What do you guys think of the new method for the livestream?

[Minjon]

I dislike the Razer branding, those headphones and razer coms....there are better options out there but i guess they have to take sponsors for it.

Also after they started playing games in afterparty i pretty much never watched it again, i just don't care looking some one play games that are also so old....

[Dudenstein]

I dislike the Razer branding, those headphones and razer coms....there are better options out there but i guess they have to take sponsors for it.

Also after they started playing games in afterparty i pretty much never watched it again, i just don't care looking some one play games that are also so old....

I'm terms of the after party I don't like the gaming idea either. I prefer when it was a more relaxed livestream where they can joke around and get distracted more. I wouldn't mind gaming but at its current iteration it detracts from the experience. Maybe if they played mor recent titles or classic games that are more engrossing and fun. Single layer or coop ga,Ed would be better than competitive because they would be able to focus a tad more on topics instead of half assed trash talking while being worried about accidentally cussing during a stream.

I subscribe to LTT because it's a tech channel and not just another let's play, so let's discuss some topics during the after party in a casual manner while enjoying some games.

[Guest]

To me if you wanted a yes or no answer, it would be no - I don't like it. My biggest gripe about it would be the call ins and the influence they have on the show both in terms of flow and then time management. I understand that the call in system is in its infancy however to me at least audience call ins seem to disrupt the flow of the show. I am certainly all for the calls from other 'celebrities' such as Paul yesterday and possibly Logan next week however they know what they are talking about and how to keep the flow of a show going. Now I'm not saying that everyone else is stupid but if you look at the fluidness of the call with Paul yesterday versus some of the other calls from audience members, hopefully you'll understand what I'm trying to get at.

 

What's been discussed here previously in this thread is sort of what I mean as far as time management. With Twitter, Linus and Slick are able to get through a large number of questions very very quickly whereas with the call ins, things are again sluggish and again not flowing well with the show.

 

My final issue would be with the new after party. The after party as I remembered it used to be for semi-off topic discussion from the two of them regarding things they found interesting over the last week. Lately however it has purely become ancient video games. 

 

Just my 2 cents.

[Dudenstein]

To me if you wanted a yes or no answer, it would be no - I don't like it. My biggest gripe about it would be the call ins and the influence they have on the show both in terms of flow and then time management. I understand that the call in system is in its infancy however to me at least audience call ins seem to disrupt the flow of the show. I am certainly all for the calls from other 'celebrities' such as Paul yesterday and possibly Logan next week however they know what they are talking about and how to keep the flow of a show going. Now I'm not saying that everyone else is stupid but if you look at the fluidness of the call with Paul yesterday versus some of the other calls from audience members, hopefully you'll understand what I'm trying to get at.

 

What's been discussed here previously in this thread is sort of what I mean as far as time management. With Twitter, Linus and Slick are able to get through a large number of questions very very quickly whereas with the call ins, things are again sluggish and again not flowing well with the show.

 

My final issue would be with the new after party. The after party as I remembered it used to be for semi-off topic discussion from the two of them regarding things they found interesting over the last week. Lately however it has purely become ancient video games. 

 

Just my 2 cents.

Exactly how I feel.

I want the after party to be where slick can drool about elder scrolls online and Linus can verbalized how star citizen is going to be amazing while using the oculus. The actual live stream should be more organized and professional so to speak while the after part gives us a chance to really see Linus and slick be the themselves

[DeViLzzz]

Ok I love the new set they used.  Stick with that.  As for the audio it was totally fine in terms of sound levels and such and if you the viewers like me need to turn the audio down just a tad there are things on your pcs that adjust volume levels.  Neat eh ?  Now as for what we were hearing in terms of keyboard typing and more I saw someone post on YouTube or whatever saying it wasn't the guy monitoring the calls or whatever but I find that hard to believe considering not every caller was going to come on and talk to Linus and Slick while typing.  Clearly to me it was their employee or volunteer that was causing the issue.  Please fix that for next week.  As for the amount of calls that happen on the show I am not too sure how many they have currently in the time the show is on but they should try to limit it to only 1/3 of the show at most whether they have a special guest on or not.  Just my 2 cents ....

