Guild Wars 2

I asked this in another thread, but I’ll ask again. Who are these people and why do they matter?

Because the people who follow these streamers are kids/teenagers at best. They idolize them because of their e-fame and ride their coattails trying to get a whiff of their “success”. This is why these streamers typically have a wall of shout outs to whomever donates because they know people will just to have very little recognition.

serenke.4806:

Impact, what impact? Who is this guy anyway?

Because a bunch of people follow them, so when ever they stream Gw2 it gets bumped to the front page of twitch; this + the thousands of people following them is good publicity for the game.

(Note: I never heard of nay of these guys before this, nor do I follow them)

Lambent.6375:

serenke.4806:

Impact, what impact? Who is this guy anyway?

Because a bunch of people follow them, so when ever they stream Gw2 it gets bumped to the front page of twitch; this + the thousands of people following them is good publicity for the game.

(Note: I never heard of nay of these guys before this, nor do I follow them)

Oh i understand that much. Publicity is good but my point was that his “impact” is like a tiny rock thrown into the Pacific. Some nice ripples where it hits the surface but then it sinks anyway.

Topics like this make me feel old.

Some random makes youtube videos of games he’s playing, and thousands of people watch them in spite of not playing the game themselves and will start as a result? No part of that makes sense.

Unless you’re already considering buying it, or playing and looking for walk-throughs, I don’t understand the appeal of watching someone you don’t know play games. Even with friends, when you’re in the same room, it can be incredibly boring.

Danikat.8537:

Topics like this make me feel old.

Some random makes youtube videos of games he’s playing, and thousands of people watch them in spite of not playing the game themselves and will start as a result? No part of that makes sense.

Unless you’re already considering buying it, or playing and looking for walk-throughs, I don’t understand the appeal of watching someone you don’t know play games. Even with friends, when you’re in the same room, it can be incredibly boring.

I really don’t see what’s so hard to understand about something like this. People become celebrities in different ways and in different areas of culture. People see their favorite movie star wearing a certain article of clothing and that makes them want to buy/wear it too. Not sure why it’s hard to understand that there are actually celebrities in the gaming world and people are entertained by watching them not just for the games they play but for their personality while they play games. If they see one of their favorite gaming celebrities playing a game that looks interesting to them they are more likely to go try out the game.

warbignime.4610:

IllegalChocolate.6938:

he was banned from WoW for account sharing

That was another guy not him. He quit WOW because he think wow’s pvp is unbalanced and boring.

Unbalanced and comes to Gw2?:D Errrm i’m sorry, gw2 is nothing near balanced
EDIT: and Sodapoppin is awesome streamer, he’s kind guy and not really toxic as you described, don’t be judge if you don’t know this person. I don’t watch him daily, but sometimes i do, and he’s a really decent streamer that loves to sell his show. His community and fan basis is nothing different from what we already have, and community won’t change because of him! And if it does, it’s for greater good

All we will get from Sodapoppin is skyrocketing GW2 on twitch, and maybe get some repetition finally. He can get more people to watch him, then we can get into WTS of GW2… just for the record, give this guy a chance, and don’t hate him just BECAUSE rumors.. jezzz..

If Sodapoppin’ reads this! Keep it up! You are more then welcome @ GW2

Firelysm.4967:

warbignime.4610:

IllegalChocolate.6938:

he was banned from WoW for account sharing

That was another guy not him. He quit WOW because he think wow’s pvp is unbalanced and boring.

Unbalanced and comes to Gw2?:D Errrm i’m sorry, gw2 is nothing near balanced

Wow IS balanced, just not for 1v1 or 2v2 etc. All mmo rpgs will be balanced for high numbers of team play like 5v5 and 10v10 and up.

As for sodapoppin, he always played a feral which for most of the history of wow was one of the top pvp classes just due to how versatile is. WoW pvp is however much more in depth so i don’t see what he’s going to get out of gw2

I’ve no idea why everyone is being so negative and dismissive. This guy has tons of followers and can have a positive impact on the game’s PvP scene, which it desperately needs. Obviously the majority of the people in this thread do not watch twitch, and that’s sad, because if Gw2 wants to become an esport, twitch is the most powerful avenue to make that a possibility(it went from maybe 1000 viewers total to soda making it a top channel. Phanta almost doubled his followers in one night because of helping soda).

