It has been a few years since I actually sat down and streamed with any regularity (hmm, have I ever?) – and I keep wanting to change that, so I’m making another (another) attempt. My schedule will be all over the place, since my partner is a first responder on shift work, but I plan on streaming from 9-11pm Atlantic, which means 8-10pm Eastern. I’m sticking with what I know, for now that means World of Warcraft and I tossed some RimWorld in there as well. I’d eventually also like to expand that to a few hobbies, like drawing and fiber arts. Maybe some knitting or spinning. We’ll see how it goes!
Why? Well, when the other half is on nights, I find it difficult to feel motivated and I tend to want to go to bed at 8pm. That’s a bit early, even for me. This way I get a little social interaction and can plan some things to do. I’m excited about it! Will it take off? I have no idea. We’ll just have to see.
If you’re interested in seeing this crazy Canuck fumble her way through some games, you can check me out on twitch this Wednesday!
As always, happy gaming – no matter where you find yourself.
I have two hummingbird feeders set up outside, as well as a regular bird feeder, and I’d like to add them as cameras / independent streams on my own stream. Here’s where it gets tricky (for me). I have NO IDEA what gear people use to stream 24/7. I have good internet & access to wifi, are they using an entire laptop or computer set up with a camera to stream these wildlife streams, or are there some cameras that I should be looking at instead, like perhaps a house security camera? I have no idea. I tried to do a bunch of google searches but nothing really turned up exactly what I was looking for.
If you happen to stream 24/7 and have a feed for animals, or have some gear suggestions for me, please let me know in comments! I’d love to show off the wildlife that comes to our feeders, but I just don’t know what I need to get started, and it seems like I’m supposed to automatically realize what the right items are.
After a three year hiatus, I am finally tentatively getting back to streaming on Twitch! This has been a long time coming. I couldn’t stream at my previous post because our internet was too poor, and before that, I was a new mother trying to find time between two active littles who were up all hours of the night. Now we’ve moved, the littles have an actual ‘bedtime’ and while life is still just as active and busy as always, I’ve managed to carve out a little bit of time. That’s what I keep telling myself, at least.
I’ve done one stream so far – and gained 17 new followers! I was tickled. I ran RFK in World of Warcraft and talked about gold making. It wasn’t the most exciting stream, there were some technical difficulties along the way – but I had a good time, and hopefully people learned a thing or two. I’m hoping to keep this up and even get a schedule going when I get a bit more comfortable. My free time is usually in the evening (EDT) around 9 or slightly after. I know that’s pretty early for those on the West, and pretty late for those in EU, but honestly, I’ve got to stream when it makes sense for me. In the past I would have completely remodeled my schedule around streaming to optimize the viewers, but I just don’t have that in me any more.
I’m beginning with World of Warcraft gold making streams, but I will occasionally stream other games (like RimWorld, one of my favourites) and I’m hoping to also stream some of my favourite crafts, like spinning yarn, using my drum carder, using the sock knitting machine, and that sort of thing. I do have to spend a little more time on set-up for those things, so there is no ETA at this time. I’m thinking that three streams a week (mon/wed/fri) might be a good start, with extra streams tossed in when I feel like it. I haven’t mustered up the courage to turn on my camera as I stream yet, but I do have a mic and I’m pretty talkative. Things are laid back and casual, I also won’t take any shit from people, so if you’re hoping to come to my stream to cause problems you’ll be looking at a ban hammer. Remember I used to be a moderator for NCSoft, so this isn’t my first rodeo.
As always, happy gaming – no matter where you find yourself. If you want to catch my streams, head on over to Twitch and give me a follow. https://www.twitch.tv/stargrace
I’ve been testing out whether or not I can realistically stream on a schedule if my kid is around and underfoot. Lets face it, life happens. We’re busy people and there’s stuff going on. If I stream while he’s asleep I would have to run to and from the bedroom with many AFK breaks during the stream, not ideal. He’s not a great sleeper. Of course with him under foot and awake that presents itself with a whole new round of situations, like the fact that he typically wants to be up at my desk with me so he can see what’s going on and grab various things (microphone). I’m still currently trying to raise money for a computer chair because it’s not fun to game on a giant yoga ball and it’s awkward to hold my kid up on that, too. If you want to donate, you can do so from this link here. I appreciate it more than I can express. I’m trying to get an actual gaming chair rather than just a computer chair that falls apart after a few years. I want this one to last me.
Since my husband is still away for a few more months and it’s just me and the little guy it’s important to carve out some ‘me’ time, and that is increasingly hard to do. Streaming is something I enjoy, and I want to make time for it so this is my weak attempt. It hasn’t been going poorly, but it is an interesting situation that is pretty fluid and changes from day to day.
I’ve stuck to playing RimWorld because it’s a game I know and a game that’s easy to walk away from should I happen to need to go grab a snack for the little one or free him from some sort of trouble (he’s into everything these days). I tend to stream for anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour and I don’t typically go over the 1 hour mark since real life doesn’t exactly grant me blocks of time any larger. It’s a good balance really, not too long or too short – the problem is it doesn’t give people a lot of time to stumble into my stream randomly and start watching. If you want to watch, you’re better off having some sort of schedule. Turning on notifications from twitch helps, too.
For now my tentative schedule is as follows:
Mon-Tue: 2:30-3:30pm PDT
Thur-Fri: 2:30-3:30pm PDT
I may have to start a bit later on some days but I won’t typically start any earlier. This is a block of time that’s after the naps, after a snack, and seems to work well. This week is the first week that I’ve stuck to the schedule, and I’m enjoying my adventures in RimWorld. If you happen to miss a stream don’t forget you can watch the highlights on my twitch page, or you can catch them later on in the day on YouTube.
You’ll hear my son getting into things and being a butt on stream – but as a friend says, it gives the stream flavour. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.
I had intended to stream Black Desert Online last night at 7pm PDT but that didn’t happen.
I wasn’t feeling the game, my mood was a bit bleh, and instead I hopped into Gwent: The Witcher Cardgame. Things were moving along at a pretty nice pace, I was 13 minutes into my stream (yes, I remember the exact minute) and I was doing a multiplayer game against a random person (my apologies, whoever you were, but at least you won).
My little guy doesn’t sleep through the night quite yet, and last night was a rough one for him so at the 13 minute mark I had to suddenly sign off and go take care of him. He was screaming and crying and wouldn’t calm down which I hear is pretty normal for 8 month old babies. Truth of the matter is I may just not be able to stream until he’s a bit older or at least sleeping through the night.
In a test, I’m moving my Tuesday to Friday streams up half an hour, from 7:30-8:30 PDT instead of from 7-8. I’m hoping this gives my little guy more time to fall soundly asleep, leaving me with at least an hour to stream. I don’t know if this will work, I may be too tired, he may still wake up, a number of other factors come into play. I REALLY want to stream. Right now I feel like my days are 99% baby filled (which they are) and the small 1% I’m entitled to helps me keep my sanity. Unfortunately it also comes down to the fact that I need sleep. A lot of sleep. I’m a nursing first time mother and sleep is incredibly important. When he starts sleeping through the night hopefully I’ll also be able to sleep more soundly and I may have more time to stream then. I need to find the balance that lets me take good care of my family, and also allow myself that 1% of sanity. I am still a human being, after all.
So! Tonight should be guild wars 2. 7:30 PDT. We’ll see how that goes. Please tune in, give my channel a follow, and stick around if you enjoy things.
stargrace 