[Elbstrand]

To me if you wanted a yes or no answer, it would be no - I don't like it. My biggest gripe about it would be the call ins and the influence they have on the show both in terms of flow and then time management. I understand that the call in system is in its infancy however to me at least audience call ins seem to disrupt the flow of the show. I am certainly all for the calls from other 'celebrities' such as Paul yesterday and possibly Logan next week however they know what they are talking about and how to keep the flow of a show going. Now I'm not saying that everyone else is stupid but if you look at the fluidness of the call with Paul yesterday versus some of the other calls from audience members, hopefully you'll understand what I'm trying to get at.

 

What's been discussed here previously in this thread is sort of what I mean as far as time management. With Twitter, Linus and Slick are able to get through a large number of questions very very quickly whereas with the call ins, things are again sluggish and again not flowing well with the show.

 

My final issue would be with the new after party. The after party as I remembered it used to be for semi-off topic discussion from the two of them regarding things they found interesting over the last week. Lately however it has purely become ancient video games. 

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

Yes, thats exactly what i've been trying to convey in my last posts.

[Guest]

Ok I love the new set they used.  Stick with that.  As for the audio it was totally fine in terms of sound levels and such and if you the viewers like me need to turn the audio down just a tad there are things on your pcs that adjust volume levels.  Neat eh ?  Now as for what we were hearing in terms of keyboard typing and more I saw someone post on YouTube or whatever saying it wasn't the guy monitoring the calls or whatever but I find that hard to believe considering not every caller was going to come on and talk to Linus and Slick while typing.  Clearly to me it was their employee or volunteer that was causing the issue.  Please fix that for next week.  As for the amount of calls that happen on the show I am not too sure how many they have currently in the time the show is on but they should try to limit it to only 1/3 of the show at most whether they have a special guest on or not.  Just my 2 cents ....

I was the only other one in the live call however I don't have blue switches and my microphone was on mute both on Comms and on my mixer. 

[EricX2]

Live stream, or WAN show is awesome. They are so much better at everything than they used to. The technical glitches are so rare compared to before. The video quality is great, the changes they have made with x split (or whatever they are using for streaming) is so much better with their different angles and views, it really seems like they know what they are doing.

 

In my opinion asking questions in voice is no improvement over twitter. At least with twitter they can go through a lot fast.

 

I know it's kind of rude to say it, but why does every single person have to start with 'can you hear me'? Just say hello and listen to if you get a response, you don't ask can you hear me at the beginning of a phone call, just pretend you are on a telephone. I haven't called in, or used the razer comms software at all since I have no friends, so maybe it's hard to tell if you are actually talking to somebody? I'm not sure.

[Elbstrand]

I was the only other one in the live call however I don't have blue switches and my microphone was on mute both on Comms and on my mixer. 

 

Thats weird. Did they close comms in the end? Because the static suddenly vanished near the end. (Maybe last 10-20 minutes)

[carolkarine]

windspeed, could you please show linus this thread?

 

I was the only other one in the live call however I don't have blue switches and my microphone was on mute both on Comms and on my mixer. 

 

I quoted you so you'd get the notification.

[Guest]

Thats weird. Did they close comms in the end? Because the static suddenly vanished near the end. (Maybe last 10-20 minutes)

The static was actually causes by the software. Whaler was in the live group however not actively in the call and he was somehow contributing static to the call. 

 

windspeed, could you please show linus this thread?

 

 

I quoted you so you'd get the notification.

I will at some point if he does not see it before then. 

[Elbstrand]

I will at some point if he does not see it before then. 

 

Already send it to slick, he should tell linus about it.

 

(May take a while, they are both @ LANcouver)

 

Edit: slick is actually just live in the sc2 stream: http://www.twitch.tv/lancouversc2

[DeViLzzz]

People talking of static ?  I never heard that.

[Minjon]

People talking of static ?  I never heard that.

Razer comms...

