Why you shouldn't follow trends

[@AzureXenon]

7:25 "I can." * picks up can * * puts can down *

[@ghiocadrian7399]

Bars 🔥

[@MrBertie7]

Barrs Cream Soda no less...

[@rawallon]

This guy cans

[@km077]

"Yes, you can!" "but, I-I... don..." "PICK UP THAT CAN!"

[@AlanNoNamePlayer]

7:40 So humble. :)

[@RyanNerdyGamer]

_“Prepare to be whelmed.”_ _-JoshStrifeHayes_

[@ncrranger6327]

Not over, not under, just... whelmed. Perfectly balanced

[@jaspermooren5883]

@@ncrranger6327 As all things should be.

[@Remedy462]

Whelp, I am whelmed.

[@RyanNerdyGamer]

@@Remedy462 Then Josh’s work is done.

[@tiredoftheliesalready]

Y’all… whelmed is synonymous with overwhelmed…

[@almightyk11]

It was summed up to me as "Stream something popular enough to increase your audience, but still close enough to what you expect your usual content to be so you can maintain your audience."

[@nothingtoseehere9648]

@@GloomSkullCandy It does unless you don't wanna be popular and not have an income

[@almightyk11]

@@GloomSkullCandy The correct answer to "How do I solve this problem" is not "Don't worry about the problem"

[@DolusVulpes]

​​​​@@GloomSkullCandyconsidering streamers generally stream as a *career,* and people who watch streamers can only watch one or two streamers at a time, yes, it matters

[@H4rd5tyl3]

It actually is. Thinking about the problem is fine, worrying however is not. @@almightyk11

[@SilverionX]

In my opinion you got it all wrong. You stream whatever you want to stream at the start. After some time, you will find the niche you want to work in. What kind of games, what tone the stream is and so on. Now prepare to sit there for hours on end, talking to yourself. If you're lucky, some people will come and watch you. You might make a few regulars. If your channel keeps growing, you'll have to manage your audience so it doesn't get out of hand. There are always people who spread chaos. This is if you just want to stream with no expectations. If you want to become popular you'll have to work hard as fuck. Expect to put in more than 10 hours a day, every day, creating, editing and spreading your work on social media. If you're not consistent you can forget about it. In addition, people have to actually find you interesting to watch in some way, either by personality or other attributes, such as incredible skill at a game. Then, if you work like this for let's say 5-10 years maybe, just maybe, you'll join the handful of people who are popular. You might even make some money. TLDR: It's the rock star dream of this generation.

[@CallMeTeci]

Honestly... everyone who streams on Twitch everyday and expects to be found by anyone absolutely didnt do basic research about how the platforms actually work. Twitch has no discoverability whatsoever and the only way to make your stream stand out is solely the title, because you cant use thumbnails either. People wont find you - even less if you are small. Thats why there are so many that are botting their viewer-numbers, so they at least appear much more likely somewhere in the five top rows of the register. But besides that the rule still stands: If you want to be discovered on Twitch, make content on other platforms. As sad as this sounds, it is the truth. (And kinda shows how lackluster Twitch as a functioning platform is)

[@asluckdespairs]

I agree twitch should make updates and changes to discovery (It would benefit the customer as much as some streamers) BUT look at any other industry, a carpenter cant sit in his workshop and expect to be "discovered" he has to go out and advertise his business. Are you a princess stranded waiting in a tower to be saved, or are you a creator spreading their art through the world. Its not twitches job to make you famous, they just give a platform.

[@RAD1111able]

Exactly,I went on Twitch yesterday and most of the main page was girls with boobs with nothing distinguishable between them.

[@CallMeTeci]

​@@asluckdespairs Bad comparison, but its of course true that you have to "advertise" yourself in some shape or form. Doesnt change the fact that it is even unhealthy for Twitch to be so top-heavy as they are. Not to mention how unhealthy it is, if advertisers ever find out how many viewers on Twitch are actually not real but just bots. Might cause an "adpocalypse" at some point and im not just talking about embeds here.

[@Plamler]

Yeah i think people don't understand how expensive it is already just for twitch to run the streams. like that thor guy made a video about how expensive it was to run his stream for one long day stream is 4k usd on aws. Twitch is never going to make money and is just navigating its sinking.@@asluckdespairs

[@klaykid117]

There was a weird trend a few years ago where twitch streamers were comparing KZbin streaming and twitch streaming and a lot of them would say "KZbin has no discoverability compared to twitch" which was a bizarre statement. That only makes sense if you're already a huge twitch streamer and you just automatically get views by virtue of almost always being at the top of the page, whereas KZbin your live stream has to be put up by the algorithm

[@RAD1111able]

Don't follow trends because your life will devolve into a rabbit-chasing game that never ends.

[@darkbrother339]

More stress than most are willing to handle. I know I wouldn't in this life time.

[@sentrysapper45]

"You don't succeed by chasing success." -Red Vox, "Settle for Less"

[@sinjin8576]

If you chase trends you'll just become Dark Syde Phil

[@KaiCluster]

@@sinjin8576 As a gamer (and not as a content creator) you can follow trends and decide to be part of them or not based on your personal preferences. Following trends doesn't mean that you'll do them as well. It simply means that you're aware of them being aware that they have some appeal to attract people. After figuring out what the reason is, you can decide if it suits your taste or not. I assume you won't refuse playing The Elder Scrolls VI (or any particular video game that you like) just because it will be trending when it comes out.

[@xxkillbotxx7553]

@@sentrysapper45 That sounds to be about the opposite of true

[@longleaf0]

Josh has a one time ability to make a viral video any time he wants... I mean... it'll be on OF, but the option is always there...

