Twitch Streaming
 

Does the popularity of streaming video games change the aspect of the games themselves?
Do are we going to be getting separate style of games focused, 1 that focuses much more to a narrative than difficulty, or will we have a collection of multiplayer based games similar to Titan Fall?

Also, does anyone else stream or make Let's Plays?

Speaking of Twitch I am streaming at the moment... link in the sig.

My problem with live streams....is that I never seem to be able to catch people when they're actually live!

At work, though, we have quite a few clients wanting to test out doing promotional work on Twitch. My boss is obsessed with getting a clients' game to the #1 viewed spot, which is a great goal but not too terribly realistic, especially if it's a tournament day for League of Legends.

I personally think that the games that do the best on Twitch are skill-based games or games with high interactivity potential. Being able to see games played at a top level, similar to real sports, is the big reason why games like League, Hearthstone, and Counterstrike are popular.

Slow-paced games that have a lot of potential for audience interaction are also really good, but they seem to still be catching on and it depends a lot more on the streamer than the game. I watched a stream of Beyond Two Souls when it came out, and the guy playing it took audience feedback into account when choosing each plot choice, and I thought that was really neat.

I think the biggest thing, though, is replayability. When you look at the top games streamed on Twitch, they are almost all games with mutiplayer and/or round mechanics instead of a story/plot. League, Hearthstone, Dota, WoW PVP, Counterstrike, CoD, they all have rounds and competitive mastery. Minecraft is an endless game, which also ensures that it stays fresh and interesting to watch over thousands of hours. Other games in the top are new releases or flash trends (TwitchPlaysPokemon, anyone?), but I think Sims 4 fits the same niche as Minecraft for being an endless game that is different every time and different between each individual streamer.

So yeah, that's my two cents (or maybe it's more like 5 dollars at this point?). I don't claim to be an expert, but for my job I have spent a lot of time thinking about what makes a game work on Twitch.

I also think it's cool that Amazon bought Twitch and I hope it gets some sweet new features.

Yeah, like on my youtube channel I was trying to do more Story based stuff so if people were interested I could show how I do the story and whatnot (I even debated on uploading it without commentary as well for people to watch just for a movie style).
But for streaming, like I streamed Minecraft earlier and I got a few people dropping in. I've streamed playing GTA: Online at first, and people were actually watching but got upset that I didn't have a microphone set up to talk to them. Then Titanfall was popular for a bit but then died out.

Usually when I watch streams or youtube vids, it changes the game a little for me. I can see more of what's going on story-wise because I'm not in a hurry to play the game lol I usually skip all of the cutscenes and story quests... I know, I know D: but watching other people play those games helps me catch up!

As for streaming myself, I tend to just try and joke around, talk to people about their days, rather than talk about the game a lot (unless it's a game like Smite where I need to talk about it) but if it's Minecraft, I'm usually just chatting with my viewers. Having a microphone definitely helps, they love to hear people talk cause it gives them a more personal feeling towards the streamer. That doesn't give them the right to get upset with you, of course.

Sadly I haven't been able to stream for the past week or so due to a hand injury. I miss my followers! D:

I focused more on games I can drop and talk with during a stream, or a narrative game like we're watching a movie together, just I'm a puppeteer.

Smite I'm normally already talking to people on team speak, but I can't watch the stream's chat at the same time.

I usually only play with one person when playing Smite, so I'm able to chat with followers at the same time. Though usually they're chatting amongst themselves, which is also nice.

I have 2 to 3 friends I play Smite with at times. I've tried figuring out how to just have the stream pick up that conversation as well.

I like watching streamed games, even if they're not live when I catch 'em. I like seeing what other players are doing, and sometimes they play games that I might not have considered otherwise. It's entirely the fault of a streamer group that I want to get "Goat Simulator". I laughed so hard at the two guys playing it, and I'm the sort to nose about and find stuff, so it's right up my alley.

I have a twitch account, and will be doing a test run for when my team and I do Extra Life. We'll be doing it on October 26th, since one of the members is working Free State Comic Con (and I likely will be too, just gotta confirm it with the one who is definitely working it). We'll be doing Minecraft to raise money.

Oh really? I was just thinking of trying to do an Extra Life Stream, but I'd also want to watch the Rooster Teeth one as well haha.

I don't think I would watch a stream where the streamer didn't talk to and interact with the viewers who are talking in chat. For me, streaming is about the live interactive experience. If I wanted to watch someone play a game and not interact, I would go to YouTube for that.

Thats why I do both! Haha. I'm planning on streaming a lot tomorrow if anyone wants to pop in. I get off work at 10am (est) so I may do it in the morning.