We’ve been running our site for almost 6 years now during that time we’ve had the opportunity to meet game developers, build relationships with them and review their games. We’ve been recognised as ‘Press’ for events, we’ve met loads of like-minded bloggers and are part of some amazing communities within the blogger-sphere. We’ve branched out to cover board games thanks to an incredible opportunity that we never even thought would come our way. And we’re on the brink of a complete revamp of our ‘look’. It’s been an amazing time.
But with wanting to provide good, consistent content, comes the added pressure of feeling like you need to provide for your audience.
Playing Games Differently
This has changed the way I’ve played games and the way I’ve enjoyed games. I don’t play games just for myself any more, every game I play I will always have the thought of “Will this give me any content?” Whether that be a review, a thought piece, a new game for our Geekly Reviews or whether it’s for potential video content on my YouTube channel. As a result everything I play centres around providing content. In fact there are only really two games that I play in which I don’t really consider them for content anymore and those games are Rocket League and Overwatch. Although Overwatch still has the potential to get me talking with all of the changes it keeps going through.
I can’t remember the last time I just sat and played a game just because. There always seems to be this subconscious ulterior motive to playing games. A little voice in my head that tells me I can write about this or I can make a video on this.
It’s changed the way I look at games, I come at games with a much more critical angle now, I analyse what I’m playing way more than I previously did. If I enjoy a particular moment in a game I will either make a real note, or a mental note of it to make sure I write about it. If I find a new game I want to talk about it, I want to share it with others. It’s a really strange feeling when I actually think about it.
It’s a Kick
However, I don’t dislike how I consume games now; in fact I think I thrive on it. I get a kick out of finding a new game and getting to tell others about it. When those weird and wonderful moments happen during my recordings for YouTube videos I can’t help but think “Jackpot! This is it, this is the video”. It’s why I flit between so many games; it’s why I don’t complete a lot of games. I’m constantly chasing that next bit of content that I want to share.
The Challenge
There is a downside though, this summer has been slow for releases – as it usually is, and due to that I’ve felt like I’ve not provided enough content both here and on my YouTube channel. When you sit down to record gameplay and play for 3 hours only to come away with nothing for a video it can be really deflating. It adds to the pressure of delivering that next video. I want the next one to be better, and the longer that gap between the last one is the more expectation (my own) builds, the more I think “I need something really good”. Which leads to a kind of writers block, you start to have all these partial ideas that never really fully amount to anything. You start writing or editing only to scrap that idea when it doesn’t form itself very well.
It’s difficult when you have something you feel you’ve worked really hard on only for it to fall flat. I’ve had that with videos and articles alike, but not necessarily understood why that’s been the case. In contrast when you do hit the nail on the head, when you post something at the right time, share it in the right places, get great engagement it really is an awesome feeling.
I do wonder if I’ll ever be able to play a game again without questioning whether it will make good content and I honestly think that unless I stop doing writing or videos I won’t.
-Will
I tend to feel the same way. I look at games differently now. While I always got sucked into stories and characters, I find myself looking for the “real world” connection to chat about in AGC. I haven’t ever thought that was better or worse, but I know when I start putting unnecessary pressure on myself the fun off both activities (playing and blogging) quickly evaporates. I had to adjust my blog schedule to be more sustainable because of that… even though it means less content, but that doesn’t work for everyone!
I think its important that people strike the right balance between what works well for them and putting to much pressure on yourself.
Like I said I thrive on finding new things to talk about and when I actually stopped to think about how that’s changed the way I play it was pretty strange.