Remote Roulette
Consumer and social
random video chat matching
SHOW HN2020
123points
61comments
#519of 3,028 in 2020
Top 18%of 2020 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
4 positive, 10 neutral or asking, 1 mixed, 12 critical, out of 27 comments about the project. Thread score -0.26.
Idea: 1 for, 6 againstPricing: 2 for, 4 againstDesign: 0 for, 1 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Creative idea and a fun take on chat roulette.
From 2 comments
A few thoughts: 1. This is a really neat idea. I love the creativity. 2. But for $5 you're not giving me a whole lot more than what I can get for myself on Reddit, HN, Social…
Waterluvian on HNI like the idea. We will try it out Monday
yani on HN
Paid barrier may filter out trolls.
From 2 comments
For $5 you get the knowledge that the other users have also paid $5. I imagine that cuts out a whole lot of troll accounts and people waving their dicks around. Unlike Chat…
wlesieutre on HN$5 should discourage the lowest of low effort trolls and for that it's probably worth it.
EamonnMR on HN
Objections
$5 price is hard to justify over free alternatives.
From 3 comments
A few thoughts: 1. This is a really neat idea. I love the creativity. 2. But for $5 you're not giving me a whole lot more than what I can get for myself on Reddit, HN, Social…
Waterluvian on HNNeat idea, but unwilling to spend $5.00 on something I don't need. Perhaps use affiliate links or some other type of not intrusive advertising.
itakenaps on HN10 or 15 years ago it would have been a giganticover-engineered distributed XML-based chat protocol that would have been proposed... Instead we have a down-to-earth simple…
lgeorget on HN
Stock photos and fabricated-looking testimonials seem shady.
From 2 comments
Uh yeah, especially on the 4. Tineye shows they're stock photos, which seems incredibly shady because you know the quotes are totally fabricated as well. This seems very…
irl_zebra on HNA few thoughts: 1. This is a really neat idea. I love the creativity. 2. But for $5 you're not giving me a whole lot more than what I can get for myself on Reddit, HN, Social…
Waterluvian on HN
Service just appears to send email addresses without real matching.
From 2 comments
The author just wants you to think there is a video roulette system to pretend that there is technology behind this. He's literally just sending you e-mail addresses and…
kjaftaedi on HNI think they're trying to duplicate the startups in this HN post from 2 weeks ago. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22426063 At least the other sites have scheduling systems…
kjaftaedi on HN
Working alongside others may not get work done.
From 1 comment
Working remotely for almost 4 years here. Whenever I join a call with co-workers to "hang out" there's no work being done. If someone is there I will speak to them or I'll want…
vasco on HN
Requests
Offer a free tier or cheaper model.
From 2 comments
Should probably make it free to use to get a faster test on your assumptions. It is a very novel assumption that people will actually use this as intended and return everyday. I…
Wmamouth on HNA few thoughts: 1. This is a really neat idea. I love the creativity. 2. But for $5 you're not giving me a whole lot more than what I can get for myself on Reddit, HN, Social…
Waterluvian on HN
Support groups rather than one-on-one pairing.
From 2 comments
Make this for groups of people. One on ones are too intense!
crimsonalucard on HNHow many people have signed up so far? Honestly, just having a Zoom call going for the entire day, with different breakout rooms and multi-person screenshare, would go a long way…
yingw787 on HN
Questions
How many people have signed up?
From 2 comments
How many people have signed up so far? Honestly, just having a Zoom call going for the entire day, with different breakout rooms and multi-person screenshare, would go a long way…
yingw787 on HNHi! Do you already have some paying customers? Best
Cam_F on HN
Is the $5 one-time or monthly, and can you switch buddies?
From 1 comment
Hi Pete, Some questions: 1. Is the price $5 for life? Or is that monthly fee? 2. Do you get to switch buddies if it doesn't work out? Also, I enjoyed your interview on the IH…
waltbosz on HN
Alternatives named
Discord voice channels for ambient chat.
From 2 comments
Our team ended up creating a Discord voice channel that we can each chime in on as needed. It gives us a "ambient chat" as one of my colleges put it and helps simulate working in…
itsangaris on HNIt's just a cash grab. Created yesterday, stock photos, a '50% off' deal at $5 since inception with no demo of how it works. A lot of people will pay $5 and just not think more…
simonskoog on HN
Focusmate for working with a partner.
From 1 comment
If you're looking for a reputable service of "someone to help you work" I highly recommend https://www.focusmate.com/ It's not about meeting new people, in fact, socializing is…
iandanforth on HN
Standups.io and Donut for Slack.
From 2 comments
something related (but not real-time like chat roulette) is https://standups.io/ “Insta Stories for Remote Workers”
arjawn on HNhttps://slack.com/apps/A11MJ51SR-donut for anyone that wants something distantly close to this, but baked into slack. Not mine; I'm just familiar with it from past employers.
eganist on HN
Twitch programming streams for background company.
From 1 comment
I usually just have a twitch programming stream running in the background. I can participate in the discussion via chat if i feel like it or just focus on my work while hearing…
jyriand on HN