It was a hot one. But then again, every day in August is a hot one. A buddy of mine was chatting my head off about Magic: The Gathering.
I used to play. In fact, we both worked at a large game center. He’s the one who got me the job.
We were both really good at what we did. We’re both competitive people. However, when it comes down to it, the job is what mattered for our bosses.
I eventually quit and he was terminated about six months later. We both took some time off from the game. But he was back in action, hitting up the tournament scene whenever had the opportunity. I, on the other hand, had abstained from re-entering the world of competitive MTG. I still consumed quite a bit of content. And after listening to my old friend rant about his latest tournament, I decided it was time to get back into the action.
Playing Wasn’t Enough
I didn’t want to just play the game anymore. I wanted to turn it into something more.
Why?
I first started playing Magic in 2012. Six years is a long time and people change. I’m not different.
These days, I’m an entrepreneur. I work for myself and I wanted to apply those changes in my life to this game. Streaming seemed like the best way to do this.
Before I could start streaming, there was some important information I needed to find out for myself.
How in the hell do I become a streamer?
I figured it was as simple as setting up a couple of things and I’d be on my way. But I was wrong.
Equipment
I assumed anyone could stream with some basic equipment. I wouldn’t have the best-looking stream on Twitch, but it would be ok. It would be fine. And I was and still am ok with fine.
So far, I’ve only spent about $120 on equipment. This includes a microphone, a webcam, and a tripod.
Why do I need a tripod? Because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t manage to make the camera float in the air. I bought a cheap Logitech camera at Wal-Mart for $45. The tripod and the microphone I got at Best Buy for $50 and $20.
Set-Up
You would think the equipment would be a pain in the butt to set-up. But it wasn’t. This is 2018. Everything plugs right up to my computer. It was really bizarre how easy the entire thing was.
Even setting up OBS was cake.
Setting up a Twitch account was a breeze.
So where did things get tough?
The actual stream was where things went from level 1 to level 10 difficulty.
Being on camera, making misplays, trying to interact with people, and doing it all at the same time was tough. I’m still struggling with it.
The first month of streaming was brutal in a lot of ways. I’m going to get into this a bit more with my next installment, so stay tuned.
Conclusion
Streaming can be a lot of fun.
The biggest mistake I made was taking it too seriously too fast. This is once again something I’m going to discuss on the next installment of Streaming Adventures.
I’ve been streaming now for almost three months and I’m just now starting to settle down, get comfortable, and approach it from the right perspective.
When it comes to streaming, perspective has a lot of weight. If you’re interested in streaming as well, keep reading Streaming Adventures. I’ll discuss how things are going with my own stream as well as what I’ve learned from consuming the content of other streamers and YouTubers.
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