Dan & Phil Part 57: Pinky and the Brain

[annabanana]

was finally able to watch the livestream and i loved it! co-op games definitely seem to have the best structure for entertaining gameplay and good bants. my fave part definitely had to be dan trolling phil with the endscreen. the smirk that he gives the camera during that whole bit is like the fondest thing ever.

[LtrllySusan]

I am the only one who doesn't enjoy the gaming streams as much? I was really looking forward to it, and of course there were a lot of lovely and silly (ladydoor?!) moments, but overall, it feels so... forced and rushed?
Like they have a timeplan that they are sticking to - intro for 2 minutes, read chat for a minute, play game for 2 minute, etc., 20 second end screen. It feels like they are trying to live-record a normal gaming video with the intro and outro with some hastily read out chat messages to justify that people are giving them money.

Maybe it's because I come more from the Twitch livestreamers corner of the internet where streamers are live for hours and everything is just a bit more relaxed and not on such a time limit. Why can't the livestream be a livestream, instead of a live-letsplay-recording-replacement?

I understand that they want to monetise the recording and expect it to perform similar to a normal, pre-recorded video, which is why they wanna keep it around 30 minutes. I guess maybe that is why the stream feels a bit uncomfortable for me - it's clear that the whole plan behind it is very business-driven, instead of just relaxed gaming. Twitch streamers also make their living from streaming, but it never feels so.. optimised towards revenue?

What I am trying to say with this rambly post - I would much prefer if the gaming livestreams wouldn't substitute a normal video. Instead, it could be a bonus, something they should do because they enjoy it and that doesn't feel like a chore (I can't help but translate Dan's half-joking "How long have we been live?" to "Can we stop already?").
I've suggested charity livestreams before, similar to Mark, and I still think that would be a great idea.

[Ablissa]

What I am trying to say with this rambly post - I would much prefer if the gaming livestreams wouldn't substitute a normal video. Instead, it could be a bonus, something they should do because they enjoy it and that doesn't feel like a chore (I can't help but translate Dan's half-joking "How long have we been live?" to "Can we stop already?").
I've suggested charity livestreams before, similar to Mark, and I still think that would be a great idea.

I love the gaming livestreams because of the unedited banter/reactions, but still kind of agree with you. I feel it'd be better if they would treat it as an extra thing, not rush, not have an end screen, etc.
I also used to watch a lot of Twitch streamers, and (depending on the streamer, some were horrible) those streams were relaxed and lasted for hours. I follow a few gaming streamers on Youtube as well and they go with a similar format to Twitch.

I'm not blaming dnp and I enjoy what they do, but an hour+ long livestream would be amazing, one that wouldn't need to perform well as a video later, one just for those that came to watch it live. I hope they give it a shot sometime.

[human]

What I am trying to say with this rambly post - I would much prefer if the gaming livestreams wouldn't substitute a normal video. Instead, it could be a bonus, something they should do because they enjoy it and that doesn't feel like a chore (I can't help but translate Dan's half-joking "How long have we been live?" to "Can we stop already?").
I've suggested charity livestreams before, similar to Mark, and I still think that would be a great idea.

I love the gaming livestreams because of the unedited banter/reactions, but still kind of agree with you. I feel it'd be better if they would treat it as an extra thing, not rush, not have an end screen, etc.

The point of the gaming livestream is to game first and bants second, I feel like Deppy do upload a considerable amount of content where the focus is on the bants (the live shows are all about bants with the audience), but the gaming streams are to play games.

So I don’t really see the problem with having a structure, appreciating people who are paying money to them every month as a sponsor and are sending superchats which cost money? The chats are meant to be game relevant though, which is how it works for all other gamers but for Deppy at the moment that is less so.

It just seems to me that people want the gaming streams to be just like a joint liveshow and that isn’t the point of them at all and shouldn’t be imo. I guess people less interested in gameplay and more into the bants will just stop watching the streams, which will be nice, because then the superchats could be even marginally relevant to the game and less asking them to do shoutouts and other such irrelevant messages.

