Chapter 7: Streaming What You Want To Stream + Slow vs. Fast Growth

There is a common misconception some have thrown around and honestly? It vexes me.

Different streamers stream different things, and some streamers tend to excel at gaining followers due to playing what's trending more than anything else.

I've spoken on this plenty of times already while also stating that nothing is wrong with it as long as one doesn't cut their roots and treat their viewers as a means to an end along the way.

But what is wrong with it is telling someone that playing what's trending is necessary for growing and that what they play automatically means they'll fail.

Yea, its a faster way to grow if it works for you, but it's not the only way contrary to what some may say.

Some who have taken such a path to success as a partner or at the very least, a decently popular channel, may tell you as some had told me.

'Play a game that trends before anything else you truly want to play, then switch to a game you thoroughly enjoy midway through the stream'.

A 'bait' game if you will, because it lures viewers in.

And I've also heard this in the spectrum of sticking to playing only a trending game every stream until you gain a large following, THEN switch to playing games you actually enjoy that aren't as popular.

What's wrong with this whole approach is that while it lures viewers in? It also casts playing what one wants to play out. It's stupid advice and truth be told? Not advice at all.

Me personally, I would never take this approach because while people may follow for that 'bait' game? Using a trending game as a crutch instead of relying on my personality to get people on board for my variety pursuits just doesn't sit well with me, let alone taking part in what I consider deceiving viewers.

Plus those viewers who came for that trend title won't stay if I switch to a retro game like Jet Force Gemini or Earthworm Jim, let alone any game that isn't that game they came for.

So why spend my hours of time live playing games I don't want to play for an audience that isn't there for me and what I really enjoy, nor would stay for what I enjoy?

Yes regardless of what site one is on, they will with all intents of certainty be there to watch the game you play regardless of if they are there for you directly or not, but I do this with the mindset of playing what I want to play, not what everyone else wants me to play.

Not to sound cocky, but speaking logically? I was able to hit quad numbers on Mixer, start over from zero, then do it again while never really focusing on playing anything trending in a viral nature (and even when I did it wasn't every single day).

A lot of my time was spent playing games no one had heard of or that were 15 to 20+ years old and thus considered retro titles. The previously shared list of everything I've ever streamed shows how vast my preferences are.

So if I could manage to achieve momentum on some scale on my own terms then I feel I could of downloaded Fortnite at any time given its free and possibly increased my numbers exponentially. Maybe (and a big maybe on that) even achieved partnership.

And we've already established that I had my fair share of times where a viewer typed "play Fortnite" in chat on Mixer, with them leaving when I asserted that I had no plans to do so.

Playing viral titles may be a possible path to quicker growth, but by no means is mandatory, nor is it the path I want to take.

However one of the worst reasons why telling small channels to 'play what's popular' isn't just because it implies that their own aspirations for what they want to do with their channel aren't good enough.

It's that one word. Popular.

Two terms that define the word popular are something that's suitable to the majority, and commonly liked or approved.

A big streamer told you that you have to play only Fortnite or Apex Legends to succeed?

Well there's a very large amount of other smaller channels doing just that because they think the same thing.

A problem in the stream community is that so many streamers jump onto the trend bandwagon for the sake of growing quick and thinking they'll be a hit overnight and then calling it a grind.

And it tends to be because they were led to believe such by someone who decided to more or less say 'my way is the best way'.

So, before you believe a bigger channel on such a claim of needing to play a trending title to succeed? Lemme give you an example of something.

First, lets take a look at Fortnite's current viewership on Twitch.

Over 50k.

Now one might think 'well that means a large amount of people wanting to see Fortnite, so it means more viewers to reach'.

True, but it also means more streamers trying to reach them. This is from a site called Twitch Strike which lets one see how many streamers are currently streaming a game at any particular time (linked the site for you to bookmark since it could come in handy for finding the best times to stream a particular game)

So as you can see, at the time that I took this screenshot there were over 14,000 channels streaming Fortnite.

