Why So Many People Are Watching Twitch

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This is probably the best explanation of why so many people are watching Twitch.

"Why do people spend so much time watching other people play a game they could just as easily play themselves?" "Why do so many people watch the NFL when they could just as easily play a game of football in their yard?" I reply.
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Without reading the article, the reason why I watch is to check and see if the game is a POS or not. It's the new way of demoing games, especially EA titles.
 
Without even reading the article that quote is such a bad analogy it boggles my mind. Easily playing an organized football game in your backyard is not easy nor realistic for most people, especially compared to buying a game and just playing it. Also comparing a professional football league to a gaming oriented online video service doesn't even compute. Ultimately there is no one right answer for why people are on twitch. Some people like the videos to get better at the game, some people do ultimately like to see the competitiveness of said game. Some people like above just want to see from a normal person's POV if the game is good or not. I'm just sick of this professional gaming inferiority complex that the quote implies.
 
I don't understand why people would watch others play online OR watch football or any other sport on TV. It's so damn boring and repetitive. The only sport I ever watch on TV is golf, and I only watch because I like the scenery. All of the golfers could leave the course and it would make it more enjoyable for me.
 
rewted said:
Without reading the article, the reason why I watch is to check and see if the game is a POS or not. It's the new way of demoing games, especially EA titles.
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When I want to see gameplay I just lookup reviewers youtube videos, they probably explain it much better than watching some random person. Twitch is completely useless to me, apparently not so much to others though.
 
rewted said:
Without reading the article, the reason why I watch is to check and see if the game is a POS or not. It's the new way of demoing games, especially EA titles.
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I had never thought of using it as a means to demo a game, but it does make a lot of sense even if I mostly buy games during Steam sales.

I mostly use it a learning tool for WoW raiding. Seeing how they handle certain situations has allowed me to help my raid groups avoid more than a few wipes. Quite a few of the streamers will also take the time to answer viewer questions, which also helps quite a bit when trying to optimize your toon.
 
i960 said:
I don't understand why people would watch others play online OR watch football or any other sport on TV. It's so damn boring and repetitive. The only sport I ever watch on TV is golf, and I only watch because I like the scenery. All of the golfers could leave the course and it would make it more enjoyable for me.
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With the streamers that I watch, its more about the streamer themselves over the game they are playing. It's how they interact with those watching, and how they manage and handle the "trolls" of the community. Some of them are downright hysterically funny.

So you're not entertained by these folks. That's fine. It's not everyone's "Cup of tea"... I happen to enjoy it from time to time.
 
I watch a lot of Kripparian, more so back when he played PoE and came up with amazing builds.

Plus, twitch chat can be hilarious sometimes. (in Kripp's channel anyway)

ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ raise your dongers ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ
 
"Why do people spend so much time watching other people play a game they could just as easily play themselves?" "Why do so many people watch the NFL when they could just as easily play a game of football in their yard?" I reply.
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....because the dynamics of one person sitting down and playing a video game, vs. physically assembling a dozen or more people in one place at the same time is completely different, you idiot?
 
I only watch speedrunners on Twitch. "Professional" gamers or those who act like idiots on Twitch for a living can go DIAF.
 
With two (amazing) kids and full time work along with doing another degree, I barely have enough time to just play games. Aside from that, I don't think I have the patience to just sit there and watch someone else play.
 
I'll tell you why we do it.

I play World of Tanks competitively and we use Twitch for a few reasons.

1st, we use it to check out the competition and study how they fight, their tactics and level of aggressiveness as a team. It's an intelligence tool.

2nd, we use Twitch so our teammates not involved in a match can watch and see if we are making mistakes and identify how we can tighten up our game. It's a self evaluation tool.

3rd, we use Twitch to see how players across the world are adapting to new game features in patches that haven't come to the North American Servers yet. It's a planning tool.

So that's why many people are more then willing to watch others play a game when they could be playing one themselves.
 
i960 said:
I don't understand why people would watch others play online OR watch football or any other sport on TV. It's so damn boring and repetitive. The only sport I ever watch on TV is golf, and I only watch because I like the scenery. All of the golfers could leave the course and it would make it more enjoyable for me.
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Well enough people do like it to the tune of 9 billion dollars. The NFL makes a killing. I, for one, love watching football, but I would never give into the fees charged by the NFL. I just sit at home and watch.
 
raynman68 said:
I had never thought of using it as a means to demo a game, but it does make a lot of sense even if I mostly buy games during Steam sales.

I mostly use it a learning tool for WoW raiding. Seeing how they handle certain situations has allowed me to help my raid groups avoid more than a few wipes. Quite a few of the streamers will also take the time to answer viewer questions, which also helps quite a bit when trying to optimize your toon.
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It is the only reason I use it. You can also chat with the person hosting the Twitch and others watching the stream. Meaning if you were curious about something specific you can just ask. You may even get a personal demonstration. I agree you can watch youtube videos, but this is a bit more interactive.
 
lcpiper said:
I'll tell you why we do it.

