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Same principle applies to Let's-Players on Youtube / Twitch that play new games "non-optimally". In their comment sections you'll see people commenting about ho

Same principle applies to Let's-Players on Youtube / Twitch that play new games "non-optimally". In their comment sections you'll see people commenting about how they bought the game just to be able to play it correctly themselves, to prove to the streamer and themselves that their strategy is better.

kevinventullo 5y ago
They could also just watch a speed-runner to convince themselves that they will never play it optimally.
- Arnavion 5y ago
  Not every game has a speedrunning community, especially not for new games (which my comment was about), and especially not for new early-access games that most new games these days are. Not to mention optimal play and speedrunning are orthogonal concepts in general.
ineedasername 5y ago
Interesting-- that promotes engagement with the content, which is good for viewer metrics & ad $$. If the video is actually sponsored by the game publisher then it's a double bonus for video creator.
- Arnavion 5y ago
  Yes, there's often speculation that the streamer is playing badly intentionally for this reason. Though Occam's razor dictates that it's more likely that the streamer just doesn't care to get good because they're only going to play the game for a little while anyway.
  - lamontcg 5y ago
    The streamer can also be optimizing for entertainment rather than perfect gameplay. So they're focused a bit more on being creative rather than optimizing their combat skills, and they try things you'd never attempt which occasionally go very badly (sometimes predictably) and its amusing.
ljm 5y ago
I actually prefer that sometimes, but it's because it shows me a bit more what the game is like if you get the unedited feed. But that's also because I'm not really interested in one-upping random people on the internet, it just feels like it shows more of the stuff that might be edited out on Youtube. I guess the analogy is the old joke/meme about the O'Reilly Javascript book, and the JS The Good Parts book sat next to it.

kevinventullo 5y ago

They could also just watch a speed-runner to convince themselves that they will never play it optimally.

Arnavion 5y ago
Not every game has a speedrunning community, especially not for new games (which my comment was about), and especially not for new early-access games that most new games these days are. Not to mention optimal play and speedrunning are orthogonal concepts in general.

ineedasername 5y ago

Interesting-- that promotes engagement with the content, which is good for viewer metrics & ad $$. If the video is actually sponsored by the game publisher then it's a double bonus for video creator.

Arnavion 5y ago
Yes, there's often speculation that the streamer is playing badly intentionally for this reason. Though Occam's razor dictates that it's more likely that the streamer just doesn't care to get good because they're only going to play the game for a little while anyway.
- lamontcg 5y ago
  The streamer can also be optimizing for entertainment rather than perfect gameplay. So they're focused a bit more on being creative rather than optimizing their combat skills, and they try things you'd never attempt which occasionally go very badly (sometimes predictably) and its amusing.

ljm 5y ago

I actually prefer that sometimes, but it's because it shows me a bit more what the game is like if you get the unedited feed. But that's also because I'm not really interested in one-upping random people on the internet, it just feels like it shows more of the stuff that might be edited out on Youtube. I guess the analogy is the old joke/meme about the O'Reilly Javascript book, and the JS The Good Parts book sat next to it.