Tag Archives: Live Streamer

Dealing with Trolls!

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What is a troll you might say, and no we aren’t talking about the dolls kids used to play with, who had the neon hair and a jewel in their belly button, a troll is an asshole. Basically someone who wants to bully or try to belittle or make fun of a person. Mind you there is such thing as healthy trolls who poke fun at things with the streamer or other people online but in a playful way. I have people in my chat who do this! Normally at something I did wrong in the game that we all know I am capable of doing well! If that is the type of trolls that you encounter than this bit might not be for you! Trolls could be poking fun or degrading you with anything. Weight, sexuality, gender, race, etc. However if you are like me who from time to time gets the odd asshole in chat calling me a whale or overweight or to show my boobs this might be something that could be useful for you!

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There are many different ways to deal with trolls. Most people have a sort of system where a troll will get different chances for example: The 1st time maybe they will get a time out for 10 minutes. Second time maybe a few hours or even 24 hours. And a 3rd time might result in a permanent ban. It really depends on the streamer since there is no “Magic” amount to time out a troll or when to permanently ban them. Each streamer has to decide for themselves how they are going to run their channel. It took me a little while to really figure out how I want to run my channel and I’m sure it will take you a  bit to figure out how to run yours too! Some people even un-ban everyone who they have banned once a year over the holidays or even every few years too. I know a streamer who had a re-brand and at that time he had decided to start fresh with the bans and removed all of them. Mind you at this time I would assume that most of the people have moved on to other channels but you never know though. Time will tell who shows up again though!

How do you know someone is a troll really all depends on the person and how much people can get away with it. For me, I can put up with a lot of jokes and things but what I don’t like is sexually charged comments or things that regard my weight. Those kinds of things said to me really don’t make me feel good and are super unnecessary. If someone comes into the stream and mentions either one of these my first reaction is this person is being a troll and chances are more often than not this person is also not a regular. A regular knows how to act when coming into a stream they frequent a lot. Another thing you might notice is that when a troll comes into the stream if you do have regulars who are in chat that they typically stick up for you and have your back when something gets extremely uncomfortable.

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Rarely also, you will see the trolls who really go all out for trying to make you have a shit stream or day. These people will come on and start to say things in chat and when you time out or ban they still come back with a similar or different ult account saying the exact same things. Unfortunately all you can really do is ban them continuously or you can even report each username to Twitch also. Not that Twitch really does anything about it but you know, It might make you feel better in the very least. This might be better if you do it and their is people in chat. That way you are not the only one reporting but others are as well too. If possible sometimes you are able to go offline for a half an hour or so and they will disappear as well. Other times you are able to go into a followers only mode (JUST TEMPORARILY) so that you don’t discourage regular viewers. It would even help if you put a timer or had a command explaining why you are on this mode and how it is to get rid of trolls too.

I deal with trolls in a pretty harsh way. I have had the same saying nearly the whole time that I was a streamer. The saying is this, “Anyone who is a regular won’t say these things to me, and if a person who has never been in my chat comes in and is nasty towards myself or the people in chat, they are not someone who I would miss or would add value here”. When I first started I used to time people out for 10 minutes or 24 hours. This seemed fair, give someone a chance to redeem themselves and more often than not someone would come back when their time out was over and do the same thing again! I was basically playing tag and it sucked. I was feeling like garbage about myself because they would say the same things and I lacked the confidence to bounce back easily. I decided that if someone is new and comes into my chat they get a perma-ban. Some might say that this is a bit much for first time offenders but honestly for my own sanity it was the best solution for my stream!

Ultimately, it is YOUR stream at the end of the day. Whether you want to give someone a second chance or you want to play around with trolls. Or you want to take the quick and easy route like me where you just ban them and hope that you never see them again. Don’t let someone in your chat make you feel any less then you are. Sometimes people find pleasure in making others feel bad. Especially if you have a webcam and they can see an instant reaction. If you aren’t sure how you want to handle trolls then ask around! See what others are doing and adapt something to suit your desires! And be safe out there, Your stream is YOUR space, Don’t let anyone ruin that!

Panels, Why should I have them?

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What are panels?
Panels are an image/text that can display a certain part of who you are/your channel. Look at them as titles to chapters with a mini write up underneath or just the photo there with information or a photo that if clicked sends you to a page.

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Why should I have them?
Panels are a great way to showcase who you are and the content you are willing to provide. If you aren’t live for example and someone comes to check out your channel this is a great way to show who you are without being able to at the time. It can give them an idea of who you are and can even determine if they give you a follow or not even if you aren’t online too!