[Anubikai]

I think that people want is,

 

- for it to be called the live stream again, wan show is a bit weird....not as bad as the WANC show however so atleast that was a good call XD

- make the live calling a bit more streamlined, i understand that your being sponsored by razer comms but it seems that either the software doesnt work well or the people using it cant use it well, be it either on the linus media group side or live caller side....some people suggested mumble

- more concentration on you guys and less on live callers, i originally watched the live stream for linus and slick, whilst myself and a lot of the forum appreciate you trying to incorporate the audience and the techtips community. I feel i switch off when someone calls in.....i only switch back on when linus and slick talk....

 

This is all my opinion though mixed with what ive read on youtube comments and within the forum. Everyone has their own opinion and what not and they are entitled to it. I just prefer the old format better, somepeople may prefer the new format. The new set however should stay as that is awesome. =)

 

-Anubikai

[alpenwasser]

I think it's very legitimate that the stream's/show's format evolves and changes

over time. Trying out new things etc. is part of the process, and naturally it

won't always be smooth sailing from the get-go. I don't really care much for whining

about how things used to be better simply because people don't like change.

Having said that, I do prefer the old format a bit more. It was a rather convenient

way to get a weekly overview on the tech industry and related things, sprinkled with

some personal commentary. The Twitter Q&A allowed for fast and efficient filtering

and answering of questions and I generally liked that concept.

As @Sgt has said, I personally just don't really care for random people's ramblings.

From time to time there are valuable insights which can be gained from answering

viewer questions, but using Twitter for that forces people to be brief and get to

the point, which still allows for a high density of information. Call-ins allow for

much more worthless blabla ("Ahem, do you guys think, that like, uh, there might be,

uh, [...], and also I wanted to ask if you, uh, blablabla" ) which takes up a lot of

time, time which could better be spent elsewhere IMHO.

Of course this does not apply for some non-random people such as @JoshFractal

or other people who actually have some valuable insight and are entertaining enough

to listen to (and who can actually get through a sentence in one try when speaking

publicly without stuttering, filler words and sounds).

Since my own time is very limited the new format's value has greatly decreased for me

compared to the old one, it just doesn't offer a high enough density of information

to make it worth watching for me.

I like discussing tech stuff with people, but that's what the forums are for IMO.

I can select the topics which interest me and discuss those without having to waste

time on stuff I don't really care about. That choice is much trickier with call-ins.

Having said all that, I don't think the concept is completely ridiculous, I'm just

not its target audience. So personally I would be perfectly happy if the call-ins

were limited to one contiguous block of time which is clearly marked and can be

easily skipped for those not interested in it. For the remainder of the time I would

much prefer something more akin to the old format, because that I really did like.

EDIT:

As a side note I don't really care about the name or other (to me) irrelevant stuff.

What matters to me is decent density of information without making the whole thing

dull and boring (which it so far hasn't been since Linus and Slick have pretty good

chemistry and are an entertaining duo to watch IMO).

[DLM_012]

The live stream has come a loooooong way. I love it. I remember the days when he did them from a room in his house, then his kitchen strictly doing Q&A off of Twitter. Now he's to the point where he has a co-host, does Q&A and addresses news topics, has callers, and lastly does an aftershow 

[criso8]

How about they only have 2-3 live callers per week who actually are able to contribute to the conversation and keep the flow going. It calls even when they were working didn't really add anything. Many time linus would be like "huh, good point". It wasn't really a conversation like they had with paul. For now maybe only talk to people the mods or slick or linus personally know and are people you can have a conversation, have good mikes and won't click clack their blues half the time.

[Vic9mm]

How about they only have 2-3 live callers per week who actually are able to contribute to the conversation and keep the flow going. It calls even when they were working didn't really add anything. Many time linus would be like "huh, good point". It wasn't really a conversation like they had with paul. For now maybe only talk to people the mods or slick or linus personally know and are people you can have a conversation, have good mikes and won't click clack their blues half the time.

