On August of 2014, I started my Twitch stream as a way to interact with like-minded people sharing a passion: video games. I had freelanced for Ziff Davis media (1up.com primarily) and had a great tenure at Nitrobeard after helping found it in 2008. I loved podcasting about games, and writing lengthy (sometimes navel-gazing) editorials about the industry, and I had a lot of fulfillment in doing so. I was constantly learning, the industry was an always-moving target that kept me on my toes and had surprises around every corner.
After doing the podcast thing for many years, my sights went elsewhere. Twitch was established at this point, and the technological ceiling was much lower than it had been, meaning I could finally try my hand at it. Playing games and interacting directly with viewers was a dream, as it meant every stream was different and every day was a new beginning. My podcast experience prepped me well for the jump, as having random background knowledge on the industry helped fill in any gaps in regards to conversation-starters with chat.
Over the past month or so, I've been noticing my attention wavering. I look at my massive list of games, and none really appeal to me. My audience can probably sense this, as my patience with any one game doesn't quite stick, leaving the stream to be a sporadic, frantic mess of never quite achieving anything. Sure, there's game play, but there's no goal for each session. Hell, there's even a meme for it:
— The Hobo Network (@TheHoboNetwork) June 26, 2015
This lack of interest could be in a number of things: Lack of investment or "burnout" seems to be the most obvious, but the more I've thought on this, the more I've come to see that burnout isn't quite the correct term.
I think the correct term is boredom.
There's no inherent challenge to the work anymore. Everyone knows I'm not the best player of games, as I have old-man reaction times, I get flustered very easily, and I'm more worried about my chat and viewers having a good time than 'pro strategies' of 'git gud' and the like. Now, as my viewership increased, it seemed people were more wanting to focus on the game instead of the community, more on the skill (or lack thereof) instead of the experience of the show. To me that's unfortunate, and I think it's not fair to the community at large to have their caretaker flustered by something so silly. It all boils down to this: If I'm not having a good time, and worried about juggling what games to play all in order to bring in an audience, what good am I really doing for the community I want to create? What's the solution?
Like going from 1up.com to Nitrobeard, then from Nitrobeard to Twitch streaming video games, it's time for another massive shift: Twitch Creative.
For those that don't know, I'm a college graduate with a degree in Digital Publishing and Office Administration, essentially a fancy way of saying 'Business Graphic Design' for corporate and private sector areas. I loved my time earning my degree, and while it was stressful, I always felt fulfilled and knowing I was bettering myself both professionally and personally. I never felt like an assignment was a waste of time, as I knew it would add to my knowledge of various coding languages or graphics applications.
I believe I need to have this same fulfillment in my hobbies, and playing video games on the Internet is not giving me that fulfillment. That is why, starting June 6th, I will make the shift away from streaming video games, and start streaming art through Twitch's 'Creative' banner.
That's not to say there won't be random video game streams every now and then. In fact, myself and Marco are planning the return of Power Hour, so just know that making great shows dedicated to games is still on the agenda, just my live-stream focus will take a massive turn towards the creative process. It's something different, it's something fresh, and it's something with an entire new world of potential.
I think there are two main benefits from this shift, and these are why I believe this is the right move at the right time.
- Building Community - Live streaming the creative process will be a new challenge for myself as a host, but this is also a great way to make sure that the live chat is the star of the show: I'll be able to instantly chat back with everyone, and our cool community will open up to a full new demographic of awesome people.
- Self Improvement - I'll focus on the creative process and fine-tune either skill-sets that I have professional training with (Graphic Design for clients) or things I want to get better at (being a good painter has been a dream of mine since I was 6 years old, and digital painting would be a fantastic outlet to learn the craft). Streams won't feel like 'work', as the true nature of the stream will be self-improvement and relaxed chat, something that will never go out of style.
I understand this shift will not be every one's cup of tea: Watching someone paint for multiple hours is a much different ambiance than the shooting/jumping/action of live game play. I also understand that I may lose some valued supporters, and that's fine too. We have a saying at the Hobo Network that we share with each other: "You do you." Well, this is me doing me, come rain or shine.
I look forward to this new era, and can't wait to get started. I'm prepping other things as well related to this announcement, which we'll get to in the future. I will say, while the attitude of the live-stream show will change and the content output will be VASTLY different, the same soul, humor, and love will be in my content as there has always been.
More importantly, I think it'll bring about passion too, which I feel has been lacking in my streams for quite some time. Let me know what you think by posting on the forums.
Onward and upward.
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