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Starting a Twitch Channel: Advice, Tips, and Suggestions?

B

Bit-Bit

Member
How's it going GAF? A couple of buddies and I are looking to start a Twitch channel to broadcast our gaming sessions every night.

EDIT: With advice from GAF, we've decided to focus on Nintendo specific platforms. We're mixing in oldschool with the new. Gamecube games, SNES games, DS games, etc... Any suggestions on multiplayer games that ya'll would like to see would be appreciated.

I see that a lot of ya'll consume a ton of twitch so I've come here for advice on what ya'll would like to see.

Our schedule looks like this:
Monday - Fighting Game
Tuesday - Racing Game
Wednesday - Shooting Game
Thursday - Party Game
Friday - Free For All, Any Game Goes

We're looking to start broadcasting on May 12th. Any suggestions on games you would like to see in those genres?

There's gonna be three of us. Two will be competing while one of us commentates. We're gonna do some matches local and some matches online.

Also, tips on commentating and things you like and dislike about broadcasters are welcomed.
 
I have no interest in this. Too many games that are constantly being switched. People want to watch good players of a game.

Unless you all have really great personalities, this will fail with the current plans. Or you could just be doing it for fun, so more power to you.
 
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Be yourself, see Lirik for example, the guy is hilarious. Also don´t clutter your screen with stuff like notifications, facecams, chat, etc. Try to keep it simple and minimalistic as possible.
 
The schedule is pretty crazy, to be honest. From experience and tips from more successful broadcasters, sticking with a game or two is the way to go at the start.

Make sure to interact with the chat. Let them know they're being heard and show interest in them.

Stick to your schedule and be consistent.

Have fun and be yourself. The chat feeds off the energy and vice versa.

I'm still new to broadcasting, myself but have been making some good progress. Don't get discouraged easily if things don't go as planned, and don't give up.
 
Here's a question that might lead to you thinking about this yourself as well.


What incentive do I have to watch you guys instead of any one of the other (literally) thousands of channels? What do you bring to the table what others don't?
 
I was also thinking of starting a twitch channel, and wondering if it was better concentrating on just one area / specialisation?

Edit: Also, do you absolutely need a webcam insert of yourself, or can you get away with just voiceover?
 
Haunted said:
Here's a question that might lead to you thinking about this yourself as well.


What incentive do I have to watch you guys instead of any one of the other (literally) thousands of channels? What do you bring to the table what others don't?
Click to expand...

We're hoping that us having a good time with competitive games will get people excited to tune in and see how we do.

My personal favorite channels are always the more competitive fighting games one. I feel they lend themselves perfectly to spectating.
 
1. It's not a business until you get a big following.
2. it doesn't make you special
3. Stream first, ask questions later. You might learn before you ask.
4. Build the empire 1 follower at a time
 
I never see the thing you're planning on doing. I guess you can take that as nobody wants to do it, or it just isn't popular. The most poplular ones, excluding Mobas, seem to be people who are really good at the game, speedrunners, people who buy a game on release or those who have built up a big following over the years.

I guess don't be disappointed if you are barely getting more than 5-10 viewers a session after a month? As has been said, millions have the potential to stream games now.

As a specific example look at AdamAK:

1) Games that people have nostalgia for (PS2 GTAs). It also has a lot of RNG, providing every run to be insane.
2) Very English accent, a pretty big deal on a site filled with Americans
3) Interacts with chat constantly
4) Positive and "nice" personality
5) Has a chilled out chat, only really time outs for constant offenders
 
Ultravi0lence said:
I never see the thing you're planning on doing. I guess you can take that as nobody wants to do it, or it just isn't popular. The most poplular ones, excluding Mobas, seem to be people who are really good at the game, speedrunners, people who buy a game on release or those who have built up a big following over the years.

I guess don't be disappointed if you are barely getting more than 5-10 viewers a session after a month? As has been said, millions have the potential to stream games now.

As a specific example look at AdamAK:

1) Games that people have nostalgia for (PS2 GTAs). It also has a lot of RNG, providing every run to be insane.
2) Very English accent, a pretty big deal on a site filled with Americans
3) Interacts with chat constantly
4) Positive and "nice" personality
5) Has a chilled out chat, only really time outs for constant offenders
Click to expand...

I like this a lot. Maybe we can focus on a specific platform? All 3 of us are big Nintendo fans so how about we start out only on Nintendo platforms and see how well the reception is?
 
If you aren't having fun, it's not worth doing.

Doing it alone is pretty tough too as you tend to fall into gameplay induced silences, even when working off the chat. Guests work wonders to making a production that's actually interesting to watch, especially if they have their own quirks that aren't annoying.
 
Ask Sodapoppin.

friskykillface said:
^^ haha sfdhkfdsfsd and damn at that donation , simps gonna simp
Click to expand...