[@lostsanityreturned]

Nah, he could do it at least twice, the sequel would also go viral.

[@Syldarin]

And then the obligatoriy Asmongold reaction video, to the viral video. Followed by josh reacting to that. Followed by Asmons reacting to joshs reaction, and that my friends… is an endless win-win combination of money and entertainment right there.

[@TheJpiscool]

@@Syldarin I always watch Asmongold whenever I wanna hear someone say the most surface level opinion of all time while I nod in agreement (I'm totally teasing btw i don't dislike asmongold at all, he seems cool, just not my style of content lmao)

[@Remedy462]

Joshly Fans ;)

[@edgyguy7084]

​@@Syldarin NO! The reactception already had 3 loop incidences... we DONT have the time for more!

[@Faris_V5]

Friend linked me this and wow I wasn't expected very good advice on streaming for a job. I'm very small numbers currently myself, and I still go by the core reason I really got started on it all. Which was, when I got that first one, two viewers from a friendly discord. The feeling it gave me, was "this is some of the most fun I've ever had in my life." But it wasnt just playing the game or knowing someone was watching. It was playing *to* entertain. To time my gameplay with my commentary, explain fun facts and pause for dramatic cutscenes like let's players I watched growing up. Whether on a game I know by heart, or one I'm sharing my first playthrough of. I still only get so many viewers, but at this point a small but close knit community is bringing joy to my life and letting me re-experience my old favourites in new ways, while introducing me to new games and motivating me to play them in turn. I bring all that up, because at least to me personally. That remains my advice to anyone I know who's interested in streaming "seriously". If you don't enjoy streaming to a single, or many times even no viewers as *though* you had an audience. It's just... not worth it, at least in my eyes. Though, thats assuming you're going at it alone. Collab channels can be their own fun.

[@tiacool7978]

"So chat is always responsible for your deaths... got it" Got to love chat. They know how to keep things from being too dull.

[@stylesrj]

Who is the main character? Chat or the chair?

[@hellbreakfast]

I do art for a living, and stream from time to time. It's genuinely difficult to go back and forth, deal with the streaming software, deal with the stream delay, and on top of it all, deal with having music/keeping up commentary. My most popular option on streaming is a little party trick I call "The $15/15" where watchers get a character bust in 15 minutes for 15 bucks. People love it, because it's interactive, fun, and they get to watch their art being made in real time from beginning to end. It's a blast, but after a few hours of it, I'm drop dead exhausted from the sheer concentration of it all. I'm jussst adhd enough to mind a lot of the elements, but it certainly isn't a thing I could do all the time, or as a main living.

[@maxinefinnfoxen]

What do you mean by just adhd enough? I have sever adhd and gaming has felt flavorless for a while. In your experience how positive or negitively does your adhd affect being a streamer?

[@Snotnarok]

The part about a company wanting a viral video made me laugh- I make and sell art online with my brother in our small business, we've been making various items for years, artisan keycaps, cymbal toppers for drums, guitar knobs. We have no idea what will sell even when doing fan-stuff. We have had some items take off instantly and get good sales- sweet. We've also done done an item we were sure would be popular and not sell for months- years. But then one day we get 4-5 sales out of no where and a few more during the week. An item that sat on our shelf waiting - expected to be good didn't move at all for ages and didn't touch something we did randomly. People who WANT to make a viral thing and expect it to do so because either they think it's a good idea or they go to a popular person? Really have no idea. Things take off because something happens, the algorithm picks it up or some rando shares it on a site and it catches on- who knows. How many AAA games have gone out the door and fell on their face when the company spent tons of cash on it and marketing? How many marketing campaigns have been launched with tons of money-effort and it not only falls on it's face but also damages the company? You can't want something to be popular and just make it happen, it takes work, effort, research and sometimes years to get things right/to click.

[@hermeticinstrumentalist6804]

Just keep doing things that you enjoy doing. I want to continue to improve, with both my art and compositions. Keep working on what you enjoy, and have fun. Sometimes pushing forward can be draining, but it feels very good to push past those moments. Thank you for sharing your experience.

[@Gadottinho]

even more so when the product they're trying to sell is of terrible quality

[@PutYourQuarterUpGaming]

My ex and I were working on a learning course over Covid. It was a lot of hard work, to me whole time figured we sell one or two courses first year or so, help those students get thru it, then scale it off feedback etc we get there. But, social media wasn’t working to get people looking at it. So we tried little paid ads too(my actual profession is advertising), over holidays both got busy, I with my sister in hospital, her with um, well let’s say a person from california who I can only assume was much cooler than me, and had all the answers right. She left me for him. During the “off boarding” both of me from her company(I refused to condone what she’d done), and my life I noticed something…course was selling, ads were working and people who were engaging were psyched cos I’d done good job targeting to our prime demo. Nice egg on her face in the end I guess lol but ya, she was beguiled by this guy, before entirely cut out of my life, had redone her KZbin, Instagram, company website etc all glitz and glam, big swinging Silicon Valley hot shot now. Half her subs on KZbin dropped. Course is a ghosttown now(I kept ads running for bit even after she left so at least learn something from keyword results etc, last we spoke she was all ecstatic had sold more, fishing for me to reconcile, just short of hung up on her), and she’s stuck some mid management position working for dude’s father’s company (assuming she still is tho, with lay offs down there, yeesh) Guess her ideal audience was just looking for someone genuine after all. Wish her the best still, but ya, drive to succeed turned to simple greed painted by apathy is greatest enemy of any honest enterprise.

