Posts from Suggestions for streamers.

Lately, I've been watching streams quite often, both during the day after work and in the evening at home. I usually watch in between other activities (I think most viewers do), so my perception of events is fragmented. Because of this, I have the following suggestions: 1. If possible, play without save games. The most boring streams are those where you're "finishing a save on 6lm10a." If there's a break for an hour or two, but you don't want to interrupt the stream, indicate this on the stream screen, for example, with a large, bright font: "Opponent will be back by 6:30 PM." 2. Choose templates considering their "watchability." Here's my personal viewer rating: a) Jebus is the most "watchable" template. Games are relatively short, and, more importantly, you can "tune in" at any moment. The strategic structure of the game is simple and clear; you can understand what's happening after watching for just one day. Sometimes, even a quick glance at the minimap and the hero screen is enough. b) Diamond and Mirror Diamond: games are short and intense, but it can be difficult to follow the chaos of teleports. To "tune in" to the situation, you often need to watch attentively for a day or two. However, this is tolerable. c) Mini-Nostalgia and h3dm1: the game structure is simple, but the games are longer. d) XL+U: it's a complete mess. Games are very long, the game structure is complex, and there are frequent pauses. I only watch this if there are no other templates available. For example, even with my interest in HotA, I often prefer to watch Sod-Jebus rather than HotA-XL+U. 3. If possible, set a shorter timer. This results in shorter games and a higher pace of action. Occasional failures due to lack of time don't significantly spoil the picture (as long as they don't happen too often). The most exciting games I've seen were streams of Blitz-Jebus tournaments (WTS and HotA). The general principle here is: while the player is thinking, the viewer is bored. Therefore, there should be no time for contemplation; the player should constantly move their units. Hence, the timer should be set to put pressure on the player and force them to hurry. 4. Show the hero and the army more often. This is a key parameter of the situation, so to "tune in" to the game, you need to know this first. If there's nothing to do during the opponent's turn, open the hero screen or the town screen with the army so that new viewers can immediately see what you're fighting with. It's also helpful to occasionally switch to sub-heroes, view key areas of the territory, view built Guilds, and other useful information for analyzing the situation. 5. If possible, voice your future plans, both for the current day and for the next 2-3 days. During the opponent's turn, analyze the situation and plan the next day out loud. However, it's best to avoid sudden changes in plans, such as "I'm going to go there, no, I'm going to go there, no, stop, this is a bad idea, I should just stay put." This clutters the viewer's mind, and they lose the thread of reasoning. Therefore, the logic of reasoning should be clear and understandable, with smooth logical transitions. And even if plans suddenly change to the opposite, the viewer should understand why this happened. If you yourself suddenly lose the thread of reasoning, take a pause, formulate the thought in your head, and then voice it into the microphone. Also, it's desirable to maintain a balance so that new viewers can understand something, and long-time viewers don't get bored with the same phrases. For example, you can give clear names to different theaters of war. For example, "second front," "reconnaissance in force," "leveling up a sub-hero," "farming resources for the guild," "raid on an angel," or "chaining for boots" – so that the name itself makes it clear what you're doing without additional explanations. 6. If possible, announce games in advance, for example, "tomorrow at 7:00 PM, a FB-10 game with Vasya or Petya." As an alternative, create a personal calendar somewhere – listing the games you plan to play in the near future and the days/times you plan to stream (these two may not be related). 7. Don't play other games (Hearthstone, poker, etc.) during the opponent's turn – it's very annoying, and I usually close such streams immediately. If you feel the urge, put a second laptop next to you and play on it, while the hero screen remains on the main screen. However, two parallel games of Heroes look normal. These are my suggestions. Feel free to add your own. Maybe I'll add something else later. Let's improve the quality of the streams together :smile20:

I read it, and did everything the opposite way.

Well, you're a well-known marketing genius...

I wish I could write two pages of insightful, yet pointless, commentary about Heroes without actually playing the game on stream...

The idea of announcing tournament streams in advance is quite sensible. At the very least, it will increase the number of viewers (people in the chat), as current practice shows that stream announcements are made just before the game starts. This is already visible on the x3tv website, but an early announcement will allow viewers to prepare to watch.

Vik bequeathed to play and stream Jebus. Additionally, his hand-crafted Diamond map with a minimum number of monsters is at the top, and as a bonus, a mirrored Diamond and an x3dm1 map were added. Well done, dude :D
This is the best thing we could have experienced :D

Let's stream some heroes!

And the most common wish – a two-way stream!

Cool post by Vikka. I agree, blitz decides the outcome, IMHO.

Heh, these aren't suggestions for improvement; they're just personal desires presented under a false pretense. There's one simple fact that dismisses half of these desires: the game is being streamed, not streamed for the sake of the game (for the vast majority of streamers currently). This means that the template is chosen based on what is interesting for the specific player and their opponent, and breaks and delays in the game also depend on both of them, and no one can predict them in advance. The idea of reducing the timer is simply terrible, especially combined with the "suggestion" to comment on every action as much as possible – I've said it before and I'll repeat it: speech is much slower than thought, and if you try to verbalize everything that comes to mind in the middle of a game (and often thoughts come and are implemented right during a turn, which eliminates reasoning about the opponent's turn), then by the beginning of the second week, the streamer will definitely be out of time (this has been observed in other streamers). And simply talking for 5-6 hours straight is tiring, and if you also have to think hard at the same time, then by the end of the stream, you'll be completely exhausted. Want the perfect Heroes streaming machine? Become it yourself! And we'll gladly watch. But for now, we'll stream the way each person thinks is best, and of course, we'll do whatever we want during the opponent's turn :) Because this is a time to relax, plus many viewers switch to something else while it's not the streamer's turn. And finally: "suggestions" presented as instructions, and in an imperative tone, automatically put the recipients against their author, and even their sensible ideas can simply be ignored because of this.

