For games that I find interesting but with atrocious gameplay, no-commentary lets plays are the best. Telltale games Walking Dead series and the first Witcher are two games that were made for lets plays.
I don't understand why Let's Plays have become so popular - Can someone explain it?
- Thread starter dscross
- Start date
That's true.Ezekiel said:
There is a "lets player" that I do like though and he's literally the only one. I discovered "Many a True Nerd" back when Fallout 4 survival first came out. He's the only one who's personality doesn't feel like an attempt at being more entertaining than the game. All them other jagoffs come off as attention whores hahaha. I can't stomach not a one of em.
I don't watch lets plays but my daughter watches unboxing videos. This shows me two things that I don't think has been brought up yet.
1. Vicariously getting new toys. She watches many toy unboxing. She is generally excited see new toys even if she doesn't get to experience it in person. I'm not going to by all the toys for her. This restricts the physical toys she has. Unboxing lets you have a greater variety of virtual toys
2. Vicarious play. There is a certain way each person plays with the toys. Some get personas and a voice. Some put them into funny situation. My daughter replicates this play with her other toys but adds some imaginary ones too.
1. Vicariously getting new toys. She watches many toy unboxing. She is generally excited see new toys even if she doesn't get to experience it in person. I'm not going to by all the toys for her. This restricts the physical toys she has. Unboxing lets you have a greater variety of virtual toys
2. Vicarious play. There is a certain way each person plays with the toys. Some get personas and a voice. Some put them into funny situation. My daughter replicates this play with her other toys but adds some imaginary ones too.
Supergreatfriend is pretty down to earth too. He doesn't talk through cutscenes or try to make himself more important than the game. He plays a lot of weird games with bad gameplay that I'd never want to actually play myself, too.ZombieProof said:
Well,
-As a review or preview of a game.
-Keeping up on the storyline of a game you aren't playing yourself for whatever reason (finance, system exclusivity, regional restriction, who knows)
-Walkthrough/tip purposes.
-A sort of substitute or simulation of the "water cooler discussion" idea. Obviously its not (generally) a two way dialogue with the LPer, but there's a historical trend of people wanting to share/hear others experience of games. Adding on to that, if you participate in the comments (or discords or whatever) for a channel that matches your own interest, youll probably be able to have discussion with those of similar interests (that particular case starts to go out the window when you get into the people with tens of thousands of subscribers though)
In the broader sense, there's also just the same idea as watching/listening to any other form of media content. The presenter provides some sort of humor or engaging aspect. Whether thats a riff track style on the game, outside stories with the game as a backdrop, or critical commentary or discussion of the game or games in general.
-As a review or preview of a game.
-Keeping up on the storyline of a game you aren't playing yourself for whatever reason (finance, system exclusivity, regional restriction, who knows)
-Walkthrough/tip purposes.
-A sort of substitute or simulation of the "water cooler discussion" idea. Obviously its not (generally) a two way dialogue with the LPer, but there's a historical trend of people wanting to share/hear others experience of games. Adding on to that, if you participate in the comments (or discords or whatever) for a channel that matches your own interest, youll probably be able to have discussion with those of similar interests (that particular case starts to go out the window when you get into the people with tens of thousands of subscribers though)
In the broader sense, there's also just the same idea as watching/listening to any other form of media content. The presenter provides some sort of humor or engaging aspect. Whether thats a riff track style on the game, outside stories with the game as a backdrop, or critical commentary or discussion of the game or games in general.
This is what I wondered for the longest time about as well, until I started liking Pewdiepie.
- If it's a game you've played yourself, you get to see someone else's reaction to it, giving the feeling of playing with a friend or getting to show all the good parts to someone
- If it's commentary heavy (to the point where the gameplay is almost secondary, like with Pewdiepie), it's a sort of form of improv comedy, since all the reactions are spontaneous, unrepeatable and right on the spot. This combined with the visual humor from editing makes it a rather unique form of entertainment
- Some Let's Plays also work as background noise, like Yahtzee's (sadly defunct) Let's Drown Out, or Super Best Friends Play. I like listening to L.D.O in particular when I paint Warhammer figures.
- The most comedy-heavy and frantic types, like Game Grumps, cross over into Rifftrax-style entertainment, where the humor is the main focus.
- If it's a game you've played yourself, you get to see someone else's reaction to it, giving the feeling of playing with a friend or getting to show all the good parts to someone
- If it's commentary heavy (to the point where the gameplay is almost secondary, like with Pewdiepie), it's a sort of form of improv comedy, since all the reactions are spontaneous, unrepeatable and right on the spot. This combined with the visual humor from editing makes it a rather unique form of entertainment
- Some Let's Plays also work as background noise, like Yahtzee's (sadly defunct) Let's Drown Out, or Super Best Friends Play. I like listening to L.D.O in particular when I paint Warhammer figures.
- The most comedy-heavy and frantic types, like Game Grumps, cross over into Rifftrax-style entertainment, where the humor is the main focus.
Thanks man! I'll check it out.Drathnoxis said:
*edit*
Yeah man, this dude's stuff is quality. Thanks for the heads up!
- Vicarious play/nostalgia. I loved playing deep, immersive games like Morrowind and Tie Fighter in my youth, but as a busy adult I simply don't have the time anymore to put forth the necessary investment. It's more expedient to hop onto YouTube and watch someone else have a crack at it for a bit.
