Demion wrote: »

People actually watch other people play a video game? I thought "no way...I must be reading this wrong...surely there's something people do there other than watch someone else play a video game. Nope...that's it?

People actually watch others play football?

Its entertainment for some and yes even a living for others, as long as we find it entertainment for many reason it will be a living for them, ad advertisement and yeah they will make money from it. And it will only grow now when watching it is very mobile.

They're not pro sports players, they (and Youtube channel folks/etc) are just extroverts, loudmouths, and class clowns, thinking that they're somehow worth broadcasting to the masses.

I guess part of my issue is having watched, over the years, as stuff people used to do for fun (making FAQ's, game hints, etc) slowly got subsumed under a wave of "monetization" - "But can this be monetized?" "how can I monetize this?" "I deserve for this thing I do to be monetized!" Feh. And that's even before you think about the fact that they're earning this money using other people's intellectual property. I'm surprised the game companies didn't fight that harder, but I suppose they consider it 'free advertising'.

Kiralyn2000 wrote: »

Demion wrote: »

People actually watch other people play a video game? I thought "no way...I must be reading this wrong...surely there's something people do there other than watch someone else play a video game. Nope...that's it?

People actually watch others play football?

Its entertainment for some and yes even a living for others, as long as we find it entertainment for many reason it will be a living for them, ad advertisement and yeah they will make money from it. And it will only grow now when watching it is very mobile.

They're not pro sports players, they (and Youtube channel folks/etc) are just extroverts, loudmouths, and class clowns, thinking that they're somehow worth broadcasting to the masses.

I guess part of my issue is having watched, over the years, as stuff people used to do for fun (making FAQ's, game hints, etc) slowly got subsumed under a wave of "monetization" - "But can this be monetized?" "how can I monetize this?" "I deserve for this thing I do to be monetized!" Feh. And that's even before you think about the fact that they're earning this money using other people's intellectual property. I'm surprised the game companies didn't fight that harder, but I suppose they consider it 'free advertising'.

reality TV says hi.

if people want to watch them and give them money? you don't have to understand or relate. just accept that some people enjoy watching other people do whatever.

also.. not all of the twitch streamers are loudmouths and class clowns. there are all kinds of streamers out there.

Kiralyn2000 wrote: »

Demion wrote: »

People actually watch other people play a video game? I thought "no way...I must be reading this wrong...surely there's something people do there other than watch someone else play a video game. Nope...that's it?

People actually watch others play football?

Its entertainment for some and yes even a living for others, as long as we find it entertainment for many reason it will be a living for them, ad advertisement and yeah they will make money from it. And it will only grow now when watching it is very mobile.

They're not pro sports players, they (and Youtube channel folks/etc) are just extroverts, loudmouths, and class clowns, thinking that they're somehow worth broadcasting to the masses.

I guess part of my issue is having watched, over the years, as stuff people used to do for fun (making FAQ's, game hints, etc) slowly got subsumed under a wave of "monetization" - "But can this be monetized?" "how can I monetize this?" "I deserve for this thing I do to be monetized!" Feh. And that's even before you think about the fact that they're earning this money using other people's intellectual property. I'm surprised the game companies didn't fight that harder, but I suppose they consider it 'free advertising'.

People watch non-pro sports too, which is beside the point. If some of the successful YouTubers and streamers happen to be "extroverts, loudmouths, and class clowns" it means that that's what some people enjoy watching. There are also streamers who are among the best at what they do in game and have informative interactive streams.

Why shouldn't people be able to make their livelihood making videos of video games? For the most part, the people who are consistently successful/popular put a lot of effort into these videos.

Aesthier wrote: »

Well other than ZoS giving away lotto boxes through twitch.

In all fairness I just don't care about vanity items.

krachall wrote: »

I've seen the posts about Twitch Crates but had very little knowledge of what Twitch is. I heard a business podcast on how the company got started (very interesting, btw, if you're a fan of business startup stories) so I knew the general premise but I'd never looked into what it actually does.

With all the talk of Twitch and Crates, I did some research. I'm in a bit of shock...

People actually watch other people play a video game? I thought "no way...I must be reading this wrong...surely there's something people do there other than watch someone else play a video game. Nope...that's it?

Maybe because I'm older but actually PLAYING a video game is, by far, the biggest waste of time I have in my life. But watching someone else play a video game is about the lamest thing I've ever heard!

Do people really do that or are they just doing it for free crates? Honestly...

Eh ... I agree with you.. playing game is a waste of time. Watching some else play a game is even bigger waste of time. Just like watching football or baseball or golf or any other game.

Bottom line... it is entertainment.. which is a waste of time... which something you enjoy doing with essentially is a relax time.. which in turn is not a waste of time.

Not only watch, some people even idolize streamers

Streams can be a good way to learn builds, farmings spots, and get better at the game.

For example, if I want to learn how to make gold with the latest patch or new/rare furniture I watch jhartellis on Twitch. For other stuff, alcast for pve builds, and fengrush for pvp.

Ectheliontnacil wrote: »

Streamsniping is fun.

the only streamer i do watch that pvps - uses 5 minute stream delay :P

Do you watch TV? Movies? It's entertainment just like watching games

ku5h wrote: »

Shadesofkin wrote: »

krachall wrote: »

I've seen the posts about Twitch Crates but had very little knowledge of what Twitch is. I heard a business podcast on how the company got started (very interesting, btw, if you're a fan of business startup stories) so I knew the general premise but I'd never looked into what it actually does.

With all the talk of Twitch and Crates, I did some research. I'm in a bit of shock...

