Assassin's Creed Odyssey Made Me Fall In Love With Games Again! (Monday Musings 65)

I didn't post Monday Musings last week so apologies!

This post is intentionally vague to avoid as many spoilers as possible.

My friend so thoughtfully bought me AC Odyssey (the same friend who bought me Ys 8: Lacrimosa of Dana) and it brought me back from being burned out with gaming (due to the strenuous demands of gaining viewer numbers for streaming).

I know it's in fashion to make fun of Ubisoft games - just like Call of Duty series, even though every time I see people streaming CoD, the gameplay looks so precise and fluid, brilliantly so that I never understand the hate - but AC: Odyssey hits all of my gaming buttons!

First, you can chose your avatar's gender, and instead of having the tired silent hero who just stands there not reacting to anything, the hero actually has personality. I appreciate how you can chose to be either Alexios or Kassandra. It's always a good thing to have a choice.

But if you can only be a particular hero with no option for customization, that hero better be well-fleshed-out, as with Sora from Kingdom Hearts, as opposed to William from Nioh. Despite hundreds of hours playing Nioh, I can't find a molecule of personality in William; he has no personality. 

I chose to be Kassandra and found her personality compelling - she's a wonderful mix of having a good sense of humor, being blunt at times, other times exhibiting wisdom, and using cheesy pick-up lines that work.

The NPCs and side quests are also memorable and quite well-done. Although there are so many side missions, and quite a few are fetch quests, or sorties to go out and kill enemies, those are primarily to boost your experience, as some are timed missions (i.e. you have 24 hrs to a few days to complete). However, the primary side quests flesh out the world, story and characters very well and are rather complex and sometimes startling.

The side quests that stick out are the minotaur quests (that have ever branching out story lines) I also appreciate missions which delineate a cultist's personality and story in depth, which compels you to do these major side missions. Others have very colorful NPCs that I won't soon forget. I was actually surprised when killing one such enemy, to find out that she was a cultist in the end, when she was merely considered an elite warrior. Not to say that all cultists you kill have these long-drawn out characterization, but quite a few do, which is refreshing.

The story is compelling, and although it follows the save-the-world formula, there's political intrigue and deep lore, unlike the Monster Hunter series (which is one of my favorite franchises) where it's simply a matter of a monster threatens the village, and you go kill it. Further, you really want to kill these enemies since they're portrayed so well, as so disgusting you enjoy defeating them.

The cultists are disgusting, but they're not caricatures, they're very much like real people. I know it's not kosher to discuss politics, but one such cultist reminds me of our very own cabinet member who's justifying ripping immigrant children from their mothers.

Though I'm new to AC, haven't played one until Odyssey, it has a lot of lore explained rather well during gameplay, which I appreciate--I read online summaries of prior AC games, and Odyssey does a great job summarizing the mysteries in-game.

Throughout, both in the main campaign and side missions, there are many things to do so that you won't be bored. Once I get tired of killing legendary beasts, I tackle clearing out the Ubisoft-requisite bandit and soldier camps, solve puzzles (Ainigmata Ostraka tablets that give you a puzzle to find various items), hunt down cultists using clues, fight in the Arena, participate in battle skirmishes siding with either the Athenians or Spartans, and finally, leveling up my ship, weapons, armors, and abilities.

Although I tend to hate any combat related to water, I found the naval battles in Odyssey extremely fun, which adds another gameplay component to keep combat varied. It's ever so satisfying to ram into ships, shooting arrows and javelins, then initiate boarding to finish off the enemies!

Indeed, there's just so much to do, and with the quest markers off button, I'm always exploring and looking forward to what's around the next corner. Instead of groaning when new quests show up, I get excited to see a main side mission marker on map (it only shows when you're close to the area) because of the quality of the side missions. I do groan, however, whenever I see yet another timed mission, but I tend to ignore those unless I want the experience, money or resources.

Some of the main story quests involve investigations, figuring out puzzles by hunting down clues, so it's not just going from one track quest marker to the next. It's exciting to uncover the various Cult members, and unearthing the keys.

The over-world is absolutely gorgeous with varied terrains and verticality that encourage exploration. I love the caves and tombs, finding treasures and fighting enemies along the way. Although not the most complex level design, it was fun exploring, moving storage crates to open up to another area. 

