Hi everyone! This is the IRIAM US Team.
This month’s app update changes how new Streamers get started on IRIAM. In this Dev Diary, along with that and a few minor bug fixes, we'll also introduce Shirasu's new friends and share how Community Rank will be used in events going forward.
Let's get into it!
🚪Streaming on IRIAM, From Here On
As we mentioned in last month's Dev Diary, starting with today's update, the way new Streamers begin on IRIAM is changing: instead of an application and interview, the first step is now the tutorial missions in the app.
From now on, people who have their own character model or illustration and want to stream on IRIAM can start streaming once they’ve cleared all of the tutorial missions.
The tutorial missions include a few hours of watching, across several streams. Compared with what it takes to get started on most streaming platforms, starting on IRIAM still asks for quite a bit of time.
We’ve kept it that way on purpose. Before new Streamers take their first step, we hope they’ll take their time watching streams and communities here on IRIAM, learning from them, and enjoying then, so they get a real feel for what streams on IRIAM are like, and what Viewers experience when they come to a stream.
- Now that streaming can start through the tutorial missions, applications for IRIAM Early Access Streamer are closed.
- After the update, once someone has cleared all of the tutorial missions and is ready to stream, they’ll get a notice in the app.
If you see someone getting started on IRIAM because they looked up to your streams and your community, we'd love for you to welcome them as warmly as you always do!
To Everyone Thinking About Streaming on IRIAM
- Want to stream on IRIAM, but don't have your own character model yet? There's the Debut Support Program!
- It's a program where the IRIAM team provides a character model made just for you. Be sure to check it out as one of your options.
- Once you're ready to debut, you might want to post on X or other social media with the #JumpOnIRIAM tag.
- Official reposts are only for Early Access Streamers, but you're always welcome to use the tag! Many new Streamers, and people who want to meet new Streamers, use it with care for one another, so we'd ask that you keep using it just once per person.
- Every month, IRIAM holds the Rookie Cup, an event only for Streamers who have just started streaming!
- Which month's Rookie Cup you can enter depends on when you did your first stream on that account. If the Rookie Cup is your first big goal, it might be a good idea to plan your first stream with that in mind.
- The best role models for streaming on IRIAM are the amazing Streamers streaming here right now! Spending time in their streams as a Viewer, and getting a feel for what really matters in a stream, is one of the best things the IRIAM team can recommend to new Streamers who want to build a great stream and community.
⏸️ IRIAM Friends
Shirasu has brought along some friends we'd love for you to meet!
The IRIAM Friends, much loved on IRIAM in Japan, are coming to IRIAM US this month.
A slightly quirky, warm-hearted bunch, always right by your side.
We've put together a page introducing each of them. Have fun looking through it and figuring out who your favorite is, or which one you'd get along with best!
And to celebrate the Friends' very first debut, we've prepared Gifts and a Background!
Starting the day after the update (October 20, 9:00 PM EDT), these IRIAM Friends Gifts and the Background can be used by everyone, in every stream.
Also, until now, the default icon for every new IRIAM user has always been Shirasu... but starting October 27, the Friends are joining in, and new users will get Shirasu or one of the Friends at random!
It could be fun to chat on stream about which Friend is most like you, or to guess what each Friend's personality is like. Drawing the Friends, or putting them in your thumbnails, is more than welcome too!
Find your favorite Friend, and become good friends with them 🙌
🌱Community Rank in Events
Next up: we'll gradually start using Community Rank, which we introduced in June, for event matching.
For the background on Community Rank, take another look at our earlier Dev Diary.
Why We're Introducing Community Rank The biggest reason: to make event matching fairer. Right now, some IRIAM events use the previous month's Fan Badge count as an entry requirement. Fan Badge count works as a rough gauge for getting in, but on its own it can't fully capture a Streamer's actual activity or how lively a community really is. "There's got to be a better way to match" — we suspect many of you have felt that way. Community Rank is what we've prepared as the answer. With a rank that reflects both how lively a community is and the streaming a Streamer has built up over time, we can work toward a world where communities of similar energy get matched in events. For instance, events open only to communities at or below a certain rank, or events only for high-ranked communities with the track record and energy to match — things like that become possible once rank is working well. Especially for ranking-style events, we believe building this kind of fair matching, and this variety of events, is better for everyone.
Mainly for ranking events from December onward, we plan to move step by step to event formats that make use of Community Rank. Much like the entry requirements Premium Events have had so far, some events will be open only to communities that meet a certain Community Rank. In other cases, the same kind of event will be split into divisions for each rank.
We're making these changes with three goals in mind: to let every community take on ranking events in a way that feels more worth the challenge than ever, to give you a clearer guide for choosing the ranking events your community will enjoy most, and above all, to make the experience of each event a better one.
Even before Community Rank comes to ranking events in December,The Shirasu Bun Eating Contest, our popular casual ranking event, is coming back in the first week of November! It will be the very first event to use Community Rank, so you can get a feel for how it works.
This time, there will be three divisions: C1 to C3, B1 to B3, and A1 to A3. Each division will crown its own Eating Champion!
If you’re going for the title, be sure to save some room in your stomach for Shirasu Buns!
🎂November Is Anniversary Month!
This November, IRIAM US turns two. We want to make the whole month a celebration, and we'll start sharing what we've been preparing very soon. Stay tuned!
🛠️ Bug Fixes & Improvements
Thank you as always for sending bug reports and feedback! Here are a few of the fixes included in this update:
- Fixed an issue where, on iOS with some versions of X, posting your stream to X shared only the URL.
- Fixed an issue where face tracking could appear upside down if you started streaming with your phone turned upside down.
- Fixed an issue where some streams didn't end properly.
- Plus a few other tweaks and minor bug fixes.
This month brought a new way to start streaming, a whole new group of Friends, and a first look at Community Rank in events. What comes next for IRIAM will keep being shaped by your streams and by what you tell us, so if anything about these changes comes to mind, please keep letting us know!
Until the next entry,
— IRIAM US Team
