Should Watching Tournament Streams cost $$$ on Twitch?

[Crimson Panther]

I agree with this. I think it would actually help the community.

Sent from my SCH-R830 using Tapatalk 2

 

[GGA Jeremiah]

No matter how small the charge is it will deter some viewers. Like the guy that has to leave in 15 minutes but just wants to hop in and check it out for a couple of minutes before he has to leave. If there is a charge he will just be like forget it.

 

[Phase 3]

I'm going to be brutally honest here -- Goldfish is NOT a commentator. JamesMK is NOT a commentator. Phase 3 is BARELY a commentator. I go to streams and watch tournaments to be entertained. Part of that entertainment is the social aspect of the stream chat, which is what I enjoy the most. The matches on stream are cool too, but frankly if there isn't a high-quality commentator such as Tom Brady on the mic then I honestly don't care about the stream!

Here's the problem: as a commentator broadcasting to a live audience that has a voice (via stream chat), you'll undoubtedly find yourself unable to please everyone. There are so many different styles of commentary (with several being diametrically opposed) that you simply can't be everything to everyone. This is why we cycle commentary. Some people want screaming hype, some people want matchup discussion, some want commentators who focus more on interactivity with the chat and some just want to hear from well known community members regardless of the depth of their knowledge.

I tried to do as much as I could throughout the course of the day. I joked around with people, asked their opinion and offered my analysis of certain matchups/strategic decisions while supplementing this with some play by play. I know there were some mic issues and this was my first time doing commentary, which is unquestionably a skill that requires practice, so believe me when I say I'm aware that I wasn't perfect. I'm sorry if it contributed to your dissatisfaction with the event, but it's also worth noting that there weren't many people jumping to get on the commentary station throughout the day.

I can personally tell you that, during the course of the stream, commentators frequently tried to pass off the mic but found themselves unable to. Also, it's hard to be too picky when handing off the mic because all the commentators you might hate are probably requested by a bunch of stream viewers. I've seen stream members love and hate just about every commentator I've watched, from KN to Spooky to 8WR, etc. It's a tricky field to navigate.

With that said, I don't have a particularly developed stance on most suggested implementations of a pay-per-view model; however, I do feel we should work together to find better ways to compensate those who pour countless hours into bringing hours of entertainment to these communities. I think this is a discussion worth having and I'm glad to see it brought up.

 

[FrothyOmen]

Phase 3 Just want you to know I'm not shitting on you by any means. You did a good job and with practice you'll get a lot better. You were definitely the most enjoyable of everyone to me and I applaud you for that. I know what it's like commentating, I've done it at 2 majors and a handful of locals now. It's not easy, but you did really well. Can't wait to hear you do more in the future, you'll only get better

 

[Zoidberg747]

spooky is big enough to be partnered by twitch...I don't know if 9.95 is, but GGA sure isn't. We get 0.00 for every stream we put on, unfortunately.

I see. I still think if anything the pay to chat option is optimal. The problem with charging anything for a stream is like Frothy said, you dont know what you'll get. I have a really shitty computer and I couldnt even watch the FF stream because they only had one quality available. If I had payed for that, I would've been pissed because I paid for a stream I cannot watch.

I understand all the hard work that gets put into streaming, which is why I usually dont complain about streams as I see them as a privilege. If I had to pay for them(1$ or not) I would be upset if I couldnt watch it. If you want to monetize anything do this:

Any quality above lowest quality is paid for
Chat privileges are paid for
Commercial free streams are paid for(Might not work if you arent a partner, I dont know)

Does anyone even know if twitch will allow streams to do this?

 

[Crimson Panther]

No matter how small the charge is it will deter some viewers. Like the guy that has to leave in 15 minutes but just wants to hop in and check it out for a couple of minutes before he has to leave. If there is a charge he will just be like forget it.

True

Sent from my SCH-R830 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Pig Of The Hut]

The only thing i have against this is that it would slow down, if not completely halt, the expansion of our game. I'll watch a random game on stream. I won't pay to watch a random game on stream. Even if it is just a dollar. In my lazy opinion, going through the process of checking out alone is too much hassle to watch something I don't already know I'll enjoy. I do feel we should find a way, as viewers, to compensate the streamers and their hard work. Maybe a 5 minute trial before being prompted to pay? Or something similar, anyway..

Casual streams would still be free like my weekly or nightly ones and blakes

this is all about majors and huge events

 

[Pig Of The Hut]

How much do these gift cards cost? I dont even think I have enough money for Injustice yet, why would I go spend money on that?