I wondered why, despite the lack of diversity of enemies, the fighting in Odyssey never gets old, just as it doesn't in the Souls and Monster Hunter series. The combat appears to be a cross between Souls and Nioh but that in Odyssey might be even more addictive than Souls'.

Although the Souls series has such huge diversity of enemies, and even within the same Hollow enemy set, each Hollow has different attack patterns. However, if you level up so high, you can easily 1hko all these Hollows. Even though the squishy sound of killing Hollows never gets old, but clearly it no longer becomes challenging.

For one thing, I so appreciate how the enemies in Odyssey level up along with you, so despite being only half way through the game, I'm at level 41 (I believe the max level enemies is 50). Therefore, I'm never able to 1hko an enemy using melee, except when I use assassination abilities. 

Since I can't aim, I haven't been using ranged tactics, primarily relying on melee and fighting the enemies as you do in Souls and Nioh. Again, the melee falls between the two. The enemies are not so easy to kill (because of how the game levels up with you) as in Souls, but they don't take forever to kill as in Nioh, so it's the perfect balance between those two great franchises (Nioh 2 will be coming out).

It's so addictive to dodge, and if you time it right, it slows down time, during which you can close the distance and whack the enemy. There's also just as addictive a parrying mechanic that is as satisfying as that in Souls and Nioh.

The Warrior Ability I tend to use is the "Shield Breaker", which satisfyingly rips off shields, and the even more hysterical "Ring of Chaos" that damages and pushes all the enemies back, stunning them. What I love about both of those abilities is that they never 1hko, rather they give you breathing space to then land further attacks.

Even at the highest tier, 3, Ring of Chaos has never been able to kill whole groups of enemies, though the ability makes me laugh out loud when you see enemies flying a couple of meters away from you, landing on their backs.

Precisely because of these addictive combat mechanics, never being over-powered as in the Souls series, and having to dodge/parry attacks as well as using abilities in a well-placed, timed manner, the combat is always fun despite Odyssey having limited enemies (humans, bears, cats, dogs). 

And I haven't even touched upon the ranged and assassination approaches, which add extra layers of combat mechanics, that I can see being just as addictive as the head-on melee approach. Since I'm midway through the game, I'm using a little bit more ranged and assassination, and they appear to be just as fun as my rushing in blind attacking everything with my beloved heavy blade weapon.

Since I unlocked the passive ability of Assassin, "Stealth Master", it allows you to more easily sneak up on enemies, and again, it never gets old backstabbing and 1hko unsuspecting enemies! I believe I was only successful in assassinating all enemies in maybe 2 or 3 camps without alerting them. If I do alert them, the cheese strat appears to run away from the camp and come back to continue your assault.

I can see players getting tired of clearing out bandit and soldier camps, but I actually look forward to doing so, to see if I can clear out entire camps through stealth. Key strat here is to make sure you trap the brazier alarm so they can't call reinforcements!

The sound effects also hit my gaming addiction spot. The crunch of footsteps, the whoosh sounds of successful parrying and dodging, the satisfying "pock pock" sound when your eagle, Ikaros, finds an important item, stealing/looting drachmae (the coin sounds are quite ESMR), and the like.

I enjoy the music but there's only a few musical themes throughout the game, so it gets repetitive very quickly. However, the solution is to listen to my own music while playing the game.

I agree with a lot of the reviews I read about Odyssey, that it's an RPG following in the steps of Witcher 3 because it has good story, characters and complex missions that flesh out the world and lore. 

My major gameplay complaint about Odyssey is that I can't figure out when we can or cannot crouch, or perhaps my character is in fact crouching, but I can't tell from the animation. Sneaking up to an enemy, I press crouch, but I'm only leaning a bit forward. But other times, the animation clearly shows a crouch position.

The other issue is dealing with what appears to be infinite amount of bounty hunters - there's a red meter showing how many are after you, up to 5. Your red meter increases when you steal or kill humans except for bandits. The problem is after killing 1 bounty hunter, another resurrects. Further, anytime you kill a mercenary that also increases your red meter further, and you're soon up to 2, of which these 2 also resurrect infinitely, rapidly going to 5 as you're committing murder.

The first time I was clearing out a camp, it was easy to get rid of the 1 bounty hunter, but as described above, due to the red meter mechanics, it quickly went to 5.

