First stream in some time, not great results...

First attempt to stream using the new PC (Windows 10) and the latest version of OBS...and the short version is quality came out pretty bad...  I got a mere 300p out of this stream, so unless it's my unfamiliarity with OBS Studio (using an old beta version on Windows 7, which is capable of at least 720p) & the settings may have been wrong, I'm going to need to get this resolved before I do any more long streams.  The last one can be found here (not going to attempt to embed it, this has been broken for close to a decade) & is over 6 hours, but ultimately it's something I'm going to have to research & see if I can get it resolved.  A possibility could be the screen ratio, which I know can sometimes drop quality when livestreaming (depending on the service streamed to), so I may need to spend some time redoing what I have to make it more compatible with Twitch's streaming expectations (or maybe consider installing the old beta version on this new PC using my backup of the isntaller & using that rather than the newer OBS Studio)...

Limited streaming will be starting again

As has been stated in the last post, my main PC is currently overheating & my newly-built PC (Windows 10) is still not up to my standards for streaming, but I'm noticing continually increasing toxicity in Warframe (the game I've been playing the most of lately) that often times results in solo missions when most of the team has dropped out, so I determined it's going to be necessary to start streaming so that toxicity can at least be made public to some degree (whether they are permanent additions to the internet or just temporary until they expire is still undetermined, however it will at least give the option to save them through one of two different methods if I need a more permanent documentation of something that happened in game).

There are currently 3 different things that are keeping this PC from being a normal streaming machine:

• Insufficient hard drive space:
  This means there is a lack of space to keep games installed, as well as recording of videos.  I should at least be able to stream to Twitch, but will need to find a way to disable consecutive recording while streams are running.  This ultimately means that if a more permanent version of a video is necessary, the video won't be as high quality as if I had uploaded a recorded video.  This PC currently only has about 2.75 TBs of space on it, I will need to purchase at least 2 decent sized hard drives (or 1 really large hard drive) to get it up to par for normal streaming/recording of games or leaving games installed for more variety (as it is now, I'm having to remove & reinstall games every so often when I run out of space).
• Single monitor:
  I currently don't have the preferred monitor set up, meaning at least 2 monitors so I can monitor chat on the same PC (although using my laptop might be an option for this, it doesn't mean it's going to be in my line of view while streaming games).  Without that second monitor & the ability to actively monitor chat while streaming, responses to chat will be limited to between missions.  I will still be embedding chat into streams regardless so I can still document harassment that is to be expected while streaming (especially with new followers that joined when the organized attacks from Steam trolls started in 2023; this seems to have mostly died down, but I don't expect it has fully stopped yet, especially when comments are still being made in that thread on Steam after Steam staff unlocked it & is allowing showing of those comments again).
• No webcam:
  While it might be possible to use the webcams I have on my Windows 7 PC (although I don't know I have a driver that will work with them on Windows 10), use of that webcam still won't be an option until I can get my PC where it should be (in the home office, on a desk; not in the front room using the frontroom TV as a monitor...although I will admit playing games on a 58-inch widescreen TV is a nice change once in a while).  This probably isn't going to be something that will keep me from moving the PC to my home office, but it will affect my ability to have a webcam panel in those streams until I can get one that will work with Windows 10.

Note that while chat won't be actively monitored, it will still be actively documented, still using an IRC client to log chat even when the channel isn't active (this also logs users that enter the channel in most cases, even if they don't chat while they are in it).  Embedded chat may be somewhat blurry in recorded/exported/highlighted videos, but I'll still have the IRC logs to back up what is said, with timestamps down to the millisecond of it being made if needed.

I expected a minimum of 2 more months (possibly longer, seeing as I have a yearly phone bill coming up next month) before I will be able to start streaming & responding to viewers as a normal streamer would, this will be when I have the hard drives & monitors on the new PC as necessary for streaming & recording.  I might consider using the laptop to be able to monitor chat, but I still don't expect that to be a normal standard, just a temporary workaround to not having active viewing of chat while streaming (if it's done at all).  The other option might be going back to the Windows 7 PC for streaming if I can get the overheating issue resolved (I have a new liquid cooling unit already delivered, I just haven't gotten around to installing it yet to see if it resolves the issue).