I still dont see what is wrong with the pay to chat idea.

i like that idea too

gift cars are anywhere from $5.00-$500.00

its the same thing as any debit card but you have on it what you paid to get it

 

[Pig Of The Hut]

my mom would never give me her credit card to pay to watch someone play video games on the computer. I'd be pissed if that came to fruition.

again.........gift card from a store

I feel like im the only one in america who has seen a gift card at this point

 

[Pig Of The Hut]

Advertisements even state: "THIS ADVERTISEMENT DIRECTLY SUPPORTS TEAM SPOOKY" or something along those lines.

And not to beat a dead horse, but also pay to chat lol.

ADS absolute NOTHING

its $2.00 per 1000 viewers per commercial .http://www.twitch.tv/p/faqpayment

 

[FrothyOmen]

pig you mean Pre-Paid credit cards right? I'm just confused why you keep calling them gift cards as that usually means a card that only works at 1 place lol

 

[Pig Of The Hut]

No matter how small the charge is it will deter some viewers. Like the guy that has to leave in 15 minutes but just wants to hop in and check it out for a couple of minutes before he has to leave. If there is a charge he will just be like forget it.

Ok but thats like saying "guy who goes to a lord of the rings movie can only pop his head in for 10 mins and have to go to work"

 

[Pig Of The Hut]

pig you mean Pre-Paid credit cards right? I'm just confused why you keep calling them gift cards as that usually means a card that only works at 1 place lol

Yes - you put cash money on it and it becomes this

 

[FrothyOmen]

Yes I know what they are, I use them all the time. Just clarifying for others

 

[CrimsonShadow]

Yes I know what they are, I use them all the time

ShadyOmen

 

[Pig Of The Hut]

Yes I know what they are, I use them all the time. Just clarifying for others

Good Because

 

[ChrisJG]

again.........gift card from a store

I feel like im the only one in america who has seen a gift card at this point

I'm not gonna lie I dont even know where to get one of those. Do you like go to a bank or is it just like a corner store kind of thing

 

[Pig Of The Hut]

I'm not gonna lie I dont even know where to get one of those. Do you like go to a bank or is it just like a corner store kind of thing

https://www.google.com/#hl=en&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=list+of+stores+to+buy+gift+cards&oq=list+of+stores+to+buy+gift+cards&gs_l=hp.3...995.5277.0.5382.32.23.0.8.8.0.111.1448.21j2.23.0.les;..0.0...1c.1.4.psy-ab.LcoKI-nSozI&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.42768644,d.eWU&fp=70626f5e00f95016&biw=1250&bih=645

Pick any of the 5000 places

A grocery store, gas station, any location that usually sells something

 

[ChrisJG]

https://www.google.com/#hl=en&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=list of stores to buy gift cards&oq=list of stores to buy gift cards&gs_l=hp.3...995.5277.0.5382.32.23.0.8.8.0.111.1448.21j2.23.0.les;..0.0...1c.1.4.psy-ab.LcoKI-nSozI&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.42768644,d.eWU&fp=70626f5e00f95016&biw=1250&bih=645

Pick any of the 5000 places

A grocery store, gas station, any location that usually sells something

You're a doll pig

 

[Pig Of The Hut]

You're a doll pig

 

[ChrisJG]

(Man arms beyonce)

Dude shes illumiati, you might get killed around here

 

[FunkyP]

There's been quite a lot of discussion here so its gonna be hard to add that someone hasn't already mentioned. As a streamer who does monetize off of streaming I'll just add my personal experiences, knowledge, and opinions.

I'm a firm believer that streaming should be free to all viewers, you be surprised how many people who are just casual non competitive people who enjoy to just spectate our streams. They have no real stake in the community, but their viewership is still valuable. Some day along the line they might want to take their game to the next level and be apart of the competitive community. I've seen this directly as the growth of the FGC and a very important reason why streams for the most part should be free to watch.

That said streaming has gotten very expensive as the competition to provide a higher quality stream has gotten much stiffer. That's the business streaming. I was voluntarily streaming tournaments without payment for a year before I got partnered at twitch. When you're fairly fresh, you're gonna lose a lot of money investing into the stream. You just gotta work hard at providing a high quality production that will eventually lead to monetization. Unfortunately ad revenue is quite insignificant due to all the adblocking users out there. TO's pay me for my services now since I've built up my reputation. Eventually I'll get to the point to get subscription status, thats the next thing I'm working hard towards. But the point is if you want to make back some money from streaming, the quality of the content has to be worth enough value to get paid doing so.