People actually watch other people play a video game? I thought "no way...I must be reading this wrong...surely there's something people do there other than watch someone else play a video game. Nope...that's it?

Maybe because I'm older but actually PLAYING a video game is, by far, the biggest waste of time I have in my life. But watching someone else play a video game is about the lamest thing I've ever heard!

Do people really do that or are they just doing it for free crates? Honestly...

Literally no difference between watching Twitch and watching Sunday Football.

Yea, no difference at all. One is taking place in real world with pro players who's shape, skill and form will never be attainable to you, literally decades of dedicated work to get to be called pro. And on the other hand we have a dude in moms basement button mashing his keyboard and after 6months or so (provided that you have working brain) of dedicated "playing games" you get to be a pro/streamer. So yeah, exactly the same.

1 you are assuming that streamer = dude in a mom's basement
2. you are watching other people doing something instead of doing it yourself. sounds the same to me

the irony here is that we are not trying to tell you that you are wrong for watching sports. but for some reason people feel so defensive about it "its not the same!" yeah.. yeah it is. you are watching people do something for personal enjoyment. why is that so difficult to accept? you don't need to qualify why you like watching sports. you do and that's fine. accept that people like watching someone play video games. its what is fun for them. nothing wrong with that EITHER.

It always makes me... frustrated... to see people have such a negative view on content creators and content creation in general. While, yes, many creators do portray themselves in a negative way or have toxic personalities, a huge majority of creators are people who love to play a game and want to share that passion with others. Maybe they're particularly good at once facet of the game and want to use services like YouTube, Twitch or their own website to share that with others or even educate those who dont understand something. There is a lot of time, effort, and love that goes into content creation, and it makes me laugh how people make fun of others for enjoying watching streams or saying "i dont get it therefore it's stupid" and just writing the entire thing off. Obviously if you just dont like watching streams, thats fine, you dont have to enjoy watching streams just like some people dont enjoy watching sports, but i do get annoyed when those same people crap on others or crap on creators for enjoying streaming. Do you like when people crap all over the things you like and tell you what you enjoy is stupid? Then dont do it to other people.

People pay millions to watch people run around and play with various balls, pucks, etc for entertainment.
People watch reality TV about people who work at restaurants and have drama, live in a particular place, eat weird stuff, etc.
People watch educational TV to learn more about a certain topic.
People spend tons of money on hobbies they enjoy like card games, modelling, clothes, fishing, any hobby you can think of.
And so much more.

What is at the root of all of these things? Entertainment. Maybe someone just really likes ESO, and wants to chat and interact with someone else playing ESO and watching their gameplay, maybe they want to learn something about the game, watch someone's gameplay to further elevate their own, maybe they want to watch it for the entertainment value, maybe they want the sense of community that comes from chat, there are many reasons people watch streams, and just because you think it's stupid doesnt mean people shouldnt be able to enjoy the things they love. And yes, people pay for entertainment and those doing the entertaining make money. That's how it works. It's supply and demand. There is a demand for entertainment, and people will pay money for that entertainment to be supplied. Being an entertaining and interactive streamer and content creator takes time, energy, practice, research and talent just like any other entertainment skill, and if their fans choose to kick them some money for the amount of hard work, time and dedication they put into their content then good for them, their hard work is being rewarded.

I've said this before to people IRL who talk crap to me about streaming and video games before and Ill say it again: make fun of it all you want, laugh at it all you want, but streaming, esports, all this stuff is still new, and it's already a multi-million dollar industry, and it's not going anywhere.

It's only the beginning.

Ley wrote: »

@Dottzgaming

Good timing. I was just thinking about a conversation I had with you some time ago on one of your streams about this very topic.

Yeah i remember this topic getting brought up. This meme always comes to my mind when i see posts like this:


But whenever stuff like this pops up I always will stand up and speak about it. When i was in school as a younger kid, I was bullied for liking video games. Ive loved video games since i got my first gameboy color when i was like, maybe 5, and i never looked back. I was always an athlete year round my whole life, lifted weights, etc, but people always fixated on the fact that i enjoyed video games and made fun of me for it.

I always would ask them - "Why is it a big deal that I like this, what does it matter to you that I enjoy something?"
And they never could answer me, just continued rambling through their same "material".

Ive always found that the people who mock those for watching streams will have no issue with sitting down for hours on end watching their favorite TV show, binging netflix, etc. without batting an eye. But, if you like to watch someone play a video game though you're some sort of weirdo that needs his brain scanned...

Like for example, i dont understand HARDCORE sports fans. Like people who get violent over sports. I know friends who have gotten over fist fights over football games and I cant grasp why they feel so attached to a team of a sport that theyd start a physical altercation over it. Theyll know sports statistics like the back of their hand going back crazy amounts of years, watch all the drafts for the sports they enjoy, play fantasy X, whatever. But i dont make fun of them for it. If that's their thing, that's their thing.

Tell that guy you like watching people play video games though, and theyll look at you like youre a freak.

I think it comes down to what you said - watching a stream is not yet viewed by the mainstream as an "acceptable way to pass the time."

But like i said, whether or not these people believe that others enjoy this doesnt change the fact that this is multi million dollar industry and one that is exponentially growing day by day.

boggo wrote: »

Older player here. Since the advent of Twitch I‘m hardly watching any TV. Also: Why not simply let people enjoy what they‘re doing?

Remember when the gaming community was full of passionate nerds who were used to being mocked for what we enjoyed and so didn't really do that to others? I miss that.

I like listening to twitch players while I do more boring things in game like writs or grinding motifs or cp. I have learned a bit watching more skilled players.


I don't think its strange, you want to see strange check out the twitch asmr community. They're the weirdos.