Why advertisement threads aren’t locked?
Can I advertise my stream here too?

Shinoobi.1259:

I’ve no idea why everyone is being so negative and dismissive. This guy has tons of followers and can have a positive impact on the game’s PvP scene, which it desperately needs. Obviously the majority of the people in this thread do not watch twitch, and that’s sad, because if Gw2 wants to become an esport, twitch is the most powerful avenue to make that a possibility(it went from maybe 1000 viewers total to soda making it a top channel. Phanta almost doubled his followers in one night because of helping soda).

I suppose this boils down to a generation-related problem mostly. To me personally, the concept of (regularly) watching some random kid playing GW2 (or any other game) is utterly alien.

While I do understand the benefits of a video-guide (over a written guide), exactly why I should waste my limited free-time with something I can only think of as a reality-TV-show-version baffles me. Maybe if I was in my early teenager-years desperately looking for some sort of idols or kinship I might, I can’t really say at this point as I’ve left those years behind me a long long time ago.

Ultimately, to me this feels like it has the potential to attract the wrong kind of crow: Youngsters which are easily being manipulated, this being the kind of people I have no interest to interact with in my gaming. Furthermore, they are likely not in a position to be able to regularly support the game beyond their initial purchase of the game. Meaning the regular sum I invest into the game has to be distributed further amongst these new free-loaders.

Personally, I would prefer different sorts of marking for this game.

Fernling.1729:

I think it’s a very positive thing for the game. There will be tens of thousands of people that will be introduced to the game because of him streaming and enjoying it. I believe this to be a huge amount of free advertisement. No better time than right before an expansion too.

I completely agree. I couldn’t care for the guy but, you can’t say that it hasn’t impacted the games popularity a bit (or at least reintroduced it to people).

warbignime.4610:

IllegalChocolate.6938:

he was banned from WoW for account sharing

That was another guy not him. He quit WOW because he think wow’s pvp is unbalanced and boring.

Well he wont be going back once he experiences gw2s pvp

Satenia.9025:

Shinoobi.1259:

I’ve no idea why everyone is being so negative and dismissive. This guy has tons of followers and can have a positive impact on the game’s PvP scene, which it desperately needs. Obviously the majority of the people in this thread do not watch twitch, and that’s sad, because if Gw2 wants to become an esport, twitch is the most powerful avenue to make that a possibility(it went from maybe 1000 viewers total to soda making it a top channel. Phanta almost doubled his followers in one night because of helping soda).

I suppose this boils down to a generation-related problem mostly. To me personally, the concept of (regularly) watching some random kid playing GW2 (or any other game) is utterly alien.

While I do understand the benefits of a video-guide (over a written guide), exactly why I should waste my limited free-time with something I can only think of as a reality-TV-show-version baffles me. Maybe if I was in my early teenager-years desperately looking for some sort of idols or kinship I might, I can’t really say at this point as I’ve left those years behind me a long long time ago.

Ultimately, to me this feels like it has the potential to attract the wrong kind of crow: Youngsters which are easily being manipulated, this being the kind of people I have no interest to interact with in my gaming. Furthermore, they are likely not in a position to be able to regularly support the game beyond their initial purchase of the game. Meaning the regular sum I invest into the game has to be distributed further amongst these new free-loaders.

Personally, I would prefer different sorts of marking for this game.

Perhaps. I’m nearly thirty, and I haven’t watched actual television in many years because of twitch. I enjoy watching a wide variety of games and personalities, but mostly, I enjoy watching tournaments. Most of the people I know watch weekly tournaments of their favorite games on twitch or watch them together over skype even. These people aren’t impressionable preteens.

For instance, more people watched the last League of Legends world finals online than watched the American Superbowl. That’s pretty impressive, and giant advertising industries in asia and america(coke, google) are starting to throw weight behind esports. It’s a fascinating and exponentially growing entertainment market.

It makes me excited as just someone who loves video games.

