Streaming, and why I won't be doing it regularly anymore

Hey, so I've been thinking lately about streams and stuff and how streaming as a whole, while it definitely has its priceless moments, is most assuredly A Commitment.

I realize it might not look like that from the outside. Those of us who only see Twitch as a viewer are kinda conditioned to believe streaming is something anybody who has a computer and wants to do can Just Do. This falls apart fairly quickly when you consider the graphics, system capability, planning, charisma, and time commitment it takes to stream successfully, and even just navigating Twitch as a community/platform. And while it's definitely become more accessible over the years, I still think that it's not something just anybody is cut out for. And slowly over time, I think I've begun to realize that it isn't really how I want to be spending my time, at least right now.

I think a lot of that has to do with how I intended to *use* streaming when I began working online full-time. Captioning streams came about as a happy by-product of YouTube's awful decision to remove community captioning, and I figured the gaming streams would help me stretch my improv muscle and enable regular communication with you all with regards to the whole Working Online With Viewer Support thing.

But in truth the other reason I incorporated streaming into my work was because I saw financial opportunity there. I saw that, based on my own habits, I was giving more money to streamers each month than to artists via Patreon, etc. I surmised that may be true for other folks like me as well, so I figured if I got on Twitch and cultivated a regular audience I could rely on that as a secondary revenue stream.

And don't get it twisted: The support over there has been incredibly generous and I'm so grateful to everyone who has subbed, sent tips, and even just spent time in chat. Truly, y'all are the sweetest <3

However, unlike my YTPs, video essays, and mashups - all things I consider passion projects - streaming is a thing that needs to be profitable for me to feel good about doing it. In many ways, streaming reminds me of my old warehouse job; I didn't mind doing it (I even liked it at times!) and I tolerated the bad days because it was keeping me housed and fed. But streaming isn't doing that, and it's not on-track to do that either.

It's also worth noting that there's a mental health rationale behind my decision to step back from streaming. Twitch likes to show its creators their stats and doing so invites direct comparisons to other creators. I've never liked comparing my work to other creators regardless of how well I'm doing. It feels icky. On good days, I become arrogant about my successes, and on bad days I feel useless because I'm not performing as well as my peers. It already happens enough with my other projects and I don't need another Thing to compare. Especially with regards to people I'm trying to connect with as peers rather than competitors.

What does this mean for you?

I won't be quitting Twitch altogether. Streaming can still be a fun and rewarding time so I still plan to keep the Twitch channel up and work with Altair when it launches. Who knows? Maybe my tune will change if Altair takes off and keeps the promises its devs are making. Going forward, the only streams I'll be doing will be special events and occasional, spontaneous streams. You know, things I can really get excited about doing without the burden of financial worry.

I won't be posting weekly schedules in the Discord. The big reason for these initially was to let everyone know what was being streamed that week, but going forward the #announcements section will be for advance notice of big projects like Ellie-mentary or Mashup collections, as well as misc. important updates and the announcement of planned event streams.

YTPs will have captions immediately upon upload. I imagine this is great news for those who need the captions for accessibility. When a video is uploaded I'll be writing the captions myself before making them public so that you don't have to miss out on a new upload while waiting for captions. Unfortunately this means I won't be doing captioning streams anymore (and considering how much I haven't been looking forward to showing the Windows Movie Maker-era videos on stream? Couldn't have happened at a better time!) But I will still be captioning those old videos in my own time, so please remain patient while those steadily roll out. I encourage anyone in the Discord to use the #dathings channel to ask questions and have our little deep-dives in lieu of the streams.

Manage your Twitch subscriptions at your own discretion. If being a Twitch subscriber is a way you'd like to continue supporting me, I will most certainly not say no, but please weigh the cost and come to whatever decision makes sense for you. I only get 50% of the subscription money. If using the emotes elsewhere is worth the price of entry, by all means keep doing it, but it's not a support method I'm going to push for anymore. If it's simply a question of supporting me, I'd wholeheartedly prefer that $5/month become a new or bolstered Patreon pledge :)

Couple other quick things:
- Mods will retain their modship status on Twitch
- Rice (channel points) can not be transferred or redeemed for a non-Twitch thing, but it won't disappear either
- I won't be adding new Sound Commands. We've had our fun with requesting them and now there are more than plenty to enjoy when it's stream time.

Thanks for sticking with me and for understanding. If you have any other questions or concerns about this change, feel free to let me know!

Thanks <3