Explain Twitch/live-streaming culture to me

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If you don't, you don't, but I'm a small, social group based discord where people regularly stream what they're playing, and people hang out in voice chat, watch, and talk about it. Likewise, I had a friend come over just last week so that he could play my copy of Breath of the Wild, and I spent the majority of the time watching him go through it. I also know a lot of people who have fond childhood memories of sitting with their siblings and being included in the experience despite there only being one controller to go around. Maybe I've just managed to find similar weirdos, but it doesn't feel like that rare of an activity.

It's also possible that this is a generational thing. My kids certainly enjoy watching other people play games.

 

[MarkB]

It's also possible that this is a generational thing. My kids certainly enjoy watching other people play games.

The pastime has been around at least as long as Youtube. And I'm not exactly a spring chicken.

See? Even my metaphors are old.

 

[GreyLord]

Hello, I am an old person.

What is the appeal of watching someone else play a videogame, often only talking to thank someone for giving them money?

I don't like to watch my friends play videogames when I'm over at their house, and there, I can at least raid their kitchen and play with their dog.

But the non-olds seem to love it.

So what's the appeal? (And don't just say "cute girls," because there are a lot of successful streamers who aren't.)

I am not one that watches it all the way through or forever.

The appeal to me though is when I have a game that is just to grindy or I get bored with or I simply don't have the skill to beat.

I then can youtube it or whatever and watch someone else beat it. The advantage is I don't have to watch it all the way through, I can skip that parts I find boring and skip through to see the parts I want to see. A 100 hour game reduced to 60 minutes!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

My wife watched all the cinematics for the last expansion of World of Warcraft, which she dropped after two months. (She drops all expansions after two months, since she's pursuing a degree in addition to holding down a full-time job.) It's a good catch-up system.

 

[MarkB]

I am not one that watches it all the way through or forever.

The appeal to me though is when I have a game that is just to grindy or I get bored with or I simply don't have the skill to beat.

I then can youtube it or whatever and watch someone else beat it. The advantage is I don't have to watch it all the way through, I can skip that parts I find boring and skip through to see the parts I want to see. A 100 hour game reduced to 60 minutes!

Some games it's nice to watch vicariously as I know I don't have the skills to beat them. Others I don't have the time or patience to delve into the minutiae.

But in some cases it's games with deep and affecting stories, and even if I've played them it's enjoyable watching someone else experience the game for the first time, like sharing a favourite movie or TV series with a friend.

 

[Ondath]

Hello, I am an old person.

What is the appeal of watching someone else play a videogame, often only talking to thank someone for giving them money?

I don't like to watch my friends play videogames when I'm over at their house, and there, I can at least raid their kitchen and play with their dog.

But the non-olds seem to love it.

So what's the appeal? (And don't just say "cute girls," because there are a lot of successful streamers who aren't.)

Hello! Millennial here, so I'm mostly midway when it comes to things like streaming culture. It became big during my university days, but I never got too much into it myself.

From what I understand, the biggest appeal is the parasocial relationship. A lot of the Internet is built for this these days — Youtubers treat you like a friend by slipping in little facts about their daily life or talking like they would talk to a friend, companies post "relatable" memes on social media... What all these (and streamers) try to do is create a one-way social relationship where you feel like you're spending quality time with the person (and thus become engaged with them and want to consume more of their C O N T E N T), but the relationship is obviously one-sided since the youtuber/streamer/company Twitter profile simply cannot know you like you "know" them.

When it comes to streaming, the idea is that you're basically watching a funny friend play a game in an entertaining way, but they happen to be a friend for thousands of people watching. They might play horror games and get "spooked" in a funny way, or play a chill game and read comments from their chat and shoot the shirt about anything and nothing while Powerwash Simulator is played in the background, or they might play serious competitive multiplayer games and show off their skill.

You said this kind of parasocial relationship doesn't appeal to you, and I honestly get it. But with newer generations growing in a world where social interactions are sanitised and there are a lot less avenues to spend time with friends, streams and other parasocial relationships give a useful substitute. This was especially true during the pandemic. You can't meet up with friends, so why not watch a stream where a group of friends discuss Reddit's Am I The A*shole threads and get that same feeling of hanging out with a group? Stuff like this make streams really appealing.

Honestly, I'm of too minds about it. On the one hand, I feel like it's way too easy for parasocial relationships to become unhealthy. But at the same time, there are some streamers that I've started to enjoy over time and I have to admit they entertain me a lot (though most of the time I don't watch the actual streams but the highlights on Youtube). It has become a legitimate way of earning money, and there are worse ways to earn money in entertainment if you ask me.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

You said this kind of parasocial relationship doesn't appeal to you, and I honestly get it. But with newer generations growing in a world where social interactions are sanitised and there are a lot less avenues to spend time with friends, streams and other parasocial relationships give a useful substitute. This was especially true during the pandemic. You can't meet up with friends, so why not watch a stream where a group of friends discuss Reddit's Am I The A*shole threads and get that same feeling of hanging out with a group? Stuff like this make streams really appealing.

That's a really great point I hadn't considered, thank you.

 

[Jahydin]

What is the appeal of watching someone else play a videogame, often only talking to thank someone for giving them money?

I don't watch people live, but I do like to stream their content on YouTube once they upload it for a number of reasons.

Off the top of my head:
One, to get better at a game I'm trying to master. Once you hit your "skill celling" in a game, there really isn't a faster way of breaking through then watching and learning from a professional. But even if it's not a pro, sometimes it's nice just find out how to make that impossible jump you've been stuck on for an hour.

Two, if it's a game I enjoyed, it's fun to watch someone else enjoying it for the first time too. For me, this is especially true of "Souls" games. Watching someone struggle with and overcome difficult obstacles in their own unique way is a lot of fun.

Three, some games are really long with different branching paths, so it's an easy way to see what I've missed without having to replay.

Four, if it's a game I'm thinking about purchasing, there really isn't a better way to see if I would like it then watching it being played.

Five, the thrill of competition. For me specifically, this would be "Fighters", like Street Fighter. Super fun to watch people of a high skill level compete at a professional level.