I know its great for watching people playing games, but honestly... whats with some of the streamers just sitting there talking... and people watching them talk? help if its a pretty asian girl....but i got bored of watching after 5 minutes..one talking and all the comments in channell.........

Yeah I don't really watch any of them except the GOG twitch channel...They have some good streamers such as killg0re trout (likes to play old games and some new) , dizzy (he usually plays strategy games) , braxton (likes to play point and click games ) and others cool guys such as danvandam and darksaber...

What are you talking about? "Watching people play games" isn't "great." It's less fun than watching paint dry or grass grow, and equally as terrible as watching people talk.

I don't understand twitch at all, what's the point watching others play when you could play too?
Imho the population is so stupid, they started to believe this is fun.
Same with e-thots, why watch them, and some lulu even gives them money ?
And if you got bored that means you still have a working brain, thats good.

It's like any form of Social Media tbh.

It's a matter of whether you enjoy what they have to say/play. for some people the topics they talk about might be of interest, for others it could be because they're eye candy.

Another version is why watch shows where they review movies/talk about sport etc, it's just another version of that.

Let's be honest, the only reason to visit Twitch is this channel.

Watching other people play is as old as gaming. You just don't need to be in the same room anymore.

It depends on the communication skills of the host. Some of them know how to give a good show to viewers. Others take an academic approach and make a terrific job explaining game mechanics I am currently watching such a series to learn Master of Orion). Sometimes, a gameplay video is more informative than a written walkthrough if you're stuck.

Some games are better for live streaming and direct interaction with viewers, and others work better in pre-recorded, edited videos. And some don't translate that well to this format.

No it's not...at least, not in the way how that statement is making it sound.

In the old & normal days, if you were watching someone play a video game, then it was because you were waiting for your turn to play, and there was nothing else to do in the mean time. Watching was an act of necessity, not a deliberate choice that one would make because watching them play is fun (which it isn't).

As for "explaining game mechanics:" very very very few games need to have that done. Master of Orion or flight simulators, or farming simulators, or a few rare types of niche games like that might.

But for the most part, that principle of needing to have the game's mechanics explained is not applicable for 99%+ of games.

or they could just watch educational vids and get smarter ... but for that they would have to be smarter to begin with ah :(

I normally don't watch people play games, at least straight. I HAVE watched videos of people playing games occasionally, but it is normally to save time. If there is a game that I've gotten tired of playing and it has a story, but I don't want to spend the time beating the game, I'll go find a playthrough of the game (hopefully without the talking, I HATE playthrough's with talking). As it is a video, I can skip ahead through the boring parts and really cut down on the time to see most of what I want to see in the game. 100 hour game...done in 4 hours!

Another reason I have gone to see gameplays is if I'm stuck in a tough spot and can't figure out what to do next. Watching someone play through that section can help me figure out what to do next without spoiling the rest of the game. In this instance, having them talk about the game (especially to help me understand what they are doing) can be extremely useful.

Other than that, I don't watch game playing as much, but I have friends that LOVE watching gameplays. I don't exactly understand why either. I had a friend today who has beaten Jedi: Fallen Order twice and was watching a gameplay of it from another person who was playing it. I guess they really love that game. Other than the reasons I listed above, I really don't have a desire to watch gameplays, but I know (as in the case of my friends) that there are those that love watching them.

We all have different things that we enjoy. If people want to watch others play games on twitch (or elsewhere) and they enjoy it, good for them. I hope they have the opportunity to do the things they enjoy in that manner.

Might not be for me, might not understand it, but I'm happy that those who do enjoy it have the offerings available for them to do so.

Yup, I cannot remember anyone just want to watch others play, maybe if the other were way more experienced and wanted to learn something new trick, the watcher wanted to play too.
I don't even get why watch explaining game mechanics is good, if you are stuck then it is fine, but isn't the point of those games to do it yourself and get better at it?
Well i also don't get why some wants to just unlock a maxed out champ with money or cheat, this is especially true for mobile games, they pay to increase some numbers... so pointless.

I'll never get people watching football... so boring. But hey, Sasha Grey has her own Twitch channel....

Maybe I too have one and i dont even know about it oh no
wonder if there are more watchers than streamers

Yeah but it's less work than playing the grind that is modern gaming and requires less google searching. :P
okay going back to playing realms of impossibility on C64 now :)