Last year has proven that if you leave a stream wide open for anyone to jump in at will, it will be a poor stream and eventually useless to maintain. Thus, making the game available to, no one.
Streams are not the equivalent to say viewing a TV in person in the sense that the quality is the same if 100 pairs of eyes are viewing it or 500 pairs of eyes are viewing it. As each dozen of members view the stream, the quality decreases at a certain threshold.
If the link is naively posted all over the internet pushing thousands into the stream, how does that benefit the contributing members of PH who ... actually appreciate the effort and quality of the stream without bitching about it? It doesn't. So to keep the stream watchable for members of PH who appreciate the website and contribute to its quality, the stream is provided through a 'series of hoops' in which I'm willing trust they are okay with, as the alternative is not watching the game at all.
I ask you kindly to back off your condescending remarks regarding how the stream is maintained and I ask you more to understand that the stream is provided for PH members, not the entire ignorant world who can't read a post. (that last part is directed for people who have to ask what the password is instead of wiping their own ass)
And if you missed the game due to not scrolling down, I do apologize, but please know you're one of the select few members that if I received a msg of any sort inquiring how to view it, I'd have taken the time to assist. It's the people who come here ONLY for the stream and ask the same question over and over again that dry out my patience.