[lurker]

i agree a bit with LtrllySusan and Ablissa as well, but i'm optimistic that they're still testing things out and will find a better balance after a while. at the moment they're reading the chat so fast in between turns that it's hard to follow (and also to see the appeal of posting in it, let alone be a sponsor, to be fair?). at the same time of course they're trying to keep the pace up and not interrupt the gameplay too much. i think it'd be interesting to see if they could strike a better balance if they took turns playing a single player game while the other one chats with the audience in the meantime. then again, the co-op games are what i live for, so do i really want that to happen? or maybe they could choose a game where it'd make actual sense to have the chat vote on what to do -- then the interactions might seem less like an interruption.

tl;dr so far i've been liking the streams, but i think there's still some optimization waiting to happen, which they'll surely do (i suppose?) and i'm looking forward to seeing how the streams go in a few months.

[LtrllySusan]

It just seems to me that people want the gaming streams to be just like a joint liveshow and that isn’t the point of them at all and shouldn’t be imo. I guess people less interested in gameplay and more into the bants will just stop watching the streams, which will be nice, because then the superchats could be even marginally relevant to the game and less asking them to do shoutouts and other such irrelevant messages.

I am not sure if your post was directed at me - I am totally there for the gameplay! I've said many times that I'd love them to play more "proper" games instead of all these flash games and google games. I think they just construct these gaming livestreams very similar to their usual liveshows (even running them instead of liveshows) which is why it's treated as something similar by the viewers.

When I watched the stream yesterday I feel like they didn't establish any flow of gameplay - on one hand because of the webcam+mic vs screen recording delay: a full second between the cursing and the on-screen death just makes it hard to "get into it". On the other hand, it was hard to tell if the chats were filler between the levels or if the levels were fillers between the chats. I don't think they have to cater to the chat constantly - then people would also relax more, hopefully, and you'd get less of these shoutouts that you criticised(I also don't like them).

TL;DR: If the gaming livestreams aren't supposed to be a joint LS, then DnP need to just play the game and not read chat msgs 50% of the time.

[tigertatze]

What I am trying to say with this rambly post - I would much prefer if the gaming livestreams wouldn't substitute a normal video. Instead, it could be a bonus, something they should do because they enjoy it and that doesn't feel like a chore (I can't help but translate Dan's half-joking "How long have we been live?" to "Can we stop already?").
I've suggested charity livestreams before, similar to Mark, and I still think that would be a great idea.

I love the gaming livestreams because of the unedited banter/reactions, but still kind of agree with you. I feel it'd be better if they would treat it as an extra thing, not rush, not have an end screen, etc.

The point of the gaming livestream is to game first and bants second, I feel like Deppy do upload a considerable amount of content where the focus is on the bants (the live shows are all about bants with the audience), but the gaming streams are to play games.

So I don’t really see the problem with having a structure, appreciating people who are paying money to them every month as a sponsor and are sending superchats which cost money? The chats are meant to be game relevant though, which is how it works for all other gamers but for Deppy at the moment that is less so.

It just seems to me that people want the gaming streams to be just like a joint liveshow and that isn’t the point of them at all and shouldn’t be imo. I guess people less interested in gameplay and more into the bants will just stop watching the streams, which will be nice, because then the superchats could be even marginally relevant to the game and less asking them to do shoutouts and other such irrelevant messages.

This is my problem with them reading the chat at the moment, I love audience interaction for gaming streams - when it's relevant to what's actually happening on the stream / in the game right now! Like if they were to get advice from chat or even that bit about chat deciding which level to play next.
But it feels like 90% of what they're reading out is either rushed usernames or random nonsense and it detracts from the experience for me

I understand they need to somehow acknowledge the super chat thingies because that's what gives them the $$$ but there is a way to interact with the people watching that isn't like their usual Bants™ liveshow shoutouts
(Of course that also relies on people actually contributing something constructive instead of just spamming the chat with cringe groupchat usernames and innuendo but still..)

