Last Week I Learned: Twitch.tv + @da_olaf_ @Himmie__

On a quarterly check-in call a few weeks ago with one of EE's team members whom I knew was a gamer, I asked what's the best thing he's seen recently. He said "Apex Legends."  Now, I love playing video games even though I am not necessarily skilled in any particular genre or format. I just appreciate good game design and being immersed in interesting environments. I used to play Counter-Strike (nearly 20 years ago) and just loved playing with other people even though I was never very good. I somehow got to be around and observe the folks (in IRC!) who ended up creating an eSports website called 'gotFrag' back in the day (go [rdw]).  I also like single player games with good stories. eSports and streaming continues to be a growing industry, though still not necessarily recognized much less talked about in most traditional learning and business environments (though some universities, like some pro sports orgs, are starting to create their own eSports divisions).

So I downloaded the free Apex Legends for my PS4 and over the next couple of weeks and learned enough not to completely embarrass myself. I also learned quickly that I will not be improve quickly enough to be like some of the experts who play because I do not have the drive nor the resilience to achieve that kind of excellence. 

I was confused - then delighted - when one evening I was paired with two players - @da_olaf and @himmie_ who not only were speaking to me via the in game voice chat but apparently to an external audience as well. 

This team proceeded to win our match with very little help needed from me. Soon after I left the match, I decided to investigate and understand what I had just experienced. Sure enough, I found @da_olaf's Twitch.tv channel (and subscribed) and learned that he and @himmie_ are frequent collaborators. I also learned that with Amazon Prime, you get one free Twitch.tv subscription (so if you have an Amazon Prime account and have never explored Twitch - use it one of these guys' channels! It's really interesting). I also found them on Twitter (hence the mentions in the subject line). I had not had a recent reason to be curious about this space, but now I am extremely curious.

I want to draw attention to this experience for a number of reasons:

1. eSports / Live Streaming is something that I am certainly aware of, but not conversationally fluent in and I want to learn more.
2. I appreciate the hustle that I see demonstrated in these two individuals' sharing and how they are trying to market themselves. They are both very talented at this game, at the very least. I hope they are successful in achieving their goals.
3. I want to see if, by stumbling upon this post, they are able to understand the generosity of their activities: the ability to make any kind of impact and help others notice interesting things is a good thing and I hope they will keep doing it.

And if you are curious about my what my gamertag means, it's  drrsqrd = Dr. R. Squared