Over this past weekend, I flew down to Atlanta Georgia to attend the BCX (Brawlhalla World Championship Expo) 2022 esports event. Since I'm already involved in the brawl community, this was a perfect opportunity for me to go meet so many other content creators, developers, and professional players.
The whole entire experience was absolutely phenomenal. I got to meet so many cool people, win in game rewards, and just enjoy being in the city of Atlanta. Once again, I want to reiterate the importance of socialization, as it's probably the best benefit out of esports. Being able to be social and with the best players in the world is such an amazing feeling. I was also able to learn so much from talking with so many different people.
What Went Down
To further explain, Brawlhalla is 2D fighting game consisting of dozens of legends with unique abilities brawling to the death. I've been a Brawlhalla streamer for a little over a year and a half now I've gotten to meet a lot of the other streamers like in the pictures above.
This past weekend was the Brawlhalla World Championship and players from all over the world like Brazil, Europe, and Australia came here to compete and it was hype.
On the first day pros were coming in playing games on the main stage, side stage, and the other areas. There's was a large area in the center for spectators to watch the matches on the main stage. There was also a merchandise booth, free play area, content creator panel, and lots of minigames for people to earn in game cosmetics. I loved gathering around certain matches that have a large crowd surrounding the players, and whenever someone won the crowd would scream with excitement.
I think what I enjoyed the most was after the day one was over, and I went with some of the pro players and content creators I met and had dinner with them. That's where I got to meet and know them and really have a good time.
Conclusion
Overall, I extremely enjoyed this trip, and it probably is the most fun I've had in a long time. I also really enjoyed being able to be included and spend time with the friends I made online, in person. I invite readers to look into your favorite games and find out what events may be held near you that you could attend. I look forward to attending more events in the future, meeting more people, and even competing in events in the future as well.
Last weekend, this year's TwitchCon was held in San Diego and a lot of things went down during this event. Many things went great with this event, but there were also a few negative takeaways from the event as well. This event specifically is being recognized on this blog because conventions like TwitchCon has some relevance towards esports. Content creation, streamers, social media influencers, and more careers are branches that extend from esports. For those who may not pursue professional gaming, content creation is another route many people take that's a part of esports.
TwitchCon is an event that is held every year in different locations, for streamers, content creators, and fans to come together and meet and have a fun time. This year it was a three-day event in the San Diego Convention Center, where streamers and fans from all over the country attended and had big expectations.
TwitchCon 2022
Overview
As previously mentioned before, TwitchCon was a three-day event filled many different activities for streamers and the audience to participate in. TwitchCon is an annual convention for the livestreaming video platform Twitch. The convention is organized by Twitch Interactive and focuses on the general culture of livestreaming and video gaming. Throughout the entirety of each day, there were multiple different activities the creators and fans could do like community meet ups, meet and greets, musical performance, interactive sessions, and the Loot Cave.
The main purpose for TwitchCon is to be a convention where people can socialize, be free, and finally get to meet their favorite streamers and friends in person. One of TwitchCon's activities during the event is the TwitchCon party. "Twitch announced on Wednesday (Sept. 28) that Megan Thee Stallion will headline an all-women lineup of performers at this year’s TwitchCon Party in San Diego, Calif., on October 8." More information on the party and how Twitch celebrates its creators can be found at billboard.com.
Significance
This significance of TwitchCon circles back to the concept I mention in my previous blog post: Socialization. Socialization is a major part of esports which is how TwitchCon is connected with esports. This also includes other esports conventions and events around the country. This concept is also how streamers, professional gamers, and aspiring esports enthusiasts learn about the actual esports industry. Experience is very important, and there's no greater experience than witnesses and learning in person.
Aside from that, TwitchCon itself had a large and positive significance on the attendants in a lot of ways. Many of the creators were able to do a lot more and interact with others in the Twitch community. They were able to play games, talk, take pictures, and overall have a fun time with each other. This also gave room for creators to make plans with each other and also even the Twitch staff in the future for how to better the streaming platform as a whole. This is extremely important because with Twitch, there has been a lot of problems with the platform and addressing them virtually has had little to no effect. Being able to sit down and talk with them personally has a greater effect to bring more changes to the platform in the future.
