COMMUNITY UPDATE
What’s Coming in TRW 2.0
Our Monthly TRW Community Update is here! This month we’re talking about the release of TRW 2.0 and what you can expect to find in the new Discord server.
We’ve had a lot of setbacks and technical issues to sort out for the new server, but it’s just about ready to launch, so here’s everything you can expect to find when you join, and some stuff we’re still working on.
I know, it’s been a while since we announced TRW 2.0. I can assure you we’ve been working long and hard on getting everything set up and ready to roll out and, if you follow us on Twitter, you might have already seen some of our new announcements pop up as we’re testing new features.
Firstly, let me explain the delay. As I’m sure you’re aware, this past month has seen the closure of Mixer, the main platform we were originally developing support systems for. This platform closure threw a few issues into our app development and meant that we had to systematically remove all support or reliance on Mixer services to ensure our Discord app continued to function after Mixer shut down its APIs.
On top of that, Twitch has been rolling out updates to it’s API system, which have meant we’ve had to develop, and re-develop our app to work with their new libraries. All of this combined with the fact we’re in the middle of a global pandemic have lead to a few unforeseen issues in getting everything ready to launch.
With that being said, we’re coming to the end of our testing phase with the new server and, barring a few minor issues still present, we’re pretty much ready to launch.
NEW SERVER REGISTRATION SYSTEM
To access the new server, you’ll first have to have read through our Community Rules, this is to ensure everyone who joins the community understands how everything works and what’s expected of them.
We’ve spent a long time creating and refining our community rules to ensure everyone who joins our community is there to help us to create a safe and fun environment for all of our members.
Before you can access any areas of the server, you’ll be asked to read through and accept our Community Rules. These cover general things like spam, hate-speech and expected behaviour within the community. It also covers our stance on abuse and sexual assault, so we require everyone in the server to make sure they’ve read and agreed to it.
When you first enter the new server, the only channel you’ll be able to see is the #join-trw-streaming channel, which lists our community rules and asks you to confirm that you’ve read and agree to them. Clicking the relevant reaction at the bottom of the channel will give you access to the server.
We make every effort to ensure our members are safe while within our server. We’ve taken steps to reduce harassment and abuse within our server and we take reports of this nature very seriously.
NEW CHANNEL REGISTRATION SYSTEM
Our previous channel registration system was manual. We’ve spent a lot of time and effort updating this system to make it quick and easy to set your channel up for promotion.
Our new promotion system for Twitch streamers was the primary cause for the delay in releasing our new Discord server. We wanted to make sure our new system was both as simple as possible for our members to use as well as being as stable as possible.
Like our previous system for Mixer, our new channel registration system will monitor your Twitch channel for changes and fire off a notification in Discord and on Twitter whenever you go live on Twitch.
Unlike our old system, our new registration system is fully automated. Once you register your channel, it will automatically be added to our live announcement system, your Discord role will be updated to STREAMER and your channel will be added to our list of registered channels in the server.
To register your channel, you must have already accepted our community rules. This will unlock access to #register-your-channel. Simply copy and paste your Twitch link into the channel and your Twitch channel will be automatically added to our app.
You can only register a single Twitch channel in the new TRW server. If you attempt to register another channel, it will remove your previously registered one. You are only permitted to register a channel you own.
TRW LFG
We want to make it easy for you to find people to play with or stream with. We’ve started work on the new TRW LFG system, which will let you find players for casual, competitive or on-stream games.
A lot of people come into Discord servers to find people to either game or stream with. We want to make this process as simple as possible, so we’ve added the new LOOKING FOR GROUP section into our server.
LFG is separated into a number of channels depending on the type of gameplay you’re looking to do. You can ask for groups to play with on-stream, competitively or casually.
We’re working on improving searchability and adding in a command and response based system that will allow you to add notices to our LFG channels to get a group together. We’ll have more information on this new feature soon.
