Keep Bits, do not replace with Super Cheer
Bits are the MOST beneficial form of income for streamers on Twitch. The donor pays the twitch fee when purchasing the bits, so the streamer gets the full amount, which is what the donor expects. If someone donates 100 bits the streamer gets $1.00. With Super Cheer if someone donates $1.00 the fee is coming out of that amount and the streamer only gets $0.76. If Twitch is looking to replace bits with Super Cheer, that is only going to hurt streamers livelihoods and the relationship between streamers and Twitch. We want to be able to stream on Twitch knowing that we can support ourselves. With the Sub split news recently coming out, along with already having to use outside sources to make money, we just want to be able to stream to our communities and continue cultivating a space where people belong, without burning out. Please reconsider the replacement.
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AutieMedia commented
This change is probably related to the previous revenue issues talked about with subscriptions, but it seems to me that removing cheers will not only force a ton of streamers to redesign all of their bit alerts, but they'll also be at the mercy of other sites like Streamlabs to add alert customizing for this new form of donating.
I'm hoping Twitch also considers the amount of work needed to implement a new system both in-house and on the user end as a factor for the monetizing reworks that they're doing.
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Wintorz commented
I don't need to add anything other than my voice. STOP DRIVING YOUR COMPANY INTO THE GROUND
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TacoPete commented
I feel there are so many unknowns with this experiment (I believe it's being called the "Cheer Coin" experiment at this time but seems to be commonly known among the community as "Super Cheers"). I think one thing about this experiment is that it is scaring a lot of streamers because in the experiment, bits are replaced and seems to have negative effects on streams that have the experiment from anecdotal evidence.
I feel like because this experiment seems to be commonly talked about in the community and because there are so many unknowns about it, it would be very helpful to have clarification about multiple aspects.
The largest question would probably be would it completely replace bits or would it be in addition to bits? While it could potentially be confusing to users to have both, I feel the benefits of having multiple options would probably outweigh that caveat. Completely replacing bits though would lead to more questions:
Are the amounts that can be cheered absolutely fixed? A lot of alerts are tied to specific amounts of bits down to the cent and removing that custom capability would remove a lot of functionality (and may even drive streamers to look to third party donation sources that allow for smaller increments of donations in order to maintain their alerts).
How would extensions interact with this instead of bits? A lot of extensions use small units of cheering as well and this seems like it'd have a heavy impact.
Would it be possible to bank up money to cheer? From my understanding, this is a one-time purchase one-time cheer with no ability to bank up money. This would mean payment processor fees would eat up a much larger amount of donations compared to if someone were able to purchase a lot in one purchase, only pay that processing fee once, and be able to spread out the cheers.
Also, from my understanding, bits are one of the few methods of receiving income as a streamer that is currently chargeback protected, (people who cheer are unable to cancel it later like they might with subs/third party donations) which is nice to have especially when having special alerts or incentives for when people cheer. Would this new system also be chargeback protected?
If this is a system that would run alongside bits I wouldn't see much of an issue with it. If the system can be broken into smaller units (down to the cent like bits would be preferable), can be banked with large one-time purchases to avoid multiple payment processing fees, and is chargeback protected for the sake of the streamer, I could see it being a feasible replacement to bits, though at that point, I would wonder what the point of it would really be to replace bits as that would create a lot of headache for everyone involved. If it doesn't accomplish all those things, I feel like it would be a huge detriment to streamers and would worsen the experience of the viewer as well as it would be much harder to use to interact with the streamer.
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postaled commented
Do you even gather analytics and data from REAL users and channels, Twitch?
Don't do this. Keep bits. You're going to kill hundreds of "small" streamers who depend on bits for viewer engagement and contributions by doing this.
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Celina commented
Not only this but the ability to set custom cheer amounts and tie them to special alerts adds countless unique elements to many streams. Not to mention concerns about what will happen to Twitch Extensions that rely on bits.
In this clip, at least 3 different bit amounts are being used, but one of the amounts is tied to 8 different alert variations. The ability to do things like this is so much fun and adds entertainment value to streams. People keep coming back because there's always something new to engage with.
https://clips.twitch.tv/KnottyInspiringSpiderNerfRedBlaster-7_qvS2k5z0OBBZ1X
Nothing else that Twitch currently has (that is tied to actual money) allows for this level of creativity & interaction with a very low barrier to entry. I can set a custom fun alert for 1 bit for example VS the lowest "Super Cheer"/Cheer Coin amount that I have seen is $1.00 and no customization options for amounts in between.
Please at least give creators the option.
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LePunk1st commented
There's so many creators who put a lot of effort for custom amount alerts, it would be a shame to take that away.
