Your genuine views of Let's Players and Let's Plays.

[Parasondox]

I would like to get a general idea from those from the Escapist and soon to be new members, on their views on Let's Players. I am not talking about your favourite ones but as a whole, what do you think of the profession.

With the recent, and many other battles, that Angry Joe is going through, there has been some mixed reactions towards "those who make money from just playing video games", to, "big company are evil and mean to LPs. Fight the man!".

What do you all think in general about Let's Players?
Do they help the gaming industry?
Do they hurt game devs more then game publishers?
Can just doing LPs be seen as a steady career and make a living off of that?
Do you think LPs are stupid in general?

 

[Twintix]

What do you all think in general about Let's Players?

I love them. I watch LPs almost every day. Some LPers relax me, and I enjoy seeing and hearing how other people experience a game.

Do they help the gaming industry?

Maybe. Sometimes, an LP can awaken an interest in buying and playing the game. I bought Fortune Street because of The Runaway Guys' LP of it.

Do they hurt game devs more then game publishers?

...I've never thought about it that way. I don't really have a good answer to that, unfortunately.

Can just doing LPs be seen as a steady career and make a living off of that?

In the long run? I doubt it. Peoples' interests change over time, and someday you might find that the ad revenue is not as big as it used to be because people have stopped watching your videos. And then what? You'll have to get another job. This is one of the reasons (alongside copyright) that, if I ever make LPs and get somewhat well-known, I'll probably decline a partnership.
And I doubt you'd be taken seriously by others. On the other hand, people make money of just blogging, so making money of LPs might not be too far-fetched. But I guess you could argue that you shouldn't be making money of things that aren't yours in the first place, like selling MLP plushies...

Do you think LPs are stupid in general?

Nope. Like I explained above, the LPers I watch have very pleasant voices, I like their personalities and I enjoy seeing different people having different experiences with their games. It's a bit like visiting a friend and watching them play a game, except I don't know these LPers in real life.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Problem with LPs is that they are only as interesting as the people doing them. They are just another form of minor youtube personality, what they are LPing is almost incidental.

Otherwise, eh, don't care. They aren't hurting the industry in any way I can see, just talking about products more than most.

 

[Sleepy Sol]

I like a few at this point. Game Grumps have been a part of my daily life for almost three years now. But besides them there's only a few people I keep an eye on.

EpicNameBro is one of them. Much better than his name might imply. Did work on the Dark Souls 2 and Bloodborne guides and is currently doing a nice Bloodborne LP. Very down to earth sounding fella.

I'm all for them being around since I don't think they do any harm to the industry. I think they actually benefit it quite nicely.

I can't see why they would hurt devs but not publishers. But maybe I'm just typing this too early.

LPS CAN be really stupid. But that's on who's doing them, not the concept itself.

I think unless you're already a bit of a big name it's difficult to really make a career out of it, but it's clearly possible.

 

[Queen Michael]

"What do you all think in general about Let's Players?"
Meh. Not really my thing.

"Do they help the gaming industry?"
Sure. They create interest in a game.

"Do they hurt game devs more then game publishers?"
I don't see why they would.

"Can just doing LPs be seen as a steady career and make a living off of that? "
I'll need you to rephrase the last half of the question.

"Do you think LPs are stupid in general?"
They're certainly not intellectual, but I wouldn't call them stupid.

 

[Lilani]

I love them. I think Markiplier is a genuinely cool guy as well as all of his friends and collaborators, I think the Game Grumps are all awesome, and I feel genuine worry for JonTron about the lack of videos he's made lately--not because I miss the videos, but because it makes me think there may be personal problems at play. I see most of them as really cool people, and it makes me feel good to see such good people be successful and have fun.

As for how they affect the industry, I think the draw attention to a lot of games that may not have otherwise gotten attention, and if they put people off of a game there's generally enough evidence in the video as to whether or not their criticism was warranted.

 

[Lilani]

Sorry, double post, connection hiccuped.

 

[FalloutJack]

I honestly think they do no harm and that big companies should just grow a pair and some more brain to figure out that they're not at risk from this stuff.

 

[Parasondox]

"What do you all think in general about Let's Players?"
Meh. Not really my thing.

"Do they help the gaming industry?"
Sure. They create interest in a game.

"Do they hurt game devs more then game publishers?"
I don't see why they would.

"Can just doing LPs be seen as a steady career and make a living off of that? "
I'll need you to rephrase the last half of the question.

