Twitch Player Integration

[Random Encounter]

As of yesterday, we have added a Twitch player to the forums page when TeamValiantGamers goes live. This player will not appear at all if the channel is offline, and even if it appears it does not autoplay. It is currently set up to appear under the online users section towards the bottom of the page, but we can position up top for visibility. Which would you guys prefer?

[Althena]

I say put it up top for all to see! Good for when we're streaming off-schedule, and it's easy enough to scroll past. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!
galaxybraingalaxybrain

[The Grimace]

Voted top. I think it'll be a lot easier to see when the stream's up off the normal schedule, like Althena said. At the bottom, I'd be far less likely to notice, which really defeats the purpose. It may be more intrusive for some people at the top, but since it doesn't autoplay, I think that's enough compromise.

[Wandervox]

Up top, for sure! The streams are community events, intended to be something shared by all of VG, and intended as a way to engage with others, both within and outside of VG. Putting it at the top of the page keeps it front and center, potentially drawing interest. If the interest isn't there, it's easy enough to scroll past as long as other content is easily seen below.

[Selbaek]

I voted top as well! Exposure, exposure, exposure!

[Hamm]

I vote top, but will caution that embedded player viewers do not count toward meeting any twitch requirements.

[Random Encounter]

I vote top, but will caution that embedded player viewers do not count toward meeting any twitch requirements.

This is really good feedback. The original idea was to just have a badge or something on the main page indicating that we were online. Finding something that fits this bill, however, has been a major pain in the ass. I don't have a lot of experience working with the Twitch API, so any help in that regard would be welcome.

[Selbaek]

To be fair, I don't think the player has any chat integration, and as soon as you navigate away from the forum homepage (say... into a thread, to read comments and make responses) the player disappears, right? In that respect, it kind of acts like a badge and should incentivize folks to click on the video to take us to the Twitch page, shouldn't it?

[Random Encounter]

To be fair, I don't think the player has any chat integration, and as soon as you navigate away from the forum homepage (say... into a thread, to read comments and make responses) the player disappears, right? In that respect, it kind of acts like a badge and should incentivize folks to click on the video to take us to the Twitch page, shouldn't it?

You could look at it like that! It was much easier to just embed a player then sign up for an API then code up a badge and hope you're doing the API calls right... which seems almost backwards.

I am generally opposed to pages with videos up front and center that auto play. That was my thought process in embedding our player, to make it as minimally intrusive as possible. But you guys have spoken, so I will make sure it gets put up too on the main and forums pages when we're live!

[Althena]

At the very least, I'd say do it, and if everyone regrets the choice because of how obtrusive it is, we just change it. Code is malleable.

[The Grimace]

Yeah, that's how I feel. The most important thing is that by having it at the top, people will be able to see the stream's on right now and join in if they want. A nice little reminder that won't be too intrusive, in my opinion.