Poll: What makes a good Let's Play
- Thread starter zeekyle
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Playing a game nobody's that familiar with, being an excellent speaker, being an excellent gamer, and being an okay formatter.
A really good example is the slightly famous Proton Jon, who has all the traits I watch LPs for: the game he plays are the types of games you look up once to see how they play, then you enjoy his commentary, then you begin to appreciate his skill with the game.
How many times have you looked up an LP of a game you're incredibly familiar with? I bet never, unless you were following an LPer you already knew.
A really good example is the slightly famous Proton Jon, who has all the traits I watch LPs for: the game he plays are the types of games you look up once to see how they play, then you enjoy his commentary, then you begin to appreciate his skill with the game.
How many times have you looked up an LP of a game you're incredibly familiar with? I bet never, unless you were following an LPer you already knew.
Good delivery and organization.
Organization and editing is what separates a good Lets Play from "Dude talking about stuff while playing".
Delivery is about how the person presents what they know.
Good speakers are witty and speak clearly. Bad speakers...well, I've seen too many bad examples to list them all but the most common one is the "Bro-douche who mumbles, and occasionally yells into his mic."
Organization and editing is what separates a good Lets Play from "Dude talking about stuff while playing".
Delivery is about how the person presents what they know.
Good speakers are witty and speak clearly. Bad speakers...well, I've seen too many bad examples to list them all but the most common one is the "Bro-douche who mumbles, and occasionally yells into his mic."
Is there anything that isn't improved with cake?
Seriously though, I've never seen the point of Let's Play videos - watching a short nicely labeled walkthrough video when you're stuck is one thing, but watching someone play at length has zero appearl for me. That said, if I were in the mood to watch one of those things, I think the biggest draw would be someone who knows how to talk - bonus points for having a classic radio voice.
Seriously though, I've never seen the point of Let's Play videos - watching a short nicely labeled walkthrough video when you're stuck is one thing, but watching someone play at length has zero appearl for me. That said, if I were in the mood to watch one of those things, I think the biggest draw would be someone who knows how to talk - bonus points for having a classic radio voice.
Don't start with lets play. With like two best friends then game grumps they both did content on there own, either like reviews or lets look ats or comedy things first and then they started doing lets play here and there by request on the two best friends side, game grumps you had two big names that throwing them together it didn't matter you were just watching them play their video games.
Aside from that either playing something rare or really new before many people. Also 10,000 bonus points if you can let's play / translate creepy Japanese games.
Aside from that either playing something rare or really new before many people. Also 10,000 bonus points if you can let's play / translate creepy Japanese games.
I subscribe to lets player's with good calm voices you can fall asleep to (radio-like), that can go back to their stream of thought after being interrupted by an event in the game (coherent and structured), who plays games that I enjoy and introduces me to interesting new games (relevance and continued interest).
I've always been one of those people that prefer watching people do something rather than do it myself so I find lets plays extremely nice to watch.
p.s sucking the first few times you 'lets play' a game is okay but after maybe 3 or 4 tries you have to have gotten the simple game mechanics and not say things about the game that are completely inaccurate. Aka. you don't have to be a god of the game/mastered everything but not sucking would be nice
I've always been one of those people that prefer watching people do something rather than do it myself so I find lets plays extremely nice to watch.
p.s sucking the first few times you 'lets play' a game is okay but after maybe 3 or 4 tries you have to have gotten the simple game mechanics and not say things about the game that are completely inaccurate. Aka. you don't have to be a god of the game/mastered everything but not sucking would be nice
This, so much. Go and film 3-4 hours of content if you want to make a 1 hour video. Being liberal with cutting out not-great parts means that you'll have a better video in the end.Atmos Duality said:
OP, if you're looking to make some Let's Plays and you're looking for hints, check out the Roosterteeth Let's Plays and the recent Full Plays. In the Let's Plays, there are ~6 people trying to accomplish a given task (build a tower of pimps in Minecraft, win a match in GTA). The focus of the video switches from one person to another so you're not watching pointless filler, and cuts entire sections if nothing worth noting is happening.
The Full Plays, on the other hand, are different; more like what most people think about when they hear "Let's Play", in that it's one person going through a game with minimal editing. They're good, but not great; you never realise how much of a game is filler until you watch someone trying to be entertaining while backtracking for the 5th time. Don't be afraid to cut the boring sections and/or re-dub audio to make a coherent story that skips over the non-essential part and delivers the best experience.
I only like a couple of them. Hypnotoad is fun to watch. And a couple of guys on Twitch TV who play fighting games. I love fighting games, but since I've gotten older it's just too taxing on my tired old hands to really play them with any level of proficiency. So I watch their matches to live vicariously through them.
I've found they must be not overly exciteable and actually decent players. It's why I can't follow Total Buiscuit, he just doesn't seem very good at games and frequently makes decisions I would not - and they're often stupid decisions.
I watch Jerma and Star because their gameplay style is very similar to my own and I find them going off and doing things that I would do in that scenario. Jerma's commentary and comical voices are pretty hilarious at times too.
I watch Jerma and Star because their gameplay style is very similar to my own and I find them going off and doing things that I would do in that scenario. Jerma's commentary and comical voices are pretty hilarious at times too.
The only let's plays I like are ones where the player knows the game inside out and shows you the things you'd never find when playing it on your own. I like to use them as a walkthrough or as a tutorial to be better at the game. If I wanted to watch a person suck at a game I'd play it myself.