"Do you think LPs are stupid in general?"
They're certainly not intellectual, but I wouldn't call them stupid.

Can doing Let's Plays alone, create a steady living in terms of putting food on the table and paying bills?

I see that being thrown around a lot recent when talking about how much money a Let's Player makes when often they fail to realise that many have jobs outside of YouTube.

 

[Lilani]

"What do you all think in general about Let's Players?"
Meh. Not really my thing.

"Do they help the gaming industry?"
Sure. They create interest in a game.

"Do they hurt game devs more then game publishers?"
I don't see why they would.

"Can just doing LPs be seen as a steady career and make a living off of that? "
I'll need you to rephrase the last half of the question.

"Do you think LPs are stupid in general?"
They're certainly not intellectual, but I wouldn't call them stupid.

Can doing Let's Plays alone, create a steady living in terms of putting food on the table and paying bills?

I see that being thrown around a lot recent when talking about how much money a Let's Player makes when often they fail to realise that many have jobs outside of YouTube.

It's known as fact that the biggest lets players (PewDiePie, Markiplier, Game Grumps, etc) do youtube as their main job, but most of them freely speak about before they hit the big time and how they held down jobs and did videos, and had to decide at what point to take the plunge and do it full time. In one of Markiplier's most recent videos he spoke about the challenges he faced, the doubts he had about being able to make it, and the genuine risk it is to do it full time. It's not for everybody and not everybody who tries will make it, but some are truly living that life.

 

[DanteRL]

"What do you all think in general about Let's Players?"

I generally like them, I follow a lot of them like the Grumps, Angry Joe, Rad Brad, Achievement Hunter (which aparently now got on the bad side of Angry Joe to, for criticizing him in a video), and some others. But I agree a lot with thaluikhain, it's more about the people playing, than about the game itself (God knows how Arin and Danny can suck at some games).


"Do they help the gaming industry?"

In some ways, definitely. But I see them helping more indie developers than big companies. For AAA games, they work as another form of review, a kind that works diferently, and sometimes can get even crappy games to look, at least, kind of fun.


"Do they hurt game devs more then game publishers?"

Never though about it, but I don't think so.


"Can just doing LPs be seen as a steady career and make a living off of that? "

If you're one of the TOP 10, maybe, but as a rule? Probably not.

"Do you think LPs are stupid in general?"

Nah, I like the idea. Some LPlayers can be stupid, yeah, and somehow still be sucessful. But a lot of them are quite entertaining.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

I follow Miles923 [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOgaIuQYGr6ow_jbote4BKA] and I watch his live streams, both for his and his friends personality's and because his channel is based mostly around Fighting games with some live action content thrown in for good measure via his "Assist Me!" series.
During his streams though, he plays a wide array of titles from both past and present and has a "Proper" LP channel called YoVideogames.

"Do they help the gaming industry?"

He has been known to give shout-outs and promos for smaller fighting games and I remember he was able to get his voice to be put in a game as the announcer.
Max is also part of the Killer Instinct development team, being the director for the Aganos [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZUMC_awP5Q] and Hisako [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63q8picjUMM] trailers, after basically selling them countless hours of advertising for free via his trailer uploads and breakdowns for a year prior.

"Do they hurt game devs more then game publishers?"

Nah, sure Max is basically a Dev himself at this point.
On top of that, he kinda has a "Star Factor" that gives him a wide audience on both Twitch and YT for promoting old ass games.
For example, when he did a "Boss Rage" on Bio-F.R.E.A.K.S, this is how twitch looked after TwoBestFriends called him out to do one on that game.

All those people were watching him

"Can just doing LPs be seen as a steady career and make a living off of that? "

While I'm not sure if he can make a living via LPs, his live streams are known for people coming in and giving him literally thousands of dollars in donations, on top of subscriptions.
Seriously, some of his fans are kinda mental.

"Do you think LPs are stupid in general?"

Not really, and I rather enjoy the style of Max and his friends, but it's really the viewers who make it via their donation comments and their fanart, both of which are shown on stream.

 

[Zhukov]

What do you all think in general about Let's Players?

Umm... they exist?

I watch a few of them.

Do they help the gaming industry?

I think so?

I can't be the only person who has bought a few games after watching a LP, or part of one, and thinking, "Hey, that looks like fun."

Do they hurt game devs more then game publishers?

I don't see how they hurt either.

Can just doing LPs be seen as a steady career and make a living off of that?

Well, some people do just that, so obviously it's possible.

