alecgdouglas

The Problem

When I navigate to giantbomb.com it does not show me as logged in. I can click the "Login" link in the top right corner, log in, and be redirected back to the landing page (giantbomb.com) and I will still be logged out. This means I'm always seeing ads on the front page despite being a premium member.

If I click on the link to the forums then the top right corner will show me as logged in without any problems. Returning to the front page shows me as logged out again (and behaves as if I'm logged out, i.e. there are ads).

If I click on a link to a video (including premium videos) then it will show me as logged in and I can play the video. Again, returning to the front page from there shows me as logged out.

If I click the "Join" link in the top right corner then the Join page (https://auth.giantbomb.com/signup/) shows a message at the top that says "You are already signed in silly. Sign out first, then sign up."

Additionally, it appears that if I wait a while (5+ minutes?) on a page that shows me as logged in correctly (e.g. forums, video page, etc.) (turns out this happens on any page, including the landing page) then try to return to the front page or refresh the front page it finally shows me as logged in correctly.

After a while (a few hours?) of not browsing the site when I return to the site the problem returns.

Environment Details

OS: Ubuntu 16.04

Browser: Reproduced with Chrome v56.0.2924.87 (64-bit) in and out of incognito mode.

Also reproduced with Firefox 51.0.1 (64-bit) in and out of a private window.

Additional Details

Here's a screenshot of the console following logging in and getting redirected to the front page:

@ara313: Reported this specific issue in the bug report forum:

http://www.giantbomb.com/forums/bug-reporting-33/accessing-api-token-pages-while-logged-out-dont-re-1807527/

@rheediculous: That's great to hear, thanks!

Hey there,

Here's the repro steps for this issue:

1. Log out of your account on giantbomb.com OR open an incognito tab
2. Navigate to one of the API token pages, e.g. http://www.giantbomb.com/app/gbenthusiast/ or http://www.giantbomb.com/boxee
3. You'll be redirected to the auth page to log in
4. Enter your username + password and click on "Log in" button

Expected: You are returned to your originally requested page (e.g. http://www.giantbomb.com/app/gbenthusiast/) and are logged in.

Actual: You are taken to http://www.giantbomb.com/

This has confused at least a few of my users while trying to link their accounts to my app (Giant Bomb Enthusiast App) since they never see the API token page at all and need to manually navigate to their originally requested page for a second time.

@baag, @gerriam, @crackity_jones, @fireworksordie: Hey Shield TV users!

I'd love to upload the app to the Play Store for users like yourselves but I only have Fire TV devices handy and am not in a huge rush to drop $200 on a Shield so I have proposition to make:

If at least a couple of you are willing to be my brave test subjects and join a beta channel through the Play Store then I'll release it for Android officially.

A few things:

• I'd need you to use the app at least once a week (and let me know if you are no longer available to do so). This is just so I can be somewhat confident that at least one person has seen and used the app on this device prior to pushing updates from the beta channel into prod. I usually let updates bake for approximately 1 week in the beta channel for FTV and would do the same for Android. This is really the most important for the initial release to ensure it's not completely broken out of the gate - subsequent updates should be mostly okay without frequent testing since FTV and Android TV devices are so similar.
• I'd need you to be willing to report issues to me, either here or at gbenthusiast (at) gmail (dot) com.
• I'd only support Nvidia Shield devices for now, but I'd be willing to add more Android TV devices to that list if I get any users of other devices volunteering to be in the beta channel.

Let me know if any of you are interested/willing - the best way forward would be to email me at gbenthusiast (at) gmail (dot) com with what device you'd be using (I think there are at least 2 different Shield TV models) and the email you'd like me to add to the beta pool.

Thanks!

P.S. - If there are any FTV users out there who want to help out with testing, I'm always looking for more people to add to my FTV testing pool. Hit me up via email to get yourself added (and include which FTV device you use). The way the testing pool works is I add you to the list, you accept the invite, then you'll add the (testing) version to your device via amazon.com like normal. You'll get automatic updates same as before, just 1-2 weeks prior to everyone else.