Satenia.9025:

Shinoobi.1259:

I’ve no idea why everyone is being so negative and dismissive. This guy has tons of followers and can have a positive impact on the game’s PvP scene, which it desperately needs. Obviously the majority of the people in this thread do not watch twitch, and that’s sad, because if Gw2 wants to become an esport, twitch is the most powerful avenue to make that a possibility(it went from maybe 1000 viewers total to soda making it a top channel. Phanta almost doubled his followers in one night because of helping soda).

I suppose this boils down to a generation-related problem mostly. To me personally, the concept of (regularly) watching some random kid playing GW2 (or any other game) is utterly alien.

While I do understand the benefits of a video-guide (over a written guide), exactly why I should waste my limited free-time with something I can only think of as a reality-TV-show-version baffles me. Maybe if I was in my early teenager-years desperately looking for some sort of idols or kinship I might, I can’t really say at this point as I’ve left those years behind me a long long time ago.

Ultimately, to me this feels like it has the potential to attract the wrong kind of crow: Youngsters which are easily being manipulated, this being the kind of people I have no interest to interact with in my gaming. Furthermore, they are likely not in a position to be able to regularly support the game beyond their initial purchase of the game. Meaning the regular sum I invest into the game has to be distributed further amongst these new free-loaders.

Personally, I would prefer different sorts of marking for this game.

I’m 26 and I regularly visit twitch to watch people play games because I enjoy that type of entertainment. Sometimes i’ll watch on my 2nd monitor while I play my own game. Sometimes I’m actually just not in the mood to play a game myself and still enjoy watching a streamer on twitch. It’s entertainment, just a different form.

I’ll also visit twitch to discover new games or see games in action that I want to learn more about to consider a purchase. Watching video game streamers isn’t some generational thing you’re making it out to be. People of all ages watch and people of all ages stream. There are PLENTY of adult streamers out there, not just “random kids” as you so nicely put it.

Mods, can we get this thread moved to the PVP section since that is obviously where it belongs?

thefantasticg.3984:

Mods, can we get this thread moved to the PVP section since that is obviously where it belongs?

but its not. Its a GD thread. It’s where it belongs.

You have to understand one thing. Just because some internet teen celebs got interested in this game it doesnt mean they like it. Look at other youtuber, angryjoe e.g. Gaming is their bussiness. They get paid for what they do. Which means the only reason they’re interested in the game now is because GW2 is going to get an expansion and it’s popular enough to make profit out of it. This goes for every ‘serious’ streamers/youtubers. And by serious I mean those getting paid for their job, because being a clown in front of a camera is hardly serious.

Turgut.4397:

Just googled the guy. No one important, moving on.

^ This. I don’t really understand why these streamers are popular, tbh. And why do people waste their time on watching other people playing games instead of actually playing games? WTF? -facepalm-

I see a lot of people asking" what’s his impact" and others saying he means nothing. To answer them:

The guy alone pushes GW2 to twitch’s front page, often beating WoW’s viewership. You have no idea how huge that is for GW2. This brings more attention to GW2, and with that come new players and popularity. It doesn’t mean only his core fanbase might get interested in the game, but tons of other people who are browsing games on twitch.

If i read this correrctly, this Twitch guy has 16k followers. And GW2 has over 2 mill players.

So if a percentage of his followers pick up the game or not, it really doesnt amount ot much in the grand scheme of the numbers.

And if as OP says, his fanbase are toxic and troll kiddo’s, i expect GW2 will be of very little interest.

Mea.5491:

Turgut.4397:

Just googled the guy. No one important, moving on.

^ This. I don’t really understand why these streamers are popular, tbh. And why do people waste their time on watching other people playing games instead of actually playing games? WTF? -facepalm-

Because it’s entertainment. Why do people watch any tv? Why do people watch sports? Why do people watch movies? It’s entertainment. I don’t understand why just because it involves video games that means watching it can’t be entertainment. I can easily go out and play a sport myself. Does that mean I’m wasting my time when I watch sports on tv? No, because it’s all for entertainment.

Ragion.2831:

warbignime.4610:

IllegalChocolate.6938:

he was banned from WoW for account sharing

That was another guy not him. He quit WOW because he think wow’s pvp is unbalanced and boring.

Well he wont be going back once he experiences gw2s pvp

They always go back. Besides, everyone needs a break from a game once in a while. Also, he makes much more moola streaming wow so it’s just a matter of time before he goes back.

