Watching people play games

[Ashley]

The topic of Let's Play came up in the NX thread (along with pizza, TVs and lord knows what else while we wait) and got an interesting mix of responses.

 

Some seemed to enjoy them while others couldn't imagine why people would want to watch them.

 

When I did some eSports production I was in the "I can't see why some people - yet alone 50,000+ - would watch this" but I think it came down to I wasn't particularly invested in the games and it was evenings/weekends so I was tired.

 

I don't think I've ever felt the desire to watch a Let's Play, but have seen some. However, I will on occasion watch Daft play a game if the story seems interesting (or I can't be bothered to move).

 

I can see why some people may wish to watch Let's Play of narrative-based games because you're essentially watching a narrative as you would with film/tv/theatre. If you're in the same location you can even interact with the agent (or possible with Let's Play, but depends on the setup and popularity of it I suppose).

 

However, that too does have a downside. Numinous Games was quite vocal about how Let's Plays of That Dragon, Cancer potentially affected their earnings. The game itself is quite short (think they peg it at 2 hours) so it is possible for someone to stream it quickly. They issued a statement saying they'd rather LPers not show all of it and also put a donation thing on their site for anyone who did watch and may not want to buy the game but still support them.

 

So there are issues with how it potentially weakens developer's earnings. Of course Nintendo took a hard line with this to try and counteract it but I think a middle ground needs to be found, particularly if a LP could defeat the need for you to play the game as you know the narrative conclusion (you're unlikely to feel the same after watching someone play Mario Kart, but they were obviously going at it from a IP POV rather than a narrative one).

 

Anyway, do you watch LPs or even just people in real life? If so what appeals to you about it? Can you sit through a boring person playing an interesting game? Or do you prefer if they shut up and just play?

[Happenstance]

For me, Let's Plays tend to be less about the games being played and more about the people talking over them. I still watch Minecraft videos because I like the Youtubers playing it. As I said in the NX thread, I watched about 100 hours of Giant Bomb playing Persona 4 and still ended up completing more than one version of that game myself. Did the same with their Deadly Premonition and Chrono Trigger Endurance Runs. If anything Let's Plays have pushed me towards buying games rather than made me think I'd seen it all and didn't need to bother.

 

I can understand the problem developers have. Not everyone is like me and still wants to buy games even if they have watched it played through already. I tend to have the opinion though that once someone has bought their game, they can do whatever they want with it and that includes putting it on Youtube for all to see.

[Goafer]

I'll enjoy watching a few channels. I enjoy it more when people watch mine more. #plug

 

As for loss of earnings etc. I can see why it would be an issue. There have been a few let's plays where I've watched them and haven't bought a game as a result (Life is Strange and Beyond Two Souls spring to mind), whereas I probably would have bought them if I hadn't already known the story. I tend not to watch playthroughs of games that I'd potentially buy nowadays to prevent it from happening again.

[S.C.G]

Some of the most entertaining "Let's Play..." videos I've seen this year have been from Easy Allies, they're just different and interesting.

 

Like this short video I just watched, perfect Sunday morning viewing...

 

 

Skip to 1:25 if you want the main video but I enjoy the bonus bits.

 

They've made plenty of other interesting Let's Play videos which are well worth checking out. : peace:

 

As for in real life... it can be enjoyable to watch someone play a single-player game whilst being something of a back-seat gamer yourself, helping out here and there when required, getting a different perspective from the other player on a game you may have played but is new to them, I don't get to do that as often these days plus on some level it's more fun if you're actually playing along cooperatively but there's definitely something to be said for watching people play games, just so long as you've still got time to play the ones you've been meaning to play yourself. :wink:

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

I enjoy especially seeing old favourite games being played by others and the commentary adds that element of opinion sharing, especially with the types of games you typically play alone, like Zelda. In fact some time around the MM3D release I was watching a LP and realised there were a few funny mask scenes that I completely missed of this time ago (the King Ikana one).

 

Sometimes I might just cosy up and binge on a few games. For me its just nice to retread old games, rather than rebuy them.