Its also important to note that certain business models are not appropriate for everyone. Ads and subscriptions are only useful for those who stream big events and stream often. Smaller niche streams won't benefit at all from such. The best to do is to run donation funds, if they truly love what you do they'll donate. If they don't want to donate, they weren't gonna pay to watch in the first place. Pay to chat model for subscribers is pretty good as well as it can be turned on and off at will by the broadcaster. If you can't chat because you have to pay, you wouldn't have the ability to if it was free due to all the spam anyways. Monetizing is hard for broadcasters all around though.

Streaming for most all of us though is just a passion and a hobby. Such things are always money pits, I don't even believe I've even broken even yet on equipment and other costs, but I still do it because I love it and the community appreciates it. The cost of all my equipment has come purely from my disposable income. Any money I've ever made off of stream has gone back to trying to make the stream higher quality and upgrades. The current model only helps professional streamers, but if you want to make money you have to give a professional quality service regardless.

Finally the advice I want to give to viewers to help support is to turn off adblock, spread the word about your favorite stream, get as much exposure to your local community/streamer as you can, and donate if you truly love what they do. Eventually companies will see the benefits of sponsoring streamers so we don't have to worry about viewers paying our costs.

 

[Justice]

I think if EVO charged a dollar to watch stream 80-90% of people who do it

I think you'd be unpleasantly surprised. No arguments the numbers would be higher than average for an EVO or a VxG or similar event, but I don't think the percentages would be that high.

Phase 3: you did good dood, especially considering it's your first time. For some pointers, you should check out 2 people's work I think are the best commentators of all time: Joey Styles and Jim Ross. Joey Styles back in the ECW days could do it all; the serious tech talk, the screaming hype, the corny humor, you name it. Jim Ross is simply a legend at commentary. Check them out for some ideas and start to formulate your own style.

@Compbros: There's always new things we can do. For example, Russell runs a program called Ultimate Gamer in Toronto for a variety of games to encourage new players to try new games. Never give up on getting new players and fans

One thing I've seen a bit of in this thread is talk about "our community". Something like this is to the benefit/detriment of the entire FGC, not just MK.

 

[Shock]

All I will say is this.
I think it'd be wonderful. This shit is expensive.

 

[Pig Of The Hut]

There's been quite a lot of discussion here so its gonna be hard to add that someone hasn't already mentioned. As a streamer who does monetize off of streaming I'll just add my personal experiences, knowledge, and opinions.

I'm a firm believer that streaming should be free to all viewers, you be surprised how many people who are just casual non competitive people who enjoy to just spectate our streams. They have no real stake in the community, but their viewership is still valuable. Some day along the line they might want to take their game to the next level and be apart of the competitive community. I've seen this directly as the growth of the FGC and a very important reason why streams for the most part should be free to watch.

That said streaming has gotten very expensive as the competition to provide a higher quality stream has gotten much stiffer. That's the business streaming. I was voluntarily streaming tournaments without payment for a year before I got partnered at twitch. When you're fairly fresh, you're gonna lose a lot of money investing into the stream. You just gotta work hard at providing a high quality production that will eventually lead to monetization. Unfortunately ad revenue is quite insignificant due to all the adblocking users out there. TO's pay me for my services now since I've built up my reputation. Eventually I'll get to the point to get subscription status, thats the next thing I'm working hard towards. But the point is if you want to make back some money from streaming, the quality of the content has to be worth enough value to get paid doing so.

Its also important to note that certain business models are not appropriate for everyone. Ads and subscriptions are only useful for those who stream big events and stream often. Smaller niche streams won't benefit at all from such. The best to do is to run donation funds, if they truly love what you do they'll donate. If they don't want to donate, they weren't gonna pay to watch in the first place. Pay to chat model for subscribers is pretty good as well as it can be turned on and off at will by the broadcaster. If you can't chat because you have to pay, you wouldn't have the ability to if it was free due to all the spam anyways. Monetizing is hard for broadcasters all around though.

Streaming for most all of us though is just a passion and a hobby. Such things are always money pits, I don't even believe I've even broken even yet on equipment and other costs, but I still do it because I love it and the community appreciates it. The cost of all my equipment has come purely from my disposable income. Any money I've ever made off of stream has gone back to trying to make the stream higher quality and upgrades. The current model only helps professional streamers, but if you want to make money you have to give a professional quality service regardless.

Finally the advice I want to give to viewers to help support is to turn off adblock, spread the word about your favorite stream, get as much exposure to your local community/streamer as you can, and donate if you truly love what they do. Eventually companies will see the benefits of sponsoring streamers so we don't have to worry about viewers paying our costs.

This a great post

Thanks for your insight and take on it

Let me ask this....has revenue off of yotuube from videos you upload to it proven to be worth anything ?