- Developer commentary. I'm a fan of the "Thrawn's Revenge" mod for Star Wars: Empire at War. I keep tabs on the creator's YouTube channel, where he often posts LP's of the latest internal builds of the mod. He keeps people updated on the team's progress and offers some insight on the work that goes into such an undertaking.
- Discovering hidden gems I may have missed. I tend to gravitate towards small LP'ers who focus on niche/retro/indie titles. They help me keep track of potentially great games that have fallen through the cracks.
- I usually don't watch more...exuberant LP'ers like Markiplier, but I'll make an exception for "rage games" like Getting Over It. No way in hell am I going to subject myself to stuff like that, so I may as well enjoy a bit of schadenfreude watching them flip their shit over it.
- Developer commentary. I'm a fan of the "Thrawn's Revenge" mod for Star Wars: Empire at War. I keep tabs on the creator's YouTube channel, where he often posts LP's of the latest internal builds of the mod. He keeps people updated on the team's progress and offers some insight on the work that goes into such an undertaking.
- Discovering hidden gems I may have missed. I tend to gravitate towards small LP'ers who focus on niche/retro/indie titles. They help me keep track of potentially great games that have fallen through the cracks.
- I usually don't watch more...exuberant LP'ers like Markiplier, but I'll make an exception for "rage games" like Getting Over It. No way in hell am I going to subject myself to stuff like that, so I may as well enjoy a bit of schadenfreude watching them flip their shit over it.
Well, they are useful for getting a first impression of a game that isn't an advertisement for the game itself. It's usually a more hands on preview. They're also better than written walkthroughs for figuring tougher parts of some games.
That said, the overwhelming majority of Let's Play'rs have zero personality or ability to be genuinely funny so they make up for that by either being a loud, obnoxious twat or else just spouting stream-of-consciousness garbage. Most are best played muted. The only guy I watch on semi-regular basis now is Chris Scullion because he was a professional games journalist for like ten years so his commentary is actually pretty well informed.
That said, the overwhelming majority of Let's Play'rs have zero personality or ability to be genuinely funny so they make up for that by either being a loud, obnoxious twat or else just spouting stream-of-consciousness garbage. Most are best played muted. The only guy I watch on semi-regular basis now is Chris Scullion because he was a professional games journalist for like ten years so his commentary is actually pretty well informed.
Only time I watch a Lets Play is to see if I would like the game before I buy it, or to see how a particular mechanic works if it is giving me issues.
There was a puzzle with this set of blocks in the newest Deus Ex that was giving me issues so I looked up a lets play to see how the player there did it.
There was a puzzle with this set of blocks in the newest Deus Ex that was giving me issues so I looked up a lets play to see how the player there did it.
There's generally also too many games out there for someone to buy / actively play now. Adding to that, unlike "early gaming history", very few games put out demo's nowadays. So it's a useful way to figure out what you're gonna be spending money on as well.
I don't have time to play all the games I'd like to many games at all between work and family life, maybe I can get in a few hours here and there over a fortnight, but I can throw a let's play on the 2nd monitor while I'm at work and enjoy it vicariously through someone else.
There's only one reason I use them - when a game is too hard or is no longer fun and I don't feel it's worth the effort to see the end. I actually do this quite frequently, maybe for about half my purchases.
Dude, I went out of my way to say that it wasn?t intended as a criticism and it came from a place of curiosity rather than malice. It?s just a question about the world for some insight into a topic I wanted to gain some understanding of. You sound offended for no reason. Chill. Have a KitKat or something.Jadak said:
Ah you see, now that makes sense to me as to why it?s THIS popular. Most answers here didn?t really satisfy me as to why people like pewdie pie have millions and millions of followers, rather why you might occasionally watch one (which wouldn?t make up the huge numbers). But that sort of makes sense. so they are mainly marketing to young children who can?t get games themselves?Marik2 said:
I've got several reasons for watching Let's Plays.
- There are times when work and other responsibilities leave me tired and listless in the evening and I just want to lay back and be lazy. Where I might have the free time to play a game, but no motivation to put in even that small amount of effort. So I watch one or two Let's Play episodes instead.
- There are games I'm interested in, but which are on a system I don't own and have no intention of getting. Let's Plays let me experience them vicariously and if the commentary is also entertaining and/or insightful, that 's a win-win in my book.
- Some Let's Players have personalities I enjoy and/or are funny in my opinion. Some are good at analyzing games from a narrative, design or other angle and have interesting insights about them. My favorite Let's Players usually have both qualities to some degree.
- There are times when work and other responsibilities leave me tired and listless in the evening and I just want to lay back and be lazy. Where I might have the free time to play a game, but no motivation to put in even that small amount of effort. So I watch one or two Let's Play episodes instead.
- There are games I'm interested in, but which are on a system I don't own and have no intention of getting. Let's Plays let me experience them vicariously and if the commentary is also entertaining and/or insightful, that 's a win-win in my book.
- Some Let's Players have personalities I enjoy and/or are funny in my opinion. Some are good at analyzing games from a narrative, design or other angle and have interesting insights about them. My favorite Let's Players usually have both qualities to some degree.