I will tune in to one I like just to see some game play, some UI and some progress. I will tune out as soon as exploration happens, as soon as quests are worked and as soon as the game starts to get discovered. I don't want to watch someone doing that I want to do.
I think the streamer program is a nice solid free choice of advertising, and I'm happy that I'll get to see some of the progress being made, but I dont' want to ruin my surprise by watching someone else play with my toy. ;-)
I'm right there with you but unfortunately you and I are in the vast minority.
I agree, this same thought has crossed my mind "I don't really want to sit here and watch somebody play with my toy" but you must have more will power than me, I'll watch all of them.
I just hope they aren't allowed to release too much info. I guess I could sacrifice one more zone than the several we have already seen.
Kittik said:I will tune in to one I like just to see some game play, some UI and some progress. I will tune out as soon as exploration happens, as soon as quests are worked and as soon as the game starts to get discovered. I don't want to watch someone doing that I want to do.
I think the streamer program is a nice solid free choice of advertising, and I'm happy that I'll get to see some of the progress being made, but I dont' want to ruin my surprise by watching someone else play with my toy. ;-)
If it was another format game, I might agree.
But an MMO by design is essentially always a work in progress, and will constantly be undergoing changes and modifications and additions.
Nothing that was seen in early streams looks like the latest streams, if that is any example. And the same will be true with future streams.
Also generally not a fan of streamers etc. I am interested in what the game appears to be (ui + character models + environment detail), not some rando's opinion or chatter/rants... I value my inner world & sanctity of thoughts without my subconcious being mentally highjacked at any point with information that I could live without.... WTB a human pop-up add blocker!! xD May sound harsh, but whatever, I'm into the creators of the game, not other's interpretation as much.
Now, if there was a legit comedian that was to also stream, I'd be more inclinded to watch or give a crap. Like, it'd be much more entertaining to hear reactions by Chris Rock or another magnetic personality.
(I may be in the minority here, but I'm the type of person who would prefer to watch a nature documentary where the monotone narrorator doesn't drone on & put me to sleep. ie I'd rather mute them & listen to classical music =] No offense to David Attenborough fans, but the last thing I want is to be at the mercy of such.)
I intend to run the game with music & sound effects, not "dude johnson's" narraration or voice to distract me from my immersion.
sidenote: I value the Developer's streams, as they are informed intrinsically & usually address pertinent information as opposed to speculation or whinning/entitlement or egomania. ie I'm a fan of the game, not a fanboy of fanboys, even if we're both stoked on the same stuff. =)
Most of these streamers are all about the $$. The more followers they can entice to their streams is just more income for them. I'm not saying all are motivated solely by money, but most are imo. Having said that... I can't stop myself from watching any and everything Pantheon ;)
While it's in Alpha/Beta and the streams are relatively low level, I'm going to watch, but, yeah, I don't want spoilers galore either.
Also the ones that 'try too hard' are very painful to watch.
I prefer edited 'tutorial' or 'help' videos and that's the kind I intend to make once Pantheon gets going! (much like I have for Battlefield 1 - shameless plug!) ;^)
Stuff that explains mechanics and gives advice on gear and tactics. Stuff that gives intros to the different classes and their skills. That kind of thing.
I second what @Travo said.
Fanboys infurate me, and overly critical people can be annoying. There is a balance between being cynical and blindly optimistic (fanboi) which are very few and far in-between. I think Cohh is one of the only streamers that I can tolerate because his opinions are typically unbias (or at least articulated that it is a bias opinion when a bias comment is made) and his rhetoric is typically relevant.
But I really can't stand the blinders on most Fanboys.
Darch said:I second what @Travo said.
Fanboys infurate me, and overly critical people can be annoying. There is a balance between being cynical and blindly optimistic (fanboi) which are very few and far in-between. I think Cohh is one of the only streamers that I can tolerate because his opinions are typically unbias (or at least articulated that it is a bias opinion when a bias comment is made) and his rhetoric is typically relevant.
But I really can't stand the blinders on most Fanboys.
how to blind a popular streamers:
meet said streamer in person.
open briefcase.
take huge wads of hundred dollar bills and continously slap said streamer in the face until they go blind.
congrats popular streamer has evolved into a blind fanboy popular streamer.
disclaimer this is satire just like how i can only slap people under written consent because verbal agreement isn't enough.
i agree that 5% of the extremes are poor representation of the median.
unanticipated effect when kids don't get spanked by parents anymore(discipline not to be confused with abuse for the pc)
My issue with streamers is they are far more interesting in their own self promotion. When specifically looking at early release streams, I want the focus to be on the product, not the merchandising talking head who invariabbly shoves their face ontop of the game. Then there is the incessant inane babble they always feel like they needs to be there.
So on these Pantheon streams, I want the developers and only the developers showing me their product. I want just their views, their chat, their opinions, their explanations.
I am trying to not watch anything really. One of the big things missing in MMOs is mystery. EQ was insanely fun and mysterious. I never read anything about EQ..I just played it.
