I would like to watch Squadcast, but Twitch is intolerable

[TimePeriod]

TL;DR: last mile bandwidth is about 5% of the equation. Fiber isn't faster, it's just longer (which is good for long range communication for obvious reasons). Wifi sucks.

Except, I can't bring a cable with me when doing my job:

Mowing lawns.

Planting perennials.

Working with the earth.

Felling tree's.

Tilling the earth.

Removing leaves.

Driving large machinery (which often are more expensive then cars)

Anything which requires even a limited amount of mobility.

Yes I am a gardener, so your whole foundation kinda falls apart.

Edited April 21, 2015 by TimePeriod

[Red Iron Crown]

Yes, but "Serious Business crowd" are equally worthy of hearing the SquadCast announcements. And seriously, who are your long term players that have worked to help push the game forward?

Really has nothing to do with me being part of the "Serious Business" crowd, Max just isn't entertaining. It's a shame that so many great nuggets of KSP development are hidden in that stream; if Max could cut out all the play and focus entirely on KSP I'd watch it straight through.

Hey, I'm not "serious business" crowd, but Maxmaps' uh.. "skill", still makes me cringe.

Not really disagreeing with any of this (I don't really like watching anyone play a video game, I'd rather play myself, personally). Just observing from watching a few Squadcasts that the audience seems to be enthusiastic about the show, so obviously it's meant for people with different tastes than mine (and each of yours, too). I, too, wish that the info in the Squadcast was made available elsewhere, but it does seem to get here reasonably quickly.

[Renegrade]

Anything which requires even a limited amount of mobility.

Yes I am a gardener, so your whole foundation kinda falls apart.

Hey, nothing wrong with being a gardener (you probably deal with a lot less BS, despite fertilizer, than us corporate/office types), but you really shouldn't be watching twitch at work, ESPECIALLY if you're operating heavy machinery~

Not really disagreeing with any of this (I don't really like watching anyone play a video game, I'd rather play myself, personally). Just observing from watching a few Squadcasts that the audience seems to be enthusiastic about the show, so obviously it's meant for people with different tastes than mine (and each of yours, too). I, too, wish that the info in the Squadcast was made available elsewhere, but it does seem to get here reasonably quickly.

Fair enough.

Actually I'd be interested to know how Max ranks as a player. My own guess would be in the bottom five percentile, but based on posts and such I've seen and the #lolsokerbal stuff, I'm starting to suspect he might actually be average or better :S

[TimePeriod]

Hey, nothing wrong with being a gardener (you probably deal with a lot less BS, despite fertilizer, than us corporate/office types), but you really shouldn't be watching twitch at work, ESPECIALLY if you're operating heavy machinery~

One can squeeze in some video browsing during lunch breaks ~

Mobility is key in my line of work, so any kind of cables are pretty much a no-go.

[Linear]

I use a program called livestreamer which uses VLC to stream from the Twitch servers.

It cuts out a lot of the lag you get from Twitch!

Pm me for link if you're interested.

Also, OWK's summaries are excellent.

[GusTurbo]

I agree. I wish Squadcast was available on Youtube, but them's the breaks.

I don't know about you, but I can't get more than about two minutes into the stream before I have to shut it off. Every time, without fail. OWK is a saint for suffering through that trainwreck.

It makes me wonder if the dev team's understanding of how people play the game is skewed by Max's play style. OR, if Max's play style is a reflection of the dev team's idea of how the game is supposed to be played.

[Renegrade]

One can squeeze in some video browsing during lunch breaks ~

I guess so~

Mobility is key in my line of work, so any kind of cables are pretty much a no-go.

Fair enough. Just be warned that wifi and cellular systems (actually radio in general) sacrifices signal stability and quality for that mobility and range.. there's unfortunately no way around that. Plus all the hundred other things that can go wrong that I went over in my long post, that may or may not have anything to do with Twitch itself.

