Allow me to speak at length about a side project I've been working on. You may have heard me talk about it a few times in the past - Quest for Semi-Glory, a thrice-weekly gaming stream that I started doing in May 2014. Over this time, I've settled on a regular schedule of each Monday, Wednesday, and (most) Fridays, 7 PM CDT.
Hard to believe, but it has been running for two full years. In that time, I've clocked in 24+ games and 100s+ of stream hours. I don't know exact counts, because I didn't start recording / tracking how much until about six months in.
There are a few new-ish things on the horizon, too. I'm in the process of creating a more focused site for the stream, including what I hope will be an easier portal to all three streaming services I am using (Twitch, Hitbox, and YouTube). I have also created a separate Twitter account (@Quest4SemiGlory), which will feature stream announcements, schedule changes, upcoming games, recordings - pretty much anything relevant that whomever is following my personal Twitter account is getting sick of hearing about. I am also considering investing in some better visual media, as well - so far, my (vastly inferior) graphic design skill has carried me so far, but there's always ways to improve.
In additon, the most recent 'experiment' - Quest for Semi-Co-op - is becoming a regular thing! Myself, Boris, and 006 pick a co-op game and stream our bumbling attempts to play. So far, our schedule is the fourth Saturday of every month, starting at 9:30 PM CDT. It's a lot of fun, and thankfully we haven't embarassed ourselves too much yet.
Overall, the general reception has been incredibly positive. Despite my utter lack of comedic skill and subpar gameplay skills, I am entertaining to watch. This confused me, at first. There are so many streamers out there that are wildly more popular, for any number of reasons - funnier (with formal and dedicated comedy experience), better players (speedrunners), more 'mainstream' (playing popular games). Yet, somehow, there are a few folks that show up regularly, and I generally see some new people every time.
I feel so incredibly lucky to be able to do what I do. Despite not wanting to turn it into something more, I can stream regularly, interact with a bunch of friendly people, and generally have a good time without the pressure to 'perform' for the sake of earning money to survive.
And let's be clear, I am not 'performing' so much as I am just playing naturally. I am passionate about the games I play, and, stream or no, I tend to vocalize a whole bunch while I'm playing - even (or especially) by myself. I yell, scream, cheer, laugh, and curse, often spanning all those within a single minute. I certainly won't deny that I'm more forceful about all these things on-stream, but it was an important realization early on.
Since I started streaming, I have come to a new respect for anyone that does it part- or full-time. Entertainment, no matter its form, is a difficult thing to do, never mind do well. For many years, I did not consider spectating games as a legitimate use of time; I was very adamant about playing games, rather than just watching. But, really, it's not much different from more mainstream entertainment. Sports, concerts, public competitions of any sort - all of these require dedication, a certain mastery of craft, and streaming is really just another form. Though, I would argue that streaming is a much more universal method of entertaining others. After all, you don't need much to do it - some hardware, a little bit of patience, and some drive to put yourself out there.
In my case, I was heavily involved in amateur radio during my college days, something I decided to join on a whim. But it was a lot of fun, and the experience I picked up then translated naturally to streaming - I have the technical knowledge on how it works, including what works well, hardware-wise; I have my 'stage fright' largely in check; and my vocal performance has improved steadily since the start. While none of this was strictly necessary to start streaming, it certainly helped quite a bit.
In terms of the actual 'performance', I believe there are so many different ways to find something that works for you. You can try to be funny, work on your comedic stuff; you can try to be really good at what you're playing, speed- and skill-runs; you can try to appeal to more widely-popular genres, mainstream or cult-classic games. I opted for something a bit less focused than all these - I want to be genuine. No matter if I'm funny, or if I'm good, or if I'm hitting the mainstream (spoiler alert: I am none of these things), I want my reactions and my passion te be natural. I try not to ham it up too much - if I get frustrated, I want it to be real frustration. Ditto excitement, puzzlement, rage, happiness, whatever. That's what I like about this as a whole, and most other streamers that I have watched, too - it's a hobby, pasttime, living (whatever) that allows so much true character to shine through.
I recommend to anybody with even a passing interest in streaming - please, do try it.
