• MidRomney@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      28
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      You know how people watch videos of master carpenters or cobblers or whatever the fuck do their jobs expertly? This is like that but with videogames instead of building shit.

      Alternatively, you know how people watch dumbasses with endearing personalities do whatever the fuck? This is like that. Exactly like that.

      • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        8
        ·
        1 year ago

        People watch carpenters so they can get ideas on how to make useful things. Games are meant to be fun, not constructive. So, I still don’t get it.

        It does seem like you’re second point is more valid This is just reality TV. I’ve never understood that, either, though.

        • Tavarin
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Games can be competitive. Or maybe you are having difficulty in a certain game and want to learn strategies to get better at it, even if it isn’t a competitive game.

        • Meowoem@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          I listen to podcasts while doing carpentry and watch streamers or YouTubers while coding or using CAD it’s a great way of holding focus and taking away the urge to rush. Bikini hulahoop streamers are just as good side noise as gamers, nothing important so you don’t get distracted but interesting enough to stop boredom.

        • Sarmyth@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          16
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          We can all trivialize each other’s interests.

          Most blacksmithing videos I’ve seen aren’t as funny as the gaming videos. Besides even though I find it interesting, I think watching a sword getting made live would be boring as fuck compared to the action and pithy banter of many streamers.

          Edit: I mean, there’s a whole industry around watching other people game. I find most sports boring, but I’d just be wrong to critique it like you’re doing right now.

    • dong@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      14
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Personally, I enjoy watching people who are better than me play a game. One of my favorites is Insym, dude is just incredible at figuring out the mechanics behind gameplay and screwing around with the game engine. It’s really interesting to watch him figure stuff out and test his theories in real time.

      On the opposite end of the scale it can also be hilarious to watch someone like Jerma walk around talking about food while ignoring the most obvious things in the game. It’s like a mobile ad that makes you want to play the game just to do it right.

      There’s plenty of trash content on twitch but there are definitely creators that make watching them play a lot more about their personality than the game itself.

        • Sarmyth@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          1 year ago

          It actually isn’t. Which is why some of the highest skilled athletes in the world watch gameday footage on top of their practice and conditioning.

        • GBU_28@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          Unstructured practice is only one form of skill enhancement. Alone it is not usually an effective tool. That’s why coaches, books, training regiments exist for all sorts of things from sports to chess to games

        • The Picard Maneuver@startrek.websiteOPM
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          I practice too, but I still find it helpful to watch chess streamers talk through their thought process in the moment rather than reading/watching a structured lesson.

    • rosymind@leminal.space
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      I can’t do it, either. The only way it’s tolerable is if I’m sitting next to them and can occasionally grab the controller (husband and I get through 1 player games this way, currently playing The Sinking City)

    • Asafum@feddit.nl
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      For me it’s nice to have someone playing the same game as I am while I’m playing, the streams are usually long so I don’t need to worry about stopping to find something new to put on and I learn stuff about the game I might have missed or just never knew. I live alone so, depending on the streamer, the conversation is also nice to have around.

      I can’t say I’m one of those that only watches a stream though, I need to be doing something other than just watching lol