would you play a game where you are a pizza who just wants to avoid being eaten?
Yeah, I probably would. That doesn't even sound THAT strange. :P
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Bigfoot
Ask @RockLeeSmile
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It's really interesting that you used youtube as an outlet to overcome social anxiety (at least, that's the impression im getting from an old question/answer). it's something i've been considering doing, but when I try to stream it ends up being "silent gameplay".
It's true, I have pretty serious social anxiety - in fact, a bit over a year ago it was so bad I had trouble talking to just about anyone I didn't know out of worry I'd say something stupid or... I don't even know, it's irrational fear. I've come a pretty long way in such a short time and I think making videos has played a huge role in allowing me to make progress. I'm still not perfect by any means - but I can certainly feel a difference in my self-esteem and confidence.
I had to build upon it a little at a time. If you listen to my old videos (Super Meat Boy, Terraria, Eternal Daughter) I had a completely different sounding tone to my voice... after doing hours upon hours upon hours of speaking to myself I suppose I started to get used to some of the things that would send me conversationally down a path toward a wall and have begun to learn how to steer myself out of those issues before I end up saying something dumb, or if I do, I try to point it out and laugh at it as soon as possible which really helps. I still make mistakes all the time and often have to do 10 or more takes for the intro for some of my Indie Impressions videos if I pronounce a word strangely or find myself searching for a word for too long - but I feel like I can depend on a take working out eventually, which is more than I thought of myself a while ago.
To address your "silent gameplay" streams, I'd say try doing local recordings and force yourself to speak over your gameplay - nobody will hear anything if it doesn't turn out ok and you'll start to develop the ability to let yourself talk in infinite or near-infinite stream of consciousness while you play (it's something that takes practice and is often forgotten about).
So, lastly, I just wanted to say that if you have anxiety - I'm totally with you, it's way more difficult to get through than most people seem to believe... but if you really push yourself and do your best to keep out negativity you will make positive progress over time.
I had to build upon it a little at a time. If you listen to my old videos (Super Meat Boy, Terraria, Eternal Daughter) I had a completely different sounding tone to my voice... after doing hours upon hours upon hours of speaking to myself I suppose I started to get used to some of the things that would send me conversationally down a path toward a wall and have begun to learn how to steer myself out of those issues before I end up saying something dumb, or if I do, I try to point it out and laugh at it as soon as possible which really helps. I still make mistakes all the time and often have to do 10 or more takes for the intro for some of my Indie Impressions videos if I pronounce a word strangely or find myself searching for a word for too long - but I feel like I can depend on a take working out eventually, which is more than I thought of myself a while ago.
To address your "silent gameplay" streams, I'd say try doing local recordings and force yourself to speak over your gameplay - nobody will hear anything if it doesn't turn out ok and you'll start to develop the ability to let yourself talk in infinite or near-infinite stream of consciousness while you play (it's something that takes practice and is often forgotten about).
So, lastly, I just wanted to say that if you have anxiety - I'm totally with you, it's way more difficult to get through than most people seem to believe... but if you really push yourself and do your best to keep out negativity you will make positive progress over time.
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HaruTheGreat
Any tips for a starting gaming channel? I'm putting my first few videos up soon and its a bit nerve wracking. Just seems it would be difficult to begin to amass a viewer base.
Be really, really, extraordinarily patient and know/accept that there's a chance you'll be posting videos for nearly no one for possibly months with little to no feedback. I don't mean to sound depressing but it's a supply and demand thing... it's really difficult to get noticed on YouTube and there's very little natural discovery unless you get lucky when you're just starting out.
Build up a catalog of videos, work on your speaking/commentating skills, meet people, make friends and spend a lot of time learning what you can about how the whole YouTube community works and eventually things start to open up a bit - or at least that was roughly my experience.
Try to be humble and respectful all the time, learn from your mistakes, and be conscious of the message you're sending to your audience about who you are and what your contribution to the community is. I also personally like when people keep to generally positive types of marketing (as in: not constantly asking for likes and subscriptions, not spamming other YouTubers comments with plugs, not cold PM'ing for collaborations, not paying for subs or views, not resorting to cheap tactics/manipulation/false tags to get subs - or other actions with a similar shady feeling to them).
Keep at it! Every time you feel like you want to give up, keep going.
Good luck!
Build up a catalog of videos, work on your speaking/commentating skills, meet people, make friends and spend a lot of time learning what you can about how the whole YouTube community works and eventually things start to open up a bit - or at least that was roughly my experience.
Try to be humble and respectful all the time, learn from your mistakes, and be conscious of the message you're sending to your audience about who you are and what your contribution to the community is. I also personally like when people keep to generally positive types of marketing (as in: not constantly asking for likes and subscriptions, not spamming other YouTubers comments with plugs, not cold PM'ing for collaborations, not paying for subs or views, not resorting to cheap tactics/manipulation/false tags to get subs - or other actions with a similar shady feeling to them).
Keep at it! Every time you feel like you want to give up, keep going.
Good luck!
Related users
Do you have a day job if so what is it?