This donation is nothing compared to Soda's $100k donation from some rich arabian guy.

From the streams i saw a good advice would be a webcam and be entertaining, answer questions from the chat etc.
 
I casually stream my game sessions from time to time and there's always a couple people watching, even if I never advertised my channel or anything. I find that cool about twitch.
 
Sn4ke_911 said:
Ask Sodapoppin.

This donation is nothing compared to Soda's $100k donation from some rich arabian guy.

From the streams i saw a good advice would be a webcam and be entertaining, answer questions from the chat etc.
Click to expand...

If I had a PS4 and a fast enough Internet I would like to try it. I'm introverted and I'm not sure people would find me entertaining (I only talk when I have something really important to say, I suck at small talk) but forcing myself to communicate with an audience would help me become a better person.
 
That Wont Fit In There said:
Is there a thread where broadcasters can post links to their stream and support each other? I think that would be cool and helpful.
Click to expand...

There was. Someone was trying to get a NEOGAF community partnership at twitch so we could have the list of regular streamers on gaf be displayed at all times, but I don't think that ever happened.
 
I don't watch a whole lot of streams but my roommate does. Best thing you can do is obviously be entertaining but also be part of the community. Partner with other stramers and give shoutouts and stuff, play online with them, etc. Make sure you answer questions and participate in chat as well.

I would love to do some streaming, seems pretty fun.
 
Your highest priority always needs to be the chat, keep it well moderated (not heavy handed, that won't have a positive effect, just make the guidelines simple and clear) and actively engage with people in the chat - particularly any that are asking sensible questions. There is nothing worse than a stream where you've got a bunch of Skype chatter and chat being totally ignored.

Building a really good relationship with the people watching not only is going to help you grow, but the chat will eventually sustain itself and draw people in when they see a bunch of people having fun, friendly conversation - not every stream that gets big ends up being a cess pit full of FrankerZ spam, only those where people have let it happen.

Aside from that you'd be wise to reign things in and focus only on a small number of games to start with, otherwise you'll have trouble retaining viewers. You'll find that outside of the big personalities everyone suffers a massive hit in their viewer counts when they play something different.
 
That Wont Fit In There said:
Don't listen to this. You're 1 out of a thousand people who don't like music, but it also depends on the game being played.
Click to expand...

Here's two great reasons why not to play music on your stream:

1) If I don't share their taste it's an instant turn off for me and others regardless of how much I like the game/streamer. Why put all the effort in to being a watchable and entertaining personality only to alienate people for something you don't need to have in the first place?

2) Potential copyright issues if you want to upload to Youtube or elsewhere.
 
Can I ask Why? Why would you do such a thing?

Is there an economic reason behind it?

To have fun? What is fun about streaming games?

I would like to know more about the motivation behind people making this kind of decision, it's just odd to me.
 
R1CHO said:
Can I ask Why? Why would you do such a thing?

Is there an economic reason behind it?

To have fun? What is fun about streaming games?

I would like to know more about the motivation behind people making this kind of decision, it's just odd to me.
Click to expand...

It's actually pretty fun. Granted, the stuff I do is little more than a "let's vent about today's gaming news in general", but it's still fun to do that, especially if you were playing a game anyway. However, in the format that I do, it allows for a lot of lulls and silences when the gameplay becomes the focus, and if it's a game you're not particularly good at, it can lead to a lot of boring moments.

I streamed the first time I played Dark Souls on PC and had about 100 people watching, giving me tips, letting me know where I should go and what I should do, sometimes I'd listen, sometimes I wouldn't. It led to a really interesting, funny, Benny Hill Yackity Sacks moment with a whole bunch of the big knights from the beginning of the game.

If you can keep up that type of energy on a regular schedule, yeah man, streaming can be super fun. But I also work a lot, so a lot of the time when I get home, I don't want to devote a day of games to something I don't really want to play, if I want to play anything at all. So I just do it for fun and to brush up on my production skills.

Personally, I think the Something Awful Game Races are some of the most entertaining things that you can do with video games in a streaming/non-live environment. I'd love to do something like that with people.
 
Top advice: don't get discouraged by low viewers.

If you have no viewers, act like you have 10,000. MANvsGAME is a juggernaut on Twitch and when he started, he spent months having less viewers than fingers. His best advice was fake it until you make it.

Also, don't call out people when they come into your chat and say hello. I know you mean well, but some people just want to lurk and not be recognized.

Play what you want. Playing new games on launch day is a great way to attract new viewers, but ONLY if it's a game you were geniunely interested in.

Have a personality. Unless there's a game you're fucking incredible at, your personality is what is going to hook people in.

Don't spend too much time obsessing over quality or special effects. Just play games and let things fall into place.
 
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