I think the problem with the people calling in and not being able to contribute is a number of things 

 

1.) Not everyone is capable of talking tech like Linus and Slick are. It's there job so it comes natural to them.

2.) There needs to be some type of tutorial on how to use Comms and I think Slick said he was going to make a video about how to do that.

3.) Some people can get over whelmed when put on the spot.

[MegaDave91]

They need to play Donkey Kong already!

[criso8]

I think the problem with the people calling in and not being able to contribute is a number of things 

 

1.) Not everyone is capable of talking tech like Linus and Slick are. It's there job so it comes natural to them.

2.) There needs to be some type of tutorial on how to use Comms and I think Slick said he was going to make a video about how to do that.

3.) Some people can get over whelmed when put on the spot.

Yeah I completely agree. That's why paul's interview was actually good. He was sort of a third member for a little while and I liked that segment. So maybe for now keep it to people who they know can make the stream more interesting.

 

As for the afterparty I feel it has really fallen apart. I didn't even watch most of the last couple. But then again its the afterparty so they can do whatever makes them happy. Maybe eventually they will become like youtube commentators who can hold conversations while still fully playing a game.

[MegaDave91]

I think the problem with the people calling in and not being able to contribute is a number of things 

 

1.) Not everyone is capable of talking tech like Linus and Slick are. It's there job so it comes natural to them.

2.) There needs to be some type of tutorial on how to use Comms and I think Slick said he was going to make a video about how to do that.

3.) Some people can get over whelmed when put on the spot.

 

To be fair, it's the person's choice to call in (or are the callers just waiting in a room for the whole show and get selected at random?); they're not being forced. If they don't know enough about the topic to be able to converse about it, then they shouldn't really call in.

 

If it works like what I put in brackets, then that's definitely putting the caller on the spot because they don't know that they will be chosen to talk about a topic they may know nothing about. If callers are being selected at random, then that's a bad idea. 

[Naz]

To me if you wanted a yes or no answer, it would be no - I don't like it. My biggest gripe about it would be the call ins and the influence they have on the show both in terms of flow and then time management. I understand that the call in system is in its infancy however to me at least audience call ins seem to disrupt the flow of the show. I am certainly all for the calls from other 'celebrities' such as Paul yesterday and possibly Logan next week however they know what they are talking about and how to keep the flow of a show going. Now I'm not saying that everyone else is stupid but if you look at the fluidness of the call with Paul yesterday versus some of the other calls from audience members, hopefully you'll understand what I'm trying to get at.

 

What's been discussed here previously in this thread is sort of what I mean as far as time management. With Twitter, Linus and Slick are able to get through a large number of questions very very quickly whereas with the call ins, things are again sluggish and again not flowing well with the show.

 

My final issue would be with the new after party. The after party as I remembered it used to be for semi-off topic discussion from the two of them regarding things they found interesting over the last week. Lately however it has purely become ancient video games. 

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

Completely agree with Windspeed36.

 

For me I think that the live viewer call ins destroyed the show. It sounded good in theory when linus was discussing it in earlier livestreams, but in practise it isn't that good. The callers I feel don't contribute that much to the topic, and give opinions that we already know for example the helmis privacy calls, I thought was completely pointless. What ever happened to the old quicker, and easier method where linus just asked people to write on twitter their personal opinion on the topic at hand. It was much more convenient, and didn't distract the pacing of the livestream.

 

Furthermore I used to like when linus and slick answered the twitter questions, and overtime they have began to neglect it more and more. First the started doing small 5 minutes blitz (which is in adequate time to answer the question in resonable detail, they are always rushing. I understand it is a blitz, but the format in the past where they used to spend more time on twitter was better), then they followed that up with the live call ins which decreased twitter contributions even further.

 

Also there seems to be a lack of content/topics compared to the past, and they are rushed. Not as much personal opinion as before. If people remember to the livestream when linus was alone as Slick was in Korea (if I remember correctly) that was a fantastic live stream I thought. Great topics, being hammered aways in quick succession with great detail in each, and lots of user interaction through twitter. (i'm not saying it was great because slick wasn't there, im just saying that the structure was great among the recent livestreams. Having slick in the live streams is great).

