Poll: What makes a good Let's Play

[Doom972]

First of all, an LPer (is that a word?) needs to be able to talk clearly. I often run into LPers who just mumble into a cheap microphone. Heavy accents can also be an issue.

The video should be in HD quality and the game needs to have the highest settings that allow for smooth gameplay set. If the LPer doesn't have a rig that can run the game properly, they might as well not do it.

Order and consistency: Having all the LP videos in convenient playlists will make want to see what the LPer has to offer, and a consistent schedule will make me come back for more.

And of course, the LPer should be insightful, funny, or otherwise entertaining.

My favorite LPer by the way, is Kikoskia.

 

[Robert Marrs]

I don't really know if this qualifies as a lets play but I enjoy watching entertaining people play multiplayer with their friends. What it really comes down to is the people in the lets play. Im not watching because I want to see the game if that is the case I will watch a silent walkthrough. For example about a week ago I watched a few people play golf on gta 5 for almost an hour. Obviously just watching people play golf is boring in itself but the people made it entertaining. Most important thing is not to over do it. Don't fake it just be yourself.

 

[Windcaler]

LPs that I enjoy are done by people that are increadibly familiar with the game and/or add something to the experience of watching the game. For example, Jesse Cox is doing a LP of Beyond two souls right now and his constant questioning of the plot has made it much more immersive for me even though I already finished the game. As another example I remember seeing a dark souls playthrough (I wish I could remember who did it) in which the player not only showed every secret and explained why it was there (assuming there was a reason) but every time he got to a lore bit he would explain what that piece of lore meant in the grand scheme of things and then add in his own take to the lore.

Good LPs, to me, are ones that add something to the game that you wouldnt otherwise get just watching it.

 

[ommadawnyawn]

My favorite LPer by the way, is Kikoskia.

I used to think he and Necroscope86 were the same person. They're both pretty good.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Necroscope86

 

[Doom972]

My favorite LPer by the way, is Kikoskia.

I used to think he and Necroscope86 were the same person. They're both pretty good.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Necroscope86

Thanks. I'll check it out. I see that he did a Fallout LP. I have to watch that. I can't get enough of that game.

 

[KiKiweaky]

Commentary is a big one for me and when the uploader isn't trying too hard to be funny. A game I like also helps, I dont watch that many lets play these days, the amount of them on YouTube is becoming a bit ott. Victim of its own success I guess, the good content is massively watered down by the bad.

 

[Brixton6]

So...What I'm gathering from this thread is that I should be very ashamed of the Let's Plays I've made, because they are absolutely terrible. Meh, they're still fun to make, so I'm not even mad.

Entertaining commentary is most important to me. I've watched LP's of games I don't care about or have already played simply because the commentator was fun to listen to.

I voted pie, because, you know, gotta go cakeless.

 

[Zipa]

LPs that I enjoy are done by people that are increadibly familiar with the game and/or add something to the experience of watching the game. For example, Jesse Cox is doing a LP of Beyond two souls right now and his constant questioning of the plot has made it much more immersive for me even though I already finished the game. As another example I remember seeing a dark souls playthrough (I wish I could remember who did it) in which the player not only showed every secret and explained why it was there (assuming there was a reason) but every time he got to a lore bit he would explain what that piece of lore meant in the grand scheme of things and then add in his own take to the lore.

Good LPs, to me, are ones that add something to the game that you wouldnt otherwise get just watching it.

Jesse really gets into games to which is a thing I like about him, he genuinely has enthusiasm for the games he plays and it really shows compared to some people who just do the latest titles for the view count.

 

[Kapol]

The only Let's Play I really watch anymore is Game Grumps. And even then, I don't watch it for the games. I'm not a person who enjoys watching others play games really. It's more for the banter and dialogue between the 'cast' that I enjoy. And during the VS episodes, I'd like to watch them get competitive too. Though since the 'cast rotation' that's really died down I think.