[Ablissa]

What I am trying to say with this rambly post - I would much prefer if the gaming livestreams wouldn't substitute a normal video. Instead, it could be a bonus, something they should do because they enjoy it and that doesn't feel like a chore (I can't help but translate Dan's half-joking "How long have we been live?" to "Can we stop already?").
I've suggested charity livestreams before, similar to Mark, and I still think that would be a great idea.

I love the gaming livestreams because of the unedited banter/reactions, but still kind of agree with you. I feel it'd be better if they would treat it as an extra thing, not rush, not have an end screen, etc.

The point of the gaming livestream is to game first and bants second, I feel like Deppy do upload a considerable amount of content where the focus is on the bants (the live shows are all about bants with the audience), but the gaming streams are to play games.

So I don’t really see the problem with having a structure, appreciating people who are paying money to them every month as a sponsor and are sending superchats which cost money? The chats are meant to be game relevant though, which is how it works for all other gamers but for Deppy at the moment that is less so.

It just seems to me that people want the gaming streams to be just like a joint liveshow and that isn’t the point of them at all and shouldn’t be imo. I guess people less interested in gameplay and more into the bants will just stop watching the streams, which will be nice, because then the superchats could be even marginally relevant to the game and less asking them to do shoutouts and other such irrelevant messages.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with you, especially the bolded part. I feel like banter/arguing etc. comes naturally to them while gaming and that's what I love to see, plus watching them actually play the game.
What I wish for is for them to make a longer stream, where they don't have to rush through things. Let them have the end screen, let them read the chat (people pay for it after all, like you say, and gaming streamers read stuff out too - not always relevant to the game, although all the "say hi to xxxx" is annoying me), just play a bit longer, so that the rushed bits don't take away from the gaming. I don't know if I'm making sense...

Once again, I love their streams, I just hope they'll try a slightly different format at least once and see how it goes (a longer stream that doesn't have to perform well as a video later).

[willowgarden]

I agree with the idea that they're still teasing out the definition of the stream. I think this falls into the category of questioning how much to share, in what contexts fans satisfy their thirsts to interact separately (like live shows or even live tours + m&gs), to make the stream as unique as possible. In the end it's their content. They will make it what they want. The fans have to satisfy certain thirsts elsewhere (... natural voices! ... did you see that glance!? ahh, Dan, once again, thinks Phil is the shit!... imagine Phil running his fingers thru Dan's hair while he lays on the couch like that, ahhh) It might happen accidentally but that's not what we're here to do, guys.

The gaming stream suffers from the irrelevant group chat shoutouts and "say hi" superchats that they don't yet have the heart to ignore. So it's not very long at 30-40 minutes because they want to play the game, it is gradually shifting toward co-ops because it shows the joy of working with another person, and has just enough bants to show us glimpses ("we have consensual gamer rage") but not the whole piece. That's what the gaming stream does in the spectrum of D\\P content.

Neither Dan nor Phil are daily vloggers. To expect a four or five hour stream on the regular, knowing what little we know about their personal lives, would only accidentally expose things that they're not comfortable discussing publicly or revealing piecemeal ("who did I take the walk with? You don't know them.") Once Dan and/or Phil have cut off a part of the life and handed it over, they realize they will be expected to give it up over and over again, and I don't think that is what the stream will become. These men are gameplay enthusiasts. I suppose that's where the stream will stay.

[alch]

I wish they didn't make the streams all the length of a normal gaming video. I get that it's better for views, but especially here, they spent a lot of time on one level and the shortness of the streams meant that was most of the video.

I'm glad they read the chat, like it makes there be a difference between live and not live, but I wish they would read something more interesting than just "say hi to..."

[lishachi]

Wow it's been a long ass time since I posted here. I've been lurking for months but haven't had the time to post anything due to uni.