 

As for the WAN name, I really couldn't care less about the name of the show. Though I think WAN isn't the best of names you could have come up with.

 

I've been watching since the first live stream, and enjoyed the older ones much more than the newer ones. I tune in every week for 2 hours or so, to see the non-youtube product unboxing linus (if people understand what I mean). You know the more open talking linus with no restrictions, which can just give his honest and personal opinions  about products and news of the week, as well as interact with his viewers. Before they went through more topics in greater detail, and the show ran relatively smoothly (except for the late turn up, and occasion camera, and audio issues which are now fixed), where linus would ask people to reply to a certain topic on twitter which made it significantly easier and faster than call ins.

 

However live call ins of tech celebrities is excellent I think, as it is great to hear what they have to say about certain topics. And I think you should spend more time talking to them, I mean Paul's call in was relatively short.

 

Also I have referred mainly to linus in my post, but for the most parts I mean linus and slick.

 

Just my personal opinion and constructive criticism.

 

Also I think this thread should include a poll, to get a quicker overview of people's opinion of the show.

[MdX MaxX]

Okay let me try to gather all my thoughts on this.

 

The set.

 

I love the new set, physically.  The wall of boxes is brilliant.  What I'm not a fan of, however, is the "visual feel" of the stream, if that makes any sense.

 

First of all, I'm not a fan of the lighting.  There simply isn't enough light.  The lights behind the couch thing seemed pretty cool at first, but as I was watching the show on YouTube today, I just couldn't shake the feeling that everything was too dark.  It makes for a really dark atmosphere and sucks some of the livelihood out of the whole show.  I much prefer having the giant studio lights illuminate the whole scene as was the case when the stream was held in Linus's garage.

 

Secondly, the depth of field.  Oh God, that depth of field...  I really don't like it at all.  In cinematic videos, when a lot is happening and the scenes are changing frequently and you need to get the viewer to focus on the foreground, it makes sense.  But in a situation when you have the same setup on the screen for two hours, it really tires the eyes out and just looks awful, IMO.  On something like this, a live talk show broadcast, I feel everything needs to be sharp and in focus.  Plus, I want to see all those beautiful hardware boxes. :lol:

 

I guess that one's more personal, though.  I really don't like depth of field, period, or any sort of image processing that intentionally sacrifices image quality for dramatic effect (Instagram and its filters...uggghh, just gross).  It's more tolerable in a cinematic setting, though, like TechQuickie videos.  Not this.

 

(And the fact that the stream was only 720p this week added to the eyesore factor of the stream.  But that's an easy fix.)

 

So, overall, the stream is looking way too cinematic.  It needs to look more like a live show again.

 

The content.

 

Okay.  So in the beginning (pre-forum), the livestream was simple.  A couple of discussion topics (that at first weren't even pre-planned).  Twitter Q&A.  And......yeah, that was pretty much it.  Linus and Slick could kick back, relax, discuss one or two things, answer a hundred Twitter quesitons, goof off, and just do all they could to make the livestream fun and engaging.

 

Look at what we have now.  Freaking bucketloads of news stories and discussion topics, Razer Comms call-ins (plus special guest callers), Twitter Q&A, and Build Logs of the Week.

 

And all of that needs to fit in the same two hours.

 

The news and call-ins already take up literally 90 percent of the stream time.  Sure, the kinks with Comms are still being ironed out.  But it's not going to get much faster.  Linus and Slick can't even afford to do more than one real Twitter blitz or spend more than 5 minutes on Build Logs of the week.  The WAN show is now a constant race against the clock, and even though it's choc full of excellent content, it's no longer the happy fun times livestream we're used to.

 

So I have a simple suggestion.  Add another hour.

 

I mean, the Afterparty stretches to three hours.  Cut an hour out of that and splice it on to the WAN show.  I don't think any viewers will be saddened that they only have two hours of SNES streaming to watch.

