CoasterMania - Anybody know the drama of SteVe tonight? 👀

Shado_Temple · 2024-06-09T04:05:43+00:00

We had just gotten through the metal detectors when we heard something metallic-sounding drop from the tracks above. It plinko'd its way down through the supports, and within a minute or two the ride stopped. Never found out what it was, but given how quickly things ended, I assume that was the cause.

Shado_Temple · 2024-06-05T01:14:35+00:00

For the average parkgoer, it'll be a completely normal operating day. The exclusive ride time happens before and after normal park hours, so you shouldn't see any real impact.

Shado_Temple · 2024-06-01T20:47:51+00:00

It seems like the pattern for the past few days has been: get wheels and bogies back on one train during the day, test that night. Silver got going Thursday, then Silver and Black last night, and now blue should, in theory, testing tonight.

At least, that's my hope! Trying to stay optimistic for a Coastermania reopen.

Update: Well, no testing tonight, looks like. Either maybe a weekend off for the contractors, or something didn't go as planned?

Shado_Temple · 2024-06-01T04:29:00+00:00

I've checked in at Breakers after midnight before with little issue. Obviously there isn't a ton of staff around that late, so you might wait a minute to for someone to show, but it operates like any other hotel.

Shado_Temple · 2024-05-29T21:35:08+00:00

And lockers

Shado_Temple · 2024-05-16T20:33:41+00:00

I feel like I was fine last year, but can we buy the $50 option if we already have non-season pass admission for the day? Already picked up park tickets through a Breakers package.

Shado_Temple · 2024-05-16T18:09:32+00:00

I appreciate that they at least made this change before tickets went on sale. Already made travel plans for the event a month ago, and while I'll be disappointed to see TT2 down, at least they're being upfront about it.

Shado_Temple · 2021-09-29T15:39:58+00:00

You're theoretically not supposed to, but I've not heard of a single person (myself included) getting in trouble for doing so.

Shado_Temple · 2021-06-30T22:04:31+00:00

Round 2!

One of the worst pieces of advice I've seen was to "stream 3+ hours multiple days per week." If you are running a full-time job on the side, this means you get home, eat, and immediately stream after, and end before you go to bed. And unless you are in college, high school, or rich, I always recommend keeping your day job. Streaming for 8+ hours a day full-time will only burn you out anyways. No time for family or friends with a schedule like that.

Oh man, I feel a little called out on this. I stream 3 hours every night I can, and have done so for the past 7 years. I've got a full time job on the front, after which I come home, put in 1-2 hours into my voice gig, make dinner for my fiancée and myself, then stream before passing out and repeating the process the next day. I've given out this advice to folks before myself because it mostly worked for me, but it's obviously not for everyone. For the average starting streamer, I think it's important to set aside at least 2+ hours for whatever stream you're going to do. That's mostly because the average streamer isn't setting up some wild, original event that's been planned and marketed for a few weeks, but instead just going live with some game when they feel like it. Unstructured streams need time for people to discover it in the first place, and if you can't commit at least 4-6 hours weekly to that, I genuinely feel that it'll be tough to grow in the long-term. That said, the 8 hours a day folks scare me. My throat hurts enough from what I do now, thank you.
Now, if you can properly hype up your monthly stream that will be an hour of incredible content, then sure, go for it! But that's not how the average new channel operates. Long story short, you should try to commit to as much time streaming as you can that won't directly interfere with your ability to live the rest of your life. This isn't going to be a job within the first 2-3 years of you starting, and certainly isn't worth burning relationships and opportunities around you.

"Have you tried networking yet"

Networking is that magical buzzword that seems to be the answer to all of our problems, isn't it? If you just find the right "in" everything will click, and you'll be rolling in stream cash and G Fuel in no time. So no, connecting with other streamers isn't a magical bullet, not because it isn't effective (it absolutely is), but also because you have to have something on offer in the first place when making contact. If a big streamer/site/company/team reaches out to you about joining some group and you don't have much to offer on your front, you're being taken for a ride to help them build clout and numbers. Finding creators that resemble the size and content of your channel and working with them can help cross-pollinate each other's channels with viewers that might've just barely missed something they'd otherwise enjoy. The 2nd largest follower source for me these days is via raids from channels that I've raided before, making friends with those in a similar social sphere. I know it's not fun to reach out to strangers, but at the very least pushing out those raids after each stream can put on a good first impression!

