Alternate who gets top of the queue. Week One, Billy. Week 2, Bobby, Week 3, Robby, Week 4, Willy, Week 5, CitrusFreak.

Post a calendar marked with the Netflix schedule above the computer.

5 people on a three disc queue sounds crazy to me, particularly considering how cheap a larger subscription would be split among 5 people.

Do you have PCs? You can watch a lot instantly.
Also with a PC, you have certain capabilities that can give you high turnover.

i've been sitting on two discs for over a month.
Because can never make time to sit and really just watch.
Because i suck.
i noticed how much i suck as i tried to add more movies but hit my limit.
i gotta plow through them.

Well, if you had a lot of money to throw at the problem, you could just rip all the DVDs to a hard drive as they arrive, then send 'em right back. But if you had a lot of money to throw at the problem, you'd just buy a larger subscription.

Hmm. You, Billy, Willy, Robby and Bobby (if Lori was a math major, they'd be named, like, Adam, Bob, Chris, Dave and Ed) are each allowed, say, three movies in the queue at any moment. If you want to queue up more than that, you can do it with a textfile or an Amazon wishlist or something. But the shared queue never has more than fifteen entries on it, and nobody is allowed to manipulate the relative position of movies in the shared queue.

There's probably a more elegant solution, frankly. If memory serves, there's a whole branch of math that deals with distributing limited quantities fairly and whatnot. Of course, there are also whole branches of social sciences dedicated to making people honor their agreements. Good luck.

Or you could change the password so only you know it right now.
They are in college. They could know how to write things down, make lists, and wait their turn.

Should you be accused of chicanery, take them to a certain restaurant i will send you the address of, and once they all stand and weep when the Godfather theme comes out of the piano player, just smile at them. Make sure they pay and tip very well.

(if Lori was a math major, they'd be named, like, Adam, Bob, Chris, Dave and Ed)

α, β, γ, δ and ε, I think.

Well, if you had a lot of money to throw at the problem, you could just rip all the DVDs to a hard drive as they arrive, then send 'em right back.

This is what I meant with my winking and nudging section. Heh, sorry.

I'm all for expanding to a 5 DVD account. That way we each get a DVD when it comes in. But everyone else doesn't want to do it.

a) what box said.

b) Hi CitrusFreak!!

c) pssst! if'n you're in the market for a new laptop for photo processing needs *cough cough*, rumour has it Apple's set to unveil new / updated models plus a potentially significant price drop on their laptop line next week...

Hi LFR! Thanks for the tip!

I'm all for expanding to a 5 DVD account. That way we each get a DVD when it comes in. But everyone else doesn't want to do it.

Because it's cheaper for them to just steamroll the shared queue and put their wants ahead of yours? Right. Honestly, I think the whole thing is a lost cause- too many people and too many variables to organize; it doesn't sound like it's going to be worth the energy. I think your best bet is to pull out of the shared deal, and get your own queue for a 1-2 movies a month. It's only a few bucks more.

Ok, if we're openly talking about the rip rock, what's the big deal in waiting a week? And why can't people write shit down and leave one person in charge? Or dump two people. Mr. 70 sounds like a likely candidate.

I'm all for expanding to a 5 DVD account. That way we each get a DVD when it comes in. But everyone else doesn't want to do it.

How many people don't want to do it? Maybe this problem is easier to solve than we think. If it's one person, kick him out of the club, then switch to a 4-dvd account. We're talking about a difference of, like, two or three bucks a month here.

Do you know you can assign different users for the same account? Each person can have their own queue, and you can assign the DVD dispensing so that it's even.

I think your best bet is to pull out of the shared deal, and get your own queue for a 1-2 movies a month. It's only a few bucks more.

The 3 DVD plan is $16.99 a month, for 6 months, split among 5 people, which comes to roughly $20 per person.
If I were to pull out and get my own 1 or 2 DVD plan it'd cost me $53 or $83 for the same amount of time. I don't want to spend that much.
Conversely, a 5 DVD plan is $29.99 a month. For 6 months, split among 5 people, it comes out to $35 per person.

And why can't people write shit down and leave one person in charge? Or dump two people. Mr. 70 sounds like a likely candidate.
I think it comes down to a matter of convenience. People see a movie on Netflix that they'd like to watch, they need only press a button to have it added the queue. I think I'd have a hell of a time trying to convince people to write them down separately. I'll see what I can do. Dumping anyone from the plan is not an option and not what I'm looking to do; we're all good friends here, I'm just looking for a way to better organize this.

