21 votes

European Speedrunner Assembly’s Summer 2025 event, a weeklong charity marathon featuring speedruns, is live (runs June 28 - July 5)

17 comments

  1. [13]
    MimicSquid
    Link
    I haven't watched anything on Twitch in a little while now, and going back to watch the ESA stream I was struck by how prevalent the ads are. Every 5 or 10 minutes something just entirely...

    I haven't watched anything on Twitch in a little while now, and going back to watch the ESA stream I was struck by how prevalent the ads are. Every 5 or 10 minutes something just entirely interrupting whatever was going on to try to advertise at me. For all of its sins, at least broadcast TV structured the shows around ad breaks rather than completely overriding whatever was going on at the moment. Twitch is just a terrible watching experience.

    9 votes
    1. [9]
      whs
      Link Parent
      From what I know (which maybe outdated) Twitch has a mandated ads break every set period, but the streamer can manually run ads which reset the timer. Alternatively, you can buy either a subs to...

      From what I know (which maybe outdated) Twitch has a mandated ads break every set period, but the streamer can manually run ads which reset the timer.

      Alternatively, you can buy either a subs to that channel to watch it ads free, which I think is reasonably priced (if you regularly watch them) and supports the streamer too. Or, you can buy Twitch Turbo which removes ads on all channels. In this case the streamer gets the same ads revenue as if you watched the ads.

      I suppose having ads at random like that would incentivize people to buy subs? Which also incentivize the streamer to push people towards that option.

      6 votes
      1. [8]
        MimicSquid
        Link Parent
        Sure, I understand the economic reasoning. But that doesn't really have anything to do with my experience that the free experience has degraded to the point of being unwatchable. Twitch/Amazon is...

        Sure, I understand the economic reasoning. But that doesn't really have anything to do with my experience that the free experience has degraded to the point of being unwatchable. Twitch/Amazon is of course allowed to make the experience as awful as they want. And I'm allowed to find it not worth suffering through, and overall not worth paying them to return to what had been a tolerable experience a couple of years ago.

        2 votes
        1. [7]
          okiyama
          Link Parent
          I've got an extension that mutes the ads, makes it watchable for me and I'm cool subbing to the few I watch frequently (they're all small time that can use the $3 or whatever). I know you don't...

          I've got an extension that mutes the ads, makes it watchable for me and I'm cool subbing to the few I watch frequently (they're all small time that can use the $3 or whatever).

          I know you don't care, as an infrequent user, but figured other twitch frogs like me could use the info 💞

          1 vote
          1. [6]
            MimicSquid
            Link Parent
            What extension is that?

            What extension is that?

            1 vote
            1. [3]
              riQQ
              Link Parent
              I'm using Violent Monkey with the following script: https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/371186-twitch-mute-ads-and-optionally-hide-them

              I'm using Violent Monkey with the following script:
              https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/371186-twitch-mute-ads-and-optionally-hide-them

              3 votes
              1. [2]
                MimicSquid
                Link Parent
                Thank you!

                Thank you!

                1 vote
                1. fandegw
                  Link Parent
                  There is an even better setup, I use the video-swap-new user-script version from https://github.com/pixeltris/TwitchAdSolutions Which for now has worked for a good while, and allows us to continue...

                  There is an even better setup, I use the video-swap-new user-script version from https://github.com/pixeltris/TwitchAdSolutions

                  Which for now has worked for a good while, and allows us to continue watching the stream while the ad plays.

                  3 votes
            2. sandaltree
              Link Parent
              Ublock origin has worked blocking the ads for me (most of the time).

              Ublock origin has worked blocking the ads for me (most of the time).

              2 votes
            3. okiyama
              Link Parent
              https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/twitch-ad-muter/ Works for me. Only annoyance is if you close during an ad, twitch stays muted so I have to remember to unmute the next tab I open.

              https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/twitch-ad-muter/

              Works for me. Only annoyance is if you close during an ad, twitch stays muted so I have to remember to unmute the next tab I open.

              1 vote
    2. kfwyre
      Link Parent
      I agree completely. The ads were actually crashing my Shield TV Twitch app. My husband and I sub for the month whenever ESA is running just to watch them without ads anyway, but this time we had...

      I agree completely. The ads were actually crashing my Shield TV Twitch app.

      My husband and I sub for the month whenever ESA is running just to watch them without ads anyway, but this time we had to simply to have the stream be functional in the first place.

      4 votes
    3. kaffo
      Link Parent
      To add to the other comment, I think that the streamer only actually is required to run ads like every hour. If you're seeing ads every 5 or 10 mins then that's the streamer set the timer to...

      To add to the other comment, I think that the streamer only actually is required to run ads like every hour. If you're seeing ads every 5 or 10 mins then that's the streamer set the timer to something insane for more ad revenue.

      2 votes
    4. fandegw
      Link Parent
      It is really a pain in the ass to use because of them indeed. Especially when browsing to find a good stream to watch, you just get ads onto ads into ads non-stop each time you change of channel....

      It is really a pain in the ass to use because of them indeed. Especially when browsing to find a good stream to watch, you just get ads onto ads into ads non-stop each time you change of channel.

      With the way the streamer can control this behavior, I easily understand why certain streamers seems to have grown or stayed consistent compared to other (at least in the older generations, seems that the new streamers/watchers are so used to ads that it seems to change nothing)
      By just not forcing ads on the first load of the stream, it just is night and day when browsing twitch.

      2 votes
  2. kfwyre
    Link
    I’m late to the announcement (again), sorry! This started earlier today. ESA is very similar to GDQ but has a more chill, low-key vibe. It feels a lot like “old GDQ” if you were around for that....

    I’m late to the announcement (again), sorry! This started earlier today.

    ESA is very similar to GDQ but has a more chill, low-key vibe. It feels a lot like “old GDQ” if you were around for that.

    All donations go to Alzheimerfonden.

    They are again doing two separate streams, so check the schedule to see what you want to watch and which stream it will be on.


    Quick links:

    8 votes
  3. [3]
    kfwyre
    (edited )
    Link
    I'm surprised at how empty this event is. Hardly any people in the audience on Stream 1, even during peak times. During the We Love Katamari run yesterday on Stream 2, they celebrated getting an...

    I'm surprised at how empty this event is. Hardly any people in the audience on Stream 1, even during peak times. During the We Love Katamari run yesterday on Stream 2, they celebrated getting an IRL audience member. One.

    I also haven't seen a lot of the usual ESA staff (e.g. Argick, BigJon, huds) around. I was thinking this would be all the more popular given that ESA had to skip their previous event, but it's surprisingly sleepy.

    5 votes
    1. [2]
      Perryapsis
      Link Parent
      This made me curious. They have a seating area visible behind the runners. I just took this screenshot with nobody in the gallery. I had assumed that it's because it's about 2-4 am for most of...

      This made me curious. They have a seating area visible behind the runners. I just took this screenshot with nobody in the gallery. I had assumed that it's because it's about 2-4 am for most of Europe, but now I'm going to check again later at a Europe-friendly time and see if it's the same.

      4 votes
      1. kfwyre
        Link Parent
        The event is picking up steam! They had a full crowd for the Spyro run last night (and an incredibly uncomfortable wrestling bit where one of the runners put someone through a table in a way that...

        The event is picking up steam!

        They had a full crowd for the Spyro run last night (and an incredibly uncomfortable wrestling bit where one of the runners put someone through a table in a way that looked genuinely unsafe).

        2 votes