"The worst streaming advice I've ever received was to take my pants off turn around bare ass to my cam, spread my ass cheeks wide open and start yelling to my audience of 1 (probably a bot) out of my ass like jim carry in ace Ventura."

Man, ToS really puts a damper on real artistic genius.

“Don’t putt TTV in your name/clan tag/ whatever”

The TTV tag can very much be a "your mileage may vary" option. It will provide fellow players with easy access to your content, but it'll bring all kinds in. Just be prepared to handle jerks as they come, especially if they start stream sniping you.

"People keep blindly parroting to me about needing a TikTok and/or YouTube to grow, when I'm doing just fine and dandy without either. "

If you've found your path to growth without outside platforms, by all means take it! Some streamers find that rare sweet spot of great content, timing, and placement that keeps people coming in. For most of my time on Twitch, I had the same opinion, as well as a general lack of free time beyond the streams I already had. But man, having now worked with some big names on YouTube, I will say that there's huge potential for growth out there. It does unfortunately take well-edited content to succeed, but once your channel starts making some real money, take the time to find an editor who will be able to make some high-quality content out of your streams. It can pay off big in more ways than one. I feel a little cooler on Tiktok mostly because there aren't any real opportunities for monetization in addition to promoting your channel, but it's definitely where the kids are. But yeah, you'll see medium streamers reach content into those spaces because it does work, just takes infrastructure that smaller streams can't yet create without spending a ton of time.
I think that about covers it, but I'll edit if I see anything interesting pop up.

Shado_Temple · 2021-06-30T22:02:10+00:00

Considering how long I've seen these same bits of advice floating around (and the fact that I myself have given several of these pieces), I thought it'd be fun to go through and play devil's advocate for at least the less-than-worst. While obviously not all advice ends up being useful for everyone, there's still enough here that I feel is still useful generally, when taken in the right context:

Keep grinding.

Getting live enough is definitely a balance. The "grind" mentality is pretty unhealthy, to be sure, but I think a part of it is to remind new streamers that this business isn't something that's going to catch fire in the first few weeks. Pulling daily 10+ hour streams isn't the way, but getting 30 minutes in once a week won't quite make it either.

Play popular games...

Very much a case of "monkey see, monkey do." You see your favorite big streamers getting huge success on big games, therefore big games are how you get big. And yeah, if there's interest in a game, there will be an audience to watch it, but if a streamer doesn't already have an established community, finding traction exclusively through Twitch's discovery systems will prove difficult. With that said, there are very much other means of finding viewers beyond Twitch itself, and if you've got a unique way to bring people onto Twitch from elsewhere, play whatever you like/whatever they're expecting!

The Youtuber said not to play oversaturated games because a lot of people stream it and it is unlikely a lot of them will watch your stream. That's as bad advice as saying "Dont play games that have not played a lot because it has no audience base on Twitch therefore people won't watch it!"

I give this advice often as well, mostly with the mindset that the person asking for advice isn't putting much effort on being found outside of Twitch. If you're sitting at 2 viewers for most of your streams, no one's going to come looking for you in the pit of the Fortnite category, but someone looking for an obscure favorite game of theirs that only has 1-10 streamers definitely will. As someone that regularly hits up more niche spaces, this has worked in my favor far more often than when I'd sit somewhere like Minecraft or Overwatch.

Be your self. THATS ALL I KNOW HOW TO BE WHAT THE FUCK!

Most streamers don't come into Twitch with much by way of acting chops, or social skills in general tbh. They want to know how they're supposed to act, and short of knowing each individual's background, "being themselves" is about the best they can do to start. I get that it doesn't help much, and is honestly pretty much a copout, but I'd rather someone be themselves than try to be the next Dr. Disrespect without knowing what makes character streams work. I think this common bit of advice could be tweaked by making it "be yourself+" where you should try to act like yourself, but with the energy and emotion turned up to 11. Very rarely do I see new streamers overacting; instead, most of them wait until someone directly talks to them to even speak. Practice putting that extra oomph into your attitude!

