Irwin Leonardo Posted July 5, 2015 Posted July 5, 2015 I have an idea! Does anyone here plays steam games and are familiar with twitch? we're gonna play online games anyways, so why not combine both!? Talk about philosophy while playing games, I mean.. there's a huge niche in the realm of gaming when it comes to people watching live shows. any thoughts? cheers! 2
neeeel Posted July 5, 2015 Posted July 5, 2015 I suppose you might attract a niche audience. But given that most content of twitch chats I have been in is "GRILL!!", or spamming emoticons, I dont think that many people who watch streams would stay around for a philosophy discussion. How did you envisage it working? I cant imagine how they would fit together
J. D. Stembal Posted July 5, 2015 Posted July 5, 2015 Video games are anti-philosophy, as a general rule, so it would be an interesting juxtaposition at the very least. I can imagine a gamer discussing the non-aggression principle and the violence inherent in the state while playing Counter-Strike, which is the perfect personification of modern war.
shirgall Posted July 5, 2015 Posted July 5, 2015 Twitch casters earn viewers and followers by being interesting. It's entirely possible that one could earn some success this way, but the target audience is people that have a lot of free time to watch someone else play. What was the viewership count on Stef's video playing Doom and talking during it? I take it back, it was Unreal Tournament. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvxayyD2_74 10,000 views. 1
Crallask Posted July 5, 2015 Posted July 5, 2015 Ol' Stef is amazing at many things. Video games are not one of them (Thankfully)
luxfelix Posted July 5, 2015 Posted July 5, 2015 Video games are anti-philosophy, as a general rule, so it would be an interesting juxtaposition at the very least. I can imagine a gamer discussing the non-aggression principle and the violence inherent in the state while playing Counter-Strike, which is the perfect personification of modern war. On the contrary: Video games are an art-form, and art, like science, come from the foundations of philosophy (aesthetics specifically). Just as one can use language to communicate truth or lies, video games can propagate violence or the non-aggression principle.
J. D. Stembal Posted July 5, 2015 Posted July 5, 2015 On the contrary: Video games are an art-form, and art, like science, come from the foundations of philosophy (aesthetics specifically). Just as one can use language to communicate truth or lies, video games can propagate violence or the non-aggression principle. Yes, yes, not all games are like that. It would be great to have more games that stress negotiation and cooperation which tend to stifle violence, but the popular ones tend to not teach the philosophy of non-violence, but rather, support and reinforce violence. Stefan, flak cannon alternate and bio-rifle all the way on that map.
luxfelix Posted July 5, 2015 Posted July 5, 2015 Yes, yes, not all games are like that. It would be great to have more games that stress negotiation and cooperation which tend to stifle violence, but the popular ones tend to not teach the philosophy of non-violence, but rather, support and reinforce violence. Stefan, flak cannon alternate and bio-rifle all the way on that map. Certainly (and a personal goal for me). Maybe that could be the focus for the twitch channel, games that stress negotiation and cooperation. (or points out fallacies etc.)
Yeravos Posted July 6, 2015 Posted July 6, 2015 Really interesting, I was just thinking myself today what it would be like to play games with people from FDR (I guess that is what you meant?). What games are you thinking of Irwin?
shirgall Posted July 6, 2015 Posted July 6, 2015 Really interesting, I was just thinking myself today what it would be like to play games with people from FDR (I guess that is what you meant?). What games are you thinking of Irwin? http://store.steampowered.com/app/231910/
Irwin Leonardo Posted July 7, 2015 Author Posted July 7, 2015 oh my! thanks very much all the input! I really appreciate it, plus you guys responded really fast! haha! @Neel - Yeah, the niche is tiny, but wasn't that the case too when FDR started? There are programs where strangers can join in the conversation like teamspeak, while playing, while streaming.. while recording, (it sounds a bit complicated but when it comes to technicality, it can work.). It's not limited to the game it self, but there can be some serious talks after playing the game, (which i think is the catch). It's not written in stone but that's the idea. Thanks for the input @JD - Saying that videogames are anti philosophy is like saying that sports is anti philosophy. Twitch, like youtube, facebook etc.. are tools of social media. I'm simply being creative in the method I will use to promote the thing that I love, philosophy mainly, and videogames. So, why not both? It's not the game you play, it's the act of gaming itself. thanks for you input as well. Let me know if it makes sense.. haha! thanks for your input as well @lux - yeah, haha! if you're interested in sharing some thoughts, I'd be happy to hear it, or talk about it, haha! wanna exchange skype or facebook? if anyone in this thread are interested, add me on facebook its at [email protected] thanks! @yeravos - yeah! lets play sometime, my steam name is shaideruppercut, haha! I have games I really like to play.. DOTA2 and other resident evil games, but it's not really limited to those games, it's twitch.. its any game you feel like playing basically that day.. haha! @bacon - haha! yeah, I remember that podcast, If you spend your time a lot on something, you will be really good at it, but you'll somewhat sacrifice being good at something else. The problem is not being worried about the things you might be good at something else, but to focus on things you want to be good at in the moment. Philosophy and videogames. Plus! The opportunity to earn money too! So why not both?? It's a win - win - win -win. Irwin haha!1st, you get to talk about pilosophy, 2nd you get to play videogames, 3rd, you learn something new everyday, 4th people learn from you! be it playing a videogame or philosophy! haha! Let me hear your thoughts! thanks again! Irwin
neeeel Posted July 7, 2015 Posted July 7, 2015 oh my! thanks very much all the input! I really appreciate it, plus you guys responded really fast! haha! @Neel - Yeah, the niche is tiny, but wasn't that the case too when FDR started? There are programs where strangers can join in the conversation like teamspeak, while playing, while streaming.. while recording, (it sounds a bit complicated but when it comes to technicality, it can work.). It's not limited to the game it self, but there can be some serious talks after playing the game, (which i think is the catch). It's not written in stone but that's the idea. Thanks for the input Im still not clear on how it would work. I can understand something like the FDR film club, they can talk about philosophy in terms of the characters, the story , motivations, actions, etc. With games, especially the popular on line games, I dont see how that would work. CS:GO or LoL or DOTA dont really have story lines, or characters. Would you talk about philosophy whilst playing the games? Or would you wait till after? If you wait till after, what was the point of playing the games? Is the intention to attract people who arent into philosophy? I actually think something like Leisure Suit Larry might lend itself to some philopsophical discussion, not sure how popular that would be with the Twitch crowd though.
