Streaming questions/ranting
Generally asking a few questions about what you all think about streaming and certain aspects of the production.
In the past on events such as Extra Life I've streamed 24hr gaming sessions, but now I'm looking to start streaming on a regular basis. I'm not doing it for money, nor to become the next big streamer, I'm just doing it for fun and to show people that there are more games out there than the AAA crap we are force fed. The main issue that I see for me is that the type of games that I play are older ones with easy achievement, I'm an Achievement Farmer so this sort of thing interests me but I know that it doesn't interest others (probably due to short attention span and high Michael Bay explosion demands). My questions to Snapzu are:
Microphone - If you really want to hear me swear a lot (some of these achievements even for kids games are buggy) I could do it. I had someone on one of my streams asking for me to talk. Why? I've got nothing to say of any importance. I'm trying to concentrate on farming achievements in a game that I've never before played. If I was playing something that I had mindlessly played for the last 15 years then sure, I'd mic up and dribble to the audience what my pets did in the morning and how my life is so excellent. Is being mic'd really a necessary for streaming?
Background music - Generally I turn the music off in games (unless I know that it has an awesome soundtrack). I loathe dub step but at the same time I know that not everyone is into Metal. I try to meet half way by playing dark ambiance. Does music choice really make the stream? I mean, you're there to watch the player play right, not listen to the music (of which will hopefully not drown out the games sound effects).
Give-aways - Really, you are there for the free stuff? What do you think of streams that give away things? Personally I don't mind if it's for a fund raising event such as Extra Life, but when I see other streams doing it I think that it's a cheap grab to retain subscribers.
Anyway, for those wondering this is currently what I'm playing (I'm also looking for suggestions for this years Extra-Life if anyone wants to suggest a game to play during a 24hr period).
Final Fantasy XI (4 achievements left to get before they shut the Xbox/PSN login servers off next year). South Park: TSOT (3 achievements left. I missed the underpants gnome hat which caused me to miss two achievements). Need for Speed: Most Wanted (Easy 15 achievements, just a grind playing an average game). Fallout 3 (Just started... playing on and off when I have time).
Join the Discussion
Microphone is pretty necessary, people like a streamer who engages the audience and talks back to them, if you plan on having a larger channel, you'll need one and you'll need to communicate with the chat and be interactive with them. Watching games is boring, it's the commentary of the streamer that makes them exciting.
Background Music is difficult, some songs are a hit some are a miss, find a good spotify playlist that appeals to a large crowd and stick with it.
Give-aways meh, you don't need them to build a channel.
Other things, people beg for facecams, people just like to see streamer's face for some weird reason, you can be successful without one, but it's easier with one. But the microphone thing is a must have, it's weird to get used to, but even when you aren't streaming just sit there and talk to yourself like you are, make it second nature to talk while playing games and even when you're streaming if you have 0 viewers, still talk like there are people there, it'll make it so much easier when you have 500+ viewers.
Main issue with mic I have at the moment is my daughter and partner. Currently space limited since I had to give up my gaming room for my daughters room. Gaming through the day will get a lot of background noise such as TV's and kids toys, at night I'll be whispering.
Thanks for the feedback though, I'll have to work on some solution with the microphone. Not against it, just I've got the issues described before to contest with. Maybe when we move I can do that sort of thing full time when I get a room back. Face cams, not an issue but I'll probably do when I get a room back.
Yea, I understand, I've got a kid too and had to switch from using a Blue Yeti mic (condenser) to a Studio quality (dynamic) Mic to pick up less ambient sound and use a Mixer because of all the background noise, the condenser mic would pick up the least little noise even with the gain set to it's lowest setting. Good luck though and wish you the best.
I personally don't mind the music, I know others do though. Dubstep you can always rely on but some people prefer other things. Some streams I watch play rap music, but if you have a mic, use it regularly, and set the volume to a nice level that just plays lightly in the backround, the music doesn't matter that much, it just adds effect. Dubstep is popular because most gamers enjoy or don't mind it.
Having a microphone certainly makes it more enjoyable and easier to interact with the stream. If you're just sitting and playing and not saying anything to your stream it can get pretty boring, and typing everything while playing is a hassel.
You'd start off faster by doing give-aways, but if you enjoy streaming, do it regularly, and stay to the same or a certain genre of games you'll gather a set of viewers that will slowly increase. Give-aways are always fun, sometimes even for the person giving away, but I don't think they're required to make a good stream. It really depends on what you want to do I guess.
These are my thoughts. Hope this gives you a better idea!
Thanks. Yeah I should really amend what I said about Dubstep, I don't really loathe it, I'd just hate how every popular stream seems to be using Dubstep, that's what I loathe. There's no "unique" sound when searching for streams.
Thanks to the Mass Effect Playthrough Checklist Snap that was just posted, I think I might be doing a Mass Effect playthrough for Extra-Life.