I'm pretty sure that this thread already exists multiple times in the depths of this forum. But with the recent South Park episode about Let's Plays it's maybe a good time to tell us your opinion about those things called LPs?
I personally can't stand a big amount of most Let's Plays. I just don't get it why you'd rather watch someone play a recent game instead of playing it yourself. Isn't it much more entertaining if you play a game that you're interested in by yourself? The experience is much better, because playing instead of simply watching drags you deeper into the game. If it's a game you don't really care about and therefore wouldn't even buy ? why watch someone playing that game and talking about it in the first place? Am I an old person because I feel like Kyle?! (No, seriously: Is this really a 'thing' all kids do nowadays?)
Only thing that maybe counts as LP I watch is Game Grumps. But that's interesting because of the jokes and discussions, anyway. They could look at a potato and make their jokes and it wouldn't change anything. It's more like a podcast with gaming footage in the background.
Similar thing with Two best Friends play. It's just a lot better if you have two people talking and discussing about stuff.
I'll say it's like TV, everyone can watch wathever they want. And not everybody has easy access to the most recent games.
I watch GG too, and Achievement Hunter (who were probably the luckiest bastards on earth, since they were able to register the "Let's Play" channel), also not for the games, but just for jokes and stupid fun. And I think Northernlion does a pretty good job of being a "well informed while still funny" guy.
I pretty much agree...why bother watching someone play a game when i can probably play it better myself and will absolutely enjoy it more? I take it further though...why bother reading a review for a game when i will probably play it either way and absolutely enjoy it more in the process? I don't need a second opinion on games, mine is good enough for me.
There are lots of things that revolve around the games industry that make little or no sense to me. But then they aren't there for people like me who will play anything and finish 95% of it despite not really liking it, they are there for the lowest common denominator.
You partially answered the question yourself. Sometimes - most times, I'd say - it's not the game people tune in for, but the player. It's why people pick favorites, why you're more likely to hear about the Let's Player and not so much about the Let's Play. People don't care what game is being played, they want to see the person who plays it. That's the big appeal to Let's Plays. It's kinda like a new form of comedy or reality television, I guess.
That being said, sometimes people watch Let's Plays because they can't or won't get the game in question. I'm a broke-ass college student. I can't afford to buy every game I want to play. So I buy the ones I think are better suited to a personal run through, and just watch Let's Plays of the others. Or sometimes my favorite Let's Player will start a game I've never heard of, and I'll just watch their Let's Play because I'm not interested enough in the game myself. Or maybe I'll watch a Let's Play of a game to see if it's worth buying.
But personally, the biggest draw to a Let's Play for me is to watch a group of people I find funny play a game I find interesting. Sometimes they can really enhance the experience, too. There's a Let's Player named Cry who does Saturday streams with a bunch of his friends, and recently they've been doing Phoenix Wright. It's actually really fun to watch them give voices to the characters and joke around with each other, even if I want to slap Cry sometimes for being an idiot about a case. They also used to do a DnD stream, which not only offered a unique experience but was pretty hilarious, too.
I watch AlChestBreach for Al's adventures, not the game (mostly). Also, you'll never play another game again if you "play a game that you're interested in by yourself", since there are 15,000 mods on the Nexus for New Vegas. However, the rest I agree; I will not watch LPs where:
- The LPer talks about the game more than the adventure. The LPer's job is to tell their story, not to reiterate the *dry heave*story in the game.
- It's a multiplayer LP. Then I am just watching someone else's weekend.
- There's facecam. Again, see bullet point 1.
- Any Telltale games. Again, bullet point 1.
I'll sometimes throw on a Let's Play when I'm doing non-story stuff in a game that I'm playing.
I won't watch any LPs of stuff that I haven't played myself though (so that I don't spoil myself) or for games that I'm never going to ever play (NorthernLion's Grey's Anatomy LP), and most of it is only from the one person (the aforementioned NorthernLion)
I want Let's Plays because I want to. They're fun and entertaining little romps and group Let's Plays like Achievement Hunter are a real blast to watch.