I used to watch GPLPs when they were done. For those who don't know, GPLP is Graham and Paul Let's Play, done by the cast of LoadingReadyRun. These were normally pretty funny. But they also had something that I found really interesting. In two series (Cursed Crusade and Dante's Inferno), they had their friend Brad on. Brad is someone who studies the times like the Crusades, and knew a decent amount about Dante's Inferno. It was honestly interesting to hear information on the time period and what the game did right/wrong in Cursed Crusade. And it was interesting to hear how accurate Dante's Inferno was to the book (the consensus was that the game 'got the details right, but missed the big picture'). Plus, it helped watching them play these bad games and hearing Brad have to sit through the horror.

If I were to boil it down for myself, here are some points I prefer to see:

-Be entertaining. The most important part for me, easily. If I don't find it funny, I'm not going to watch for long.
-Good audio equipment. This comes as a close second. If you don't have audio equipment, then your show won't be good due to it's nature as an audio-focused medium.
-Good capture equipment.
-Be interesting. While not quite as important as being entertaining, this does help a lot.

 

[Nieroshai]

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."

I have a story that illustrates your first point, I think. I don't remember his handle off the top of my head, but there was this let's-player who did one of the first Saints Row, and in one of the mid episodes, he actually scolded commenters for being irritated that all he did was spout his life story during the Let's Play and say nothing about the game. He said straight up that he hates Let's Plays that talk about the game, because he knows the player is why you watch in the first place, which is only half true. I wanted to see Saints Row because I don't have an Xbox, and watched a let's play because I enjoy witty banter. I did not want to listen to some bro reading off his blog.

As for the OP, it's hard for me to say what makes a good Let's Play, but http://spoonyexperiment.com/category/lets-play/
and http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/teamt/paw/kingsquest are great examples in my opinion. Study good Let's Plays, and come up with your own style.

 

[Major_Tom]

What makes a good LP? Slowbeef and Diabetus making fun of it.

 

[Drops a Sweet Katana]

I don't usually watch let's plays, but when I do, they're made by Gopher. Or are in a similar format. I just love the way he does Role Playing LPs.

 

[Dethenger]

Honestly? The same thing that makes talk radio or a podcast good. For any good LP, the video game is actually rather tertiary, other than as a single constant amid an otherwise meandering commentary. I didn't watch NintendoCapriSun play Paper MarioL TTYD because of Paper Mario: TTYD. I've played it. I know the game. That's not the draw. If it were, I'd just watch walkthroughs all day. The primary draw is not the game, it's the commentary. That said, I did watch his Majora's Mask playthrough because it was Majora's Mask, and also because I'd never heard of a Let's Play before.

Admittedly, they're not usually spectacular by any stretch of the imagination. Because of how simple they are, many, many uninteresting people think they can make it big on YouTube with a capture card and a microphone, which means there are only a few decent ones amidst a sea of garbage. Chuggaconroy, for example. I believe the Rooster Teeth guys do them, and while I don't watch them, I trust they're pretty amusing. The only LPer I'd say I actually like is NintendoCapriSun, and even then there are times when I just can't (his Conker's Bad Fur Day LP, for example). PewDiePie is literally cancer.

Using NCS as an example of a good LPer, it's important to know that Tim (his name) actually recorded things on his own long before the internet was even a thing. He constantly spoke into recording equipment, and has tapes of himself dating back to the early '90s, as a sort of audio journal. He is very comfortable speaking naturally into a microphone to nobody in particular, and it shows in his LPs. He's very casual. Some LPers sound too much like they are aware of their audience and their onstage, and begin to attempt to pander. It's usually terrible. NCS acknowledges everyone (Hey everybody, welcome back to Let's Play etc. etc. etc.) at the beginning and end, but otherwise it's just sort of a stream of consciousness.
He also has good equipment, so the video and audio are both high quality. He also takes the time to actually edit shit, rather than just letting it "stand on his own." He knows that if there's a section of the footage where he's grinding or getting from point A to point B, and he hasn't really said anything worth hearing, he'll cut it out. No minutes of silence and/ or dull commentary. He also doesn't exaggerate too much (like CancerPie), and his genuine reactions are usually the most amusing.

