LP Preferences

[supersunBRO]

I've seen a number of Lets Plays of Doom Wads, as I'm sure most other users here have as well. But one question I have is what kind do y'all prefer - Commentary or No Commentary? I myself prefer Commentated ones, but sometimes they're good without. I wouldn't mind doing a mixture of the two myself personally. I'd like to hear what you all think.

[Sonikkumania]

Always no commentary. 

[yakfak]

mmm I like commentary sometimes! but I prefer watching players go through level sets they love and talking about why they love them, to watching people play a new level set and just saying... wow woah i didn't expect that

[Captain POLAND]

Depends if the commenter is good at commenting or not.

 

 

[supersunBRO]

11 minutes ago, Sonikkumania said:

Always no commentary. 

Fair enough, theres so much content out there, and quality can vary greatly if theres commentary. More so than without. I think the no commentary appeals to most because you can just absorb the contents of the video with less distractions.

[supersunBRO]

3 minutes ago, yakfak said:

mmm I like commentary sometimes! but I prefer watching players go through level sets they love and talking about why they love them, to watching people play a new level set and just saying... wow woah i didn't expect that

With commentary I like when the creator gives tips and facts about the wad, like Altima or BMD does. Or if they have an interesting story or talking point.

[supersunBRO]

4 minutes ago, Captain POLAND said:

Depends if the commenter is good at commenting or not.

 

 

Thats the big deciding factor right there. Far more enjoyable if its fun to listen to.

[Razza]

Videos with no commentary have to show a map that is extremely unique (like Brendondle's playthrough of Poogers map29), or a map/wad i'm particularly interested in otherwise they put me to sleep.

Commentated vids are great cause you hear how they plan out difficult fights and what their thoughts are of the map

[supersunBRO]

1 minute ago, Razza said:

Videos with no commentary have to show a map that is extremely unique (like Brendondle's playthrough of Poogers map29), or a map/wad i'm particularly interested in otherwise they put me to sleep.

Commentated vids are great cause you hear how they plan out difficult fights and what their thoughts are of the map

Yeah, if the wad is not that great, and theres no commentary it can be boring.

[xScavengerWolfx]

To be honest i can do both. Just like with anime, i can do both.

[supersunBRO]

5 minutes ago, xScavengerWolfx said:

To be honest i can do both. Just like with anime, i can do both.

For me it mostly depends on my time i have available at the moment, and my mood.

[Pseudonaut]

Post commentary > live commentary > no commentary

[xScavengerWolfx]

1 minute ago, supersunBRO said:

For me it mostly depends on my time i have available at the moment, and my mood.

True

 

[DoomPlayer00]

Mostly no commentary but I do enjoy Decino's let's plays/playthroughs

Edited November 17, 2022 by DoomPlayer00
added text

[supersunBRO]

3 minutes ago, DoomPlayer00 said:

Mostly no commentary but I do enjoy Decino's let's plays/playthroughs

Decino is very entertaining to watch, good blend of knowledge and humor.

[Majin]

the only commentaries i like to watch are ones that talk about subjects in depth, usually relating to level and game design. i personally can't stand to watch someone say things at the top of their heads every 5 seconds, it's too draining for me.  i watch no commentaries on occasion but that's quite rare, since there's nothing added to it that i couldn't get out of playing it myself. 

[supersunBRO]

4 minutes ago, Majin said:

the only commentaries i like to watch are ones that talk about subjects in depth, usually relating to level and game design. i personally can't stand to watch someone say things at the top of their heads every 5 seconds, it's too draining for me.  i watch no commentaries on occasion but that's quite rare, since there's nothing added to it that i couldn't get out of playing it myself. 

Random reactionary commentary is the least effort, but also the easiest for people to default to. Takes practice to improve. I hope I can avoid that trap.

[sandwedge]

It's interesting to read people's preferences here.  I think there's room for different styles but personally I always liked blind runs by people with fun personalities, I guess it's a type of reaction video in a way.  They are fairly easy to make and allow me to play tons of stuff so it's a bonus for the pipeline of videos.  But I get that's not for everybody. 

 

I wish I had the patience to do more edited vids but I'm impressed by those who do it.  No commentary and post commentary I find a bit dull though, and no commentary makes it pretty hard to distinguish your vids from anyone else unless it is like incredible speedruns or something.  Good luck to the OP and trying it out yourself, I've had a lot of fun and met some cool people doing it over the last year so it can be very rewarding!

[supersunBRO]

1 hour ago, sandwedge said:

It's interesting to read people's preferences here.  I think there's room for different styles but personally I always liked blind runs by people with fun personalities, I guess it's a type of reaction video in a way.  They are fairly easy to make and allow me to play tons of stuff so it's a bonus for the pipeline of videos.  But I get that's not for everybody. 

 

I wish I had the patience to do more edited vids but I'm impressed by those who do it.  No commentary and post commentary I find a bit dull though, and no commentary makes it pretty hard to distinguish your vids from anyone else unless it is like incredible speedruns or something.  Good luck to the OP and trying it out yourself, I've had a lot of fun and met some cool people doing it over the last year so it can be very rewarding!

For the most part the majority of my videos will be blind. I've only played a small handful of WADs in my time. Excited to say that some of the classics will be blind for me such as Scythe and Memento Mori, hell even Plutonia will be blind past the first few maps. I'm gonna try to stick with having topics for talking points during my blind live commentary runs, but maybe for the Id Software WADs I might try post commentary. It'll be an experience nonetheless though. And thank you for the luck!

