It would be nice if all of us on the forums tried to look past emotions and get what we can out of ourselves.
Sure, Roon doesn’t have the most ideal support model in the world.
I have to imagine that they know this, and are struggling internally about how to figure that out.
That will take time. I can hear my friends in here saying “the’ve already had all the time in the world” and I wouldn’t disagree, but it is what it is. They are understaffed.
Personally, even though I am a lifetime subscriber, I would welcome a world where Roon offered an optional paid support subscription add-on to lifetime subscribers.
It would also make sense for support to be included in non-lifetime subscriptions, even if they had to raise prices a bit.
The volunteers who try to help here do so with the best of intentions, but make no mistake: the condescension in many cases that I have seen over the years has been bi-directional. The majority in the hobby are males, with all of the testosterone-driven baggage that comes along with it. The more we can try to employ empathy and emotional intelligence in everything we do, the less ugly all of our interactions will be.
We live in an age where societies are giving less time to matters that are “grey” and want everything to be “black” or “white” yet most of life isn’t so simple at all.
Roon is amazing. Many people have very few problems with it at all. I happen to be one of those people (yeah, there are a few bugs that annoy me, but nothing close to deal-breakers). I know at least a few others personally, and those people aren’t even on these forums because they don’t have issues.
Roon, not necessarily via its original mission, has become the go-to tool for enthusiasts, and enthusiasts always push their tools to the limit. With that come the surfacing of limits and problems. This happens in every hobby I know of, from model trains to quilting to car racing.
One problem Roon has over those other hobbies is that it relies on networking technologies (mostly because of the demands of RAAT), and many people’s home networks are of questionable quality. So to push Roon to the limits that many people in here wish, you unfortunately do need some knowledge in another “hobby” - namely, IT…
Here’s the thing - a lot of people think that’s “unfortunate” because “consumer” stuff should not require IT expertise, but frankly, Roon has many of its most passionate users here in the forums, and we push it beyond simple “consumer” use… So, yeah, those folks in particular have to get good at some IT. Here again, many other hobbies get that way. The most advanced form of model trains today, for instance, require you to learn about DCC, which involves advanced AC wiring and programming, etc.
I could go on, but the point is, this is all a grey area, and our ability to have empathy and emotional intelligence in all directions of our interactions on these forums is helpful to get the most out of one another.
I truly love being in these forums and have learned a lot from people. I’ve been “condescended” to a few times, and I look the other way because I’ve learned a lot anyway, and most of the people in here are passionate about Roon and helping Roon be better, and that ain’t a bad thing.
And at the end of the day, as in all hobbies, the people using the tools are often better with them than the people who create them, because they discover things that the creators never intended. Without the users, there is no product, and there is no community, and there is no point.
Like most or perhaps all of you, I want Roon to offer better support. But I also believe they know this and have a struggle to get there. In the meanwhile, the people in this community help us get where we need to go. Thank you to all!!