[@momoaa]

​@@PutYourQuarterUpGamingare you on meth wtf did i just read

[@bravodefeated9193]

i thank god that i work in engineering field and not the fucko entertainment industry

[@GrandGobboBarb]

Stream for you. Stream for your friends. If new people find you? Cool. New friends. That's my experience as a max 13 viewer streamer

[@Wournos]

Definitely. And choose a game you like. Streaming something you don't like will not go well. I personally have no expectations on my own streaming. I do it for fun. Average 10 views would be nice though. :P

[@MALITH666]

Good luck dude! remember, make sure to have fun.

[@TheEmolano]

That's the way. I have a friend who tried to stream as a job and ended up burned. But he made enough friends there so when he always go back there's always someone watching and they have fun together.

[@YuYuYuna_]

Depends on what your goal with streaming is but generally speaking I agree. Especially starting out people can get really hyped up to grow a community and following and when things don't pick up as fast as they'd like they get severely demotivated. I feel like a lot of growing yourself as a content creator is about managing expectations and just making sure you are in it because you love making content, you love entertaining people, you love playing games or w/e content you're making etc. I've seen far too many streamers that are in it just for the money and don't actually have passion for the very real grind that is growing a following and sustaining it and they just act very bitter or snarky to people in their chats from time to time about "not enough subs" or "no one's donating today" and it's like if you want to repulse people from your channel as quickly as possible I couldn't think of a better way to do it.

[@bezceljudzelzceljsh5799]

Thanks you Josh for not spamming youtube recommendations with your own videos. Truly humble guy.

[@tendovibes]

Nailed it. I did the same thing for years. Going 50/50 and honestly adjusted and got better at doing both simultaneously eventually. I think it's best to stream what you want, when you want, the way you want, or most people wont be interested to watch. Forced behavior is not entertaining. If you stream for money, then follow the trends and play the lottery. I have had about 6 regular followers for the past 4 years and couldnt be happier.

[@GameHammerCG]

This is the realest talk, which everyone working on KZbin and Twitch absolutely need to hear. Thank you.

[@Brioshie]

Josh, you may be only close to 30, but you are as wise as a 31 year old. I admire you

[@ammagon4519]

Close to 30? The dude wasn't in his 30s yet?

[@xSavedSoulx]

@@ammagon4519 what the hell

[@cwbypete]

Englandshires greatest poet Scroobius Pip summed it up nicely. "I see so many kids that love being writers more than they love writing." Same here, people want the end game boons. Lifestyle. Recognition, clout, fame, whatever. Without putting in any effort to engage in the process.

[@Anolaana]

To be clear, I'm sure that's true for every profession, not just streaming and writing!

[@kathleendelcourt8136]

It's worse than that, now if you ask kids a lot of them won't even tell you that they want to be writers or actors, they'll say that they want to be famous.

[@ammagon4519]

Is that even a real name

[@zbigniewgrzeskow1996]

I was just talking to my brother that there is a streamer who started streaming Morrowing instead of following the herd. My bro: "oh, Josh? I love his old games series - deathtrap dungeon was my favourite" - and then we talked for like 10-15 min about your content. We are both big fans:)

[@platinumpus]

I hear Mr Al Gorithm is close friends with Josh and they together decide to send you random videos of medieval war machines and quokkas in times of difficulty

[@Devininity]

As someone who wants to stream for fun this clip was nice to hear. I feel like whenever I mention it people start recommending a bunch of games and editing software when I really just want to share some old games with people who might be interested for fun.

[@AGKyran]

This is the way !

[@Wolftatze]

The thing he said about liking to watch football and wanting to become a footballer hit home to me. Interesting as well that he said it while playing Morrowind. Let me explain: I am a big fan of the Elder Scrolls series, but I was disappointed by Skyrim when it came out for several reasons. So, I was having ideas how to improve it, but I had no programming experience. Still, I wanted to do it. One thing lead to another, and about 5 years later, I was writing a Pen-and-Paper codex, gathering my friends, and we were having a blast playing a half-homebrewed story in Morrowind in my system, with me as DM. I have been doing this for 8 years now. I have played through Morrowind, the "Crown of the Ayleids"-quest from Oblivion, the Main story of Oblivion and about half a dozen homebrewed stories set in Skyrim, Elsweyr, Cyrodiil, Morrowind and Blackmarsh. My system has found success, and all in all, eleven other people now play with my system. I have constantly updated it for the past 8 years, and it is nearing Version 5.1 now, which will hopefully be the last version I will have to write. But: I have not played an Elder Scrolls game normally for the past 10 years, at least not for long. I only started it a couple times to visit the locations the group was going next, to gather some inspiration. I have read more on UESP about the game than actually playing it. If one of my players wouldn't have offered to DM by herself, I wouldn't even have a chance to see my own system from the side of a player. And somehow, when he said this, it hit really hard.

[@mistermelancholy7698]

Are you talking about writing role-playing scenarios, or writing actual mods?

[@mistermelancholy7698]

Wow dnd in es nice idea. Should make the adventures into mods.

[@chiwat42]

8:00 is how every streamer and youtuber should start. It makes the most sense for a healthy work life balance. But entertainment is a fickle mistress. just keep making art despite how hollow it might start. People are complicated and they might come back to your art after some time. All that matters is making the art you feel most comfortable to make. just flow with the ocean and meet expectation on the medium. even then, just be you're self in an theatrical style. All in all, have fun!