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

I can't stand when commentators simply state the obvious, make terrible jokes, or fake ridiculous reactions while begging for likes and subscriptions. I don't mind casual playthroughs with genuine reactions, or reviews, but if I'm just checking out a wad I perfer no commentary. If it's a wad that I made and someone in the forum is making a video of them playing it, I perfer commentary. They usually don't have much to say, because I don't create any wads.

[dasho]

I really dislike most commentary because it is a usually either a "quantity over quality" situation or someone trying way too hard to present an "entertaining" persona.

Edited November 18, 2022 by dasho

[indigotyrian]

I'm personally not that interested in watching somebody play a video game -- I'd rather be playing it myself! That said I don't mind lets plays at all if they bring something to the table besides the gameplay. I tend to like:

 

A) When the game serves as a backdrop for the hosts to banter, joke, and converse about stuff. Game Grumps and especially Oney Plays are excellent examples of this.

 

B) When the Let's Play itself has a lot of deeper information/commentary on the game itself, or on the process of making it, or such things. There was an awesome channel called Custom Gamer that covered user-made levels for FPS games, he was really cool.

 

I think i'm kind of on the fringe here because I'm not really big on watching twitch streaming or LPs in general unless there's something compelling so I don't consider myself part of the "target audience."

[supersunBRO]

20 minutes ago, TheMagicMushroomMan said:

I can't stand when commentators simply state the obvious, make terrible jokes, or fake ridiculous reactions while begging for likes and subscriptions. I don't mind casual playthroughs with genuine reactions, or reviews, but if I'm just checking out a wad I perfer no commentary. If it's a wad that I made and someone in the forum is making a video of them playing it, I perfer commentary. They usually don't have much to say, because I don't create any wads.

Yeah, i feel that the "wacky random" commentary is just not good, and it's unfortunately the most relied on and emulated because of a few big content creators that hit it big. Not my cup of tea. Personally i dont see much wrong with asking the viewers to like the video, but begging is not the way to go. Stating it as an option just as a lighthearted reminder.

[supersunBRO]

14 minutes ago, dasho said:

I really dislike most commentary because it usually either a "quantity over quality" situation or someone trying way too hard to present an "entertaining" persona.

The best way to create good content is to be comfortable with being yourself, if you create a persona with the hopes of being liked for it, then that means most viewers will either be put off, or like the persona and not the actual creator themself.

[supersunBRO]

12 minutes ago, segfault said:

I'm personally not that interested in watching somebody play a video game -- I'd rather be playing it myself! That said I don't mind lets plays at all if they bring something to the table besides the gameplay. I tend to like:

 

A) When the game serves as a backdrop for the hosts to banter, joke, and converse about stuff. Game Grumps and especially Oney Plays are excellent examples of this.

 

B) When the Let's Play itself has a lot of deeper information/commentary on the game itself, or on the process of making it, or such things. There was an awesome channel called Custom Gamer that covered user-made levels for FPS games, he was really cool.

 

I think i'm kind of on the fringe here because I'm not really big on watching twitch streaming or LPs in general unless there's something compelling so I don't consider myself part of the "target audience."

It's an extremely saturated market, and one where it can be hard to leave your mark. It's not for everybody and I think when becoming a creator I should take that into consideration. It'd be more worth my time building myself up rather than try to appeal to every single person.

[Herr Dethnout]

Text commentary.
 

 

[supersunBRO]

2 minutes ago, Herr Dethnout said:

Text commentary.
 

 

Seems like that is the most niche form, with lots of time spent editing. But it could serve as good practice for learning some basic editing. Or if you cant do voice but dont want solely gameplay. I never thought it was a thing until now though. I do find it interesting.

[CFWMagic]

About the only commentary videos I watch on a regular basis are decino. And not just for Doom, in general, it's very rare for me to watch commentated Let's Plays. The reason for that is that I tent to pay more attention to game sound-design than most people since I'm colorblind and occasionally have to rely on sound rather than sight in shooters and the like. The other reason is ADHD, so commentary actually distracts me relatively easily.

There are some exceptions however. Usually when I need to figure out a specific technical thing through the Let's Play, or when I'm engaged with the creator themselves. But in all cases, Commentated only works for me if the purpose is not to pay attention to the play-through, but to the person doing it. Decino's comment style works for me because I typically use his videos to learn about gameplay, mechanics and wads, so I don't need to pay attention to the map itself. In fact I often play the WADs that decino plays and "compete" with him by listening to his videos and playing the map at the same time as he does.

[Wyrmwood]

13 hours ago, TheMagicMushroomMan said:

I can't stand when commentators simply state the obvious, make terrible jokes, or fake ridiculous reactions while begging for likes and subscriptions. 

 

Yeah, I don't really watch let's play videos on You Tube for that very reason, my kids watch popular Youtubers like Unspeakable and FGTV and I absolutely loath they way they scream and fake all the time, it's totally put me off watching anything on You Tube other than music vids or DIY tutorials.

 

Recently though I've watched some video's on here by @sandwedge and really enjoyed them, maybe I should give others a chance but truthfully I'd rather play games than watch someone play them.

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

1 minute ago, Wyrmwood said:

 

Yeah, I don't really watch let's play videos on You Tube for that very reason, my kids watch popular Youtubers like Unspeakable and FGTV and I absolutely loath they way they scream and fake all the time, it's totally put me off watching anything on You Tube other than music vids or DIY tutorials.

 

Recently though I've watched some video's on here by @sandwedge and really enjoyed them, maybe I should give others a chance but truthfully I'd rather play games than watch someone play them.

Yeah, none of the stuff I'm talking about applies in any way to any of the members here who make videos. I love watching folks like Sandwedge, Biodegradable, and Doomkid. I wish all videos were like that.