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Twitch Integration and Benefits

EDIT: As of 9PM EST on Friday, May 11th, 2018 - Steven stated in an interview that there WILL be Twitch Integration. 

As most of us know, when a popular game comes out, or one that is highly anticipated, the general public flocks to Twitch in order to watch their favourite broadcasters play the game. God of War reached over 300K concurrent viewers in its first week of release.

Today, God of War has around 5K viewers, and that's only because of the personalities of the people streaming the game, not necessarily because of the game itself.

Will Ashes of Creation incorporate some sort of Twitch Integration regarding rewarding people for watching the stream? Of course, we are talking about cosmetic items and nothing too extravagant, but even offering the smallest benefit instead of NO benefit for watching an Ashes of Creation stream will surely not only bring people in, but keep them situated and recurring in streamers' broadcasts.

Some examples might include:

  • Connecting your Ashes of Creation account to Twitch.
  • Watching an Ashes of Creation broadcast.
  • EITHER having a chance to "win" a cosmetic item every hour OR a guaranteed win, but of varying rarity/quantity
Long story short (I can get more in detail in the comments below), here are the benefits:

  • More people stream the game in order to receive rewards/garner a new and growing Twitch audience (dedicated fanbase who have incentive to stream, while costing the game devs absolutely nothing in regards to marketing)
  • More people tuning into the game, which NOT ONLY incentivizes them to create an account to begin reaping the benefits, BUT ALSO keeps them tuned into the stream and engaging with the Ashes of Creation community during times where they are not playing the game themselves
The numbers speak for themselves in the end. How many games has Twitch had reaching 100K+ viewers upon release, only to now be down to less than 5K viewers? Too many. 

Not only will the Ashes of Creation fanbase be active and part of the community while PLAYING the game, but they will have the chance to interact with other viewers and, more importantly, streamers/content creators, when they cannot play the game (during work, at a friend's house, abroad, before bed, during a break, during eating times, whatever humans do).

Any questions LMK.

Comments

  • So people should benefit in the game from watching the game play? Odd...
  • Give me moar free stuff!! Rawr!!
  • I never understood people that watch others play games on Twitch.

    I'll watch a good YouTuber of a game I am interested in, but gameplay in Twitch - at least to me - seems like nothing more than unedited footage for said YouTube video.

    To me, it is an exceedingly lazy way to do in game content.
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    edited May 2018
    I think organic viewing would be a lot healthier. If people want to genuinely watch it because the game or the streamer is good to watch great, awesome even. but not because they are bribed with an item.
  • Noaani said:
    I never understood people that watch others play games on Twitch.

    I'll watch a good YouTuber of a game I am interested in, but gameplay in Twitch - at least to me - seems like nothing more than unedited footage for said YouTube video.

    To me, it is an exceedingly lazy way to do in game content.
    I never understood people that don't understand how others watch gameplay on Twitch.

    They'll talk about how weird, useless, and raw of an experience it is, yet they don't bat an eye when they go to watch the SuperBowl or tune in to ESPN. A game is a game, and there will always be a viewership. Not everyone tunes in to see ONLY the game - they come to watch the people playing it. 

    To me, it is an exceedingly ignorant opinion, given the exponential speed that the gaming and streaming world is growing.
  • Noaani said:
    I never understood people that watch others play games on Twitch.

    I'll watch a good YouTuber of a game I am interested in, but gameplay in Twitch - at least to me - seems like nothing more than unedited footage for said YouTube video.

    To me, it is an exceedingly lazy way to do in game content.
    I never understood people that don't understand how others watch gameplay on Twitch.

    They'll talk about how weird, useless, and raw of an experience it is, yet they don't bat an eye when they go to watch the SuperBowl or tune in to ESPN. A game is a game, and there will always be a viewership. Not everyone tunes in to see ONLY the game - they come to watch the people playing it. 

    To me, it is an exceedingly ignorant opinion, given the exponential speed that the gaming and streaming world is growing.
    I'll watch sport if it is professional sportspeople, presented in a professional manner.