[@DariaElGrellPozina]

"I want to wake up, play my silly games, make my silly videos, paint my little plastic boys and go back to bed. That's what I want to do". Honestly? Same 😂😭 I have been trying to paint my little guys for years, still only have like 2 squads battle-ready 😭 But I feel like that's why SO MANY people want to be influencers. Because idea of "universal basic income" is too radical, but "getting paid for doing what you love WHILE entertaining the public" is "pull up by the bootstraps" enough 😬

[@MangoMeoww]

So relatable with your final point. I was a parkour coach, I wanted more training sessions for my students but I had 1 hour a week. 1 hour a week is not enough to teach someone something, especially not kids.

[@mistermelancholy7698]

I used to do that for fun. Don't know why I'd ever get an instructor unless I was going to be an actor parkour has been employed there nicely.

[@DuskEalain]

This is something I've been trying to tell my grandmother. I can't make a video just pressing record on a game. There's scripts, recording, edits, visuals, thumbnails, etc.

[@amperiumx]

Games Workshop Ad: Let's paint some plastic boys!

[@electrified0]

It's all a crapshoot at the end of the day. If you start out playing a popular game like Apex, the category is already saturated with dozens of talented players with under 10 viewers at any given time. Achieving even the abysmally low US federal minimum wage streaming requires over 400 subscribers, which already puts you comfortably into the top 1% of streamers. The question of finance versus fun is a relevant question if you're already an established streamer with thousands of subscribers with a fanbase that might not follow you from your main game, but streaming a game you don't enjoy for an icecube's chance in hell of making it is always the incorrect choice.

[@pumpkingamebox]

I was a youtuber when I was 15, after my second playthrough I realized that being a youtuber is about entertainment first, and not the video games. Really destroyed that dream of comfortably playing video games for a living. And I definitely wasn't the load and cheery personality like TommyInnit. There was no chance I'd be willing to put in so much effort to not enjoy what I enjoy to 100%.

[@pumpkingamebox]

@@jurassicparkenjoyer Definitely not wrong. But a little sad I have to spend many hours a day not playing video games to afford playing video games outside of work, lol.

[@AlmarWinfield]

It isnt entirely about personality, it depends on what you do. I make a comfortable living (100k a year) from my website and youtube is a side thing for me, but both of these things involve playing video games. I took a different approach than Josh because I didn't like having to "perform" like he does. I am more introverted and intellectual and I prefer doing guides and how to content. Sometimes I still have to talk and narrate but it's to communicate an idea and not entertain people. Although i can be entertaining too i prefer relying on my educational content to carry me and not personality.

[@pumpkingamebox]

@@AlmarWinfield Well, too late for me now anyway. I've put all my skill pints since then into culinary and literature. Both are rather exhausting, lol. Even without me considering becoming another cinephile video essayist channel, or a cooking show.

[@AlmarWinfield]

@@pumpkingameboxI think you'd find both of the things you mention still require a strong personality. Something like longplays (SHN Survival Horror Network) wouldn't require much of a personality. It's literally just someone playing video games. There are a few youtube channels too like WoW Quests that upload short videos like I am currently doing with no audio narration. There is a lot out there you could do is really my point. If you enjoy cooking I am sure you could find things to do relating to that topic too. It's difficult being your own boss like I a do but also quite rewarding as well. I didn't make very good money doing what I do for almost 10 years, I did it because I enjoyed it and was passionate about it and still am. Money, at least for me, came years down the road.

[@pumpkingamebox]

@@AlmarWinfield Well, I'm glad it worked out for you.

[@Phirestar]

I feel the best approach to streaming or making KZbin videos is to find a subject matter that you are passionate about, and try to create something using that is unique or, more specifically, hasn’t been already done by someone else. A really good example of this, in my opinion, is Settled. For those that don’t know, he’s an Old School RuneScape KZbinr that has risen to prominence in the past couple of years for his long-running challenge series. The two most popular ones have been Swampletics and McTile, each of which spanned multiple years of real world time and took thousands of hours of playtime to complete. Challenge run videos of games are nothing new, obviously, but I think the nature of Settled’s series taking so long to complete and it requiring so much work for him to accomplish the goals he sets for himself in them is what makes his stand out. These are not simple challenges that take a few hours or a couple of days to finish, and they’re also not “memey” either. It feels like a _journey_ that you are taking with him, and one of the things that he’s credited is the storytelling aspect. There are often major, unexpected setbacks that occur during the series, and you’re there to experience the same emotions that he’s feeling in those moments. His videos are massively popular: millions of views on each episode. He’s uploaded compilations - labeled as “[Series Name]: Full Series” - and the 12-hour long Swampletics movie has over 4 million views after a couple years’ time on the website. Four million views is _enormous_ within the context of RuneScape; I’ve never seen another RS video reach that level of attention - not unless it was something very old from 10-15 years ago, perhaps. What’s more: I’ve begun to notice the influence of the McTile series spread to other realms of gaming. People have actually started creating Tileman Mode mods for other games, including Project Zomboid and Stardew Valley. Games that have nothing to do with OSRS whatsoever, but nonetheless have seen an impact because of Settled. And this is also without mentioning the fact that Jagex _themselves_ put a monument into the official game to honor one of the final, most significant moments of Swampletics. A fan made KZbin series is now immortalized in the game with which it was created. That’s the kind of thing that I think people should be striving for when they say they want to be a content creator. Make something that is emotionally captivating to people and convinces them to stick with you for years of time.

[@jesfest]

Yeah, it's obviously a combination of things that made swampletics popular. 1. Quality. Self explanatory 2. Difficulty. People tend to look at "masters" rather than yellow belt for something like karate, yeah? This is hard, they might not be able to do it, but they can watch it. 3. Novelty. That gets you the initial click, doing something people haven't heard of doing before. 4. Doing it in something massive, like RuneScape. A lot of people know RuneScape, so his content will algorithm over to... A lot of people. So the formula is: make a video about something massive. Give it a gimmick that's hard to do, and make sure the video is of highly edited quality.