How can I get them?
Panels do not have to be expensive or even difficult. Anything is better then nothing when it comes to panels. Below is a website Nerd or die that I myself have used, It lets you create your own panels even if they aren’t something fancy its still something to use until you know what you want or can afford to get a personally created panel set. I have also included the twitter of people I have personally used for some of my designs as well!

Nerd or die:
https://nerdordie.com/resources/free-resources/customizable-twitch-panels/
You can also search Etsy and find some generic pre-made panels there too, though they are normally part of a package there are some really nice ones out there too!

What panels should I have?
– Bio/About Me: Pretty self explanatory. Put whatever you want here about YOU! Make is simple and short and a quick description of who you are! Think of this as a mini intro that you would tell a new viewer if they wanted to know who you are and what you are about!
– Tips: Also known as donations. However donations are more for charities. I myself am guilty of putting donations as a panel however when I get the money for a re-vamp/re-design I will be putting tips instead. This is normally linked to your paypal or other form of tipping site so that folks can tip you for your entertainment!
– Subscribe: This is for anyone wanting to subscribe per month to your channel. This normally directs people to your subscribe page. This is also for affiliate and partners on twitch and a very valuable panel to have especially if someone is on mobile. It can make subscribing a lot easier for someone. If finding where to subscribe is difficult you may be losing out on potential revenue!
– Games Played: This can be valuable in case you play multiple games or do play-throughs often. It can also help if folks to see what kind of content that you like to do. I would suggest to keep this to maybe your favorites though. You don’t want this to become a list of 20+ games and totally throw off the flow of your panels either.
– Sponsors: This is a great spot to showcase if you have a sponsor with anyone. Sometimes the company will create or have their own panel and it is required to have this there as a means to promote them and sometimes a way to make a percent of sales too!
– Socials: These are always important, whether they are twitter, youtube, instagram, tiktok or whatever else you might use. Normally when people follow someone on their streaming platform they are also inclined to want to follow on different socials. They want to see your content across multiple spots. Not to mention, if a person is unable to financially support a streamer they are more then happy to help someone by retweeting, liking a picture or thumbs upping their videos since all of those ways to support a streamer are free!
– Artists: This is a great way to shout out the people who make your channel unique! Some artists have their own panel designed which you are able to use while having the panel link to one of their socials or websites. Others might just have a link which you can use an “Artist” umbrella panel so you can add each artist you use individually with a hyperlink under the panel.
– Shout outs: This can be used for 2 things. Some folks have this to shout out their streamer friends and to hopefully direct the love to them as well. This can also be used for showcasing the biggest supporters. Maybe the tops bits giver or sub gifter. Maybe someone has supported financially for a long time and you want to shout them out too. Again, just like the games played keep the list to the top. It can be very unappealing to the eyes when you see a list of 25+ people who support you and have to scroll down the page in order to see other panels or the bottom of your list too.

Don’t do this in panels
– Do not ONLY have a tipping panel. A lot of new streamers are inclined to have only a tipping panel. This looks SUPER scummy and normally when viewers especially new ones visit a channel and only see a tipping panel they are immediately turned off. It demonstrates to a new viewer that you, the streamer are more interested in them giving you money. Which is not a bad thing, But with that being the only thing it can come off very bizarre.
– Don’t write a book. Keep it interesting and point form. Sure you can write a story about it. But why not write enough to keep the viewer interested and then if you have a story you can use that while you are live to tell stories. If all of your panels have long paragraphs of things then it will be extremely hard to keep a potential viewer interested if they have to read 20 minutes worth of text in order to find out a simple question they might have about you or your stream.
– Don’t make everything all cluttered. There is a flow with panels ie: Making them all the same size, Same style, one side isn’t just panels with links or another filled with texts as well. You do not want to have someone open your channel and start to read your panels when they have to scroll down pages to finish reading text when the other side has been finished long before.

Panels are pretty much a fundamental part of a channel. Whether you make them yourself of have someone make them. Make sure before you even hit the live button once that you have these done! Look at them as an extension of YOU!

Begging for Money? Subs? Does it work?

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We all know someone who has begged for subscribers or money or whatever have you in the streaming world. To the viral clips that get a lot of attention of streamers calling out their viewers for not saving 5 dollars to subscribe and financially support their channels. Does it work, Maybe. But I know for sure that the attention these clips get these particular channels is actually insane. To the retweets and comments on them is worth it? Today we talk about if begging for money from your viewers or anyone in general works.

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I also want to state that these are my opinions and some of this may sound blunt and insensitive. I am sorry if that is the case however I will not be changing my opinion on this in order to please the people who may be offended by this.