    Likewise, if I fount a Twitch stream that was of actual good players, presented in a professional manner, then sure, I'd consider watching it. Thing is, most of the people with this level of competency edit out the inevitable crap in their content and post it on YouTube.

    The vast majority of Twitch streams are more like people broadcasting a local Little League game from their 4 year old phone though. I won't waste my time with that, and don't understand how anyone other than the parents of the participants would.
  • Azathoth said:
    So people should benefit in the game from watching the game play? Odd...
    Give me moar free stuff!! Rawr!!
    You are missing the point entirely. It is not about free stuff - it is about maintaining the flow of being involved with the game past simply playing it.

    We are not talking about game-changing rewards, or even cosmetics at all - merely a few "GP" here and there. Something is better than nothing.

    The idea is to create an incentive that doesn't ruin the gaming experience, yet has the minimum-value to entice players to watch streamers. This has a trickle down effect regarding more people streaming the content of Ashes of Creation.

    These same people tuning in later for the Streamer (their personality, their community, whatever) creates a larger viewerbase, increasing knowledge about the game and is practically free PR.

    No one cares about what the items or "rewards" will be. It's the idea of receiving something of value, no matter how small, that is engaging to the player.
  • Noaani said:
    I won't waste my time with that, and don't understand how anyone other than the parents of the participants would.
    Thanks for your opinion. I'll go tell the 130 million UMV (unique monthly visitors) that Noaani said it was stupid and to stop doing it. Smh.
  • Noaani said:
    I won't waste my time with that, and don't understand how anyone other than the parents of the participants would.
    Thanks for your opinion. I'll go tell the 130 million UMV (unique monthly visitors) that Noaani said it was stupid and to stop doing it. Smh.
    I didn't say Twitch is worthless, I said Twitch gameplay is worthless.

    I'm actually in the middle of watching a few Twitch streams right now.
  • Noaani said:
    I didn't say Twitch is worthless, I said Twitch gameplay is worthless.

    Twitch gameplay is worthless? Tell me, do you think Fortnite would be making $200,000,000 ($200 million dollars) per MONTH... without Twitch?
  • Fortnite is a childrens game.

    These children - by which I mean mentality, not age - absolutely will watch Twitch streams of gameplay footage, because their "friends" watch it and children have a natural need to fit in. It isn't the content they are watching, it is the sense of being a part of a larger thing.

    Ashes is not a childrens game. Ashes players are not children.


  • Noaani said:
    Fortnite is a childrens game.

    These children - by which I mean mentality, not age - absolutely will watch Twitch streams of gameplay footage, because their "friends" watch it and children have a natural need to fit in. It isn't the content they are watching, it is the sense of being a part of a larger thing.

    Ashes is not a childrens game. Ashes players are not children.


    Okay, it seems that your view is extremely skewed, biased and ignorant beyond repair.

    You are too focused about your opinion, so much so that you are ignoring the facts. No one cares that you think watching gameplay is childish. Numbers don't lie. I'll take facts over "lol only kids use Twitch" any day.

    There are countless MMORPG's or "adult games" that see 1M+ viewers each week. Your opinion should stay with your friends and family, arguing at the dinner table about you being a big boy and not watching Twitch gameplay.

    Hopefully the coming months/years will show you the power of Twitch and integration.

    ACTUALLY, just finished watching a live interview with Steven. I asked him the question in the chat and he said "Yes, there will definitely be Twitch integration."

    I rest my case. I will no longer reply to you. 
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    edited May 2018
    Noaani said:
    Fortnite is a childrens game.

    These children - by which I mean mentality, not age - absolutely will watch Twitch streams of gameplay footage, because their "friends" watch it and children have a natural need to fit in. It isn't the content they are watching, it is the sense of being a part of a larger thing.

    Ashes is not a childrens game. Ashes players are not children.


    Okay, it seems that your view is extremely skewed, biased and ignorant beyond repair.