[@tomc.5704]

Another good example is the no coin challenge in mario games. I've watched SOOO many video game challenge runs just because they are novel and passionate

[@markup6394]

This boils down to: everybody wants to be famous, nobody wants to put in the effort.

[@NotTheWheel]

I think Josh as an Actor knows or has learned in his career what a person needs to do to market themselves.

[@darkbrother339]

Also getting lucky is a pretty big factor

[@SyntheticFuture]

​@@darkbrother339one of the biggest. Once you get past the luck phase it becomes a skill thing. But luck is the way to start these things.

[@NotTheWheel]

@@darkbrother339 Luck is always a factor in entertainment but so are social networking skills, charisma and knowing what you got, that you can bring that makes you different. With every success it becomes more and more difficult to catch that luck so you got to be willing to try that much more than the person next to you, behind you or in front of you because nobody is gonna do it for you, and there will be those who beat you at something that could have been yours. So luck is important but you make it for yourself.

[@uxie6177]

@@darkbrother339 Being attractive and having a great voice also helps. Man is magnificent. Looks aside, unfortunately my voice does me no favors. High quality microphones could help but... Well, they do be expensive.

[@brzt4256]

@@uxie6177 Well, I'm the opposite. A voice made for radio, unfortunately coupled with a face made for radio.

[@mauzytv]

I'm a small starcraft 2 streamer & content creator, I really enjoy doing it, but I also had to realise that I'm not a high level player, so people will not come and watch me for the high level gameplay, but for my personality. I also had to accept the fact that if I'm going to read the chat in the first few moments of the game, during talking and reading chat, or whenever I can do that, I am not focusing on the game, on executing my plan, so in that regard I'm gonna be worse than my actual skill level. This video just confirms all my thoughts around this topic, and I'm extremely grateful that you addressed this. I also relate a lot to one of your tweets about WHAT PEOPLE TOLD YOU TO DO to find success vs WHAT YOU DID and still found success with. Love your personality, Josh, your content is pure gold, it's always fun to listen to your thoughts, despite not playing close to any of the games that you play! Please, keep on doing what you do to inspire those who are in it for the long run!

[@thisnameistaken]

"Why do you think we've been playing Morrorwind for like 20 hours and we're 4 quests in" cracked me up. Your whole matter-of-fact demeanor is refreshing. It's interesting that I found his video today because I have been recording some gaming content for the first time in years and today I was going off about how hard it actually is to effectively divide your attention between the game and providing decent commentary. I interrupt myself so much and if I want to talk about something the moment to moment gameplay keeps robbing my attention. It's a constant balancing act. Or in my case, a constant struggle lol. But it's nice to hear someone else saying this. Being a GOOD streamer is not easy. Not that I consider myself good, but you get the idea.

[@dirk1998]

Something that annoys me about trends is having friends who are obsessed with trends, they see a new game and immediately they want to buy it and want me to buy it with them. I don't because I feel like I have the foresight to know trends don't last long. They'll play it because it's popular, get bored, and drop it. To me it's irresponsible spending and a waste of money.

[@DamnDaimen]

Spam jumping at zero fatigue is the law. We all do it.

[@sesimie]

As someone who absorbs gaming content online since the 90's ....and now making content for myself and my small audience, If it's not fun for me then I'll do something else. I play for my older self and I get myself immersed and master the game in stead of trying to impress folks. Josh you are full of Wisdom +10 Insight!

[@mistermelancholy7698]

100% agree. This comment section is full of small creators, wanna follow for follow? Lol 😊

[@Zijkrial]

"Prepare to he whelmed." I like that.

[@kulrigalestout]

I had never heard of palworld at all until one day a news article came up ranting about "pokemon with guns". Sure enough, the thumbnail was legally distinct Electabuzz with a generic gatling gun. I scrolled past, and was prepared to never give the game another thought. Ya know how normally you have to click on an article for the algorithm to determine you have an interest in a subject before it shows you more of it? Well, the next day literally half my news feed was Palworld this, Palworld that, Palworld in a silly looking hat, Palworld porn, Palworld lawsuits, Palworld and Palworld accessories... Good god, man, I didn't even click the article! Why am I being force fed this garbage? Can't wait until next week when every gaming news outlet decides to stop overreporting on this shitpost of a game that proudly stands by not having a single original idea.

[@Siter]

Garbage? The game is probably better than the shit that you usually play, bud.

[@stylesrj]

Same (Not talking to Siter here). I heard about "Pokemon with guns" and I was like "Ehh... whatever" Although right now I haven't been given a Palworld overload on YT. But after watching this video that might change. :D

[@KingLich451]

@@Siter You can't know that... At the end of the year, not a single person is gonna remember that game. But Morrowind? Well... It will still be the same old Morrowind.

[@oliwardcomics]

thats a good analogy with the whole "if you enjoy watching football and decide to be a football player, you wont be watching much football anymore". I started making comic books because I enjoyed reading them. now I dont have time to read them anymore because im always making them.

[@Pathogenus]

meanwhile fighting gfame streamers who are able to divide their attention between playing and interacting with chat

[@RanRii]

They are insane, but that probably owes to their muscle memory from having labbed inputs and combos for years. It's different from, say, being able to do well at an action game that one has only come into contact with for a week or two.

[@fissionphoenix4995]

I like hovering over the play bar and seeing the most replayed part of the video is the part where "I read that dialogue but I didn't make content out of it."

[@blackjesus476]

This reminds me of jerma, he absolutely sucks at most games he plays but he’s one of the most entertaining people out there

[@Iceican]

I just make shitposts sometimes they do ok but usually don't, doesn't matter to much they are fun to make.