Let’s begin with the “boo hoo” stories. This is where you hear of someone losing their job, or quitting and having no money for rent and things. I have also seen this in streamers who have the desire to go full time without having the means to. Instead of being financially stable before they take the plunge into streaming full time as a profession, they quit their decently paying job in hopes that their community will now fund them. I have no sympathy for people like this. Why? Because they were unprepared by what they set out to do. If you want to take streaming seriously and if you want to do it full time you sure as hell should make sure that you are able to do it full time before even if that means saving money for months to ensure that your “Giving this a Go” is also having the ability to pay your bills and not rely on a community to do so. What is worse or at least in my opinion (Again) Is when you see a streamer attempting the full time aspect of streaming and suddenly you see them with brand new colored hair, new makeup and manicures, but they continue to complain that their bills aren’t being paid. This doesn’t even make sense and if their community is anything like me, I do not want to support someone ESPECIALLY if they are begging for money for bills and using it on luxuries.

Let’s officially talk about those viral videos for money. We know if you actually use twitter remotely related to your streaming that chances are you are able to see all of the different clips of bigger and popular streamers getting essentially “angry” at their community for not giving them money. They may have a sub goal, they may have bills or something they need money for and they are “upset” that they aren’t being consistently subbed to. Why did I use quotes there? Because, Some of these people I THINK make these clips or comments because they know they will end up on a live stream fails list or viral on twitter and it will pull in more people to their streams. Sure, a lot of trolls will also end up going there. That is for sure true. However there is probably a lot of people who may be also going there to “help out” as well too.

Being direct with how you approach your community and your financial goals could really be how you categories the above with viral clips. You are honest and upfront with goals like “I need x amount of money for x bill by such and such date”. Sometimes communities like the direct approach and how honest a streamer is with them. Other ways streamers have set up goals but are super vague with a mini goal in the background of their streams or incorporated in to their overlays as well. Which can equally be effective if they aren’t talking about it but they do see that it and help out when they can.

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Continuously talking about money on stream is probably one of the biggest no-nos you can do though. When you talk about money on stream all the time whether you are broke or have a lot of it you really aren’t making your viewers feel like they are part of the community. You know xQc? He is one of the biggest streamers in the world who probably makes tens of thousands of dollars a month, Do you ever hear him talk about money on stream? Not really. Because it really isn’t anyone’s business and if he was to do that do you think he would be as successful as he is if he did? If you make your viewers seem like the only thing you are interested in is their money they will not want to stick around. This also goes for showing interest in people who subscribe or donate a lot and as soon as they don’t you don’t show much love to them. When I was back working and kid free I too would donate to a few folks. Sure it was great when it was payday and they were excited to see you getting into harmless bit wars with people, But as soon as that money is gone suddenly it is all changed and you barely get a Hi out of the streamer anymore. It certainly does not make me want to stick around when the only interest the streamer had in me was whether or not I could financially support them.

Lastly, how about we stop making streamers who do talk about their financial goals look like aliens? Talking about goals is healthy and a great way to to fill in your community on your aspirations. Whether it is to buy and upgrade your equipment for streaming or you simply would like to buy a new game or toy for your kids. Letting them know your goals and that financial support is an option. Just make sure that your viewers also know that like financial support there is also ways to support that aren’t financial as well too!

Different Ways to Support Streamers

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There are many different ways to support streamers. Some are financial ways and there are many many that can also be done for FREE! Yes, you heard that, FOR FREE! People think a lot of the time that if they cant support a streamer financially that they aren’t doing a good job at being a viewer. There are a lot of things that are extremely helpful for streamers that cost the viewer absolutely nothing! These are the many various financial and FREE ways to support streamers on Twitch or even any platform that you tend to watch someone entertain you on.

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Financial Support
This is obviously the way viewers think about when they think about supporting a streamer. Sure, if this is a streamer who does this as their full time job it can be important . However it is equally respectable if you are able to just be there. Most streamers don’t talk about finances on stream however they may have goals set up and things that can help you decide if you want to help them with a sub and or bits or tip as well too! Here are some ways to financially support a streamer:

Subscribing
Subscribing is when you choose to play a monthly fee, ie: on Twitch it can be 5.00, 10.00 and 25.00 to which the streamer gets a percentage usually a minimum of 50% of the price. If by chance they have a higher percentage that they take home it was because of the negotiations of their contract. Affiliates only take 50% though. You also get some perks like their emotes being able to be used in different channels and also sometimes streamers have different perks ie: Subscriber movie nights, sub only channels on discords and even first dibs when playing games as well too! You can also cancel this at any time. Mixer has a feature though I think there is just one base price in terms of subscribing. Not to mention on Twitch they have a feature called “Twitch Prime” where if you have Amazon Prime you are able to connect your accounts on amazon/twitch and receive a free gift sub to use on a channel across the site. The only thing with using Twitch Prime is you have to remember to RE-SUBSCRIBE every month so it doesn’t go to waste! Not to mention at least on twitch, You can also sub gift to a streamer. Sub gifting is a great way to help out a streamer and bring a few extra people into the community as well too!

