Your opinion on Let's Plays

[AT God]

My opinion on Lets Plays is sort of complicated. The one thing I don't really care about for Let's Plays is the game itself. I rarely want to watch other people play a game unless it is people playing multiplayer against each other, I would have no interest in watching someone play through the campaign of Assassins Creed or Far Cry 4 while they talk over it. If I do want to watch the campaign of a game, I want to hear the game and its sounds.

The only Lets Plays I watch are Yahtzee's Lets Drown out thingy and I also occasionally watch some Game Grumps. In both of these cases, I have little concern over what the game is, I like hearing Yahtzee's opinions on games and his banter with his life partner Gabriel is often pretty funny. And I watch Game Grumps for similar reasons, I have liked Egoraptor's animations and voice work since he started and Danny is interesting and funny as well, and I like NSP a lot.

I used to watch all of Jim Sterling's Lets Plays when he was starting out because I always like his content but I have slowed down and usually only watch ones when the game has a notable title, is known for being bad, or is a game I have played and wonder what Jim thinks. Personally, I dislike the style of how Jim does his videos for two reasons. Mainly, I think banter or commentary requires two or more people and having a single person is a lot less amusing. Second, and this is specific to Jim's videos, I often only watch his videos because of the game being featured, and his first impressions style videos are really only interesting if they are over a game I haven't played yet. Watching him play a game after I have played it and seeming him miss or criticize stuff that he just hasn't figured out yet isn't really entertaining. I understand him missing things and often times games don't explain things, but I don't find it at all entertaining. I would much rather listen to some people have a conversation or debate a topic while playing a game and only mention the game when something amusing happens. That's why I prefer Game Grumps and Let's Drown Out over the more popular LPers like Pewdiepie, Markiplier, or TotalBiscuit, although I don't have anything against any of them, its just not something I enjoy.

I also really don't like the face cam thingy, its occasionally funny to watch a compilation of people being scared by a game but that is only funny once and stops the moment it seems forced. Plus face cams work better for single person commentaries and as I said, I don't care for those.

 

[Amaror]

I like the let's plays. Why you ask.
There are various reasons:

1. Story.
Sometimes i am interested in the Story of a game, but can't experience it myself. The reason can be that that game is exclusive to a console. It can also be that i don't personally have fun with the game mechanics, but it can be really fun watching people that are good at these games do it. That's for example the reason i watch let's plays of adventure games. I don't like the gameplay myself, but the stories are fun and the people doing the commentary make it more fun.
2. Professionalism.
Some games can offer a great variety of ways to play the game. This means that it can be fun to watch people play the game that are very good at it and teach you strategies and mechanics while you play the game. It's the reason why i like to watch let's plays of paradox grand strategy games. I still have hundreds of hours invested in the games myself, but it's fun to watch someone play thats better than you and learn something while doing it.
3. Personallity
Another reason to watch let's plays are the personallities of the let's players that provide entertainment beyond the game itself. I don't personally watch let's plays solely for this reason, however. If i am not interested in the game a little bit i won't watch the let's play.

So there you have it. That are the reasons i watch let's plays. I aggree however that it doesn't really make sense to watch a linear game campaign while you own the game yourself.

 

[Flames66]

I enjoy them. In a demo-less world they can be useful to see whether a game is something I'm interested in, and many are very entertaining. For example:

If we're talking people who know what they are doing and walking through the game silently, by all means.

Any dipshit who either comments or plays for the first time should be shot.

I enjoy both. I like watching people who know what they are doing play a game well, but I also like seeing someone react to an experience they are not prepared for.

 

[GundamSentinel]

There's two types of Let's Play I like:

- Let's play's by people who really know what they are doing and can add a lot of interesting information to the games they are playing. Chuggaaconroy for instance is someone who really knows his shit about Nintendo games. Which helps me, as I haven't played a Nintendo game since the N64.

- Let's play's by genuinely funny people (no, not the type who thinks screaming at a camera is the height of comedy).
At the moment for me that's mostly Jim Sterling's Squirty Plays and anything involving Jesse Cox. Jesse Cox and Totalbiscuit playing Terraria is the best thing that ever happened on Youtube, and Jesse and Crendor playing Saint's Row comes very close.

The type of game plays a role for me as well. It has to be either games I have played a lot myself or games I'm interested in, but will probably not get enough time to play thoroughly.

 

[Risingblade]

I enjoy let's plays by charismatic people, especially when they play games I know I'd never bother playing myself.

 

[SuperSuperSuperGuy]

I watch a lot of LPs. I really like certain Let's Play-ers because of their personalities, voices, and/or the way they play the game. Chuggaaconroy is really good because of how comprehensive his playthroughs are, for example. Game Grumps have personalities that make it fun to watch them play games. HCBailly is interesting because of how optimized his playthroughs are, and I love seeing his strategies and stuff. I'm not really a fan of PewDiePie and similar channels, though.

