Don't turn links to twitch.tv into embedded video

OhBoyItsaMegaman·Oct 24, 2014·6 votes·1,284 views

Just a quick observation. If I put a link to a YouTube video in a post, all I really want is for people to see the video. The fact that they're watching the video without leaving the forum is of little consequence. But if I put a link to a Twitch stream, obviously I want people to go to the stream, not just view it from the forum.

The Twitch video player does not offer an option (that I could find) to visit the actual stream that is being played. So either the poster must put the address inside a link to the stream so that readers can click it, or the reader must quote the post with the embedded video in order to copy the URL and manually go there.

A Twitch stream is more than just the video; I cannot think of a circumstance where you'd want to show someone just the video without the rest of the stream (the chat, the bio, the follow button). Perhaps I might want to show someone a highlight embedded for convenience, but I don't think posters ever want to do that with the stream itself. Because of the way the boards are set up, if you write the URL for the stream it's automatically made into an embedded video. Can you turn that feature off?

4 Comments

Hyrum GraffOct 24, 20143 votes

Try using the "Share as link" option. I made one for your stream here.

RhlaxOct 25, 20141 votes

Nice

OhBoyItsaMegamanOct 25, 20141 votes

Thanks! I did not notice that option...and I'm still not sure I understand what it's for, but that exists as an option. I still think it would be better if Twitch didn't auto-embed at all since—as I said—it's contradictory that someone would want to show off a stream without having people go to the stream.

Hyrum GraffOct 25, 20141 votes

I think it's just there as a cool way to showcase a link, if that link is the subject of your post.