Self promotion

[pheanox]

Would the people of the staem discussion group be interested in a sticky topic where people can post their twitch or youtube channels so people if they want to, can have a nice handy list of RimWorld streamers? I would obviously in that thread not enforce Rule 5.

[Jibbles]

I'd rather sub forum over sticky to avoid clutter. Don't care all that much either way.

[Jigain]

Personally, I'd rather just not see it at all. I understand people want more views, as views = dollars (well, cents, but still), but I'm just the kind of person who can't stand seeing advertisements. I realize it's not the same for everyone, but that's my genuine feeling on the subject.

If it was restricted to a sub forum, like Jibbles suggests, I'd be satisfied with that. Just means I wouldn't ever go there. But then again, let's be honest, how many will actually use that sub forum?

[pheanox]

Originally posted by Jigain:

Personally, I'd rather just not see it at all. I understand people want more views, as views = dollars (well, cents, but still), but I'm just the kind of person who can't stand seeing advertisements. I realize it's not the same for everyone, but that's my genuine feeling on the subject.

If it was restricted to a sub forum, like Jibbles suggests, I'd be satisfied with that. Just means I wouldn't ever go there. But then again, let's be honest, how many will actually use that sub forum?

I don't really care either way, I don't mind if people want to share their creative projects, but I also don't want the discussion group spammed so I was just interested in what other thoughts and ideas there were.
I agree the problem with a subforum over a sticky is that it will probably be dead.

[brian_va]

Would the general expectation be that you would be moving or merging each post into the "master" thread or subforum? I wouldn't expect a sticky or subforum to be used 100%, and those will still clutter up the main forum.

[Cat®]

Isn't that a feature on streaming services already? Sort by game? I also don't think the kind of person who self-promotes in a place like this cares to observe the rules.

[flu007]

I see nothing wrong with either a subforum or a sticky. As long as the forum doesn't get cluttered up with a dozen or more stickies at the top, that can be a bit annoying, but that's not the case now, one more doesn't make a difference.

It's not something I'm personally particularly interested in, but I sympathize with the struggle of creating something and wanting to reach an audience, so I think the "inconvenience" of an extra sticky topic is something we can live with without losing any sleep over it.

[Honeycone]

I'd support such a sub forum. I actually had trouble a week ago finding a good lets play to watch. If I was to create such a sub forum myself, I'd add forum instructions that titles (of lets plays at least) can include tags such as "[Edited]", "[Not-Edited]", "[Vanilla]", "[GOT mod]" etc.

I'm not saying I'd frequent that sub forum, but I'd probably check in every week or so.

[Black Goat]

Sticky is good, so that even if people don't care about seeing live streams, they could still use it as a directory of rimworld streamers.

[ichifish]

Originally posted by pheanox:

Would the people of the staem discussion group be interested in a sticky topic where people can post their twitch or youtube channels so people if they want to, can have a nice handy list of RimWorld streamers? I would obviously in that thread not enforce Rule 5.

Yes, please!

There are a lot of great streamers who don’t benefit from the algorithms or don’t post frequently.

A sticky would also make for a handy tutorial collection for new players.

It would also allow new streamers to solicit feedback from more amenable audiences.

[Astasia]

I wonder if the overall Steam community rules would trump the forum rules here in this case, as advertising just isn't allowed anywhere AFAIK? I don't know the concessions given to local mods/devs in managing their own communities.

It's something I would rather not see though, and I feel like encouraging it here in one place/thread on the forum will eventually just lead to more people posting outside of that area trying to get special attention. Like it becomes known there is a place here to self advertise, and people come here to do so only to see a 10+ page long thread with other people doing the same thing, and now they think they will get more attention by ignoring that thread and intentionally posting it in the wrong location. I can be a bit pessimistic though.

I think some of the value to be had for community members would be done better by people simply making threads asking for suggestions on good content creators to watch. "I like people who play in this way, does anyone have good suggestions on what I should watch?" They'd get better results I think, instead of scrolling through pages and pages of low effort adverts in some thread.

[Kittenpox]

I'm inclined to agree with Astasia's stance on this one; but if it does end up happening perhaps it's better to have as a subforum rather than a sticky - that way *recent* self-promotions show up first, rather than starting with the oldest stuff that will be on page 1.
Especially if later on those people stop streaming but never return to tidy up their self-promos, having them buried in the subforum is the better option.

[Greenpakto]

A sticky is fine as long as it does not limit content creators to also create their own topics as well.

[Morkonan]

My answer would have to be a very firm and definite "No."

What a channel/stream owner sees with that sort of forum/thread is a commercial opportunity. Because of the power of directly targeting a very specific and obviously already engaged audience, such a thread is likely to get quickly filled with... spam. Or, rather, what amounts to it. I doubt much of value would be found inside it, even though players routinely share info on their favorite vids.

There have been plenty of threads over the years that focused on "Favorite Youtube/Streams." Those generally get about three pages or so and then die off, but they're not hard to find. The bonus there is that the threads are created by forum users, for forum users, and not only focus on providing each other with helpful links, but offer something no possible focused-sticky could do - Engagement. Those threads allow players to discuss channels, why they like certain streamers, which are great vids, funny vids, informative vids, tutorials, etc... That's their strength and their value to the community. A "Click Here For Youtube/Twitch Advertisements" sticky can not do that.

Also - Due to the nature of the gaming market, game channel/streams change content over time in order to retain viewers. A channel may quickly become irrelevant or even deprecated after a yt'er/streamer moves on to other games.

Originally posted by pheanox:

Would the people of the staem discussion group ...

I would be more comfortable with you, specifically, taking suggestions, reviewing them/thinking on them, and constructing your own "carefully curated" list of helpful links, tutorials, and the like that may include a few references to very helpful youtube vids. (I do not know how/if Twitch sunsets old series, so it may be less useful for that.) Every once-in-awhile, you could put the whole thing "Up for Community Review" to engage the community in culling or adding to the list, so it can stay relatively up-to-date. (It's also an excuse for the community to come together with some enthusiasm concerning "their favorite thing" and whether or not they can get it added. :))

But, you should be the one to do this and manage the sticky. I trust your judgement.

Snare Astasia in a deadfall trap to get some help culling suggestions... :)

[Jibbles]

I would be more comfortable with you, specifically, taking suggestions, reviewing them/thinking on them, and constructing your own "carefully curated" list of helpful links, tutorials, and the like that may include a few references to very helpful youtube vids.

Idk, I feel like this a bit of work for something that could easily go out of date. I was initially thinking I'd rather see other things pinned over seeing self promotion tho. I rather not see it at all tbh.

The sub-forum may not be used much but it's the only time I've ever seen such topics exists.

[Smelly Fish]

To be fair it's better than having people post their gameplay on the main forums and then getting their posts deleted. Less spam for the main forum, less work for you as you don't need to delete those messages. Win-win situation right here