Monday 16 November 2015

Week 7 [16.11 - 22.11.2015] Gameplay Live Streaming

Gameplay Live Streaming

Streaming is becoming more and more popular nowadays. The most famous platform to stream is twitch.tv where we can watch e-sports events or just daily streaming of many different games. It has become so common that some people started to do it for a living. Not every game however has a big pool of fans. The most popular ones are MOBA games (multiplayer online battle arena) like the League of Legends and Dota 2, or Hearthstone which is a card game.


Screenshot from Hearthstone stream: MaSsanSC


There are many ways to support individual streamers like subscriptions or donations. The best streamers have their own big fan base. When it comes to big events like world championships in the League of Legends, a viewer counter reaches hundreds of thousands of people watching the tournament. Professional casters comment the gameplay and prizes are unbelievably high.



Another great thing about watching the streams is that you can chat with other viewers or even with the streamer. During the last couple of years twitch community has grown a lot and became characteristic for the whole platform. People use twitch.tv emotes not only on twitch but also on forums or other chats to express your emotions or mood.

Here is the link: www.twitch.tv you should check it out.

      1.       Have you ever tried streaming or do you watch any streams?
      2.       Do you think live streaming will replace TV shows?
      3.       What is your approach to e-sports?


28 comments:

  1. It is a great kind of entertainment but for teenagers with no social life. In other cases, it's just a waste of time. I can understand the people that organize such events, that are the owners of platforms of game streaming, it's a great businnes, but how can the adult make money from playing games? It's ridiculous.

    Comparing it to the sport games, for example football, I know that football players put a lot of effort into this game, they have to work hard in order to be good. It is not only such a great physical effort, but also mental. To overcome the barriers of their minds. And when it comes to game players, like LOL, what is the effort? A lot of hours spent on playing computer games? Seriously?

    As it's probably obvious from my comment, I also don't watch e-sport. It's not sport at all, it doesn't engage any single muscle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't consider myself as a teenager with no social life but at the same time I watch streams only occasionally. I agree that it's hard to accept e-sports as a real sport but in chess you also do not engage any muscles and according to International Olympic Committee it is a sport.

      Delete
  2. I have no idea for what wasting your time for watching how someone is playing instead of playing :D Of course for someone could be fun, personally I enjoy playing games not watching.

    But because of hundreds of thousands of people watching the streams and tournaments in MOBA I think that e-sports will be growing up every year. It's simply a great busines for sponsors.

    ReplyDelete
  3. In my opinion playing a games can’t be called a sport.
    That’s like the reading a books is a some kind of sport, right?
    Sport is a swimming, football, bascketball, but NOT playing a games. The people who live playing a games are without a social life. In our times more kids and teenagers prefer playing a games. That’s too sad.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Personally I don't watch e-sports, or regular sports for that matter. I think they shouldn't be confused when u're the player (yeah, i also think that sport is when u actually DON'T sit on a chair), but as for the viewers I really don't see much difference - watching 22 guys or so running after a ball, or some fantasy characters killing each other or whatever they do there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't you think that it's a great opportunity for someone who is not really good at physical activity?

      Delete
  5. For me watching how somebody play is a waste of time. It is the same with games and sport. Why I should watching someone play something when I can play mayself.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Personally, I have never watched someone stream. Generally, for a long time I don't play computer games.
    Of course I know that it is very popular. However, I think that mainly teenagers are interested in such streams.

    My attitude to call this sport (or e-sport) is very negative. I Think that the young generation spends too much time in the virtual world.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I watched only one twitch stream, it was called "Can twitch play dark souls". It perfectly showed how beautiful democracy is.

    Before dark souls they played pokemon, this video shows how it looked like:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnzr95oE71Y

    They spend more than seven days in Asylum (prolog of the game)! They finished the game, but only after inserting some facilities (cheats) by the creator of this stream. Before that, they were spending their time in the pool.

    "Praised be to Pool god, for he washes away our sins. Praised be to Ladder god, who welcomes our ascent to divinity with open arms. Dance for pool god and pool god will give you power"
    xD

    look at this gif:
    http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--0HvUgCpB--/1391184351845065360.gif

    And these articles:

    http://kotaku.com/four-days-in-twitch-plays-dark-souls-is-a-beautiful-di-1724799045
    http://www.polygon.com/2015/9/28/9409795/twitch-plays-dark-souls-beaten

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've seen something similar but it was "Twitch plays pokemon" or something like that. People wrote in chat the commands and it was really painfull to watch when character was stuck in a single room.

      Delete
  8. 1.Like Jagoda B . i don't have time for this , for me it isn't interesting and better play yourself but this is only my opinion.
    2.Who knows ?
    3.For me e-sport isn't sport

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't like to watch how somebody is playing games.I prefer to play alone, than to watch how somebody is playing,
    it is boring. Of course it is my opinion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What about some bigger tournaments where you can see people playing on a higher level of skills?