Now if you were to go down the list of live channels for Fortnite? You would keep scrolling, and scrolling, and scrolling, and repeat.

At one point you would have a very tiny scrollbar on your internet browser quickly from how many people are playing it simultaneously. You would be just one streamer on that wall of channels.

Now lets look at Super Smash Bros Ultimate. A game that's less popular that Fortnite, but able to draw traction.

So with this I can say that there are possibly some inconsistencies with Twitch's viewer tracking and Twitch Strike, but regardless.

That's obviously a vast difference in not just active viewers, but also channels streaming each game in comparison.

So while there may not be as many people watching Smash Bros? There aren't as many streamers playing it either, meaning that if one were to type 'Super Smash Bros Ultimate' into the search and scroll down? You'd be more likely to be noticed simply because compared to Fortnite where a viewer would scroll down and down and down through many channels including yours? There would most likely be a few scrolls worth of Smash streamers other than yourself.

Now this doesn't guarantee viewers coming to your channel, but the point I'm laying across is that playing less popular games isn't going to keep you from growing compared to what some bigger channels may claim, and as long as you find a game that hits a balance of popular enough to have people watching streams of it but not too popular? That's what you want to aim for.

Lets take this further.

So lets say you have a piece of meat and you toss it on a swarming anthill.

Two things happen next.

One. You have a large amount of ants trying their hardest to get their share of the food as they cover that piece of meat in an indistinguishable writhing mass, while others in the swarm didn't manage to reach the food before their fellow ants claimed it.

Two. While you have all those ants at the surface covering the meat as others who missed their chance try to get in on the grub? You have those beneath the surface inside the hive who tirelessly work in obscurity, resting and eating when they can.

Those ants that got their fill are those who either likely found success from jumping on a game that was popular when they first saw it start trending, were close to someone who got big playing a trending title and was boosted by them, or they were more established on another site and snowballed quickly when they reestablished their brand somewhere else.

The ants beneath the surface, working endlessly? Those are the starving artist type of streamers who stick to what they do because it's what they know. It may be tiring, but its the path they take because they're good at it even if others may not see it.

And the ant's who were late to the buffet but are trying to find a place to push in to get a chance at the meat? That's the thousands of streamers you see trying to play that same trending game that they felt like they had to play, thus bringing a large influx of others doing the same thing which actually dwindles your chances of being noticed for playing something popular, because of the simple fact that so many people are doing it.

Some may get a taste of what their hungry for and get their fill with satisfaction coming along with it, but they have to compete with a lot of other hungry souls on that hill for it.

You have a lot of fresh faces in the world of streaming who take the route of making an account on a streaming site, not even bothering with putting any info on their profile, and just playing said popular game thinking it'll be as easy as getting a few wins and watching the follows and dono's come in.

And this is done without even trying to learn the ins and outs of streaming so that they can nurture an at least somewhat thriving community while unpacking them boxes I've talked about in the process (Seriously guys, put some kind of panels or text up. I'm gonna stay on you about it).

They don't talk to their viewers, and tend to stream for only 30 minutes before they get frustrated because no one watched them, at times taking it out on other streamers by trolling their channels due to jealousy or a delusion that those with viewers are taking their chance to be seen.

In all, a thought process of 'well they got big from playing it so I can too'.

This is compared to those who regardless of how they present themselves moving forward? If they get somewhere playing what trends? As stated prior, they already may of had had at least somewhat of a following and actual panels on their profile that let potential viewers see that they were taking their streaming endeavors somewhat seriously, compared to just posting a Paypal link or 'yeet'.

So, if you're playing a popular game because someone else told you to instead of because you wanted to?

Because you think it'll get you noticed (moreover, quicker) compared to playing it because you genuinely like playing it?

Then honestly? You're streaming it for the wrong reasons and need to reevaluate what you're doing, because you're not running your streaming channel.

The game is.

As I continue to say, I'm an avid variety streamer who only plays what he enjoys for good reason.

