Are we in store for a Cyberpunk future? | Table of Content S2 E20

TABLE OF CONTENT TALKING POINTS S2 E20

12/6/2020

(Host Scene)

Zazz - Welcome to Table of Content. The round table show where we discuss all the happenings around streaming, gaming and entertainment. I am joined by guest guest co-host and frequent guest Stump. How are you? 

Zazz - Stump will you reach over and grab my bag…. of male and read the latest hatemail.  (tell about hate mail and tell them to send their own bold) [email protected]

Intro guests - Returning to the show and it is great to have him back DeviantLostMind. Welcome.

Our next guest is appearing for the first time on the show and I have to say it is a great pleasure to have her on. RadNikkiDee, how are you this evening?

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Streaming News

Here comes another Twitch feature no one asked for well kind of. Many have lamented the lack of discoverability for smaller creators but i dont think this was a solution they had in Mind. Boost is the name of the new feature and its already raising some eyebrows.

From Dexerto.com

Twitch is rolling out a new feature for eligible channels called “Boost this stream,” with the hopes of giving people an avenue to be featured on “highly visible parts” of the platform. However, there are concerns it’ll be damaging for the smaller streams trying to get noticed.

The new Community Challenge requires viewers to pool their Channel Points to unlock the reward. Streamers will get notified once the challenge is available on their channel, then will relay that to their community to start chipping away at the progress bar.

But there are concerns about its application. It’ll be on Twitch’s discretion for who gets to run the promotion as well as the target number to hit before a channel can be successfully Boosted.

“How is not going to be abused by larger streams with more viewers, and therefore a bigger pool?” one person wrote. “IMO channel points devoted for use with a Community Challenge should be weighted in value depending on viewership.”

Twitch responded saying “the amount of Channel Points required to successfully boost a stream is scaled with the size and viewership of the channel,” though a clear metric of how the cap increases wasn’t made available.

Deviant -  Are you buying into the criticisms coming from streamers about the potential abuse of this system?

Our tech overlords have once again come through to help us, the unwashed masses. This time they are screening our comments and asking us if we are sure we want to post, if their AI deems our comment offensive. What would we do without them?

From the Verge - 

YouTube is trying to combat offensive comments that appear under videos by following in the footsteps of other social media companies and asking people before they post something that may be offensive: “Is this something you really want to share?”

The company is launching a new product feature that will warn people when they’re going to post a comment that it “may be offensive to others,” in order to give them “the option to reflect before posting,” according to a new blog post. The tool won’t actually stop people from posting said comment. 

Prompts won’t appear before every comment, but it will for ones that YouTube’s system deems offensive, which is based on content that’s been repeatedly reported. 

Once the prompt does appear, people can post the comment as they originally intended or use additional time to edit the comment.

For creators, the company is also rolling out better content filtering systems in YouTube Studio (the backend where creators manage their channel). The new filter will seek out inappropriate or hurtful comments that were automatically flagged and held for review, and remove them from the queue so people don’t have to read them. The new feature will roll out on Android first and in English before appearing elsewhere.

Nikki -  What I thought was interesting was that this is based of past reports. This seems like it has potential for abuse by trolls. What do you think?

As if Twitch doesn’t get enough bad press for what they don’t do, They earned the ire of Popular streamer Mizkif for one employees lack of foresight when he dropped into his pokemon card unboxing stream.

From the piece at Dexerto - 

While opening up packs during a November 29 broadcast, a member of Mizkif’s chat named AidenWallis emerged and started joking about the odds of getting a rare card.

Amusingly, Wallis happens to be a broadcast solutions engineer at Twitch and as such has an icon next to his name that indicates he works at the Amazon-owned platform.

“We have a higher chance of getting content than you do of getting something rare,” Mizkif read the comment out loud. “This is from Twitch staff!”

Not pleased with how the staff member had mocked his content, the popular entertainer proceeded to put the website on blast, primarily focusing on the DMCA issues that have plagued the platform.

“Aiden Wallis is coming here to tell me to get content. How about you fix your f**king website, dude,” he slammed, ending his epic rant.

While Aiden Wallis is a Twitch employee he doesnt work on the site itself. A representative of the platform has no business coming in on an official account and saying these sorts of things. Especially given that creators are feeling very abandoned and unheard by Twitch. 

Stump - This seems pretty unprofessional for an employee of twitch to drop in and say something like this on an official account dont you think?

Gaming News

The never ending battle over DMCA on Twitch rages on as today we saw an interesting warning coming from Fortnite before the conclusion of their Marvel Season.

From GameRant

A new tweet from the official Fortnite Status account explains that Fortnite can not protect streamers who choose to broadcast the event later today and that VODs (videos on demand) or clips from streams may get flagged by Twitch's copyright detection systems. To avoid this issue, the Fortnite Status account mentions that streamers are recommended to mute their VODs or to turn off VODs and clips to protect themselves against any copyright claims or strikes.

Fortnite's newest event is set to feature the big-time Marvel baddie, Galactus. There is some speculation that Galactus will bring about another "black hole" at the conclusion of this event much like players saw in the transition from Chapter 1 of Fortnite to Chapter 2. The hope now is that Galactus will only impact the in-game world of Fortnite and not cause any of Twitch's beloved streamers to receive bans over any copyrighted material.

Not only could it cause DMCA issues Twitch actually had technical difficulties during the event no doubt due to the increased viewership.

Dev - Seems sort of a dumb move by Fortnite to knowingly use dmca able content knowing all the current issues dont you think?

Exiled Twitch streamer and 2 time back to back blockbuster video game champion DR Disrespect is back in the news. This time with a brilliant idea of his own.

