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Why I Dropped Affiliate: Thinking Critically in a World Where People are Paid to Stream Video Games

When the affiliate program launched for Twitch TV, thousands, if not millions of broadcasters rejoiced. They finally had a sub button which meant some kind of status. It meant that Twitch welcomed them into a realm where they could see their dreams become reality. For decades, many of my generation wondered if they could ever see their passions turn into a way of living. I can even remember my mom telling me "Nobody got anywhere playing video games!" and I told her to "Wait and see!" Sure enough, this generation would come to see a medium of entertainment that not only entertained the player, but entertained many of us watching, too. It brings into question our shifting view on what entertainment consists of—since the early 1900s, nickelodeons and picture shows were considered for the lower class since live Vaudeville entertainment was the talk of the town, and motion picture (thankfully discovered by the French and utilized by the Russians) was far behind a

BlizzCon 2018: A Con that I Shall Forget

It's rare that I'll have a bad convention experience. It's happened once, where I literally had my car towed when I -unknowingly- parked in a private residential parking garage that I thought was for the convention. The gate was open and I was unaware it was a private garage. Plus, I can recall a sign pointing towards the garage and wasn't aware that I was parked illegally. I had to Uber to the tow station and drop 300 dollars just to get my car back. On top of that, I lost a 60-dollar Mophie battery block that was brand-new. Cons are not forgiving. This year's BlizzCon was difficult for me in numerous ways. First, I wasn't able to go the first day because my day job "needed" me there, even though I don't do much for that company. Secondly, I had very little time to prepare. Friday night I wanted to prepare for the con, but I didn't stretch and I fell asleep around 1 AM, a little bit worried that I wasn't prepped for it.  Let me

The Scariest Thing to Happen at a Party--And some Advice on Drinking While Streaming Video Games

I was probably about 23 at another house party many years ago. I forget exactly how I ended up there, some friend of a friend of a friend kind of thing. The night was a very big blur, and I remember having far too many drinks that night. To my unfortunate expense. Drinking while streaming video games is a fun time, especially if you can't speak correctly. I typically like to drink a moderate amount of whiskey, then I'll talk shit to everyone (without meaning it). But there's something important that you need to know about drinking while playing video games, and it's this: Twitch, at some point, can consider it "self-harm" under the Terms of Service. Obviously, there are grey areas where if a Twitch mod is watching your stream and decides you've gone too far, it's their discretion to suspend your account for such actions. I would caution against going to far...keep in mind you are in the eye of the public, and what you say and do can be held ag

Advice for New Video Game Streamers: Screen Who You Play Your Games With

I should have seen crap like this coming from a mile away, but I didn't. Maybe about 3 or 4 years ago, I was playing Helldivers on the PS4 because it was one of the F2P games you get with Sony's PlayStation Plus, which I highly recommend. It builds a library of decent PlayStation games for only 60 dollars a year. Regardless, one of the viewers that stopped in my channel while I was streaming video games asked if I wanted to play Helldivers with him. I humbly agreed and invited him to speak over the PS4. I had a mod in my channel and a few other people, so thankfully this didn't go south quickly. I knew I had to do something. My channel guest sounded like he was about ten years old. We logged into Helldivers as I maintained my face, sitting quietly as my mod texted me via Twitch chat. "Is everything okay?" she asked. I calmly replied it was, and that I wouldn't make any adult jokes or references to debauchery or alcohol, which I'm known to do ofte

AC Odyssey and Google Project Stream

There was once a Domino's deal of half-off whatever pizza that anyone could order. I decided to load up my pizza with as much stuff as I possibly could without sacrificing pizza quality. With my extra-large orders, including double cheese, triple garlic, and as much onion as the pizza could hold (including other toppings), my pizza behemoths turned into some hilarious entertainment as some people at my workplace quite literally left my immediate area once the pizza passed through my system and turned into methane. I got the nickname Gassius Maximus because of the level of garlic and onions I consumed on a daily basis. If it's entertainment you're looking for, I would suggest looking at Google's Project Stream . I was invited to try Assassin's Creed: Odyssey out as a beta project, and I was able to stream it over Mixer. Surprisingly, the application ran with hardly a hitch in performance. I kept in mind that I had the fastest broadband service possible, but this

A Full, Extensive, Thorough Guide to Streaming Video Games for Beginners (Part 2)

This is Part 2 of A Full, Extensive, Thorough Guide to Streaming Video Games for Beginners. If you haven't read the first part, I'd recommend it . Without Further Ado... I'm Streaming...But What Else? Good question. The thing is with streaming, you never stop learning. Every streaming market, whether it's YouTube, Mixer , Twitch , Caffeine, Smashcast, Afreeca, whatever platform shifts constantly. The only constant is "change" with digital marketing, unfortunately, and you need to be able to understand the market until you can be considered a trendsetter. That includes looking at and understanding your analytics, making educated decisions based on those, and ensuring your social media has good coverage. I use the program Later  to schedule posts, one a day, for my business accounts that are spread across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. Later is Instagram-centric, so if you're expecting to post across all platforms you'll need som

Streaming Video Games and the Decisions that Aren't the Easiest

Earlier this year, I decided to make the switch from Twitch to Mixer. After a stream team I was on was basically used for someone else's personal gain, I didn't know what to do. Do I make a company move and rebuild? Do I sever some relationships? Streaming on Mixer has been interesting, but I've decided the relationships I've built over several years aren't worth nothing. I've made some wonderful friends I still enjoy talking to, and although we are distant, I'm still happy to call people friends. So I've decided I'll be dual-streaming to both platforms. However, there are some stipulations with this. I'm required to drop the affiliate program specifically because of the stipulations with exclusive content. I definitely don't mind that at all. The bulk of money I've made through Twitch streaming has not been through subscriptions anyhow. Plus, it's never been about the money. I can't justify streaming video games for mone