Playing Doom as opposed to watching Doom yt vids

[Stroggman]

I'm just curious if Doomers rather be playing Doom as opposed to subscribing to all those yt chans that have collections of Doom 2 vids

[ChippiHeppu]

I enjoy watching commentated Doom gameplay videos just as much as I enjoy playing the game myself. It just depends on what I am in the mood for.

[Stroggman]

I will watched a specific vid of a map I haven't played and do a search but I wouldn't hoard channels with doom vids

[Maximum Matt]

I was addicted to Big Mac Davis vids and JDoom vids for a while there

[AbeAwesome]

If the video is of gameplay, it has to be accompanied by very interesting, insightful, commentary about the game/wad for me to even consider watching it.

I would always rather play DOOM.

 

Also, if someone only watches videos, they're not a "Doomer" (not sure that's actually a term), or even a video game player; they're a YouTube viewer—and I suggest gatekeeping them out.

[Andrea Rovenski]

I only really watch speed demos for ideas on what to demo myself or because I dont feel like playing/learning the wad but think it'd be cool to check out how its done :)

[Murdoch]

I honestly cannot imagine a time where I would prefer to watch a video of someone playing a game than to actually be playing it. The only lets play people I watch with any regularity regularly is a guy who plays Bethesda RPGs but gets really into the roleplaying with frequently hilarious results, even trying to normalise bugs and glitches as things like his character being sleep-deprived or something like that. I do watch other gameplay videos at different times for different reasons, like figuring out a spot on a map I am stuck on, reviews, or to get a feel for the quality of a mod before downloading it. But that's about it. Always going to prefer to play myself than watch.

[Book Lord]

It depends on the age. Like Murdoch, I cannot imagine watching other people playing games instead of playing myself; on occasion, I have watched demos of challenging Doom maps where I could not find a strategy to proceed. I am 40 and I do not have time to watch many videos; I prefer reading, and a well-written wall of text is much more informative than a video that is several minutes long, where I must watch the large downtime along with the few interesting bits.

 

Young people tend to be captivated by video content and prefer it over audio and writing. Not only they get used to screens, tablets, smartphones just out of the cradle, but they seem to feel no exhaustion. This has something to do with technical advancements, of course. When I was a child, staying in front of a cathodic tube was physically exhausting, so you could just do it for a limited time, especially FPS games. My parents did not need to warn me too much or lock the computer room; I exceeded from time to time, but always regretted staying for too long in front of a screen.

 

Moreover, when you spend several hours a day to work on a computer, the last thing you want is watching someone else play on a Youtube channel. Better play the game yourself, or else get out and take some fresh air. This is what I try to teach my children, but they inevitably get hooked by videogame videos with silly content. It's without doubt they learn something new about the game they play, but at what price. Videogame videos... doesn't it look like an infinite loop? The addiction to video content is a social issue we seem unable to address. (Sorry for derailing a bit in the last part).

Edited January 12, 2023 by Book Lord

[Sesamia]

I love watching Doom videos for a few reasons:

 

-I want something to watch/listen to in the background while I do other things.

-Lack of energy, so playing any game can get tedious for me.  Watching is substantially less effort than playing.

-Sometimes the added commentary is great.

-Live streams are great to talk about maps/anything in real-time.

 

The time that I do spend playing Doom is usually for playtesting maps I'm working on.

[Sixty-nine]

would be playing doom inside youtube be considered both?

[Aaron Blain]

I think this is a generational divide thing that's always going to baffle me.

 

I do look at "Let's Play" videos quite often, but that's because I treat them as an encyclopedia and I'm curious about some particular version of some particular game. I like video essays where someone has something interesting to say.

 

Even when I'm feeling low energy I still feel inclined to lie on the couch and listen to something I'm interested in learning about.

 

I guess I can understand wanting comforting ambience sometimes. Doom sounds certainly do make me feel comfy. I used to replay old tv shows repeatedly, so I could see Doom vids filling that role.

 

But I could never see videos as, like, a way to catch up on the Cacowards.

