Can't the "face to the streamer" thing be accomplished by a photo in the description of the channel or something?
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People that watch "Let's Plays": how do you feel about facecams?
- Thread starter Compbros
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Can't the "face to the streamer" thing be accomplished by a photo in the description of the channel or something?
SeventhSon
Member
Facecam? Nah, not into that. However, i love this with a passion.
Do they stay in that view the whole time?
AmethystEnd
Member
Depends on the type of game. If it's horror or something that could have hilarious deaths like Dark Souls, I love facecam. Otherwise, I can take it or leave it.
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Yes.
You can take one guess.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
When I'm watching twitch streams on my PS4, I want to see the game itself.
Voice over is not too distracting. It's kind of like goofing off about the game with friends in your living room.
But when it comes to the image, I'd rather look at the actual game screen that you'd see if you were playing.
(Does not apply to cute Japanese stream girls)
Voice over is not too distracting. It's kind of like goofing off about the game with friends in your living room.
But when it comes to the image, I'd rather look at the actual game screen that you'd see if you were playing.
(Does not apply to cute Japanese stream girls)
SeventhSon
Member
Heh. The presentation with the costumes is fun, but I couldn't watch if that is the only view. They need someone "producing" the show, mostly full game view, cutting to "costume view" periodically, etc.
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
They're doing quite fine without silly cuts.
In a youtube video? Don't want to see a facecam unless it's a horror game.
In a stream? Sure, but only really if it's not obstructing the game and there's no over the top obnoxious shit there.
As for camless LPs, I prefer ones that are more informative about the game over "OH MAH GAWD GUYZ I TOTALLY KILLED THAT GOBLIN!"
In a stream? Sure, but only really if it's not obstructing the game and there's no over the top obnoxious shit there.
As for camless LPs, I prefer ones that are more informative about the game over "OH MAH GAWD GUYZ I TOTALLY KILLED THAT GOBLIN!"
oneils
Member
not really. Can't imagine watching Man vs. Game or Ezekiel without the facecam. Would be a completely inferior experience.
Really depends on the streamer, I guess.
Trump streaming Hearthstone - I don't need a face cam
Ezekiel streaming The Last of Us on the hardest difficulty, or Man streaming Super Meat Boy - a facecam enhances the experience. This is just my opinion.
But my opinion is based on only following a few streamers. In general, 99% of streamers are terrible. When I say that a face cam enhances the experience, I've already weeded out the streamers that are not worth watching (again, in my opinion). Hope that clarifies things.
Facecam? Nah, not into that. However, i love this with a passion.
Oh god.
Nope. All the nope.
Herbspiceguy
Member
I like them when the game is really challenging. It's fun to see someone genuinly frustrated after failing/dying over and over, sometimes to a point where the person nears a breaking point.
I used to like a person's reaction to horror games, but nowadays most of them feel acted.
I used to like a person's reaction to horror games, but nowadays most of them feel acted.
Scooter155
Member
I hate facecams, but I also hate any dialog whatsoever. The only time I've thought to myself "Let's watch a 'let's play'" I wanted to watch Wind Waker HD, and I wanted to watch it without some idiot running his mouth every few seconds. It was very hard to find a no-dialog stream, but I eventually did.
I think I'm the minority on this one, though.
I think I'm the minority on this one, though.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I can agree. I usually want to see the game.
I'm ok with people having a mic, though... But not if they're making constant commentary and trying to be funny. It should be like if you're hanging out with a friend playing a game ... The occasional reaction or comment is fine, but most of the time I hope I'm hearing game audio.
Most of the time I hate it, I feel like a facecam defeats the purpose of the Let's Play where the focus is on the person rather than the game. But I did say 'most' of the time, there are some instances where a facecam works. With how popular guys like Pewdiepie are, there have been games developed (Slender, Friday Nights at Freddy's, etc) where there's a greater emphasis on the LPers reaction over the game itself. For a Super Mario Bros 1 LP, I don't see the purpose of why I would need to see your face.
Fushichou187
Member
Personally, if the streamer is engaging the audience and answering questions, etc... then I think it's fine. I welcome it in fact. I often watch streams of people whose commentary and communication with their audience I genuinely enjoy.
As for streaming myself, I hate having my picture taken and am for shit sure not showing my face on cam lol On those rare occasions when I do stream, I wear a mask.
As for streaming myself, I hate having my picture taken and am for shit sure not showing my face on cam lol On those rare occasions when I do stream, I wear a mask.
Several people have said this and I've asked them with largely no reply: why is it fine in that instance? The streamer is engaging the audience by talking with them, addressing them, what have you, why is the face came needed for that? Why do you need to see them look at the chat to take questions? The engagement comes from the interaction, not seeing them answer your question.
SquiddyCracker
Banned
I kinda like it when the female streamer shows off some boobs.
ieptbarakat
Member
The stream/video sucks proportionate to how much space is being taken away from the game.
Speedruns get a pass if there isn't anything interesting going on, and because we sort of need to see that it isn't a tool assisted speedrun.
Speedruns get a pass if there isn't anything interesting going on, and because we sort of need to see that it isn't a tool assisted speedrun.
SlasherJPC
Banned
Thinking more about it, I think reactions are key and I'm not talking about just seeing a horror game and someone jump. Especially for those people that play games blindly (aka first time playing) you can get a plethora of facial expressions, reactions, and such from any game. Action, platform, etc. Of course some people do a horrible job expressing their emotions so it might be more boring to watch a face game of said people, yet some are very visual when it comes to their faces they make. So that also might play a key in it all. Also think of some really well known voice actors. Most folks can recognize their work just hearing them, true enough, yet some have NO idea what they look like. Also with some youtubers doing panels these days, I think people like to put a face to a voice.
