![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xyzzysqrlNow that I'm actually making some money on Twitch I've decided that the people giving me that money deserve to know where it's going and what I'm spending it on. Hello, I'm Xyzzifer Q. Sqrlmoggington and this is my earnings and expenditure report.
Earnings
October was the first month I actually earned a paycheck from Twitch subs and bits and whatnot. This was due to a quirk of the system: Previously they paid out in $100 bricks, but they dropped the payout threshold to $50. As I was in-between at the time, I received a check for the unusual sum of $96.91. This is enough for me to work with easily.
Acquisitions
At current time, I've sunk some of the money into games on Steam sale. If I'm gonna be playing games on Twitch, I should... well, no, I have enough video games to play well until the heat death of the universe at current time, but I can always use more.
Part of my unofficial "brand" on Twitch is playing unusual, offbeat or unnoticed games, that make people go either "Wow, nobody gave this a chance", "Wow I see WHY nobody gave this a chance", or "I have never heard of this and where the hell did you get it?"
(And, y'know, some mainstream hits of today and yesteryear but shhh.)
I don't intend this brand to change up much.
I used your money to purchase three games this month. Here they are:
Murdered: Soul Suspect, a studio-killing game from the people who brought you John Delancie-themed puzzle game Quantum Conundrum.
Bullet Witch, a not-quite studio killing game from the people who would later bring you Nier.
and Sheepo, which did not kill anything (the dev has a new game that seems similarly themed) and looks like an adorable combatless Metroidvania with interesting movement options.
Buying these games took me from $96.91 to $84.73, which will carry into next month.
Future Goals
What do I plan to do with this money? Well, obviously I'm keeping an eye on sales and future game releases. However it's not JUST about the game purchases. Among things I'd like to do:
- Commission some art for the Twitch channel, a better layout perhaps or further refinements to the vTuber face.
- Look into graphics/sound courses for myself, to improve my ability to work on things without needing to pay out for them. Education is like investing in your own future.
- Subscribe to the channels of friends of -my- channel. Networking and social interaction helps growth and feels good, like giving back to the community that helped build me. (Unfortunately I've run into some issues with Twitch's payment system that need exploration before I can do this one.)
- Hardware improvements. If I can I'd like a better microphone than "headset mic". I'd also somewhat selfishly like a second monitor, and perhaps a stream deck to trigger effects like the Dragon Alert and Koboldification without having to pause and do it manually.
Open Floor
So that's where I stand as of now. But this enterprise isn't mine alone, we're all traveling into the future together. I open the floor to y'all, both here and in private conversation.
- Do you watch the channel? What would interest you into watching the channel?
- What can I do better?
- What kind of content d'you want to see on Twitch?
- I've considered expanding into playing MMOs but is there an audience for that?
- Do you want more classic old games or should I continue with the new?
- Any genres I should avoid or focus on?
- Anything I've left out?
Tell me how you feel. The floor is your floor, the comments are your comments, the money is ... still my money, sorry.
Earnings
October was the first month I actually earned a paycheck from Twitch subs and bits and whatnot. This was due to a quirk of the system: Previously they paid out in $100 bricks, but they dropped the payout threshold to $50. As I was in-between at the time, I received a check for the unusual sum of $96.91. This is enough for me to work with easily.
Acquisitions
At current time, I've sunk some of the money into games on Steam sale. If I'm gonna be playing games on Twitch, I should... well, no, I have enough video games to play well until the heat death of the universe at current time, but I can always use more.
Part of my unofficial "brand" on Twitch is playing unusual, offbeat or unnoticed games, that make people go either "Wow, nobody gave this a chance", "Wow I see WHY nobody gave this a chance", or "I have never heard of this and where the hell did you get it?"
(And, y'know, some mainstream hits of today and yesteryear but shhh.)
I don't intend this brand to change up much.
I used your money to purchase three games this month. Here they are:
Murdered: Soul Suspect, a studio-killing game from the people who brought you John Delancie-themed puzzle game Quantum Conundrum.
Bullet Witch, a not-quite studio killing game from the people who would later bring you Nier.
and Sheepo, which did not kill anything (the dev has a new game that seems similarly themed) and looks like an adorable combatless Metroidvania with interesting movement options.
Buying these games took me from $96.91 to $84.73, which will carry into next month.