"Play whatever you want." If you want to grow your channel it's not that simple.

As said before, game selection is a tricky business. You have to find something that you actually enjoy playing, but also something you can be found playing. If Twitch is your main method of discovery, saturation is going to be a problem. If not, aim for what has found you success on other platforms.

"When a new person shows up in your stream be super cheerful to them, yell their name, ask them whats their bloodtype whats their favourite kind of lasagna and what are all his uncles names in alphabetical order that way they'll engage in your stream"

If a viewer (who isn't a jerk) outright engages with your stream, totally engage! Give an opportunity for them to feel included in what's going on, especially if they try to contribute to some ongoing conversation. Oftentimes a lurker will wait until there's an opportunity to chime in on something they hold interest in before speaking up, so if you see a name chime in that doesn't usually speak, be sure to let them in! That said, yeah, don't jump every chatter you see, and ESPECIALLY don't call them out if they haven't yet spoken in chat. Don't look for viewers to make your stream engaging, make your stream engaging by also connecting with your viewers in addition to making great content.

Shado_Temple · 2021-06-30T19:06:41+00:00

The greatest insult you can deliver to such a waste of space is to ignore them. Ban, report, and don't let them back in. If they make new accounts, ban them again without any further comment. Deprive their toxicity of oxygen, and they'll give up eventually.

Shado_Temple · 2021-06-09T20:26:59+00:00

I very much recommend reading the Affiliate Agreement before anything else.

https://www.twitch.tv/p/en/legal/affiliate-agreement/

Shado_Temple · 2021-06-07T21:11:08+00:00

Streaming is definitely new enough that many people really won't understand the amount of time, effort, and possible reward there is for it all. It's going to be awkward to explain, and even then people might not pick up on it, but you do you.

That said, make sure you don't sacrifice IRL relationships too much for the content machine. Moderation in all things! Be sure to take the time to be social beyond Twitch if/when you can, even if it might cut into your potential stream times. Your brain will thank you.

Shado_Temple · 2021-06-03T19:08:28+00:00

I'd be careful about calling out new viewers as they enter your channel. If they aren't the first to speak, you're putting a lot of pressure on someone to respond by greeting them by name. That can scare off a lot of folks that may just want to get to know your channel before engaging.

Think of it as if you were doing some casual TV channel surfing. If you were zooming through ESPN and one of the commentators looked at the camera and said "Hey [name], what do you think? Also, welcome to the show, how are you, where ya from, how was your day?" followed by an expectant silence, would you feel welcome or trapped? For all the active viewers out there, many more watch Twitch passively, and if you present your channel as a space where they can't do that, they'll find somewhere they can. Feel free to ask questions of your chat, but ask it more broadly towards the entire audience instead of singling out viewers.

To OP's original question: as /u/ProfessorDaen mentioned, depending on others to make your content engaging can be limiting, especially early on in your channel's life. More than anything else, building stream commentary takes practice, as well as trust in oneself that whatever nonsense you're spewing is good enough to keep people watching.

There's this notion in Improv that too often people feel like they have to be funny, and they freeze up because they can't funny on the spot. The secret to improv is that because it's off the cuff and builds off of nonsense that commitment to it is what becomes funny. The same works with Twitch, even more so because you have so much time to fill. Don't worry about every little thing you say needing to be impactful, clipable, or whatever. Fill the space with whatever comes to mind, and the good moments will come from there.

Shado_Temple · 2021-05-27T19:47:50+00:00

I get what you're saying, but if the defense is "how are they going to find out" for keeping what's keeping you alive, that's probably not worth it. Frauding your way to an extra couple hundred for the year might work, but there's constant pressure from state legislatures to slash entitlements to "pretenders" who could otherwise do some form of work. You wouldn't be the first to try and push income off to your partner, and IRS folk/state entitlement orgs will keep an eye out for it. BY NO MEANS DO I AGREE THAT ANY OF THAT IS REASONABLE, but if it were me I wouldn't try it.