No I don't have mass follows or quick growth and have even been ridiculed for it, but I go into each stream with the mindset that I'm playing games that aren't as commonly played, which by all accounts would mean that I'm not 'competing' for notice with as many other people playing that game as it would be for Fortnite/Apex Legends/Etc.

For me, I used to play a different game daily on a set schedule with a different theme per day. I ceased such because I felt it was affecting my viewer retention (and mental health due to the constant switch ups) so I decided to focus on streaming only one game at a time then moving on to another upon completion.

That said, a key reason for the change to how I stream is because while I took what I do seriously before? I'm doing such more so now. I would love to make something more of it all and maybe even a career.

Even so, my reasons for streaming are simply because of my love for it regardless of many technical issues I've had that've at times derailed me for weeks, among issues I've had with other streamers and several bouts of my own discouragement.

And this has been while also trying to find my place after leaving other sites I was on due to not feeling at home.

I've bounced back from a lot many more times than I've bounced between sites, so I have only more incentive to not give up, even if in many ways I've got lots of odds against me.

But no streamer (nor anyone pursuing any form of interest) should ever be told that they have to do something a certain way like everyone else does to succeed. Especially when as a streamer a key aspect to success (or at least more people used to see it like this) is a streamer's ability to be unique and be different from others.

What fun and diversity is there to streaming if everyone has to play the same thing? If every channel of your tv played the exact same show 24/7 or you thumbed through a book that had the same exact words on each page, how long would you remain interested?

Something I myself got told by a partner on Mixer once was 'if you don't care about growing, then sure, play whatever you want' which to be blunt is complete bull that should never be said to any streamer.

Reasons being that firstly, when I hear someone say they got big because of a trend so that's what you need to do instead of playing what you want? That translates to them indirectly admitting they didn't rely on their personality and they only got known due to the game, as well as them putting down the potential of your personality's ability to draw viewers while saying that your preference for what you want to do is irrelevant.

Secondly, there's millions of people on this planet and no one knows every other person's interests.

Yea, you can look at demographics for viewer preferences on a streaming site based on viewer numbers per game, but human nature and thus the minds of us as a species capable of (though not always acting on) logical thoughts and changing our preferences? That contradicts what a computer based algorithm may say and more so contradicts someone who says you won't succeed just because you didn't drink the Kool-Aid that others were chugging.

Fact is, no streamer can truly gauge the success of another streamer just as no human being period can 100% rationalize what someone else may be capable of.

No streamer can speak for another streamer's viewers and their choice what to watch either, let alone who to support based on their preference or disdain for different personality traits and styles of streams that can go past the game itself.

Some viewers like calm 'chill' streamers and others like hype chats. I've been told I'm laid back in my streams but at the same time I also can be more hyper and loud, especially if I'm playing a horror game or I'm doing a multiplayer stream with others who I have good chemistry with in regards to improvising.

Some prefer what trends, others don't care about that versus simply taking in the streamer's personality because they just give off that air about them that makes their channel the place to be.

Translation? Trends may get results faster for some, but if it was the sure fire way then every person playing Fortnite or whatever is trending would have loads of follows and viewers and possibly a partner button, which would also mean a big demographic of more partners who have not a single idea about what it means to be one, because they grew quick and found instant success before even knowing the ends and outs of streaming.

Another example for Pokemon fans.

In S1 of the anime when the franchise was still in its infancy (though still growing quick), remember when Ash took on Lt. Surge?

Yea, Surge may have had an evolved and by all accounts more powerful counter to Pikachu in the form of Raichu, but in one of the show's moments where Ash and Pikachu won based on something other than plot armor or the power of friendship, and instead something actually logical? Surge lost because he evolved his Pikachu too quick, and so it didn't learn the quick attacks it could only learn prior to evolving, which gave Ash's Pikachu a distinctive edge in speed vs Raichu's power.

Get what I'm saying?

