow the EST and are most active from 7pm - 12am. If you have a schedule where you know for a fact that you will not be active during these times, then you are advised from not joining the club as you will miss out on all the conversations and simul watches.
Step Two: Contact an Admin
Once you have decided to join the club, please contact an admin and let them know you understand our timezones and agree to using skype. Then proceed to give them your skype information so that they can then add you to our skype group chat. Once you have joined the skype group chat, please go to this post (click here) and let us know your MAL name and your skype and real name. We use real names because we are an older group and are past the age where we need to use silly made up ones (unless you prefer it, we do not mind). You do not have to do a introduction if you do not want to, but you must let us know who you are on skype to prevent any confusion in the future. Some things to keep in mind in the skype chat: be yourself and try to be active in it whenever possible. Sometimes, when it gets a little spamtastic, you can edit the notifications by going under conversation > notification settings.
Joining in a simul watch
This is a member run club, the individual picks what they want to watch, when they want to watch it. This means that you do not have to join in everything that the club offers, nor do you have to make it to every viewing of that particular series. On our club page, you will notice that we have a schedule right on the front page. You will see the title of the series, the time (in EST), the date and someone to contact if you wish to join in that series simul watch. You can then use the forum post Who's Who (click here) to figure out what their MAL and skype is to easily contact them.
Creating a simul watch
Everyone is encouraged to create their own simulwatch series. Anyone can create a simulwatch as long as the individual has one other person who has agreed to watch the series with them. Usually two people will start a series and other people join in later. It is highly recommended that you come up with a schedule in order to make it easy on both of you and others who wish to join, but we also have a section for titles that have no concrete schedule (highly disliked). Under our forum, you will notice that many of our current members have made their plan-to-simulwatch lists of what they want to simul watch with you. You are also welcome to make a list of your own. You can browse the forums for someone who is interested in a title that you are interested in, or simply ask people directly on skype or their MAL page. Once you have decided on a title with at least one other person, notify an admin letting them know that a new series is going to be simul watched along with a schedule and who to contact if anyone wishes to join them. Furthermore, please make an announcement on both our MAL club page and on our skype group chat.
Policy on schedule
Let's say that you have made a schedule to watch a certain show on Wednesday at 9pm. Now, it's Wednesday night 9pm and 3 people have contacted you saying that they wish to watch the show earlier. However, one person is missing. What do you do? At most, please wait up to 15 minutes but then start the viewing with the other member(s). It is unreasonable to wait any longer because it is very unfair to everyone else. If this particular show is a weekly show or part of a series, it is up to the individual who missed the viewing to watch on their own.
Everyone must get their own copy
As you have probably noticed, we do not use livestream or any other programs. The reason for this is explained further down on this page. What this means for you, the member, is that you will need to secure a copy of whatever we are watching on your own using a stream or download. Many of us use torrent download, something that is recommended to everyone. Again, please read further below for torrent help. This gives a lot of freedom to our members, from what quality they want, what website they want to use, what subgroup they like, everything is up to the individual. We do not want to restrict anyone in any way or make anything difficult for the members.
Policy on pause during viewing
If you are in a small group of two or three people, it is easy to pause if someone is having a buffering problem or needs to afk. However, when we have a group of 4+ members, it gets a little difficult to pause and restart at the same time again. To prevent any headaches and fighting in the group, please try to download your anime before the viewing (unless you know you have very fast internet). We will not be pausing in the middle during a big viewing and so you will just have to deal with it. If you fall behind, or have to afk, that's on you, you may not request that everyone pause and wait for you or to start at the time you are on. The only exception to the rule is aeysoi (I almost always download though), the creator of the club. This also means that you should really use the restroom and get snacks/drinks before long viewings such as movies.
Movie Nights
Every weekend, Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night (Sunday is a little tricky), we would like to have movies being simul watched. If you see that the slot for that night is open, please recommend a movie ASAP! This does not mean that you are restricted to movies only on the weekend but we would like to keep movies playing every weekend.
