Non-Gaming content!

Horror

Twitch.tv is a gaming website, and being tied to Justin.tv as it's gaming section, we do tend to get a mixture of non-gaming content that does not fit on the site. Some of these can pass the filter as being allowed by a few factors, and others should technically be moved back. I am making this post to help clear the line between what we do, and what we do not approve.

Acceptable Non-gaming content

Some non-gaming content still does fit to what we want for twitch. Here are some of the following mitigating factors of things we will allow to stay on twitch.

1. Gaming to Non-gaming ratio. If a user has a gaming stream, which mostly consists of gaming content, but also does some non gaming content such as a podcast without anything gaming related, or a "social cast" of only them on the stream, answer friends and fans questions or just generally chatting, this is acceptable.
2. 
   Gaming personalities. If a user of our site is related to gaming, or the gaming industry (reviewer or developer) they can stream otherwise completely non gaming content. Such as "social casts" with them on camera only talking, with no understandable ratio of gaming to non-gaming content. We feel as if their presence alone as a reviewer or developer is gaming related enough to fit on twitch.

Un-acceptable non-gaming content

Some content in general we do not accept. The following are some easy examples.

1. Anime, TV shows, Movies, etc. In some cultures, such as Japan, Anime and Gaming are interchangable. this is not the case on twitch. Anime is the same type of content as any other TV show. Since this is not game play, it does not fit on Twitch.tv or Justin.tv's gaming section. We recommend people use separate channels to stream such drastically different content, and assign them to the correct justin.tv category. You may also take into consideration the copyright laws, explained in this post.
   
   
2. Non-gaming content that overshadows gaming content. Some users on twitch who seem to not produce anything gaming related may be moved out of twitch. This includes, but is not limited to music/radio streams and non-gaming social casts.

More examples may be added later as they come up, but these are the major points I would like to get across within this post.

If any user refuses to properly categorize their content, either when requested that they move it, or by moving their content back multiple times after being moved out of twitch.tv after multiple warnings, we may respond by closing the account entirely. Please do not ignore requests of the administrators and staff.

Please post all questions in response to this thread, or the policy section.

crazywarlock

Thanks for the info Horror :3

x4ryuusei

Nice to see this cleared up since we at GameOn host community shows and different events that don't always involve direct gaming.

livecode

As there is no youtube upload for justin.tv anymore, are you more relaxed with streams that depend on that feature, but are not gaming related?

If not, why not add the feature back to justin.tv on a beta-test or request base?

gehn6

What if you were programming a game and want to share the experience with all? :)

Horror

@gehn6 programming games is perfectly fine.

@livecode Not having youtube upload isnt a reason we would accept non gaming content.. lifecasters still belong in social, for instance.

kam0ka

If besides gaming, we stream some hardware talk or Rig's setup spec's for the games we play?

 :)

Horror

Seems acceptable to me, people need gaming rigs to game, after all. I would argue that actually is gaming related.

edock

So, do you guys permanently close accounts with giving no warning at all?

Fire

@edock warnings are usually given, and in the event your channel is closed you can email horror, talk it over, and usually get unlocked (unless you were streaming porn, that's an instant shutdown and I'm not sure you get a second chance)

iruparazzo

I'm curious as to how close to a loop-hole this is: As a gamer I often watch tv/movies in a window next to the game I am playing, especially with grindey MMO's or hack n' slash games like Titan Quest. Sometimes on particularly long grind sessions, I'll drop that screen region into the corner of my game's stream, so my viewers can also see what they're hearing (in addition to the game). Done picture-in-picture style, with the focus (and intention) of the stream being about the game I am playing.
How borderline (if at all) is this streaming method?

Fire

@iruparazzo streaming movies or tv shows is unacceptable in any format, and can get your channel shut down if the copyright holder files a DMCA against your channel.

thelastdonut

To further clarify un-acceptable content point 2, I understand that normally music streams will be relocated to JTV, usually music casts that didn't get permission from the copyright holder, but what about the occasional big casts?

The other night we had a person stream their video game music concert, of which myself and 2500+ others fully enjoyed. Is this allowed or will it get moved to JTV in the future? They got permission to display scenes from and/or play the music of various games but I don't think they stream gameplay, just the occasional concert.

We've had another big cast in the past (I think The Game doing a concert to promote Battlefield 3?) but I'm not sure if its never been done again or just moved to JTV before I could ever see it.

Horror

Things like that should be told to us beforehand, lastdonut. That is, large events that are non gaming, but you ahve the rights to do. We might deny the request, so please wait for responses as well. (so give us plenty of time ahead of time!)

unnwariestfir706

My other account was banned recently, Is it permanently banned or is it just part-time? 

PIPe

@unnwariestfir706 Ban reasons are not discussed on forums. Email russell@twitch.tv for more help.

thegamerme

I'm wondering if streaming my D&D game falls under gaming. it is concidered gaming but isn't video or PC. 

Fire

@thegamerme yeah, d&d falls under gaming, you're safe :p

xeinnex

I'd like to ask, what if i usually stream gaming, but from time to time i want to do some game fan-art and i want to stream the work in progress on twitch, i know there are other websites for that, but being game fan-art i think it could fit as gaming :), also the audience would be gamers which would enjoy it a lot more than regular people.

xeinnex

another question, I'm posting again since i cant find the "edit" button, so  I've seen a couple chess streams here on twitch, and chess is considered to be a sport rather than a game, does that mean other sports can be streamed as well?

bgeorge

@xeinnex - That should be fine.

Fire

@xeinnex chess is board game

fishbowl3

while we're at it, i have another question. This week i'm going to begin streaming a game called The lord of the rings: two towers, BIG COMMAND FOR IT!!   there are a number of cut scenes in the game that have actual footage from the movie, ( meaning no digitial edits for some of the scenes)  but then DO segue into digitial footage. I know showing movies is a big no no on the twitch side. But it is relevant to the game, and many lord of the ring game fans out there would be amazed by doing this. Request permission to show these on my channel?

Fire

@fishbowl3 if the footage is in the game itself then it's ok, if its not in the game, then you can't stream it.

fishbowl3

if the footage is not in the game........I plan on using megaman anniversary collection. which featured an interview you can earn by playing through all the games on the collection disk, WOULD THIS consitute as " footage in the game"?  i plan to do a dedication month to megaman starting july 1st

Fire

@fishbowl3 if its on the game disk then yeah

thehasbrogamer

Visual novels... Would they be acceptable?

Fire

@thehasbrogamer not unless they are inside the game.

thehasbrogamer

So if a visual novel had some a little bit of gameply in it, would it be alright?

Fire

@thehasbrogamer no, the reverse. It has to be mostly gameplay. Do you have one in particular you're curious about?

thehasbrogamer

There is a series called the Chzo Mythos that I have been looking into... It looks mainly story driven but I know it has some sort of gameplay in it.