IT’S AN INVESTMENT…

“I want to do what I do….”

Probably the easiest word to hear when you get started Streaming but hardest to understand is “Investment”.

What are you investing? Money. Time. Emotion. Space. Usually all of these become intertwined.

Money - Most streamers realize, “I need a computer of some sort that does what I need it to do for me to stream.” Bare minimum you also need a mic and a camera. At the other end if you really want to get into it? A website, advertisement, a greenscreen, software, subscription services to music and video or hiring pros to make intros, and maybe more. Some streamers even rent studio or make their own.

Time - If it is your channel, bare minimum for every hour in front of a camera is one hour away from it working on your product. Then there’s attending lectures, conventions, talking with other streamers, learning the craft... And the reality that if you are just starting, experts (specifically the mega-hosting company Libsyn and more) say you are looking at investing 3 years of consistency before you see a return on investment - and even then you have to be the first, the best (or high quality), or unique amongst your peers for that time period.

Emotion - You want to be watched. What if no one watches? What if those you think you can count on don’t show? What if what you are trying to get out of streaming just isn’t there (fame, popularity, exposure, community, money on the investment, etc)?

Space - Streaming is going to take up space and bring people into your space. That distance that comes with anonymity disappears.

If you’re going to get into streaming ultimately you’re going to need to find a way to address every part of Investing and whether or not this is what you really want to do.

If you do: go for it and do it because you want to do it!

BEING A STREAMING GUEST OR CAST MEMBER

The simplest way to get into streaming really is being a guest or cast member. Why?

Mainly because the bigger investments fall to someone else and you may already have the equipment you need. As a guest/cast member you primarily need four things:

(1) A Computer with the software the host uses for their virtual meeting.
(2) A Good Internet Connection - you need to be able to send HD feed over the net so we recommend in the ballpark of 20-30 Mb/s if you’re going to watch the show or have something else on using the Internet we recommend a lot more.
(3) A Decent Webcam - avoid unknown brands, make sure it can at least do 720 HD. We’ve seen cheap cameras promise to be good and have lenses misaligned (camera points straight ahead, but it sees off to its side). You don’t have to go expensive like Elgato; an inexpensive Logitech is great for most setups. There are even free programs to turn SLR cameras, GoPro, and more into webcams so if you’ve got one of those -boom! Don’t go too expensive starting off! 90% of all virtual meeting programs downgrade the camera feed in the software so 4K cameras are kind of a waste if you are using one.
(4) A Mic and headphones - no speakers. The two can be combined into one as a gaming or broadcast headset. Make sure the show you are joining allows headsets to be visible or you’ll have to get Bluetooth or simple earphones that can hide wires. We’ll definitely talk more about mics and headphones in a later post!

A Special Note: Be aware some shows may have additional requirements like green screens, additional good lighting, or costumes! Always know what the expected investment is ahead of time!

SETTING WHAT THEY SEE

Remember that boundary we talk about when you bring others into your space - you’re also going to be going into others and there is going to be a level of expectation for bare minimal professionalism.

The picture above is a fair example.

Notice you can see his body? The camera should be on more than your face because as humans we express and communicate more than with our faces! We use our hands, our arms, the way we sit, we move our heads (a lot), and the audience needs to see it!

Cameras should be set on or in front of the monitor no lower than shoulder level and no higher than forehead level. Play with this angle to figure out what you feel presents you best (try taking selfies before you sit at a desk, know what you like!).

For example, I’m self-conscious of my underchin and hairline. I keep my camera high to reduce the “size” of both.

Look at the picture above and imagine, what it would look like if he had raised it higher? Lower? What was he trying to accentuate? What would you like to be the focus of your camera position?

LET’S TALK AUDIO FOR STREAMS

When I first got into podcasting there was a fairly successful indie podcast on Southgate Media that literally used a laptop and a RockBand video game microphone to record. Surprisingly it was a fair quality mic and as long as he held it close and later did some editing it performed the way the podcaster needed it to do.

