What's the draw of watching/following streamers?

Lots of people watch live sports, reality TV, talk shows. It's just an extension of that genre depending on what type of streamer you're in to.

Lots of people don't care for that stuff, sounds like you're in the second group.

I legitimately never understood the draw of watching sports, on any level, until I watched people playing hard video games and was fascinated by checking out what they could do and got to share in their vicarious enjoyment of their accomplishment when they overcame.

I was like oh, I get it. That's why people watch football. Makes sense now.

10 years ago I was like “why tf would I want to watch someone play a video game when I could just play it myself?”

Now I’m like “why tf would I play this game when I could just watch someone else?”

I guess I’m still interested in what’s going on in gaming in general, but I don’t have any desire to go through all the bullshit of a modern AAA game with a huge repetitive open world, dozens of half assed shallow mechanics (rpg/perk system, loot, crafting etc.), homogenized design, predatory DLC/mtx, and all that. I’d rather play Factorio and watch a streamer play whatever hot new game people are into.

I was a pretty heavy Twitch user for a while, even streamed for a couple years myself. The biggest draw for me was the community. Most of the time I couldn't care less what the person was playing, I was there to interact with them and their communities. It was about the only social/entertainment outlet I had at the time.

I think most viewers can be grouped into 3 main categories (please note these are just very broad generalizations)

Category 1 viewers watch streams because they like the game that is being played, and basically treat it like watching sports. They want to watch skilled people doing skillful and impressive things. Maybe they play the game themselves, but not always. They tend to focus on categories rather than channels, and are quick to unfollow if a streamer starts playing something else, even if it's a similar genre.

Category 2 viewers watch streams because of the personality of the streamer and the vibes of the stream, and tend to have parasocial relationship. I won't say much about this category because I honestly don't understand the whole parasocial thing at all, I just know it's a Thing.

Category 3 viewers watch streams because of the streamer's community. They're focused on not just the personality of the streamer, but also the kind of environment they foster and how they interact with the viewers. I'm in this group, I'm on twitch to meet people and make some genuine connections. I've made some great friends in streams, not just with the actual streamer, but the other chatters as well - we hang out off-stream and play games, watch movies, just chat, etc. This group tends to contain a lot of smaller streamers supporting each other (in a bit of a circle-jerk, I admit)

From what I've seen, categories 1 and 2 gravitate towards larger, well-established channels, while category 3 prefer smaller streamers and will be supportive but disappointed if someone they watch becomes "big".

All of this is just my own observations hanging out on twitch and talking with other viewers and streamers, please take with a grain of salt. Also I have no idea how much of this applies to other streaming platforms like YouTube or Kick.

Background noise. Also, I can't do the cool shit that they do.

I think parasocial relationships are a big part of it

I don't personally, but I've read that the appeal is that sometimes you want to play a game, and sometimes you want to watch television, and sometimes you don't want to do either but vaguely want an experience that's halfway between the two (i.e. watching someone else play a game).

https://moonpiedumplings.github.io/blog/twitch/

I like to watch people program on twitch. Seeing people suffer with code reminds me that I am not alone.

Occasionally I'll watch a playthrough of a game I'm interested in something about (the plot or aesthetic), but don't think I'd enjoy playing.

Mostly, though, I watch like the Drawfee stream where they do improv comedy and draw audience suggestions. I'd almost rather watch a vod of a game I'm curious about, but comedy streams with audience participation benefit from seeing them live.

I think a lot of streamers are basically amateur comedians doing bits with something like a videogame to give them material. mst3k-like.

Others will play a game early or right away and be able to review as you watch. They'll say like the controls feel sloppy or the theme is grating and you'll experience that with them. Not a big deal for most people, but for highly anticipated games people are excited about, it helps give a sense of whether a game is worth playing for them in a slightly different way than a written or recorded review.

Watching people play a dnd game live gives you the energy in the chat while watching, which can make more exciting or interesting the play (do people in chat who know dnd think what's happening was a good idea? is everyone freaking out at a roll? is there a person who explains things in there which helps you understand for your own game?) It also protects you from getting spoiled when something dramatic happens.

There are people who play music or paint or work on a skill on stream, and that comes with a touch of the fun of watching a live performance. There's some extra excitement when you see stuff in real time and they could fuck up or they could do something amazing.

I like their personalities and their commentary.

I'm not going to buy a console for just one game. If I really want to play that game, and it's been years, and it still hasn't come out on pc, and I can't get the goddamn emulator to work, well, I'll watch a streamer play it.

I don't personally care to catch live streams and participate, but I do sometimes prefer a streamer's commentary on a game compared to pure gameplay.

There was a streamer's series I used to watch (Attacking Tucans playing Zelda OOT randomizer). Their personality and reactions to the game were fun to watch and added to the experience.

You do you, I couldn't care less about game streamers as well.

Ever watch a football game?

Watching the recording afterward is maybe good for some white noise, but it’s clearly not the intended experience I think.

Same reason why you might DVR a TV show, to watch it later when you get home.

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