I was trying to make a living doing freelance graphic/web design work (what I went to school for) but I figured out it wasn't what I really felt passionate about. I've always been involved with the games industry in some way and worked at GameStop through college and a bit after for a total of 7 years... I figured out the only way I'd be able to be happy is if I did everything I could to actually get involved in the industry.
Right now I'm trying my best to make YouTube work as a full time job while living off the little bit of savings I have left (and I spend 10-14 hours a day working pretty much every day) - thus far it seems like things are going in the right direction, but I'm still a long way from making a livable wage - so I want you to know how much I appreciate every time someone mentions what I'm doing or my channel or helps me get a little further ahead. I have a lot of people to thank for just getting this far and I consider myself very fortunate to have so much support behind me... it makes me feel a little less crazy for doing something like this - I really feel you have to do what you love to be happy.
Right now I'm trying my best to make YouTube work as a full time job while living off the little bit of savings I have left (and I spend 10-14 hours a day working pretty much every day) - thus far it seems like things are going in the right direction, but I'm still a long way from making a livable wage - so I want you to know how much I appreciate every time someone mentions what I'm doing or my channel or helps me get a little further ahead. I have a lot of people to thank for just getting this far and I consider myself very fortunate to have so much support behind me... it makes me feel a little less crazy for doing something like this - I really feel you have to do what you love to be happy.
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Bigfoot
Zachary Buttitta
Have you played, and are you a fan of the Ace Attorney series?
Yes, I have played a few games in the Ace Attorney series and I've enjoyed all of them. I'd consider myself a fan, but I've forgotten a lot of the details about the story since it's been a few years since I've touched them.
If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
I would pay off and fix up my parents house then save as much as I can for the future.
Would you rather turn into a doll that falls apart, or a grapefruit that gets eaten?
Probably a doll that falls apart. I'm not too big on the idea of being digested.
when is the 69 hour stream happening
It's probably just not.
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Bigfoot
Have you ever been to Europe?
I haven't been out of the US, but I'd love to visit Europe at some point. The sooner the better actually.
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Bigfoot
According to your rap, McDonalds is the choice over other fast food establishments. Do you still prefer it?
It was all an act, I prefer Burger King and Wendy's over McDonalds most of the time.
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Bigfoot
You don't have FEZ?!?!
I have it for 360 and am short on cash so I haven't bought it again yet for steam... I'd like to go through it again on PC though.
Do you like Arrested Development?
Haven't watched it but I'm sure I'd get into it if I did.
Are you planning to do a twitch chat similiar to the one you did for the xBone reveal for the e3 conferences? Tho I have no idea if they are even streamed
Pretty likely that I will do that, yes. Also, yes they are always streamed. There are a number of events - I'll try to tweet if I do anything.
When are we getting married?
When are you asking me out?
do you regret
All the time.
Why do you follow me on twitter?
It's a secret.
Do you play any DotA in your free time without the guys, or do you just like to play with them?
I mostly just like playing it with the guys but I've played a few bot matches now. It can be pretty addictive. I'm very wary of letting it consume me.
Have you checked out this game's kickstarter http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/843950213/moon-rift?ref=category looks pretty damn cool. Also random level generation!
Wow, that looks awesome... like Platformines meets Risk of Rain and Super Crate Box. I'm interested for sure! Hope the PC version isn't long after the iOS release.
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Bigfoot
You seem to be a Persona fan, what are your hopes for P5?
It seems like Persona 4 will be hard to top - well, in my opinion anyway... but I remain cautiously optimistic.
How do you feel about the indie games increasingly using randomized level generation? Do you think it might result in less novel and less interesting game worlds?
I think it's certainly possible that random generation will stifle the uniqueness of a world, but at the same time, the trade-off in replayability is usually worth it to me... as long as there are both styles of game out there (and I doubt either will stop existing at any point), I think we'll all be fine.
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SSZ_Chunks
Josh Clark
What's the best kind of pie?
There are so many choices... my favorite "traditional" pie is probably cherry but I like a wide variety of pies.
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Bigfoot
Answering any questions tonight, Mr. Smiles?
I'll answer questions any time I happen to stop by ask.fm and have a few minutes, but if I do a "session" I'll announce it on Twitter.
With AAA titles not meeting their targets, do you think that we're heading towards another videogame crash? (I'm sure indie devs will continue to do fine)
I was just discussing this topic with Rob a.k.a. AlpacaPatrol and my guess would be that it's fairly likely. Take it with a grain of salt though, we were just going back and fourth about things like how dumb it is that the same company that indirectly gave birth to DOTA (of course now with Activision in tow) went on to completely disable mod support in Diablo 3 so they could monetize item trading.
Do any of your family members watch your videos? (i.e. mom, siblings)
I'm pretty sure my mom does on occasion because she'll sometimes tell me how cool "that one game" seemed. I don't have any siblings though.
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Bigfoot
Where do you find the indie games you review?
A large variety of websites (like TIGsource), developer backlogs, Steam, Desura, Tiggit, Reddit and tons of suggestions and developer requests.
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