REMOVAL OF SELF-PROMOTION
If you’re coming over from our previous server, you’ll probably be aware on the infamous #promote-your-channel section of the community.
This was a channel we added in to our old server to allow non-mixer streamers to advertise their channels. However, with both the closure of Mixer and our new focus on Twitch, this channel has become redundant and won’t be available in the new server.
In place of #promote-your-channel, you’ll find the new #upcoming-streams channel. This is a new section of the server that you can use to build up hype for a specific stream you have coming up.
This is not intended to be used to post channel links or to be used as a self-promotion channel. Instead, it’s designed to be a place you can post about important streams you’re doing, for example charity fundraisers, stream-marathons or subathons.
This channel will be monitored closely and any channel links posted without adequate reason will be removed. If the channel is abused or links are repeatedly posted we will take steps to remove write access to members who misuse the channel.
WHAT WE’RE STILL WORKING ON
We’ve already discussed a few areas we’re still developing as part of our larger goal for the community, but we’ll be continuing work on these new features after the launch of the new server.
Twitch Announcements
We feel there’s still some improvements that can be made to the new Twitch announcement system, and we’ll be continuing to develop and refine the system moving forward. With the new tools Twitch are making available to us, we envision a system that was as fast as our Mixer announcement system was in our previous server.
TRW Squads
Squads is a brand new competitive feature to TRW. With Squads, members will be able to create and take ownership of a squad within the TRW Discord server.
Each squad can have up to 10 members, who will earn Squad Points for every message they post in chat (these will be rate-limited to avoid spam). At the end of each month, the squad with the most points will be featured in the TRW Blog, along with links to all that squads member’s Twitch channels.
In future we would like to be able to provide greater rewards for winning squads each month, but for now, the entire winning squad will get a shoutout in Discord, Twitter and right here on our blog.
Streamer Spotlight
This feature will be part of an ongoing development to try and showcase the talent within TRW. Each month we would like to “spotlight” one of our community streamers to feature on our blog.
We’ll be creating an application system for this shortly after launch which will allow individual members to fill out all the necessary details to be spotlighted (spotlit??).
Mental Health Section
We’ve always been big advocates of Mental Health support in TRW, and that will not change moving forward. You’ll notice in the new server a lack of Mental Health resources initially.
This is only temporary.
We’re working on improving both the Mental Health resources we have available for our members as well as creating a better response system for people struggling with their own mental health.
We want to make sure that a) we’re providing relevant and up-to-date information regarding Mental Health support and b) reducing instances of people abusing the Mental Health section of the server (which unfortunately happened in the past).
Guides & How To’s
Alongside our new server, we’re working on compiling a Knowledge Base of Guides & How To’s that aim to help you both navigate and make the most of your time in TRW, as well as a bunch of tips and tutorial posts to help you develop as a streamer.
To help achieve this, we’re making some major updates to the TRW Streaming Medium Publication in order to better categorise and posts and articles. This work is being done alongside our development work and we’ll make an announcement shortly after the launch of the new server when this new content is available.
We’re actively looking for guest posts to help us share knowledge and information. If you would like to be involved, please contact one of our Community Managers in Discord once the new server has opened.
WHAT’S NEXT
We know it’s been a difficult time for everyone over the last few months between the ongoing Covid pandemic and major changes in the streaming industry. We want to thank you all for your continued support and help in our plans for TRW.
This community started as a side-project back in our early days on Mixer and, while we’re sad to see that chapter come to a close, we’re excited for the future. Mixer and the communities there taught us a lot about how to build communities, and with your help and support we aim to build on what we’ve learned over the past 2 1/2 years and continue to build and grow with all of you at the forefront of everything we do.
We’ll be working hard in the coming months to ensure we do everything we can to increase the support and opportunities we can provide for all of you and we look forward to seeing what you all create wherever you choose to stream.
Thank you all again, and we’ll see you in Discord very soon!
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The TRW Management Team
