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Twitch.tv update imposes delay up to 60s in streams, viewer interaction impacted
- Thread starter FallingEdge
- Start date
This would explain why when watching Spamfish play Fifa yesterday the chat were like "gooooal!!" and I only saw it happen 20 secs later. For fuck sake Twitch.
If they're really struggling for servers that much why not just get rid of the PS4 stuff? No one watches that shit, the highest viewers are 111 right now and they barely go above that.
I found a site to stream on. So far its way better than twitch. The quality of streaming is way better and there is no delay.
http://www.hitbox.tv/MonthOLDpickle
http://www.hitbox.tv/MonthOLDpickle
SJRB
Gold Member
Te be fair, there's a lot going wrong on a daily basis. Aside from stream quality issues and lag there are absurd errors like subscribed/followed channels not appearing, viewer count not registering, chat badges disappearing. The list goes on, basically.
I'd love to see a videogame journalist do an in-depth video documentary or something. I'd love to see what is going on behind the scenes, how their infrastructure is done. Perhaps that could shed some light on why Twitch always seems to be struggling. [you guys paying attention, "journalists"? This Twitch thing is pretty big right now]
Diablohead
Member
I use the iOS app most nights and that has always had the 30 second delay going on so I am kind of used to it, but it's horrible for people who want to talk to the caster like they used too.
Fried Food
Banned
It's almost like twitch doesn't want to stay in business.
Another problem with HLS is that buffering cumulatively increases delay for each individual viewer each time they have to buffer, which apparently does not happen uniformly for all viewers, which results in that boshy screenshot.
Give us the option to opt-out of it, please. Even 20 seconds is a painfully long time compared to the 3-5 seconds before.
If the delay can be brought to 10 seconds, and uniform across all viewers, that would be acceptable as well.
Give us the option to opt-out of it, please. Even 20 seconds is a painfully long time compared to the 3-5 seconds before.
If the delay can be brought to 10 seconds, and uniform across all viewers, that would be acceptable as well.
Harlock
Member
Sometimes the streaming on my PC is shuttering and on the iOS not. Dont know if is Twtich or some bottleneck on the pathway of internet.
Wolfgunblood Garopa
Member
I haven't watched ManVsGame in awhile, but I can imagine he's losing his shit over it, and rightly so. He is the best caster on Twitch, and his show highlighted the potential of Twitch. This basically kills his cast.
Streaming platforms should be working to reduce buffer size for smoother interaction with an audience, not increase it tenfold. I work in the industry and have never had a client say they wish the delay was exponentially longer from what was happening live, hell most get antsy at 5s+. At least Giant Bomb left at the right time, it seems.
Interesting comment thread from r/starcraft for those that would like to know more about the switch to HLS:
http://reddit.com/r/starcraft/comme...ate_imposes_delay_of_up_to_60s_in_all/ce5vn93
http://reddit.com/r/starcraft/comme...ate_imposes_delay_of_up_to_60s_in_all/ce5vn93
wow what the fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck
I'm trying to figure out how LoL streams benefit from it...it's the only logical explanation
He's streaming right now: http://www.twitch.tv/manvsgame
And you can see it in action, people are getting spoiled by the chat because things happen at different intervals for different people, it's so dumb.
Lactose_Intolerant
Member
MLG.tv just released their streaming service, coincidence? Granted, you have to already be a big time streamer for them to even work with you.
Can Crusher
Banned
Well it's not like I'm paying for the service, so there's nothing to complain about.
chickdigger802
Banned
wait so pc is like the mobile version now kinda?
But twitch has always been ass on ios since... forever.
And you still can't watch archives on the damn phone
But twitch has always been ass on ios since... forever.
And you still can't watch archives on the damn phone
I don't interact much with chat&streamer because i like to see my stuff in full screen but aside that it really is worse than before since it buffers every 5 seconds where before only buffered when my connection couldn't keep up.
Also i may not interact but there's a lot of people who live for "my chat experience".
Hopefully they remove it.
Also i may not interact but there's a lot of people who live for "my chat experience".
Hopefully they remove it.
Unless you're sitting in the audience at the event and watching a stream at the same time, how will you know if there's a delay?
Sanic
Member
Yes.
Crab Milk Mickey
Member
No, they won't. They've had terrible quality-of-service in Europe for years straight and they've left obvious bugs unattended for long periods of time as well (some of them not even fixed yet) despite numerous complaints. Twitch management is utterly incompetent.
Posts are full of hyperbolic negativity because Twitch has a stellar track record when it comes to not solving their widely-known problems, no matter how many years down the line. So all those benefits are ultimately only in theory for that site in particular, because whoever's running the place will find a way to screw things up yet again. At least they're using millions of dollars of investment money from outside sources to slowly choke themselves out though.