Fighting 5 mercenaries at the same time, including all the soldiers, was ridiculous. I think a better mechanic would be once you eliminate the 1 bounty hunter, he or she should not be replaced.

Since I wasn't very good at stealth killing enemies (this prevents the red meter from increasing), my strategy in clearing out soldier camps are the following. First, I would see what the objectives are in clearing the soldier camp. These objectives tend to be looting treasure chest(s), burning war supplies, and taking out the captain(s).

I trap the brazier alarm to prevent more enemies from arriving. Next, I run around the camp looting the treasure, burning the war supplies, which lead to all soldiers being aggro'd. I quickly got good at running away from them, stealing and looting along the way.

Finally, I run away from the camp, push the button for night-time, then target and kill only the captains, avoiding killing the other soldiers to prevent the red meter from increasing.

In terms of technical issues, the game crashed twice, and sometimes the screen freezes. However, that has significantly improved with the recent patch, so only a couple of times did the screen freeze, but at least the game resumes. The good news is that I've never lost progress since the game auto-saves.

The other major issue is the long loading screens (not as notoriously long as Bloodborne's pre-patch), so hopefully they'll patch that out.

I'm only mid-way through the game and already played 100 hours, but there's so many activities that I haven't even completed. It's definitely the type of game that has re-playability, as I'm definitely going to do NG+, getting all my abilities maxed out and of course getting all trophies and achievements.

In conclusion, for me, Odyssey does everything right such as character and world-building, a good story with interesting main and side quests with colorful NPCs, great combat mechanics (a lot of open-world games seem to struggle with combat), graphics, varied types of quests that include exploration and investigation, and most of all, it's fun. Indeed, I would say I love Odyssey as much as I do Monster Hunter: World.

For those reasons above, I consider Odyssey a masterpiece - it made me fall in love with gaming again. 

Have you played Odyssey, and if so what are your thoughts?

The How of Happiness Review

Re-Evaluating Life (Monday Musings 65)

I found out one of my best friends was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Before finding out, I was about to write a post about how to become "successful" with Twitch streaming, and what Twitch means by "success" is having as many viewers as possible.

I felt that particular post will be instructive and hopefully helpful to those who want to gain more viewers. I can't comment on Partnership since I haven't achieved it, but I have a sense of what anyone can do to increase viewership.

But, in reality, a legitimate metric of being successful on Twitch is if you're having fun and not being burned out, even if you have 0 viewers and 0 followers. If you have 1 or more viewers, and you're making that person happy, building a loving community, then you are a successful streamer.

I noticed being burned out maybe going into the 3rd month, but what kept me going is that I've been gaining viewers after each stream. It was an adrenaline rush to see the growing numbers, as well as very ego-boosting. I must admit that this ego-boosting was thrilling, but again, it gives you a false sense of pride, because in actuality, it really doesn't make anyone "better" just because you can get more viewers.

Your sense of pride really comes from being satisfied with life, such as having loving relationships, accomplishing real goals in your career, and in the example of streaming, enjoying your streams and, if you have at least 1 viewer, creating a loving community where people are kind to each other.

Indeed, it goes against every single spiritual and religious truth that you're a worse person than someone else because you have less concurrent viewers. Writing and reading this, if I don't see how ridiculous and laughable this is, then I haven't been living.

At any rate, having around 18 average concurrent viewers after a little less than 3 months of streaming may sound paltry, but in the world of Twitch, that's pretty good. My first broadcast was July 25, 2018.

So, even as I was burned out due to following a strict schedule of Sun, Mon, Wed, Fri from 1 to 5 PM, around the 2.5 month mark, I continued to stream because I didn't want the numbers to drop, and I just plugged through.

The other reason that I continued with this schedule is because of the mental effort and demands of streaming, I had to be healthy to perform adequately. I was exercising regularly after 3 years of being sedentary, getting up as soon as the alarm clock rings, and eating more fruits and vegetables and whole grain (mostly steel-cut oatmeal).

But after I heard about my friend, my wanting "success" in getting Partnership is so irrelevant. Of course, I knew that intellectually, but not emotionally. I fooled myself into thinking that I didn't care about this artificial success, though clearly I did. Only now, with my friend suffering, do I know deep down how absolutely absurd I was in taking streaming this seriously.

