On Being an Unpartnered Variety Streamer on Twitch: Some rants and a few thank yous.
Hey guys. So a lot has happened and is still happening. Trying to get my new life set up and trying to get things put together for myself and my family. Trying to slowly climb my stream back to where it was. It's a lot of work balancing stream life with personal and professional life.
So I want to make this post about something that has been bothering me for a while. It's probably more of a rant. I hope it doesn't burn bridges because these are my honest feelings on the topic. I really hope it provokes good discussion because this is the "pain" I go through as a small time variety streamer. (Variety streamer = a streamer who doesn't stream just one game but streams many different games).
Some readers won't like it. Some readers will identify with it. It's just my opinion.
I posted about a week ago:
I've been a variety streamer since coming back to streaming in January. I do go back occasionally to Minecraft, but I enjoy playing other games. I think it has made me a happier streamer to do this. Sure, I get frustrated because to drift in-between gaming communities is hard. Building up your own community while constantly playing different games is *extremely* hard and it's that way for a reason. People like consistency and routine. People like to know something is going to happen at this time and have it happen. Variety streamers will most likely have only two things that are consistent: that they're on the stream and that the stream starts at a certain time.
Here's what gets under my nails and makes me irritated:
I realize that the Twitch community as a whole is not supportive of unpartnered streamers who stream a variety of games and are much more supportive of partnered streamers who go through a transition from streaming one game to becoming a variety streamer.
There are streamers out there who get zero people watching them daily and I just feel for them. I really do. They try to get into a game and find success there and then BAM! No more success. What's going on? Oh, a bigger streamer has popped in and is streaming the same exact game now. Yeah, that happens and it sucks. But this is the reality for those of us who are unpartnered and are "Variety streamers". Not only are we at the community's mercy, but we are also at the larger streamers mercy. These streamers with a larger viewer count are usually partnered and they get all the new views and follows in the gaming community they're in and the smaller streamer in that community now just has lost all the traction they tried to gain.
So I just want to end this by saying the following:
To the puppies who plays ball with me across the internet, the people who come in during their late night work shifts and say "Oh yay you're streaming! I can watch you and relax while I'm working", to the people who come in and o/ and ask how I'm doing and cheer me on as I succeed in a game or fail:
Thank you.
Thank you for being a part of MY community. Thank you for lifting me up. Supporting me. And helping me make this hobby be something that I truly enjoy doing. Thank you for watching my stream when I play different games and giving my channel the traction it needs to grow. Thank you for not hounding me to go back to play a specific game. I might not have enjoyed the game much and that is why I didn't go back to it. So thank you for supporting me in my likes and dislikes.
Thank you for the hosts. Thank you for the raids. Big or small. You guys are helping my channel become larger and maybe it might have a sub button someday.
I appreciate you guys. And I appreciate the support. As an unpartnered variety streamer, this is what makes me come back. It'd be nice to have a sub button, but it'd be worthless without my awesome community behind me.
So I want to make this post about something that has been bothering me for a while. It's probably more of a rant. I hope it doesn't burn bridges because these are my honest feelings on the topic. I really hope it provokes good discussion because this is the "pain" I go through as a small time variety streamer. (Variety streamer = a streamer who doesn't stream just one game but streams many different games).
Some readers won't like it. Some readers will identify with it. It's just my opinion.
I posted about a week ago:
Since becoming a variety streamer, it has been really hard getting new viewers and people to stick around. For those who have supported me
— Kiraeyl (@Kiraeyl) July 10, 2015
Thank you so much. I appreciate your support and your love. I only wish that variety streamers got more support from the Twitch community.
— Kiraeyl (@Kiraeyl) July 10, 2015
I've been a variety streamer since coming back to streaming in January. I do go back occasionally to Minecraft, but I enjoy playing other games. I think it has made me a happier streamer to do this. Sure, I get frustrated because to drift in-between gaming communities is hard. Building up your own community while constantly playing different games is *extremely* hard and it's that way for a reason. People like consistency and routine. People like to know something is going to happen at this time and have it happen. Variety streamers will most likely have only two things that are consistent: that they're on the stream and that the stream starts at a certain time.
Here's what gets under my nails and makes me irritated:
I realize that the Twitch community as a whole is not supportive of unpartnered streamers who stream a variety of games and are much more supportive of partnered streamers who go through a transition from streaming one game to becoming a variety streamer.
There are streamers out there who get zero people watching them daily and I just feel for them. I really do. They try to get into a game and find success there and then BAM! No more success. What's going on? Oh, a bigger streamer has popped in and is streaming the same exact game now. Yeah, that happens and it sucks. But this is the reality for those of us who are unpartnered and are "Variety streamers". Not only are we at the community's mercy, but we are also at the larger streamers mercy. These streamers with a larger viewer count are usually partnered and they get all the new views and follows in the gaming community they're in and the smaller streamer in that community now just has lost all the traction they tried to gain.
So I just want to end this by saying the following:
To the puppies who plays ball with me across the internet, the people who come in during their late night work shifts and say "Oh yay you're streaming! I can watch you and relax while I'm working", to the people who come in and o/ and ask how I'm doing and cheer me on as I succeed in a game or fail:
Thank you.
Thank you for being a part of MY community. Thank you for lifting me up. Supporting me. And helping me make this hobby be something that I truly enjoy doing. Thank you for watching my stream when I play different games and giving my channel the traction it needs to grow. Thank you for not hounding me to go back to play a specific game. I might not have enjoyed the game much and that is why I didn't go back to it. So thank you for supporting me in my likes and dislikes.
Thank you for the hosts. Thank you for the raids. Big or small. You guys are helping my channel become larger and maybe it might have a sub button someday.
I appreciate you guys. And I appreciate the support. As an unpartnered variety streamer, this is what makes me come back. It'd be nice to have a sub button, but it'd be worthless without my awesome community behind me.