Takeaways
As I mentioned in the beginning there were many positive and a few negative takeaways from the event. At the forefront of it all, the positive feedback was that it was clearly fun, interactive, productive, and engaging. However, there was some negative occurrences and the main one to point out that everyone is talking about is the "Adult performer breaks back jumping into foam pit at San Diego streamer convention." There was also an incident where famous YouTuber "Dream" allegedly got jumped at TwitchCon after doing a face reveal video that received over 40 million views. He claimed he "fell out of bed," but a lot of people on internet suggested otherwise.
Overall, this was an overview of what went down at TwitchCon last week, including all the good and the bad. I'd suggest as esports enthusiasts, to plan out a time to go an esports convention of any kind anywhere. It's important to gain that experience and socialize with different creators and gamers and see how they made it to where they're at. If you want to see more on esports make sure to follow my Twitter and come back next week for a new blog post!
Twitch and YouTube are both streaming platforms where people watch content creators for entertainment in numerous different kinds of categories. There are a lot of differences and similarities between Twitch and YouTube, mainly being that on Twitch you can watch creators live in real time, whereas on YouTube you watch pre-recorded videos. These are both huge competitors that people like me use every day and because of recent events (Jidion's permanent ban in previous blog post) I've been led to make an overall comparison on Twitch and YouTube.
Below is chart showing a comparison between Twitch's average viewers and YouTube gaming average viewers in thousands. Because Twitch is mainly for watching games it clearly shows them in a major league above YouTube.
To start off, like I previously mentioned, Twitch and YouTube are both platforms that content creators use to create entertainment for their viewers. A few things both the platforms have in common is that you can stream your content live, creators can earn money through advertisements and sponsorships, and they're both used as major ways for consumers to get their information or news.
Another big thing Twitch and YouTube have in common is that they're both huge avenues for people to socialize and become a part of a larger community. Socialization is always a huge part of esports, and it includes viewers being able to feel a part of a group or community on Twitch and YouTube.
Looking from a consumer standpoint, Twitch and YouTube can be used interchangeably because maybe they follow someone who uploads on both platforms. This way they can view their content on both platforms, and same goes for other creators they follow. Whether one platform is better to use than another may not be important to everyone as long as they can watch their favorite YouTuber or Streamer.
Looking from content creator standpoint, most creators use multiple platforms to help themselves grow as much as possible outside of Twitch and YouTube, like Tik Tok and Instagram. So, creators can see Twitch and YouTube as both platforms where they can post content and have fun while doing it. The differences and biases come into play once conflicts and issues arise.
Differences
There are numerous of differences between Twitch and YouTube, and they've become a lot clearer throughout the past year. The major differences that stand out between the two are: How much creators can earn, the growth algorithm, rules and terms of service, and discoverability. These concepts make up the entirety of both platforms and have huge effects on big creators, small creators, and viewers.
Money
The amount creators can earn are majorly different on YouTube rather than Twitch. On Twitch, you can earn money multiple ways through things like bits, donations, subscribers, and merchandise which is all gained from people donating them to you. However, you first must become affiliated on Twitch and then even after that there's no guarantee that people will donate bits, money, or even subscribe and in this case, you get nothing except "the basic payout of about $0.25 – $1.50 per 1,000 views."
With YouTube, "YouTube allows ads once a creator has reached a specific threshold. The difference is that YouTube ads tend to pay more. A lot more. YouTube ads pay around $18 per ad view which comes out to be about $3-$5 per 1k video views."
Discoverability/Growth Algorithm
Discoverability is about each of the platforms search engines and home pages that allow viewers to see what they may be interested in. Twitch is the more inconvenient platform here being that Twitch mostly recommends the top and most popular streamers. "One of the things that can be a detriment to new streamers on Twitch is the bias towards more popular channels. Unlike YouTube, where a new channel might wind up being suggested, Twitch likes to only recommend those streams with high amounts of viewers. " This makes it really hard for new streamers to gain a respectable following and viewership average.
Terms of Service
The terms of service have been a big controversial topic in just the past few months on both Twitch and YouTube. Recently, creators on both Twitch and YouTube have been getting banned, suspended, and their channel striked for unexplainable things and it's been a major problem for a lot of creators. There is some similarity between the platforms with the rules like, no nudity, no violence, and no racism.
However, the rules also majorly differ and once again Twitch is the more inconvenient platform. On Twitch, your channel can be banned with no warning and no justifiable reasonable explanation. A perfect example of this is a popular verified streamer named YourRage who got banned indefinitely for his profile picture. The termination of streamers channels for little to no reasoning, and also not being consistent with the bans makes Twitch look horrific and unprofessional.