So yeah. Good equipment, casual voice, and entertaining commentary.

 

[FPLOON]

I think the deal-breaker for me that makes a good Let's Play... is the hidden passion that the player shows during his/her Let's Play...

Sure, most of the main things on what makes a good Let's Play have already been said to death already (good quality; good personality; no facecam; no bad jokes; no screaming or speaking nonsense; actually show skill during gameplay; get lucky), but even if they show most, if not all, of those requirements... If they do not, at least, show some passion in playing a game in the first place (even if it was by viewer request), then everything else becomes boring and/or trivial... to me, that is...

Sure, I do Let's Plays, however the one thing that hinders me the most is scheduling... Not because I choose not to, for the most part, but things can pop up that can cause whatever I said was going to happen to not happen... (Mainly trying to render a good quality video to be uploaded in less than 24 hours...) I probably should start by investing in a desktop computer for all of the heavy-lifting (recording, editing, and uploading) and the laptop I have now can do... uh... everything else?

Yeah... I got nothing else to say on this subject... and captcha is not here to cheer me up this time... (By the way, I'm more of a fan of cake instead of pie because I personally could not get into pie in the first place...)

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

The first thing that determines whether or not I watch an LP is fairly elementary. If the first words out of your mouth don't make me want to tear my ears off due to the insanity induced by the horror that has assailed them then I might watch you.

90 out of 100 LPs feature the voice of someone you cannot believe it possible for them to have survived to maturity due to how fucking annoying their voice is, the level of stupidity that shows itself in the things they say, and if they have a face cam they usually resemble the South Park boys in the WoW episode after their grinding session.

I don't intend to sound like a *****, but seriously if I'm going to spend some time watching you...could you at least make an effort at looking and sounding like you haven't just rolled out of your cheeto dust encrusted futon in your soiled sweatpants and gargled with day old Mtn Dew before playing X game?

KineticGTR's Dark Souls Blind LP is quite entertaining. His stuff generally is, due to his obvious experience at speaking clearly into a mic. He uses an actual mic with one of those screen thingys in front of it that real VAs use. His cam is well positioned, and the room he is in is sufficiently lit and he is sufficiently animated and actually reacts to things without *generally* overacting.

Northernlion is another example of someone that does well at vocalization. If anything, he speaks too much, as he rarely goes a full second without doing so in ANY of his vids. Considering he does them all day everyday apparently, that is kinda scary.

If you don't have the voice or the wherewithal to do a live LP, then don't. Reading thought bubble annotations, or a vocal track over prerecorded footage in some cases is just as good.

Being female tends to help get views, but please don't end all your sentences like you are asking a question, with a rising inflection?

Because its really annoying?

Because it makes you sound like a complete moron?

 

[Amaror]

Different things. It can be a good voice, fun commentary, good knowledge of the game or good edits, really depends.
But the most important thing is: Don't Act.
Seriously, you're not actors, people will easily see through it and just be annoyed by your stupidity. Don't try and pretend your not good or don't know anything about a game, when you clearly do. Pretty much the reason i don't like stuff like the yogscast.

When i watch Let's Plays however, it's mostly for the game, not the player.
I mainly watch story heavy games i either don't have access too, like heavy rain, beyond or stuff. Or games were i am interested in the story/humor but don't like the gameplay, which is mostly point and click games, like Deponia and stuff.

 

[Miyenne]

I watched Let's Plays of PS3 games I wanted to see the story and gameplay of, but I wouldn't buy a PS3 for.

Personally, I prefer someone who does NOT talk during the game. I went through so many Last of Us ones and settled on a guy who I still wanted to strangle as he talked over the cutscenes.

I also want to see the side content, not just a speed run.

But that's just me.

Captcha: Sound out. Exactly, Captcha. Exactly.