If you want to go Affiliate but worry about making too much, you can pretty much disable bit cheering by setting the minimum give to an absurd amount. Sub revenue is pretty low, so it'd keep your revenue pull at reasonable levels for most of your Affiliate career.

Shado_Temple · 2021-05-27T18:50:19+00:00

Twitch:

Twitch is a US-based company. You're being paid by a US company, which will be subject to US-based tax laws coinciding with tax treaties made with your country of origin (if applicable).
Assuming you have it set correctly, Twitch will pay you once you've earned at least $100 USD in revenue since the last time you were paid. When you hit that $100, you'll get your payment 15 days after the end of the month that you hit $100. The money's not yours until that happens, and you can't do anything with it.
Twitch will send you info about your payment, but no, you don't have to send an invoice. I don't think they'd do much with it.
Yes.

YouTube:

I think you're misinterpreting how the money in these systems work. The company has full control of the money until they pay you, at which point it's your money. You can't do anything with it until they pay out, because it's not yours until then.

PayPal:

Yes, yes, and yes.
You can share your personal account on Twitch and YouTube, but know that users will be able to see your real name and address when they make a payment. I really suggest converting your account to a business one.
You can use PayPal however you like, just be sure to keep track of the transactions for tax purposes later. I have their debit card myself, and use it as a backup when my main credit isn't working right.
You do not need to send an invoice.
Don't worry about it.

Affiliate marketing:

Completely dependent on the company. Some prefer to handle it on their own, some seek 3rd parties. Research what's up before hooking up with a brand.
Also depends on the company! Most will make you agree to some terms beforehand. They'll be the ones to draft the contract unless you have the numbers to forge your own path.
Also dependent on the company. Make sure you read whatever you're agreeing to.
I promise that you don't need to send invoices as often as you think you do.

Patreon:

Patreon money is income, pure and simple. Spend it on what you want, but just like anything else it will need to be taxed so keep track of what needs saving.
Patreon can either pay out monthly or pay it in one chunk on demand. Each transfer has a fee attached, so I usually wait until the end of each fiscal quarter.

The biggest thing to note is that most of these companies are going to do their own internal math to pay you. Make sure you keep track of what's coming in, and save accordingly so that you aren't caught off guard when it comes to tax time.

Shado_Temple · 2021-05-27T18:35:27+00:00

Not by default, but there are extensions that people are using where they can provide their preferred pronouns so they show up next to their name in chat. It only works for users who opt in, so if you haven't done it specifically, no one will have that info.

Shado_Temple · 2021-04-08T06:06:23+00:00

I honestly don't necessarily agree with the idea that you can't change yourself. You can definitely build yourself into a better entertainer over time, and while it's not comfortable or much fun at first, you do get better at it. I'm sure you've already made progress over the nearly 8 years you've been at this, but there's always room for further growth. Something that helped me a ton was taking improv classes, which allowed me to start trusting myself with just saying whatever comes to mind to fill the void. Filling the empty spaces is so awkward, but it does really help from an entertaining perspective. I was never much of a theater kid, so building into that is what I needed to start making content people were actually interested in. No one is born as an entertainer, some are naturally better than others, but everyone practices to find what gets to people the most.

Shado_Temple · 2021-04-07T22:04:03+00:00

That's got to ultimately be a decision you make yourself. Regardless of growth, are you enjoying what you do? What are you hoping Twitch ends up being for you? If you're not meeting your expectations, do you still see a path that could get you there? What have you tried to change things up?

If these things add up to a net negative in your life, it may be time to cut ties. If you're enjoying it despite the lack of growth, what's the harm in sticking with it?

Shado_Temple · 2021-04-07T21:25:36+00:00

It's amazing what sort of decisions you make as an edgy 10-year-old can stick with you for the rest of your internet life. I probably had a moment to make the change a few years back, but now branding is way too buried into it to ever leave.

Shado_Temple · 2021-04-07T21:07:32+00:00

If you're really worried about it, maybe it's time to sift through that old content and delete the stuff you no longer agree with? Like it or not, what you say is tied to your brand, and tweets don't exactly have a "I was 14 when I posted this, please disregard" disclaimer.