[No-Man Baugh]

Sometime when I watch a Doom video like a Decino, Dean of Doom, Grayfruit's frakenwad edit for the 1,000th time ect. I get the urge to play Doom myself and I'll load it up while letting the video play in the background

 

Would recommend if you like tripping yourself up on monsters that don't exist

[RHhe82]

At one point I watched a lot of Doom videos on YT, especially when I found them by accident, before I had restarted to play myself. Nowadays I watch them more lazily. I usually have some commentated stuff playing on when I'm doing something else, for example playing Doom or reading something that doesn't require my full attention, or when I'm doing household chores etc. I easily get disinterested with videos, when the commentary is frenetic shouting or insider-meme rambling, or when the player plays the game differently from what I'd like to see :P

 

 

[Tango]

I find watching doom playthroughs on youtube/twitch pretty great for mapping inspiration, in a way that's slightly different from playing them. without being in the driver's seat yourself, you sometimes only get ~80% of the full picture of what it's like to experience a map. sometimes the player in the video already knows how to break down a fight to make it look easy so you miss some combat nuance, or they don't take the time to fully explore the structure of an area in the way that you might. this "missing" 20% understanding in your mind opens up room for your brain to fill in the gaps and generate ideas that are riffs on what you're seeing, so even if you try to emulate exactly what you're seeing in the video, your recreation will likely end up distinct enough to have its own merits

 

(that's what I've found to be the case anyway)

Edited January 12, 2023 by Tango

[Kyka]

Agree with Tango. Watching someone playtesting a map is so so different from playtesting it yourself.

 

I like to play Doom. I also like watching others play Doom.

 

(Not usually simultaneously because there is no way to differentiate a cyberdemon alert sound in the vid from one in the level you are playing. I have scared myself a few times with this very thing back when I thought this was a good idea.)

 

[TheSlipgateStudios]

I do both things, watch Doom content on YouTube and also playing the game myself.

As for the YouTube content, I watch those with or without commentary.

[calsaintski]

The only time I would watch a Doom video is to find the secret I didn't find on a second playthrough.

[Nefelibeta]

On 1/12/2023 at 3:02 PM, Tango said:

I find watching doom playthroughs on youtube/twitch pretty great for mapping inspiration, in a way that's slightly different from playing them. without being in the driver's seat yourself, you sometimes only get ~80% of the full picture of what it's like to experience a map. sometimes the player in the video already knows how to break down a fight to make it look easy so you miss some combat nuance, or they don't take the time to fully explore the structure of an area in the way that you might. this "missing" 20% understanding in your mind opens up room for your brain to fill in the gaps and generate ideas that are riffs on what you're seeing, so even if you try to emulate exactly what you're seeing in the video, your recreation will likely end up distinct enough to have its own merits

 

(that's what I've found to be the case anyway)

Same applies here, except I mostly pick up inspirations from MtPain27's reviews. He usually never describe what exactly happens in a map, which leaves even more room for one's own imagination. (I'd say something like 30% vague idea) Sometimes a simple sentence or a simple scene could inspire me to make something wacky/interesting.

 

I don't really like watching raw playthroughs, I'm not that kind of guy that have the patience for anything that is long or calming, even for things outside of doom. However I do like watching playthroughs with post-commentaries. To me, they feel a lot more substantial, especially when the maps have design-choices that are normally obscure yet impactful. And hearing people's thoughts is a lot more fun to me than watching somebody doing things that I could've done myself.

[Gougaru]

Personally I don't watch others play games period..  that being said.. subscribe to my doom channel loll

[Steveb1000]

I remember being in in arcades in the 1980s and 1990s, when people would happily stand by the side of machines watching other play. I also used to enjoy watching my older brother playing Command Conquer-style games in the 90s and 2000s (he was much better than me!) and enjoyed watching early TV shows (like Gamesmaster) where you saw other people play.

 

My experience is that watching other play has always been part of my gaming experience (I'm 43) and I regard watching YT and Twitch is just another version of those days spent stood at the side of an arcade machine.

[BonciuADV]

BigMacDavis FTW. Nuff said. 

Edited January 16, 2023 by BonciuADV

[WSADKO]

decino, Dwars, coincident, Doomkid and ZeroMaster

worthwhile channels

[Book Lord]

On 1/15/2023 at 1:28 PM, Steveb1000 said:

I remember being in in arcades in the 1980s and 1990s, when people would happily stand by the side of machines watching other play. I also used to enjoy watching my older brother playing Command Conquer-style games in the 90s and 2000s (he was much better than me!) and enjoyed watching early TV shows (like Gamesmaster) where you saw other people play.

