At first glance, you would think that video games would keep people from being sociable and hinder how they project themselves in public. However, the emergence of eSports and twitch.tv over the decade has proven that people can build relationships, connect, and even make a living off of being involved with video games and other forms of media.
Don't believe me? Then check out this video from a Twitch stream that made me feel both welcome and valued: LudwigAhgren plays Pokemon FireRed, Randomized Nuzlocke Challenge
This was a playthrough spanning a couple of weeks where Ludwig, the streamer, interacted with his chatroom by nicknaming Pokemon he would capture after us. However, there was a catch. If the Pokemon were to fall in battle, that user would be banned from chat until the run was completed. Over forty people were banned until the run was accomplished with my Pokemon shown in that clip achieving the end goal.
So why am I talking about this? Well, it is a way for passionate gamers such as myself to build relationships with other users across the world who share the same interest. I constantly go on Twitch when time allows it and watch a variety of streamers because I'm either interested in the game they are playing, am friends with them, and/or want to support their channel. In a couple of instances, I have actually met a few of the streamers I actively watch at events. Which leads to my next point, eSports.
For the uninitiated, eSports are focused on competitive video games. These games can range from popular shooters such as Halo to the community I have been involved with for four years now, Super Smash Bros. Melee. The Melee community has been a whole different network of people I have connected with over a game from 2001. The most recent eSports festival I attended was Shine 2018 at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston in August (see the video below for an idea of what it was like).
Shine 2018 was where I got to meet up with Ludwig and other members of his chat that I had connected with other the weeks. I thought it was great to interact in-person because it allowed us to connect more rather than just Ludwig himself reading off our messages in Twitch chat and trying to interact with us all. Shine also let me connect with other attendees and grow my network within the Melee community. After graduation, I want to try and stay involved with eSports the best I can even with a full-time job. With enough experience in the real world, I may consider pursuing a Marketing & Sales focused eSports job to stay active in the industry.
I hope this post was a good read to anyone curious! I'm more than happy to discuss it more with any comments.
Before reading this post I was slightly familiar with Twitch as I had seen people on twitter tweet about it but I didn't exactly know what it really was. I think it is really cool that people who are passionate about video games have a place where they can interact with one another while watching others play. I think it makes sitting in front of a screen a little better because people and just isolating themselves alone while playing this way they can interact with one another, even though it is still through a screen. I think its a good way for people with similar interests to have a place to go to and interact like people do on different message forums. I personally know a lot of people who enjoy going on the internet and interacting with people on different forums about sports. After reading this post I decided to do more research found myself on youtube and I didn't realize how many people on youtube who post videos of themselves playing video games are also on twitch. I also didn't realize that there huge conventions for this where people can play their favorite games while also interacting with their favorite gamers. It does make sense though because conventions are now very popular with many youtube conventions that happen many times throughout a year and comic book conventions. It was really interesting to read this post because it was like learning about a whole world that many people did not know about.
ReplyDeleteI remember Twitch Plays Pokemon a few years back, when thousands of players (and at some points, hundreds of thousands) attempted to play the first Pokemon game for the Gameboy by putting in all their commands at once, with the game randomly selecting which input to use. They actually beat the game. Tons of communities sprang from it—I think they’ve played through all the games, now? It was pretty amazing that everyone came together to achieve such an impressive feat… and all over a 20+ year old ‘single’ player game!
ReplyDeleteI’m not a follower of eSports nowadays, but every once in a while, I’ll watch a trending twitch player. Some have huge followings, the equivalent of being an actually sports celebrity—with the exception that you, as a fan, can be much more involved in the community. You can chat with them, donate to them, and experience the ups and downs of their career with them. It’s all much more intimate than you’d think a bunch of nerds watching each other play video games could ever be. And I know it helps keep a lot of people happy—especially those of us who have trouble making real life friends.
I also recall Twitch plays Pokemon and I believe it has become a recurring event ever since. It always looks like a lot of fun but I have not participated in it myself. A lot of my friends who play games mentioned it to me when it happened so I tend to hear about it from time to time. Twitch has also grown into streaming TV show (i.e., Pokemon, Bob Ross Paintings, Yu-Gi-Oh, and more) marathons where fans can get together and watch and interact with each other.