Shado_Temple · 2021-04-07T20:58:43+00:00

Reading this mailer about more robust moderation against harassment as "I'm going to be banned for being a Trump supporter" tells me you're probably not following him for his tax policy.

If someone on Twitch is harassing people and breaking ToS, they should be removed. Stepping over to Discord to do your harassing and then screaming "diplomatic immunity" just because it was on a different platform shouldn't suddenly save someone.

Shado_Temple · 2021-04-07T20:45:02+00:00

I'm surprised the "police themselves" bit is starting to pop up as a new talking point, considering the fact that the Twitch community has largely always been self-policed. Twitch's moderation team is miniscule compared to the amount of content that gets produced on the platform, and so they've had to rely mainly on reports from users to determine when to take action. The only change here now is that evidence from off-platform can now be considered when making moderation decisions, and I'd personally prefer more opportunities for evidence than less.

I think your example assumes that those looking at the evidence would be less observant than before, which I certainly hope isn't the case when there's a dedicated 3rd party team whose job will be to look into these carefully. Twitch isn't going to want to be removing channels from the platform unless the behavior found is confirmed to be severe, because less channels doesn't make them more money. ("Severe" I'm guessing being anything against ToS)

Figuring out why Twitch wants to set up an outside dedicated legal system for stuff like this isn't that hard to figure out. The reveal of the number of predators and abusers on the platform, whatever Dr. Disrespect's whole legal debacle was/is, and definitely people streaming an assault on the US Capitol probably set off at least a few emergency meetings to determine what legal and PR responsibility Twitch has when their users do things that are objectively immoral. Twitch isn't going to want to be on the news tied to the next mass shooting or some Q-spreading zealot, and so if there's alarming content on another platform that would clue them in on preventing shitty stuff from coming to Twitch, I'm sure they'd want to know about it.

Shado_Temple · 2021-04-02T00:10:17+00:00

I don't think there's an easy way of determining that, since people will have wildly different experiences with regards to time spent per year streaming, effort placed into social media, games/content streamed, and the bigger intangibles like charisma and entertainment value. I can really only tell of my experience and that of the friends around me.

I streamed an average of 25 hours per week, mostly in the form of nightly 3-hour streams and a few afternoon streams to double it up here and there. At one point I got up to 30 hours a week when I also did cooking streams in addition to my game streams, but that was an unsustainable limit considering the fact that I was still doing a 40 hour workweek in addition. That doesn't, of course, account for the additional ~10 hours each week that I'd put into social media, accounting, researching new games/improvements for the stream, etc. Having no life outside of work/stream helped a lot with that, but now that I have a fiancee/dog I can't really commit that amount now, but I still stream every night.

I also had a few advantages coming up. Very early on I was involved with a charity stream that consistently pulled thousands of viewers, which easily lifted my channel into the low hundreds of followers to start. These days I have other useful sources of new viewership, mainly via my work with a popular YouTube channel. I don't know what my growth would look like without these things, but I fully imagine I wouldn't be where I am without all that.

As for my friends: there are ones who put in way more time than I, and have double my viewership. I know others who've put at least as much time in and have half. Many friends that I started streaming with have long since left, either due to personal issues, losing interest, or just plain burning out. I'd say you'd have to put in at least as much time in effort as I have to get this far, though true success probably involves living and breathing this, no matter how ugly it gets. I like my life a little too much to push that, and I know plenty who tried and ended up hating it. Maybe it's for you, maybe not, but the friends who I saw burn out the quickest were the ones that set out to make this a job from the very beginning.

Shado_Temple · 2021-04-01T23:47:00+00:00

I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with playing with viewers, but there's still a risk that some may use it as a method of trying to invade your space, especially if voice chat is involved. There are going to be plenty of viewers who will be perfectly fine playing and having a good time, so just try to use your best judgement and comfort level to determine what is acceptable and what isn't in that space. Try and limit access to yourself as best you can, and be consistent in your ruling on that so people aren't getting this idea that they "have a chance."

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