I’m curious what people think of streams and LPs around here. I know that I like several Let’s Plays basically because they’re poscasts with a game going on in the background (my favorite being Super Beard Bros or Scary Game Squad), but I thought the concept was idiotic until I started playing D&D with people a lot younger than me. They showed clips, I started watching popular videos, and then eventually I found myself following a few people. At this point I find myself watching/listening to a few tabletop RPG streams/podcasts, and some like Adventure Zone are something I get excited to see pop up with a new episode.
Anyways, I was wondering what people thought of watching other people play games of all kinds. I know TableTop gets some mention on BB, and I know Critical Role has grown pretty big in the past two years… but I really like watching people playing games like Oxenfree or Until Dawn that I want to experience in some way but will never have time to play.
I don’t get it. Maybe it’s my age, but I would rather play a game than watch someone else play (and talk over the top of it).
I think South Park had an episode or three about a generational gap between people who love watching streamers and people who don’t get the attraction. I was definitely Kyle in that one.
What probably bugs me the most is when I’m on YouTube trying to see how a boss can be beaten - or just wanting to see a good cutscene again - and it’s been uploaded by some teenager trying to be the next PewDiePie and loudly talking BS over the top of it.
Anyway, I’ve got some kids to chase off my lawn, BRB.
I don’t mind a lets play, but the histrionics with some just turn me off right away. Why people think PewDiePie and others in that style are amusing totally boggles me but hey people like Gwen Stefani too… takes all kinds I guess.
I’m not into it much, though after watching a few with my spouse I can see that some of them are entertaining.
My spouse has enjoyed watching me play Half-Life 2 and Portal 1 & 2, but no interest in watching MMOs, team shooters, racing games, strategy etc.
Before that, roommates and friends actually tried to make me play Fatal Frame so they could watch, because it was too scary for them to want to play it themselves. (Said roommate would be frozen with fear if she was the last one alive in a round of Rainbow Six, and would rather eat a grenade to end it than keep looking for the last terrorists alone.) Plus they were extra amused when I was startled too. I hated the controls though (I’m more of a PC type than console).
For context, I’m 37 and I like pen and paper RPG’s more than video games and board games less than video games. I certainly enjoy playing more than watching, but some of this stuff makes it in to my background rotation.
I actively watch Table Top and occasionally other stuff from geek and sundry with my partner. We watched that game of Titansgrave. We also watch Jimquisition.
But when I’m kicking around the house, cleaning, sewing, cooking, or making chainmail, I’ll just put random stuff on in the background. This ends up including stuff like Jimpressions or Metal Ass Gaming. The MAG kids are a little dumb but a bit endearing. I found them through Toxic Tears b/c I watch alot of random goth YouTube as well. I started on specific makeup tutorials but then got interested in individual folks.
I do find the voice overs extremely grating whenever I’m just trying to get quick hints on a boss or hidden crap or achievements, etc. This can happen with craft tutorials as well when the person rambles instead of keeping it concise.
A friend of mine recently posted some pix of his kids meeting “Dan” at a local game store. I had no idea who “Dan” was, but the kids were wearing TDM shirts, so I googled around and my mind was totally blown.
DanTDM runs a LP channel for 5-10 year olds focused on Minecraft Let’s Plays; he posts daily videos that each get around 2-3 million views. As of today, his videos have over TEN BILLION views, and his graphic novel – about the character he plays in his Minecraft voiceovers – is a #1 bestseller.
These kids were meeting the biggest superstar in their world, and I had no idea who he was. It’s like a parallel universe I wasn’t even aware of.
Yeah, I originally hated LPs solely because I tried watching PewDiePie or jackseptic eye and found it grating in a way I cannot describe. Without gaming with younger people and getting shown the videos they liked I understood it. Then my daughter was born and I couldn’t play anything without an instant save. Suddenly I find myself watching Fire Watch, Little Monsters, or other story based games with people I don’t mind listening to make jokes on top of it and getting 70-80% of the experience when I could otherwise get 0%. There’s just too many games for me to ever play any but a tiny fraction.
[quote=“Crashproof, post:4, topic:563”]
My spouse has enjoyed watching me play Half-Life 2 and Portal 1 & 2, but no interest in watching MMOs, team shooters, racing games, strategy etc.
[/quote]My wife loved watching me play a few games like Star Fox Adventures and we still have inside jokes from them. She gets sick from some of the visual tricks games use, so she can’t play many modern games but she doesn’t dislike them.
[quote=“Nytespryte, post:5, topic:563”]
For context, I’m 37 and I like pen and paper RPG’s more than video games and board games less than video games. I certainly enjoy playing more than watching, but some of this stuff makes it in to my background rotation.
I actively watch Table Top and occasionally other stuff from geek and sundry with my partner. We watched that game of Titansgrave. We also watch Jimquisition.
[/quote]This is a lot like my experience. I watch TableTop and Critical Role and GM Tips (I like Satine Phoenix + Guest over the previous format), and I watch (well listen) to D&D’s stream and ItMeJP’s one shots of interesting systems with Adam Koebel GMing.
One of my friends likes Jimquisition a lot, and he has some great points about Steam and the abuses of publishers in their low-touch systems like Greenlight. Then again, I’ve been watching reviews online since Angry Nintendo Nerd.