I myself am a firm believer in if something you want is difficult to get? It's because if it was easy for everyone then it wouldn't be as valued.

Streaming is a grind and ain't supposed to be simple, but sadly so many people don't care about the grind. They just want to get paid to play video games and have it happen as quick as possible.

As I also have said before, there is nothing wrong with shooting for partnership, cash in pocket, and the acceptance of your viewers and fellow streamers as well as one day flying out to gaming conventions (again, assuming this pandemic ever gtfo's) and getting cool stuff from sponsors.

I admit that I'm one of those like many others who has watched a video on Youtube where someone got a free tech product to review and keep such as a mic/sound mixer/camera/etc, or a streamer posted on Twitter that they got something from their sponsors and wished they could have that type of thing happen to them.

But I also want to work my tail off to make that type of thing one day happen to me.

So, take time to hone your craft and be effective at it along the way.

Me? Yes I want to grow my channel and my community and hopefully make a full time career out of streaming one day, which means a challenging but fun job with a flexible schedule and overall? A better life than what I have going for me now.

But I also want to do so my way and at a pace that lets me learn, experience, and hopefully teach as I do now, because I want to help others do the same with hopes that they'll pay it forward to those who follow in their stead as well.

And some may say 'how does he have any grounds to talk when he doesn't even have a large following or know fast growth/success?'

I talk because the slow growth (and at times starting over) the past few years I've been streaming may be pared with far from the most popularity, but it has given me a chance to gain lot of experiences (positive and negative) compared to those who grow quick without actually learning the craft.

I go by a mantra where one who learns from many mistakes before he succeeds will benefit more than one who succeeds without learning from his mistakes.

I'm also fond of Bruce Lee's quote of ''not fearing a man who has practiced 1000 kicks once, but who has practiced the same kick 1000 times''.

Honing your craft one area at a time is more effective than going in full force with little to no knowledge on anything and having all of it blow up in your face at once time.

There are lots of streamers both big and small who try to help their peers by teaching what experience has taught them.

Affiliated/partnered content creators that try to verse their fellow streamers on the dos and don'ts of getting to that point.

But so many more are too busy focusing on numbers and their own inflating egos to care about anyone outside their bubble.

So again, not trying to sound self centered, but the reason I do these guides and try to be a channel people can come to while I'm live and get advice from? It's because I honestly feel like not enough streamers do.

And this is compared to another thing said by the individual I've spoke of who bashed my ways of networking.

That I wasn't ''community minded''.

Streaming is simply about more than a quick road to fame for me so no one twists my arm into doing these guides. I choose to just as I choose to play what I want over what everyone tells me to play. Faulty foundations bring broken buildings if you catch my drift.

You can grow quick sure, but if you don't take the time to build a sturdy footing to your channel and instead try to collect loads of followers over focusing on creating a genuine community to be a sturdy support system? Then it'll collapse.

Slow growth is still growth, and its more meaningful growth through meeting firm supporters who'll laugh with you at your best and straight up call you out on your follies if they see you getting too full of yourself out of fear of you becoming something you're not. Something they don't want to support.

And that's compared to quick growth with hundreds of followers within a short amount of time, the majority of who won't be seen again with some who'll gloat about you on social media as the best thing since sliced bread and try to take up for you even if you do something deplorable that was obvious for others to see, attacking others who call you out for it.

That as well as those commenting on all of your posts like you and them are close when honestly? All they likely know about you is what you look like and that you have lots of followers.

Thus they do so thinking it'll boost their own channel and whenever I see this? It reminds me of the lyrics of Beautiful by Eminem.

''I don't need no fucking manservant trying to follow me around, and wipe my ass.

Laugh at every single joke I crack and half of 'em ain't even funny like hahaha!

Marshall, you're so funny man, you should be a comedian, god damn!''

A few firm supporters with more gained over time by doing things your way, even if its slow and at times maybe even discouraging.

That'll keep you in line and remind you of why you stream and why they followed you in the first place, thus keeping you grounded on what you can do to be better.

