Poll: The State Of Let's Play

[rob_simple]

*snip* and my favourite LP channel is Chip and Ironicus' because, in stuff like MGS, Chip is both really good at and really knowledgeable about the game.

They are also responsible for my favourite LP of all time:

Spoiler

"Good son, good! Kill more...More Geese!"

What's really odd about ChipRonicus is watching, for example, the LEGO Star Wars LP; where Ironicus is the one who knows the game inside and out, and Chip is the one who knows next to nothing about the source material.

Yeah that's kind of what I like about them: whenever one's doing the serious stuff the other one just takes the piss but you know they're both capable LP'ers.

It sounds stupid, I guess, but I find LP's more enjoyable to watch when you know the guys doing them are skilled as well as funny.

 

[Awesomesauce123]

I tend to find them boring, but their existence doesn't hurt me.

I dislike Retsupurae though. It's not even remotely funny or entertaining. It's just "Wow, this guy sucks. Wow, really? Died on level one? This guy sucks." Just seems kind of mean spirited. But hey, the internet is an unnecessary meanness-based economy... Also, full disclosure, I've only seen one full episode and clips here and there.

I could understand where you're coming from, but I don't really think think Retsupurae is mean spirited. I think it's kinda just light teasing.

They're actually really nice, they apologized numerous times because one of the people they RPed was still getting death threats years later, and they take down videos if the creator asks them kindly. They're actually cool people.

 

[nvzboy]

Let's playing is currently in a position where every random person with recording software and a microphone is willing to put their footage on youtube. I had a friend wanting to start out posting LPs; he was like "yeah you have to check out my vids i'm getting better" and stuff. His vids were about the most lp-ed to death game ever: skyrim. He asked what i thought about it... I had a hard time explaining to him why he had to try something different without putting him off to the idea, I didn't want to be responsible for breaking a dream.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

I really don't mind. For every annoying Tobuscus or PewDiePie, there's a Tetraninja or a Lotus Prince. You've got muggers and smirkers and users of various levels of humour, and then there's people who make the effort to bring something to the table.

It all comes down to personal preference. Do you want to watch Let's Plays for the lulz, or because you're itching to figure out how a particular someone who's got a specific approach to gaming happens to react to your favourite title? In either case, it's a fertile trend. Why do you think TJ Kirk started to cover games? It brings in views, and he can use his LP channel as a means to promote The Amazing Atheist. From a business point of view, it makes perfect sense.

 

[britishpanda]

I'm definitely coming from a heavily biased hipster mindset here but I prefer when LPs were regular people sharing games rather than this super-commercialized mainstream (sorry for using that word but it's appropriate) entertainment phase. I still stand by my opinion that NCS is one of the best, for the sole reason that he acts like a human being rather than a screaming manchild or a TV personality.

i agree, i used to watch his LPs a lot and i think the fact that he was hesitant to show his face made it feel more genuine - it wasnt all about him, it was about the game and he also did have some interesting things to say.

i dont think the standards of LPs are going down - you can still find good ones out there. the problem is a few immensely popular LPers - their LPs tend to not be for gamers so much as for anyone really, so they try harder to be funny and the games are generally less of a focus.

as a side note, i initially hated pewdiepie because i thought he was constantly putting on a stupid voice. when i found out he was swedish, i felt like a dick. heh

 

[Cabisco]

I aint seen many that were particulary good. One or two minecraft ones, captain sparkles seems quite funny. But generally I don't see the appeal but perhaps im just looking for them in the wrong places.

Any recommendations?

 

[DarkSeraphim02]

I do the whole LP thing myself, though I don't consider myself all that good nor do I have any hopes of becoming famous for it. I imagine once you become as well known popular as the likes of pewdiepie, theradbrad, cry and so on, some of the fun of it vanishes. I mean hell, theradbrad has flat out said making videos is pretty much his job now.

The first let's player I came across was deceasedcrab and his LP of civilization 1, before finding him I'd never even heard of Let's plays. After watching a few of his series, namely civ 1 and the trilby games, I said what the hell and started doing it myself. I don't care if my videos are popular or not, so long as the people who do see them enjoy them in some form that's good enough for me.

As for the state of let's plays in general, I can't say too much since I only tend to watch theradbrad, cry, deceasedcrab, 666theheartless666 and occasionally sidewaysthinker.

 

[ChupathingyX]

I aint seen many that were particulary good. One or two minecraft ones, captain sparkles seems quite funny. But generally I don't see the appeal but perhaps im just looking for them in the wrong places.

Any recommendations?

The LP archive [http://lparchive.org/] is where I get most of mine from.

Everything on there has been approved for addition.