FROM Explica.com- 

The new criticism from Dr. Disrespect is towards the awards that are distributed in the video game and esports industry, such as the past Esports Awards or the next Game Awards 2020.

He said  - “I think the gaming industry needs an award show that focuses on things that really matter.Examples: Best Multiplayer Map design, best weapon skin design, best single player level, best menu music, funniest clip, gameplay clip of the year..etc etc .It’s settled …. Next year.”

We do not know if he will organize some awards himself, but it is clear that he has something in mind.

Nikki - What sort of things would you like to see from a Doc awards show?

Professional video game players could compete in front of large crowds on the Near South Side if a local real estate developer’s unique, post-pandemic vision comes to fruition.

Scott Greenberg, best known for Chicago hotels such as the Wit in the Loop and the EMC2 hotel in Streeterville, wants to build a $30 million esports venue called Surge near the Stevenson Expressway.

The 106,000-square-foot venue at 2500 S. Wabash Ave. would serve food and drinks from three large kitchens, and include an arena large enough for 800 spectators to watch top players compete, Greenberg said.

“What we’re doing is not like anything else in the world, as far as esports stadiums,” said Greenberg, president of Lincolnshire-based ECD Co.

The developers believe the rise in esports’ popularity, including many high school and college teams, means there is significant interest in watching professionals compete in person.

Stump - This seems like another step in the right direction for your esports prediction. A dedicated arena in a major market is a big step.

Entertainment News

Get ready for conversations that go like this. “Hey did you see my story that I posted?” Uh which one? Thats right yet another platform is adding stories to their arsenal. This time it comes from an unlikely place. Spotify.

From the Verge-

Spotify is testing a new Snapchat-style Stories feature alongside some of its playlists. On its Christmas Hits playlist, for example, a series of artists including Jennifer Lopez, Kelly Clarkson, and Pentatonix use a series of short video clips to share personal anecdotes about the festive period and their songwriting processes. Engadget notes that similar stories have been spotted on the Tear Drop emo rap playlist, and a version of Megan Thee Stallion’s album Good News.

Spotify confirmed the new feature in a statement provided to Engadget, but said it was a test and stopped short of confirming a wider release. “At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of tests in an effort to improve our user experience,” a spokesperson said. 

Since debuting on Snapchat, Stories have become an increasingly common sight across numerous social networks and other services. Instagram’s implementation of the format is one of the best known, but other services including YouTube, Twitter, and even LinkedIn have implemented versions of the feature. This isn’t even Spotify’s first stories test, following an experiment with a feature called Storylines back in 2019.

Deviant - Doesn't it seem like it would make more sense for a company like spotify to integrate another platforms' stories?

Have you always wanted to go on a trip to the mushroom kingdom? Jump down pipes and ride hungry green Dinos while stomping on mushroom shaped bipedal monsters. Well you are in Luck!

Universal Studios japan has announced the Feb 4th 2021 grand opening of their Nintendo World section of their park. 

From the Verge - 

USJ and Nintendo have also provided details on what is sure to be one of the park’s flagship attractions: a Mario Kart-themed rollercoaster. It’s housed inside a reconstructed Bowser’s castle and makes use of AR and projection mapping technology, with riders donning AR headsets shaped like Mario’s cap:

The cars do have steering wheels, and multiple vehicles can race alongside each other, but it sounds like the ride itself is on rails. It’s not guaranteed that you win the race — there’s an element of throwing power-ups from item boxes, and the experience will be different each time you ride, according to USJ.

The opening of Super Nintendo World will be closely watched as a model for the theme park industry, which has been hit hard by COVID-19

Nikki -  What do you think of their use of Augmented reality? Could this be a trend going forward?

Don't you dare be sour clap for your new g4 personality and feel the power

That's right boomers G4 is coming back and they have signed former wwe tag champ Xavier Woods to be a part of their team.

From businesswire.com

G4, the famed gaming network, previously lived on cable television from 2002-2014 and is poised to return in 2021 on multiple digital and linear platforms.

Xavier Woods’ appointment was announced by Kevin Sabbe, Head of Content, G4. “We could not be happier to welcome Xavier to the family and introduce the first member of G4’s new cast,” said Sabbe. “The list of on-air talent with advanced degrees in psychology, unbridled passion for video games and multiple WWE Tag Team Championships is not long. We loved Xavier’s creative #Creed4G4 campaign and cannot wait to showcase his many talents throughout G4’s developing slate of programming. Xavier stands as a fantastic first representative of an exciting and diverse team that we are assembling for G4 and will be introducing in the coming weeks and months.”

“Never in my wildest dreams did I expect #Creed4G4 to gain so much momentum among WWE fans and gamers alike,” said Woods. “As a lifelong video game fanatic, I have always held a genuine affinity for the G4 brand and I’m honored and humbled to be joining the G4 team at a time when interest in gaming and the gaming community has never been stronger.”

Stump - This hire seems like a no brainer for G4 and I am really hoping they get him the rights for nick arcade. How do you think the resurrected channel will fair?

BOLD PREDICTIONS 

The number of WWE talent that will be leaving next year will exceed 2020.

2021 will be the year of usually twitch features. More useless features will come out in 21 than probably ever! This will actually help propel competitors to gain market share. 

Cyber punk will get absolutely shit on in the reviews but you won't know 1 person that will have a bad thing to say about it. 

Dr. Dis signed with G4 for an awards show!

Plug your stuff.

No show Dec 27th

Zazzaboo plug the site, Pod etc 

Thanks and we will see you next week!

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