*** If you are someone who is really enjoying the blogs and has the financial freedom to want to support this through tips, you are more than welcome to do so by clicking on this link to bring you to my personal Ko-Fi page. Never will you ever be pressured to support in this way however the option is there if you wish to do so! Your continued support regardless of financial or not is greatly appreciated.

Bits
This is the currency that you can buy on Twitch. You would use your currency for the country that you live in to buy it. This is a currency that you can only use directly on Twitch. You can use as many or little as you like to support your favorite streamers. Some might be for different things or actions to happen on the stream and can be a safer way if you wish to donate to a streamer. Where it is already bought currency through the platform there is no risk for charge backs though there is normally a time frame or a minimum amount to be made in order to get paid for that month ie: Twitch you need to have minimum 100$ in your “account” in order to be paid out that month.

Donations
Donations can be a bit trickier in a sense because it goes directly to the streamer. No need to wait for a minimum to be cashed out or anything but there is the risk for a charge back. This is when a jerk will donate an amount of money for a specific reason, and then and they charge back. A great way to look at this is having buyers remorse. The best thing you can do is have chat logs ready and protect yourself. I always encourage people to use bits or even sub because they get something back from that. Now charge backs might depend on the streamer there have been times Ive seen streamers have REGULARS charge back when they don’t get their own way. There is no streamer big or small that is protected from this however the better notes you keep the better chance you have of this person not being successful in getting their money returned.

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Free Ways


Here are some ways that you can help your favorite streamers that are TOTALLY FREE. I mean lets be honest, using your time is not exactly free and some streamers even view it as more important then subscribing or being a help financially (*Cough* Me *Cough*). Viewers make a stream even if they don’t feel like it. Having many viewers can bring in folks who are capable of supporting financially and building a community stronger as well too. Let’s jump in and explore the ways!

Chatting
Pretty self explanatory. As we all know streamers love when chats are active and engaging. Its never fun when chat can be dead and quiet so just by being there and contributing to to the stream and welcoming new viewers can be a huge help as well too.

Lurking
Though this may be a bit harder and more chilled it can still help a streamer. I do a lot of lurking while I’m writing my blog posts for example. Though it doesn’t give a lot back it still helps the streamer you want to support by putting their numbers up a bit higher on the viewer list to bring in potentially new viewers. You do not need to be an active chatter (Though it helps, we understand you have a life outside of being an active viewer!).

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Sharing Social Medias
This can be huge! It can help reach potential new viewers and sharing the stream is a great way to do so. Whether you are retweeting a live tweet or following their socials or sharing the stream with friends it all helps. The more reach someone has the easier it is for growth. Word of mouth is a powerful way to help a streamer who you enjoy watching their content to reach new heights. Legit free with a click of a button!

Active in their Discord
Discords are a great way to connect with a community of a streamer you enjoy. Discords being dead can be super hard to bring new people in but they are a great central place to get the useful information from a streamer out to their community. Even checking in and contributing to conversations is great and a fun way to meet members as well who also enjoy things. Even make some new friends as well!

Clips
Clips is another great way to help support a streamer for free. Whether or not that make YouTube videos with them or they are used across social medias as well too. They are a great way to clip memorable moments in a stream to share with others. Especially for different commands that streamers use for moments and to help make streams more interactive too!

As you can see there is MANY MANY MANY ways to support streamers that doesn’t require money and some that do. Don’t feel like just being a viewer is not enough. If it wasn’t for viewers whether they support financially or not streamers wouldn’t be where they are today without the viewer!

What is Networking?

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Networking is such an over used term now a days, By myself included. Here is my thoughts about this and what it means to you or should mean anyways!

Networking is a veiled word that people use when “meeting” people. Especially in streaming. Networking is in my opinion, a fancy word for getting to know new people and faking relationships. The fact is, There is no easy way to make friends and chances are people can smell when someone has the wrong intentions. People do this to expand their reach as well as hopefully make some new connections that will aid them on the road to success. This can be for multiple reasons, Whether the interactions are on twitter to help boost their impressions. Or this could even be in the person’s stream where they may have double or triple the number of viewers than a person also has. Regardless of which platform a person is trying to befriend another, there is almost always little to no benefit for the person being befriended.