The ones who'll tell you that your volume is too loud at one end or muted at another as well as point out other flaws in not just your streams, but how you present yourself that you can improve.

Who stay even when your active viewers are very low.

Those types of true supporters benefit a streamer much more than countless one offs who don't return after that first follow.

Who spam the chat with ''invite'' and ''can I join''.

Viewers who instead of pointing out that your audio or video is bad so you can troubleshoot it? They just leave without pointing it out (which is similar to a time I uploaded a video to YouTube without realizing that it had for some reason rendered without sound. Multiple people came in and disliked the video instead of just saying that it had no audio).

Viewers or even other streamers who come by multiple times, leaving quickly when you don't have a lot of viewers, but suddenly become talkative and stick around when you have a crowd or are doing a giveaway.

Point is friends, I'm a fellow streamer trying to give you perspective and as seen again by the above? I know I can be a bit harsh at times because I tend to not sugarcoat when I'm being serious about something.

I take myself seriously as a livestreamer but I also put that same seriousness in trying to guide others, hopefully inspiring soon to be or current streamers to pay it forward to other content creators and their viewers in comparison to a lot of the hate in the livestreaming community currently.

Nonetheless, those viewers that some of us streamers take for granted as just numbers, packed wallets, and fuel for an inflating hubris? Its only natural that they help us graduate to partnership status because they also can be some of the best teachers to us.

Your viewers who sit down with you every night and get to know you not just as a public image, but as a person. Who stick by you as more than a means to an end for their own gain.

You can't learn to be better if the many followers you gain insanely fast aren't there to give you a perspective that only a viewer dedicated to supporting you can.

Now back to my take on playing what you want to play.

I said near the start of this chapter that I will play trending games from time to time, albeit based on a 100% dedicated interest in the game instead of just jumping on board because others were playing it.

I was streaming Cuphead as soon as I got home from an anime convention in Atlanta, which was in the same timeframe of it's release.

It was pretty popular on Mixer to a point where whenever I played it I had an average of around 35 viewers, but I streamed it not because it was a hot title on the site at the time, but because as a fan of old cartoons and challenging games? I had been waiting ages for it.

At times I've streamed two games or more in one stream with a few occasions where one had been a more popular than the other because it just released.

In such situations, I'll play the less popular game before the popular title. An example is one time when I played Super Metroid before doing a few hours of Destiny 2.

Obviously, this is the exact opposite of the 'bait game' strategy that has been put out there. Here's my reason why.

If someone sticks with you as you transition from a less popular game over to something more popular? That person is more likely to stay or come back because they are enjoying your content between games, compared to someone who came by because what was being played was a trending title and thus likely would leave when you stopped and chose to play something else.

Another example.

One day I did a broadcast of Outlast 2 (which had just released as well) and Final Fight 3 for the Super Nintendo.

I played Final Fight 3 first, had a couple of viewers follow, and then stick around when I switched to Outlast 2, which several more viewers came by for and followed.

The next day, I did a stream of Little Nightmares (which yet again had just released, but wasn't as popular as Outlast 2).

The same Final Fight 3 viewers from the previous day came back during Little Nightmares and stuck around when I had switched to Outlast 2.

However some of those same Outlast viewers from the previous day came by during Little Nightmares, mentioned how I said in the stream title that I would be playing Outlast 2 but wasn't, and left the stream.

They came back later after I finally had switched to Outlast 2. And once I finished the game during that stream? The names of those viewers never appeared in my channel again.

What matters, is that you play what you thoroughly enjoy playing and the viewers who support you in that aspect because another key reason that you have loads of new streamers who rely only on trending games fail, is because their potential audience could see that they weren't actually enjoying it.

This leads to a butterfly effect of the streamer not enjoying themselves even further because they got a harsh dose of reality in that they are not the next Ninja or Dr. Disrespect and that doing livestreams is by no means as easy as what I stated earlier about sitting down, playing a game, and watching the follows pile in.