However, it's pretty clearly a case of supply outstripping demand. For every LPer raking in the big Youtube bucks or at least a livable wage there are ten nasel voiced nobodies desperately scrounging for views on their Magaman LPs and noscope montages.

Do you think LPs are stupid in general?

No.

 

[happyninja42]

What do you all think in general about Let's Players?

I love them, I follow one regularly, and enjoy his content greatly. He plays a wide variety of games, and plays them in fun ways that are quite enjoyable to watch. It's better content than most tv shows on these days, so yeah I find it enjoyable.

Do they help the gaming industry?

I think so, I've decided to buy at least half a dozen games because of watching a Let's Play review of it, and finding the content enjoyable. So yes, I think it helps the industry. Hell there are plenty of games I never heard of, much less considered buying, that I learned about through a Let's Play.

Do they hurt game devs more then game publishers?

Nope, I don't think so. I mean, how is it hurting them? It's no different than me going over to a friends house and watching him play a video game. I'm not buying it at that point, and am just a spectator, but nobody seems to have a problem with that. So I don't see why it's any different when it's online. Again, I've purchased games based entirely on Let's Play videos, so I don't see how it's hurting the devs. It's advertisement for them, free advertisement.

Can just doing LPs be seen as a steady career and make a living off of that?

Yep, because plenty of people do it already as a steady career. Do I think this is "silly" or something because it's not a "real job"? If that's what you are asking with this question, then no. There are plenty of stupid jobs out there that people do, that are socially acceptable, playing video games is no different. You have people who are paid to sit in a chair, and talk into a microphone, about the current activity of a bunch of people running around on a field chasing a ball around. Sorry but that's not a very grueling job in my opinion. So if sports commentators is legit "work", then so is playing a video game. Hell at least the Let's Players are actually doing something the entire time.

Do you think LPs are stupid in general?

No.

 

[Parasondox]

"What do you all think in general about Let's Players?"
Meh. Not really my thing.

"Do they help the gaming industry?"
Sure. They create interest in a game.

"Do they hurt game devs more then game publishers?"
I don't see why they would.

"Can just doing LPs be seen as a steady career and make a living off of that? "
I'll need you to rephrase the last half of the question.

"Do you think LPs are stupid in general?"
They're certainly not intellectual, but I wouldn't call them stupid.

Can doing Let's Plays alone, create a steady living in terms of putting food on the table and paying bills?

I see that being thrown around a lot recent when talking about how much money a Let's Player makes when often they fail to realise that many have jobs outside of YouTube.

It's known as fact that the biggest lets players (PewDiePie, Markiplier, Game Grumps, etc) do youtube as their main job, but most of them freely speak about before they hit the big time and how they held down jobs and did videos, and had to decide at what point to take the plunge and do it full time. In one of Markiplier's most recent videos he spoke about the challenges he faced, the doubts he had about being able to make it, and the genuine risk it is to do it full time. It's not for everybody and not everybody who tries will make it, but some are truly living that life.

And I agree with everything you said. Those who are well known and at the top had to go through and detail with other commitments in order to get a career like that. They created their own style that applied to enough viewers and the right sponsors which then came together nicely at the end. I do believe many can make a career or of it and to ass to your final point, some can't which is also getting more difficult because there are 10 times more LPs out there than they were a year or two ago.

To add, I believe, if you find a safe and non illegal way of making money and a career out of it, then go for it. You earned that money. That's one of the points of capitalism, isnt it? So, No, I don't believe in the notion of "Getting a real job". A jobs a job.

 

[Queen Michael]

"What do you all think in general about Let's Players?"
Meh. Not really my thing.

"Do they help the gaming industry?"
Sure. They create interest in a game.

"Do they hurt game devs more then game publishers?"
I don't see why they would.

"Can just doing LPs be seen as a steady career and make a living off of that? "
I'll need you to rephrase the last half of the question.

"Do you think LPs are stupid in general?"
They're certainly not intellectual, but I wouldn't call them stupid.

Can doing Let's Plays alone, create a steady living in terms of putting food on the table and paying bills?

I see that being thrown around a lot recent when talking about how much money a Let's Player makes when often they fail to realise that many have jobs outside of YouTube.

Oh. In that case, nope. Maybe for about five people, but that's it.

 

[Rylot]

EpicNameBro is one of them. Much better than his name might imply. Did work on the Dark Souls 2 and Bloodborne guides and is currently doing a nice Bloodborne LP. Very down to earth sounding fella.