"YouTube, unlike Twitch, has a three-strike system. There are warnings on YouTube before everything goes dark." However, there have also been issues with YouTube being inconsistent with how they strike channels. A perfect example would be CoryxKenshin's video on how YouTube has been inconsistent and discriminatory in suspending creators. Still, I believe YouTube still has a better platform when it comes to its Terms of Service.
Which is Better??
As a Twitch Streamer myself it would make sense for me to side with Twitch instead of YouTube. I personally enjoy Twitch's user interface and how you can interact with people in many ways. It's extremely fun to stream and be able to talk to people and experience great moments with them. However, looking at it objectively, YouTube seems to reign over Twitch because of its greater consideration of its creators.
Overall, it's more of a preference. People who enjoy watching videos and also making them will mostly like prefer YouTube, whereas people who love to engage with their audience and do things with them will prefer Twitch. I'd suggest using both and see what you could invest more of your time into, and which becomes more appealing.
In my last blog post I listed out multiple benefits people can gain from being into esports. A major benefit of being involved in esports that I included was socialization. This was originally thought to be meant as socializing with others online, but it was also meant as socializing with others in person.
Attending esports events is the probably the biggest and best way to socialize with other gamers. You’re in person, you can play games together, and you can just enjoy the entire experience of being there. Another reason for going, for people who want to get engaged with esports, you should go because you can learn a lot from the people who manage things there. You’ll see things like merchandise booths, troubleshooting staff for any technical issues, security, and more.
Throughout the year, there are many different kinds of events that are help for people to go to. For example, there’s obviously the esports events held by video companies, but there’s also TwitchCon, PAX, E3, Blizzcon, and more. I’ve gone to a few gaming conventions an esports tournaments in person and the experience and twice as exciting than playing virtually.
My Experience
I started going to esports events fairly recently and whenever it was possible for me to go. In visited an esports event in Cary which was hosting games for Smash Bros., Fortnite, and more. Unexpectedly, I got picked up to play in the Fortnite tournament and made it through the qualifiers and it was probably one of the most thrilling moments of my life.
In my personal experience, I’ve been to a few esports events in different cities, and I believe the Halo Championship Series (HCS) Major event in Raleigh was my favorite by far. The HCS Major was big because it was the first in person event that was being held for the newest released Halo game: Halo Infinite. I met many different content creators, competitors, and even influencers while I was there.
Honestly, the best way to describe it is to say it was like a movie. There’re big lights and tv screens and as you’re watching the teams play it’s literally almost as if you’re watching a movie.
The importance of the post is just to get an understanding of what you can experience from going to almost any esports events rather big or small. I also wanted to reiterate the importance of socialization, and how esports events are the best way to meet online friends, make new friends, and learn a lot of cool things.
I believe the best way to gain experience in anything is to do it yourself. Therefore, I encourage those who haven’t gone, and also people who may not be engaged with esports, to attend an event and experience it for yourselves. If not for the games, go for the food, and pictures, and thrill of being in such an amazing environment.
When you of think esports, you think about video games and playing at a professional level. Therefore, it may not apply to you, or you may think that you can't be included in that field.
However, esports is more than being just about playing at a professional level. There's a lot of things you can learn from esports even if your career or interest are in something else. Here this blog list out 5 of the biggest benefits you can gain from esports.
1. Socialization
Playing games with friends or even someone you've never even met before can always be fun. Video games allow you to socialize and meet thousands of different kinds of people who you can hang with, which makes the gaming experience so much better. According to the University School of Milwaukee blog site, esports "offer a unique opportunity to build connections across diverse populations; esports openness to everyone encourages inclusion. Playing together in a shared space—whether a shared virtual space or a physical space like an esports arena—is the goal of esports, and doing so establishes community, friendship, school spirit, and a sense of belonging."
2. Mental Health
The truth is that it can go both ways when it comes to mental health. Meaning that for some, having a game addiction could lead to abnormal behaviors and your overall mental health could suffer. However, looking at the positive end, video games can do wonders for your mental health. Video games stimulate your mind, help build problem solving skills and relieve stress. "Video games can also help people who are dealing with mental disorders like anxiety, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), " according to webmd.com.
