Getting Back Into Streaming Part 2
Welcome back to our series about getting back into streaming. In the last post I discussed how I fell out of love with streaming and how I intended to get back into it but focus on having fun. It's worth a read if you haven't already as we discuss burnout and how it's okay to take breaks. This time, we're going to take a look at how a month of streaming went and what I've learned on this journey!
THE JOURNEY SO FAR
Barring a few weeks off because I had to have a tooth pulled out of my head (dentists are great but, yeesh) I have been streaming pretty consistently on Fridays. I started by playing The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, which some would say could have been setting myself up for failure.
I thought it could be funny if the game was a bit janky and hey, maybe it's alright! I started out this experiment by saying “I'm trying to find the good in Gollum”. Much like Gandalf, sort of. I think he just thought Frodo was going a bit hard chatting about what Bilbo should or shouldn't have done in that cave. Either way, my mission was clear, funny bugs or maybe a game I enjoy, as The Lord of the Rings is a series I love!
Now, I'm not here to pass judgment on the game itself but, it was funny for a bit, then it just…wasn't. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that I was still thinking with a “content” mindset and I ended up not having fun. I thought, “oh, there will be some good “moments” in this. The game will do something funny, or I can riff off of it being broken or something.” That, friends, is going against what I set out to do! I was shaping my hobby in a way that I thought would mean “content people might like”. Who are these people? Whoever they are, they're probably not going to watch a person having no fun and getting frustrated over a video game.
So, I just deleted it. Mid stream. Gone. And you know what I did next? Put an old UK Game Show on, Noel's House Party and just watched it along with my community. We also discovered some wild adverts on YouTube that were promising things we knew they couldn't deliver. I was laughing and having a bunch of fun along with my community. Someone even said this was “classic Chris” another said “we're back!”.
“CONTENT” VERSUS A HOBBY
That was a great turning point for me. I just said “ah you know what would be a laugh” and went with it. Plus, it felt like I went on a little journey with all the people I was watching with. We didn't know where it was going but we were all laughing together and creating moments we now reference. Maybe there's something to following the fun?
But just when you thought I'd learned my lesson, I went back and did something else with a mind to “my community will like this”. Don't get me wrong, this is a much more noble, and sensible idea than making things for nobody, but it still had the same problem.
Next stream, I played LA Noire, which is a game I have never finished but years ago I played it and as a challenge someone asked me to drive backwards for the whole game. This became a fun series titled The Backwards Detective. Now, this can be very fun, and funny, but I'm falling into the same trap again! “Content” over what is really fun about a stream for me, spontaneity. So maybe I change things up again?
Next stream, I came in and went with pure TV shows. Noel's House Party was the order of the day, and if you don't know what that is, well, it's a 90s UK variety show. It was bad, but we had fun, we had a laugh. We even got a new emote out of it!
This seemed to be the way forward, and a viewer suggested a TV show they think we'd all enjoy. Another old 90s UK TV show that's readily available on YouTube called Knightmare! It looks like it's full of things to enjoy, feel nostalgic about and as I said before, having a laugh!
FOLLOW THE FUN
I learned a lot here, and that is not to chase what I think will be successful. I even talked about that in my last blog post but, turns out, it's a very simple trap to fall into! Once you have a content, hustle culture mindset, it's tough to turn that off and not slip into old habits!
Follow the fun! That's where the good times will roll, and more importantly, the desire to continue your hobby. One thing I have learned is that consistency is possible for me. I can do a Friday afternoon but anything more than that seems like an outlier at the moment. I'm currently working on a bunch of different small projects with different people. I'm very lucky to do so but it doesn't leave me, as a 37 year old with other responsibilities, lots of time.
So, let's stick with what we can do, and move on from there! I hope that when I check in next month we've found the fun! How's it going for you? Let us know in the comments here, I'd love to chat about what everyone has been up to!