Looking to get into streaming?

[Farasalt]

I get asked a surprisingly large number of times about how to get started into streaming.

Toms Guides have posted a fantastic article that covers a whole bunch of things you should know over at:
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/twitch-streaming-guide,review-3009.html

The best advice I've been given by anyone when it comes to streaming is, because I'm trying to be a fairly serious level of streamer:

Pick a schedule and stick to it.

Apart from that, if you're doing streaming very casually, embrace that.
Do it when you feel like it and have a laugh - hopefully you can get some people who follow you, turn on notifications and will come catch you whenever they see you're live.

If you want to ask any questions about streaming, please feel free to get in contact with me or any of the other TEST streamers. They are, universally, not-assholes who will generally try to help you out :)

 

[UnderSc0re]

OBEY

http://stream-academy.com/grow-on-twitch/

 

[CrimsonCyclist]

It's actually something I might try my hand at down the line when I've a proper system and my own living space again =P

We're talking a couple years though, moving back to my parents and using laptop whilst focusing on college hinders stuff like that.

 

[Euthanize91]

If you want to ask any questions about streaming, please feel free to get in contact with me or any of the other TEST streamers. They are, universally, not-assholes who will generally try to help you out :)

Key Phrase- Universally, not assholes

But In all seriousness, definitely reach out for pointers if you are interested in starting to stream. I can tell you it is not the easiest of things to do without support.

 

[Serious Table]

Key Phrase- Universally, not assholes

But In all seriousness, definitely reach out for pointers if you are interested in starting to stream. I can tell you it is not the easiest of things to do without support.

What were some of the struggles that you guys faced, that support helped alleviate?

 

[Farasalt]

I think my biggest 2 issues were how to get up and running with a bot (and the reason for one).

The other was worrying about channel growth.
The most important thing about channel growth is NOT your follower count. It's getting the right followers. You're looking for people who come back reliably to watch and interact in a good manner with both yourself and the other chatters.

I've been really lucky in the latter - my community is friendly and fun, with around 20-40 people showing up to each stream. That number is slowly growing and is very committed to Star Citizen. Despite the fact that my stream is growing slowly, I'm super happy with it ^_^

 

[Euthanize91]

What were some of the struggles that you guys faced, that support helped alleviate?

I know there were a few things that I struggled with right off the bat. Had I had known some people who were already streaming I think things may have wen't more smooth.

First and foremost, I encountered a major technical issue with setting up OBS. It was basically like entering a pitch black room and trying to find the light switch on the other side of said room. I had to watch a few different YouTube videos to even set up my game capture. I had never used any program like this before so it was all new to me.

Secondly, I agree with Farasalt. Setting up a bot can be tricky as well, but well worth the effort. I use Moobot and Twitch Alerts personally but there are more and more being released daily it seems. (Check out a few streams and see which functions you like best). Bots can help with giveaways, follow count updates, donation alerts/messages and makes your stream run much more smooth and efficient. No one wants to see someone playing with monitor capture, tabbing through windows to read notes from Paypal or checking follow/viewer counts (well, someone might, but i don't know why).

And last to touch base on growth, I have learned from streaming about a year now that growth is not something you can expect over night. And it is important to note that there are a few kind of twitch followers. And don't be offended if these people show up in your stream.

The First (Most sought after) follower: Return often/participate in chat
Second follower: Will show up once in a while to check in with your progress
Third follower: Follows and forgets
Fourth follower: Follows for giveaways/un-follows at the end of giveaway.

Disclaimer: This is just a raw generalization, obviously they are not set in stone but I think my point has been made.

The idea is to get a majority of followers in Type 1. It will help to create a schedule and providing exciting and interesting content. Keep in mind that if you are enjoying a certain game you're followers usually will too! Don't stream something you do not like because it is a "popular title". As you hope to have viewers engaging in your chat, make sure that you engage back to them, sometimes I catch myself stuck in tunnel vision and don't notice someone has asked me a question quite some time ago.

I'm sure some of the other streamers in Test can attest to what I have said for the most part but again everyone's experiences are different. You will learn a lot for yourself as you progress with your stream.

Best of luck, If I can assist you in anyway let me know!

-Euth