I love ENB! I don't have a PS4 and I never plan on playing Bloodborne so I'm loving his LP of it. Having worked on the guide for BB and Dark Souls 2 he has so much knowledge of the lore and little nuggets of information that other people might miss. I think that's what legitimizes LPers, at least to me, the fact that they do inject their own personalities and bring commentaries and different takes on the games.

 

[rgrekejin]

I've never understood the appeal of Let's Plays. I don't have a lot of free time to begin with - why would I spend some of my precious time watching someone else play a game when I could be playing a game myself? The only times I've ever watched Let's Plays are when someone like Yahtzee is talking over a game about an unrelated subject, and even in those instances I'm watching it because I want to hear what Yahtzee has to say about topic X, not because I'm interested in seeing him play some game.

 

[EvilRoy]

"What do you all think in general about Let's Players?"
Meh. Not really my thing.

"Do they help the gaming industry?"
Sure. They create interest in a game.

"Do they hurt game devs more then game publishers?"
I don't see why they would.

"Can just doing LPs be seen as a steady career and make a living off of that? "
I'll need you to rephrase the last half of the question.

"Do you think LPs are stupid in general?"
They're certainly not intellectual, but I wouldn't call them stupid.

Can doing Let's Plays alone, create a steady living in terms of putting food on the table and paying bills?

I see that being thrown around a lot recent when talking about how much money a Let's Player makes when often they fail to realise that many have jobs outside of YouTube.

It's known as fact that the biggest lets players (PewDiePie, Markiplier, Game Grumps, etc) do youtube as their main job, but most of them freely speak about before they hit the big time and how they held down jobs and did videos, and had to decide at what point to take the plunge and do it full time. In one of Markiplier's most recent videos he spoke about the challenges he faced, the doubts he had about being able to make it, and the genuine risk it is to do it full time. It's not for everybody and not everybody who tries will make it, but some are truly living that life.

And I agree with everything you said. Those who are well known and at the top had to go through and detail with other commitments in order to get a career like that. They created their own style that applied to enough viewers and the right sponsors which then came together nicely at the end. I do believe many can make a career or of it and to ass to your final point, some can't which is also getting more difficult because there are 10 times more LPs out there than they were a year or two ago.

To add, I believe, if you find a safe and non illegal way of making money and a career out of it, then go for it. You earned that money. That's one of the points of capitalism, isnt it? So, No, I don't believe in the notion of "Getting a real job". A jobs a job.

Not to devalue the efforts they made, but a change to how youtube pays partners has also really helped LPs become more financially viable. They went from a viewcount to a time watched based model. That's a huge benefit to both longform and shortform lets plays, because previously the focus was more on producing well made but fairly short chunks of entertainment, to encourage people to go through the whole playlist - not a good thing for lets players because a lets play is necessarily a longer work.

Some groups, such as the gamegrumps, chose to limit video length to eras of internet video that made me nostalgic for <240p 5 minute videos in order to combat this. Shorter videos, plus more videos equals the same amount of content put portioned in such a way as to produce more views for the same amount of viewer time. Now, however, the idea is to get people to stick around longer - which works well for the idea of a more traditional long form LP, where you will be trying to keep people engaged for half an hour or more.

 

[Fat Hippo]

EpicNameBro is one of them. Much better than his name might imply. Did work on the Dark Souls 2 and Bloodborne guides and is currently doing a nice Bloodborne LP. Very down to earth sounding fella.

I love ENB! I don't have a PS4 and I never plan on playing Bloodborne so I'm loving his LP of it. Having worked on the guide for BB and Dark Souls 2 he has so much knowledge of the lore and little nuggets of information that other people might miss. I think that's what legitimizes LPers, at least to me, the fact that they do inject their own personalities and bring commentaries and different takes on the games.

Haha, I'm doing the same thing. I would actually love to play Bloodborne, but I won't be getting a PS4 anytime soon, so this is the next best thing, and ENB is one of cooler guys doing Souls LP's.

I did the same thing with Demon's Souls, though it was by somebody else (called "squint", I believe).

Aside from that, I don't watch a lot of Let's Plays, as I find most of them waaay too slow for my taste. But I definitely don't think they are hurting the games industry and harbor no ill-will towards them. Companies that restrict them, like Nintendo, are just hurting themselves. Although for 99.5% of all people doing LPs, I doubt they will ever generate sufficient income as a sole occupation. It's the privilege of a few lucky and/or talented individuals.