I may consider adding new information to the channel (possibly through a goal, not that I expect to gain enough to even make a dent towards finishing the PC any sooner) to give a status on where I'm at in regards to getting this Windows 10 PC up to my streaming standards, at which point I'll be able to have active discussions with viewers again (not just limited discussions between missions).

New videos & streams on hold

While I was intending on getting back into streaming on Twitch & have been uploaded semi-regular videos to YouTube, these are going to have to be put on hold for a couple of reasons.  My main PC (running Windows 7) is currently having overheating issues & my new PC (running Windows 10) still isn't fully built, so that negates both of the main gameplay media sharing functions I have been doing for some time (even while health issues continued to be a factor that kept me from streaming to Twitch, even when I did have a decent enough upload rate to continue doing so).

I'm currently looking for a replacement liquid cooling unit for the CPU to deal with the overheating issue (given it's been running on overdrive lately & running higher powered games on it results in a full PC shutoff when it gets too hot, unable to get the PC running again until it cools off naturally), I'm expecting this is the first place to start with getting that PC game-worthy again (at least with older games that don't require a Windows 10 or higher OS to run them).  This PC is still run as a server for other devices in my home (and potentially over the internet if needed).

While I do have a Windows 10 PC now (my friend finding a deal on Facebook that included a motherboard, CPU, liquid-cooling, RAM & wireless network card combo; I still had to purchase one of my friend's older video cards, a new case & R2 chip for the OS drive), it's still not in the same position as my other PC was for recording & streaming, but is at least semi-functional for gaming (including the ability to play the majority of games I owned on other platforms that wouldn't run on Windows 7).  This system is still going to require a decent capacity hard drive, a second monitor & a second battery-backup surge-protector before I expect to be using it normally).

While streaming to Twitch & uploading videos to YouTube will not be an option for at least a few more months, I am considering possibly streaming over my Discord server (seeing as this is an option with full functionality now that I have a Windows 10 PC; streaming over Discord used to cut audio on Windows 7, so I disabled streaming in most of the channels on my server, exception being the hardware, software & app troubleshooting channels).  Of course my Discord server is still set as private due to organized attacks from the Steam troll community starting in 2023 (attacks that Steam management supported through additional penalization actions against a targeted victim of those attacks), so currently only the people that are still on the server will have access to it (as well as other people I may know already that I may give private invites to the server, but public joining is still locked down because of those ongoing attacks & won't be lifted until 2 years after the last documented attack, that date given on my Twitch channel) if I do start doing them (which will probably only be on request or if voiced that they have an interest in it; people still on the server are relatively low, so I doubt any interest will be voiced).

An additional note is in addition to now having a Windows 10 PC, I've opened up what games I am willing to support on Twitch while they are being streamed by channels I follow (watching of other channels on YouTube that show ads still being avoided due to YouTube's support in those same attacks coming from Steam & lack of action to take down misinformation videos down on other YouTube channels publishing slander).  There are still other games that will not be supported due to other running boycotts, but the minimum OS of anything higher than Windows 7 is no longer a restriction that will keep me from entering those channels while they are streaming those games.

The actions by Epic Games that forced accumulated V-Bucks (roughly 37,100 over a period of over 4 years forced to a mode I don't even play & no option to switch them back to the mode I did play) in Fortnite still keeps me from doing much on Twitch in regards to watching other channels (anything published or developed by Epic Games, developed using the Unreal Engine or exclusive to their PC platform & not on a Nintendo system), but there have been rare instances where I've followed new channels that got raided by the official Warframe channel.  One stipulation in regards to channels I will stick around in is if they are displaying Patreon links on their channel however (which has played more of a factor on YouTube than it has on Twitch), going back to he boycott that started against Patreon after the incident that happened in 2021 (which made it clear that "supporting Patreon creators" changed to a "blacklisting Patreon creators" standard in response to their management's actions & not giving an option to appeal it, not to mention some of the most childish actions I've ever seen on any business page on Facebook).  Of course when it comes to raids from the official Warframe channel, it's more a matter of whether I even stay until the stream ends, because lack of acknowledgement of you being the channel (ignoring what you are saying in chat) is a pretty good reason I'll take off, not to mention will usually negate any chance of being followed or subbed to (the reality if it is if the official Warframe channel didn't have drops, I wouldn't even be messing with it).

