Not too long ago I listed the reasons why I took a break from streaming. So today I figured it would be fitting to answer another question that I used to get asked all the time; why I ever started streaming. Now that everyone and their mother seems to be streaming, most people probably don’t care, but back when I started in in July 2011, it was a very popular question. The reasons I started back then, are also the reasons I have recently gotten back into streaming again.
Forever alone no more
Before I started streaming I was in a transition period in my gaming life. Most of the people I was gaming with at the time were losing interest or not having time anymore and I ended up spending more and more time playing games solo. Streaming gave a new way to find new people who had not only the same interest I had in loving games, but also liked the same games I liked. Some of the people that I still play a lot of games with to this day are people that I met through streaming.
Even when I am not able to play games with the viewers who come into the channel, I am still able pass the time by just hanging out with them and the various conversations that occur. It can be difficult to follow the conversations sometimes while trying to play the game, but that can also provide some of the fun when I read half of what someone says and make up the rest as I go. This has turned into one of the things that I look forward to the most whenever I turn my stream on nowadays.
Single player with a group
As much as I like single player games, historically they have been nothing but a waste of money for me. I’ll bu them when they come out and then play them once or twice for a couple hours never to play them again. It’s not because they are bad games, but because I get bored when I’m playing games by myself. Although I still spend the majority of my time playing multiplayer games, streaming has turned single player games into a group activity for me. People can come and laugh at how I get lost in the most linear games possible, rage at puzzles that a five year old could solve faster than I do, or fail at the same point in a level for the thousandth time.
Even the trolls can teach
The competitive side of me always makes me strive to get better at any of the games I play. Streaming has opened the flood gates by letting anyone come in and be a backseat gamer. Whether a person is actually trying to be helpful or just trying to troll the channel, the advice is always welcome. Additionally, just like how explaining a process to another person can help yourself find problems, explaining why I do something or what I was thinking can help find problems in my play.