DeleteeSports is a booming industry, in my opinion. It has grown this past decade and can even be found on ESPN (both online and TV!) with recaps and/or coverage of large events. It's been a hobby of mine for a long time and I love being involved in many different ways. Having a network like it is something I love.
I personally have never heard of this twitch platform where gamers are able to talk between each other. But, I’m not surprised there is one. I personally am not a gammer what so ever so reading this was a good in site on this world. Not that I have anything against gaming I just never did it. I have seen videos on Instagram or Facebook like the link you put up with your blog post about Pokemon FireRed. It’s a very good way on reaching out and connecting with the viewers. Since gaming you are able to talk between each other if you have a microphone connected to your system you obviously lose that facial communication and ques. With having a video with your experience of watching the gammer play you get to see what they go through to win and play these games so the missing communications are brought back when you watch them. I feel even if you graduate you will stay involved with this eSports because it sounds like it is a passion of yours and you never get rid of things you love. You will definitely find time for it. Thanks for writing about this topic and I enjoyed reading since I’m not involved with this kind of online community.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting topic to think about for me. I've had two friends of different ages who both had a strong interest in video games. The first person would be 27 today and began playing video games when he was in his early teens. However, he realized that by his late teens/early twenties, his interest became more of an addiction. He was antisocial, rude and disinterested towards his family and rarely made friends. This all led to him eventually quitting video games for good. The other friend would be 19 today, a near decade younger. This person grew up playing video games with his family and still plays frequently to this day. The big difference is that his playing often involved a larger online community. He plays with regular online friends, friends from back home while he's at college, and even engages in online video gaming arenas that sound similar to twitch. He doesn't see video games as a problem at all, and in fact claims they're one of the best ways he knows to engage in community.
ReplyDeleteLooking at these two different examples and taking what you've written about twitch online communities, I can't help but see how far online social networks and video games have come. While video game addiction is a real thing, I can't help but wonder how many of those cases are impacted by the fact that video games might not have been as socially evolved as they are now?
Also worth noting: this isn't a new thing. Music, books, gaming, photography, chatting...they've all progressed into extremely social online activities with seemingly endless opportunities to engage with a wider community. I'm happy to see the ways these developments are bringing once-solitary activities into a healthy, social atmosphere.
I totally agree with this, and find it very interesting as well! I think that you are right with the twitter point as well, because before this class I had never live tweeted anything before, but I have come to realize that it is a very popular thing to do with just about anything! I was watching a patriots’ game the other day and I was curious to see if people live tweet those games, so I looked up the patriots’ hashtag and I found tons and tons of live tweets from no named people, and also from celebrities! And with the no named people they were commenting back and forth with one another, and having live conversations about the game. Not only that but with the celebrities they talk back and forth with one another as well! because they are celebrities their posts stay at the top of the page and so do the celebrities comments that go back and forth. I was surprised to see this but you are right it is like a little community. From no named people to the top celebrities. Also something that I noticed with the Pokémon go players is that they have their own little communities as well. I remember seeing on the news how groups of people would meet up in big cities at parks and have a big Pokémon go parties where they all walk around together collecting Pokémon’s. Which I thought was crazy, but then I realized how normal of a thing that it was, and how so many people do it and that is what made me think of this when I read your post, because Pokémon go players have their own little communities as well. Overall I really liked your post, I found it very interesting and something that I could easily relate to. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of Twitch. When reading this I thought that it was very interesting how you can communicate with others through a video game. I think that this is a very good way of communicating and meeting people while having fun. When I got to college I remember that it was hard to find people that I had connected with. When I first got to school I really liked to play video games but stopped playing because I was not getting out and talking to new people as much. I feel like this could be a really good tool for students because they can meet people or just communicate with people. It can get quiet when you are in a new place, so I know that this could help a lot of people meet and just talk to others. I feel like this can also build other things in people like teamwork. This is because I know that to be able to play a game and win it, it is always good to have a team behind you to help. I also liked how you can support people’s channels. I thought that this was very interesting. I know that my friend just started a YouTube channel and anything that I can do to help him succeed I try and do. I also see how hard it is to build content and want people to enjoy your hard work.
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