That's actually a big problem with internet today: a lot of the most important things aren't visible from outside when you're selecting a provider. The only way to know for instance if provider X has good connectivity to site A is to have it installed and try it out. By the time you realize Provider Y was better, it's too late, you already signed a contract and paid all sorts of installation and activation fees. And even if you go through all the cancellation stuff and give up all the money that went into those fees, you find out that Provider Y has good connectivity to site A, but not site B, and now you use site B more than A. ARGH.

[regex]

It makes me wonder if the dev team's understanding of how people play the game is skewed by Max's play style. OR, if Max's play style is a reflection of the dev team's idea of how the game is supposed to be played.

Believe it or not, I actually think the dev team are pretty responsive to all play styles, even the realism crowd (took them long enough, to be sure... >_>). I mean, yeah, career mode is just as much a trainwreck as Max, but it tries its best to retain the sandbox feel of the game.

It would probably be better to say that the marketing team's understanding of the game is skewed by how bad Max plays.

[BudgetHedgehog]

The thing about only watching the last 15 minutes or so for the info is fair enough, but some little bits are dropped halfway through (like the flag planting animation being fixed). I can't really stand Max's playing - I watch it as there's sometimes info in th chat as well (Kasper saying that expanding contracts has been mentioned to the devs as something people want).

I suffer so you guys don't have to, basically. I did consider briefly recording it or downloading it somehow and uploading to Youtube or something, but I got Livestreamer to work exactly once and never again and I don't honestly know if I'd be allowed to. So, written summaries, it is.

Also, thank you guys, it makes me happy to know you appreciate them so much

[Moon Goddess]

It makes me wonder if the dev team's understanding of how people play the game is skewed by Max's play style. OR, if Max's play style is a reflection of the dev team's idea of how the game is supposed to be played.

God I hope not, but more and more I see from the dev's makes me think it's one or the other of those, and it's a real disappointment.

[wolfedg]

While I agree that it would be best if the information was also available in a "just the facts" type video, I think some of you are a tad judgmental of maxmaps. When it comes to a video game there is only one determining factor if you are doing it right and that is whether or not you are having fun. I for one thank maxmaps for doing the streams and giving us the information.

[WooDzor]

Step One: Stop using that McDoanld's Free WiFi from across the street.

Step Two: Profit???

But seriously now, try rebooting your wifi, or try using a friend's computer/PC on your wifi to see if it's your router that's the problem, or if it's your PC.

Not everybody lives in the first world Michael.. :-/ I don't understand why they can't throw it on youtube. I manage to stream youtube here in Uganda but anything else is just hopeless

[problemecium]

Twitch has been driving me up the wall too lately. I got an email saying that my account had been hacked and I had to reset my password, and after following the instructions to the T I only got an error page saying the reset code I used was invalid. Five tries later and I sent a help request email, only to get back an automated reply saying "try using the password reset form."

[Bill Phil]

Twitch is terrible. I apologize. But I just can't watch it. My internet isn't amazing, sure. But YouTube pulls it off pretty well comparatively.

[Superfluous J]

When it comes to a video game there is only one determining factor if you are doing it right and that is whether or not you are having fun.

True. But when you then stream that for an audience and hide useful information within, you are performing a show, and that show should be entertaining. If it's not, the people who watch have the right to complain that it's not enjoyable.

I find it enjoyable in a sadistic kind of way. I sit in rapt attention, trying to guess all the things that will go wrong with each launch. I never get them all but I usually get the ones that will destroy his rocket.

[basic.syntax]

While I agree that it would be best if the information was also available in a "just the facts" type video, I think some of you are a tad judgmental of maxmaps. When it comes to a video game there is only one determining factor if you are doing it right and that is whether or not you are having fun. I for one thank maxmaps for doing the streams and giving us the information.

I agree with this Video games are "interactive entertainment." Max sits down with his favorite drink, and shows he enjoys playing the game. He isn't a core developer like HarvesteR or Mu with intimate knowledge of KSP inner workings. It is an interactive live show: he takes audience suggestions on what contract to accept, how to tweak craft and why this or that idea isn't working. I find some of it cringe-worthy, but I think its cool that a member of the KSP team is out there playing unscripted, perhaps bringing in some new players, and having fun with it.