[@LaylaSpellwind]

1:45 Poor rat. Good advice though. I had a friend who streamed for years, but didn't get very many views. But he was just playing games he wanted to play. Was easy for me to moderate for him, was just chilling, video gaming, laughing at him being jump scared. Good times.

[@TomLehockySVK]

Create a niche where people need to go to YOU for that specific thing. If you just follow trends you will become just one of a million boring clones.

[@TheAyanamiRei]

One of the best ways to balance this is to switch between. This is easier if you're playing single player for instance, because you can put it on pause. You can also juggle both pretty easy if you're playing a super chill game, like Palia or Animal Crossing. This is MUCH harder to do with a High Focus game like a Competitive FPS game like Overwatch or Valorent

[@louthinator]

I tried streaming, relatively small category (about 1-2 k viewers and only maybe 5 or 6 channels), did it for months, didn't get a single viewer. Like my twitch analytics was a flatline nobody even popped in. Changed up my tags, changed up my titles, changed game a few times... nothing made a difference, still flatline. I think some people are just not meant for streaming.

[@IfritBoi]

Love how Josh was just casually like "Alr, lemme teach you how to have fun and stay having fun with your job" and straight up trash every streamer and content creator on Twitch and KZbin. Never change, man

[@nesano4735]

I streamed on Twitch for a bit just simply as that "last push" to get me into the game I'd been thinking of getting into, but hadn't yet. It was either Project Zomboid or Kenshi; I can't remember, but both were games I streamed a good bit, and this was back before either game blew up. Because those games were still relatively small, not that many people were streaming it so, whenever somebody would wander into my stream, 1) They were going out of their way to watch somebody play this niche game they probably had the same kind of interest in as me and 2) I wasn't a big streamer so there was a better chance of them engaging in chat. This made for a dynamic where there would be a few regulars that would come in after a while and, because I wasn't a big streamer, chat wasn't clogged and I could actually engage with them. One time a Polish guy came in and I explained to him what a "redneck" was and another time I "had the whole squad laughing" when I went on a tangent about a yes-man from my college that interrupted me to agree with me one time.

[@KasaCheem]

with that title and thumbnail, i could not agree more

[@profiscus]

I’ve been playing piano for 25 years and only recently learned to sing and play piano at the same time. Dividing my focus like that on piano pieces simple enough to play if I was Helen Keller were suddenly incredibly difficult. So I definitely understand the 50/50 split josh is talking. Never thought it would be difficult to do two things at once like that but it was a learning curve

[@TheOrian34]

I saw that subtle smile while saying he can holding a can. Must've been hard to resist not making it more obvious so people would get it.

[@superiorgo2368]

My 7 viewers seem pretty happy that I followed my passions.

[@mistermelancholy7698]

I post whatever I want I don't worry to much about the audience, I wouldn't make something I didn't think was enjoyable. So I'm pretty much just trying to get all the similar people to me to follow I guess 😂 also I have a full time job and a house full of creatures so yeah, there's lots of angles to being a creator, there are a million different types of content that people might want to watch

[@superiorgo2368]

For sure, I'm in college for a 3rd degree and I've got as many kids. I'm not in a place to chase trends. @@mistermelancholy7698

[@joeldoxtator9804]

Remember "Simulator" craze of the mid 2010's? Pepper-ridge farms remembers the "Simulator" craze. Developers have been exploiting streamer to hock trash for years now and they have learned to be more subtle about it. Instead of making something vapid and joke filled, they make something conceptually attractive but leave it completely empty. This is Palworld, conceptually attractive but completely empty. It streams well, but fails at being an in-depth game worthy of the attention it is getting.

[@Scottynsb765]

Ironically the best ad for BARR drinks I’ve seen in a hot minute

[@DudioStudios]

This video SPEAKS to me. I’ve been trying to get my channel to kick off for years, and only recently, when I started making Daggerfall videos (a game I know very well, and love, but has a small audience, even smaller than Morrowind) now I’m finally starting to get viewers and engagement.

[@artisturn]

So glad I saw this in my recommended, I am a few months away of streaming for 2 years, and the advice you give in this video, is golden.

[@RyanNerdyGamer]

3:45 This is the exact point when my weird af inner voice started doing a cover of the whaler song from Futurama titled “We’re Seydas on the Neen” in the voice of Patrick from SpongeBob Squarepants - most of which is mumbled half-words - and now it’s stuck on loop as an annoying earworm at bedtime. 😅

[@SoloGamer42]

These are some very good points, has someone who streams quite often when he can play a video game, it is definitely hard to enjoy a game and stream at the same time. Sometimes I might get 35 viewers or I might just get one viewer who watches for a long time. Other times I might just get a bot, but I almost always dream a game that I'm currently enjoying that I want to play. I don't often play multiplayer games and I normally play only a few modern games that actually intrigue me. So realistically I often have times where I'm streaming for long periods of time and no one watches, either because the game I'm streaming isn't popular or because I'm streaming the game that other people are streaming and doing a better job at. I've been playing a lot of Doom eternal and I love playing that game but I'm not that great at it, I would be intermediate at best. So I've had people join my stream and complain that my gameplay isn't up to par like the other streamers, Who , by the way , have been playing it since launch while this is my first time completing it. And I don't often talk too much during my streams because I play video games as a hobby and don't have as long to sit down and play so I prefer to get invested in the game and just enjoy myself, but the times I do put a microphone in and chat the people who do watch just tend to ask questions about games that I have no interest in so I can't answer them realistically. This is a really good topic that not a lot of people talk about, I don't hear a lot of people just say play what you want when a lot of people are trying to make an income from this type of thing. There's a lot of KZbinrs I watch that do play what they want to play but at the end of the day you have to please the audience so sometimes they often follow Trends as well but put their own spin on it. It's always more fun if you play something you like then if you do something that everyone wants you to do. Bad comparison but I used to play Ark quite a bit with a friend because I liked it, but because they wanted to treat it like a second job in an online persistent world it became hard for me to enjoy it because I was being forced to take it so seriously. It got to the point where I completely stopped playing online and enjoy the game solo and single player. Because I did what everyone else was doing and not something I actually enjoyed doing it calls me to get burnt out of the game and I didn't play it for years afterwards.