3. Success/Accomplishment
Everyone loves to achieve something. Whether it's in sports, academics, dieting, content creating, and more. The sense of accomplishment also connects to your mental health, and video games offer a great route towards getting that feeling. By playing games with objectives that give you a goal to reach like getting a certain rank, badge, level, customizable outfits, and etc. you get a sense of accomplishment that boosts your self-confidence which is good for mental health. Personally, I used to love the achievements category on Xbox, where you can see all of your locked and unlocked achievements and was my reason for playing for a long time.
4. Failure
Failure is one of the biggest benefits in a lot of things because failing allows you to improve. What makes it even better is that, when you're playing a video game you have endless and limitless times to fail until you succeed. "Video games help people learn how to cope with failure and keep trying. This is an important tool for children to learn and use as they get older," also according to webmd.com. Major parts of failure are the concept of trial and error, "emotional resilience," and building critical thinking skills. These things can also lead to developing leadership traits even in the real world.
5. It's Fun
At the end of the day the overall goal that video games try to have, is to make sure you enjoy it. The main reason most people play certain games is because they enjoy it. You want to be up at midnight getting victory royale's on Fortnite or getting home Friday night excited because it's double XP weekend on Call of Duty. It's even better when you're in the esports scene playing for money, so that way you're having fun and getting paid at the same time which is one the best feelings to have.
Try playing one of your favorite games this weekend or even a trending game and see how you feel about playing. Think about what you're accomplishing as you play and get an understanding of video games that can benefit you.
It is September of 2022, also one month away from TwitchCon in San Diego. TwitchCon Amsterdam already took place in July, and it was huge event that a lot of content creators attended. For those who may not know Twitch Con is an event that happens twice a year where Twitch streamers go to socialize, meet fans, and have a great time. People can also attend to meet their favorite streamers and take pictures with them. I wanted to start this blog off with TwitchCon because yesterday Twitch Con tweeted out saying, "TwitchCon San Diego is just one month away! Who are you most excited to see there?" And the responses weren't what I was expecting.
Many people disregarded the tweet and were more upset about how Twitch isn't doing anything about the bans that have been enforced on people and the inconsistency that has been shown within the bans. This all started from a large figure on YouTube who was permanently banned on Twitch, Jidion.
Jidion
Jidion is a YouTube content creator who is most known for doing the most outlandish pranks and most "menacing" things in public. Examples could be storming a Best Buy shirtless with a bunch of fans, going bowling with a coconut, and going to the most racist town in America to meet with the Ku Klux Klan leader. He began to go over to twitch to livestream his content and grow on a separate platform. Once after his live stream he hosted Pokimane, another popular Twitch streamer and his viewers trolled her chat, initially causing a hate raid. Hence, resulted in a thirty-day ban and then later a permanent ban.
The Problem
On August 25, 2022, Jidion tweets "A girl gets f***** on stream, 7 day ban while I'm still here permanently banned. Twitch is racist!" After this, Jidion's video; Twitch: Sexist and Favoritism, exposes the unjust and inconsistencies within Twitch. During the video he also states, " Twitch has been sexist for years and they have gone unchecked. So many people have tried to come out, but it just gets brushed under the rug, they just ignore everything." The claim is that some streamers are getting treatment differently than others based on the period of time they've been banned, what they did, and apparently how they apologize.
What I personally think of Jidion's accusations of Twitch is that it's certainly reasonable to make such claims. In the past I have also witnessed streamers get permanently banned for certain things way less harmful than what other streamers do normally. However, I don't think I can accurately say that Twitch is racists, but they do need to make changes and respond to their creators about how they will improve to be more fair.
Other social media figures like Keemstar, CoryxKenshin, Jake Lucky, Agent and Low on their YouTube channel also gave their thoughts on the situation. Keem saying, " JiDion should be UNBANNED from Twitch!" Jake Lucky also an esports reporter tweets about the situation and says, " She told me it was a drunken accident and ended stream quickly. I think something this stupid warrants a perma ban." Hundreds of thousands of viewers including the social media figures made an important realization and most believe that he should be unbanned, and that Twitch needs to make changes in how they enforce bans on streamers
In conclusion, Jidion made a hashtag called #twitchrespond so people can post on twitter to get Twitch's attention and force them to take some kind of action. For many of those who see this as a major issue that needs to be resolved, this is an action you can take to push forward the idea of solving censorship and injustice on social media. There are plenty more of those who may not even have a platform and so there are not able to defend themselves if they were to get permanently banned. To keep this from happening we must make twitch and any other platform respond.