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Networking can look anything like connecting on a game. It could also be considered something along the lines of co-streaming as well too. Could even be collaborating on a project as well too. From a pod-cast, graphics, challenge or something you know collectively as well too.

A big issue with networking is people are fake. This is what they call when you want to make artificial connections. You have to genuinely put in the effort to get to know people and actually make connections. For someone like myself, I trust people way to much. I let people into my circle and stream with them. And what happens, is they normally try to “self promo” over my stream due to them not understanding what the hell push to talk is. And with that being said I no longer play with them again. The people I know who are friends and genuine don’t need to do this since Ill call them out anyways and promo them on my own time. As a streamer it can be PRETTY obviously when you have a person come into chat and the first few times they are there they are pushing you to play with them or use voice chat.

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Networking is not necessarily hard, however it does require a lot of work. You cant just meet people online through a platform and automatically jump on their back for something when you see that they are successful. It takes a lot of time to make friends and built a relationship. Just like real life people forget that making friends and growing friendships stronger is time consuming. You have to put time into it. If you don’t want to do that, don’t even bother. Mind you it really is easy to spot when someone isn’t interested in wanting to pursue anything with you, Mostly due to the short answer or overall feel of how conversations are going.

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For me, I try to focus a lot on twitter since it can be so diverse in the sense of meeting different streamers from different places. I have a few friends who I frequent their streams a lot. They are typically some of my mods and I am theirs. This is a great base to start since a lot of people frequent them. Then once they raid/host or even talk to their friends from different spots I keep going that way. Building a network of people in the genuine way. Sometimes they come to my streams sometimes they don’t. That’s okay though. I enjoy their content. My intentions is never to have a gain from it. If it does happen great, if not I still like to see their content when I am able to.

A big reason why networking is tricky is when people are “networking” they only see it as a success if they get something in return. Sure getting something in return is huge, However if you go into this with the mindset that “I want something in return” You will be quickly dismissed and overlooked. Going into it as the mindset of ” I’m supporting what I like/who I like” will give a lot more rewards then that.

Someone on Twitter mentioned this:
“I think that when we approach others with: “How can I enhance your experience here?” or “What can I do to help you?”, we create stronger bonds. True Networking is about giving, serving others—not taking.“

*** If you are someone who is really enjoying the blogs and has the financial freedom to want to support this through tips, you are more than welcome to do so by clicking on this link to bring you to my personal Ko-Fi page. Never will you ever be pressured to support in this way however the option is there if you wish to do so! Your continued support regardless of financial or not is greatly appreciated.

And this is exactly it. People want to know what you can do for them. They want you to give them some benefit. It doesn’t work that way. It never does. For example. When I network I never endorse follow for follow but always offer out my discord server due to the fact I try to grow it as a tool for others to use. That being said you can tell pretty quickly who is in it for themselves when they don’t attempt to be active or their 1st question is how to self promote in the server. Instead of trying to get to know the people. It’s the same type of people who meet someone and go to their streams for the first time and talk about their streams. Or they are in partnered servers (Or any for that matter) and they NEVER talk and continually use self promo channels in order to hopefully “grow”.

Also, Networking is NOT when you post tweets on twitter and BEG/ASK others to make the 1st contact. People don’t do this. Making a tweet about “I have x number of followers and you need to jump in to my DM’s or comment on this tweet let’s connect” Doesn’t work. When you put the responsibility on the other person chances are that person won’t do anything. If they wanted to then you would have already made contact. Networking is not to be put on other people in the sense, Putting it on other people looks lazy, desperate and needy. Put YOURSELF out there. Showcase who YOU are and make other people want to be interested in getting to know you.

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The moral of networking is stop looking at it in the mindset of, What can others do for me, but look at it as what can I do for people. When you look at what you can do for others it helps create a mindset that is far greater then one where you take from everyone around. “Networking” Is not something that can be faked, or even rushed. It does take a lot of time but the reward of actually making friendships and connections that are real and in a lot of cases life long is far more superior then the temporary connections that rotate out every so often when you or the other person realize it is not Genuine.

Unspoken Rules of Streaming

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Different from streaming don’ts here is a few of the unspoken rules of streaming. Each subject will be from a streamer perspective to a viewer perspective as well. Being a streaming and understanding a viewers standpoint is just as important as streaming itself. The better that you can understand your audience the easier you will understand streaming. These are the time of things that you normally will not know until you do it yourself or you see it done. I say this because a lot of people who want to start do not really research it before hand, they simply click their “Go Live” button and hope for the best. Which is totally fine, however you do not want to be caught in a place where it can be awkward or you find yourself doing one of these tacky unspoken rules.