@digitaldiatribe: Heh that was a pleasant surprise for me too - definitely not something I had done any testing for.

@rheediculous: Hi there - are there any plans to include the "video_show" along with the category in the "video_type" field of a video?

For example, Jar Time videos have a "video_type" of "premium" but I don't see any way to link the Jar Time videos returned by a /video query to the "Jar Time" video_show.

<video>

<api_detail_url>http://www.giantbomb.com/api/video/2300-11876/</api_detail_url>

<deck>Why is this mic slightly blown out even though the gain is turned all the way down? That's just one of the questions that aren't answered in this masterfully produced video.</deck>

<hd_url>http://v.giantbomb.com/2017/02/17/mc_jeffqa_20170216_4000.mp4</hd_url>

<high_url>http://v.giantbomb.com/2017/02/17/mc_jeffqa_20170216_3200.mp4</high_url>

<low_url>http://v.giantbomb.com/2017/02/17/mc_jeffqa_20170216_1800.mp4</low_url>

<embed_player>http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/embed/11876/</embed_player>

<id>11876</id>

<length_seconds>4808</length_seconds>

<name>Jar Time w/ Jeff 02/16/2017</name>

<publish_date>2017-02-16 18:00:00</publish_date>

<site_detail_url>http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/jar-time-w-jeff-02162017/2300-11876/</site_detail_url>

<url>mc_jeffqa_20170216.flv</url>

<image>

<icon_url>http://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/square_avatar/2919980-vlcsnap-error506.png</icon_url>

<medium_url>http://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/scale_medium/2919980-vlcsnap-error506.png</medium_url>

<screen_url>http://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/screen_medium/2919980-vlcsnap-error506.png</screen_url>

<small_url>http://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/scale_small/2919980-vlcsnap-error506.png</small_url>

<super_url>http://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/scale_large/2919980-vlcsnap-error506.png</super_url>

<thumb_url>http://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/scale_avatar/2919980-vlcsnap-error506.png</thumb_url>

<tiny_url>http://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/square_mini/2919980-vlcsnap-error506.png</tiny_url>

</image>

<user>jeff</user>

<video_type>Premium</video_type>

<youtube_id/>

</video>

The reason it would be useful to have the video_shows included is for better categorization of videos in apps. I would love to be able to have a Jar Time category in my app but unless I do that manually (yuck) I can only categorize these types of videos as "premium". This is equally true for the other shows as well (Blue Bombin', Old Games, GBE Playdate, etc.).

(Also consider renaming the "video_type" field on videos to something else since the "video_type" API is deprecated)

@jupham: Thanks for checking it out and the kind words, enjoy!

This is great! Having such explicit instructions available will really help new app developers! (This should get stickied)

Quick question (I'd PM you but others might find the answer helpful): What is the timeline (if any) for deprecation of the old http://www.giantbomb.com/api/validate?link_code=[LINK_CODE] endpoint?

I also noticed that if you go to http://www.giantbomb.com/app/[APP_NAME]/ while not logged in you get prompted to log in (good) but after logging in you get taken to the Giant Bomb landing page instead of the app registration code page you initially requested.

Any chance this could get changed so users stay on the reg code page after logging in?

(This issue also exists on the old boxee link code page and I've had at least one user get completely lost after getting kicked over to the landing page and then give up because they were unable to find anything that looked like a link code)

Just released a new version - I finally managed to fix the crash that would happen when the app was OOM killed in the background and relaunched. You may have noticed that sometimes when you launched the app it would show up momentarily before bringing you right back to the FTV home screen. And sometimes when you launched the app into the quality-selection screen and tried to press back to browse videos it would just close instead. This update (1.071) should fix both of those issues (plus a smaller issue with unlinking and relinking your account).

I've updated the main post with the patch notes and a link to the new APK.