Will I be kicked out of the club for inactivity?
Yes, if it turns out that you show no interest in watching anime with us or do not make contact with our club members after a certain period of time, you will be kicked from our skype group chat. This is nothing personal against any individual, but rather, a way of organization meant to help the club grow into what it has been created for. If you are busy for a short period of time, you may simply let us know to avoid being kicked. If you wish to take a break from simulwatch but still want to remain in the club, you are welcome to stay as long as you are active on our skype group chat. As long as you are active in either simulwatching with our members or talking on skype chat, everything will be fine.
Regarding forums
Please use spoiler tags for everything. You are welcome to make threads about anything and encouraged to do so. If you have someone who wants to watch on their own but still wishes to discuss whatever show is being simul watched, you can choose to make a thread about that series or episode and communicate back and fourth there.
Support the club
Please support the club by putting a banner/link on your profile and/or a link on your signature. Banners can be found by clicking here. Be sure to invite all your friends to join in on the fun. If you are active in other clubs, ask them to affiliate with us so that both clubs can grow together! Would greatly appreciate the help in keeping the club active and growing.
Why don't you use livestream?
Our goal is not to create a big group. We are looking for a small size group of regulars that want to watch shows with each other and enjoy each others company. Livestream also lowers the quality of the video in most cases while some of us highly value the quality of the video. This is why we prefer to download our own version and watch at the same time.
Why don't you use syncplay or any other programs that helps you watch anime together, there are like a million different "better" ways to do it
It is just complicating a very simple and easy thing. Doing it a different way would force a download or account making on different websites for our members. It might even restrict what we watch, the quality, the sub groups, etc. Furthermore using a sync tool can also cause lag for the entire group if one person's internet connection is not on par with the rest of the gang. The way we do things is effective and working just fine so we see no point in trying to fix something that is not broken.
Why should I torrent and How can I torrent
You do not need to torrent anything, this is just an option to gain highest quality and no buffering problems. Torrenting is fast and straight forward, you will not get any virus using it and it's safe to use. It is probably the fastest way to download, it will not slow down your computer and you will most likely get the best quality possible doing so. It takes a little longer than streaming, of course, but once you start torrenting, there is no going back. Sometimes you will see that there is no stream for the anime you wish to see, or the quality of the stream is extremely bad which is the case for many older anime. In this situation, torrent download knowledge comes in quite handy. Follow these steps to start torrenting. If you get lost, you can message one of the admins.
Step 1: google search utorrent 3.2 and download it. Do not download a more recent version and never update to a newer version. This is because you will not be able to download any anime if you do so. Trust me.
Step 2: Make an account on bakabt. You can simply google search bakabt ____ (what you are looking for) but if you do not find it, you need an account to search using their search bar. Bakabt contains full completed series and animetake has individual episode as they come out with subs. On animetake, torrent downloads are labeled TOR. Usually the title of the series will contain what sub group subbed the series as well as the quality. If you do not have an up to date player, I suggest you get something simple like VLC player
Step 3: Click to download a torrent, you will see that a download pops up on your internet window at the bottom, click on it. Once you click on it, a window on your utorrent will pop up. This window shows all information on what you are about to download. At the bottom, you can check or uncheck what you want to download if there is more than one thing to download. You will also see a "save in" box where you can choose where your download will end up by clicking the [...] button. Click ok when you are all done to start download.
Step 4: You can right click to edit where you want your download to go, to pause, to delete, etc. Once the download finishes, it will start to "seed". This allows those who download after you the same file to download faster so please share the love. If you are logged into bakabt and download something, you must seed or you will risk getting banned from the website. After some time, you can delete the file all together. Open up the folder where you placed your video and play. When you try to delete the file, sometimes it will say please try again. This is because you must first delete the file on utorrent and then you can delete the file on your computer.
I have other questions and concerns
You may message one of the admins and patiently wait for their reply |