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No Self Promo
Streamer: DO NOT DO THIS. SERIOUSLY. There are a few things that look worse then when you go to a stream, or are the streamer, And you have someone random come into your chat to comment about their personal streams. As a streamer DO NOT do this to other streams. This includes veiled Self Promo ie: “Yeah I’m about to start the stream, have a great day though” Blah blah blah. Change this to “Heading to do a few things” or “I have to run for a bit, I might be back later” but do not self promo. Its a quick way to be scolded if not timed out or banned in a channel. This includes channels you may frequent every day. Chances are if you are close to the streamer they will talk about your stream when they pop in on their own terms. Not on yours.

Viewer: Don’t go into another streamers streams and shout out your friends and their streams. It looks tacky and does not help your friends. Not to mention its a great way for the channel you promo yourself/friends in to troll the promoted channel. This also includes if you are commenting on other streams. Its one thing to be in a stream but it’s another to be like “Oh so and so went live, Imma dip”. These don’t always make the streamer feel great. Sometimes we have to remember that the golden rule is key here.

*** If you would like to support this blog financially you are more than welcome to do so by clicking this link here to bring you to my Ko-Fi website. Supporting the blog via tips is NEVER pressured however if you feel so inclined to help out in another way this is a perfect way to do so! You can see some behind the scenes items as well as insider info on the store updates and uncensored blogs also coming soon!

Talking about others while live
Streamer: Talking about other streamers when you are live is a quick way to be clipped and called out. It starts unnecessary drama and shouldn’t happen. Do you ever see HUGE partnered streamers talking about each other? Not normally. There is a reason for this. As much as there is a large percent that does like drama, or to hear the latest juice, there is also a larger part that does not want to join a stream to hear the streamer

Viewer: Stop trying to bait streamers into talking about another person. A big reason for this is you look foolish and drama fueled. Whats worse is that people will go to streamers chats and do this in order to bait these clips above as well too. If you try to do this which I STRONGLY would suggest not to. Respect the streamer. If they ask to drop the subject or not to talk about that here. Do it. Or again you risk being banned or timed out. Streamers have enough drama on their plate they don’t need to be baited into creating more. Politics and Religion are other topics that are widely known to not be spoken in twitch chats. Mostly due to the fact that so many people have various views on this and chat can become very sour very quick. Another reason is when you talk about these particular topics (Though any topic can also generate this) it normally becomes personal. Something a streamer may just not have the time to deal with when the time comes so the best practice is to avoid it all together. (Unless specifically stating that your channel is about this subject)

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Back Seat Gaming:
This can be super tricky I would say a major rule of thumb would be to look at the tags at the bottom of the stream. If you do not see these tags it may just be safe to assume that the streamer DOES NOT want any spoilers or help. Twitch has tags where you can see if streamers are encouraging backseat gaming, or no spoilers or no back seating. Remember also that a lot of streamers do in fact talk out loud and they might appear to be asking for help but they aren’t really though. Before spilling the secrets of a boss fight or how to conquer the next aspect of a series of segments in a tough game, ASK. Or wait and see how the chat is. Normally a regular (If that’s not you) will help or will comment on ways to help.

Being Creepy/Asking way to personal questions OR  Hitting on streamer
Nobody likes this shit. Some times people forget that streamers DON’T want to talk about their life on stream. While others don’t mind it at all. Being creepy and trying to make something bigger with a streamer can make things super awkward. And what is awkward for one person is not for the next. For me I HATE when people call me baby or babe. My BF doesn’t even call me that and it makes me extremely uncomfortable. That being said I’m sure that there are streamers who actually enjoy this as well too. It really takes a lot of skill to read a streamer and what makes them feel icky. Not to mention if they have a web cam then you can NORMALLY see visibly if they are uncomfortable with the topic. This also means prying for personal information. If a question is asked once and the streamer declines replying, OR if they ignore the question, This is also a great indicator that they do not wish to respond. Some streamers just do not want their personal side to be showing to everyone and are hiding that. There is nothing wrong with that!

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Talking about viewer numbers
Streamers:
This can also be a tricky one. I know a lot of people do not like to hear their viewer counts in fact a lot of people turn them off. It is however a great indicator on how you are doing though in terms of growth. As a streamer a lot of times people don’t want to hear viewers it can make them focus too much on them and it can make them nervous and not relaxed. Sometimes people also get a host with a bunch of viewers as well too and you don’t want to make it awkward in that sense by mentioning it. Whether they have a whole lot of viewers or a smaller number then normal. I normally turn off the viewer counts because when it is a slower day I focus too much on it and become quiet. However depending on my mood I do leave it on from time to time as well too!