Loving where Dan and Phil are at now tho. Dans video on Depression left me speechless, I have never related to a video more in my life. I appreciate him opening up, to such a large audience too, must of been terrifying.

Phil's liveshows recently have been lovely and he's kept me going. He's very happy and bubbly and it's so nice to see.

I realised I missed the boat on Phils outfits video. God, that beanie was beautiful. He looked great.

Hope you're all doing ok

Off topic: I've made a survey on the Perception of Depression, it's for a project in uni in which I am doing my own research on how people perceive others who have depression, peoples views on antidepressants, etc. If anyone is interested, here's the link: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/M6CGD2D it would really help me out and I'd appreciate it very much. It's very short too.

[rainydays]

Looks like Ryan Gosling keeps starring in Phil's dreams. I, for one, am here for it.

[dancy]

Hello hello, I'm new here

Regarding the gaming streams, I definitely understand why you'd like them to be longer. I gotta say that yesterday's livestream was over a lot sooner than I would've liked, although I do get why they decided to stop after that difficult level. I'd love for D&P to go on for 1-1.5 hours but I have a hard time imagining them doing livestreams any longer than that like lots of Twitch streamers do.

I mean let's be real, DanAndPhilGAMES isn't a serious gaming channel. They upload infrequently, have done very few proper playthroughs and play mostly flash games. That's not to say that they aren't "real gamers" themselves but their videos are more "watch us banter while we play a game" than proper gameplay.

I think they're also very aware of the fact that they're live and focus too much on being entertaining for them to actually relax. If they do choose to do longer livestreams some time in the future (which I absolutely wouldn't mind), I'd like them to play a more story-driven game rather than something like Mario Kart/Fireboy and Watergirl for hours straight.

[alittledizzy]

I definitely think whoever made the point that this is not livestream gaming so much as it is livestreaming filming of a gaming video nailed it exactly. They're not trying to emulate twitch gamers; they're literally doing what they'd do if they were filming a gaming video, except live. I think it's a disappointment for people (myself included) who had thought livestream gaming might be a proper 1-2 hour thing but it also hasn't taken me long to adjust, because the livestreamed gaming videos are quite pleasant to watch too. The chat aspect is kinda meh, but that's what sets it apart from a normal video, and probably what makes up for the fact that they won't perform as well as actually filmed videos. It seems like a nice middle ground; less views but also less time and effort put into it, since there's no editing process, and it's a way to add a level of interactivity that the gaming channel didn't have.

The fact that the chat is mostly treating it like a liveshow seems more a symptom of the fact that Dan and Phil aren't really a gaming channel and most of the people who watch DAPG and want to interact are not there to watching real gaming. It's annoying, but it is what it is, and I'm also not sure what kind of intense gaming commentary there really could be for the types of games they seem committed to playing. Mario Kart, maybe, but the other ones - I mean, it's not like they're playing Uncharted or something with a storyline viewers can really get into.

[rainydays]

I'm sorry for double posting about the same thing and in the middle of another discussion, but Phil is making my day today

[mm_sunny1993]

I think the problem is that we try to compare them to others. The gaming channel is not a serious 'gaming' channel. They can't make it a perfect fit for everybody so they just do it their way and how they want it to be which seems to be working pretty good.

They handle their streaming the same as their other livestreams and that is because they are basically the same. Same audience, same questions, same topics to talk about.
I have no problem with how they handle the chat. I think in the last livestream it was pretty good: playing a level and then looking at the chat for a bit. It worked for me. I really enjoyed the stream and i have rewatched it already.

Also welcome back announcement moose

[flarequake]

Woo, announcement moose! I wonder where it was. It has a twitter account now, of course, and Phil gets to say silly things about blowing its butt.