Despite the fact that gw2 has “smoother” combat gameplay, it has far less depth to classes and combat compared.

Kedarrian.2905:

If i read this correrctly, this Twitch guy has 16k followers. And GW2 has over 2 mill players.

So if a percentage of his followers pick up the game or not, it really doesnt amount ot much in the grand scheme of the numbers.

And if as OP says, his fanbase are toxic and troll kiddo’s, i expect GW2 will be of very little interest.

He actually has 660k followers on twitch alone.

Graybes.8251:

Because it’s entertainment.

I wouldn’t call it entertaining but oh well, people are different, lol. Enjoy!

I think his presence is great for the game! Just watching Phant’s stream alone when he was training him, GW2 twitch streams saw a lot of added followers chain over from Soda’s stream. Phant gained an over 50% increase in followers in one day from his interaction with Soda.

This sort of publicity for GW2 is important for a lot of things, but ultimately generates good press for the game. I don’t think anyone should go out of their way to make sure Soda stays on GW2, but when he spends time on the game I think it’s a good thing given the visibility of his stream to a lot of non-GW2 players.

Mea.5491:

Graybes.8251:

Because it’s entertainment.

I wouldn’t call it entertaining but oh well, people are different, lol. Enjoy!

Ok, but it’s still entertainment regardless if you find it entertaining or not. So you acting like there’s something wrong with people watching video game streams is unwarranted. I don’t find golf entertaining to watch but I enjoy playing it. Am I “facepalming”, going “wtf” and claiming people waste their time watching it? No.

600k Oh right. So what is the precise concern again. That they are all bad people so we don’t want them in GW2?

No can’t say i’m troubled if that’s the argument. Following that line of thinking, we’d also say no one who had a Wow account should be welcome in GW2 because of the culture Wow had. It’s just to broad a stroke to make.

warbignime.4610:

IllegalChocolate.6938:

he was banned from WoW for account sharing

That was another guy not him. He quit WOW because he think wow’s pvp is unbalanced and boring.

He will love WvW. Lol

I heard ArenaNet made a personal call to him to let him know they are turning SAB back on in his honor.

So, yeah, overall impact good.

Graybes.8251:

Mea.5491:

Graybes.8251:

Because it’s entertainment.

I wouldn’t call it entertaining but oh well, people are different, lol. Enjoy!

Ok, but it’s still entertainment regardless if you find it entertaining or not. So you acting like there’s something wrong with people watching video game streams is unwarranted. I don’t find golf entertaining to watch but I enjoy playing it. Am I “facepalming”, going “wtf” and claiming people waste their time watching it? No.

I’m not acting like that, I just posted my opinion about it, just like you did. I didn’t understand it first but you explained it and I said enjoy it, then… There’s no need to overcomplicate everything.

Kedarrian.2905:

600k Oh right. So what is the precise concern again. That they are all bad people so we don’t want them in GW2?

No can’t say i’m troubled if that’s the argument. Following that line of thinking, we’d also say no one who had a Wow account should be welcome in GW2 because of the culture Wow had. It’s just to broad a stroke to make.

It’s a broad stroke that apparently many people on this forum are making. There are people out there in every game that have this way of thinking. “We don’t want people from X because they will ruin the community of Y.” People should be welcoming new players to a game they enjoy so it continues to be successful. Not shove them away because you live in a fantasy world where any gaming community is void of any toxic players.

Mea.5491:

Graybes.8251:

Mea.5491:

Graybes.8251:

Because it’s entertainment.

I wouldn’t call it entertaining but oh well, people are different, lol. Enjoy!

Ok, but it’s still entertainment regardless if you find it entertaining or not. So you acting like there’s something wrong with people watching video game streams is unwarranted. I don’t find golf entertaining to watch but I enjoy playing it. Am I “facepalming”, going “wtf” and claiming people waste their time watching it? No.

I’m not acting like that, I just posted my opinion about it, just like you did. I didn’t understand it first but you explained it and I said enjoy it, then… There’s no need to overcomplicate everything.

How can you say you aren’t acting how I mentioned when your post did exactly everything I stated you did? If you aren’t claiming people are wasting their time, saying “wtf” to it and facepalming why did you make this post?

