In late 2015 I picked up streaming on Twitch as a new hobby. My reason for doing it was simple: to share a game I was already playing with others who also enjoy it. That game, of course, is Clicker Heroes. For two years we watched the numbers go up, both in the game and on the follow count. Over three thousand Twitch viewers hit my follow button because of this game.
Eventually I needed a break from playing the same game every day, so I tried a regular stream format with mic commentary for many of my favorite games including Cities: Skylines, Hearthstone, and a handful of others. After a few months of zero growth and very little activity with any of these games, I was confused. Why wasn’t anyone taking an interest in any games besides Clicker Heroes?
Thankfully, we were introduced to a game that many viewers ended up taking a liking to: Marbles On Stream. Marbles brought our community back to life in 2018 by providing a fun activity that everyone can enjoy and easily participate in. For month after month we raced marbles, and things were certainly looking up.
Playing one game all the time can get boring, and Marbles was no exception. Unfortunately, just about every time we tried to play something else – whether it be Golf With Your Friends, Jackbox Party Pack, Minecraft or any other non-Marbles game – it felt like we were back to square one. I was confused once again. After doing months of mic streams with Marbles, why were so very few people joining in for non-Marble activities?
This frustrated me to no end. I wasn’t enjoying streaming anymore, as I’m usually a quiet person. Being the only person talking for an hour or more made me very uncomfortable and demoralized. Many streamers can do it without a problem, but I cannot. And to make matters worse, the commentary was’t even helping our community grow. Because of this, I decided the “commentary” route just wasn’t working out for me, and unplugged my mic for a few months.
I tried bringing back Clicker Heroes in an attempt to reconnect with old followers. Unfortunately, just like last time, the interest simply wasn’t there. I then tried streaming a royalty-free music radio with games in the background, and while my enjoyment of streaming returned, it still wasn’t helping our community grow and thrive.
Having taken a few months break from it, I will try using a mic again. I won’t be talking the entire time, though. I will mostly be using it to reply to chat. My main motivation for streaming is still the same: to share the games I’m playing with others. I don’t do much monologue or commentary, but conversation and questions are always welcome. It is my hope that this format will allow for potential community growth while simultaneously helping me avoid streaming burnout.