Closing out the fall season in Stardew Valley with Spirit’s Eve! Before closing out the stream with the haunted maze, we finally add animals to the farm and dive deep into the Sunk Cost Fallacy!
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Almost every aspect of the Twitch experience is driven by quantifiable and publicly-facing values. We know how many people are watching any channel at any given time. We know follower counts. We know which streamers are Twitch Partners because of the checkmark beside their names. If you dig just a bit deeper, you can find pretty much every performance metric for any channel, right down to the breakdown of how many paid subs it receives each month.
The Twitch and broader live streaming community at-large embrace these types of quantifiable systems. Streamers flash on-screen notifications every time someone follows or subscribes to their channel. Viewers flaunt their streamer-exclusive emotes on other channels. Even outside of Twitch, many streamers proudly declare that they are Twitch Affiliates or Twitch Partners in their social media bios.
All of this is in service of creating an ecosystem where viewers and streamers become emotionally and financially invested in the platform. In large part, it works as Amazon intended. They make money hand-over-fist by displaying ads and by taking their cut of Bits and Subs. Meanwhile, many of its audience “bleed purple” to the point where most chose to stay on Twitch even when its top creator left for Mixer.
These systems can tell us a lot about the performance of a channel. However, there’s a ton of danger when we apply these channel-specific values to ourselves. It creates a lot of friction on Twitch in very overt and subversive ways that can be incredibly draining on one’s mental health.
A chance encounter with Abigail in the woods has me reconsidering my Stardew Valley choices. We also discuss gender discrimination in video games, re-acclimating to life in this new world, and sharing some of my all-time favourite board games!
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The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were the first home consoles to feature the ability to stream directly from the console itself. Having that functionality is great, as it lowers the barrier dramatically for those interested in trying their hand at streaming. That being said, console streamers are at a distinct disadvantage from those who have their consoles connected through a PC.
With a PC, console streamers get access to all of the bells and whistles that viewers expect, from some semblance of an overlay, to on-screen notifications, to multiple scenes, When streaming from a console, you’re stuck with the limited options you have for microphones, cameras, and overlays. Microsoft got better as the generation went on, as they added support for different cameras and allowing for custom overlays through Lightstream Studio. However, that feature seems to have gone by the wayside as part of Mixer shutting down.
In particular, that PlayStation 4 streaming template can be a death sentence. I think when viewers see that default PS4 streaming overlay as they browse through Twitch, their first impression is that this is a “lesser” stream, even if you might be the most charismatic person in the universe.
Streaming from a console is totally fine for practice. But if you really want your channel to grow at this juncture, you’re in a much better position to do so by capturing your gameplay through a PC. Will this change as we transition into the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5?
I take a bit of the Stardrop and…I can see sound now? As I continue to prepare for the winter, we discuss dream cars, prizes we’ve won at carnivals, the quarter-life crisis, and our hot takes on Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout!
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I’ve engaged with streaming as a medium for quite a long time. Even before the existence of Twitch, I remember being glued to my computer when I stumbled on the Devastation 2009 Street Fighter IV tournament that was broadcast on Ustream.
Though I would become an avid viewer of fighting game tournaments from that point onward, I didn’t really immerse myself in the medium as a streamer or as an engaged viewer until 2018. During that time, my streaming efforts finally started to generate some momentum and I discovered how amazing it can be to watch and engage with streams as a viewer.
These days, I’m deep in the trenches. Singing or rapping my heart out at the start of every stream. Spamming emotes in a fellow streamer’s chat. Inviting streamer friends over for ice cream. Spending countless hours in front of the computer programming in new elements into my own show. It takes up more of my time than any other hobby.
Here are some reasons why I’ve become so enthralled with the medium!
When our Animal Crossing stream goes sideways, Steff and I resort to our favourite battleground: Yacht Dice in Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics! Who wins between us in this battle of dice champions?!
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Things between Haley and I seem to be getting pretty serious these days. Or are they? In this latest Stardew Valley stream, we also spend a lot of time talking about streaming advice and debating Pitchfork’s picks for the best game soundtracks of the last 20 years!
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What do you mean plants don’t grow in the winter?! This startling revelation has me shifting my Stardew Valley strategy! Along the way, we call Haley on Facetime, and the Just Chatting section at the end goes into very personal territory.
Take care of your mental health. If you’re not feeling okay, it’s okay to ask for help from family, friends, or a mental health professional. And make sure to let everyone you care about know that you love them.
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Did Haley and I just hit a turning point in our relationship? Did Abigail actually eat what I think she did? A lot went down in this edition of Stardew Valley!
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In Third Person 