A new content streaming platform known as Moonbeam is drawing on the knowledge of TTRPG actual-play organizers and content creators to create what it hopes is an alternative to Twitch and Discord.
Moonbeam is a new streaming platform launched by Vokamancy last week on Backerkit. This platform is attempting to create a hybrid version of Twitch and Discord that it hopes will provide the tools necessary for online creators to earn reliable income, establish a strong community, and combat online hate in chat through powerful content moderation tools.
Cofounded by Anthony Joyce-Rivera and Patrick Conrey, the platform presents a grand vision of what Twitch could be by focusing on three pillars of presentation. Joyce-Rivera is a military veteran who has worked for several years in TTRPG design at companies like Critical Role, MCDM and even Wizards of the Coast. Conrey, in contrast, is a PhD student from Carnegie Mellon who specializes in how AI and speech relate to each other online. He’s also worked in app development.
Moonbeam is built on three pillars, Joyce-Rivera and Conrey said in an interview.
- Community and Conversation
- Content Moderation
- Monetization
Moonbeam Community:
When asked what funders’ priorities are, Joyce-Rivera said that more than 60% stated in a poll that building a community was their top priority. Moonbeam intends to create “Realmsm, ” which are independent servers where creators can host streams on the same platform their community chats on regularly. The model that I was presented with resembled a hybrid between Twitch and Discord.
This design decision, the two founders claim, would help alleviate the two issues of streamer presence and of community. If a Twitch streamer wants to be successful now, Joyce-Rivera said, they have to put in long hours that would make the practice basically a second job. By having the streaming platform, known as a ‘Realm’, host a Discord-like server when the streamer isn’t on the platform, it ensures that the website is still available and visible. It would also allow for multiple streamers and empower users to keep talking after streams and continue interactions.
Moonbeam is “co-locating content where the community is,” Joyce-Rivera told The Fandomentals.
Moonbeam Content Moderation:
Conrey has developed Pyxis, an AI-powered content moderation bot that they claim is effective at detecting hate speech, self harm, violent language, and profanity, especially compared to other tools on the market. In the short demo I watched, Joyce-Rivera typed several statements into a chat on the alpha version of Moonbeam, which then identified what the tone of the statement was, and whether it could be hate speech. That would then allow a moderator to choose whether to keep or remove the post.
Conrey claims Pyxis can do what larger social networks have struggled to do, and the team has given demos of Pyxis to over 140 creators, community members, and moderators. In all of the demos, Pyxis accurately identified toxic language.
None of the testers were able to stump the content moderation software.
I will admit some skepticism about Conrey’s claims. I spent over two years at my former employer reporting on technology companies and their efforts to regulate speech. I can affirmatively say that content moderation is hard and that algorithms can only do so much.
Moonbeam Monetization:
This refers to both how the company intends to fund itself and how it intends to provide money to creators. One of the main selling points will be “Moonstones”, a premium currency that people can buy to purchase subscription and buy other servers on the website. This provides money directly to Moonbeam. The moonstones can then be spent on whatever streamer they like, who also receive 100% of the income.
The moonstones appear to be the primary source of income proposed by the company, alongside a premium subscription service that would remove ads.
Conrey said he was considering selling copies of Pyxis to other companies for their content moderation purposes, but he didn’t elaborate on that plan.
Moonbeam’s Future:
The three pillars seem promising, particularly given the founders’ interest in serving the TTRPG/Actual Play community. The project was launched on Backerkit alongside five other Moonbeam-centered projects sponsored by organizations like Monte Cook Games and Gen Con TV. There’s also been a specific focus on actual-play streamers and on TTRPG communities, although Moonbeam can easily serve other communities as well.
While $10,000 is a bit low for a startup with as much vision as Moonbeam presents, the company intends to seek VC funding afterward to cover the technology costs required.
We’re in the early stages of Moonbeam’s development, so making claims about the product’s future is hard. Social media competitors like Facebook Gaming or Kick have struggled to keep up or hold onto their audience, so there’s reason to be skeptical about Moonbeam’s future. At the same time, it’s hard not to find Moonbeam’s vision appealing as an alternative to Twitch. It combines two popular models into a single mode and offers creators new tools for success. If their claims are as they say, Moonbeam could provide a meaningful alternative to Twitch and Discord that’s profitable and that could help TTRPG creators and actual-play creators to stream their content online.
Images via Moonbeam
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