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liteomighty commented
******* stupid update. Feels like it's another way for Amazon to make more money rather than support streamers.
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kuromiyalucien commented
Psychologically people prefer microtransactions with a larger multiple of 10s over seeing $ they spend.
Please reconsider silently phasing this over like Hype Trains to Boost Trains.
Maybe Twitch’s own donation links instead of replacement? -
casper_ki_ commented
Don't get rid of bits, that's all. There's so many things that streamers use bits for, from sound alerts to the twitch integrated throwing system (****) and so much more. Don't replace bits with this cheering system, it looks terrible.
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AnaiyaFalcon commented
Bits are transparent, simple, intuitive and very customizable and interactive with streams. The new cheering feature is a great way for Twitch to take more money from streamers secretly and limit chat interaction with special alerts. Name one benefit to this new cheer feature that isn't already available to streamers and chat... *crickets*
This is just another way for Twitch to hide how much money they take from tips to streamers. Leaving the streamers to either keep silent or be the bad guy and have to educate their viewers.
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chanphil commented
@Jeroenski Nor is it mentioned that Super Cheers WON'T replace bits.
Meanwhile they're testing Super Cheers by going to creators whose communities uses bits frequently, and asked them to run an experiment where Super Cheers replace bits. That's quite clearly an experiment designed to evaluate the impact of replacing bits with Super Cheers. -
Jeroenski commented
I support this topic, but Super Cheers seems a logical step, as it sucks to have third-party donation systems. Like the scumbags over at StreamLabs are making viewers pay a premium if they want to show GIFs in alert..
It's not mentioned Super Cheers will replace the BITS system, but it's gonna be less popular for sure.
As a developer, I hope Super Cheers become available, so we can provide both payment methods.
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Unkei commented
It really would not be a good decision to make that change, twitch is increasingly the platform that many of us are looking for both as creators and viewers, we seek to be in a comfortable environment, with people with the same tastes and at the same time create content for people with those similar tastes, the bits and subs is a way of thanking the streamer, and it's also a way of motivation to create more content. since it can be done in a fun way, and not all people have the money to buy and donate everything in a single exhibition, but they can dose that gratitude with the same bits, make those changes and limit prices and donations, it will be a negative impact to my way of thinking.
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Skynyx commented
most of my bit usages are driven by really fun creative extensions, where people can use small amounts (or large) to affect the stream/trigger alerts. Super Cheer totally negates this and will definitely hurt streamers profits. Please don't do this, leave bits as they are.
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FerretBomb commented
Definitely keep Bits. So many channels have Bit-specific interactions (sound effects, on-screen toasts, and other 'mess with the streamer' things that these 'super cheers' completely break and render unusable.
While the idea here is *clearly* to push larger individual microtransactions with the expectation that people will maintain their current cheering activity, it will absolutely KILL a huge extant ecosystem of nanotransactions that buoy many streams and are a constant background trickle-charge that severely adds up over the course of a month.
Don't kill the golden goose, whatever executive is getting greedy-fingers THIS time.
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Zombiexm commented
If twitch wants to make it "easier" for new "users" to understand bits then just change the name bits to coins or just name them actual cents/dollars... Then just reprice the "bit" packages into clear amounts 100 bits = 1.00 then charge a fee on check out thats clearly labeled as a fee. Dont hide it in the price labeled...
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iamthebeatus commented
Bits also add interactivity over just a donation. For example paying bits for in game actions or sounds. If bits went away it would take a lot of features off the table. Don’t do it!
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xAvareth commented
Bits are perfectly fine the way they are - please Twitch, you have enough problems without trying to fix something that isn't broken.
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chanphil commented
Replacing bits with the Super Cheer system seems like a very bad idea to me for a few reasons:
1. As KristiKates said, using custom bit amounts to trigger alerts is an effective way of monetizing user interactivity and engagement. The Super Cheer system doesn't severely limits this.
2. Unless the viewer is thinking carefully about what they're doing (i.e. the antithesis of the "making cheering easier" goal), someone who wants to give $5 to the streamer via bits buys 500 bits for $7. Someone doing the same via Super Cheer gives $5 total, split between all parties. That's less revenue for everyone.
3. People often give support in amounts other than those in the Super Cheer system. In particular $10 to $50 is a pretty big gap. Is someone who was going to give $20 or $25 likely to be able to give $50 instead? Are they going to Super Cheer 2 or 3 times to get to $20 or $25? Or are they going to go, oh well, I guess I'll pick $10 because that's the "easier" option provided by Super Cheer?
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pixiedoe commented
This would be an absolutely awful change. Please reconsider this, Twitch - or add it as an additional option, leaving classic bits alone.