Will Twitch survive 2021? | Table Of Content S2 E18

TABLE OF CONTENT TALKING POINTS S2 E18

11/20/2020

(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)

Zazz,

You're a dork. and  you look weird in makeup.

IvyoftheWater

Intro guests

This episode of toc is brought to by onlyreapers.com where you can buy Carolina reaper jelly beans without all the filler beans. Use promo code tableoc for 25% off your first order. That's onlyreapers.com. Visit onlyreapers.com and use promo code tableoc.

 

Streaming News

Twitch Streamers Are Dumb 

The old adage says “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” That is very apparent this week as Twitch puts out a statement on the recent DMCA Strikes. Streamers flocked to twitter to voice their disgust over what in this hosts mind was a step in the right direction by twitch.

FROM THE PIECE On TableOC.com

A twitter user writes:
So what about music in game? The biggest game is about to drop next month and we have to mute all music entirely and ruin the experience for the in game!

Twitch Support (@TwitchSupport) replied: Hey there, thanks for reaching out. We recommend reading through any game’s EULA, and utilizing any option to turn music off if the game includes that option, or mute the game audio.

That was the point where people seemed to have lost their minds. It seems the idea that a content creator should be responsible for making sure that they have the rights to the content they are broadcasting is insane! The response has ranged from (and I’m paraphrasing) “twitch should buy licenses for everyone to stream music” to “Twitch wants to kill off our streams by having us do audio-less streams”.  

The backlash is coming not from a place of reason but from obvious frustration. We as always are following this closely for you.

Dainty - How do you feel about streamers not taking responsibility for their content?

Twitch rolls out a new Points feature for predicting achievements 

 

Amidst the cries of streamers everywhere for better tools to handle the looming DMCA battles, Twitch has answered the call. They heard you loud and clear and released a new Points Gambling feature called Predictions.

 

From the piece at slash gear dot com - 

 

 With this new tool, streamers can engage with their viewers by allowing them to spend Channel Points on predicting stream outcomes, giving those viewers the opportunity to get various rewards.

 

In a new announcement, Twitch said that viewers can now spend some of their accumulated points on predictions related to the stream. For example, a game streamer may offer a prediction about whether they’ll be able to pull off a certain number of eliminations — and viewers can predict whether that’ll be true or not.

Those who predict correctly will get a certain portion of all the points spent on that prediction, meaning they’ll either lose their contribution if they’re wrong or get even more points if they’re right. Streamers can offer their own custom perks for viewers to use their points.

This will no doubt be a dangerous and effective tool to battle those DMCA strikes.

Ghost- How do you feel about twitch making apologies for not helping with the dmca infrastructure but continuing to roll out useless and maybe kinda fun features?

Shroud defends Twitch after platform refuses to explain Dr Disrespect's ban 

Shroud has always been a straight-shooter. He doesn’t bite his tongue when asked serious questions, and he didn’t hold back when responding to comments about Dr Disrespect’s permanent Twitch ban.

“I just hate the fact that Twitch didn’t give any [information] or reasoning why.” It’s a sentiment that has echoed throughout the community. Many viewers have felt like they deserved an explanation.

However, shroud was quick to shoot down that line of thought. “If they gave info on any ban that they’ve done… they would have to go through and give info on every single person,” he said. “That’s not a good idea.”

“I’m sure he got a reason [but] we didn’t get a reason,” he said. “You don’t really need to inform everybody why… that’s between… the employer and the employee. We don’t have a right to know. Only the people involved do.”

 

Stump - Are you surprised but the fact Shroud thinks Doc knows why?

Gaming News

Microsoft: ‘please do not blow vape smoke into your Xbox Series X’ 

The Next generation of consoles is upon us and even the trolls need to get in on the hype. Videos swirled this week of the Xbox series X with smoke rising from its tower like structure.

From our piece - 

The posts would have you believe the blazing graphics of the Series X are so demanding they can cause an Xbox to catch fire, but the reality is much simpler than Xbox consoles spontaneously bursting into flame. What actually appears to be happening is that people are piping vape smoke into their new $500 consoles to give off the appearance of a fire to troll fans on social media.

Xbox issued a statement via twitter saying: We can't believe we have to say this, but please do not blow vape smoke into your Xbox Series X.

If that isn't the most 2020 tweet I don't know what is.

Dainty - What is it that drives trolls to do this sort of thing?