[Dcubed]

As for in real life... it can be enjoyable to watch someone play a single-player game whilst being something of a back-seat gamer yourself, helping out here and there when required, getting a different perspective from the other player on a game you may have played but is new to them, I don't get to do that as often these days plus on some level it's more fun if you're actually playing along cooperatively but there's definitely something to be said for watching people play games, just so long as you've still got time to play the ones you've been meaning to play yourself. :wink:

 

Agreed. Backseat gaming can be a lot of fun, especially if it's a game that you've played that they haven't. Watching @Glen\-i playing CBFD for the first time last year was a right hoot

 

As for Lets Plays, I don't really get that same feeling, but sometimes it can be fun for the banter (I used to watch a fair bit of Game Grumps, because I liked their chemistry for instance). For the big names though? (like Pewdiepie etc) They're celebrities in their own right, so it's a bit of a cult-of-personality thing (which is actually really quite terrifying to think about, the whole fiasco with T-martin and CSGO Lotto really shows how ugly it can get). It's not really my thing, but I can see the appeal. I've enjoyed re-watching some of my own past broadcasts though, but that's something more personal; like re-watching an old home video kind of thing and mulling over fun memories.

 

Then with e-Sports, a lot of it just plays out like normal sports watching; you get behind certain teams and just enjoy cheering them on/chatting about them. Not too hard to understand really, though the dogged loyalty to specific games is that comes as part of that is just insanity in my eyes - The amount of people who play/watch JUST one game like League of Legends and don't even consider anything else is just staggering! I mean, yeah, the huge majority of people out there who play games generally do only ever play one or two games that come out each year (the usual COD, FIFA etc), but I just don't get how they can enjoy playing/watching NOTHING else at all! There's a world of variety out there, but it's completely invisible to them!

 

Stuff like speedruns though I absolutely love! Just seeing how games can be torn apart and boundaries broken is just fascinating to me! I'll never be good enough to pull off that kind of stuff, but it's just incredible fun to watch! (and the experience of something like GDQ is just wonderful! There's always some great commentary and the work they do for charity really is incredible! It's always a highlight of the year for me! )

Edited October 15, 2016 by Dcubed

[Happenstance]

the whole fiasco with T-martin and CSGO Lotto really shows how ugly it can get

 

This is why I only tend to watch Youtubers for entertainment, not opinions on games or even news. They were thrown into the deep end of all this stuff really quickly with publishers offering them money to play their games and stuff, with most of them not bothering to let their viewers know this until maybe the last year or so.

 

People may not like a lot of the games media these days with gamergate crap etc but I will always go to them first for actual opinions, Giant Bomb especially as its a personality driven site so you've had years to actually get to know them and understand the "why" behind something they might say.

[Fierce_LiNk]

I don't watch others gaming (Let's Play) and it's not really something I need in my life. I usually find that these videos are too long and too time consuming. Why do I need to watch somebody play through The Walking Dead when I can experience it for myself without the annoying commentary and the constant need "to entertain"?

 

In general, I'm not big on the whole youtube/e-celebrity culture.

 

There's the occasional video here or there that is only a few minutes long and can be hilarious. Thinking back a few years now, LadderGoat was pretty hilarious. Videos such as that, where stupid shit happens.

 

 

That's pretty funny to me and I've watched a few of these videos.

[bob]

I used to spend a fair while watching the Achievement Hunter guys pissing around in Halo, and later, GTA, so I get the desire to watch others play ganes. It's the personalities you watch, rather than the games themselves. Like how people watched Top Gear for the trio rather than interest in cars.

[Jonnas]

I enjoy watching fighting games at a pro level. Smash Bros, Tekken, Marvel vs Capcom, and a bit of King of Fighters. It's usually exciting, and it's a lot like watching a sport (including the usual drama).

 

Like most others, I watch Let's Players for the personalities. The only ones I watch are the Game Grumps, and occasionally the Extra Credits guys (they have a LP channel), anyway. The Grumps are funny, and often introduce me to games I hadn't heard of before. The EC guys usually analyse an aspect of a game as they're playing it (art style, game design, animation, etc). Sometimes I'll even accompany a Nuzlocke run*, if the host is good enough (Projared and Extra Play are entertaning. TeamFourStar are so-so)

 

*A Nuzlocke run is a self-imposed challenge in Pokémon. Essentially, if a Pokémon faints, it must be released. A bit like Fire Emblem on Classic Mode.

 

That said, if they play a game I still plan on playing, I'll just skip that series. I don't wanna get spoiled.