As for the "you'd have more fun playing it yourself", that really depends on if the player adds something to the experience. Taking the three examples I listed above, Chuggaaconroy shows off a ton of stuff that you might not necessarily know about a game. Game Grumps adds a lot of humour and discussion to the experience. HCBailly's strategies allow him to break most games wide open. There is something to the playthroughs on these three channels that goes beyond the game and enhances the experience.

Additionally, watching playthroughs of games that I'm interested in or don't know about can introduce me to new things and help me decide if a game is worth getting. Watching playthroughs of games that I have played opens up a lot of discussion, as well, and sometimes shows me things that I didn't know about games that I like.

 

[Sosa Star]

Dunno if anyone's posted this, but for anyone complaining about commentary or blind runs, you don't want a let's play, you want a Walkthrough. Big difference.

I love LPs myself. I cannot play certain games due to being a massive coward, so I watch a fair number of horror game LPs. I don't have the time or patience to play all the games I want to, and I'm mostly interested in the story anyhow, so an LP works for that. I also can watch while I do others things.

And there is such a selection of people doing this that if you look a bit, you're bound to find one or two you like.

My personal faves right now
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtKcVd4QbAJRFq-PIf22u7g Chip & Ironicus, whom I found via Yahtzee, two funnys guys with amazing production values.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJbBijHhBZWkWDamlGDW2MQ Helloween 4545, a lovely Brit who mostly does horror LPs

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu2yrDg7wROzElRGoLQH82A Cryaotic, because he's funny and enjoys what he plays.

LPs aren't for everyone, but those of us who enjoy them, enjoy them for our reasons. Nothing wrong with them or us.

 

[happyninja42]

The ones I watch are usually for the humor of the person playing. Like Many a True Nerd, who frequently plays games with interesting restrictions (Fallout New Vegas: No Kill or Kill Everything, No Healing, etc) He also plays other games that are oddball ones, full of comedic value. Many of the games he plays, I've already played myself, so I watch him to enjoy his take on the game, his approach, and his humor.

Then there are Let's Plays like the ones that Team Fourstar do, where they sometimes play as their characters from DBZ Abridged. For example, Krillen playing the survival horror games, or Vegeta playing games and acting like a total dick. It's very amusing.

I don't watch Let's Plays very often to see if I like a game, I usually just check some reviews of the game instead.

 

[Casual Shinji]

The only stuff I like is Two Best Friends, even then when they go into a game completely blind and really botch mechanics I'll stop watching.

Yeah, but then we wouldn't get this (eventhough it's not blind)...


The only Let's Plays I watch are those by Two Best Friends, and then only if it's a game I already played myself. It's Matt and Pat's extensive geek references and sense of humor that draws me to them. That sense of sharing in their passion and/or dislike of a particular game.

 

[ObserverStatus]

I like Many A True Nerd's LPs, Fallout 3: Kill Everything Edition was hilarious. I like playing games myself, but it can also be fun to watch youtubers do crazy things in games that I wouldn't have thought of doing myself.

 

[Nuuu]

I watch games that i don't want to play myself but still interests me story wise. As other people already stated, it's mostly about the personality, but there's always an option to watch a silent walkthrough.

I get horribly bored with single-player games, so I often watch let's plays or walkthroughs to experience the game, i save the co-op games for myself to buy.

 

[sanquin]

Blind lets play: I might watch a few videos to see what the game is like if I don't know it yet.
Lets play of youtube bait: Don't care for it. It's all the same crap.
Lets play with story: Can be fun if I like the game it's done in, and if I like the lets players. (like the beginning of yogscast, or laststandgamers with space engineers.)
Your average normal lets play: Boring as all hell, or the commenter is just annoying. Usually comes down to the youtuber hoping he might be the next big thing, but actually has no clue about how to make a good lets play.
A few rare lets players: I watch some lets plays of Jesse Cox. Because I love how he's a figurative clown in real life. Though I only watch very few of them. I watched TB's and Jesse's Terraria lets play, but more because of the characters both of them played in them. I liked their interactions. And that's about all I can remember atm.

Overall, I consider 99% of all lets plays either try hard, boring or crap. And just a select few fall into my tastes. And it's usually not about the gameplay for me.

 

[sageoftruth]

I prefer playing to watching, but sometimes watching is the only option available. Besides, it can also count as a quasi-review for when I'm trying to decide if a game is worth my money.
I also sometimes treat them like strategy guides, and watch them hoping to learn a thing or two from watching someone else play them. It's pretty handy in fighting games. I once watched someone play God Hand for the first time, and even though I'd beaten it twice before, I still learned some new tricks I had never considered before by watching him.

I think that about sums it up for me: Reviews, strategy guides, and entertainment when my games aren't available but youtube is.