    You are too focused about your opinion, so much so that you are ignoring the facts. No one cares that you think watching gameplay is childish. Numbers don't lie. I'll take facts over "lol only kids use Twitch" any day.

    There are countless MMORPG's or "adult games" that see 1M+ viewers each week. Your opinion should stay with your friends and family, arguing at the dinner table about you being a big boy and not watching Twitch gameplay.

    Hopefully the coming months/years will show you the power of Twitch and integration.

    ACTUALLY, just finished watching a live interview with Steven. I asked him the question in the chat and he said "Yes, there will definitely be Twitch integration."

    I rest my case. I will no longer reply to you. 
    You seem to be extremely angry about someone elses opinion.

    If people want to waste their time watching someone play a game for an hour they could instead spend that hour playing, I'm obviously not about to try and stop them. To be honest, the game is probably more fun without that type of person being online.

    Them watching it - even if people do so in the millions - doesn't mean I understand it or consider it worthwhile time spent.
  • @StolaWabee
    GP incentive, really?
    You want players characters to benefit in game from watching someone play for an hour (guessing) as opposed to playing for an hour?

    As you stated, "No one cares about what the items or "rewards" will be. It's the idea of receiving something of value, no matter how small, that is engaging to the player."

    If no one cares about what the items or rewards would be, why have them?
    If you have to receive a reward to do something, maybe it's not always worth doing? ...or it's work.

    I have no problem with people playing and streaming on Twitch. If peeps want to kill some time and watch, that's great for them, the streamer, and yes the community. If the stream is good, people will watch. If Ashes makes a good spectator sport, people will watch. Having IS officially endorse one streamer over others (or multiple streamers) by giving away gold (or anything really) is, imo, ridiculous.

    If the streamer wants to donate some dollars and award someone enough cash to buy a cosmetic from the cash shop, that's awesome. Asking IS to give players that are not playing a game a reward for not playing the game is odd.

    Also, how much of that $200mil/month do you think is directly influenced from the Twitch feed? You can look up the stat or ballpark it for me, I'm just curious as to what percent you think it is.
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    edited May 2018
    I typically watch people play the MMORPG I'm playing while I play the same game.
    And I'm often chatting via twitch more than I participate in in-game chat.
    The guilds I join are typically comprised of followers of a favorite twitch streamer.

    Landmark streamers were able to keep people watching by raffling cosmetics at random intervals during the show each hour. Seems like it would be good advertisements for promoting Ashes, but...
    I dunno how that would work since we can't gift items - but could be an item each month specifically designed for official Content Creators, I suppose.

    The item doesn't have to have a benefit beyond social rewards - something that can be worn or equipped at in-game parties and events.
  • I love the idea of Twitch integration. I was someone who said "Why do people watch Twitch?" for years. Over the past 3 months I have about 3-4 streamers that I watch regularly. As for rewarding viewers with in game items, I am less enthusiastic about that idea in an mmorpg. A card game? Yeah, I think that works. But not in an mmorpg.
  • Fantm, we should get Neuro to weigh in. I think I won a Landmark costume from one of his streams.
    There were definitely times I stuck around for an extra hour only for the raffle when Omeed streamed Landmark.
  • While I can see the possibilities of granting viewers rewards, as my two cents I have to say the community I believe Steven et al wish to grow is one that enjoys the game for the game, not for the rewards they can get. That tends to create a false sense of loyalty, and when the free stuff stops those who were used to getting them get hot and bothered and leave. Now, what a streamer does to reward loyal viewers is up to them, but I don't think that Intrepid should have to resort to bribery (or at least be expected to) outside of the game to keep a playerbase. If the game is fun in and of itself then the players will come. So do I think Ashes should see support on Twitch? Sure, getting publicity is not a bad thing. Do I think people who may not play the game should be rewarded for not playing the game? Nah.
  • A streamer that feels they need to give stuff away is a streamer that doesn't think their content is worth watching by itself.

    A viewer that stays watching a stream just to get something for free is... well... cheap.
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