Hello,
This is your randomly-regularly reminder that if you're a consumer of TKP that hasn't joined The Key Players Club, consider getting fully dipped. To that end...
Shelton is cooking up a banger of a preseason hoops piece.
Today I was able to interview a couple assistants on Mike Young's staff for an upcoming @thekeyplay article.Believe me when I say these guys are top-notch. Every Virginia Tech fan should be thankful to have such an amazing group of coaches on board. Big things ahead I promise.— Shelton Moss (@SheltonMoss21) October 26, 2022
That along with French's NC State film review and Brian's next column will publish for everyone to enjoy if five folks get fully dipped before Halloween (10/31/2022). To support a Hokie owned and operated business, get fully dipped here: https://www.thekeyplay.com/the-key-players-club.
PS: If any TKPCers are reading this thread and want to share your thoughts on the content quality this season, that'd be appreciated.
Comments
I'm a very happy member of TKPC. I originally joined for French's top notch film reviews that have improved my understanding of our football team. The additional columns by Brian and Shelton keep me coming back with their unique perspectives and very thoughtful articles. Their articles also drive some really great conversation in the comments section - and that includes the authors interacting and answering questions that their great work triggered for us readers.
I strongly recommend joining if you can afford it!
I have a feeling this isn't going to go well.
I dunno man. You could make the 3000 word analysis of each and every false start behind the paywall as bait.
Sorry. I just had to. At least basketball season is coming?
I've been a tkpc member almost since it's inception. I think it's incredible value for the money. There is some really, really good content from French, Shelton and Brian. 7 bucks a month to have great content from the best fucking place on the interwebs is a helluva deal. 10/10 would recommend
Can the OC include a deep fake version of our games that makes us go 15-0 towards a natty?
Better value than my Disney+ subscription.
How I feel after reading a TKP article
Its the only place I go for Hokie Sports.
And the tailgates are awesome.
So this might not be the place, but here it goes ...Thank you Joe for this website, the team does a great job of writing articles but what I really love about this website is that it's its own thing. It's unique in its design and feel. With most of the internet feeling like a giant game of copycat this site feels like the internet was before rampant commercialization (yes its not lost on me that Joe I'd trying to sell in this thread, but servers cost money yo). I thank you for your hard work to do this all and keep my internet browsing a bit less mundane. I miss the wild west web of the 90s.
I would leg this comment, but it's already at +25, and I'm loath to move it off that number. So here's some leg instead.
You really need to be on the inside here as Basketball approaches and to gain insight into year 1 into year 2 changes for Football. Also the other sports coverage through the year makes you feel like you are standing right there on Beamer Way outside of Merryman. The articles here are top notch. This is a unique website that you really should support. It would be great to include this as part of your "Hokie Club" commitment.
Come on in, we have cookies
When I win the 1.5 billion dollar lottery this Saturday, the first thing I'm doing is getting fully dipped!
Update: 0 people joined so this wasn't a thing. But Shelton's piece drops on Monday. Same deal is on the table for this week. I'm biased, but I really think the coverage at the price is worth it. That plus eliminating all the digital ads and advanced commenting features.
Zero?
Sorry Joe I had to do it.
You may be biased but you're not alone in thinking that.
As someone who wants to join and will do so in the future when things are less tight, I'd like to offer feedback as a undipped TKPer if that's cool. Since all of the articles went behind the paywall, I do have to say that I am less motivated to join now. It's not in a reactive "screw you" type of way or anything, but more just it is easy to forget the quality of the articles when you never get to read one here and there. Example: I can't remember the last time I read any French article. I know he writes great content and breakdowns, but being able to read one every once in awhile made it more alluring to "unlock the rest" ya know?
Have you noticed a difference in new subscriptions now that all articles are behind the paywall as compared to the way it was before when it seemed (at least to me) like 80% of them were?
Again I know how this looks, like I'm like "unghhgghgh give me some free content" but I promise it's not like that lol. Just giving some feedback how I see it.
I have feedback I'd love to share too buuuuut I don't want to hijack the thread.
That is honestly great feedback. I am a marketing/sales professional and it makes complete sense. You need to give the market a taste of the product before you ask for purchase. Like a free week of all TKP content in tandem with a promo to join to free up the content for the next week.
From a marketing perspectively, it certainly was a win/win/win when these things worked in the past. TKPC grew, we were able to showcase articles, everyone had access to the articles.
I appreciate the feedback.
I get where you're coming from. There are years worth of "free" articles published on the site and I was thinking about actually linking to a few of those on the signup page to help folks understand the level of quality they'd pay for from French, or anyone else.
New subscriptions have remained pretty flat. My thesis is the football team sucks and a lot of folks are checked out. But what the paywall really helps with is renewals.
I neglected to mention with my previous comment, but usually everyone has access to read at least one full play breakdown in the film reviews. My hope there is that gives enough of a sense for the type of quality of that work.
