I’ll be streaming over on @gingasnappdstreamingacc tomorrow throughout the day! I’m still figuring it out, and I don’t think my mic was being picked up at all despite the settings I had put? Soooooo if anyone wants to hop in and watch, or help me troubleshoot I’ll probably start in the afternoon around 6PM MST for a specific time. I’ll be on and off before and after that, but 6PM for sure :)
And the cool thing about it is that I can also record at the same time so I can upload streams in post.
3 notes
·
View notes
Valorant: Prepare for Battle
Electronic sports, or e-sports, are organized online games in which teams or professional players compete against one another in a variety of online games. E-sports, like traditional sports, feature passionate players who put in a lot of practice, engage in competitions, and compete for glory, popularity, and cash prizes (Taylor 2018 p. 1). Over the years, esports has grown a significant popularity among many people, creating a global community of fans. There are various genres of e-sports games that you can find, such as first-person shooters, multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs), real-time strategy games (RTS), sports simulators, combat games, and more.
Personally, I am not a big fan of gaming, nor am I a gamer person. However, Valorant is perhaps one of the games that I truly enjoy playing. I got into it during the lockdown period when my friends insisted to try it, and I have been hooked ever since. It is a free first-person shooter (FPS) game released in June 2020, developed by an established gaming company called Riot Games.
What is Valorant All About?
The game is super hectic with numerous elements, which involve complex strategic elements, and a unique blending of skills and gunplay (IGN 2022). Due to this, it has captured the attention of millions of gamers worldwide. The gameplay is super exhilarating and skill-based, with an emphasis on strategy and teamwork. Each team of 5 players will get a chance to be in both attacking and defending teams, and each round demands strategic planning, communication, and execution (IGN 2022). Hence, it creates a dynamic and captivating gameplay by integrating tactical gunplay of classic shooters with unique character skills.
What makes Valorant stands out the most is that the players get to pick a character through the agent system. Each agent has special skills or power abilities that players can strategically use to their advantage to accomplish particular goals or assist other agents (IGN 2022). The game provides a large range of agents with a multitude of team formations and abilities, from aggressive explosives and surveillance tools to defensive smokes and healing abilities. Next, there is also a range of game modes that players can choose from, from competitive to casual mode (IGN 2022), which can cater to the player’s mood.
A list of some of the agents from Valorant, where each has its own power and abilities.
Reaching Worldwide
This game has built an incredibly active and enthusiastic community that is still continuously expanding. Being a free-to-play game, Valorant is easily accessible, which contributes to its increasing popularity. Players from various backgrounds can take part, regardless of their financial limitations. Furthermore, the game's multicultural cast of agents includes individuals from different cultures promoting inclusivity and representation in gaming.
Other than that, the game also gains popularity with the help of live-streaming websites, such as Twitch and YouTube. These platforms offer viewers a simple and quick way to watch live games and tournaments, as well as a tool for players to broadcast their gameplay. Both players and viewers are able to communicate directly through live streaming, which promoted interaction and a sense of community. Plus, many players also use these platforms to educate others on gameplay through tutorials and gaming hacks. This typically emphasizes strategic planning on using the agent’s abilities to the fullest potential.
Valorant Going Professional
Thanks to the accessibility of live-streaming platforms, it creates a global audience, which attracts media, marketers and sponsors to organize and invest in professional e-sports tournaments (Taylor 2018). Since its debut, Valorant has quickly made a name for itself as a dominant e-sport. As a result, they have established a competitive ecosystem through The Valorant Champions Tour, a worldwide tournament series that features the greatest teams in the world competing with each other. This drives millions of people to watch live e-gaming events (Taylor 2018), and they have audience numbers that are comparable to those of traditional sporting events.
I believe Valorant has successfully built its identity in the market due to its creative marketing efforts to pique interest among gamers globally. The developer, Riot Games, started with captivating teaser campaigns through the storytelling of the world of Valorant. Hence, the gaming community became hyped up with speculation and discussion in response to these advertising tactics, which in turn instil eagerness among the viewers.
On top of that, I believe one of their strongest marketing plans is their effort towards community participation. They actively take into account players’ feedback and incorporate it into their game design. They encourage people to share their ideas and opinions based on their gaming experience, which notably improves their platform. This allows their community to feel heard and appreciated, hence promoting a sense of community and involvement. For this reason, they foster loyalty among players due to the community-centric approach, drawing in both amateur and professional gamers.
Overall, with its captivating gameplay, complex strategic elements, and vibrant e-sports community, Valorant has completely changed the competitive gaming landscape. The unique game design incorporating tactical gunplay, distinctive agent powers, and community collaboration built an engaging experience that appeals to both competitive and casual players. We can see that Valorant has clearly made a lasting impression on the gaming industry with its continuously expanding community and dedication to creating a global e-sports environment, securing its position as one of the top-tier competitive games of our time.
References:
IGN 2022, Beginner’s Guide to Valorant, IGN, viewed 11 June 2023 <https://www.ign.com/wikis/valorant/Beginner's_Guide_to_Valorant>.