I was doing as much as possible to have a "successful" (i.e. more viewers) channel, such as having a regular schedule, networking by meeting other streamers and communities, keeping in touch with your viewers through Discord. Even then, what I was doing was only the tip of the iceberg. I haven't even used Twitter effectively, or getting to know the game developer's communities (usually Developers have Reddit communities), since doing these steps would make people know about you, curious about your channel and watch you. 

When I do go back to streaming, it makes more sense to me to stream early in the mornings, being a morning person, rather than wait around until 1 PM, doing networking which is exhausting. I believe I chose 1 to 5 PM to target the UK/EU communities but again, the first rule is to stream when it's best for you.

In other words, morning times will force me to be efficient by getting out of bed as soon as the alarm clock rings, doing all my chores and exercises, and then jump right into streaming, instead of doing networking.

Cutting back to 1 to 3 times a week might be helpful, streaming fewer hours than 4 (maybe 2 hours at most) - again, it's best if you want Partnership to stream at least 3 times a week for at least 2 hours, but thankfully that's not my focus anymore.

Finally, I refuse to do any networking. It's just so refreshing to watch one stream at a time, and really enjoy the streamer's and the chat's company, rather than flipping through 8 streams at once!

Even though I only streamed less than 3 months, I do know what it takes to get more viewers, but it's very time-consuming and so exhausting. I will write a post about it, as there are so many people who want "success" in streaming in terms of growing viewership numbers, but as of now, it's not for me.

In conclusion, my friend's serious illness brought me to my senses that my relationships are more important than anything else.

The How of Happiness Review

Waking Up Challenge (Monday Musings 64)

Sorry this post is way overdue! I found Twitch streaming, while extremely rewarding, very time-consuming, so I'll recommit to the Monday Musings weekly series in a more timely manner!

Throughout my entire life, I could never get up as soon as the alarm rings, often hitting the snooze buttons (I use 2 alarms in case the other one doesn't go off) over and over again. However, while streaming, I met psychgamerrr who, throughout his life, gets up at 5 AM, exercises then after doing chores, he'd do relaxing activities such as reading before he heads off to work.

That really resonated with me, so I was successful in forcing myself to get out of bed at 7 AM three days in a row, and strangely enough, I'm getting quite used to it even after all these decades of lying in bed well after the alarm clock goes off.

By getting up on time, it reaps a lot of benefits. For one, I make sure I'm bed on time b/c I really need at least 8 hours to function, and I notice that I am getting rather sleepy when it comes close to my bedtime. Whereas in the past, since I'd frequently sleep in, it didn't matter what time I'd fall asleep on days I don't work.

I also note that by the time I finish everything I need to do, it's 9 AM, or even earlier depending on how quickly I do things--admittedly, I move around slowly after getting up since I feel very sluggish, but it's so refreshing to have all that free time after 9 AM to do whatever I want!

I also feel a sense of accomplishment for getting these things done, so I can truly enjoy my free time. When I was doing fun things while procrastinating, I couldn't enjoy it having chores hanging over my head.

I hope to keep to this routine and will report on it from time to time.

I'm curious, if you have no problems getting up as soon as the alarm clock rings, what techniques have you used to get up on time?

The How of Happiness Review

Monthly Progress Report for my Twitch Channel FuzzyJCats, August 25 to September 24

FuzzyJCats Twitch Channel

I reevaluated why I'm streaming as I was wrestling with getting Partnership, and why I feel the need to over-achieve in the field of Twitch streaming. After evaluation, I've let go of the goals of Partnership, but to rather focus on improving myself as a streamer, not worrying about the results.

I've noticed there were quite a few times during the two months I've been streaming where I'd achieve the same high I'd get when I did very intensive exercise for 45 minutes straight when I was healthy. Interacting with my community in chat gave me rush of endorphins.

My community is so supportive, positive and fun towards myself and each other, going out of their way to help by solving problems, making us laugh and feel better.

They pushed me to stretch my gaming skills and broaden my gaming horizons. I'm even playing an FPS for the first time ever (and the first time ever being this successful).

They made me improve myself in achieving goals, not just in gaming but health goals. They've also supported and helped each other achieve Affiliation and other milestones.