 Among Us to Add New Map, Accounts System and More 

Among Us publishers Innersloth have pushed an update for the game and have outlined a road map for upcoming content. 

From the IGN piece -

A new developer blog post on the Among Us news hub on Steam mentions that Innersloth is working on an account system, set to arrive as early as December, which will let players report toxic or hacking accounts, with friend lists to follow after that. The team is also hard at work on a free new map, which is apparently bigger than Polus and features brand new task types, and will be free to all players. Professional translations into multiple languages are also in the pipeline, as well as full-blown colourblind support.

The latest update has brought bug fixes and anonymous voting to the game, which marks every vote as grey to obscure voting intention and make ejections even more mysterious. Innersloth also mentioned that it's working on dealing with cheating and hacking in the game.

Ghost - Hackers in among us? I didnt know this was a thing. WWhat makes this game so popular?

AEW’s new video game looks like pure nostalgia injected into your Xbox or PS5 
Wrestling video game developer Yuke’s, who most recently worked on the WWE 2K games (up until 2019) is working on the AEW game, and it’s rumored they’re working the team from AKI, who were responsible for the legendary, beloved N64 titles — most important of which was WWF No Mercy.

This marks the return of this style of wrestling game. For years fans have really only had the opportunity to play the WWE 2K series on consoles, though the Japanese-focused Fire Pro Wrestling World, released in 2017 offered a deeper style of gameplay, minus the AAA graphics.
No release date is currently scheduled for the AEW game, with work still being done in the pre-alpha stage, but for now I’m just hoping it can live up to its pedigree, and bring me back to the time where I’d play nothing but wrestling games.

Stump -  I am excited not just for this game but the mobile games that were announced. I think just like in wrestling tv we need competitors in the game world. What do you think?

Entertainment News

Parler, a conservative Twitter clone, has seen nearly 1 million downloads since Election Day

 A new Social Media App has emerged since election day here in the US. Parler, a conservative twitter clone as billed by the verge, has become the latest bastion of free speech on the internet.

From the Verge - 

Conservative angst over President Trump’s loss has resulted in a surge of downloads for Parler, a conservative social network founded as an ideological alternative to Facebook and Twitter. According to data from SensorTower, Parler’s app saw 980,000 downloads in total between November 3rd (Election Day) and November 8th,

Interesting here they are calling it an ideological alternative. Parler’s main difference from other social networks is that they choose not to sensor political thought or stifle free speech. Tells you a little bit about the ideology of their opponents.

Dainty - Why is censorship seemingly just accepted by many from big tech? 

Netflix is testing a linear channel in France that should help with decision fatigue 

Netflix has taken a step toward an entirely new format for their brand. The streaming giant is testing a linear pre-programmed channel in their french market.

From the piece -

The channel, called Netflix Direct, will be available to Netflix streaming subscribers and will provide content from its existing streaming library in a linear format, much like cable and broadcast TV stations do.

Netflix has tested other alternatives to its standard streaming offerings, launching a “Shuffle” button in August to allow users to randomly scroll through recommended viewing options. With Netflix Direct, all viewers on the channel will be watching the same programming at the same time.

Ghost - Do you think this is a feature that will take off? Why or Why not?

Netflix reveal why so many original shows get canceled after one season 
During an appearance at the Paley International Council Summit, Netflix’s Global Head of TV Bela Bajaria attempted to offer an explanation as to why the service appears to cancel so many freshman shows.
“It’s always painful to cancel a show and nobody wants to do that. We order straight to series in the first rather than make pilots, which results sometimes in more season one cancelations,” she said according to Deadline.
“Even with that, I still believe a season order is still a better creative expression of a writer’s idea so I still think that’s the right model for us.”
“It seems like in this new age of television, the business model is a little different. The things that marked success prior to Netflix really had been getting to syndication, that was the goal and anything that didn’t get to 100 episodes or past the four seasons didn’t feel like a success,” he said.
“Whereas I think many shows can be a success for being exactly what they are and you could tell that story in two seasons or one season or five seasons. I think it gets talked about so much because it’s measured against the old way of doing things.

 

Stump - How do you feel about this model?

BOLD PREDICTIONS 

Netflix will have 25% more “canceled” shows in the next fiscal year.

Aew game will have the highest presales and sales of any wrestling game.

Plug your stuff.

Zazzaboo plug the site, Pod etc 

Thanks and we will see you next week!

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★