Mea.5491:

^ This. I don’t really understand why these streamers are popular, tbh. And why do people waste their time on watching other people playing games instead of actually playing games? WTF? -facepalm-

Never heard of him. Honestly thought the title was some new wave slang. The day one person makes a huge impact on an MMO is the day I quit that MMO.

No person should have that much influence on anyone’s entertainment.

I think its great. Good for the game, especially pre-expansion.

grifflyman.8102:

warbignime.4610:

IllegalChocolate.6938:

he was banned from WoW for account sharing

That was another guy not him. He quit WOW because he think wow’s pvp is unbalanced and boring.

He will love WvW. Lol

For a couple weeks or until he gets bored of blobbing to victory with auto attacks.

Overall, pvp here is unbalanced and boring as well, and that won’t change anytime soon (if ever).

Graybes.8251:

How can you say you aren’t acting how I mentioned when your post did exactly everything I stated you did? If you aren’t claiming people are wasting their time, saying “wtf” to it and facepalming why did you make this post?

Because that was before you explained it to me? Call me dumb but I honestly didn’t know people watched these streams for entertainment, lol… Now I know, moving on…

lordkrall.7241:

Dondarrion.2748:

Just watching a video now of Phantaram teaching him PvP… how’d Sodapoppin get the Llama Finisher already??

Because the Llama Finisher is buyable in the gem store at rank/level 1? :P

Oh, what the hell… haha, ofc it is I was confusing it with the Mini Llama… all good then!

Kedarrian.2905:

If i read this correrctly, this Twitch guy has 16k followers. And GW2 has over 2 mill players.

So if a percentage of his followers pick up the game or not, it really doesnt amount ot much in the grand scheme of the numbers.

And if as OP says, his fanbase are toxic and troll kiddo’s, i expect GW2 will be of very little interest.

Gw2 on twitch averages with about 1k-2k viewers.

If they want the game to be popular on twitch they should fix matchmaking and make seperate pvp modes so people can specialise and choose what to watch.

Random Hearthstone streamer has more views than GW2 official stream. So the game is not popular or it’s better to play than to watch, therefore streaming GW2 by some individual is only a benefit to him, not exactly to the game.

warbignime.4610:

Well that depends on pvp cuz he’s a big pvp guy, I predict he will probably try to get high rank on leader board.

After watching the stream with Phantaram, that’s probably the best he can do :p

Also don’t know who he is, and don’t really care what he brings to GW2 or not. We already have a solid core foundation of players, and we are doing just fine

Shinoobi.1259:

if Gw2 wants to become an esport, twitch is the most powerful avenue to make that a possibility

Games become popular from having good content that people actually play. Watching someone else play has very little impact on a games success. And, if say you can watch while playing, then the content isn’t very engaging for both of them.

Another person who makes videos about games? Don’t care. Anyone blind enough to follow someone like that makes just about as much difference as he does. If they’re toxic, they’ll be reported swiftly.

Sodapoppin probably set a record for fastest acquisition of a legendary weapon without spending cash. Less than a week!!

A guy pulling 10k viewer wont do much to GW2 tbh.

Mostly because 10k isnt much for a semi well known streamer to begin with.

MMOs are just incredibly boring to watch anyway.
GW2 pvp is especially bad and very uninteresting to watch unless you are very involved into the current pvp meta anyway. Its just too much not visible information that makes stuff look very random unless you know exactly whats happening and whos playing how for which reasons.

Not a good start to pull in new people.

Looks like he already stopped playing. Maybe he will pick it back up when the expansion launches.

So does this sodapopping person not have a forum account? I haven’t seen them on here yet.

I bet he went back to WoW. Someone who is big time in one game will find it hard to start over in another. His WoW audience isn’t going to all follow him and what he does isn’t a big deal in Guild Wars 2.

Well, if he’s on Darkhaven, i just hope there isn’t queue for WvW.

As for popularity, i view streamer fanboys the same as pop-star fangirls. They are no different than screaming tweens at a 1D or bieber concert.

Shinoobi.1259:

For instance, more people watched the last League of Legends world finals online than watched the American Superbowl.

If you read the articles, they say more people streamed the LoL finals than streamed the superbowl. Which is a very misleading comparison considering the superbowl is on free TV.