This new system is horrifying. Not only has it introduced annoying buffering in streams that never used to have it (along with skipping to "catch up") but with the delay I can't chat with my friends while they play anything.
It's pretty much made the site worse in both of its most important aspects.
It's pretty much made the site worse in both of its most important aspects.
GrizzleBoy
Banned
Twitch has always performed like a POS and stream buffering/quality was always an issue.
Having a sudden influx of bandwidth usage was never going to go towards fixing that was it?
Total Biscuit is always having problems with the stream when hosting his own starcraft tourneys and he's always having to tell people to report to twitch that the service is sucking during the streams.
Regardless of all that, this move is bad for everybody except twitch.
Having a sudden influx of bandwidth usage was never going to go towards fixing that was it?
Total Biscuit is always having problems with the stream when hosting his own starcraft tourneys and he's always having to tell people to report to twitch that the service is sucking during the streams.
Regardless of all that, this move is bad for everybody except twitch.
Dr. Zoidberg
Member
I'm starting to get tired of this word. It gets thrown around a lot and not always appropriately. For some it basically applies to anything a company does that they don't like. I'm not saying it doesn't apply here, but it's definitely a buzzword now.
Felix Lighter
Member
I don't think that would solve this particular issue. Chat isn't delayed, the video is.
gregor7777
Banned
That's a shame lol.
I just watched a Twitch stream for the first time the other night, and was impressed with the interaction between the host and the chat group.
They killed the one thing that made their service stand out for a first time viewer. WTG
I just watched a Twitch stream for the first time the other night, and was impressed with the interaction between the host and the chat group.
They killed the one thing that made their service stand out for a first time viewer. WTG
This delay has killed a lot of our viewers enjoyment during our podcast and really messed up the flow of discussion. The delay was noticeably worse last Monday than I've ever seen it before and our stream quality was still hampered by random bouts of buffering and stuttering.
That said, not much we can do for alternatives.
That said, not much we can do for alternatives.
maybe it's a buzzword now because people can keep better track of companies thanks to the internet and many have realized that most companies just try to get away with everything or, better yet, that they respond to feedback.
Unfortunately, twitch is the former and never seems to fix or improve anything.
You know it's funny that this is a thing because I thought I was having stream problems on my end.
Honestly I was trying to get into streaming, but this is kinda the final nail in the coffin. If I can't even chat with the few people watching then I don't really understand the point.
The firmware was updated on my phone this week and I noticed a huge delay, as well as just constant buffering and freezing on the app itself.
Shame no real competitor to them exists that seems viable. Sure, Ustream etc, but none of them really seem to be something that will ever catch fire as it stands unless major revisions go out to that website.
If only I had millions of dollars to invest in something because I think I'm starting to see a business niche that someone else is doing completely wrong and someone could do better.
Honestly I was trying to get into streaming, but this is kinda the final nail in the coffin. If I can't even chat with the few people watching then I don't really understand the point.
The firmware was updated on my phone this week and I noticed a huge delay, as well as just constant buffering and freezing on the app itself.
Shame no real competitor to them exists that seems viable. Sure, Ustream etc, but none of them really seem to be something that will ever catch fire as it stands unless major revisions go out to that website.
If only I had millions of dollars to invest in something because I think I'm starting to see a business niche that someone else is doing completely wrong and someone could do better.
True Underdog
Member
Twitch.tv has been part of my live for some time now. I have used it hundreds of times (or whatever...) in both mobile and pc versions. It has ALWAYS been bad, i was used to it like everyone. Now, its a lot worse. I am sad but also surprised (really), because i thought that i could only get better. Also, when i needed something better that the mobile version i could use the pc one. Now both are...
Even sig was sad about it yesterday.
Even sig was sad about it yesterday.
DragonSworne
Banned
The 15 second delay was bad enough, but a whole minute?
What is twitch.tv thinking?
What is twitch.tv thinking?
They expanded too quickly before getting their technical house in order, so they had to drop the quality of their service as a result; they figured it was better to make the experience worse for every single person who uses their service than give up the chance for more money.
mugurumakensei
Member
How to also integrate an automatic muting of licensed music while the stream is in its delayed state.
Haunted
Member
2 or 3 years ago.
I really can't imagine not checking in on twitch regularly. Pretty much every esports and game dev related event is happening on twitch these days, so I really don't know where you've been.
atomic moth
Member
The community manager is on GAF. Has he said anything?
I remember when people asked if they would fix their problems before they debuted their premium service, Turbo. Their response was, "What problems?"
Twitch is shit, but they know they have no competitors and a large backing.
I remember when people asked if they would fix their problems before they debuted their premium service, Turbo. Their response was, "What problems?"
Twitch is shit, but they know they have no competitors and a large backing.
D
Deleted member 13876
Unconfirmed Member
2013 sure has sucked for the internet.