That butterfly effect continues when they end their stream early, meaning even less chance of people coming by to watch them, possibly going and taking it out on another streamer to make them feel better about themselves (As well as doing so through some sense of thinking they are weeding out the 'competition' by trying to make them quit streaming), which gets them a bad rep and of course means even less likelihood of getting anywhere.

Playing something you may not even want to play is just going to lead to a bad time for you, and honestly? No one wins in that scenario.

The simple conversations I have with my viewers? That's something that comes from them seeing that I'm enjoying myself and thus wanting to actually be there while I'm playing something that I honestly don't care about the popularity of or lack of therein.

It's just less stressful to play a game and to put it crudely? Just say fuck it's popularity or lack therein.

And I appreciate those small moments of simple talking with these people as if they're in the same room with me, just hanging out compared to a scenario where dozens of people are hyping my chat and vying for my attention like I'm some rock star.

Such a thing would be messy and equal no concrete chat interaction, a nightmare for my mods, and the messages from my friends and regulars being lost in a sea of text. If others enjoy that then all the power to em', but its just not what I want now or in the future even though I know that if I ever did make it as a content creator then it would be inevitable that I'd have a pretty active chat.

For me? That simple connection over whatever game with the conversations with my chat being the main entertainment is what streaming is about.

One night I was playing Diablo III while me and multiple viewers talked for about an hour on how much we all enjoyed Life Is Strange.

Another occasion was when I was playing Sonic Mania when me and the chat put on our nostalgia goggles and talked about when we all played the Genesis Sonic titles, which then lead to us talking about 90's cartoons like Street Sharks, Mighty Max, and Animaniacs.

In the end? The point of this chapter isn't necessarily saying ''don't play Fortnite/whatever is trending'' but instead to not listen to those who say ''don't play anything except Fortnite/whatever is trending''.

Again, they don't know the qualifications for what makes or breaks your capabilities to succeed at streaming, nor the inner workings of every other streamer/viewer on a streaming site.

For all anyone knows you could start a stream playing nothing but Pong and or E.T on the Atari, even Solitaire on Windows and people could flock to it.

When I reached 1000 followers the first time on Mixer? I was playing a game called Catch A Lover with a few friends. The game was a $7 indie game I got off Steam that had you and other players reenact an affair to comical results.

Now to be more technical, I didn't reach 1k playing Catch A Lover, I was playing 'Unlisted Game' because Catch A Lover was so obscure that Mixer didn't even have an official listing for it.

We all have our own approach to streaming. If I could hit 1k while playing a $7 game about dogs peeing on floors and causing people to slip, all while an enraged husband (who in my case I had wearing a sombrero) chased his wife's lover around with a 18 inch purple dildo as a baseball bat? Then you've got what it takes.

Any streamer starting out has the potential to get somewhere, its just about presenting yourself right, busting your ass, and being willing to learn from your mistakes while taking time to build in a way that lets you see where you can improve.

Part of its luck, part of its fate, and part of it is making your own luck.

I to this day keep finding flaws about myself to learn from, and I take time to do so just as my viewers point out things and I learn from them. No matter what game you play, its still just one part of a streamer's channel.

Regardless of if you just play one game even if its not popular, a variety of indie games exclusively that no one has really heard of, a trending game, or like me, you're a variety streamer who plays known games, indie games, retro games, and has done things other than gaming such D&D and times I've read the novel I'm writing, do it for you and those who appreciate you for more than a trending title.

Play what you want and what your viewers like seeing you play because it makes them happy to see you enjoying yourself.

You want to play Fortnite? Play the hell out of it, Apex Legends, or whatever else trends.

But never look at it as you ''need'' to play Fortnite or whatever is trending and instead playing what YOU enjoy playing

Rely on yourself while not forgetting yourself.

Because otherwise its just the game getting the follows, not you.

And both you and those who support you deserve a properly and patiently paved road to your hopeful success that's tempered by experience and taking your time while genuinely having fun.