Poll of the Day > Games that you would rather watch people play than play yourself

(+) Yeah! (+)

I think Oblivion is a great example of this, the Remaster release has been great for streaming content

I like watching streams and Let's Plays but only of games I've already played!

Until Dawn / The Quarry. There is no reason to spend 60 dollars on a linear experience with no replay value and it doesn't seem nearly as fun to play alone as it does to watch an entertaining person provide commentary while "directing" the plot themselves.

I only watch streams of games that I've played before.

Big e-sports/streaming competitive titles, like Fortnite, Counter-Strike and League of Legends.

But like "normal" sports, I'd only ever watch professional play.

Yes, but qualified.

Solo streamers? Not really. I generally find them boring as shit, and predicated on parasocial relationships with chat that I refuse to engage with. Twitch as a whole basically doesn't exist for me. Not interested, pass.

For gameplay? Not really. The more competitive your play, the less interested I am in watching it. Nor am I really interested in the full opposite, where some idiot screams and overreacts to every aspect of a game because they've discovered that stupid teenagers will watch their videos if they act over the top enough.

But I do watch a fair amount of "people-playing-games" content on YouTube. Mostly pre-edited videos with a group of people, where the appeal is the interaction between the players more than the game itself. Stuff like Achievement Hunter (before it went to shit) or the Yogscast. I watch less of that these days than I used to (mainly because a lot of the groups I used to like either got worse or fell apart completely), but there's still a few I'll check out now and then. Usually as background noise when I'm playing games myself.

I will also occasionally seek out full walkthrough videos on YouTube, usually for games I'm playing myself and which I've gotten stuck in (so I'm basically trying to see what I'm supposed to do next), or for way older games where I'm interested in the overall story but which I'm probably never going to play myself (I've watched a fair few oldschool point-and-click adventure games this way). Though with those my rule is usually that I want the player 100% muted . If I'm looking for those sorts of videos at all, I want to see the game, not hear some asshat rambling over the gameplay.

Sometimes I'll look for videos of reviewers playing a specific game I'm interested in and want to see if it looks like something I'd want to play, but there I'm less interested in straight-up gameplay as much as I'm basically looking for a review that uses game clips to emphasize its points more than I'm looking to watch a gameplay video.

Literally none. I dont see the appeal at all.

Glob posted...

Literally none. I dont see the appeal at all.

As much as I hate the concept of eSports, the appeal would presumably be the same appeal as watching someone else play baseball or football or even chess rather than simply just playing it yourself.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

As much as I hate the concept of eSports, the appeal would presumably be the same appeal as watching someone else play baseball or football or even chess rather than simply just playing it yourself.

I dont see the appeal in that either.

Outside of eSports, it's more like watching a comedian or live musician. Or just hanging out with a friend. I don't see the appeal of watching gameplay for the "skill". Speedrunners are incredibly boring to me.

Platforming games like Getting Over It, Jump King, Only Up, Alt F4, The Game of Sisyphus, A Difficult Game About Climbing etc.

Also Trickshot Simulator

I don't like watching others talking while playing tbh.

@MrCokeacola this is the way ?

signalis

interesting game but I am completely uninterested in actually playing it

I'll watch people do challenge runs and such that I have no interest in doing myself. JupiterClimb is a fun one with all his Castlevania content.

EvilResident posted...

@MrCokeacola this is the way ?

Sure, that is how I beat Expedition 33. Saved me a bunch of time this weekend due to over 50% of the game being Youtube skippable.

I like watching people build in Minecraft. I really struggle to make good looking builds

papercup posted...

I like watching people build in Minecraft. I really struggle to make good looking builds

I use to watch some SDV videos. One person named their cat after their cat in RL.

I may watch a bit of a video if I'm stuck on a part of a game but I don't see any point in watching people play something when I could be playing it myself.

OneEyedShinobi posted...

I don't like watching others talking while playing tbh.

This too. If they talk I mute.

wwinterj25 posted...

I may watch a bit of a video if I'm stuck on a part of a game but I don't see any point in watching people play something when I could be playing it myself.

This too. If they talk I mute.

When they start barfing memes or sounding drab, I fall asleep.

'Yes'

There was a show on cable where folks played video games (Player Select), but it likely didn't keep ratings up to stay around. Personally, I tried to tune in like someone would with a weekly drama.

Games that you would rather watch people play than play yourself

Fortnite
Valorant
Street Fighter 6 (Elena will show you her dance, but it can't be with safe for work Capcom era)
Texas chainsaw massacre
Dead by deadlight (I wish it had offline bot play so @%# much)

If you answered yes? You might like a little old game called: cuckhold simulator?

Hate streamers.
I will watch Youtubers who do docu-lets plays or challenge runs. Anything longer than 1-2 hours is way too much for me for one sitting, and those are basically reserved for analysis videos and not people playing video games.

Judgmenl posted...

Hate streamers.
I will watch Youtubers who do docu-lets plays or challenge runs. Anything longer than 1-2 hours is way too much for me for one sitting, and those are basically reserved for analysis videos and not people playing video games.

Have you considered watching a youtube video at 2X speed so you can watch 2 hours in only 1?

MrCokeacola posted...

Have you considered watching a youtube video at 2X speed so you can watch 2 hours in only 1?

No, that defeats the purpose. I am listening to videos as background noise. Someone silently playing a game or talking to chat is not interesting to me. I am not 10. I understand parasocial relationships are vapid.

Judgmenl posted...

No, that defeats the purpose. I am listening to videos as background noise. Someone silently playing a game or talking to chat is not interesting to me. I am not 10. I understand parasocial relationships are vapid.

Not what I was getting at, but I understand.

Rarely.

I can't think of any games I haven't played that I enjoy watching, but I do sometimes watch videos of mods that I haven't played for games that I have played, mostly to see how said mods pan out and end up changing the game (sometimes as a review, sometimes just because I like to see what other people have done with the game).

Man, I love Silent Hill, but no way in Hell am I putting myself through the wonky ass SH4 gameplay.

When I do watch playthroughs, I watch ones with no commentary. I normally can't stand when youtubers record themselves playing games. It isn't that they can't be funny, but they're just so genuinely stupid that they can't even appreciate the games they play. I couldn't make it through one episode of markiplier playing Fatal Frame for this reason. It's a fantastic franchise with deep lore, and it's like all of humanity's ability to understand even ankle-deep concepts just vacated his brain instantly.