There aren't that many streamers who play Heroes, so it would be possible to discuss the shortcomings of each of them individually. :)

Amilu is the best!

Heh, these aren't suggestions for improvement; they're just personal desires presented under a false pretense. There's one simple fact that dismisses half of these desires: the stream is about playing the game, not playing the game for the sake of the stream (for the vast majority of streamers currently). Therefore, the template is chosen based on what is interesting for the specific player and their opponent, and breaks and delays in the game also depend on both of them, and no one can predict them in advance. The idea of reducing the timer was a terrible one, especially combined with the "desire" to comment on every action as much as possible – I've said it before and I'll repeat it: speech is much slower than thought, and if you try to verbalize everything that comes to mind in the middle of a game (and often thoughts come and are implemented right during a turn, which eliminates reasoning during the opponent's turn), then by the beginning of the second week, the streamer will definitely be without a timer (verified and observed in other streamers). And simply talking for 5-6 hours straight is tiring, and if you also have to think hard at the same time, then by the end of the stream, you'll be completely exhausted. Want the perfect Heroes streaming machine? Become it yourself! And we will gladly watch. But for now, we will stream as each person deems necessary, and of course, do whatever we want during the opponent's turn :) Because this is a time to relax, plus many viewers switch to something else while it's not the streamer's turn. And finally: "suggestions" presented as instructions, and in an imperative tone, automatically put the recipients against their author, and even his sensible ideas can simply be ignored because of this.

A big and important plus

It was difficult to react adequately to this post, but Mizrael somehow managed to =)) Overall, everything is as described.

It was difficult to react adequately to this post, but Mizrael somehow managed =)) Overall, everything is as described.

If we're talking about the result of a match – whether it's a tournament, a fun game, or a game with stakes – then everything is as described.
However, if we're talking about attracting an audience with potential donations to your streams, even if it means sacrificing some of the game's quality, then the advice is generally good. Toga can confirm! And Hell, who also manages to win top tournaments, can vouch for that! And Reddi and Amilum also present their streams very appealingly, despite their passion for burning through the timer....

The answers to all the arguments presented in the second half of Vova's post are already in my first message. He is indeed playing for the stream, but does he receive monetary profit that corresponds to such an attitude towards the process? Do you remember how much he was paid to complete Paragon? How many streams did it take? I'm afraid that even considering the donations during those streams, the amount is clearly less than the salary of a low-paying job for the same amount of time... Everyone draws their own conclusions.
Hell, on the other hand, streams his gameplay, which he always says and doesn't dwell on in the chat, especially during tense turns. He is interesting to watch precisely because of his excellent gameplay, and not because of the chit-chat with viewers, with whom he can be quite harsh. Therefore, using him as an example representing "Vik's advice" is, to put it mildly, inappropriate.
Reddit and Amilu are a prime example of what happens when you try to please the stream with comments; it's not "presenting it appealingly, despite," but the timer drain is a direct consequence of detailed commentary. I didn't expect Vova to juggle concepts like that.

Heh, these aren't suggestions for improvement, they're just personal desires presented under a false pretense. There's one simple fact that negates half of these desires: the game is being streamed, not played for the sake of streaming (for the vast majority of streamers at the moment). Therefore, the template is chosen based on what is interesting for the game for a specific player and their opponent, and breaks and delays in the game also depend on both of them, and no one can predict them in advance. The idea of reducing the timer was simply terrible, especially combined with the "desire" to comment on as many actions as possible – I've said it before and I'll repeat it: speech is much slower than thought, and if you try to say everything that comes to mind in the middle of a game (and often thoughts come and are realized right during a turn, which negates reasoning during the opponent's turn), then by the beginning of the second week, the streamer will definitely be without a timer (this has been observed in other streamers). And just talking for 5-6 hours straight is tiring, and if you also have to think hard at the same time, then by the end of the stream you'll be like a squeezed lemon. Do you want the perfect Heroes streaming machine? Become it yourself! And we will gladly watch. But for now, we will stream as each person deems necessary, and, of course, do whatever we want during the opponent's turn :) Because this is a time to relax, plus many viewers switch to something else while the streamer's turn is not in progress. And finally: "suggestions" presented in the form of a set of instructions, and in an imperative tone, automatically put the recipients against their author, and even his sound ideas can simply be ignored because of this.

There's no need to get so offended by the imperative mood. The "I would recommend" style is appropriate for analytics for a client, but in materials on personal growth, this style of presentation is accepted, as in the main post. In essence, yes, I was writing for streamers who play for the audience, turn their stream into a show, and rely on donations or advertising revenue. Sorry for not clarifying this point right away. So, for a show, the primary criterion is precisely the subjective desires of the audience, no matter how strange they may seem to the streamer. I created this topic specifically to discuss these desires, and I don't present my personal desires as universal for the entire audience. And regarding:

And just talking for 5-6 hours straight is tiring, and if you also have to think hard at the same time, then by the end of the stream you'll be like a squeezed lemon. Do you want the perfect Heroes streaming machine? Become it yourself! And we will gladly watch.

Those who have seen my games in Alaska know that what prevents me from non-stop talking for N hours during the game is only the absence of viewers behind my back :smile16:. So, the complaint is not directed at me. Although, in general, this can lead to a decrease in the quality of the game. This should be treated philosophically. Moreover, the popularity of a streamer is not too correlated with his skill; the example of some people shows that it is possible to promote a channel even with average game results.