[2021] A20 Streamer Weekend discussion

On Monday, December 6th, 2021, Alpha 20 will be released to experimental. Before then, players interested in Alpha 20 can catch a preview by watching streamers play it this weekend. As with previous alphas, TFP have arranged for streamers that meet certain criteria to help generate buzz/publicity for the upcoming release, by streaming the experimental build starting later today, Friday, December 3rd, 2021.

Astute observers will note we will soon enter a roughly three day window when streamers will be playing A20, while the rest of the general public will not. People no doubt have a lot to say, good and bad, about this streamer weekend, so I’m starting this thread proactively to open the floor to discussion.

If you want to talk about the streaming weekend, here’s the place to do it. I want users to feel comfortable expressing both positive and negative opinions, but we do ask as always that the discussion stay civil and constructive. Flames and insults against streamers, people who watch streams, people who don’t watch streams, and disrespectful rants about societal/generational/industry trends will not be allowed.

Here is the current list of Streamers.[community.7daystodie.com]

To set the stage, here are a couple quotes from super moderator Roland over on the official forum.

Originally posted by Roland: Alpha 20 will be released to experimental* on Monday December 6, 2021. We wish to remind everyone that this will be an experimental release through Steam's beta opt-in interface. On Friday December 3, 2021, streamers around the world will showcase the experimental build and we hope that you will tune in and participate in the fun. Keys for a free copy of the game will be given away and many of the Twitch based streamers will be utilizing Twitch Integration which will allow you to participate in their gameplay in fun and often hilarious ways. It should be a great weekend long celebration of A20's long awaited arrival!

The release notes for A20 have been posted if you wish to look at all the official changes and additions in detail:
https://7daystodie.com/a20-official-release-notes/

Happy Days are Here Again, Survivalists!!!

Originally posted by Roland: Q: If the game is good enough for streamers to show it, isn’t it good enough for players to play it?
A: The version the streamers will be playing will be the same release candidate we plan for the whole community (who wish to test experimental). But we have found that releasing an experimental version on a Monday is much better for us to be able to respond quickly and effectively with hotfixes and get new builds out to you that play better. The whole team isn’t always available on the weekend to address showstoppers but on that Monday we’ll be ready. In the meantime, we hope you will post your feedback on what you see and help us catch things that might be simple to fix before the general release on Monday.

Q: Why are streamers getting special treatment? Didn’t I pay for early access?
A: All of our customers who have paid for early access are getting the early access that they paid for. At the same time we have to acknowledge that streamers provide a huge media benefit to the industry in today’s world. Being able to reach potentially hundreds of thousands of viewers over the weekend to get the word out that A20 is finally here is a powerful and amazing tool we wish to use. At the same time allowing the streamers to show early footage of an update is something of great value to us and them. We love all of our fans and we hope you all will love the A20 update when you get to play it. Plus, for those who enjoy this sort of media it is a great deal of fun that we wish to Pimp out to y'all.

Sources:
1[community.7daystodie.com] 2[community.7daystodie.com]

Originally posted by Frostbringer: Is there a list of streamers available?

Yes! I edited the top post to make this more visible. Thank you for mentioning it.

Originally posted by Woodie_Macnutt: I'll comment first on this, i think its stupid that streamers get to play it first, we are all excited to start new worlds and play this update, they don't need a hype weekend to get excited. we already are and just want to enjoy what the funpimps made.

I’m glad you’re already excited! I suspect a large portion of the people that visit this forum are, too.

From a pure business standpoint, I can understand the appeal of having streamers with lots of followers show the game to the diverse audiences they’ve cultivated. I’m sure some of those followers don’t yet own the game, don’t know much about it, or may not even have heard of it before the streamer(s) they follow show it. A20 is free for those of us that already own the game, so if TFP want to bring in money (as companies are wont to do), it’s those new players they’ll have to get interested.

Originally posted by .:

Originally posted by Crater Creator:
Yes! I edited the top post to make this more visible. Thank you for mentioning it.

Thanks they are now on my - dont watch list. So they wouldnt have been able to stream the game if you didnt lock out your paying customers?

Well they’re not my paying customers - I just volunteer to moderate the forums. The way Roland tells it, as I quoted in the top post, “…we have found that releasing an experimental version on a Monday is much better for us to be able to respond quickly and effectively with hotfixes and get new builds out to you that play better. The whole team isn’t always available on the weekend to address showstoppers but on that Monday we’ll be ready….”