request etiquette
 

Be forewarned: this is not a request for station changes or a thread to discuss such! :aua:

That being said, the last couple of weeks have had a fair amount of shout discussion about the lack of ability to hear our requests due to long songs or shows.

First off, I have nothing against any of the shows "interfering" with my requests - all kudos & a deep bow to those who sweat & swear putting together shows that educate me, stretch my boundaries, or remind me of forgotten favorites... usually R)

However - and particularly on Themin' Thursday - it's bloody hard to get to hear my requests. I'm at a disadvantage being a left coaster; Europe & E US can fill the queue long before I ever get up. In the past this was fairly equitable in that the early reqs cleared out in 2-3 hrs so I could get to hear my reqs later in my day. Lately it doesn't shrink down to my reqs until after I head home (I listen mostly at work); sometimes my 1st req (8-9AM PST) won't show up for 4-6 hrs!

So, no station changes, no show changes - what can change? People could be equitable in their reqs. If you see the queue is stashed full, or if you've already gotten 4-6-8 reqs in, pick shorter songs, or even give it a skip. Yes, some songs are long, but not always the best choice, even when exploring new artists. You can check the artist/album/song reviews at ProgArchives first. You can skip that long req for another day. You can stretch your themin' to another shorter song. Etc, etc, etc. Plus shorter songs give everybody more exposure to potentially new artists, and gives others the ability to add to that exposure.

Discuss! :dogpile:

Re: request etiquette
 

Nothing to add. Well said MrMagoo. Hats off.

Re: request etiquette
 

I only rq on Sundays - short queue. I've given up on Thursdays as I'm too busy at work - so I follow Goo's thoughts......

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As a fellow left coaster I know what you mean. Well said .

Re: request etiquette
 

And a point to add as far as things to consider when the queue is long: Check the list of already requested groups. DON'T Duplicate groups! Seek alternatives to that group. There are plenty to choose from on the moon.



Now, having said that.....

What gives you the right to hear your own request???? None of us hear ours due to the AM Laws of requesting. You will always have some reason why you won't hear it (telephone, meeting, spouse/family). You name it, you won't be there when it plays. It's the AM Law (see separate thread outlining the 30 odd rules and laws). :hrm:
http://auralmoon.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3543

(You know I'm just messing with you. :LOL:)

Re: request etiquette
 

If your request is that important, then plan your day around it.

Re: request etiquette
 

:headscrat

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Thank you, Goo. (I hadn't thought of our left coast dilemma, but you're right on that too)

A bit of give and take would go a long way on days when requesting time is more limited.

Re: request etiquette
 

I don't have much to add to this discussion except to agree with goo and to 2nd what Dale said. Please DO check to see what's in the queue already BEFORE you request unless, or even if, you plan to be listening 4+ hours after your request and really just HAVE to hear THAT tune by a band that's already in the queue regardless of how long the queue is. It will save you some angst at not being able to hear your req for so long ;) I personally req very seldom because I find that I usually hear more good new music by listening to others' requests. However, if the queue is SHORT (i.e. a few tunes or less), please do request because as intelligent as SAM sometimes seems to be, humans generally are better at picking music than she is. As for planning your day around your request, I imagine most of us have better things to do and few of us have the luxury to do that even if we wanted to. Anyway that's my $0.02.

Re: request etiquette
 

Also wanted to agree with the bit about doing pre-research on long songs you've never heard (on days when requesting time is more limited). Why take a chance that it's listenable when many people can't even get a request in at all. No hard and fast rules...just a bit of give.

Re: request etiquette
 

Simple solution Magoo... move east! :D

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Or work later... :LOL:

Re: request etiquette
 

Cause I wanna? Damn the :rulez: but play nice! :eureka:
Shudder!!! I'm a native Californicator, been an Oregronian, and am now a Washingtunian. I've been from Central America to Alaska, as far east as the Great Basin, and as far west as NZ & AU :haha: But I've east of the Rockies exactly 3 times, and now know why 8-o :rolleyes2
Or are you suggesting I come try to fix ProNJ? :deadhorse
Been there, done that, gave it up for Lent, starting every year until the following Easter :shootmeno

Seriously, thanx for the feedback & confirmation. I expected most of the old-timers & heavy users to concure, I hope everbody else gets onboard.

