So I decided that I don't want to stream my live playthrough of Lies of P. Like I kinda do, but not really, because very bluntly I thought the turn off was shit like people who follow your channel strictly to backseat you.
But in watching the Elden Ring Crowd Control beta, I understand more loudly why I don't want to stream it-backseaters aren't the problem. It's the people who are only there hoping and watching you fail who are. The culture around playing Souls games in general has been, frankly, some of the worst and rife shit under the sun. I watch as people pour countless time and dollars into making a player suffer as much as possible. And 'Vanessa', you may say 'isn't that what makes Crowd Control fun' and you don't understand: when I do CC Sonic Mania, the gag of constantly killing me gets old, fast. People will donate to help combat the killers of chat. Same with Bobby in Symphony of the Night, where chat spends maybe an hour constantly warping him to the library but after that let's him play the game, helps him along, maybe adds more varied (and frankly interesting) irritants while he plays. Maybe a library warp will get sneaked in in another hour-it's not that it's not funny, but you still want to ensure the player is, idk, having fun.
This Elden Ring CC was relentless and nonstop for 2.25 hours. Hardest enemies, extra projectiles, you name it and if it did damage it was in there. Especially in boss rooms. And everyone cheered as the streamer made hardly any progress because 'hahah its so funny you never stop dying'-while the player starts out laughing then slowly devolves into a ball of frustration because there is no nice way to say 'ok, I get it, you not only get off on watching me die, but it's even sweeter because you get to kill the person who, for all intents and purposes, is better than you at the game. I get it....'
As much as I love the Souls games, what I find I explicitly hate about the community is the obsession that many have with sitting and watching with their metaphorical popcorn to go 'yea, yea, die more, die bitch, I like that shit.' I sit in chats and read shit like
Nekrazero: HE CHOSE EZ MODE
Nekrazero: COWARD
Nekrazero: [STREAMER] is playing a baby game for babies by using summons on the chapter 1 boss
Nekrazero: Hey [STREAMER], NO MORE SUMMONING FOR CHAPTER BOSSES
Or the opposite (which I've personally dealt with), which is people who sit in chat specifically to moan about how the world at large is unfair because the Mad Puppetmaster took you 8 minutes to clear whereas it took them 14 hours. And yes, I did block and ban this person and I'm not going to feel bad, at all, that his name is here. If you show that you enjoy the games and you have the audacity to be pretty good at them, a standard is imposed: always play it at the hardest threshold possible, or else you're not shit.
I love the Souls games (and yes, I'm calling Lies of P a Souls game and not a Souls-like because I mean it STUCK that landing), but with every new installment I am always saddened to see how so much of the community just...refuses to grow up beyond "I love this game specifically because there is a chance that I am better than someone at it! There's a chance someone suffers more than ME!" Every time when it's a new playthrough it's the race to see who kills the boss the fastest, who wears their hours fought as a badge, who has the best meta on build. And if you don't take your abuse correctly, you WILL hear about it.
I sit in chats and watch as friends get frustrated as they know they can't ACTUALLY say 'hey piss off, I'm having fun' because it runs a risk of 'alienating' viewers and newcomers. They can't say 'if you don't want me to do summons, too bad' because waves to text above. How can they revel in your misery if you have the nerve to clear things and have fun? How will they sleep at night, reader?
Someone out there is ready to 'explain' how 'it's just jokes' or even more rudely how 'it isn't your chat' and the point isn't 'I want all first play chats to be cozy cute uwu soft', it's that the Souls community are toxic fucks in our spaces but specifically are really toxic over the idea of you experiencing any type of fun in a Souls game, specifically-and we don't do any semblance of a job checking the toxic fucks in our spaces. No one cares if you run Baldur's Gate with one party member or three-they'll just let you play. But Souls people (and I say this as one) are toxic, toxic
'I'll only sub to you if you never use summons' toxic.
'I'm going to talk at you about how this boss took me four days then curse you for beating it faster than me' toxic.
'Don't use summons because then I can't backseat you' toxic.
'Every game that isn't from FromSoftware can't compare' toxic.
Everyone wants to be a part of an ideal where we help each other, which is great, I love that part. But man-I really wish that help didn't manifest with a caveat of 'let's help each other, so long as I can be better than you and if you don't do it like I did, or you're not willing to suffer for my entertainment, then that means you're a pussy.' Sadly it then means the only way you can avoid the shit is one of two ways: don't stream your first playthrough live, OR only stream it after you have your platinum and then everyone for some reason is really normal after that. Like once you've Proved Your Worth or whatever, you're allowed to play the game and have the fun on your terms.
But that first playthrough?
'I swear to fucking god if you choose a caster you're clearly a bitch.' And the same applies for Lies of P and holy fuck, I will simply not stream it. I want to enjoy my first playthrough, I want to explore and have a good time. The Souls community works overtime to remind you that 'your fun is irrelevant, suffer for our entertainment or do not bother.'
And I wish people didn't look at you, the person calling it out, and go 'maybe you should just not be a bitch, you need thicker skin' and they would instead look at the perpetrators and go 'hey you fuck, streaming is already taxing, streaming a hard ass game even more so, so how about you let them enjoy themselves/play it how they fucking want?' Because the thing is I'm NOT opposed to blocking and banning people for being prinks.
The problem is that they're pricks in the first place.