This rule doesn’t necessarily apply when Streaming - it’s likely you have something that works, but you really need something that sounds GOOD because this is a live show and you rarely can fix much after the fact. We have a few recommendations based on expense:

(1) A Gaming Headset - 10 years ago gaming headsets were terrible. Gamers needed to communicate and often the mics were bare minimum and sounded like a dial-up phone call from a truck stop. Now? Streaming is in and gamers need good sounding gear. We’ve had great success with newer generations of Logitech and Razer brand headsets.

(2) USB Stand Alone Mics - normally we don’t recommend these for beginning streamers. Yeti Snowball Mics are HOT; meaning they pic up everything and if you put them too far away you’re going to sound echo-y and hollow and your mic may be on screen. You have to invest money into the higher models of these lines that come with Gain Control in order to really do a good job to dial in your sound. Yeah, they look cool, but often they are just a jumping off point to something else.

(3) USB Mixers for XLR Mics - this is a wonderful setup if you want to invest the money (the mixer, the mic, mic stand, the headphones, and the cable). A good 1 or 2 channel USB Mixer by Presonus or Berringer runs around $60-100. If you want to sound and look professional this is the way to go (watch for streamer packages that come with the mixer, mic, mic stand, and everything as a package). This said, we do love ZOOM and own just about every major piece of equipment they’ve put out - if your just starting, you don’t need all of it. Shop around and find the setup that does what you need it to do, only.

(4) Pro Mixing Boards - if you’ve been to a music store you’re probably shocked by how accessible recording has become in recent years! You can buy a big mixing board, that is USB compatible, for less than $500. When I first started recording mixing boards were a huge deal and cost thousands! The advent of the home studio and online distribution such as AmazonMusic or even BandCamp BUT unless you are going to record a full table of players at home or are interested in recording a full band, you don’t really need it.

SO YOU WANT TO RUN A TTRPG SHOW PARTNERED ON ROOK AND RASP?

We are excited for the chance to talk to or work with anyone! Please be sure to read our Mission Statement and be sure that our identity and goals align with yours. If they do, wonderful! We look forward to talking further with you.

before we can talk about running a show on our channel, we’ll need to check a few things:

o Are we currently running a game in that genre or of that system?

o Will you need a stream layout, introduction, and credits?

o Do you have players already set to go?

o Do you and your players have the necessary equipment?

o What is your intended schedule?

o What is the length series you are planning to run?

QUESTION: ARE WE CURRENTLY RUNNING A GAME IN THAT GENRE OR OF THAT SYSTEM?

One of the largest factors that will decide if we can run a show is whether we have a game already running in the genre currently airing or with that system. We do our best not to compete with our other shows on the channel, so our goal is to not double up on genres. That means we do not want to run two space operas, historical fiction, fantasy shows, horror shows, superhero shows, or cyberpunk-style shows concurrently. If we currently have a show in that genre you may want to talk with the show runner and our production staff about whether there will be space between seasons to run your show. There are only three exceptions to this rule: (1) the desire is to run a one-shot game for a system on our community building show, Seriously Let’s Play or (2) a game company or organization offering channel compensation to have a game ran with us or (3) a special streaming event such as Free TTRPG Day or ExtraLife where we stream multiple games over the course of a day.

As to the desire to run a game that uses the same system as is currently being ran this will need to be done on a case-by-case basis built on the style of game. For example, if you are wanting to run a Savage World’s game in the Robotech setting and we have another Savage World game running they should be thematically different enough and draw a different type of audience to not compete (for instance, this show wouldn’t want to compete with a military, space, anime, or far-future style games).

QUESTION: WILL YOU NEED A STREAM LAYOUT, INTRODUCTION, AND CREDITS?

