Practices and guidelines regarding gaming and live streaming…
Streaming 301: Practices, practices, and practices
A general insight into personal, professional, and other practices to keep in mind when it comes to gaming & streaming.
Quick Recap: In Streaming 101 and 201, we covered all the preliminary information on streaming. We covered various aspects of streaming, such as mind, money, and tech. We even covered aspects involving design and persona. We ensured that our rig provides the gamer and the ‘My Rig, My Identity.’ kind-of vibes.
Now keeping all that flashback in mind, let’s step up the game and learn the practices and the daily drills you’ll need to deploy to make your streaming journey kickass and your results badass!!
A streamer, just like any other guy online, has to keep in mind the various practices and protocols involved in the online world. Respecting guidelines and abiding by them daily differentiates an ideal online citizen from an online wacko.
Where an online wacko knows no boundaries when it comes to being a jackass, an ideal online citizen, especially a streamer, knows its boundaries and respects them at all costs to provide its viewers and followers with the content they deserve.
Remember, healthy online practices are a must not just for a streamer but also for every ordinary citizen, especially in a country where lack of awareness is a bigger problem than these unfortunate events.
A streamer has to practice a particular set of drills and protocols, which can be categorized based on their agenda, previous data, present situation, future impact, pros, and cons, etc. Primarily, they can be indexed under 3 categories:
- Personal
- Professional
- Others
1. Practices at a personal level.
Practices based on implementation at a personal level are essential for all. These involve your health (physical and mental), social life, diet schedule, and balance between Livestream and LifeStream.
As a streamer, most of your time will be spent around screens, lights, and sounds. All of these contribute to lifestyle-borne diseases that affect the human brain, eyes, ears, arms, and legs, and that’s just at the physical level; other effects that take effect at the psychological level also need to be considered.
As a streamer, you don’t need to be online 365x24x7. There’s a thing called social life that you, as a streamer, definitely need to have so that you don’t go completely bonkers someday. There’s an age-old proverb: “You are what you eat.” And trust me, when I say this to you, I mean it.
If you want to grow online like the almighty Hercules, you need to feed yourself that way. Eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly, and a sound and enlightened mind and body await you. Remember, a certain amount of balance between your online and offline life needs to be present as well.
2. Practices at the professional level.
Practices based on implementation at the professional level are equally important. However, history is witness that personal and professional aspects of anyone’s life don’t go well together, and mixing them would result in a deadly cocktail of misfortunes.
At the professional level, as a streamer, you should remember that practice and consistency are essential. Interaction with people, even if there are zero viewers on your stream, should be there, along with a dash of optimism. Remember, like stars, streamers are not born; they are made.
You have to be professional, and your professionalism is reflected through your optimism, patience, and consistency. Try working on your skills, online presence, and attitude, and you’ll do wonders in progress. Review and analyze your gameplay and your stream. Write notes on what you did well and poorly, the reason, and how you can improve accordingly.
Word of advice: Do make a gaming portfolio for yourselves and keep it updated.
3. Practices at other levels.
Practices based on the implementation in other aspects could include legal, financial, etc. We cannot compute every possible aspect, but these two are very important. Regarding legal terms, as a streamer, you would eventually stream for any organization on a contract basis.
Many streamers later end up as just streamers or esports professionals for that organization. But if you get conned, you will need some help to save you and potential gamers and streamers from getting duped by shady organizations and people.
This is where Cyber Laws and law enforcement departments and portals, EPWA, and other advocates that specialize in online gaming could help you out. One of the most prominent faces in the legal advisory in cyber laws, esports, should you enter that scene via streaming, is Dr. Mitsu Chawda.
In the light of recent events, several Esport events were canceled because, on an investigation conducted by the legal authorities, their organizers were found guilty of duping players. Financial aspects involve the economic aspects, such as the expenditure of money in areas where actual, potential utility is observed. Bankruptcy should never be in your worst-case scenario. Be smart, safe, and vigilant.
That was all for this session. Remember, keeping these practice drills in your mind won’t cut it. You’ll have to put them to good use and get to the upper ground to seize the game.
Last but not least, remember the following cryptic words of wisdom if you want to excel:
“Learning to fight with a sword or painting a stroke with a brush begins with learning to respect its ways. Only then will the sword and the brush pay their respects back to you and become mere objects and an integral part of your limb and life.”
Next Checkpoint: Streaming 401: Out from the Dojo, into the Big Leagues.
