The rise in popularity of games streaming has rendered a whole new industry unto itself. The idea of professional gaming is in no way a new concept. I myself fondly remember ‘CS: Source’ players looking like sentient hardware commercials. But it has certainly never been anywhere near as diverse a vocation as it is now and this has opened up the possibility of playing games professionally to a whole new group of people. Call them casual players, call them’ noobs’, call them whatever you like. The simple fact is that people will now watch other people play games for reasons other than their level of skill and experience.
For the most part, this is a great thing. Players can be comedians first and gamers second. It has enabled fantastic, quirky streamers to share their passions with the World, such as the father and son who play Battlefield together or the guy who plays Counter Strike with his driving wheel. However, there is one particular type of extremely popular streamer that seems to incite such abuse and anger that I cannot help but stand up and take note. This is going to need some explanation though…..
Earlier I noticed that a couple of popular cosplayers in the form of Jessica Nigri and Lindsay Elyse were playing the inexplicably popular, anger-inducing ‘League of Legends’ live on Twitch TV. For those of you who don’t know, these two ladies make a living by dressing up like popular characters from fiction and doing photo-shoots or appearing at conventions. Now I know that these uber-popular cosplayers will often divide the cosplaying community as well but I’m not here to talk about that. I’m here to talk about their merit as gamers.
Rarely have I seen so much abuse hurled at two girls. Here are some quotes from the post linking to their live stream:
‘Lol, why do you even try to seem like a gamer. You're just silicone caked with makeup. I've heard some of the things your ex-coworkers have written about you. Tsk tsk, if only people knew. Nah, there's too many lonely sad guys out there.’
‘Fake tits ain't gota[sic] win the game’
‘Sad to see fake tits gets u followers..’
‘Ten bucks says you are no gamer.’
Those were just the first four I found when scrolling down. The post is utterly littered with them. So why is there so much hatred towards attractive women with ample bosoms who stream games? Well let’s take a look at the debate.
A lot of people seem angered that Jessica and Lindsay can garner large numbers of fans without having to spend night after night playing and entertaining. They can just set up a Twitch account and watch the numbers roll in. But is that true? I think if we think about it for a second we’ll realise it isn’t. While these ladies may not have had to spend a lot of time on Twitch, they have spent days, weeks, months and years touring conventions, doing photo-shoots, managing their social media and many other tiring activities in order to build the level of support necessary to have the luxury of getting a crowd for a Twitch stream. They have earned their audience, they just didn’t earn it in this arena. If Chuck Norris took to Twitch and started play LoL, I very much doubt you would insult him for having a butt-load of followers, probably because you know he’d round-house kick you through his webcam but also because you respect that he is a professional entertainer and that the internet is the most logical way of distributing your creations or performances.
But the most common dig at Jess & co seems to coming from the angle of her lack of validity as a gamer, her lack of skill and the fact that her ‘assets’ (which allegedly require no hard work to attain) are there in place of any skill or effort on her part. Well that’s true. She isn’t an accomplished gamer…..and I’m not an astrophysicist. And whatsmore, neither of us is claiming to be either of those things. Although I enjoy the mysteries of the universe as much as Jessica and Lindsay enjoy the odd game of LoL, none of us claim to be experts and that’s ok.
What this really comes down to is people’s general frustration with an unfair system. Much like the music industry, the beautiful people top the charts while the sweaty, hairy, hard-working bands play in piss-stained dive bars to a man and his dog. But the simple truth is that if everyone who bitched about Justin Bieber and One Direction actually got up off their arses and went to five or six live shows a year, the industry would become a much better place for originality and creativity to thrive.
So I ask you, what are you doing about it? If you feel that your stream or your friend’s stream is criminally underappreciated while Jessica’s is far more popular than it deserves to be, what are you going to do about it? Because telling her that her tits are too big and she wears too much make-up isn’t going to make your Dark Souls speedrun any more engaging. I wish my articles would get more comments than the pictures on Jessica’s Facebook page do, but I know they won’t and I also know that all I can do is keep writing until I hit the right note and maybe, just maybe, try to emulate some of the impressive work ethic of a girl who is constantly bombarded by angry men, debasing her desire to do what she enjoys and yet still somehow manages to keep going.
I’m not a feminist by any stretch of the imagination. I’m a red-blooded, dirty bastard. But I know a well-oiled business when I see one and what these girls lack in ability they more than make up for in hours put in at the office.
Also, doing your own tax returns is about as much fun as a funeral and anyone who has had to suffer that particular level of hell gets my respect.