 

[sageoftruth]

I watched Maximillion Dood play Dark Souls 2. Watching him stumble through the game's mechanics takes far more patience and persistence than playing the game does. The Dark Souls vets in the comment section were throwing a fit.

 

[leberkaese]

A good example would be the Super Best Friends playthrougha of I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. Because pat had a background in psychology, he was able to offer infirmitive insight into the story, and they spent a good amount of time discussing the symbolism in the game.

That's a good point and something like that really is interesting. But isn't that something that would be more fitting with something else than a Let's Play? Let's Plays are often improvised and a discussion like that would be a lot better if the person talking had written down what he wants to say.
Not too sure, though, how much from those two guys is actually something scripted and what's improvised. (this is not meant as critique, I like Matt and Pat)

You started off by saying you "don't get it", then admit to watching LPs yourself for one of the things that South Park episode joked about. That's kindof weird, isn't it?

Mainly I like Game Grumps because they talk about literally anything, not only the specific game they're playing. Like I said: it's like a podcast (most of the times I don't even care about the video footage) and I love me some podcasts of people I like. They talk about their lifes, interesting stories they experienced as musician and cartoonist, their opinions on recent news in video gaming etc.
South Park mainly critizes people watching someone play the game instead of playing it themselfs. In the end it's probably pretty similar - LP and podcast. Because you watch it, because the person does these things in an interesting and maybe funny way. But if the Let's Player only talks about what he's doing right now in the game... I find that pretty boring.

About #1: you bring up a good point there, watching LP for some kind of review. If I think about it, TotalBiscuit is in some ways a LPer in his first look-videos. And I really like his stuff as a tool of making opinions of buying a game or not.
But I guess it's really risky to watch LP as some sort of review: if you see too much of a game you'd normaly enjoy in a LP. At least I'd probably say 'okay, I've seen so much of it now - it would be a waste of time to buy that game now and play through the stuff I've already seen'

#2 #3 most of the times, watching something like that would lead to me to do that stuff by myself instead of watching people doing that. I'll probably fail when I try to do speedruns and become really awesome at a game. Or I lose my motivation. Or I run out of time. But I tried!

And about your last two paragraphs: yeah, Let's Plays are a good source for games you can't play because you don't have a certain (or any) console. Or you just don't have the time to play them. But I don't know... for me, games are something that have to be consumed interactively - by playing them, unlike a TV show. You maybe get a hint of this interaction the player should experience by watching someone playing and reacting... but I just couldn't enjoy it nearly as much. I miss too much stuff a game wants to deliver by watching it as a LP.
Because of that, the times I'd prefer Youtube LP/twitch over Netflix are very very rare. Because TV shows are meant to be consumed as a passive viewer. So there I won't miss stuff by silently sitting in front of my screen doing nothing... but watching

But well, in the end it's probably all depending on own preferences, I guess.

I used to watch Game Grumps, but then Jon left and Danny is kind of meh.

Danny had some hard times in the beginning to fit into his new role. I didn't like him in the first place, but recently they've had some really good episodes/series. The Super Mario 3D World or Windwaker palythroughs are really interesting and funny.
But it's a good thing, Jon left the Grumps. His recent JonTron videos are a lot better than anything we've seen on the Game Grumps channel.

 

[bat32391]

The only person I really like to watch play anything is gopher because of the heavily modded playthroughs of skyrim and fallout he does.

 

[CaitSeith]

These are the reasons of why I watch let's play videos:

1. I want to watch some gameplay and hear the Youtuber's commentaries before I buy the game.
2. I like to hear the Youtuber's comments to a game I already played or I have heard a lot (specially if it's really good, really bad, really scary, really weird or they play it in a specific mode or rules like a Nuzlocke or Minecraft Hardcore)
3. I want a nostalgia trip or to watch a part I love from a game I no longer own.
4. I'm searching tips for a difficult part on a game.
5. I like how the Youtuber reacts in general.

PS captcha: spitting feathers Don't give me ideas, captcha...

 

[Fox12]

snip

I get the impression that their shorter videos are heavily scripted, and that their lets plays are more natural. In I Have No Mouth it was pretty clear that Woolie had heavily researched the game, and that Pat was mostly blind. It was interesting to see him work out the themes in his head, though.

That said, you have a point, as those videos were more like a discussion then a hard critique of the game. Honestly, I think my interest is in all of the above. I usually watch a video an hour before bed, so I guess it serves the same purpose to me that late night television, like the Tonight Show, plays for others. Alternatively, I read a book.

 

[Michael Tabbut]

There are channels I like (Matt and Pat, Snipe and Wib Play, Markiplier, Seananners) and ones I don't care about or like (Game Grumps and PewDiePie).
Funnily enough I'm gonna be doing Let's Plays with some friends soon.