WoW was another one where my brother randomly said to me that he pre ordered WoW for both me and him. So I played not knowing what to expect. A key ingredient I found in enjoying MMOs is knowing as little as possible. Other MMOs I prepped for lost that magic of curiosity...because I already saw it in a stream, or a guide of some sort.
Cohh is the only streamed I've seen worth a watching and I only like him and the dev teams streams I don't think they should do streams with anyone else or let people stream at all unless your going to let all VIPs stream at will.. but if u do that u might as well open up alpha. What I want is cohh streams with devs once every 3 months and thin a Dev round table after with live questions
LOL, this is a funny thread.
VR are giving lots of people a way to consume the streams in the way that they might enjoy, plenty of personalities in some streams, very little in others, celebrity play through by Jim Lee. Some streamers are playing very seriously and you can cut the silent tension and some people just kicking around reminiscing the old days having a laugh about how they learnt the word Dubious from con system in EQ, (looking at you Hive Leader haha so did I :p) . i think the variety of streamers is great for the wider audience.
Dont forget they want to target people who are not here on the forums too, so i think they are taking a good direction by widening their audience far beyond the one streamer the majority of you guys can stand.
For sure, some streamers have personalities that i would not usually watch in most scenario's, but my threshhold for rage quitting a stream of a game I really want to see progress on must be a little higher than you guys :)
I hope whoever the next streamer is, you guys can struggle through it ok :)
I must admit I don't really watch the “dungeon run” streams much, if anything I listen to them in the background as I do other things because I do like to listen to them answer questions.
I mostly enjoy the tech demos like the one about the water ect.. And I would love to see them stream the art in progress like other companies have done
See example
https://youtu.be/HB9Z5YJWdfs?t=84
Or
https://youtu.be/VKdZD9t5zso?t=95
That said if VR isn't comfortable doing live streams of content in progress, so be it.
Ah, luckily, the streamers for Pantheon so far seem very chill though. Like, it's mostly those closely involved in the developement process & it's an exploratory vibe or enthusiastic/supportive in nature.
The kind of streamers I'd mentioned that are a main reason why I usually avoid stream channels typically, are ones that seem to be more overboard with ego or what isn't game related.
I've noticed that some people act different when cameras are rolling. Like at a concert, or gathering or sporting event... & yea, perhaps in this day/age it's a little tough to get away from that...
but my most favorite types of interactions are organically unscrpited, natural comedy or moments of 'Holy **** batman!' .
Shai said:I'm right there with you but unfortunately you and I are in the vast minority.
Minority perhaps but vast minority probably not. I am also with you - I find watching someone playing a game is incredibly boring and a waste of time. Not even mentionning the major destruction of immersion and mystery which is the biggest part of MMO experience for me. Either I like a game and then I play it or I can't/won't play a game (yet) and then I would feel horribly bad if I spent valuable time watching somebody moving pixels. Developper streams yes, this I could watch if it really teaches me something interesting but gameplay streams no.
Essentially the issue is more that VR looks at a streamer differently than fans.
VR wants any means possible to reach more viewers, thus streamers with strong followings. (and apparently some cronies thrown in)
Fans want details, information, explanations, discussions.
Most of the streamers chosen had little or no background with the style of MMO that Pantheon is expected to be, except Cohh, who played EQ as a kid in high school. Thus Cohh knows the questions to ask, and does a better job emulating the play style that was used in EQ.
And as a point, when I say 'played EQ', I am meaning the EQ of 1999-2003, before it started to get really go off it's tracks. Cause the EQ DBG runs todays in no way reflects the EQ of that era.
zewtastic said:Essentially the issue is more that VR looks at a streamer differently than fans.
VR wants any means possible to reach more viewers, thus streamers with strong followings. (and apparently some cronies thrown in)
Fans want details, information, explanations, discussions.
Most of the streamers chosen had little or no background with the style of MMO that Pantheon is expected to be, except Cohh, who played EQ as a kid in high school. Thus Cohh knows the questions to ask, and does a better job emulating the play style that was used in EQ.
And as a point, when I say 'played EQ', I am meaning the EQ of 1999-2003, before it started to get really go off it's tracks. Cause the EQ DBG runs todays in no way reflects the EQ of that era.
Jim Lee aside, who admitted to being a huge fan of EQ and played it to the detrement of his day job, who would you call a "crony"? Most of the streamers that I have seen them utilize have gaming backgrounds and seem to have "decent" traffic on their Youtube or Twitch site.
To be honest, I'm not 100% sure how they decided to choose who they chose as their streamers for previous content, but I think saying that it was "cronyism" is kinda harsh and uncalled for without proof.
Not me I'm not only watching streams, I'm going to be streaming myself when Pantheon comes out.
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I only watch streams of games in development that I'm REALLY HYPED about (in reacent years it was only: Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2, Torment: Tides of Numenera and now Pantheon) and then I watch only as much as I want to - either skipping material by watching in fragments or just listening to audio only, to protect myself from too many spoilers. In a distant past I made the mistake couple of times when I watched streams from games in development and by the time the game came out, not only my hype was gone, but even the desire to play the game at all... I enjoy immensely listening to discussions about Pantheon though - it's community and content creators are great!