Streamers are a sensitive bunch when it comes to trends.
With extreme levels of skill, if the concrete layers weren’t stacked so solidly, they’d be even more in tune with what’s hot. After all, that’s the only way to pull in viewers and lay down a solid foundation for their broadcasts.
Non-trendy broadcasters have been weeded out over time; you won’t find them anywhere anymore. Therefore, the streamers that remain are mostly folks who can read the room.
What does it mean to read the room? It means knowing what memes are trending, which VTuber videos are going viral, and what kind of content draws in live viewers.
Being in the know about the release dates of highly-rated new games and immediately streaming them is part of that skill set.
Whenever a decent game drops, you’ll often spot the top streamers on Twitch all playing the same title.
And this time was no different. Eternal, a highly anticipated game among gamers, had just launched 10 hours ago.
Only 10 hours in, and yet, the Twitch category was mostly pointing to Eternal. Truly, this was the holy land of comprehensive gaming, showcasing games across the board.
These days, there’s been a stronger trend towards playing just a handful of specific games like Abyss, but whenever a game shows signs of being a hit, everyone plays it with one heart and one mind. After all, they’re all getting their game on.
Now, there was one broadcast sitting at the very top of Twitch, and guess what? Yep, it was another stream of Eternal.
To be brutally honest, the category was as stale as old bread. Everyone was streaming Eternal, so there was not a hint of uniqueness in the category anymore.
Let’s be clear: there’s no real reason to tune into this particular stream when others are playing the same game.
So why was this broadcast sitting pretty at the top of Twitch with so many viewers? It’s just another boring Eternal stream, after all.
Well, the answer could be boiled down to two main reasons: either the streamer has a super loyal fanbase that will watch whatever they play, or that particular stream is interesting enough to draw in more viewers compared to the others.
Whether it’s something they’re doing for fun or if the broadcast is captivating enough to attract a lot of traffic compared to other broadcasts.
Right now, Kayak’s stream, sitting at the very top of Twitch, was satisfying both of those criteria.
Basically, there was a solid base of viewers who originally watched, plus newcomers drawn in by curiosity about what this room was about, creating a magical pull that kept them watching.
Clearly, if you looked at the overall gameplay, it seemed typical for a newbie, but for some reason, their actions didn’t really scream ‘newbie.’ It left you wondering, “Who is this person?”
To sum up the feelings of the viewers tuning in: “I just can’t take my eyes off this broadcast!”
[Why is this person’s farming speed so fast?]
[Are they picking things based on what they see?]
[Is this their first game? From what I see, they totally seem like a veteran.]
[What even makes someone a veteran? They’re just doing whatever.]
[How can you tell if it’s random?]
[Change that weapon already.]
[They’re so chill, the survival area is shrinking—go to the center!]
[Stop backseat gaming, this is hilarious right now, lol.]
[Right now, there’s no official meta, so anything goes.]
[For real, lol, there’s no standard here.]
[This person is just so entertaining that I can’t stop watching….]
[Endless walking, wow.]
[Why are they picking up so many flint stones?]
[Is this person selling daggers? Why are they making so many?]
[Stop picking up junk items, come on!]
Kayak just played however they felt.
When they wanted to run, they ran; when they felt like walking, they walked.
If a building was in sight, they’d jump in and grab whatever items were inside.
That’s why their farming speed was so fast. Kayak just stuffed items into their backpack, figuring out what they needed later.
To begin with, they didn’t know which items were good or bad.
So when their backpack was packed to the brim from jamming in too many items, they’d finally skim the item descriptions and toss out what seemed unnecessary, leading to some frustrated backseat commentary from viewers.
But Kayak couldn’t care less. They said they wanted to enjoy their first game lightly, and they were too busy trying out all sorts of things.
Picking up a ton of flint and having a campfire in the middle of an open space, or following all the recipes for advanced daggers listed in the guide…
That was not something normal users would do. Typically, they’d be hustling for victory all the time.
They focused on farming to level up their specs or took out other players to rapidly boost their skills.
As if my path was the only path, completely ignoring other elements—it was that kind of playstyle that attracted viewers.
Of course, she still made sure to check off all the necessary tasks along the way.
Moving to different zones according to the shrinking survival area, taking down the occasionally appearing neutral monsters, and skillfully responding to sudden enemy ambushes…
In terms of gameplay, there was nothing to nitpick at all. Progressing steadily, she had already entered the list of strong contenders for in-game victory, leaving even the viewers who had been giving her unsolicited advice speechless.
Some viewers started to feel like she was a veteran. Engaging in bizarre plays while having fun, yet somehow performing so well made them question if she was really a newbie.
Despite the numerous snipers trying to take her down, Kayak managed to impress by landing in the top 10 final survivors in her very first game.
*
“Ah, what a pity. I didn’t know that terrain was there.”
[Well done, though.]
[Map knowledge issue.]
[Is there really a pit like that?]
[If you don’t know, you gotta learn the hard way.]
[7th place in the first game is really good.]
[Plus, there were snipers too.]
[If only you hadn’t made a campfire with flint… If only you’d picked up enhancement parts instead of flint…]
[But I just can’t resist making a campfire.]
[That’s the romance of it.]
[It was a healing game, not a survival game, lol.]
[It would have been more fun if you had driven a truck.]
[But watching her play, it seems she really has talent; if she focused on driving the truck, no one could stop her.]
[Seriously, how did you dodge those lasers earlier?]
[The physical skills were insane.]
[She played like that and still made it to the top ten; she’s truly a talent magnet.]
[The legend is how the backseat gamers went quiet halfway through, lol.]
Eternal, the game she experienced for the first time, turned out to be quite entertaining.
The Eternal experience was quite the entertaining game.
People randomly scattered on a vast map, shrinking activity zones, skills unique to different classes, and monsters lurking everywhere. Even though it was just a beta version, it had remarkable polish.
It made me think that the excitement wasn’t for nothing.
Unlike other survival games, I loved the variety of features thrown in. The presence of growth elements within the game and the various interactive spots across the map felt refreshingly innovative.
Who would’ve thought you could gather flint to build a campfire and cook there? Eternal was not just a simple survival game.
Eternal had all the qualities of an epic game. Both the players and the viewers could have fun together.
I figured once this game officially launches, there’d be streamers focusing mainly on Eternal, just like with Abyss. The rise of Eternal-specialized streamers! The game itself was ridiculously interesting.
Now that I’ve finished a match, I suddenly felt a desire to be number one creeping up on me.
To be honest, if it were boring, I would have just played one round and called it quits, but I couldn’t resist this one.
“Shall we play a few more rounds? Now that I roughly know how to play. Let’s be the number one winner… Yes, let’s be the number one winner.”
[Oh]
[Already declaring winner, whoa]
[How long will it take to win?]
[If it were another streamer, they’d declare no more broadcasting, but with Kayak, it feels like she’ll win soon.]
[Shoot those snipers quickly!!!!]
[There seemed to be a lot of snipes earlier, but I ended up 7th… ]
[Should I really go 99 to 1?]
“…The queue seems to fill up quite quickly.”
After Kayak’s declaration of wanting to win, the game matched her in just one second, and the level of the game suddenly shot up, but there were no surprises.
Kayak went on to play four more rounds and won the fourth one, subsequently ending the broadcast.
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