Future Goals
What do I plan to do with this money? Well, obviously I'm keeping an eye on sales and future game releases. However it's not JUST about the game purchases. Among things I'd like to do:
- Commission some art for the Twitch channel, a better layout perhaps or further refinements to the vTuber face.
- Look into graphics/sound courses for myself, to improve my ability to work on things without needing to pay out for them. Education is like investing in your own future.
- Subscribe to the channels of friends of -my- channel. Networking and social interaction helps growth and feels good, like giving back to the community that helped build me. (Unfortunately I've run into some issues with Twitch's payment system that need exploration before I can do this one.)
- Hardware improvements. If I can I'd like a better microphone than "headset mic". I'd also somewhat selfishly like a second monitor, and perhaps a stream deck to trigger effects like the Dragon Alert and Koboldification without having to pause and do it manually.
Open Floor
So that's where I stand as of now. But this enterprise isn't mine alone, we're all traveling into the future together. I open the floor to y'all, both here and in private conversation.
- Do you watch the channel? What would interest you into watching the channel?
- What can I do better?
- What kind of content d'you want to see on Twitch?
- I've considered expanding into playing MMOs but is there an audience for that?
- Do you want more classic old games or should I continue with the new?
- Any genres I should avoid or focus on?
- Anything I've left out?
Tell me how you feel. The floor is your floor, the comments are your comments, the money is ... still my money, sorry.
no subject
Date: 2022-11-01 12:36 pm (UTC)* We take commissions for Twitch art, if you want pixel emotes like :kjorteThisso: or the Plot/Plort ones you currently have, and also if you want the assets for a pixel frame so you can do your UI up like the PC98 visual novel of your choice, if you're in the market for those. (Else, I understand--I have a very specific style and there is no obligation whatsoever if the look you had in mind is like, not that style.)
* Considering the pixel frame commission, if you take us up on that, would be something like "here are the corner/edge piece tiles, you can now piece them together however you want to make windows of whatever size you want from now on," I imagine that would come with a lengthy explanation possibly in video form of how to, like, do that; I wouldn't just give you some tiles that are essentially useless to you if you don't know how to put them together and be like "okay have fun with that, my job is done here *Tuxedo Mask cape swoosh*". I've also been sending you videos here and there when extracting emotes for you ("Here's your Kemmelpog, and here's a video on how I made it") for basically the same reason. So basically what I'm saying here is if you want to learn, we're willing to teach at least what we know anyway, and I don't think I'd even charge for that unless you're talking like many many hours of courses or something. Granted, not a professional, you get what you pay for, etc. but.
* We do indeed watch your channel, silly mogface.
* I don't really feel comfortable telling you what to stream or what not to stream since, you know, do what makes you happy, follow your heart, etc. I will say that we dig the weird/old/niche stuff--you and I are kindred spirits when it comes to defending the Family Dogs/Lost Sheep/King of Crushers/Balan Wonderworlds out there. But like, that doesn't mean you're not allowed to play games people have heard of.
* If you're looking for general channel improvements, I guess more redemption options, more sound alerts, more emotes, just more stuff there to encourage interactivity and reasons to subscribe and stay subscribed, but I'm drawing something of a blank as far as what to put there besides "more" so that's not very helpful either. ... Well, okay, the "TF into Sqrlbold" redeem is a cute idea but, you know, other than that I dunno. Automating the Dragon Alert would be awesome.
no subject
Date: 2022-11-01 12:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-11-01 03:31 pm (UTC)I try to catch the channel live when I can and I actively make a point of watching the VODs. I honestly like the blend of games you've got right now; it's actively eclectic but I feel like that's a brand in itself. The only thing that stands out as a possible 'thing you could do' from my selfish perspective is a channel Discord because that would allow me to get 'live' notifications when streaming is happening. (Well, better-for-me live ones, because I don't have any sort of Twitch notifications turned on other than e-mail.)
But speaking of selfishness, I am asking you to please please PLEASE ping me through whatever means you deem appropriate before you start playing Murdered: Soul Suspect. I have a very strong vested interest in getting to watch that one live.
Signed, guy who spent a year working on movement systems for Murdered: Soul Suspect for a doomed studio.
no subject
Date: 2022-11-01 05:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-11-01 07:21 pm (UTC)I do wonder if a new microphone WOULD in fact improve the soundscape, or if it would just pick up my box fan and any number of irritating background noises. Well, one must try.