I generally only watch Minecraft LPs. I started watching them back in the day because I didn't have a computer that could run it. Now I watch because the commentators are either funny, interesting or build crazy creative redstone contraptions or amazing looking builds that I could never hope to create myself. I follow a few of the Mindcrackers, their server has a lot of hilarious pranks and interactions between the ~25 server members (most of whom make videos).
The commentary. I want something more than a dry narration of the footage. I prefer it when the player records their narration/comments separately so that the finished product is basically a riff-track/commentary. That way the player does not have to divide their attention between the game and keeping the dialogue fresh.
I don't really have a set criteria for Let's Plays.
I guess what I want from the person is to be entertaining. If I go through your entire footage without feeling that I wasted my time, it's good. If I laughed or if I want to try whatever you did, then it's even better.
I guess what I want from the person is to be entertaining. If I go through your entire footage without feeling that I wasted my time, it's good. If I laughed or if I want to try whatever you did, then it's even better.
I find Let's Plays extremely dull, but if I were to watch one I'd prefer a series where the player didn't talk constantly. From the few I've seen when checking gameplay videos they've often made worthless comments, making noises and simply read every fucking piece of dialogue text. If it's silent, apart from the game sounds, for just a few seconds they seem to panic.
Also can't stand when they speak with the back of their throat to get a deeper voice than they actually have. That shit annoys the fuck out of me. There's some popular Lets Play guy who does that(as well as that fucker Tay Zonday, but he doesn't do LPs afaik). Can't remember his name though.
To me a good LP would be; only one commenter with a calm and clear voice as well as good footage and microphone quality. Another important thing is not showing us your face. Some LPs have a constant box in the corner with their face. Why?!
Anyways, I don't understand the charm at all. Those who watch are obviously gamers... so don't they prefer playing the game rather than watching hundreds of hours of other people playing?
Also can't stand when they speak with the back of their throat to get a deeper voice than they actually have. That shit annoys the fuck out of me. There's some popular Lets Play guy who does that(as well as that fucker Tay Zonday, but he doesn't do LPs afaik). Can't remember his name though.
To me a good LP would be; only one commenter with a calm and clear voice as well as good footage and microphone quality. Another important thing is not showing us your face. Some LPs have a constant box in the corner with their face. Why?!
Anyways, I don't understand the charm at all. Those who watch are obviously gamers... so don't they prefer playing the game rather than watching hundreds of hours of other people playing?
i wrote a little list. .... i like lists
a good voice or a bad voice connected to a good character as a way to make it entertaining
GOOD F***ING AUDIO EQUIPMENT! You can have the planet's worst visuals or story or theme and people will still watch. but if you sound like a chainsaw giving birth then people will thumb you down automatically
funny jokes and interesting stories. and for the pro: a little piece of trivia on the game's story and it's making
good acting, get really in to it. laugh, cry, scream, freak out, be sad, be happy. immersion is the key word here
don't just spout stupid sentences like pewdiepie to fill the void. plan a script if necessary (highly suggested).
go somewhere with your ranting. give it a conclusion.
use screen capturing software. don't video tape the tv. it look horrible.
speak clearly (and English. if you have English as a second language. try to shake most of the accent first, it could be limiting your audience)
have a schedule. say, give out a video every other Friday or something. that way, your fans will know when to return.
don't copy. your not gonna do it as well as the person your imitating so don't bother. be original.
play through once first so you know what to do and won't spend time searching for a solution for the next six episodes
be really lucky. there are billions of let's plays on YouTube and 99,7% are boring, uninteresting and idiotic.
GOOD F***ING AUDIO EQUIPMENT! You can have the planet's worst visuals or story or theme and people will still watch. but if you sound like a chainsaw giving birth then people will thumb you down automatically
funny jokes and interesting stories. and for the pro: a little piece of trivia on the game's story and it's making
good acting, get really in to it. laugh, cry, scream, freak out, be sad, be happy. immersion is the key word here
don't just spout stupid sentences like pewdiepie to fill the void. plan a script if necessary (highly suggested).
go somewhere with your ranting. give it a conclusion.
use screen capturing software. don't video tape the tv. it look horrible.
speak clearly (and English. if you have English as a second language. try to shake most of the accent first, it could be limiting your audience)
have a schedule. say, give out a video every other Friday or something. that way, your fans will know when to return.
don't copy. your not gonna do it as well as the person your imitating so don't bother. be original.
play through once first so you know what to do and won't spend time searching for a solution for the next six episodes
be really lucky. there are billions of let's plays on YouTube and 99,7% are boring, uninteresting and idiotic.
Being able to keep interesting commentary (no, screaming and talking about random bullshit doesn't count)
Speaking clearly
Not playing the same game everyone else is playing.
Being able to edit out the stupid shit.
For the love of God don't use a camcorder.
Well-structured
Knowledgeable enough to not get stuck (or at least being aforementioned good at editing)
Also no face-cams. Seriously, that's a deal breaker for me.
Speaking clearly
Not playing the same game everyone else is playing.
Being able to edit out the stupid shit.
For the love of God don't use a camcorder.
Well-structured
Knowledgeable enough to not get stuck (or at least being aforementioned good at editing)
Also no face-cams. Seriously, that's a deal breaker for me.