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Sturmer's avatar
Sturmer

I've discovered that simply playing games like Minecraft or completing single-player missions can be somewhat monotonous. It's not just about the gameplay; engagement is key. Therefore, I've found success with games that are either familiar or don't require my full attention. This approach allows me to play semi-afk while engaging with my audience through discussions, sharing thoughts and ideas. It transforms the stream into an interactive experience.

Having a co-streamer or guest also adds dynamic to the stream. They can initiate conversations or stories, making the stream more lively and entertaining.

Regarding tech-review live shows, I adopt a 'crash course' approach. Instead of focusing solely on the specifications of a device, I start by discussing the product category. I aim to educate viewers about what features are genuinely useful versus what's just marketing hype. I also delve into use-cases and potential combinations of technologies. This educational and comprehensive approach seems to resonate well with an audience.

Brother Grimoire's avatar
Brother Grimoire

My most successful stream format is to play a game that I enjoy, but interact with my audience as much as possible.

A lot of my regular viewers come to the stream not just because of what I stream, but because of our interactions as well. Building that connection to your community and promoting the parasocial relationships that streaming content facilitates will elevate creators by building a solid foundation of friends and fans that are invested in you and your content.

Retro Stu's avatar
Retro Stu

I started off with every intention of just doing games but more for my own enjoyment I decided to branch out.

I'd already done a few episodes of a podcast on Spotify etc. during the pandemic but eventually I saw that with chat interaction it could be a lot more fun and trigger a lot of talking points. The idea of the pod being simple - we'd pick a year ahead of time, my guest would then be allowed to pick one of each: movie, video game, TV show, animation and toy from that particular year. We'd talk about honourable mentions or things that were so bad for that year that they are worth talking about. Then with the addition recently of me also picking my items and leaving it to chat to vote for whether they bring my item or the guests item back.

It was very informal and really like a group of friends just nerding out and getting nostalgic. These streams actually became the highlight of my schedule because I got to hang out with and chat nonsense with a friend and go down a rabbit hole of all these movies, shows and games I'd forgotten about.

I also tried a couple of music making streams and because I'd talked about it often enough I did a teardown of a Game Cube on stream and modded it with LEDs in the control ports. Something I know inside out (literally!) so it was a very calm crafting stream with people pitching questions about how to do things, what else is possible etc. There's nothing quite like people getting excited over something you're passionate about and being able to share your knowledge.

Really the best advice I can give is if you're passionate about something don't be afraid to try it, it's better to try it and it not work out than never do it and wonder "what if?".

Lanah Tyra's avatar
Lanah Tyra

Maybe because that was the first thing I streamed, for me raid streams seem to work the best. People are not that interested in early stages of progression, but whenever we were close to a checkpoint or clearing a fight my viewer counter always picked up.

It's not easy to keep the engagement with chat when I'm also on Discord voice chat talking to my group or leading a raid for 48 people and explaining strategies, but I always reply to chat between pulls and people seem to be happy with it.

I started to stream more casual content where I can have a more relaxed chat with my viewers but those streams are not popular enough yet, so usually I just end up staying "in character" and comment on the story from my characters pov.

avrona's avatar
avrona

As a tech YouTuber, there's not many opportunities for me to do livestreams. While obviously I could do stuff like PC builds or whatever, I just don't have the budget for that. What I found works best for me is just tuning into presentations from the big companies like AMD, Nvidia, Intel, Samsung, etc. and just reacting and giving my thoughts over them. While I do know reacting is considered bottom of the barrel content, I do like to think I add something to the presentation, giving my own thoughts on it, and it's a great way to earn exposure as people search for the presentations on YouTube and find mine. They perform surprisingly well, with highs of up to 8 or so concurrent viewers, which for my channel is a lot.

FirestormGamingTeam's avatar
FirestormGamingTeam

Okay so this goes back a few years

I would stream Eve Online, I would either be Fleet commanding 50+ players in lowsec frigate roams or doing PvE content.

Eve by its' nature appears "complicated" by its UI when in fact the truth is the very opposite, so I would always have the title "Ask Anything, I'll answer" and people would come in and ask questions. I found this format created a "safe" space for new players to ask whatever they wanted and I had my two moderators DemonGateUk and CelestialFlea who would enforce the rules on mocking new players and from not asking questions.

It also generated chat and content for other users who would make it a practice to come to the stream and hang out just to help new people understand the game, we also of course did competitions, giveaways, etc.

A good stream is a safe stream, have the mods remove/mute toxic people, and keep it semi-swear-less if possible i.e. from the streamer and just present yourself as you.

Laura's avatar
Laura

Lately, a big thing I've learned is - being flexible, reading the vibe in the room, bouncing off what chat is doing.

Lately, I've had a lot of incidents where I've been gaming and then chat is just too good and we pretty much abandon the game and just chat about literally ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. We'll start off with something that happened in someones day, then we spiral into funny childhood memories, sad stuff, mental health topics and sometimes; even politics. I tried to avoid these topics initially when I started but I quickly discovered that I have a lovely community who are capable of sharing their thoughts, feelings and opinions without being a horrible person and without dragging others down and until that changes or something becomes problematic, I plan on continuing to allow it.

I never expected I'd be capable of just forgetting the game and having conversations with random people on the internet when I first started streaming but I've been fortunate enough to find the most delightful people on the internet who I can have laughs and jokes with, I can have serious discussions with and share that with other people.

When I first started out I could only DREAM of having people who truly engage in my streams and want to just hang out together and now I feel like I have it, so if you don't have enough interaction to do this, that's fine; keep going and it WILL happen. I class myself as an exceedingly boring person and could never have imagined I'd be able to welcome people into my streams day after day and I couldn't be anymore thankful for it.

TL:DR: No format, only flexibility. Read the room, do what feels right. If your finding a game becoming stale or your not vibing with it one day? Throw on Words on Stream and some music, chat to people and you'll gradually find your groove

Boomer's avatar
BoomerMod

Shoutout to Ross for suggesting this bounty. Let's hear your tips for a successful streaming format!

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