 

My experience is that watching other play has always been part of my gaming experience (I'm 43) and I regard watching YT and Twitch is just another version of those days spent stood at the side of an arcade machine.

 

Good recall, I also remember spending a lot of time watching people play in arcades, as it was the only method to know what lay ahead and to become a better player. The same happened when watching my older cousin play videogames on the computer; the next step was playing together. We played through Doom as an ensemble for the first time in 1994: he did moving and running, I was shooting and using the space-bar. Good old times.

 

The topic is not watching someone else play a videogame, be it live or recorded, in person or remotely; there is a difference between this activity, which has been there since the very first game that was played, and watching videos mixing the videogame with additional content, sometimes relevant to the game itself, sometimes alien and distracting. Kids are especially attracted when people with questionable sense of humour create funny videos with videogames. I have seen them get hooked by gags that were quite miserable and lose good hours with them, instead of socialising, learning, or playing themselves.

 

Surely most Doom fans and video content creators are mature enough to avoid such missteps, both in video creation and attending, so basically the problem I am describing resides elsewhere. Nonetheless, we are getting more and more used to remote, passive relations with others, and the constantly growing video sharing increases the time we spend in such relations.

[Eurisko]

I like to watch @Suitepee of I’m not in the mood for actually playing Doom. 
 

Edited January 17, 2023 by Eurisko

[Stroggman]

Just now, Eurisko said:

I like to watch @Suitepee of I’m not on the mood for actually playing Doom. 
 

His vids are good!

[Nikku4211]

Some of the Doom videos I watch are analysis videos, like from Decino.

 

I do watch some Doom gameplay videos. Sometimes I discover certain Doom WADs that way.

 

I play Doom as well, but sometimes I just want to watch someone plow through some maps.

[Eurisko]

10 hours ago, Stroggman said:

His vids are good!

They are. He’s a very entertaining guy. 

[LadyMistDragon]

Definitely try to spend more of my time playing than watching, though some of that is the need to maintain a through NewStuff guide for the Wadazine. But also, I'd never play half the megawads there if I watched the 20th run of Sunlust's Map 29 for instance.

[Doomkid]

I only watch channels that I can actively engage with while they play - Sandwedge has me in VC often and Kes Gaming replies to all chats, so I find hanging out with other Doomers to be half of the entertainment value. BigMacDavis is also great about chat interaction.

 

Unless someone is playing a map I made (or a map in a project I'm leading that needs testing), I probably won't watch Doom LP after the fact or in a setting where I have a 0% chance of engaging with the person playing.

 

I consider this a side note, but as a kid I loved watching my brother play games I'd have no interest in playing myself, such as RTS and RPG games. I came to know Bauldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, WoW and a bunch of other games fairly well strictly through watching. I would have never felt compelled to play them on my own, though.

 

Same goes with my ex wife and a lot of her favorite games. Watching someone who is a friend/loved one and occasionally talking to them about what's going on does feel distinct from watching streamers though, even watching others compete on Street Fighter II machines at skating rinks and such felt distinct, honestly - but still similar and still enjoyable.

 

...

 

LOL thinking of Street Fighter arcade machines reminds me of this time I was playing a gig with TheDevilzWork back when I was just 18, after the show I got SUPER drunk and challenged a guy to some SFII on the machine that was - rather cruelly - placed halfway under an open wooden staircase. After getting my ass beat, I drunkenly turned around to walk away.. but because the beams of the staircase were strategically placed directly BEHIND head-height when standing at the machine, when I turned and stepped, I SLAMMED my face right into the fucking beam.

 

The guy didn't laugh at me or anything, was just like "you ok?" but still it was so goddamn embarrassing, cruel (unintentionally) on behalf of the establishment owners, and funny as fuck looking back. My forehead was bright red when I went to the bathroom, like someone had open-hand slapped me 3 times in a row.. fucking LOL

[TheFocus]

i like watching Doom and playing Doom pretty evenly, although i have been watching it a little less as of late. i will say, the BigMacDavis TNT walkthrough series is one of my all time favorite YT gaming content. it starts out pretty normal, but after like map 13, he gets really bored with the levels and just starts bullshitting through the game, with the actual "walkthrough" part being less and less important. in fact, i think i've seen that series more times than i've actually played TNT.