You're all set!

Make sure to do the following:

1. Go to Twitch.TV
2. Click your NAME at the top
3. Navigate to SETTINGS
4. Click the TEAMS tab and accept your invitation

http://puu.sh/2ypcz

Happy Streaming!

I want to emphasize one other thing here. I'm not saying that TFTV's policy on adding streams won't change in the future -- all I'm saying is it's not my decision. In addition, when I say I can't add your stream, I mean to say that I am not going to add streams that fall outside of the guidelines that were given to me by the site owner. If you want to dispute them or change the policies, I suggest you take it up with the site owner.

@Bread I'm not forcing you to read my comments -- you asked for them. Furthermore, I'm not going to sit here and read yours that are full of redundancies and biased statements such as "8. This dude is actually awesome."

@TheWoundedStapler I appreciate the enthusiasm like I mentioned, but generating traffic for all of TF2 won't necessarily translate to the competitive scene. If you're interested in general TF2, I suggest checking out the Steam Powered User Forums or other communities. This website in particular focuses SPECIFICALLY on the competitive community. I don't know how else to put it.

What is your competitive experience like?

I couldn't stand to read the whole thing but I did have a discussion with other staff members about this.

While I understand your points and have a personal interest in growing TF2 myself, my main focus in being a mod on this site is to facilitate the adding of streams and contributing to the competitive community in the best way that I can. Before your start criticizing the way that we do things, you need to first understand where we came from.

Enigma runs the site but he created this request forum pretty early on to field responses from the community regarding how to make site improvements but also to receive feedback from users if they needed help with anything. Once streams started getting bigger within TF2, more people wanted to be added on. Requests to have streams added would sit there for days or even weeks with no response, and it's hard to blame Enigma for not processing those requests when there are a million other things for him to do.

So I stepped up to the plate and began easing the process. I didn't want to deal with the questionable streams -- I only wanted to add the streams that were VERY obviously supposed to be on the sidebar. I let Enigma take care of the questionable streams, or the streams that may or may not make the bar. It's gotten to the point where it is more of a grey area now, and yes, it's hard to tell which streams should go up and which ones shouldn't, but it's ultimately a judgment call on my part and if I'm not involved then nobody will ever look at the stream request.

Why do we bother limiting the number of streams on the sidebar? Why don't we add all streams? This is a TF2 website and they're playing TF2 right? Well, it's a little more complicated than that. When we first started out, I literally added 100% of all streams. However, it soon became apparent that we needed to limit that. We wanted TFTV to have a focus on the competitive aspects of TF2 whether it be 6v6 or 9v9 Highlander, but we also widened the net to include jumping and surfing as well. Having streams on the sidebar that didn't feature that kind of content seemed counter to our objectives. Secondly, Enigma came back to me and told me that I was bogging down the Twitch API that the site uses by adding so many streams. That API refreshes the number of users actively watching each stream, and if there's too many streams then I suppose that gets slowed down (that's my understanding of it).

So that's why we limit streams. The fairest way to determine whether or not people made the bar was to evaluate 1) if they streamed TF2, 2) if they streamed consistently so as to not take up a slot on the refresh list that would never be used, and 3) if they were a member of the competitive TF2 community then we wanted to support their streaming efforts.

When it comes to a guy like TheWoundedStapler, yeah he's a great entertainer, but it's not furthering our goals of supporting competitive TF2 streaming. People will surely visit TFTV and be directed to his pubbing/newb content, but I see no way that he would direct people from his pubbing content over to the competitive content that TFTV focuses on. In fact, both his stream and his YouTube channel focus on a multitude of games, not just TF2, and so while he may be in a TF2 phase now, he will likely not be in the future. Lastly, it's important to me that we don't just add every great streaming entertainer out there. Why not add Shibby or Jerma985 to the sidebar? Doesn't he entertain thousands of people with their TF2 content? Well sure they do but their audiences and goals do not align with those of TFTV. It simply doesn't make sense.

I'm all for having a discussion about this but be reasonable here.

I watched a bit and you're a very personable, entertaining guy. Your stream, however, features zero competitive content and you don't participate in any of the online leagues for TF2. However, you are streaming Jumping content and that does qualify you...it's just not enough. According to your schedule this is a one-off event. Therefore, I need to see some more streaming before I put you on, so I will table your request for now.

I'm sorry that I can't put you on at this time but feel free to bump your thread or make a new post later on. We appreciate the enthusiasm and interest.

You're all set!

Make sure to do the following:

1. Go to Twitch.TV
2. Click your NAME at the top
3. Navigate to SETTINGS
4. Click the TEAMS tab and accept your invitation

http://puu.sh/2ypcz

Happy Streaming!

I've been checking your broadcast history...do you stream any TF2?

You're all set!

Make sure to do the following:

1. Go to Twitch.TV
2. Click your NAME at the top
3. Navigate to SETTINGS
4. Click the TEAMS tab and accept your invitation

http://puu.sh/2ypcz

Happy Streaming!

Oops! My mistake.

fantastic singing voice

Just so you know --

The PRO SURF server is connect surf.justplay.tf:27010
The BEGINNER SURF server is connect prosurf.justplay.tf:27015

The connect strings are really confusing but that is how it is currently set up.

In addition I think the BEGINNER SURF server is still down.

Papa fog -- I'll miss you.

I misread Jamesswe and he got through. I thought he was a comp player, turns out he wasn't.

Just so we're clear here --

Streams don't make the sidebar based on entertainment value or stream quality. On TFTV we have streams ranging from Ggglygy video quality to Truktruk video quality. Entertainment value does not matter either, as it would be too much work for me to vet each stream, and it's completely subjective.

The only thing that is important to us is that the person is member of the competitive TF2 community. That way people who are looking at the site can interact with members of the competitive community. We realize that not everyone can be playing competitive TF2 at all hours of the day (after all, the PUG hours for this game are very limited, and scrim hours are even more limited) and that is why you can stream other games besides TF2. Pubs, MvM, whatever is all fine as long as that is the case. All that we ask is that you try to stream mostly TF2 (i.e. you're a TF2 streamer not a Starcraft or League-only stream).

This should be pretty clear but if it is not then feel free to post here or send me a PM.