I play World of Tanks competitively and we use Twitch for a few reasons.

1st, we use it to check out the competition and study how they fight, their tactics and level of aggressiveness as a team. It's an intelligence tool.

2nd, we use Twitch so our teammates not involved in a match can watch and see if we are making mistakes and identify how we can tighten up our game. It's a self evaluation tool.

3rd, we use Twitch to see how players across the world are adapting to new game features in patches that haven't come to the North American Servers yet. It's a planning tool.

So that's why many people are more then willing to watch others play a game when they could be playing one themselves.
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This here answers the question from a clan/guild perspective. I love to watch good LoL games on twitch because it teaches me how to use characters better, how to view a map differently, different play styles.

I watch good CS:GO matches to get a better idea of certain maps I may not be to familiar with and learn more play styles. Often times a good player will even point out a lot of hiding spots campers like.

I like to watch WTFOsaurus twitch because hes been showing off Star Citizen and trying to re-ignite the Shattered Horizon community (Shattered Horizon is an awesome game). Plus he has some pretty nice give-backs to the community (giveaways and the like).
 
Smackethdn said:
Without even reading the article that quote is such a bad analogy it boggles my mind. Easily playing an organized football game in your backyard is not easy nor realistic for most people, especially compared to buying a game and just playing it. Also comparing a professional football league to a gaming oriented online video service doesn't even compute.
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Come on. All it takes is you and 21 friends, tens of thousands of dollars worth of pads and other equipment, and a nice flat 360'x160' piece of land with lines painted and goalposts at either end.
 
cvinh said:
I watch a lot of Kripparian, more so back when he played PoE and came up with amazing builds.
ﾉ
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I rarely watch twitch, but one of the few memorable moments while I was watching was Kripp fighting Diablo on Hardcore before the nerf. It was amazing seeing it happen live and watching the chat go crazy.

One of the few reasons I will watch Twitch is to see very skilled players playing at a level I cannot. Just watching the average player play a casual game is not for me.
 
I sometimes watch CohhCarnage because he tends to play new games, but I mostly watch speed runners and speed run competitions.

There are many reasons to watch others playing, depending on each individual's approach to video games.
 
I watch Lirik for the dumb shit he gets himself into (ARMA III Altis Life mod especially, sometimes Day Z)

I watch the Pokemon guys (mrbeargaming and justinflynn) just for background noise sometimes, and for shiny hunts

I watch the FGC like Pandaxgaming, aquasilk (for the lulz), prbalrog and when events are going on (EVO, CEO, etc.)

It's no different than turning on ESPN, really
 
Youn said:
Guys like to watch NFL for the "scenery" too.
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By scenery do you mean big sweaty guys playing grab ass? :D If you mean the cheerleaders, I could understand watching football if 90% of the time they focused on them instead of the game. :p
 
ravx25 said:
Well enough people do like it to the tune of 9 billion dollars. The NFL makes a killing. I, for one, love watching football, but I would never give into the fees charged by the NFL. I just sit at home and watch.
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And Britney Spears sold over 100 million albums. That doesn't mean her music is any good. ;)
 
I'll jump on the bandwagon in that I don't understand why people would want to watch others play video games.

I play plenty of video games myself because it's fun to play them, but watching someone else play is tedious and very boring.

And the supposed "explanations" that involve asking "well why do people watch football on TV?" Those do not help me to understand because I also do not fully understand why so many people like watching sports either.

But you don't have to try to explain it. I've already decided that I'm not really ever going to understand it and that's OK heh.
 
Twitch provided a good source of gaming entertainment during a period of my life where I was confined to a bed unable to do anything. An alternative to gaming since I couldn't game myself.
 
Couldn't the reason simply be that entertainment is different for different people? Why must people have to justify what they enjoy to people that don't enjoy it?
 
upallhours said:
One of the few reasons I will watch Twitch is to see very skilled players playing at a level I cannot. Just watching the average player play a casual game is not for me.
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I mistakenly thought of myself as a fairly skilled pub TF2 player until I watched some of these 6v6 or Highlander matches on Twitch. I know nothing compared to those guys.

The Ars Technica NFL analogy doesn't really work. It does for eSports casts- but those casts are still fairly rudimentary and have MILES to go before they become like professional sports broadcasts. (even color commentary still mostly amateur) And the majority of Twitch streams aren't eSports at all.

Six months ago I didn't see the point of Twitch either.
 
lcpiper said:
I'll tell you why we do it.

I play World of Tanks competitively and we use Twitch for a few reasons.

1st, we use it to check out the competition and study how they fight, their tactics and level of aggressiveness as a team. It's an intelligence tool.

2nd, we use Twitch so our teammates not involved in a match can watch and see if we are making mistakes and identify how we can tighten up our game. It's a self evaluation tool.

3rd, we use Twitch to see how players across the world are adapting to new game features in patches that haven't come to the North American Servers yet. It's a planning tool.