[Eric S]

It makes me wonder if the dev team's understanding of how people play the game is skewed by Max's play style. OR, if Max's play style is a reflection of the dev team's idea of how the game is supposed to be played.

Maxmaps has talked about Harvester razzing him about how he plays, so I'm pretty sure that there's not much connection there.

[Wanderfound]

Not really disagreeing with any of this (I don't really like watching anyone play a video game, I'd rather play myself, personally). Just observing from watching a few Squadcasts that the audience seems to be enthusiastic about the show, so obviously it's meant for people with different tastes than mine (and each of yours, too). I, too, wish that the info in the Squadcast was made available elsewhere, but it does seem to get here reasonably quickly.

I actually like watching Max play; to my POV, he's amusingly incompetent and generally pleasant to listen to. Kinda KurtJMac-ish.

My only problem is Twitch.

[Xavven]

I'm not just a programmer, I'm also a CCNA.

LOL! As I started reading the numbered list in your post, I was thinking to myself, "network engineer detected!" Totally called it. I work in IT as well and interface with you networking types all the time

As for Maxmaps' skill, yes it's totally painful to watch. I'm wondering if that's actually a marketing decision, though. I can see potential new players being totally put off if he opened a KER window and started planning the delta-v and TWR he needed for each of his maneuvers. While that's actually the most fun part for many of us, it's only once we're a little more experienced with the basic mechanics of the game.

...Just a theory, anyway.

[Amihan]

I've had the game for a year and I've never been back from Duna (I've been there though! ), so I wouldn't notice anything terribad about Max's... performance. He plays just like I do >___>;

I'm not a fan of Twitch myself, but that's an opinion that came mostly from trying to find a streaming service so my friends and I could hang out. I didn't want to pay to get rid of the lag! I can't actually think of anything else about it that irritates me as a viewer, but that does sound like a bit of an oversight on the iOS side of things... May your problems either be addressed (though you don't seem hopeful) or magically just stop

[GusTurbo]

Maxmaps has talked about Harvester razzing him about how he plays, so I'm pretty sure that there's not much connection there.

Ah, I see. I was just spit balling, I didn't really have an opinion either way.

I shouldn't be too harsh on Max. If I had a stream, people would get bored of me puttering around the VAB for hours.

- - - Updated - - -

God I hope not, but more and more I see from the dev's makes me think it's one or the other of those, and it's a real disappointment.

Oh I don't know, the recent developments have all been pretty awesome since a lot of them focus on making the game more realistic.

[DrD]

I tried Twitch a few times and also found it very user unfriendly. It still blows my mind that nothing is archived. What is this the 1990's? I remember searching and searching for a certain video and when someone finally told me you can only watch live my jaw hit the floor.

They are obviously not that interested in growth.

[basic.syntax]

My favorite free flash video downloader that works in Firefox... wants to section the Twitch archive stream into 1.5mb chunks. SO that one is not going to work

I don't see why an interested volunteer could not cross post / upload the temporary archive of Squadcast to YT. I think the worst that would happen is a DMCA notice is issued and that content gets blocked. Does YT ban accounts on first offense?

[Alshain]

I tried Twitch a few times and also found it very user unfriendly. It still blows my mind that nothing is archived. What is this the 1990's? I remember searching and searching for a certain video and when someone finally told me you can only watch live my jaw hit the floor.

They are obviously not that interested in growth.

Not sure what you are talking about, they have archives. You just have to visit the streamer's profile.

[SyberSmoke]

My favorite free flash video downloader that works in Firefox... wants to section the Twitch archive stream into 1.5mb chunks. SO that one is not going to work

I don't see why an interested volunteer could not cross post / upload the temporary archive of Squadcast to YT. I think the worst that would happen is a DMCA notice is issued and that content gets blocked. Does YT ban accounts on first offense?

Why even use youtube at all? If you can get the file downloaded...just upload it to google drive for a short time and share via link. That way your Youtube profile is not on the line. There are many file lockers out there that give you enough room...