Viewers:
Nothing is a big damper when someone comes in chat and points out “Where are all your viewers gone” or “Whoa how did you get so many viewers”. Let people live in the moment. This falls under the same category when viewers come into chat and comment how quiet the chat is. Sometimes chat is just quiet. Maybe there is a lot of lurkers for the day? It honestly just depends. But going into someones chat to point these out can really put a damper on how the stream is going.

Regardless, These are all valuable tips from both streamer and viewer perspectives brought to you by folks in the community! Be mindful and remember, If you aren’t being constructive, And you think your comment might hurt someone, Is it worth even saying it!

One Game Streamers VS Variety

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When it comes to streaming it can be extremely hard to find your “Niche”. I asked this question on twitter and the results seem to be overwhelming. Ill lay out the two sides and then at the end say what the majority had thought as well too.

One Game Streamers

Picking one game to play can have many good or bad reasons. One good reason is you can pick a game (Mind you saturation somewhat does have a factor here as well too) and You can build a community around one game and grow on this. Plus side is you gain regular viewers because they are normally seeking out a person who plays this specific type of game. They know what to expect. Keeping in mind, Whether you play a game that is over saturated or one that is under saturated you still have to put in the work and the time it takes to bring viewers to come into your stream. Playing a game like Fortnite, or Apex or Dead by Daylight, that has some of the top viewers on the directory can be hard to make your place. Unless you are a professional player/competitive player, or extremely funny, It can be hard to make a footprint there.

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There is also A LOT of risk if you stick to one game. Say this game is new, taking off and some what popular. You play this game every single day. And one day the it flops. Whether the fan base disappears, The developers pull the plug (Which we all know too well on games and companies in the gaming space) and now what? Do you try a brand new game? Stick this out til its gone? Find a similar like game to start playing? It really depends. You have to also ask yourself this “Have I built this community big enough and been personal enough with them that they will watch me play anything?”. If the answer is yes normally you can switch games easily because folks aren’t there to watch game play, they are there to see YOU. And that is just a bonus if they like the game.

Variety Streamers

Now you have the flip side of this, Variety streamers. These streamers play any game they want and aren’t limited to anything other then what they want to play. Again, they have pros and cons. A pro would be you wont get bored of games. When you do get bored you just flip to a different game and play that. Mind you variety can be great if a game you frequent is not that great and you just switch games. Though building a community could be extremely hard for the simple fact that you are always changing games. And changing games so differently like going from a Battle Royale, to a Team game, Then you flip to an Indie game and a simulator game it can be quite challenging. Though you might pick up a follower or two while doing this you have to really drive home who YOU ARE personality wise to keep that viewer coming back.

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Being a variety streamer in my opinion means having to really lay on who you are. Connect with your viewers on a personal level. I’m not saying go out and spill your entire life story or social insurance numbers. For example, I share A LOT with my stream, But I also don’t share a lot either. Like what the name of my BF is, Or my family names for example. But we talk about life and issues that happen to be happening in my life as well as my viewers as well too. I think this makes people want to come back due to being able to relate to you as well. Finding the balance between disclosing certain information and not disclosing others can be really tricky. Give it time though and patience with yourself and you will find the right balance for your stream too!

Genre Streamers

These are streamers who stick to one genre and only one. Which I would also consider a type of variety. These people stick to team games, MMOs, battle royales, simulators, really anything from horror to indie games too. They play something similar enough that people enjoy their content and will watch normally since the games aren’t that drastically different. A lot of people dabble in this version of Variety and it seems to be a successful one for them as well too.

As you can see there really is a lot to streaming, Especially the type of content that you want to put out as well too. Personally, I stream variety. HOWEVER I would say I do main the game Dead By Daylight which will again change if you have been following my stream, now in 2022 I am primarily focusing on arts and crafting as streams. I will play games like Overwatch, Stardew Valley, as well as simulators and random games here and there. Making a switch in games can be really hard and challenging however if you let your viewers know and plan plan plan like I have with my main game of DBD to Arts and Crafts it can be more forgiving than just giving it a go blindly.

Now on to what twitter says. They have basically agreed across the board that Variety OR genre streaming is the best way to go. A lot of people even made the comments that they could not see themselves playing a single game for a long period of time as they would probably be extremely bored from this. Which can be extremely taxing especially if the game is going south or has a bunch of bugs suddenly. Twitter seems to agree that having multiple games or at least a few that are rotated around them makes the streaming experience easier because when you are bored with a game the whole stream feels it as well.

