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as a streamer and caster, i would like to make a few additional footnotes

Quoted from ThePledge

2. The spectating will get easier, considering the streamer can use 12 buttons to switch between players. Afaik, only Shrike has written some configs to be able to do this on STV, but the other streamers dont have this ability (yet). Therefore, the spectating would improve (quickly switching to spy/sniper or medic with kritz are examples of this).

the method shrike is using is one where you link to a specific player not by using 1 through “+” but instead jump to them via their name (which you can then bind to 1 through +), the problem with that is simple, it takes a ton of effort to find out the names of all 12 players before the match, get the tags right, etcetera (especially if teams use alternate nicknames), this creates a lot of unnecessary stress on the floor managers and streamers.

spectating from the server, for the streamer, is a massively advantageous over having to cycle though potentially 10 people before getting to the right person you want to spectate, saving not only time (lots can happen in the few seconds during the switching), but also presents the viewer with a lot smoother, and less chaotic stream. changing the point of view a few times in a row is already annoying, in the extreme cases its downright bad.

moving on towards the skype/webcam feature, it would be wrong to suggest that we would want to display the webcam during the matches, however, i feel that we can positively improve audience interaction by showing the webcam during the pre/post game discussions, and removing them during the actual game. its one thing to hear a face, its something completely different altogether to see the person behind the voice.

the server problem that E-thug has mentioned is also a troublesome one, however i think it can be circumvented for the most part.

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as for the mumble/STV issue, this is indeed the biggest problem, but i do want to put things into perspective and provide some numbers, though i do not wish to abolish mumble/stv, i do want to make a case against it.

i have always kept a good eye on stream and mumble viewers, and the highest number i have seen the mumble at is around 120-150 people tuning in to the mumble cast for a huge finals game (which easily has +500 people on the stream).

the problem with the mumble+stv cast is that its very hard for people who haven’t used it before, a stream is a much easier and simpler way to get more people tuning in (just a link instead of a connect string for mumble + stv).

Furthermore, we want to raise the numbers on the stream as much as possible, i know that it might sound greedy, but the diffrence between 400 on stream and 100 on mumble and 500 on stream is a significant number, which will strengthen our position towards potential sponsors and partners. we also earn a tiny bit of revenue thanks to our partnership with own3d.tv, so every little bit of that helps.

of course, i dont want to just outright cancel the mumble+stv scenario we current have, we prefer to allow for choise, its what we have been offering so far, and giving that up would almost feel like surrendering.

now, we have two possibilites (though its not easy)
1 – we get mumble relay bots, this would require a second PC and some hardware and stuff, but is possible, it would also require the users that are on skype to also be on mumble and then local mute each other on mumble. quite a hassle, but, tis possible.
2 – we put a 90 second delay on the stream, and people can tune in to the stream and join the stv, this is obviously not ideal (since the stream can go more out-of-sync than it already is), and people with a weak internet connection might not be able to tune in.

thats just my list of footnotes i guess

mumble relay bots require 2/3rds of cock all CPU usage and RAM. Ideally you’d run them from the server to cut down on latency and, more importantly, bandwidth, but otherwise just running them from a server would work. Ours, for example :P

http://frymaster.127001.org/mumble/

In the long term, I’m going to be rewriting them to make more cool stuff possible, but in the short term, if you need them customised (I don’t think the version there does cross-server relay for example) and hosted drop me an email at [email protected]

fry! <3

Quoted from Daleth

Why is Mumble so bad anyway? Couldn't you just put the caster's channel on a 90 second delay like you do with team comms?

No. To put the casters on 90 seconds delay we'd need relay bots. Relay bots aren't authed so can't have special permissions to speak.

We could make it work with a few special conditions:
– No longer have the "talk to your friends while listening" channels
– Have everyone in the root channel again, with the caster-relay-bots unmuted manually

Pausing/unpausing with the streamers on 90 seconds delay is going to be weird for the stv users as well ;)

Quoted from Daleth

[…]

How are team comms different to casting?

Team comms can only be listened to in 1 channel (1 for each team).

Currently you can get a few friends online, create your own channel and talk among eachother while listening to the casters. You can’t do that for the team comms or casters-on-relay-bots.

Quoted from Arie

[…]

Team comms can only be listened to in 1 channel (1 for each team).

Currently you can get a few friends online, create your own channel and talk among eachother while listening to the casters. You can’t do that for the team comms or casters-on-relay-bots.

Why can’t the listen-while-talking-to-your-clan channel be linked to the relay-cast channel?

Quoted from smziii

if you have 2 screens you can watch the opposing team, while playing agaisnt them-profit

you can all the time see the enemy team without 2 screens!

Quoted from smziii

if you have 2 screens you can watch the opposing team, while playing agaisnt them-profit

hence the 90 secs delay

Quoted from Admirable

Sorry Pledge, I really don’t get it.

You want to force a more awkward system on the spectators to boost a few stats and have a slightly better POV for the stream?

The streamer will always miss things, it’s a 12 player game played at high speed. Even the casters consistently miss important moments and there are two of them!

STV will always be the superior option for live spectators.

If you want a better stream POV just post produce them like eXtv do, because you are never going to tick all the boxes on a live production.

Whilst I agree with the stuff you say James, it feels like we always should try to get the most out of a livestream. It’s the most direct way of communicating with an audience and when you cover an event live (like iseries or assembly…), you will have a peak in viewers. Therefore, having the highest quality of livestream is important.

Just wondering if there is any option for people to still watch STV, but them using the stream for the audio instead of mumble. I feel the audio quality while listening to stream is always better than the audio quality on mumble and stv seperately. That’s mainly because the streamer always makes sure the audiolevels and quality are synced.

Oh, and for everyone who’s making fun of my mic – it’s not about that :D