How many people don't want to do it?
Three or four out of the five, I believe. Again, kicking people out is not what I'm looking to do here.

Do you know you can assign different users for the same account?
I thought of this, but with five people and only three DVDs, I don't think that solution would work in my situation.

I do think that box is on to something re: limiting the number of DVDs in the queue, and I think that might be the best starting point in dealing with this whole thing. It all depends on my ability to convince people to go for it. If they don't want to, which is very likely what will happen, I'm once again stuck with trying to figure out how to be fair and organized with the quagmire of a queue.

I think I'm going to do my best to convince them to go for the 5 DVD plan. This is what I have so far:

3 DVDs
$16.99 a month
$101.94 total for 6 months
$20 per person (5 people)

PROs:
-Only $20 per person
-...I can't think of anything else.

CONs:
-5 people adding DVDs to queue = lots of DVDs
-Only 3 DVDs among 5 people means longer wait
-Need to divise some way to organize or manage the queue fairly
-When your DVDs arrive is dependent on other people
-People can add 70 DVDs in two days
-Can be confusing

----------------------------------------------------------

5 DVDs
$29.99 a month
$179.94 total for 6 months
$35 per person (5 people)

PROs:
-Each person can set up their own profile
-Manage their own queue
-Have DVDs sent to their own mailbox if they want
-Not worry about what other people add to their own queues
-Independently mail and receive their DVDs

CONs:
-An extra $15 (only an extra $2.50 a month)
-...I got nothing.

Here's a convoluted solution: Make three profiles. The two people who are willing to pay a bit more for a dedicated queue each get one profile by themselves, and pay an extra $2.50 per month for the priviledge. The other three people who aren't willing to pay any more can share the third profile. They only get one DVD at a time for the three of them, but get to pay $1.67 less per month.

Make each person pay a pro-rated amount of the bill each month, based on the percentage of the total movies received that were of their choice. Of course, you'll have to keep track of who chose what movie, the total viewed per month, etc.

Apparently you can do all that on FeedFlix, though I haven't been able to make it work yet toady.

Ask everybody what they're willing to pay. Then, see how many movies/month that'll buy, and then divide the movies appropriately. If Abe will pay ten bucks, and Bob five bucks, and Carl fifteen, and thirty bucks will buy you a three-movie-a-month plan, then Bob gets a movie every other month, Abe gets a movie every month, and Carl gets the rest of 'em. The math probably won't work out so neatly, but you get my drift.

Despite that this is clearly (mathematically) fair and equitable, it still seems like a pretty bad idea. Not the worst one imaginable, though.

Also, four out of the ten are film majors? Wow.

You get a disc, you burn it, you put it back in the mail. Usually in two or three days you get another disc, you burn it, you put it back in the mail. Since you can probably find many different mail pick ups at university, you can have possibly have a disc picked back up the day it arrives. Stagger this or not and you have at least a disc a day. That someone of your bound coterie is significantly upset about having to wait an extra day or two to get a movie and no one having any interest in watching the same movie, and the absolute need to have a specific movie right now--
Someone's got priority problems or doesn't want to go rent a movie for class.
Seriously, what is it worth all this bother over a few dollars?
What is the big deal?
Do none of you have torrents with your big T3?

Let them fight it out amongst themselves for a week and then present then with the simple facts of not being the selfish baby and monopolizing the queue, maybe talking to each other even, crazy i know, before swapping the queue around, and then get back to them in another day or two.

If you haven't made and executed a basic decision in ten days, you are all patently ridiculous.

While I do appreciate your help, perhaps I made the situation sound like a bigger deal than it is.

I was just looking for an efficient and easy way to organize a 3 DVD queue used by 5 people.

Since asking, I have once more propose we upgrade to a 5 DVD account. We'll see how that goes.

i didn't mean to come off as rude or hostile, i was just trying to be quick, blunt and blurt it out before i passed out.
My only point was:
≡ Click to see image ≡

Ha, that picture is actually a very apt metaphor for my situation. I think I may use that to illustrate my point...
Rude or hostile, no. Super serius, yes. :P

Visuals help at least cut down on my thousand words.
i'd been pruny from swimming in the VRY SERYUZ pool yesterday, and if you don't know me well enough, it's easy to think i'm splashing you, but i also thought it wasn't a serious issue that was being taken too seriously to avoid a potential problem.
Enter irony and being too tired to care much about clarifying, so i came back.
But just because i wasn't being serious doesn't mean i didn't mean it as valid advice.
Seriously.