Taylor, TL 2018, ‘Broadcasting ourselves’ (chapter 1), in Watch Me Play: Twitch and the Rise of Game Live Streaming, Princeton University Press, pp.1-23
2 notes
·
View notes
The stream keeps failing T_T
I missed the whole John/Sherlock song, I'd better not miss any more of the letter.
Missed the end of the letter *death* and then the whole VPN connection died. Hope the reconnection works… because I'll be so sad if I miss more than a bit of the firefighting at this point.
1 note
·
View note
I'm participating in Drawings for Gaza, a handful of streams on Twitch where you can donate to people in need in Palestine and decide what our team of artists will draw live.
More info, how to donate and request, and where to find us can all be found here!
https://drawingstream4gaza.carrd.co/
We're live at garlandzone on Twitch at the following dates and times:
Monday, Feb 19th at 10PM EST
Friday, Feb 23rd at 2PM EST
Sunday, Feb 25th at 6PM EST
1K notes
·
View notes
I Hate How She Talks About Snow White
"People are making these jokes about ours being the PC Snow White, where it's like, yeah, it is − because it needed that. It's an 85-year-old cartoon, and our version is a refreshing story about a young woman who has a function beyond 'Someday My Prince Will Come. "
Let me tell you a little something's about that "85-year-old cartoon," miss Zegler.
It was the first-ever cel-animated feature-length full-color film. Ever. Ever. EVER. I'm worried that you're not hearing me. This movie was Disney inventing the modern animated film. Spirited Away, Into the Spider-Verse, Tangled, you don't get to have any of these without Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937.)
Speaking of what you wouldn't get without this movie, it includes anime as a genre. Not just in technique (because again, nobody animated more than shorts before this movie) but in style and story. Anime, as it is now, wouldn't exist without Osamu Tezuka, "The God of Manga," who wouldn't have pioneered anime storytelling in the 1940s without having watched and learned from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in the 1930s. No "weeb" culture, no Princess Mononoke, no DragonBall Z, no My Hero Academia, no Demonslayer, and no Naruto without this "85-year-old cartoon."
It was praised, not just for its technical marvels, not just for its synchronized craft of sound and action, but primarily and enduringly because people felt like the characters were real. They felt more like they were watching something true to life than they did watching silent, live-action films with real actors and actresses. They couldn't believe that an animated character could make kids wet their pants as she flees, frightened, through the forest, or grown adults cry with grieving Dwarves. Consistently.
Walt Disney Studios was built on this movie. No no; you're not understanding me. Literally, the studio in Burbank, out of which has come legends of this craft of animated filmmaking, was literally built on the incredible, odds-defying, record-breaking profits of just Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, specifically.
Speaking of record-breaking profits, this movie is the highest-grossing animated film in history. Still. TO THIS DAY. And it was made during the Great Depression.
In fact, it made four times as much money than any other film, in any other genre, released during that time period. It was actually THE highest-grossing film of all time, in any genre, until nothing less than Gone With the Wind, herself, came along to take the throne.
It was the first-ever animated movie to be selected for the National Film Registry. Actually, it was one of the first movies, period, to ever go into the registry at all. You know what else is in the NFR? The original West Side Story, the remake of which is responsible for Rachel Ziegler's widespread fame.
Walt Disney sacrificed for this movie to be invented. Literally, he took out a mortgage on his house and screened the movie to banks for loans to finish paying for it, because everyone from the media to his own wife and brother told him he was crazy to make this movie. And you want to tell me it's just an 85-year-old cartoon that needs the most meaningless of updates, with your tender 8 years in the business?
Speaking of sacrifice, this movie employed over 750 people, and they worked immeasurable hours of overtime, and invented--literally invented--so many new techniques that are still used in filmmaking today, that Walt Disney, in a move that NO OTHER STUDIO IN HOLLYWOOD was doing in the 30's, put this in the opening credits: "My sincere appreciation to the members of my staff whose loyalty and creative endeavor made possible this production." Not the end credits, like movies love to do today as a virtue-signal. The opening credits.
It's legacy endures. Your little "85-year-old cartoon" sold more than 1 million DVD copies upon re-release. Just on its first day. The Beatles quoted Snow White in one of their songs. Legacy directors call it "the greatest film ever made." Everything from Rolling Stones to the American Film Institute call this move one of the most influential masterpieces of our culture.
This movie doesn't need anything from anybody. This movie is a cultural juggernaut for America. It's a staple in the art of filmmaking--and art, in general. It is the foundation of the Walt Disney Company, of modern children's media in the West, and of modern adaptations of classical fairy tales in the West.
When you think only in the base, low, mean terms of "race" and "progressivism" you start taking things that are actually worlds-away from being in your league to judge, and you relegate them to silly ignorant phrases like "85-year-old cartoon" to explain why what you're doing is somehow better.
Sit down and be humble. Who the heck are you?
5K notes
·
View notes