Steam harassment continues...

The harassment on Steam has picked up again after Steam management started allowing comments on the thread where this original situation started (as was to be expected when I first noticed they were allowing comments in that thread again). It looks at this point that the higher restrictions on the Twitch channel and private Discord is likely going to become permanent, seeing as Steam management can't get their shit together in putting a stop to it.

The end of the heightened alert status is now pushed back to February 22nd, 2027 (determined by the date of the last comment considered as being abusive & deceiving in that thread). The reality of it, however, is that I don't believe we will ever get to the end of the heightened alert period with the continued attacks, so just expect that this status will be indefinitely extended and probably never end... There will be no more updates about pushbacks to this date on this blog, but the expiration date will be listed on the Twitch channel itself (and continue to be pushed back as necessary).

2-year high alert period once again reset

As of 1/28/2025, I have noticed that ALL entries for this blog as been purged from the Google search engine.  This is being viewed as another successful attack, likely organized by the Steam troll community & the CutCafe misinformation channel on YouTube (probably other sources I am not currently aware of).  In response to completion of this attack (which affects Google search results for this blog), the 2-year high alert status is once again being reset (meaning higher restrictions in my Twitch channel, disabled contact email on WonderGamer.net & expiring personal-invite to my Discord server to trusted individuals only).  The estimated end period of high-alert status is now 1/28/2027.

EDIT:  In addition to the extension of this high alert status, I've also decided that since this attack affects this blog, I am also going to disable comments on the blog (at least) until the high alert status ends & posts from this blog once again start showing in search engines (not that I'm expecting either of these to actually happen).

Switching Warframe clan & cleaning up of friend lists

This wasn't widely known by people that follow me on Twitch because I have yet to actually stream Warframe on Twitch, but I was accepted into the Aurora Gladiators clan roughly the end of March in 2023.  As of 9/8/2024 (possibly the day before, after I logged out; I wasn't given any notice about it when it happened), I am officially no longer a part of that clan & have since moved on to another clan.  Seems they are twisting statements I was saying in clan chat (in-game) to make it an offense to their clan rules, thus resulting in being booted from the clan...  I would suspect with the toxicity I got in a off-hand explanation, there's probably ban against my account in their clan as well (not that this is going to matter, I wouldn't be attempting to rejoin after the way they dealt with it anyways, much less recommending them).

One person in the clan that was still on my friend list (who I contacted to try & find out why the actions were taken on their part) ended up needing to be blocked based on accusations being made of my personal site while they were explaining why they believed I was kicked (the assumption on why I was kicked was an acceptable misunderstanding, but the toxic comments towards my site was what warranted I cut ties with him), but they told me to contact another Officer in the clan.  This officer was Deathrow, which unsurprisingly I couldn't contact over DM anymore, nor was I able to whisper them in game (not sure if I was typing their name wrong, all I know was the message wasn't going through & I wasn't able to pull their profile using chat commands).  I made sure to take screenshots of the discussion (should it be needed at a later date, possibly in a review of personal experience while I was in the clan) before I removed them as a friend & added them to my Ignore list (unfortunately Warframe doesn't have proper blocks, so I'll probably still run into them in the future); they were also removed as a friend & blocked on Discord shortly afterwards.

While I received no notice of a removal or even a warning, after speaking with Mike (shortened in-game name, not the full name), it seems the accusation is that I was self-promoting my Twitch channel (among other false-accusations about my site similar to the same degree of what was being stated when the mass-attacks from Steam trolls started).  Just because you say you have a channel, doesn't mean you are promoting it, however given the fact that I made a statement that I would be redirecting any giveaways through the clan (not actually doing giveaways in the clan yet, but it was a consideration when I had something decent I could give up) through my Twitch channel instead, I guess I could see how they could make a mistake of thinking it was a promotion (regardless of how it may have looked, it definitely wasn't intentional).

This could have also been retaliation to the statement that I wasn't going to be donating to the clan anymore (a decision that was decided roughly 4 months ago when it became clear a lot of people couldn't see my posts in clan chat), they were still gaining taxes on trades in the Dojo regardless.