I can understand the appeal and sometimes watch. A Let's Play is basically a video review of the gameplay, and if I'm either on the fence on buying a $60+ game or simply wondering if it looks fun, I'll watch one or two. But people like PewDiePie and his ilk, the over reacting, heavily edited, screaming, screeching, and blatantly not funny types...yeah, no. I will never understand the appeal of PewDiePie or the Screamers. Nor do I understand playing 10 year old games. I don't need to see a Let's Play on Nox or KOTOR.
People have already answered your question, but yeah-it's about the personality playing the game rather than the game itself. Their entertainment value is similar to Mystery Science Theater 3000. In fact, a lot of my favourite Let's Plays are of atrociously bad or cult games. Two Best Friends LP of Deadly Premonition is one of the best example of this. Having somebody else react to the craziness of that game with you makes it all the more enjoyable for me. These days, if there's a game I'm interested in playing, I complete it before watching anyone do an LP on it, since I want hear their impressions of it and compare them to mine. So I guess there is kind of a more hands-on review aspect to them as well.
My first reason is that I use lets plays to watch the beginning of a game, and decide from there if its worth playing. As a result I haven't bought a bad game in years. Lets plays have replaced detailed reviews for me, because I'm allowed to see the material for myself and make up my own mind, as opposed to hoping that some journalist has similar taste to mine.
The second is informitive commentary. If someone offered a literary critique of silent hill 2 while playing it, then that would have value. 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. I actually learned things I didn't know, which allowed me to appreciate the game more.
Another, smaller reason is pure enjoyment. Some people are just funny, and it's entertaining to listen to them speak. Only a small minority pull this off, and comedy is subjective, but in this case it's more about the person then the game. Who hasn't seen a lets play of slender man or 5 nights at Freddie's, and laughed their ass off? It's good stuff.
I think for multiplayer games or anything that involves a completely randomised world generation, I can see the appeal and I'll occasionally watch someone like say FrankieOnPC play DayZ.
But any game that's single player or has a static world that is effectively the same for everyone playing, I honestly don't see the appeal or point. I mean, I guess if you count first impression videos, how-to or walkthroughs as lets plays then yeah, but that's a pretty long bow to draw.
Pretty much any idiot that are screaming or trying to be entertaining while playing what would otherwise be a similar experience to everyone else playing the same game, is where it becomes annoying. Especially the ones who are blatantly trying to 'become big' by adhering to all the typical cliches like giving your subscriber base nicknames or screaming and overreacting to try and take the focus off the incredibly dull, generic footage.
Kind of wish the majority of them would sod off to twitch instead.
I love let's plays. I really do. Especially the likes of say, Pushing Up Roses, Dodger or Paw Dugan, or screenshot LPs a la Angie Gallant. I think the way to properly let's play is to balance out the perfect amount of
A) focus on the game
B) Comedy
and C) Trying not to be obnoxious assholes.
Now, this may be a little off-topic here, but I was going to make my own thread on LP's today, and I don't really see the point now that someone else has. See, recently I and a buddy of mine have started our own let's play channel, and we're already up a sweeeet 5 subscribers. We're more of a Game Grumps style of unedited footage of 2 friends playing games and making terrible puns,. (I'm not going to link because I don't know if shameless self-promotion is against the terms and conditions) Basically, I had a questions to all you fellow escapists out there. When you watch a let's play, and unvoiced dialogue appears onscreen, what do you prefer, The LPer read it, or just kinda leave it there for a couple seconds so the viewer can read it themselves. furthermore, in a completely unvoiced game, say, like a visual novel or RPG, would you like different voices for each character? or just previously mentioned options one and two? Thanks guys.
Ooh, and face-cam, for horror or otherwise, yay or nay? I personally find it atrocious but if it's what the people want, then whatevs
Certain LPers are fun to watch, and it is more about the player rather than what is being played most of the time. Watching someone just play Spore or playing Spore myself is not nearly as fun as watching someone entertaining play it.
Only thing that maybe counts as LP I watch is Game Grumps. But that's interesting because of the jokes and discussions, anyway. They could look at a potato and make their jokes and it wouldn't change anything. It's more like a podcast with gaming footage in the background.
Similar thing with Two best Friends play. It's just a lot better if you have two people talking and discussing about stuff.