Re: request etiquette
 

proNJ is beyond repair; the state is insolvent! Gov. Corzine is looking to increase the Turnpike and Parkway tolls by %800 (yes, eight-hundred percent) to help pay the bonds down on some of the debt. This will only cause more issues as those increases will be passed along to the state resident consumers making residence in an already high cost of living state even higher. The feds won't step in because the state assembly is D'uh, the state house is D'uh and the governor is D'uh, and the federal congress is now in D'uh control. The D'uhs won't make any waves about the fiscal improprieties of their own party faithful in an election year (hell, election year or not they probably wouldn't), D'oh!. The pigs are at the fiscal trough and, as anyone who has ever been on a farm with pigs knows, you can't move them from the trough until it's empty.

Anyway, enough about the proNJ. I can change the request rules to lengthen the period between making requests. It is now 1 hour with a max of 10 request in 24 hours. I could make it 2 hours to start and cut down the maximum number of requests.

The only other thing to do is write some code to randomize the items in the request queue in hopes of offering a fairer chance for all. This goes against the grain of everything I've learned in Markovian Queueing Theory.

Re: request etiquette
 

My thoughts:

As Magoo said, let's move any discussion of request times to the other thread, this is more of an etiquette request. That said, I can't see why anyone would request more than 2-3 songs per day, and I've always agreed with widening the time between requests.

I would hope that anyone who knows that shows are coming on are aware of the delay.

Well said Magoo, thanks for the discourse.

I wish I was around more to listen. Many new ideas and bands come to light when requests are made, so I hope they continue.

Re: request etiquette
 

OK. As a test, the request interval is now 2 hours instead of 1. There is still the 10 request maximum per day which, even with a 2 hour hiatus, is still realizable.

Let's see how this plays out on Theming Thursday.

Re: request etiquette
 

realizable for an insomniac :grinz:

good idea for Thursday 8-)

Re: request etiquette
 

Anyway, enough about the proNJ. I can change the request rules to lengthen the period between making requests. It is now 1 hour with a max of 10 request in 24 hours. I could make it 2 hours to start and cut down the maximum number of requests.
Maybe that's a very good suggestion !!!

Re: request etiquette
 

I can change the request rules to lengthen the period between making requests. It is now 1 hour with a max of 10 request in 24 hours. I could make it 2 hours to start and cut down the maximum number of requests.

That's a very good idea !!

Re: request etiquette
 

Yes Vax's test will work as I won't rq at all now, even on Sundays, as I cannot plan 2 hours ahead - it's the wrong way to go about it.

Re: request etiquette
 

Great Circus!

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Oh! I read it as you have to wait two hours after the last request. If it is indeed the interval, I agree with you rogor!

Re: request etiquette
 

The only instance I think an extension to 2 hours between requests will be of benefit is on Themeing Thursday. It does not seem equitable during all other times. 2 hours is too long to wait on a normal day or evening, especially when there is no long queue, it will, as evidence by RM's reply, detract from the joy of listening.

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Right! If you make a request at 08:00, you can't request again until 10:00.
It has absolutely NOTHING to do with when your request will play.

Re: request etiquette
 

[collective] Oooohhhhhhhh! >V8-d'oh<

That's a horse of a different color. Sorry to misunderstand.

A two hour delay from making a request to making the next would assist to cut down the number of request. But I think I'd still only like to see that on the theming thursday for pretty much the same reason. Once a queue is clear or low, there shouldn't be such a delay.

And I know it would be a pain in the patootee to set some sort of schedule or guidelines that fluxuated with demand. (the software just don't work that way.) So let's not even go there.

But we'll see how this experiment goes on Thursday, since wednesday's are excluded anyway. :-V There's always time to just give it a try.

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There's still the issue Dale of days that have shows and west coast people not being able to request much because things are backed up from the earlier time zone requests by the time the show ends. Today I requested four :eek: songs, two hours apart pretty much, and heard them all. Not sure what happened. It was a neat experiment though.

Anyway, I can live with whatever pans out.

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Are there four Nick Drake songs in the library? :flutter:

Dale, I haven't seen that word in a month of Sundays. I looked it up and it says "patootie"....close.

Waiting for Bippy to be used :-V

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How or when your Bippy is used is definately TMI for the rest of us. :ick:


[sorry folks - I just couldn't resist. The line was just sitting right there. I just had to take the shot.]

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The rule is, if the opening is big enough to drive a truck through, you gotta take it. Well done Dale!

Thanks Goo for some good suggestions/discussion.

pdj likes it when people play nice...:salute

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You bet your sweet bippy he does....and so does the London Headbanger.