So that's why many people are more then willing to watch others play a game when they could be playing one themselves.
Click to expand...

Thanks for showing a valid reason, I was having problems coming up with one. I still don't see how it could be worth 970 million though.

I don't watch sports so it's very unlikely I'd ever watch Twitch. To me, it's fun to do sports and games, not fun to watch sports and games.
 
As a streamer on Twitch. Why do people watch me play video games? Because I entertain them. Why do I watch others play on twitch? Because they entertain me and in many instances I am learning something from them on how to become better myself.

Not everything that you find entertaining I will and visa versa. Many people enjoy sitting around watching sports, or TV or movies. I find this more enjoyable.
 
Remember that IF we had put all the time Gaming into becoming Body Builders like Arnold, we wouldn't need the NFL for seeing hot cheerleaders because they would be crawling all over us and our huge muscles! :)
 
i960 said:
By scenery do you mean big sweaty guys playing grab ass? :D If you mean the cheerleaders, I could understand watching football if 90% of the time they focused on them instead of the game. :p
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That's what MMA is for, 2 muscular, sweaty guys in thongs dry humping each other for 20 minutes with an occasional swing at each other to try and convince you there's nothing gay about it..;)

But seriously, people watch twitch because they're too fat and lazy to drag their ass off the couch then put in a disk to actually PLAY the game, so they watch someone else play instead.
 
Love football. Love gaming. Can't stand watching other people play games. Not disparaging it, just never going to be something I enjoy. As someone said above, barely enough time to game myself, much less watch someone else do it.
 
I had more fun watching people play DayZ than I ever did playing it, namely because playing it involved going up against cheaters every 5 seconds and having the entire server killed as a result. I couldnt even enjoy the game and get to those "oohh aahhh" moments.
 
MANY people in this thread obviously don't actually like to read articles but only rail against bylines to announce their own mental/moral superiority.

The VERY next lines....

article said:
The analogy isn't perfect—you need good weather, a group of friends, a field, and decent physical fitness to play football, after all—but the basic relationship is the same. Twitch has become a phenomenon because watching the best players in the world is often more entertaining than participating as a relative novice.
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Someone explaining why people like to do something is being taken as direction as why YOU should like to do it, when that is clearly not the reason. I took it as an attempt to explain to non users/viewers why so many seem to like it.

The need for some here to disparage others' interests is........ the usual internet crap.

BB
 
FrEaKy said:
....

I like to watch WTFOsaurus twitch because hes been showing off Star Citizen and trying to re-ignite the Shattered Horizon community (Shattered Horizon is an awesome game). Plus he has some pretty nice give-backs to the community (giveaways and the like).
Click to expand...

is there any momentum for this? I'd love to play some SH against humans...
 
When I was a teen, we played football in the snow at sub zero temps in shorts and tshirts.
Grant it, it wasn't the brightest thing to do, but in Ohio where it gets really freaking cold you take what you can get. Hell, we even used to play football on the ice.
 
I watch a fair amount of League of Legends streaming.

Here are some reasons:
- I can watch at times I can't play.

A game on Summoner's Rift can take an hour. I have a child that may need attention at a moment's notice. If I don't have an hour block of time, I can watch on Twitch and if I need to get up, I can. I also can stream on my phone at work, where I can't actually play

- I can learn from people better than me

A good deal of LoL streamers focus on how to improve play. I'm not very good. They are, and are willing to share tips and tricks. People will ask questions in chat, they'll answer, etc... It's almost like a basketball summer camp the pro NBA players do... only it's free and available anywhere.

League play is a ladder system, people naturally want to climb the ladder. You can't necessarily do this just by playing, you need to improve your play to if you want to climb in ranking.

- It's somewhat interactive.

Things happen, people can ask questions and those questions get answered. This is neither as interactive as actually playing, nor as passive as TV. It's a middle ground, but there is some social interaction happening

- It shows a "different game" than what I'm able to access on my own.

League, being a ladder system, has different types of players at challenger / diamond 1 level of play vs. the silver 2-4 where the vast majority of the players are. The game is played TOTALLY different at Diamond 1 than at Silver 4. If I'm Silver 4 level of play, the Diamond 1 players, are quite literally playing a different game than I am if I play. It may have the same name, and same map, but you are only 1 out of 10 players in the game. The composition of the other 9 players makes a huge impact in the game. Streams are the only way for someone at a low skill level to have exposure to the game at that level of play.

- Tournament / LCS / professional games

This is where you absolutely can draw the comparison to professional sports. Just as you can watch basketball and see things like pick and rolls, zone defense, etc... and play armchair coach, what would I do, etc... You can do the same with these eSports; The professional LoL / DotA broadcasts have this interest.

In football, you might say something like 'why are they running a cover 2 in this situation?' There are similar strategies in these kinds of games you can be entertained by or strategies you can understand, question and do mental gymnastics with.
 
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