I so appreciate how TKP isnt some static format or community -- there are our familiar touchpoints like film (p)reviews, marcolini columns, foerensics, and giftory -- but the website has dynamically evolved with new features (comment reply notifications, keyboard navigation, subthread locking) that help facilitate the way the community runs. It's not the *same* TKP i joined in 2017 and started paying for a year later, it's a *better* TKP.
Yeah there's been a lot of engineering to make TKP what it is. To me the platform is the best thing about the site, and I don't think it's replicated elsewhere on the internet (because the unique bits are code I've written).
It really is the best platform. It's not SportsWars or whatever that shit is, and it's slicker than Reddit, and it's really just the best. I believe the features and ease of use of the platform is conducive to the community.
All of it.
I consistently get my money's worth, year in and year out, even when I can't be on here as much as I'd like. It just feels good supporting this community, and by extension, Joe.
I'll make it to one of those Lot 18 tailgates one day, lads.
I didn't even go to Virginia Tech, I just really like keys.
I know this isn't exactly the right place but just wondering how much work would go into creating a feature where readers can mute certain threads. I have a little ocd with notifications and any thread that has (new) comments needs to be opened so the tag disappears. But if there are threads I'm not interested in could I "mute" them so the (new) comments tag never appears just for those threads?
Up vote for the "mute the fishing thread" feature
I don't want to call out any threads specifically but this community has grown to include such a diverse range of topics that I am certain everyone who frequents this site has at least one they don't have any interest in. I think it's a utility many would use. Might even yield some interesting data. If there are topics that are largely unmuted it would stand to reason that is a topic that Joe could invest in. Likewise, if there are topics that are broadly muted and only followed by a select few then maybe it would be a good idea to avoid investing in that area.
I am not trying to put down any thread as I'm sure lots of people on the website don't care about video games or wrestling the way I dont care about fishing. They are all valid threads to support the community and those threads make this community. But it's like the Roy Williams rule, lots of people horsecollar tackled, but its got to be named after some one.
Joe I do understand it probably isn't so simple but I still think the idea is pretty good.
How would you envision the user interface and experience for actually doing the muting works?
I would think there is a toggle button (mute/unmute) on the page. Once pressed (muted) it wouldn't show up in the active discussions for the user. It would still show up in the view all discussions. If unmued it would show back up.
I could see the toggle being in the active discussions' list too beside each topic
P.S. I assume this would not change the front page, so French's break down or Brian's musings would be front page titles, it would only apply to active discussions listL
I like king's thoughts. My thoughts are pretty simple. I don't mind if the topic remains in the tracker list and moves to the top if the most recent comments are in that topic. I just would like to not see the (new) tag next to the topic title in the tracker. If the toggle lives inside the topic thread that is okay. I don't mind going in once to mute (or unmute) and then just never see the (new) tag again. I'm fine with still seeing the topic in the tracker though
Would you see still the comments in the "recent comments" tab?
That I'm okay with. I don't personally really venture into the recent comments tab very often. In that tab the new comments are just yellow, not marked (new). I love the (new) tag in the tracker for threads I'm interested in following but because of my ocd I feel compelled to open every single thread that has (new) comments, even if I'm not really interested. It's only bothersome to me in the tracker (which is pretty much the only way I navigate TKP). If I only saw (new) tags on topics located in the tracker that are interesting to me that would be gravy
TIL there is a comments tab.
Which is another great think about tkp, the UX is multiple in a way that's still intuitive
Agree with ME and King above. TKPC feature for sure.
Finally joined the club. Maybe reading some of French's articles will help me learn more of why we suck (X's and O's wise), so that I can at least know what to yell at the tv about.
Welcome!
Welcome to the club!-edit-damn drinking already. Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit....
Until I read French's analyses, I never yelled "keep driving your damned legs! Don't try to bench press him, dammit Get your effing head to the inside!" while watching games. The jury's out on net benefit but I definitely know more...
Plus, when you watch a recruit, the first thing you should has yourself is "does his feet keep moving through contact?" If the answer is yes, no matter what the position, he has a chance. If he plants, even if he has five stars, that road will be much tougher to hoe.
Well no wonder it's tough, you're using a hoe on a road, they are meant for fields not roads
Roads n Hoes
Beyond leveling up on X's and O's I think you'll enjoy the other columns plus enhanced community features.
it's been so long since I wasn't a TKPC member that I don't even know what features I have that non TKPC members don't have. What kinda cool things do we get to do that others don't?
You can log out and try navigating the site and you'll see
Don't do it. Almost gave me a panic attack.
Idk..seems risky
I think the major ones are the next new comment/next top comment commands. We don't receive notification when our comments are replied to. May be some others but it's been a bit since I was in TKPC so no idea if there are new features.
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Isn't that an old hand tool used to make flat spots in logs?