Let’s Plays Are Okay!

 

But holy hell can they get annoying.

 

In the beginning, I used to consider the idea of watching others play games instead of playing them myself kind of… stupid, a nonsensical reality that left me wondering why in the hell would I want to watch someone play a game I want or just bought instead of just playing the thing myself?

 

Now, I realize the marketing opportunities and the ‘try it before you buy it’ aspects that Let’s Plays offer, and that’s fine, but on the surface, it’s still a pretty absurdly silly notion.

 

You’re basically watching (and in some outlandish cases, like Twitch, paying) people to play games for you.

 

To be fair, there are quite a number of reasons why one would count on Let’s Plays. The chief of which being those on a monetary level. Maybe you can’t afford the system/the game/a home to begin with. If the above is true then Let’s Plays would probably be the best way to get enjoyment for a thing you don’t have but want to experience.

 

On the flipside, for those with a viable means to obtain the system/the game/a home? Meh.

 

While Let’s Play’s themselves are informative and whatnot, the true meat and soul lies behind the actual LP’er. You know, the charming, sometimes overwhelmingly annoying person screaming their head off behind the mic at every single predictable jump-scare or cracking jokes drier than the Sahara whenever there’s a too-long pause. The personality that brings you over to their channel, sometimes to watch them react to a game you previously didn’t care about or even like.

 

Yes. Them. The folks working hard to provide you with content you’re either too lazy to go out and experience for yourself or because life just felt like giving you the financial finger.

 

But is it hard work?

 

Judging from what I see online and elsewhere, LP’ers catch a lot of flak because apparently what they do is not considered a ‘real job’. And to be honest, a vast majority of the dissenters reeked of that good ol’ jealously, so jelly you could spread them over some toast. Seriously. While they brought up good points (and yes, I can understand the anger behind realizing that a popular LP’er can easily make more than most dentists and doctors just by yelling at a computer screen), it was also very clear they were bitter, moreso at the apparent ease at which these LP’ers rake in the money than anything of a literal working nature.

 

Personally, I’ve gained a pretty generalizing opinion that all LP’ers are more grating than nails on a chalkboard. That’s not to say that they’re bad people, because PewDiePie and Markiplier are decent enough ‘bros’, but their LP persona’s are very obviously forced, except for the occasional, heartwarmingly sincere ‘thank you for your support’ videos. But apparently, that’s appealing. Just look at PDP’s YouTube channel. Most subscribers out there. He’s got to be doing something right.

 

Or it could be that 36 million people just have low, low standards.

 

Maybe some see PDP and Marky Boy as ways to unwind after a hard day, like escapism. Come home, flip on some LP’s and just get lost in the inane overacting and whatever meme game they happen to throw up.

 

Hell, as gassed as I am about the whole thing even I do it sometimes. I’ve only seen about six, and they were all of Marky Boy going through ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’, the horror series that, oddly enough, propelled him up the popularity ladder and made him the poster boy for FNaF as a whole. And in those videos, Marky Boy is…actually entertaining. Yeah, his screams are standard LP-tier screeching but I felt a genuine sense of accomplishment shine through during the video where he attempted to best the 20/20/20/20 challenge, or whatever it was.

 

For reasons beyond me, I’m still subscribed to him to this day. I don’t watch his videos anymore but yet he still has my insignificant little subscriber tack. So here’s to you, Marky Boy, you vexingly charming bag of smiles.

 

Aside from him, the others I’ve seen (and I browsed through more than I thought I could stomach) were pretty basic as far as LP’ers go. Yelling, overreacting, jumping for no reason, jokes that I’m pretty sure not even they found funny—it was the whole package. And I’d prefer not to even get started on the ‘kid’ LP’ers. Mostly because I willingly avoided them. They might be better than their adult counterparts, or they might be worse, but I’ll never know.

 

In conclusion to this arbitrary ramble, you want to preview a game before you buy it and there’s no currently existing demo available to the public? Read about it (here, for instance). No magazines handy? Hate reading? Illiterate? Hate me? Then I reckon LP’s are the next best thing. Just be sure to have the mute button handy, especially if you’re playing a horror game.

 

 

-theboy25

 

PS: If you’re in the mood to experience some instant rage, or just like putting on your monkey suit at random points of the day, I would suggest going to look up how much some of the LP’ers monetarily accrue via their YT channels. If anything else, it’ll blow your mind and provide a better understanding to all the justifiable jelly the dissenters feel.