[@quax6625]

I have been playing Morrowind for the past few months and it's a beautiful expirience.

[@DirransRL]

Yeah, I started planning a backlog digthrough before I went on hiatus. Now that I've returned, it's a big thing. No interest in following trends, but trying to frame it as an old school variety show to offer my own something different.

[@Maerahn]

I see Morrowind in the thumbnail, I click. It's that simple. 😄 This game was a huge era of my life - I totally got every reference you made, from "spamming athletics" (I totally did that too, and anyone who ever played the game knows why that's a thing you do,) to getting HUGE nostalgia from all the locations (Seyda Neen, Balmora Mages Guild...) And on top of that, there's the bonus of all your sage advice about how to create interesting livestreams. I feel thoroughly spoiled with riches, so thank you. You are literally the first gamer streamer I've subscribed to (I'm a woman in my fifties, in my defence...!)

[@IPLayedVR42Long]

Thank you for saying this. I've been telling folks this in the streaming space for over a year now.

[@MagicAlfi]

Man this stream moment had so much truth it ranks in the best 10 youtube videos of the year for me already and it barely started

[@CuteExponent]

Please keep making your silly videos, your audience loves them and as you said, over time, it'll get you bigger and better

[@VoidG7867]

This is my first time seeing you and man I'm glad I did. I miss just simple videos like this. Just chatting hanging out. Keep it up.

[@Vordt_]

This really explains streamers on like Caseoh getting popular on tiktok, Tiktok is extremely toxic and people want streamers they can make fun of, which is half of his stream and ALL of his tiktoks. He's playing semi-skilled games and getting roasted the entire time because all of his chat want to watch him TO make fun of him and make really creative fat jokes. Josh strife is so insightful into streaming that he literally explains trends I see every single day.

[@rczarnecki]

I love how Josh is casually explaining things and jump in morrowind to buff acrobatics at the same time

[@Cryptic0013]

The only way to stay ahead of the curve is to be the one *setting* the trends.

[@TheGamingDefinition]

But then if tonnes of people don't follow trends, that in itself becomes a trend & we find ourselves in a paradox

[@randomstuff-qu7sh]

In short, being a streamer isn’t just playing video games; it’s creating and performing as a character (that you hope will entertain people) while you play video games. You also have the added insecurity of no guaranteed income from the endeavor. So, perhaps the best advice is do what you enjoy, but don’t quit your day job til you have a big enough following that you’re comfortable losing the guaranteed income stream.

[@konnono3209]

Love the folks in chat pointing out that wanting to become a film critic for a film enjoyer is a better comparison because that's exactly what I was thinking

[@TigernachVT]

Josh is so true about you not needing to be skillful. I use to watch pro level streamers play shooters, but now I watch people like Josh and vtubers who have object permanence issues.

[@jesfest]

No, josh is skilled, just not necessarily at gameplay. Being trained as an actor is definitely doing a lot for him. As for vtubers, dunno who you watch, but I suppose a base skill would be the rig itself. Shit was hard for me to learn even with some experience in related fields.

[@Retired_Geek_Woman]

We need a new channel called "Josh's KZbin creator lessons." I've learned more from Josh than 99% of the "How to" videos I've watched in 1.5 years. Your advice is real and accurate.

[@Malkavian_Grin]

Josh, first thanks for all you do. Wonderful content, great insight, and you seem like a genuine and great dude. Second, thanks for your streaming advice I've been seeing (not sure you see all the comments on this side channel, but I need to say this); I started 7 weeks ago and am beginning to notice some of what you point out. I don't want to be the next Markiplier or Mr. Beast or Spiffing Brit, but Josh Strife Fucking Hayes? Yeah, that'd be pretty banger. You and ProJared inspire me to be as genuine an entertainer as I can be, without letting success overshadow the reason content is being made. Sure I wanna get paid, and sure I like games, but mostly I want a community that nurtures me as much as I nurture them. Again, thank you and much, much love

[@valletas]

I remenber seeing lots of extremely popular fortnite streamers and youtubers that all faded into obscurity when fortnite stopped being so trendy

[@DarkLightGaming117]

"Is there a skilled way to be entertaining while bad at games?" Glances over at AquaFPS.

[@Pyromaniac77777]

Why you should follow trends: you make a lot of fun memories and have a great time Speaking as someone who has avoided trends my entire life, whether you tend to follow them or not give the opposite approach a try

[@Grevier]

for me it's mostly language barrier. I'm Italian, I don't mind speaking in English, I grew up speaking it online, I know it by now, but my people, nation wise, doesn't. Which leaves me struggling from being a nice niche streamer for some niche games to just deliver to the nation. I hate it...

[@Fickets]

Tackle the niche gaming communities. More likely to get genuine fans.

[@yashuastryfe125]

" This means that “whelm” once meant the same thing as “overwhelm” does now, and “over” was simply a repetitive intensifier." incase anyone was wondering.