*** If you are someone who is really enjoying the blogs and has the financial freedom to want to support this through tips, you are more than welcome to do so by clicking on this link to bring you to my personal Ko-Fi page. Never will you ever be pressured to support in this way however the option is there if you wish to do so! Your continued support regardless of financial or not is greatly appreciated.

I think regardless of your choice, A streamer should always remember that whether you play a bunch of game or just one there is a lot of behind the scenes things that need to be done. As was mentioned in previous blogs, There really is so much to do. It is not enough to just turn on the going live button and hoping for the best. And whether you decide to play just one game for years you are always able to change up your style if you feel that it is needed. The streaming world is constantly changing, therefore we need to adapt and change things where we see fit! And there is no magic formula for streaming. Just have fun and play what you want to ultimately!

Skills needed for streaming!

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Stream from the outside may seem like a very easy thing to do. However you will soon find out after starting if you havent researched anything about it, that entertaining is not as easy as it appears to be. This blog we will talk about a few things that make streaming, well, streaming!

Interaction and conversation are pretty much the backbones of streaming. If you are unable to interact with your chat (In the beginning at least) you will find it extremely hard to grow at all. People go to Twitch for the fact things are LIVE. If they didnt want to interact or watch things in real time they would go to YouTube where they can pause and click through videos at their wish. This also includes making conversations when there is no one to talk to. Whether you are commenting on your game play or gaming with friends, you really have to have the ability to keep a conversation going. This being said a lot of people I have seen who arent normally talkative have found that streaming has also brought them out of their shells. It isnt as direct as talking in person but it does help with growing those skills even if you dont think you have them to start!

Tech Skills or at least having the ability to learn the skills necessary by reading blogs, or tutorials and watching videos on YouTube you will find that it can be very tricky to even begin streaming or continuing to grow in the streaming world. When i first started I streamed directly from PlayStation. I clicked a button and was live. I eventually got a Cam and that too was just plugged in. Now when I decided to use a capture card and my laptop this was a whole new ball game. Thankfully i had a great friend who had already done this and was able to help me out as it was a lot of new technology that I had absoutely NO knowledge for. I would have taken a lot longer to figure it out by watching videos but it wasnt that hard and once you know the general idea of what you are doing it can be easy to learn new things and tweek your setup. This also goes for other aspects like mics, volumes, hardware, devices, etc.

Equipment can be SUPER subjective as well. You could go with the products that have the best reviews, You could also ask your friends or fellow streamers which products they like or even by a trusted name that has other products or go by the price tag too. I think regardless of things when you start streaming you should have the skill set as much consumers do to be able to decide on a product. Like any hobby or interest it is also good to note that when starting out you do not need to have the best of the best in order to grow. In fact starting at a lower tier end and growing in products is a lot easier then starting higher and losing interest or what not. For me, I started directly6 on my playstation streaming, I got the Playstation webcam next and then afterwards I purchased an Elgato Capture card and then I used my boyfriends old computer and saved up for my own. Staring at the beginning for a hobby you may or may not fall out of love with and spending a ton of money on it can be expensive for sure.

Knowledge of Streaming would also be great. Whether you are a viewer or whether you even know anything about the streamer side. As mentioned before watching a streamer can be incredibly simple. It can look like seamless when you are a viewer from the transitions and overlays and alerts but in actuality it could be anything but! Knowing some of what it takes to be a successful streamer even from the mental health side to the demanding schedules and dedication and consistency would save a lot of people heartache if they knew what to expect and understand how difficult making it in this industry can be.

Etiquette would probably be something I wish I had explored before streaming as well. Learning what is acceptable and what isnt is extremely hard and not nessacarly in the rules of someones stream. For example self promo is a big no-no in nearly every stream on Twitch. I had done this thankfully to friends who told me the reasoning behind it but had it been a random stream i enjoyed how awkward would that have been! Another would be the push to talk on discord when you are streaming with another person who is also streaming too. This is something I encounter quite often and it really is a pain when you have someone trying to butt in on a stream or when they are shouting out their alerts over your stream. These are all important things you should know if you decide to take the plunge.

Knowing who YOU are is probably one of the most important things I think. Knowing who you are and not who you want to be can make or break you. Do you want to try to be like Ninja? You may find it a struggle since he is who he is. You want to be family friendly or do you want to be mature audience? Do you want to be a one game stream, just chatting one or even a variety? There is so many things you need to think of even as far as what you want to call your followers or subscribers once you hit affiliate. These things can also come as you stream more and as your followers or subscribers say more they can even help along the way with ideas.

Whatever you decide, know that these skills are forever changing with the trends as well as with the medias and streaming equipement. You may not need to be fully up to date on them but having some sort of an idea would be a great way to start instead of going in blindly!

-StaySeeJ08