Because of streaming and the necessities of networking, I'm so grateful, overwhelmingly so, for meeting so many wonderful people who come from all walks of life, all of whom I wouldn't have met otherwise when I was a gamer and Twitch viewer.

I will continue my preparation for my stream. This is a must if I want to continue to improve my content because my community deserves it.

Indeed, for the next month, it's vital to keep in mind how much my community means to me, to enjoy streaming and to not worry about Partnership and plummeting views. This attitude will be my focus.

Progress made:

• Coming to terms that I don't need Partnership, and working through my ego issues to be at peace with the decision (this hasn't been wholly resolved yet though but getting better)
• Rather, I'm here to enjoy being with my awesome community and improving, which makes me happy
• Smotpoker887 became my mod
• Thanks to SpaceDandyTTV, I installed Live Now Bot to my Discord server which automates announcements to #stream_share channel whenever a member streams
• Installing StreamElements leadership board extension to my channel description
• Installing StreamLabs schedule countdown extension to my channel description
• Learned how to timeout (had 1 homophobic user but didn't know how to delete comments at that time)

Improvements to be made (aside from focusing on chat primary, and gameplay at same time):

• Continue to support members to gain Affiliation and Partner, but in healthy, sane ways 
• Continue to be at peace with not feeling like I'm "inadequate" if I don't get Partnership but rather enjoy the process of Streaming.
• Being able to timeout/ban LIVE in a TIMELY manner!
• Not moving around as much as sometimes I was actually off camera
• Listen to and summarize Stream Key Podcasts to improve content
• Improve game skills by practicing the game off-stream
• Continue to be consistent with prepping for stream (exercising, preparing topics)
• Continue to be enthusiastic
• Work on considering the pros and cons of a tip jar
• Maintaining work/stream/life balance

The How of Happiness Review

Your Body Is Your Barbell Update (Monday Musings 63)

Book Used for Weight Lifting

I wanted to update on a post I wrote about using your bodyweight at home rather than going to a gym to use free weights and machines. In this post, I was only able to do one set of the Level 1 Ground Zero workout that includes the 8 exercises, and I added calf leg raises. As noted, I was only able to do 1 set, and it's recommended to do 3 sets.

For quite some time, I could only negotiate 1 set b/c after I did all 8, I was thoroughly exhausted, and then psychologically facing the daunting task of doing a 2nd set, I stopped.

What I did this week was to do the first two exercises, and repeat twice, and then move onto the second set. In other words, exercise 1 and 2, repeat again, and then go onto exercise 3 and 4, repeat again.

For some reason, this worked because as I finish each set, I know I don't have to go back to them again, that I'm over and done with them.

I'll try to work on doing 3 sets, then moving onto the next pair of exercises as I get stronger and build endurance.

As for the aerobics, I found that walking up and down the stairs is almost as effective as doing the stepmill, but I like the consistency of the Stepmill better and how you can space out easier than negotiating stairs. Since my Stepmill died, I decided to keep my Planet Fitness membership for the aerobic component of my exercise regime. If my friend doesn't join me, I'll downgrade to the basic membership plan.

The How of Happiness Review

Twitch Partnership--Not Necessarily Worth It (Monday Musings 62)

Exhibit A: August Viewers 12

I've discovered during my first two months of streaming that getting Twitch Partnership may not be worth it, but Twitch Streaming is invaluable (this will be a subject for another time).

The requirements for even applying for

Exhibit B: September Viewers 14

Partnership is very difficult. Once you have 75 concurrent viewers, you have the right to apply. However, your application can still be turned down for Partnership.

The question is, is it worth getting Partnership? I'll break down the details so you can make that determination for yourself.

My August average viewers was 12 (Exhibit A) and for the month of September, the average was 14 (Exhibit B). 

Going through the numbers, it seems that the second month gained 2 viewers, but other months, my average can drop, so let's put the average number to 1 viewer/month.

To get to the magic 75, that will take 75-14 = 61 extra months, more than 4 years. I'm always of the mind that it doesn't matter how long it takes you to succeed, as long as you get there. For instance, who cares if it takes you 4 years to lose 100 pounds instead of 2 weeks, and indeed, it's MUCH safer to lose that much weight slowly so your body doesn't go into "shock". 