An additional possibility could have been a discussion with Deathrow (again, not the full in-game name) the night of 7/28/2024 (I took screenshots to document the discussion), where I was offered an officer position in the clan (stating they had noticed my willingness to be helpful towards other newer members & even getting some positive statements about it, something I didn't expect with the negativity I was noticing), however I rejected the position, stating that I knew that a number of people already didn't want me in the clan & that I didn't feel I could be proficient as an officer if people couldn't even see what I was saying in clan chat (the lack of responses being a normal issue, particularly at night).

As stated before, I was already considering leaving the clan due to toxicity in it anyways (not to mention a negation of one of their Discord giveaways literally the day before; I'm guessing they thought I wouldn't notice it, but that's kind of hard to miss when I get notifications of mentions on my phone), so their actions just forced my decision to find a better one much quicker (I was probably going to leave before another week had passed anyways).  The individuals that I was intending on getting invites to the clan (friends I was trying to get into the game), obviously I won't be able to invite to that clan anymore (nor would I even recommend them at this point, I'd be more recommending against joining that clan), although I might be able to get invites to the new clan once those friends meet the requirements (I'll have to inquire on what is required later; I only joined a new one today & details are still not entirely clear, outside of it appears that taking part in events is mandatory).

In response to the forced-migration to a better clan, I've cleaned up my friend lists on Warframe & Discord (as well as placing a few blocks/ignores where necessary) to remove anybody I didn't recognize their names or recognized as added in Warframe (those that were a part of the toxicity in the Clan also got added to my block list if I had a discussion over DMs with them).  Many of those that were Twitch streaming buddies are still on the list, however I've removed a few that I added back during my Fortnite days (not specifically remembering much beyond what was in the DM), no blocks were issued against people that didn't deserve it however (I think only 2 blocks were placed on Discord after being booted, both a part of the former-Warframe clan).  If you've been removed from my friend lists & weren't a part of that clan, then I may re-add you on request (I should be able to start streaming again after the 17th after fiber is installed at my home, requests can be made in chat during streams, however due to the channel being on high alert from the Steam attacks, I may not add people if I don't recognize them as being on the list prior & not a part of that clan).

I will also be cleaning out messages I was keeping in my Inbox in Warframe (which were kept as reminders of when I receive a gift), seeing as pretty well ALL gifts in Warframe were from clan members & after their misguided removal, it's not going to be something I want to be remembering, nor does it have any remaining relevancy on friendships if they are still a part of that clan.

For the time being, I am going to hold off on giving the name of the new clan I am in, although it's possible to pull a user's profile in-game using chat commands, so I wouldn't be surprised to see members of that clan looking to cause problems with the new clan I have joined; Warframe permissions unfortunately are just too open when it comes to access & manipulation of information in their game (not to mention a limited ignore system rather than a proper block system).  I'm expecting I will be letting viewers on Twitch know what clan I have joined when I start streaming to Twitch again (estimated to be some time after the 17th when I have fiber transfer rates).  I may also end up sharing/publishing some of the screenshots of discussions I have backed up from when I was in the clan (possibly in a review of the clan on my personal site), but for the time being, I don't see it as necessary (that may change in the future).

Ultimately, I think the safest bet would be to create my own clan, even if it doesn't have a lot of members.  Getting booted from guilds/clans over misunderstandings is nothing uncommon & it's not something only I've become a victim of either, I've heard many other people state the same thing.  There's a reason why I would only ever play on my own Killing Floor server when I played the game, it avoided drama like this because I could deal with people that were causing problems (very rarely needing to, but there was those rare griefing cases).  Who knows, I might even manage to get it into featured clans, however any attempt to do this is going to be a very long ways down the line (not even sure Warframe will still be running by the time I attempt it), I have a long ways to go in the game before I can really even consider it...

UPDATE:  I ultimately decided to take this a step further, that being that now ANYBODY in the Aurora Gladiators clan or any other clan under it's alliance (The Gladiators Legion) are no longer welcome in my channels.  Between 2 to 5 AM after I had logged off, my IRC client picked up 3 of their members joining my channel, I would expect this is while they were deciding to boot me from the clan.  Note that I did not give a link when I mentioned I was going to be doing the giveaways on my channel rather than in the clan, these users must have looked it up themselves & the first one to have joined (not once, but twice, coming back roughly a half hour after they left the first time) has been verified as an officer of the clan based on comments left on the official Warframe forums (promoting their clans).  All 3 of those users were banned from the channel giving a reason showing that their clans & alliance are no longer welcome in the channel (this will also be public in the Now Playing section when Warframe details are in there).