 

An extra hour can really give the show a more satisfying pace.  Twitter Q&A won't have to be a total rush.  Linus and Slick can actually give a decent amount of feedback on Build Logs, and maybe even include a third.  Callers can get a hair more air time, and news analysis can be a bit longer and more casual discussion style.

 

Now, I understand that's more effort on the part of Linus and Slick.  But I wonder whether it's really that much more work.  A healthy amount of discussion and Q&A goes on during the Afterparty anyway, and since they're looking at having callers during the Afterparty anyway, it's not all that much different.

 

I'd also like to see a few less discussion topics.  Like, half as many.  I know a lot of stuff happens, but geez, it's almost maddening how much is covered.  But that's more personal.

 

So yeah, essentially, I believe adding another hour to the actual stream will relieve a ton of the stress that's built up from having added a ridiculous amount of content to the stream over time.

 

...

Now, after all this, it may seem like the stream leaves a sour taste in my mouth.  It doesn't.  I still love tuning in every week, racking my brain about cool things in the tech world, and getting in a lot of laughs.  It's just, watching the stream has become more of a task, rather than a kick back and relax.

 

It's like watching Inception vs watching, like, Transformers.  The former is more tense and requires more active attention, and the latter is cool robots blowing up stuff. :P There's a time and place for the Inceptions, but something like the WAN show needs to be a bit more like a Transformers.

 

Phew, that was a lot.  So tl;dr version, too cinematic, too short. :lol:

[Vic9mm]

 

 

Completely agree with Windspeed36.

 

For me I think that the live viewer call ins destroyed the show. It sounded good in theory when linus was discussing it in earlier livestreams, but in practise it isn't that good. The callers I feel don't contribute that much to the topic, and give opinions that we already know for example the helmis privacy calls, I thought was completely pointless. What ever happened to the old quicker, and easier method where linus just asked people to write on twitter their personal opinion on the topic at hand. It was much more convenient, and didn't distract the pacing of the livestream.

 

Furthermore I used to like when linus and slick answered the twitter questions, and overtime they have began to neglect it more and more. First the started doing small 5 minutes blitz (which is in adequate time to answer the question in resonable detail, they are always rushing. I understand it is a blitz, but the format in the past where they used to spend more time on twitter was better), then they followed that up with the live call ins which decreased twitter contributions even further.

 

Also there seems to be a lack of content/topics compared to the past, and they are rushed. Not as much personal opinion as before. If people remember to the livestream when linus was alone as Slick was in Korea (if I remember correctly) that was a fantastic live stream I thought. Great topics, being hammered aways in quick succession with great detail in each, and lots of user interaction through twitter. (i'm not saying it was great because slick wasn't there, im just saying that the structure was great among the recent livestreams. Having slick in the live streams is great).

 

As for the WAN name, I really couldn't care less about the name of the show. Though I think WAN isn't the best of names you could have come up with.

 

I've been watching since the first live stream, and enjoyed the older ones much more than the newer ones. I tune in every week for 2 hours or so, to see the non-youtube product unboxing linus (if people understand what I mean). You know the more open talking linus with no restrictions, which can just give his honest and personal opinions  about products and news of the week, as well as interact with his viewers. Before they went through more topics in greater detail, and the show ran relatively smoothly (except for the late turn up, and occasion camera, and audio issues which are now fixed), where linus would ask people to reply to a certain topic on twitter which made it significantly easier and faster than call ins.

 

However live call ins of tech celebrities is excellent I think, as it is great to hear what they have to say about certain topics. And I think you should spend more time talking to them, I mean Paul's call in was relatively short.

 

Also I have referred mainly to linus in my post, but for the most parts I mean linus and slick.

 

Just my personal opinion and constructive criticism.

 

Also I think this thread should include a poll, to get a quicker overview of people's opinion of the show.

 

I agree with you on most of your opinions but on the Twitter Q and A I like the idea of the blitz. Linus and Slick have a tendency to go into a huge explanation about a Twitter comment that sometimes went into a 10min conversation with each other which lead to another conversation. Then finally back to Twitter Q and A.