Game spectatorship: Spectatorship methods in detail

During my ongoing literature review I often discover interesting facts about things I’ve never thought about. Sometimes I can connect these facts with my own observations: The result is mostly a completely new idea why things are as they are. Maybe these ideas are new to you, too. Therefore I’ll share my new science based knowledge with you!

This week: This is the fourth part of the video game / e-sport spectator series. This time, I’ll focus on two of the spectatorship methods: Watching over the player’s shoulder and watching recorded videos.

Watching over the player’s shoulder (wotps) can be separated into two different methods: Sitting physically next to the performing player and watching video game live streams like Twitch. For the rest of this article, these two methods will be defined as real wotps and virtual wotps.

As already discussed last week, real wotps has some disadvantages due to the requirement of physical presence. However, real wotps can be very useful for the Interested. The Interested likes to get additional information about the gameplay. Sitting next to the performing player allows the Interested to directly ask questions and to experience the gameplay live.
The use of real wotps for the Pupil is depending on the skill level of the Pupil and the performing player. If the player and the spectator are at the same skill level or the player is even better than the Pupil, then real wotps can be useful for the Pupil. However the Pupil won’t be able to get new knowledge, if the Pupil has a higher skill level than the player.
The Pupil can observe how the player is reacting to critical situations and the player can explain the own actions. The explanations can compensate the lack of the possibility to replay important situations.

Virtual wotps can provide the same information for the Interested as the real wotps. The Interested can experience the gameplay from the same pov as the player. Additionally, the player and the Interested can communicate using the implemented chat function. Finally, it’s up to the Interested to chose a stream, which suits them best. Compared to the real wotps, the virtual wotps allow the Interested to easily switch between different players. Thus the Interested is given the opportunity to gather as much oppinions as desired.
Virtual wotps has a great advantage over the real wotps for the Pupil. The Pupil can chose the appropriate video game live stream. In most cases, the Pupil likes to analyze the gameplay of expert players. World wide streaming platforms like Twitch allow the Pupil to watch the gameplay of expert players, even if they are physically far away.
Live streams in general do not have a replay function. This might be the only disadvantage for the Pupil, because they can’t analyze critical situations in detail. However, the implemented chat function and the possibility of commentating the own actions can compensate the lack of control.

Watching recorded videos is a very broad and even blurred aspect of spectatorship. Recorded videos can be classified into five categories: Review, tutorial, proof of success, commentated replays and let’s play.

Gameplay reviews [1] are mostly giving a general overview over the gameplay of a particular game. The performing player is demonstrating the most important facts of the gameplay and is concluding with a recommendation about the whole game. Considering this, gameplay reviews are very useful for the Interested.

Tutorial videos [2] are mostly focused on a particular part of the gameplay and how to master it. To understand a tutorial video, basic knowledge about the gameplay is required. These videos are created to improve the gameplay of others. Considering this, tutorial videos are very useful for the Pupil.

Proof of success videos [3] are mostly created to proof the own success. These videos demonstrate the way how an encounter is defeated by a player or, in the case of multiplayer games, a group of players. These videos can be useful for both spectator personas. The Interested can inform themselves about the endgame gameplay. The Pupil can analyze the gameplay in detail and rewatch situations if needed.

Commentated replays [4] can be defined as delayed live streams. Games like StarCraft2 do have a function to save replays of the own gameplay. These replays can be watched using the replay function of the game, which can be compared to the spectator mode. By doing so, the replay offers the same information as if the gameplay is watched live using the spectator mode.
In conclusion the replay function allows to watch the gameplay as if it’s live. In this case, commentators can create videos by commentating the action. These videos look like a live broadcast.
Watching these videos can be very useful for the Pupil because they can pause the video, rewatch critical situations and even gain additional knowledge by listening to the commentator.

Let’s play videos [5] are a special form of video based gameplay coverage. These videos show the playthrough of a video game from the pov of the player. In most cases these videos are additional commentated by the player. By watching a let’s play series, the Interested can experience the complete game and in the process, gain a complete impression of the game. The Pupil won’t benefit much from watching these videos, because they already know the gameplay and the focus of these videos isn’t on critical situations or high performance gameplay.

However, let’s play videos are a complex case which I’ll cover in the next part of the game spectorship series.