Ever since I found out about @dlive, I have been in awe.
To my followers, I am sorry that I am not sorry about preaching the good word of DLive.
I know, I know, I can't shut up about it. But let me tell you a little bit about myself and give you a glimpse into my world: Since I found Dlive, my T.V. viewing has plummeted -- I don't even bother turning it on anymore when I get home.
DLive is, without a doubt, changing the way I use the internet and how I schedule my day. Instead of checking to see what is on T.V., I have the opportunity to connect with streamers. Anywhere from seeing what @alxgraham is currently up to, checking with @jongolson and his streams on Mondays, or checking out the different games that people are streaming that I haven't even heard of or knew they existed.
It really has been fun, and I mean that sincerely.
So I was excited when @dlive asked for opinions on their service.
How I first found out about DLive was actually purely accidental - or, in most cases on Steemit: someone posted about it. I somehow stumbled upon it while only recently even finding out about D.Tube. Now, I have been apart of some podcasts and things of that nature but I never considered streaming like, at all. I am happy to admit that once I found out about DLive I found myself considering it.
At the time I only had a chromebook, so streaming was completely out of the question - so @samsiedenstrang and I followed from afar, dreaming of the day that we might get to streaming. Then, Sam bought a laptop and from there things only took off. We started streaming "Chill -N- Chats" trying to figure out where we fell into this large environment. Then we started doing our "Wednesday Night Ghost Hunt" investigating my home that is suspected to be haunted.
Then, I decided I wanted to try to stream some games. I signed up for Steam and purchased Garry's Mod. Now, it was great having access to a laptop, but I am not the type of person that enjoys relying on other people, even though Sam was more than gracious to let me use it.
I had to figure out how to get a laptop, that's all there was to it. A lesson I learned a long time ago from a friend was this: rather than seeing the things you wanted and knowing you couldn't afford them, try to figure out what you have to do in order to afford it. So with that advice always in the back of my brain I juggled some crypto around and was able to come up with a modest amount to purchase a serviceable laptop for what I was trying to do. I contacted a friend that is very knowledgeable of computers and recommended a purchase for me.... ironically the exact same laptop Sam purchased but just with a different cover.
@ericdjuly also posted this video on D.Tube with a link to his amazon store and I used his recommendation on the logitech 1080p webcam. I was able to get a price match on the camera at Best Buy and transferred Eric some SBD for the suggestion (and him missing out on his cut of the sale).
From there, I was off to the races. No longer being tied down to use Sam's laptop I could stream whenever I wanted. He put quite a bit of hours on Garry's Mod before I really was able to give it a shot but once I did there was no stopping me. I had some severe growing pains learning the ins and outs of the game itself, but I was more than happy to stream my struggles for others to enjoy. In fact, I plan on loading a video to DLive showing how many times I flipped out trying to figure out how to do something that now is relatively easy for me to accomplish.
Lately I find myself looking forward to playing Garry's Mod and streaming it but I am considering different games to try. I promised myself that a portion of all rewards I receive from streaming with go directly back into improving my equipment and the biggest items I am dreaming about include a mic, a desk, a game chair, green screen, as well as building a section more suitable to streaming within my house. I feel having a more dedicated space to do this will overall improve all aspects of my streaming, as well as my ability to provide quality content for Steemit.
Overall, I have to imagine that the streams that gather my attention, or whether I feel a stream is good or not, is not very likely a normal criteria that other people may hold streamers up to.
To be honest, I am actually pretty easy to please and pretty understanding. I don't expect everyone streaming to have the latest and greatest but I certainly can appreciate a professional set up. I have no problem with a person that goes on a game, doesn't talk, and just plays their game. If it is a game I am familiar with, I might just watch for nostalgia. If it is a game I am not familiar with, I might just watch to see what I am missing. Overall, the actual quality of the stream is not my deciding factor whether or not to give them an upvote. Basically, if I am entertained they get some love from me.