Re: request etiquette
 

Sorry to say this because I normally stay out of these types of discussions, unless I become annoyed about the lack of civility being displayed.

But I must confess that I am heading in the direction of uncivil behaviour as concerns this particular change of station format.

When I consider the amount of time I do spend listening to AM, and the amount of time I spend at the site, it is pretty D@#%*& amazing that I have never reached the max number of requests in a 24 hour period. That was before this change. Now it would be impossible.

And I AM an insomniac!

I personally find the new time limit between requests abhorrent. This change is more likely to cause me to quit requesting altogether.

Considering that Rogor has said the same thing earlier in this forum, I can only imagine that there will be more people who will feel the same way. Many of them probably will not even say anything about it. How many registered users are there? How many take advantage of this great feature? How many actually voice their opinions in these forums or the shoutbox? This might be an interesting statistic to try to determine.

I, for one would like the between requests time limit returned to the 60 minutes that it used to be set at. The 120 minutes between requests time limit is begining to frustrate the bejeezus out of me.

That sucks for me, because I really enjoy this feature. I have, almost from the first time I used this feature, tried to be considerate of others as concerns requesting. I have avoided making some requests because I knew that some listeners with whom I was chatting with did not enjoy the band I wanted to request.

The consideration of others is a measure of our assumed civility & maturity. So please be considerate when making requests. Think of the various points that have been made throughout this discussion.

I think MrMagoo made many good points, and if you just think through what has been said, it just may improve everyones experience of this great place for music that so many of us know & love.


Thanks for reading,

Bmithra

Re: request etiquette
 

OK. It was only a test. Had this been an actual emergency I would be maintaining the 120 minute blackout period. I have, as per Bm's plea, returned to the 60 minute blackout period. Play nice.

PS. I don't often request but the other day I wanted to and it annoyed me too.

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Bravo.... I can sleep at night. :zzzzz: :winkies:

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Group Hug!!!:angel:

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Thanx to everybody who participated. Even I was a bit frustrated on Thu with 120 min gap, although I did get my reqs in. I sincerely hope civility & flexibility in your req choices prevails.

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(Howdy, Kitsapien neighba! Move east?! Yeah, good one...
see picture of where 'Goo and I live) ;)

This request thing's always been a sticking point, so I swore
off several years ago. It seemed like "why add to the problem?"

I like hearing MOST of the requests, unless it's apparent by
the frequency that i'm being exposed to someone's "exquisite tastes
in esoteric Prog".

"Have you heard Griegflappel's "Omnium/Dying in Obscurity"?
...No, can't say that i have...R)

If you really want to hear something while goofing off at
work that you don't have in the car changer or the rack at home,
or checking out an artist for a future purchase, make a request.
Otherwise, it's not a game, there's no "winner".

P e a c e

Kirk

Re: request etiquette
 

Jim quoted The Rule on this one. My particular yardstick is that when one leads with one's chin, it is just Not Sporting to not take the shot.

You know, it's trivial to set up a rule in the station that starts the 2 hour wait between RQs at 12:01 ET on Thursday and put it back to the standard at 11:59 ET the same day.

Personally, the nature of my current job allows me to listen to my heart's content but leaves me little time for such luxuries as 'requesting' and 'leaving my seat to do anything without western civilization coming grinding to a halt'.

So between keeping western civilization afloat, saving the day, rescuing nuns and orphans from burning orphanages (while saving their boxes of wet eyed kittens and puppies) and single-handedly redesigning the airspace in and around Greater Atlanta(*), I just don't have the time, ya know?

Not like I'm not trying. I think I may have stumbled upon the secret of adding an additional 4 hours per day. I'll keep everyone posted.

Anyway, What say y'all about the idea of altering the request bucket during the Theme Thursday freeferall?

Roger -Dot- Lee, just tossing ideas about.

(*) OK, so I was exaggerating about the orphans.

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Kittens and Puppies with wet eyes are a sign of disease and should be taken to a Vet right away.

:D

Re: request etiquette
 

Yes Goo...Now I hardly listen to any of my request because of wurk :( ...but anyway....on last theming thursday I made 6 requests...but I couldn't hear 4 :aua: I used to wait one hour to make my request, but now that I'm more busy than before so I opted to request when I know I can hear them so I make 4 request per day (or less than that)...but what you say is quite fair...you can count on that Goo I'll cooperate with your idea 8-)