However, during the 4 years, what if there's a major life event and you need to take time off, you may lose viewers over time. Viewers may look around for you, but after awhile, they might think you're not going to return and move onto another streamer, viewer numbers then plummeting. In fact, I heard a lot of streamers who could be Partner, taking time off, then returning, but viewer numbers decrease, which is very demoralizing.

But, let's say that I can eventually get to 75, and my application is accepted, is getting Partnership still worth it? I think for me it's not because of the sacrifices you have to make. 

For one thing, I haven't been following one of my friend's brilliant health advice, in which he unplugs his computer and ONLY turns it on after he completes all of his day's chores and responsibilities. Instead, as soon as I wake up, I check my Discord server, which is a convenient place to communicate to your viewers, scrolling through to make sure I reply to everyone's comments in a timely manner.

Next I open Twitch, and lurk multiple streamers. What I mean by lurking is that I'd write a comment in chat for one streamer, and then flip from tab to tab talking to chat, while eating breakfast and lunch, doing chores, and exercise. Also while lurking, I write down my Twitch topics and perform my pre-stream rituals. Then I stream for 4 hrs, Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

After streaming, while lurking multiple streamers, I eat dinner. If I'm conscientious that day, I read the nightbot chat log to make sure I private message (PM) new viewers thanking them for watching the stream, and thanking those who followed, subbed, gave me bits. I've been getting worse about reading the chat log due to the increasing number of comments.

Does this sound time consuming and potentially tiring? The answer is yes. However, be advised that I have it way cushier than most people who stream since I have a cushy workload. I don't know how anyone can sustain this type of activity if you work 40 hours/week and you must add 10 hrs/week for transportation and getting ready for work.

In other words, Stream Key podcasts are correct that you have to sacrifice a lot, including sleep to gain Partnership.

This is not to mention those who are parents and also work full-time. Whereas with Twitch, you can gain Partnership (if you do all the networking program that I laid out, and that does NOT even include using Twitter and Instagram which I've been ignoring), but will you get the amount of subscribers, bits and ad dollars to net the average American salary of 50K/year? Maybe, maybe not.

The other reason of my wanting Partnership (aside from ego issues) is to give legitimate advice to those who want to achieve Partnership. But given the unhealthy nature and risking health for minor rewards (not even guaranteeing a salary or living wage), I'm pivoting to advising putting in tip jar in your channel panel. 

The Stream Key podcasts are superb in discussing how to achieve Partnership, but already two of the podcasts I listened to mentioned sacrificing sleep, which I think may be a necessary sacrifice to gain Partnership, especially if you have a family and/or work full-time. But am I casting the proverbial stone at these two streamers from Stream Key podcasts and being a hypocrite?

Yes, because to achieve my MD degree, I sacrificed sleep. However, you do obtain your MD degree and net a career at the end of the long haul, with actual salary and benefits. Realize that Twitch doesn't give you a guaranteed salary, so once you're a Partner, your income will come from subscriptions, bits (people buy bits through Twitch and give out bits which are converted to cash), advertisements, and donations from your tip jar.

Be advised that you can make money even without Partnership!

First, you can put a tip jar in your channel panel description and make money that way. The easiest way is to download the StreamElements Extension (Twitch, Dashboard, Extensions) and it will walk you through the steps including adding a tip jar!

Second, you can also gain Affiliation, which is very doable. As long as you have 50 followers and have an average 3 concurrent viewers over 7 broadcasts on separate days totaling 8 hours in a 30 day period (nag your family and friends to watch you), you can get your Affiliation.

With Affiliation, you get the Subscription button as well as being able to accept bits. With the tip jar that doesn't require any sacrifice, and reasonable sacrifice in obtaining Affiliation, why kill yourself over Partnership?

After recognizing this, at the conclusion of this second month period, I made my peace to not pursue Partnership at all! I found I'd rather have fun so I can be more genuine with my viewers instead of being burned out from the work entailed in gaining Partnership.

It's more rewarding to challenge myself to be a better streamer than work towards Partnership. In the meantime, after installing your Tip Jar, I recommend that you get Affiliation which may take sacrifices, but not nearly as much as getting Partnership, so you can get subscriptions and bits.

Conclusion: For all the reasons above, for me, Partnership is not worth it, but Streaming in of itself is invaluable. Rather, get your Tip Jar installed in your Channel Panel Description, and work toward Affiliation.