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?
Anyway, to answer your question: I watch LPs a lot, and I actually have begun doing them myself pretty recently. So naturally, I enjoy them quite a bit. I'll try to address all your questions.
leberkaese said:
Isn't it much more entertaining if you play a game that you're interested in by yourself? The experience is much better, because playing instead of simply watching drags you deeper into the game.
This varies on a case-by-case basis. There are some games I'm interested in seeing in action, and other games I stay a hundred miles away from until I play them myself.
For example, I absolutely refused to watch anything related to Infamous: Second Son until I played it, because I am a huge fan of Infamous and did not have a PS4 for awhile. So I stayed away from it because I wanted the full enjoyment of a fresh experience.
There are quite a few other games I don't mind seeing played because my investment in them is lower than it was for Infamous. But also, for many many other reasons.
1. Such as, I just want to see how the game genuinely plays for an average player instead of press material. In the case of Assassin's Creed Unity, I decided to watch someone on Twitch.tv stream the game the night it came out. And I got to see firsthand just how truly bugridden the game was. Personally, I think simply watching someone play a game is a better "review" of a game than a review article. Articles and videos can blab on and on and give me all the points in the world, but there's nothing that gives me a genuine indication of how a game actually plays, than just watching someone play the game.
2.I want to see someone play a game who is far, far more skilled than I am. Not only is it entertaining to witness someone master a difficult game, but I also learn a lot from it that I can apply next time I play the game. In games like XCOM with it's punishing higher difficulties, DMC/Bayonetta with their infinite combo potential, and especially fighting games. This can be pretty valuable to witness.
3. Unique LP content and styles. Not every LP is a straight-faced vanilla playthrough. Even among linear games. There's lots of speedruns, no-kill runs, weapon-specific runs, etc. etc. Lots of bizarre ways to play through a game that are amusing to watch, but I'd never attempt myself. Same with Speedruns. All the hilarious and ridiculous ways they break the everliving hell out of games to go from beginning to end. They're awesome to watch, but I would never try one myself.
Also; game tournaments.
4. And of course one of the biggest draws to watching an LP, the personalities and commentary. Youtube and Twitch LP's can vary in style, where generally speaking youtube LP's are closely edited and tend to be delivered in sizeable chunks. Twitch lp's are hours long, and are far more interactive (with both the player and the chat) and personality driven. Both are enjoyable in my eyes, depending on the personality involved.
If it's a game you don't really care about and therefore wouldn't even buy ? why watch someone playing that game and talking about it in the first place? Am I an old person because I feel like Kyle?! (No, seriously: Is this really a 'thing' all kids do nowadays?)
Well. Gaming as a spectator experience isn't black and white.
So look, you and I are same exact age, I'm not sure what your schedule is like, but I think it's fair to say that we both don't have nearly as much free time to play games as we used to. There's hundreds and hundreds of games available to play, and not nearly enough time to play them. Not only that, but in many cases, I just don't have the means to. This is especially true of older games like Darkseed and I have no mouth, and I must scream. And console exclusives for consoles I will never buy. Caring about a game and not caring for the console it is on are two completely different things. I would have absolutely no idea what these games would be about if it weren't for LPs.
Things like Twitch and Youtube have helped a lot in experiencing many more games it would have been impossible to otherwise. And, finding a lot of genuinely entertaining people I wouldn't have ever even known existed. A lot of times when I've had a long day and are too tired to play a game, I'll turn to Twitch instead of Netflix and relax by watching some streaming. Yeah, LPs are a pretty good source of entertainment.
I usually only watch Let's Plays if I'm thinking about buying the game and want a glimpse first or I'm trying to wrap my head around a minecraft mod. Even then, I try to keep it to LPers that aren't too..PewDiePie-like (On a scale of 1 to PewDiePie, I prefer LPers that are large and negative). Especially fond of TotalBiscuit's WTF is...? series for info.
I find almost all of it absolute garbage, I just hate that so many let's players are just absolutely incompetent to mechanics. That just bothers me so much when people are like omg this game sucks, the mechanics are garbage. But they've pretty much ignored everything the game has flat out told them. 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.
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