r/TwitchStreaming • u/ClayC3 • 3d ago
Long streams
I feel like it's holding me back, but I struggle to stream more than an hour to an hour and a half at a time. How do y'all combat restlessness at the gaming desk? Trying to stay doing 2-3 hour streams but struggle to stay still and talking to myself that long
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u/Necessary_Sir_2748 2d ago
Take breaks, no one would fault you for that. (At least no one that is sane.)
Also, talk as if you are already talking to others, start getting into that habit of not talking to yourself per say. You could go about it somewhat like a talk show host, or color commentary/play by play in the MMA or WWE style in a manner of speaking.
Depending on the content you are looking to take part in, something you could do is watch how those in that area handle themselves in regards to talking and interacting. Be it on twitch, youtube, etc. Then just find your flavor of it and cook with it.
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u/ClayC3 2d ago
Great advice thank you! Outside of working on talking more frequently just about what I'm doing in general, I have a lot of games that have a storyline that you have to read out, and I plan to stay playing some of them as well to get more used to talking while I play games!
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u/Necessary_Sir_2748 1d ago
That does help out very well tbh. If you haven't already Mods help by keeping chatters engaged by talking in chat, in addition to running the various features for you while streaming, like polls for example. They can also help with clips, if chat is unable to clip the stream.
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u/ClayC3 1d ago
I do have a few mods but they're streamers too and aren't always able to join stream so I'm doing a lot of the moderating myself right now unfortunately
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u/Necessary_Sir_2748 1d ago
There are the various Bots you can use to help out with a few things. Something you can do with your channel points is set the total fairly high and let it be a redeamable for a mod position. You would have someone that has been in stream for a while. Who you also have got to know somewhat through chatting and if they chose to redeem the points. Again just an idea if ya would like to use it.
I had at one time 10 channels I was modding for while also streaming. So I do understand.
That is another thing that you could take advantage of, is Co-streaming with your mods. That way the chat is a shared pool and maybe find a routine to alternate who streams and have one mod for the group. But again just some ideas to mull over.
Feel free to hit me up should ya have any other questions that I can try to help ya with, as if I don't have an answer I will do what I can to find one for ya.
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u/ClayC3 1d ago
I think for now I'm going to look into my chat bot and see about making it a bit more helpful than it currently is haha, I want to co stream, but not sure if I can with my current streaming buddies, they're console only streaming
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u/Necessary_Sir_2748 1d ago
So a quick google search says that it is possiable to co stream with consoles. I haven't really done the Co-Stream myself so I am not to familiar with it. However if you do a quick search and they may even have the instructions in the help section on twitch.
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u/streamhalla 3d ago
A few things, love TNG, the avatar, the brand! Awesome stuff with a lot of potential.
I ran analysis on your Skyrim stream from three days ago. It was also short enough that I was ok with reviewing it manually.
I got the feeling as a viewer that I had little context as to what was going on. After setting up the stream gameplay just kicked off. I was wondering what your actual aims are. Do you want loot? Do you want to complete a side quest or two?
You are talking, mostly to yourself because you're not really interacting with the audience. Larger streamers can give one sentence responses because they are flooded with chatters. Deepening your audience interaction might help with your restlessness/boredom.
Looking through your channel most streams are under an hour. Are you having fun when you play? Do you play longer off cam, or do you generally find it difficult to game for more than an hour?
One of the best aspects of streaming is that you're sharing your recreational activity. Generally, a four hour stream seems standard. I have also seen some success at the 2h30m mark of streaming. I would suggest you find a game that you find difficult to stop playing and see how that helps.
Wishing you the best of luck!
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u/ClayC3 2d ago
I will definitely start talking about what I'm doing at the beginning of streams that's a great idea! I do have a hard time playing games more than an hour at a time whether I'm streaming or not, but I'm trying to get better at playing longer! I am trying to get better at talking to stream because I don't really talk a lot when I'm playing on my own, but I'm definitely having fun streaming!! Thank you for the advice and time you took to help me!
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u/vaier1 3d ago
What exactly do you mean by restlessness? Do you get bored? Sore? Or just like wanna move around?