The How of Happiness Review

Stream Key Podcast: Is Being A Variety Twitch Streamer Worth It?

Is Being A Variety Twitch Streamer Worth It Link

After streaming for about 2 months, GreenChord and SuperV1D were ABSOLUTELY CORRECT, in order to become Partner, you DO HAVE to sacrifice a lot, including sleep, no breaks/vacation! 

The question becomes: is it worth becoming Partner? For me, it's a no so far...

This synopsis was an eye-opener.

At any rate, here's the synopsis:

1. SuperV1D guest, Twitch Affiliate, TruGaming Sponsor
2. He streams pretty much everything when the game comes out
3. He started streaming Minecraft as its the only game that his computer can play, then got new computer and streamed variety
4. When he was 10 yrs old, Youtube started out, and he wanted to make videos, so he combined two things he liked the most which are superman and video games, and combined. He added the 1 for V1D
5. Motivation--he likes hearing people saying that their day is better and not feeling as depressed because of him, that's what keeps him going
6.  Variety streamer--not tied down to 1 game or 1 genre
7. Pros of Variety Streaming:
1. Get to try out everything, find out what you and your audience like 
2. You don't get tired of playing the same game over and over again
3. May prevent burnout
4. Your personality is key, b/c you're not known for just playing one game that might get stale
5. Flexibility in case the game you play dies down  
6. Showing people different games and broadening your viewers' horizon and can reach out to new viewers as well
8. Cons of Variety Streaming:
1. You're not going to grow as fast as an established LoL streamer
2. for instance, some of his viewers come to him for the game, and may leave when he switches games
3. It takes a lot of practice to develop your personality to be a variety streamer than if you focus on one game
4. You're not going to pick up as many viewers when you play a new game
9. Great analogy of Variety vs. Single Game
1. You planted a seed in a lot, and it's already hard enough to focus on that and grow that
2. But variety, you have to plant a bunch of seeds all over the place, so even harder to work on all those plots
3. So you can't focus on that one game that you can be known for, so you have to be known for your personality
10. Creating your identity as a variety streamer:
1. Finding out what works and what doesn't 
2. A lot of trial and error
3. He reports to start whatever he wants, and then keep changing games and then narrow down the games that works based on viewership stats
4. Sometimes hard to tell why your viewers changed, was it due to the game itself, was it the stream, and/or something that's out of your control that increased or decreased views
5. But often, there are some games that draw in more views: so that will tune the personality of your stream
6. SuperV1D loves Persona 5, but found out over time that hs viewers will NOT come to watch him play Persona, so he has to play another game
11.  Controversy:
1. "Just stream for fun, that's all that matters":
2. He disagrees--indeed, he finds streaming inherently fun, but you want to push more viewers. I totally agree with that.
3. Because it's soul crushing to see your viewers plummet no matter how you try to ignore the numbers
4. This is even when you absolutely don't care about making Twitch a career or getting Partner, it's just hard on the ego to see lower audience numbers
5. Analogy is you work at McDonald's but you don't do that for career, but rather, you want to use it as a stepping stone for something bigger
12. You got to play the games that grow your audience
1. So he played Roblox even though he doesn't like it, but it got him viewers. Agree: it's more fun to have more viewers who can interact with your chat. But he made Roblox fun for him.
2. If you want to grow your channel, you have to sacrifice a little and play the games your audience wants
3. "you're only here for the viewers" that's SO true b/c by streaming on Twitch, you're doing it for viewers, otherwise, just game and NOT stream (exactly!). You're inherently streaming for the viewers, that's why you're streaming, even if it's your friends, you're streaming for them.
13. His views can plummet from 30s to singles
14. While it IS soul crushing when views drop, you expect it to happen as a variety streamer, but even more soul crushing for the single game streamer, b/c what if you get a large drop suddenly for what you've always been doing.
15. Guest feels that as a Variety streamer, you have to kind of promise to play the game again b/c your viewers who came in to see you expects to see you play it again
16. He caters more to the viewers than planning out a specific game schedule. He makes his schedule for his viewers, which makes good sense! 
17. He states schedules should be flexible, otherwise someone may only see him on Monday b/c he plays that game
18. He does a general multiplayer game on one day, and then Follower Friday where he only streams the game that they want to see, and all the days in b/w, he plays what he wants
19. He reports that his base watches him for his personality, regardless of the game he's playing, so if you play your most favorite games, then you will have more fun and you'll put on your best face.
20. A game dies in popularity or you get sick of the game, but how do you keep those viewers when you must move onto a new game?
1. He reports that there'll always be a game that will replace it. 
2. SuperV1D reports you can play a game of a similar genre, and find out what chat would like as a backup game
3. SuperV1D replaced Minecraft with Terraria, and then weaning his viewers off those games slower, and then they end up liking him and will stick around and see his other games
21. Variety vs. Single gaming
22. SuperV1D notes he was single gaming b/c of his hardware capabilities, or if that's the only game you like and just stream that
23. Established streamer and you're a single gamer, it's hard to jump to variety, so best to:
1. Start your stream off with your single game, from the very beginning, announce as soon as possible that you will play a game later down the road
2. So when it's time to come to change the game, the chat knows b/c you keep telling them over and over that you're going to do a different game, and it won't be a shock
3. Someone only streamed Destiny had thousands of viewers, then changed game, and his stream died
24. Two he watches mainly:
1. Lirik and Sodapoppin
2. He's trying to mirror what they're doing
3. Sodapoppin is totally random per SuperV1D b/c he can stream whatever game he wants given his popularity
4. Lirik has a niche: survivor games and then will play a random game near the end of his stream
5. SuperV1D reports that he doesn't have a niche like Lirik
25. Finding your identity is very important which is a whole another subject
26. Why did SuperV1D decided to do variety?
1. He plays a lot of games, knows a lot of unknown games.
2. his reasoning is that he's playing games anyway, he might as well stream, that's why he decided on variety
27. SuperV1D's one advice:
1. Don't give up! 
2. so many times when he wants to quit, but then he perseveres, and viewers increased!
3. if you really want to do this, just don't give up. 
4. because once you give up, you fail
5. SuperV1D reports that you can be successful even with 2 viewers, which is true
6. stay committed, you will be discouraged when your numbers stagnate/drop, but he feels that the hard work will pay off