Provided their clan members are only watching, not causing problems in chat & (DEFINATELY) don't disclose that they are in one of those clans, they won't be banned from the channel.  If it is determined that they are in one of the clans in that alliance however (currently including Aurora, Celestial, Darkfall, Lunar, Nightfall, Quantum, Radiant, Solar & Tempest from what I can find online) they will be banned from the channel on association with it as a result of the actions by their officers on 9/8/2024.

I was booted from the clan under the accusation that I was promoting my channel.  Given I'm currently banning all members of their alliance (one of the largest alliances in the game) spotted in my channel (and verified as a member of it), can they really still make that claim?

Getting fiber, expecting to start up streams again

I received a phone call yesterday regarding fiber now being available in my neighborhood through CenturyLink (or more accurately, was available since March of 2022, so I'm getting notice roughly 2 and a half years late).  I have set up a date to have it installed, as well a getting my speeds updated to a fiber plan, so my 40 mbps download & 3 upload will be upgraded to 500 mbps both ways.  This means that streaming of online games will be an option again, so I'm expecting I will start streaming again once I have the new connection rates, as early as the 17th when it's installed.

Note that I no longer play Fortnite however (I don't even have this game installed anymore), not after Epic Games stole 4 years of my life from collecting V-Bucks for use in the Save the World mode (roughly 37,100 V-Bucks forcibly transferred to the Battle Royale mode, a mode I don't play).
I have been playing a lot of Warframe lately, so there's a very high likelyhood that this will be the first game I stream once I am able to do so again.
I am still looking for a decent method to be able to stream from console systems again (spending a lot of time & money on Nintendo Switch games after the attacks from Steam trolls started targeting me over multiple sites); it may require new hardware, but ultimately console system games could become a part of the Twitch channel again (if I can find something that actually works, Elgato still ignoring requests for the old Game Capture HD to be fixed with Twitch streaming).

One final note is that it appears health issues are still going to be playing a part in how long I will be able to stream...  After going back to my old surgeon, it's been determined that the masses that have to be removed are too big & is currently determined to be inoperable...  If I do go back to them again, I'm considering asking if skin grafting could be an option.  In any case, this issue is causing an ongoing issue that results in anemia as a result of loss of blood, so if I do get back to Twitch streaming, periods of how long I can stream for may be limited...

The other issue here is that because of the mass attacks from Steam, my channels are still on high alert & therefore high restrictions are still in place.  This shouldn't affect anybody who has an account over a year old, has followed the channel for over 6 months or has a verified phone number on their account, but for those who haven't met any of these conditions, chatting in the channel won't be an option...  These restrictions won't be reverted back to what is normal until 2 years after the last attack, which is currently expected to be 5/30/2026.  Additionally, permissions on my Discord server still remain as invite only & invites are only offered to those I trust on request, this will continue until the 2-year period has expired since the last attack from Steam trolls.

Due to cutoffs from certain PC gaming platforms, I will not be able to run games over their platforms until I am able to acquire a copy of Windows 10 (or higher) to be able to continue running these platforms & gain back the option to run games I already own over them (this includes a number of games that were updated since then & no longer run on Windows 7).  Due to my personal site & this blog being blacklisted on Bing, I am unwilling to put any more money into Microsoft, so any legitimate copy of a newer OS will only happen if gifted to me (I won't waste any of my own money on any more Microsoft products, this was also a deterant to getting an XBOX system when it was being considered, instead going back to Nintendo when I got a Switch).

Current games & platforms that I have confirmed as not runnable on my current OS include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Ubisoft Connect (formerly Uplay)
• 7 Days to Die
• For Honor 
• Grand Theft Auto IV
• No Man's Sky
• Soulworker

Note that this is only a small portion of this list, there are plenty of other games that I haven't considered streaming or playiing yet & some games that aren't allowed to be streamed on Twitch or videos of those games uploaded to YouTube. I will continue adding to the list as I run into more games owned that I can no longer run.