[parallel]

LtrllySusan, I 100% agree. I get that they're not trying to emulate Twitch streamers, but it feels like they're half-trying to copy their style and half-trying to be loyal to DAPG. It's just weird and not really enjoyable to me, and I do prefer "real gaming" content I'll say, but I also like DAPG for what it is and have accepted it as its own separate thing from "gaming YouTube". It's strange to see Deppy almost, but not quite, attempting to do what Twitch streamers do.

I would, personally, love love love something in the style of a Twitch stream. I get that it probably wouldn't receive the same amount of views etc because the demographic for DAPG probably isn't that concentrated with gamer types, but I don't think livestreams should be about the views. It's just them sitting down for a few hours to play a game they like (and, for Christ's sake, play a real game that's not some flash game from the early 2000s) and they just so happen to have the camera on. They don't even have to commentate, I'd just love to watch them game for a while. I might be in the minority there because I'm not sure how many Phandom members consider themselves non-casual gamers, but you've seen how much Dan puts into GW2. They definitely have a love for video games that they're just not showing on camera and I really do wish they would do some "proper" gaming from time to time, as amusing as typical DAPG content is.

[tyhane]

I agree with a lot of the sentiments about the gaming streams. I've been surprising myself by not being AS in love with them as I thought I'd be back when they just announced they'd start doing them.

But I can't exactly put my finger on what I'm not liking. I certainly didn't expect them to be like other gaming streams on Twitch or YT that go on for hours and are super casual. But I also suppose I didn't expect them to basically be a complete stand-in for normal gaming videos - live, but taking the chore of editing off their hands. I did expect them to take the place of gaming vids in their uploading schedule, but idk.

I do have to say that I was expecting/hoping more for along the lines of an hour long stream. So far every stream they've done has left me feeling "oh shit, they're ending it already?", and not necessarily in the "time flied by so fast" way... like actually just feeling short.

The main thing I hope is that they don't start using them as a replacement for both a Tuesday/Thurday liveshow and a DAPG video. So I hope they keep doing them on Saturdays (even though that's a bad day for my personal schedule). I have loved most aspects the streams so far and this might just sound like me being entitled, but meh, just some hangups I've had.

[bee]

How handy of mr Moose to turn up right when they're about to make an announcement this week.

[alittledizzy]

Since Dan said he's pretty sure this is the last year they'll do a calendar, do you think they'll stop the advent calendar too?

[Ablissa]

Since Dan said he's pretty sure this is the last year they'll do a calendar, do you think they'll stop the advent calendar too?

I suppose it would make sense for them to stop that too. But I wonder, why are they stopping at all? I'm sure the calendars sell. Maybe it's too much work with them though.

[uglyamerican]

Hey, I'm late to the party, but I've been more or less absent from this forum all summer (due to circumstances out of my control, i.e. work.) Anyway, I though Daniels' latest posting was a breakthrough of sorts,. but not anything that I did not expect Why is it that my favorite male youtube talent all seem to have issues with depression - maybe because it takes one to know one?. The truth is that I had been in a similar state (I was always the sensitive kid,) and I can read between the lines. Medication didn't work for me - in fact, I found it dulled my senses / perception - nor did "therapy." Luckily for me I got over it more or less on my own after ending both. For me, it was a gradual realization that people are different / unique, and there is no real "normal." Reading the comments of many people on this forum that suffer from depression and/or anxiety, please realize that It takes time to become comfortable with who you are, but there is light at the end of a seemly dark tunnel. And you don't have to be like everyone else.

[alch]

Since Dan said he's pretty sure this is the last year they'll do a calendar, do you think they'll stop the advent calendar too?

I suppose it would make sense for them to stop that too. But I wonder, why are they stopping at all? I'm sure the calendars sell. Maybe it's too much work with them though.

Yeah, it probably is a fair bit of work to do, but I'll miss them. If they haven't mentioned the advent calendars, I'm hoping they'll still produce them (I mean I come from a jewish family so it's not like I'd miss much if they stopped making them)

[onetruetrash]

I don't know if someone brought this up yet, but is anyone else having problems with videos on here? Like the videos themselves aren't showing up?