Irwin Leonardo Posted July 9, 2015 Author Posted July 9, 2015 Stanley Parable is a really good game to start with. Check it out, it will freak you out. Its a story about a guy in stasis.. freeze.. in a flight or flight scenario. When something different happened in his everyday same old life. Games have to be picky when it comes to this agenda. I can pre record a thought/topic and mute the game and I play while people listen to my content audio. since its live, after the game is done, the final product will be published on youtube etc. What do you think?
J. D. Stembal Posted July 9, 2015 Posted July 9, 2015 Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in! Back in the day, my crack-cocaine was Eve Online. Irwin, I was not suggesting that all games are anti-philosophy. They are a mainly a distraction so that people don't sit around a fireplace and discuss philosophy. Bringing philosophy to gaming would be quite a feat as there is a significant dearth of it. Why not both? Why aren't people already bringing philosophy to video games? I can't count the number of LAN parties that I've helped run and attended over the years. I don't recall a single moment when the NAP or Socrates was mentioned, let alone discussed at length.
Irwin Leonardo Posted July 11, 2015 Author Posted July 11, 2015 @JD - "I can't count the number of LAN parties that I've helped run and attended over the years. I don't recall a single moment when the NAP or Socrates was mentioned, let alone discussed at length" well.. cause they are your close friends.. (I'm nobody.. at least when I enter it) If games are distractions.. why not be part of it and slip in some philosophy in it. @Lux - yeah I got your invite! cant catch you online though.. Lol @shirgal - is bacon your steam name or shirgall?
Ludo Kanta Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 I've been a Twitch viewer for years now and have been following streamers who have at least *some* integrity and values and who - time to time - openly talks about them. Thus I know, it's not only possible to keep assholes out of your chat, so people can properly communicate with you and each other, but many people not only enjoys, but are *eager* to listen about integrity, values or philosophy from the streamer. If that's only because they see the popular streamer as a celebrity / authority / role model - I don't know. Is there enough viewers like that, who could secure your living? I don't know that either. But Stefan didn't know too, until he tried. And I don't know the demography of the viewers, but at least some of the viewers have an actual jobs, that allows them to have a stream opened in the second monitor / window - and it's kind of like a radio for them. It can also help somebody to socially interact with people this way, share their troubles, maybe get some empathy or advice even - from the chat or streamer himself - or of course just relax and survive some stressful episode of their life. It can be a very addicting way to procrastinate of course - but as with Stefan's podcasts, it can be a useful way to procrastinate, which could actually help you - depending on the streamer and his content. Anyway, I would welcome to play - and hopefully stream someday - with you guys. My steam: http://steamcommunity.com/id/Duny1111/
AncapFTW Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 This kind of reminds me of Scott Manley, who does twitch video games, but talks about the science behind the games while he's doing it. They are mostly sciencey games, though, like KSP. Not sure what games fit well with Anarchy, NAP, or Atheism, though. Bioshock, maybe? Of "the binding of Issac?"
shirgall Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 I should mention my Xbox gamertag is similarly obvious.
Malej_Pstros Posted August 28, 2015 Posted August 28, 2015 Video games are anti-philosophy, as a general rule I have to disagree. Yes, video games are probably not a good idea with stef-tier philosophy, but don't really assume that's what you would be aiming for, is it? Athene's audience, for example, choses light philosophy with casual gameplay (often even performed by somebody else, for ex. one of the viewers) on the background over full-focus gaming any day of the week. Here is an example of his nice vid:
yuanqufucius Posted August 31, 2015 Posted August 31, 2015 Video games are the modern literature, and a good literature always offers tons of philosophical topics. I can envision doing something like a philosophical literary analysis on the video games such as Mass Effect, BioShock.... But then again this deviates from the original idea of live casting. I like market segmentation, so I say let's first focus on the segment of the video game player who are philosophical, (such as my self) through scripted video game literary analysis. After we have a gathering then promote the live casting events.
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