Request: Add status of images to prevent hammering API

When getting, for example, the full list of all games (at a rate of 100 per request, one request per second) you then have to throw a GET or a HEAD request to all images links to see if they don’t redirect to a default image.

Let’s say we have 7k games, let’s say we only need one image (the cover) and provide a local default image (instead of spending like 500ms per game waiting for a redirect then loading a default image), then we would need to check 7k links from our backend. What takes 70 seconds without checking the image now takes almost 2 hours (again with 1 second wait between request). By hammering the API as fast as possible it still takes 5 minutes, and the idea is not to hammer the API.

Could you please add a field or some way to know, in the bulk response, than the image isn’t actually the game’s image?

Assuming you mean box art,

You can try the Giantbomb database/api as that is where Twitch gets it’s game information from anyway, and it provides BoxArt.

Though heaven knows why you want to grab/cache ALL game box art I don’t know…

Perhaps you can explain your use case?

GiantBomb has a strict “Non-commercial use only” policy it seems.

I’m working on a mobile application which will centralize all your favorite gaming news, streams and videos. In the streams part, we’ve got a list of games, shown with their box art (I wrote “cover” because it’s the API name).

Our current problem is that loading all those images over redirects can take a noticeably long time on mobile, especially with a bad connection. We just want to have local default instead of Twitch defaults, the problem is simple.
The current solution is that our backend has to send a HEAD request for each link provided by the API, one by one, and check if it redirects. We have no idea if there is a limit on those links at all. I know that there is no real rate limiting on the API, but we limit ourselves to 1 request per second. But those links aren’t part of the API? Can we hammer them?

It would be so simple if the API didn’t return a default silently, and provide a default image somewhere else instead.

Assumption: (non default/missing) box art never changes.

Therefore: collect only once then periodically check for broken/default box art and then manually trigger a force update for box art you know has changed. As in never poll the WHOLE inventory twice…

Suggestion: find a source that has a commercial use policy (yay licensing fees this stuff ain’t free you know).
Suggestion: curate your own box art (this has it’s own licensing issues)

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