HoopzBarkley
Member
I don't really like facecams too much. Voice overs are fine and some of the people I watch, stop when a cutscene takes place. I only watch like one person now, which is cry, dude has the most calming voice.
Facecam? Nah, not into that. However, i love this with a passion.
Jesus Christ. Look at all the wasted space. If they cut away from that and showed the screen and cut back occasionally, that would be fine because their costumes are pretty cute and all, but I have no idea if they do that or not.
Edit: Actually, I take this back. If everyone dressed up, like they do, maybe facecam wouldn't be so bad. lmao
neostapler
Member
i don't mind them as long as the "personality" is providing, somewhat, frequent commentary or being interactive with their audience or being entertaining.
if they don't have a face cam i don't mind it at all, but feel like commentary is much needed in its absence.
for whatever reason i very much dislike no face came with no commentary, and also the inverse, face came with no commentary
if they don't have a face cam i don't mind it at all, but feel like commentary is much needed in its absence.
for whatever reason i very much dislike no face came with no commentary, and also the inverse, face came with no commentary
I don't understand why some people in this thread even watch Let's Play videos. If you're not watching for the person's reactions, why don't you just watch some no commentary walkthroughs, or better yet, play the game by yourself.
The whole point of Let's Plays is about the person who plays it, not the game itself.
The whole point of Let's Plays is about the person who plays it, not the game itself.
oneils
Member
I answered the question. Guess you would have to watch a streamer like Man or Ezekiel to get it.
But I'll expand some more. They are really animated streamers and the appeal of their streams is their personality. Their personality shines through on the cam much more so than without it. Their streams would suffer, in my opinion, without the face cams as I would be missing a ton of information.
Their commentary, their knowledge, their jokes, their personality. Not to see them make a wide-mouthed expression when something mildly interesting is happening nor being over the top for the sake of being over the top.
This is so incredibly bass akwards.
Black Volt
Neo Member
I think it's only valid if the person in the face cam is directly addressing the audience and feels it's necessary to look directly at the camera. In pretty much every other situation it's pointless and tends to devalue the video.
Meh, depends on the Let's Player I suppose. The people I watch consistently will switch it up randomly. Usually doesn't bother me either way.
Definitely <3 Fraser's setup.
Definitely <3 Fraser's setup.
Let's Play should be about the game and the personality playing it, although, less so. I watch Let's Play to hear the player's insight into the game, their opinions and their particular favourite parts. It's a good way to learn about a game. I view it basically as an extended commentary. Sometimes I'll watch blind Let's Plays for peoples reactions. But in general I prefer more informative Let's Plays.
SerTapTap
Member
It really, really depends. There's a broad spectrum of how to perform a let's play.
Which is why I said "largely", you answered and I accepted but I want each individuals answer because so many people are giving the same answer of "engaging" the audience. However this now leads me to a couple more problems.
"Their personality shines through on the cam much more so than without it". This I don't get. Exaggerated reactions and expressions don't convey personality, it just shows their exaggeration. If a person has a fun, easy going personality then their face isn't what shows that off, them being fun and easy going is. It could also be used for some hollow "personality" in that they act goofy expression wise because they want to be seen as fun and goofy and engaging but they might not be, they may be a bit boring when they are actually just commentating and so the expressions make up for the "lack" of a personality. I don't know if I'm getting this across well but to me a face cam showing someone being animated can compensate for the person not being genuinely entertaining through their personality.
"Their streams would suffer, in my opinion, without the face cams as I would be missing a ton of information". I don't see how, the information you'd be missing is "what face are they making right now?", that's about it.
Fushichou187
Member
Obviously this is just my take on why I like to see the face, but it just humanizes the experience more for me. Why do I need FaceTime, Skype, and Google Hangout, etc.. if all I want to do is talk to the person? Answer is I don't need it, but it enhances the experience for me and makes it feel more personal. It's not a necessity that I see the person streaming the game, but for me as a viewer I like it.
Edit: Personality does play a large part of it for me, I suppose. I enjoy Quick Looks over at Giant Bomb precisely because of the personalities involved. However Unprofessional Fridays (and to a lesser extend Spookin' with Scoops) are an order of magnitude more entertaining because I can see the people involved.
Some people have funny and interesting commentary, especially when they have another person to bounce off of.
Triggerhappytel
Member
The only 'face cams' I like are on the Two Cowards Play videos from Videogamer, because I feel kind of familiar with them having listened to their podcast for a long time, and I believe their reactions are genuine and not forced. Most horror Let's Players I've watched - Markiplier being the one that springs immediately to mind - just overact and ham it up so much I find it annoying and not entertaining.
InfiniteNine
Rolling Girl
As long as they're not too big I don't mind them being there.
Dr. Zoidberg
Member
I don't care for the facecams at all, personally. Hell, I could do without the voiceovers for the most part. I'm just there to see the game.
oneils
Member
its like the difference between a conversation over the phone vs skype. I'm not looking for "exaggerated reactions." I'm literally having a chat with them.
SlasherJPC
Banned
Which makes sense. Just as people doing the facecams are not just there for the game, but for their audience. That's the difference really.
Oh wow, stolen from my mind from one of my favourite cartoon characters ever. Thanks Dr.Z! Seriously I can barely stand voiceovers let alone facecams. I like Giant Bomb's "quick look"s as an example of good voiceover.
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