[@Mersoh]

Funnily enough I started trying to become a gaming youtuber after I fell out of love with gaming for years and it's kind of working. I care much more about the editing and entertainment side which works well with the videos I make. For every 1 hour of gaming footage I record, I edit for 10 without even including research, analytics, and creating thumbnails/ titles

[@Kaotiqua]

In my world, this would be, "We'd like you to teach a class full of kids how to play guitar. You'll have six hours. Oh- and can you do it by singing them original teaching songs you've composed? That'd be _great_ ."

[@avereth]

But I already did a Morrowind playthrough where I live in a free house in Ald'ruhn where I occasionally have to share space with Corprus zombies in the basement. I even required myself to collect every single large Dwemer Cog in the game; they reach the ceiling in two stacks - a two story ceiling. I also skipped the main story, read how to use two artifact weapons from a book, found those weapons in certain Dwemer ruins and handled matters in the Red Mountain by following the instructions in the book for how to break a really big golem as a nearly naked man in a mask became very upset and proving crafted health potions are more powerful than some piece of junk protective gauntlet i can't enchant called Wraithguard. The cherry on top was the temple wanting to contact me about how I needed to fulfill all of the parts of the prophecy still. Well they can bugger right off, they wanted my head after some floozy came to me in my dreams calling me Moon and Star and I'm shipped from a jail cell off to Vvardenfel of all places, with its slavery wizards and ash storms. I have much better things to do, like arranging ash statues and Sixth House bell hammers in my corprus infested basement! At least Dagoth Ur called me Nerevarine as if he liked me. None of Outlander do this! Outlander do that! TLDR I'm playing Palworld right now

[@zaikhun3621]

I may have found the most realistic gaming youtuber ever. Congratulations on the video. ;)

[@huntarius-geraldo-giffarius]

7:05 That's literally people asking me for art commissions lol. Yeah sure I can paint something like the Mona Lisa in 10 minutes ($100/ hour) no problem, I just just choose to take hours on all my other art pieces...

[@kiapet286]

There is one category of streamers who do successfully put more effort into the playing than the entertaining piece of streaming, which are people who have achieved such skill levels that watching their mastery of the game is itself entertainment. Ex. speed-runners, world-first raiders, people who do challenge runs, ect. The issue is that level of mastery is itself rare and difficult to achieve, and so most people who just enjoy video games and want to stream won't be able to manage it

[@mattybob12310]

"Is it possible to make being bad at a game, good?" Enter: Let's Game It Out 😂

[@stylesrj]

I'd say it's most gaming KZbinrs. Because you got DougDoug and how bad he is at 2D platformers, CallMeKevin and his quest to create Jim Pickens and a cult... Real Civil Engineer just wants to make the strongest shape in engineering and review bridges...

[@MortSalazar]

Don't follow trends, follow what you find interesting If what interests you happens to be a trend then so be it as long as you're in it for yourself and not for show or some collective that doesn't give a damn

[@ammagon4519]

Eh, sometimes you have to follow what's mainstream with a hefty bit of luck, it's good for getting some audiences first and then slowly follow your own "passion".

[@MatrakenKEN]

4:35 The more appropriate comparison would be "I like films, I want to be a film reviewer or a reaction channel" if we are comparing it to being a streamer/youtuber for videogames. I would say being an actor would be more similar to being a developer, not a player.

[@iv4nGG]

Missed one big factor streaming a popular game…. If you are friendly with any of those viewed streamers, or you get lucky - you might get a raid, hosted and your entire streamer career just went next level.

[@thesvc2006]

you are such an intelligent person, i love listening to you talk and explain things haha keep doing your thing man

[@matheusmikoaski5281]

I stream every now and again and just play games I'd normally play. No commitment, just the "I'm playing a game, might as well stream it". The experience I have while playing more unpopular games is much more pleasant, people seem more willing to come to the stream and interact in the chat; while streaming a more popular game usually get me one or two extra people on the viewer count that end up leaving within couple minutes. If I cared about growing my suggestion would be starting by streaming a niche game with a loyal and tightknit playerbase to estabilish a community that's going to stick with you, then expand into something more popular to increase the viewership.

[@rasmachris94]

With the way twitch discoverability is having a viewer base as a basis is the strategy. The more consistent viewers you have the more likely when you convert into other games they will stick, which in turn puts you higher on the page which means more potential viewers. Transfer into a popular game and you actually have a dog in the fight cause you're near the top.

[@revvrie4725]

League content creators during a heated teamfight end game "ban that guy in chat who called me inter, also thank you for the sub and thoughts on mcdonalds chat?"

[@manuelneuhauser7717]

i think josh actually ended up as kind of an actor

[@sharkx8176]

"I want to play my silly video games" mood

[@Dudebox64]

by "hey can you help us make a viral video" what people really mean is "we want fame and wealth, but we don't want to have to work for it, so you do all the work for us while we reap the profits"

[@NinjaGizmo]

6:10 cheeky wee cream soda. A drink that's gone flat 10 minutes after you open it!

[@thecabbagecartguy7491]

Barr no less, the king of drinks

[@mistermelancholy7698]

He must've agreed because he set it right down 😂

[@saladg]

This is HUUUUGE Advice Josh. I followed the same plan when I hit affiliate on my twitch (not going to shamelessly plug it) and my Niche was Phantasy Star Online(Ephinea) Community 'To The Future' runs. I'd run new players or people who were just farming through the end game missions and just hang out with chat

[@kuystalheim5427]

“You should not follow trends” -Josh making a trend

[@IchbinX]

Every Streamer needs to ask themselves, this question: "How boring am I?" If the answer is "I am", then follow the trends. If "not really", then do whatever you want.