There is a really growing problem within the Trovo streaming sphere, called treasure boxes. The problem is that box farmers are causing discomfort for many streamers and outright driving some away from the platform. Now, why is this happening?

When treasure boxes were first introduced several months ago, it was to help streamers get their streams out to a wider audience for a little monetary incentive. The idea was that you would gain more viewers on your channel by offering treasure boxes. However, over time a cultural shift fundamentally changed the viewer experience. Viewers were no longer interacting with streams. All they were coming into streams for was clicking on treasure boxes for a chance to win whatever prizes were offered.

Trovo was trying, and still is trying, to figure out how to better structure the treasure box system to make it a more positive experience for everyone involved – streamers, viewers, and Trovo itself. The problem is that treasure box abuse is still a growing issue. The number of box farmers has exploded, where now so many streams are just filled with chatbot notifications of people clicking boxes to enter chances to win, or long strings of generated texts being posted. There is very little genuine interaction between streamers and viewers unless a streamer has built a tight-knit community previously or during the height of the Treasure Box era.

Trovo is trying to address this issue but in doing so it has caused more problems by changing elements of the Trovo 500 program. This program aims to provide recurring monetary support to streamers who stream substantial hours and gain increased viewership and watch time over time. However, it is highly competitive. If a streamer gains more viewers from non-English speaking countries like Russia rather than their target English-speaking audience, Trovo will move that streamer into a more competitive segment of the Trovo 500 program where it is harder to stay competitive.

This is causing streamers to have to spend more money putting higher stakes on treasure boxes just to get the return on investment, but they then have to stream more hours and days just to maintain their previous level of competitiveness. It has become a losing battle. As a result, many English-speaking North American streamers are becoming disillusioned with Trovo. They have started streaming less, abandoning treasure boxes entirely, or abandoning the Trovo platform altogether by moving to Twitch or quitting streaming.

This is a huge problem for Trovo considering English-speaking streamers make up only around 10% of its overall user base – a very small minority. If this segment continues to shrink or disappear, it will be much harder for new streamers to break out on the platform. Word of mouth from existing English streamers is important for attracting more to the platform.

The community has put forth some suggestions for how Trovo could help stem the tide of departing streamers. One idea is region-locking treasure boxes so they only appear for viewers in that region. For example, only have boxes available in the North American English community region. This could help combat box farmer abuse and lessen the damage done.

Another suggestion removing treasure boxes entirely, as the system itself seems fundamentally flawed and in need of a total rework if Trovo wants it to remain profitable for them and useful for discovery. A middle-ground option might be limiting boxes to just one run per week for streamers.

It remains to be seen how Trovo will address this issue going forward. If a new viewer tunes into a stream now, they likely just see repeated generic box entry texts with no genuine chat interaction. Viewership won't stick around without a sense of community. The current system essentially functions like online gambling.

Trovo has a big problem that needs fixing very soon. If left unaddressed, we will continue to see English streamers abandon the platform for other options like Twitch, Glimesh, or YouTube, or quit streaming entirely. Streamers are the lifeblood and content creators for any platform - they need to be treated as the priority rather than focusing on maximizing profits from box farmers and abusers.

What are your thoughts on potential solutions for Trovo regarding the ongoing treasure box issues? The platform's future relies on promptly fixing this cultural shift to return streams to a place of community rather than endless clicking for chances to win. Streamers will continue departing unless meaningful changes are made. I'm curious to hear other perspectives on approaches Trovo could take to remedy this growing problem.