Some streamers are more engaging than others, and that engagement is always appreciated. Being able to connect with someone you are watching certainly gives a different feel to being a viewer of a stream - at that point you do sort of feel involved. But even with that being said, the engagement is not required for my upvote. In fact, some streamers get upset when I blow their comments up trying to have a conversation - sometimes (surprise!) they just want to play the game!
As far as any non-gaming streaming, I really just look for people that capture my attention and imagination. @alxgraham is one of those people. I was browsing DLive one night when I stumbled upon Alx feverishly working on content for Steemit - and what I believe is some form of documentary. He was jamming out! A sight to behold, indeed.
Eventually I dropped by his discord server where we chatted for a few hours and I would say he is one of a handful of people I have recently interacted with because of DLive - and continue do so, nearly daily.
Certainly gaming is the big-ticket item on DLive but I don't see (or hope) that it necessarily continues. I don't mean that I hope DLive DOESN'T turn into a premier gaming streaming service, I just hope it expands to more than that. Personally, I feel that the entire idea of having a decentralized platform is a beautiful thing purely because of the ability for people to take ideas and run with it -- DLive is giving you the canvas and the paint, it's your job to make it a masterpiece. Out of everything I can think of, the pairing of a decentralized streaming service and the reward system of Steemit allows the cream to rise to the top (so to speak) and people can chase their ideas. They are either appreciated ($$$) or not ($.01). But it is up to you to "not just talk about it, (but) be about it." If you deliver your idea in a palatable way that other members can appreciate, they will shower you with their expressions of appreciation.
As far as anything that DLive could do to improve, I am hesitant to offer any "nit-picking" for the little things that could improve the site and I am confident that anything I could think of is somehow already being considered or worked on. I would like to see a better and more accurate "watching" and "views" counter along with better statistical information that didn't include the same viewers reloading due to lag or buffering. Perhaps average length of view for people viewing would be appreciated.
As far as the little things, I am confident they will be resolved with the great development team. I can already say, having been here for about a month following Dlive, the lag time has only improved and the recent changes to the look and layout both on a laptop and mobile is top-notch. I feel that the lag on tonight's streams were very close to 20 seconds where as I have seen them average closer to 30-60 seconds in the recent past.
My big hope and dream that will come to DLive is an easier ability for people to set up channels that could run all day. Currently, if one account wanted to broadcast with multiple streamers through the day you would have to actually give the stream keys to someone else for them to stream to your channel, I would like to see that change so that the person running the broadcast could have editing rights and allow other streamers to stream directly to the channel.
For example, I have set up the account @dlive24hour with the intention of streaming once a day for 24 hours and include multiple streamers through out the broadcast. At first, I will do my best to bring as many people in, as interest grows we will look to split channels by category (education, gaming, talk, crypto, etc). Currently, the only way for me to do that is to give each individual streamer the stream key information. Perhaps there could be a way where the broadcaster could make streamer-specific stream key information where the channel manager could edit controls and when they are allowed to stream (say, for instance, a channel manager could give streaming rights to someone from 8:05-8:55 only and their stream key information will only work between those times.
If we were able to make those improvements where "Broadcasting" channels could have this level of control, I think it would open up the possibilities for all the creative people here on Dlive to take it and run with it - maybe we could be the first "Television-Like" streaming service where people would tune in like T.V.
This idea was first thought of when I woke up early for work one morning, made myself a pot of coffee, and realized I had no interest in turning on the local news. I didn't want to turn on Netflix or Hulu and start an episode of a show I could get tied into, but I had a craving for up-to-the-minute crypto news. What I wanted more than anything at that moment was a "channel" I could pop into and casually listen to current crypto news while I slowly got ready for work.
That spawned the general idea for having a broadcasting channel, and it helped to get me more excited about the possibilities for DLive and Steemit in general.
I hope I didn't get too long-winded. I can't always think of what to say but when it is something that I am excited and hopeful about it is easy to go full "streaming consciousness" and spill out the word count. At any rate, if you made it this far I salute you. Thank you for your time.
