What to Stream, What to Stream?

Game type is important for my personality. I like playing all sorts of games. However, I’ve primarily lived in the first-person-shooter (FPS) world. Those were the games I liked the most growing up and I was generally pretty good at them. I still like them today. Other types of games I like are usually puzzle or platforming games. Some strategy games. My favorite of these varieties is Zelda and Mario games, as well as many Nintendo classics.

When streaming, puzzle and platforming games are just more fun to play. I have fun with FPS games, but there isn’t as much strategy or thought-process going into shooter games than there are puzzle games. I like to explain where I’m going and what I’m doing and how I’m thinking about it. It’s a lot hard when I’m playing the same FPS map on repeat. The competition is interesting, but I’m not as interesting. I don’t have as much to talk about, especially when no one is in my chat watching me. Why does that matter?

Talking, even when no one is watching is important both for when people show up, but also for practice. I can easily get lost in the competition of an FPS game. With puzzle games, I can take my time, explain, think, and SAY all the things that are going on. I can pause and address the chat if needed. Frankly, saying things out loud when solving a puzzle actually helps me solve it.

When I don’t have a lot of followers or viewers, I think engagement is the most important part of streaming, and I engage better with certain games. I think that’s my goal moving forward, to play the kinds of games that give me the opportunity to engage in chat. Maybe, just maybe if I get a good following, I’d venture into FPS while people in chat comment and talk amongst themselves. I’m not at that point in my stream yet so I’ll probably avoid it for the most part. FPS competitive.

I’ve been streaming Zelda: Breath of the Wild so far and it’s been fun. I want to keep on the Zelda track for a while, so I will probably get a switch and play some other Zelda games too after this. Zelda: Links Awakening is going to be my next game. It looks like a ton of fun.

All that being said, there are a variety of opinions on WHAT people should stream. “Stream what you like.” “Stream popular games.” “Stream Indie unique games.” I’d say it probably differs based on the streamer, and is likely a combination of things that should determine this. Luckily, even though I love FPS games, I love streaming puzzle games. So that’s the focus…for now.

Until something else sways my opinion. Or the stats say otherwise.

Week One Recap: Stay the Course

Week One

I’m going to start out with some statistics.

Hours Streaming: 33

Number of views: 177

Followers: 12

Primary Game: Zelda Breath of the Wild

Given I would say at least an hour or two of the above streaming time was devoted to troubleshooting video and sound, but for the most part, I streamed quite a bit. More than I expected.

Two of the followers are people I know. My girlfriend and my mom. I think the number of views is potentially recurring views from the same people over and over again. Like if they come in and then leave for a bit and then come back. I think both of those count as a view. So it could really be one person viewing over and over again, even though I know that isn’t exactly the case.

Looking at it all as a whole, I’m pretty proud of myself. Not only for what I’ve accomplished in my first week streaming, but for how I think I am as a streamer. I was afraid that I wouldn’t know what to talk about but it turns out I have plenty to talk about when I’m playing puzzle or strategy games. I like puzzles and strategies, and I like explaining how I’m figuring things out. It gives me something to talk about and it’s interesting. Though it’s still to be determined if it’s interesting for others to watch. It could be a good way for viewers to engage.

I have a total of ten unknown followers. That’s pretty good for one week. Especially since I’m playing a game that doesn’t have a very high viewer-count overall, on a streaming platform that is 4^th largest overall.

I’ve been really good with engagement. When I say really good, I mean I talk A LOT. It’s not as hard as I expected.

I am now streaming my Wii U, which is not what I was expecting to play, but something I knew was a possibility. I think I’m trying to avoid the over-saturated games, so I’m playing Nintendo games for now. I may eventually move to a Switch game if I buy the Switch, but that’ll be in a month or two. In the meantime, I have a lot of Zelda to play.

Other games I want to get into are different Mario games, Stardew Valley, and potentially some puzzle games. Platformer games are super fun for me too.

Part of my planning will need to research some puzzle games to check out. They are fun to play, and fun to talk about.

I managed to get the audio working pretty well for my stream. It took some troubleshooting and some wonderful help from my awesome girlfriend. There are ways that I can improve the experience still, but I’m not going to invest any money into streaming until it makes sense (any more money).

I’ve had a couple of followers talk quite a bit in chat, but it’s been mostly lurkers for my viewers and followers so far. That being said, having people talking at all in my chat is surprising for me in my first week.

Another notable accomplishment: graphics. I've begun to create my own overlays. I'm also working with a little Avatar/ICON for my stream. it'll constantly evolve but I think it's a good start.

For now, I am going to stay the course. I think I’m going in the right direction so far.