      Delete
  10. 1. Maybe it's weird but I really really don't like playing or watching games. I know that I'm an IT guy but not everyone interested in IT must like games. I played maybe a few games in my life. I Liked some of them but I was younger and now I'm just not a gamer at all.
    2. Ymmm of course nooo. Not every one like to watch that king of entertainment so it can be played on TV but won't replace TV shows.
    3. I know that e-sport is quite profitable. Like in every sport you have to be good at it. It's not easier than any other sport so you have to make big effort to be the best like in any other sport field.

    ReplyDelete
  11. 1. Yes, I watching streams from Counter Strike : Global Offensive. It is very entertaining.
    2. No ;)
    3. I agree that e-sport isn't sport, because this doesn't require physical effort. But I don't agree with people saying bad things about e-sports. They are ignorant. A lot of e-sport matches are exciting. Like sport, e-sport is very competetive and e-sports players are overcoming their own limitations like sportsmen.

    ReplyDelete
  12. 1. I never streams and never watched stream of anybody, i don't have time for that.
    2. no.
    3. I don't think it's sport, but if you think it's and you like it, then ok.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Michał Stankiewicz22 November 2015 at 21:16

    Game streaming is just another step into the future, and we can't deny it. It's like being tv presenter available for all of us. Many of those game streamers start with playing games, then move to creating reviews, organising game developers meetings. And if there's a market, then why not to do this? It's still better than watching all those crappy 1000 episode series like "The Bold and the Beautiful" which also had a lot of viewers.

    I like e-sports and like how it develops. I'd love to become a streamer one day as well, if not an e-sport streamer, then someone like a game programming streamer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is a section on Twitch dedicated to programmers. It's not quite popular yet but from what I've seen its getting more and more viewers.

      Delete
  14. 1. I've watched some streams. I would like to stream in the future, I know some people who are streaming and they treat it as a great experience, they have their fans etc. Streaming is fun, you can help promote some indie developers who have great games but have no money to show them to the world.
    2. Nope. This is absolutely different kind of entertainment, and comparing those two makes no sense.
    3. I guess that it's like normal sport, but for gamers. And in some moments, you can have better action than in normal matches.

    ReplyDelete
  15. 1. Nah, no time for that, too busy playing.
    2. Well, I couldn't care less about either, but streaming gameplay does at least show someone having fun, instead of just following a script.
    3. I guess it's just not my kind of thing. Still, I'd rather watch a DOTA stream, than sit through a football match.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Personally I played Dota 2 for over 2900 hours (according to steam), that's a lot, and while I stopped playing it around a year ago, I still enjoy watching other, especially so called "pro-gamers" playing it. I'd compare it to something else. If you're just playing game for pure fun, you're typical "casual" gamer and you don't care at all what is happening on the e-sport arena for given game, yes, you consider streaming as a waste of time and boring activity, I agree with that. But if you're a player who tends to be better and better in the game he's playing, you may consider how other "better" players are doing, just to become better yourself. Streaming is very strongly connected with e-sport, if you don't see a point in e-sport, or you don't consider games as anything serious, you won't consider streams as anything serious as well. But if you know the game really good, as you are or you were player yourself, you tend to enjoy watching other people, same as you enjoy watching e.g. football, as long as you played it and know the rules.

    TV is dead, it's same as radio, it worked for some time, but most of the people nowadays just don't watch TV at all. So in this case, yes, I think that streaming ALREADY replaced TV shows. TV is boring, and is a pure waste of time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Learning by watching the best players is the main reason why I watch the streams too. It's a great entertainment when you don't have time or opportunity for playing the game yourself.

      Delete
  17. 1. Definitely both watching and recording is for people who do not have life within a five minute came up with a thousand better activities.
    2. I hope not, if that happens I’ll sell TV.
    3. I think the answer to this point is contained in the two previous paragraphs.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I'm working in a company which made a Polish equivalent of Twitch, but they left the idea when amazon bought twitch. I don't like to watch as other people play games. For me it's just a waste of time. In my opinion, YouTube and Twitch will replace TV in the next 20 years.

    ReplyDelete
  19. 1. Have you ever tried streaming or do you watch any streams?
    2. Do you think live streaming will replace TV shows?
    3. What is your approach to e-sports?
    Ok, So I will start with the first one, so I didn't try streaming but I used to watch game called Bloodborne which was only for the PS 4 platform, so yeah that was the time that I watched streams because I was hyped for this game.
    For the second question, naaah it won't of course. TV will be there always but if they will bring it to the TV they won't earn that much money from it :) It's just better to leave it like it is now :)
    For the last question I would say it's ok. But I wouldn't like to do it. Why ? Because I have ambitions to become a good programmer and I don't want to waste time on "being a pro". Game is considered, for me , as something fun

    ReplyDelete
  20. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I must admit that I never liked watching how someone plays the game, because it always seemed to me that you might as well look like someone eating cake, instead of eating it yourself. I know that many people may not agree with me, I play games to solve some puzzles, improve their performance and to accompany any emotion this game (and not someone to do it instead of me). Same with e-sports - if sport is not practiced for health, meetings with the team or with passion? I do not think it was a threat to television, but I'm not objective on this point ;)

    ReplyDelete
  22. 1. No and no.
    2. If you mean live streaming in general, then I say no, they won't. TV shows are still far more popular.
    3. Dunno what that is, so my answer would be - indifferent.

    ReplyDelete