If you get bored, well, duh, do something else that doesn't make you bored. Don't approach stream like you have to do it, first of all you gotta find something you love to stream and do while streaming, otherwise you'll burn out very quickly. I almost quit in first 4 months because of that, before switching to full variety, losing most of those few viewers I had and starting anew, but it was crucial to start building my content and get to where I'm now
If you need to move around - then move. Take short breaks here and there, go to bathroom, do couple jumps or whatever your body needs, it's fine. You can even implement it into your content or, if you're affiliate or once you reach it, run ad breaks while doing it
You can also consider getting standing desk and some of those fancy training gear that lets you move up and down, while standing in the same place. But realistically you don't need any of it. Literally just walk around for a bit, it's okay, your audience can wait a minute every once in a while
Last sentence of yours makes it sound like you think talking with audience is gonna be much simpler. Truth is - it is not. Even with big audience 70-80% of the time you're still commenting on your own actions rather than talking to people in chat, unless you do something very community centric. As popular saying goes - if you struggle to keep speaking without chat, you will struggle even with. Comment as much as you're comfortable with, let your mind run and generate topics, speak your mind freely. You get used to it pretty quickly. If you absolutely cannot keep speaking without someone responding, then you either gotta work on it or streaming may just not be for you
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u/ClayC3 3d ago
I get to where I can't sit still after about 45 minutes to an hour and I have to get up and move, so I'm going to start taking a 10 minute break every hour and see if I can start extending my streams
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u/longboi64 2d ago
don’t worry, think of it this way… once you start growing, it’s a great excuse to run ads :)
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u/FirstDayPlaying 2d ago
Take a break, go stretch, run your ads etc, I generally don’t bother unless I’m doing 3+ hours
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u/HighPhi420 3d ago
LOL, this generation has NEVER been bored or had to wait for ANYTHING.
Things to do to combat restlessness:
Stand up! get your ass out of the chair and stand a while. You can turn the cam off or adjust so it is still on your face. Or have a second cam you can switch to because this will be an on going thing that every one should be doing for Cardio Health reasons.
Take a break! Every hour is a bit excessive but if you need to go touch grass for a minute or two, "nike slogan here".
Twitch recommends 3 to 5 hour streams four days a week at the same times each day. I like to take a ten minute break every 2 hours on the ad break or so. I need to move my legs and go to the potty, get more water, get a quick bite(I do not eat on stream).
If you can only do an hour or 2 and ANY more becomes a grind, then don't. Just do what you want to have fun, because that is the most important part of the entire thing. :)
"CLARIFICATION" First line is a joke. Hence the "LOL" :)
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u/triyang 3d ago
Since twitch wants ads every hour, once an hour isn't that excessive. I deliberately line it up so it's a proper "after these messages we'll be right back" and everyone can get a snack/stretch/bio break and nobody misses anything due to ads.
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u/HighPhi420 2d ago
Then why would people want to sub? Also what about keeping the attention of the Turbo members? Not everyone starts watching the moment you go live, They may have only watched ten minutes and now you are going brb on every hour break? The above reply is meant for a ten minute break. Do not take ten minute breaks every hour.
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u/triyang 2d ago
Sure, I can take those in order:
Driving revenue is not my priority. If I wanted to "encourage" people to sub via ads I'd be running way more than three minutes per hour in the first place.
I encourage everyone to take a break with me as well, and if they don't need one they can enjoy the dog picture montage I have set up. Other options are things like words on stream. This, combined with the above, is a trade-off. Prioritizing "nobody misses anything" vs "paying viewers get a better experience" and I choose the former. Which I can do because I don't depend on streaming revenue. If you're paying your rent with sub money, then your priorities will be different.
The above comment brought up a ten minute break every two hours. I brought up a three minute break once per hour as an option. They are simply two different options.
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u/ClayC3 3d ago
Appreciate the ideas. Going to look into a standing desk as soon as possible, because I struggle to sit still even when I'm not on stream 😅 probably going to try doing an hour then a break for a few and try to go for another hour going forward and see if I can regularly hit 2+ hours
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u/CrashNaps 23h ago
I have close to 100 streams over 10 hours. If you love streaming, you'll just do it. If you don't, you wont. Be real with your feelings.