Q/A:

• How SuperV1D handles IRL issues
• Look into mobile IRL streaming when there are days that you can't stream
• If you usually do 4 hrs, at least stream for 1 hr
• PUBG supersaturated with viewers, but he loves PUBG so much should he stream a game that he doesn't love as much
• what if you want to play a game you love so much, but not popular.? He reports to schedule the game and it can be flexible. (my input, or play the game off-stream)
• He has a feeling that Code Vein will be big, and to consider streaming that if you love the genre
• He reports you have to roll with the wave, and once it crashes, make sure you still play it and slowly transition to a new game
• GreenChord mentions book 20 Immutable Laws of Marketing: very good idea to go with a trend! See if your viewers want to see you stream it, and if so, play the trending game
• Twitter how to use it for your channel--GreenChord put out a whole article on it
• you have to post a LOT for Twitter, 4 times a day and you have to comment a lot
• This shows that streaming is HARD WORK! (this is why sadly, I agree, you may have to sacrifice too many things to be Partner, so it may not be worth it for me)
• What games should you stream when you start streaming
• He sees more stream success from bigger, more established games
• Follow what your chat likes
• Play games that get you views
• If you're getting viewers from bigger games, then play those bigger games
• You may be smaller in PUBG directory, but you may have more viewers, but if you play a smaller game, you may be listed higher, but not as many viewers 
• SuperV1D posts twitter that automatically sends to instagram
• "How can you tell if you should do variety streaming"
• SuperV1D struggles with this every day
• the way he gets out of that mindset, play the 1 game for 1 week straight, if you can't, then you're a variety streamer, b/c it'll be hard to play 1 game for years if you want to be a single game streamer
• Stream as much as you can
• He reports to not take breaks in streaming AT ALL (sadly this IS TRUE YET AGAIN to gain Partner, which is why Partnership may not be worth it for me in the end)
• SuperV1D recommends to sacrifice the sleep to get larger blocks or hours to stream (NOOO! but in reality this is TRUE FOR PARTNERSHIP for most people who are working full-time and/or have a family)
• Recommends having some sort of schedule of what games you'll be streaming, but he says it's not the be all, end all