The Real Househusband of Anchorage?

I have a made a significant change in the way that I broadcast my gameplay. Since earlier this month, everything is now being streamed live to my YouTube channel and every single one of these sessions will be saved in perpetuity, as long as Google survives us all until the end of the universe that is. You have probably noticed a new link at the top of the blog entitled "LIVE from the Game Room" and the permanent Gaming Diary slot on top of the page. I had previously been streaming on justin.tv/twitch.tv for 11+ years and the time I have spent there was definitely interesting to say the least. I have learned a whole lot about myself, especially over the past couple of years when the viewership numbers have dwindled down to practically nothing. These past few months had me questioning the motivation behind my insistence to attach live streaming on top of every single one of my gaming activities.

Haven is a place on earth.

I have come to the conclusion that a live audience is not something that I want to continue pursuing because in my experience, the influence that they have over my perception about the game being played - not to mention all the side-stepping to avoid the spoiler minefields - doesn't gel well with the sincerity and purity of the actual gaming experience. As a simple example, let's say that I have arrived at a new area in a game. Then, there will always be a viewer who would comment that it was his or her favorite area in the game, thus hinting that there is something special happening there and this would spoil the fun for me because I don't get to come to that conclusion for myself. There is a difference between actual gaming and social gaming. The latter is still gaming but I am all for the former. Broadcasting to my YouTube channel allows me to completely shut down the viewer chat as a default, thus eliminating that unnecessary part of the broadcasting experience. YouTube also allows me to archive everything that I live stream easily and that saves me a lot of time. I enjoy finding highlights from my past gameplay but the idea of keeping a diary that contains all of my gaming sessions is quite a radical concept though in actuality, not necessarily the most original nor is it the most entertaining. It's just like those reality shows, where these reality stars wanted everything in their lives documented (the things they want to flaunt and the things that advance the narrative), only here everything in my gaming life is really documented and nothing is scripted. I am happy to have come to this point and nowadays whenever I go live, I feel free and comfortable in what I am doing. Live-streaming myself playing games doesn't have to change the original excitement and enjoyment I used to experience before I discovered justin.tv and now, it has become what it was meant to be: a mere enhancement instead of an unwelcomed transformation.

Update Note: 07/12/2021 - I have removed the link to the dedicated live page because the live footage is now able to play from the top section of the page whenever I am live while displaying previous sessions when I am not.