A lot of what you see is done in-house by the directors and contracted production specialists that we bring on to work on shows. We do have a certain level of quality that we want to see for a show to be on the channel and layout and design are huge parts of maintaining that. This means that whatever is going to go on the channel does have to meet our expectations. If you are going to create your own layout it then would be in your best interest to communicate with our team from the start as to level of quality and design so that the process is as smooth as possible.

If you wish to hire and contract our channel to design for the layout, introduction, and credits for your show – please contact us via private message and we’ll talk further!

rookandrasp@gmail.com or passionerdly@gmail.com

QUESTION: DO YOU HAVE PLAYERS ALREADY SET TO GO?

The GM and the channel are not the only parts of streaming games – obviously you’ll need players. We highly recommend setting capped number of players from 4-6 at most. This will help to maximize the quality of the stream giving players individuals to interact with and minimize lag for games. We have run special event streams with up to ten different feeds incoming and the loss of quality can distract and deter a stream dramatically.

We will also need to conference with the staff for each show as to compensation for appearing as well as permissions for shows to be rebroadcast or uploaded to YouTube.

If you do not have a cast yet or want to work with our team to bring together a cast this will be an additional task that we will need to know ahead of time!

QUESTION: DO YOU AND YOUR PLAYERS HAVE THE NECESSARY EQUIPMENT?

Again, we here at Rook and Rasp have guidelines and expectations as to the level of quality we want to see in a stream – as should you! There are two levels of expectation that we usually maintain for shows community-style and professional-style. Professional in extension of Community and for a show to fit within that paradigm it must meet the previous requirements first:

PLAYERS AND GMS FOR ALL COMMUNITY-LEVEL SHOWS MUST HAVE:

O A WORKING WEB CAMERA CAPABLE OF HD/1080 RESOLUTION,

O A RELIABLE SET OF HEADPHONES OR EARBUDS (NO SPEAKERS),

O A MICROPHONE (ONE FROM A GAMER HEADSET IS PERMISSIBLE, FROM A CAMERA IS NOT),

O A GOOD, HARDWIRED INTERNET CONNECTION,

O THE SPACE TO SET UP A CAMERA TO A STANDARD DISTANCE AND POSITION TO ENSURE QUALITY,

PLAYER AND GMS FOR ALL PROFESSIONAL-LEVEL REQUIREMENTS WILL LIKELY INCLUDE:

O A GREENSCREEN OR BACKDROP FOR EVERYONE ON CAMERA,

O COSTUMING OR WARDROBE REQUIREMENTS,

O A RING LIGHT OR OTHER SPECIALIZED LIGHTING,

O MULTIPLE PRACTICE SESSIONS AND/OR GROUP IMPROV ROLEPLAY PRIOR TO STORY LAUNCH.

These are not guidelines that decide compensation but are instead levels of expectation that should be set well in advance of the session zero for the players, GM, and production staff. At the same time whatever declarations and expectations are set for a show during planning should be treated as nonnegotiable.

QUESTION: WHAT IS YOUR INTENDED SCHEDULE?

This will always be a major consideration for whether a show will be able to be broadcast on Rook and Rasp. Are you looking to run once a month, bi-weekly, or weekly? What time of day are you intending to broadcast at? Will this be early evening, late evening, or afternoons on a weekday?

For a show to move forward we must have an available time slot and available production staff. While your show will involve you and your table; shows will utilize our studio and broadcast equipment operated by a member of the production team on-site to go out as a finished product.

QUESTION: WHAT IS THE LENGTH OF THE SERIES?

There are three lengths or categories for the channel for GMs wishing to run: one-shot, mini-season, or multi-season. One￾shots are our most accessible option being held once in lieu of a current show (giving players a night off) or on an off night. Mini￾seasons consist of 4-6 episodes allowing for a quick jaunt with limited scheduling issues for players who may have “busy seasons” for their main job. Any show that will last 8-12 sessions will be considered in the multi-season category simply because history has seen these show need breaks or require holidays off. Multi-season campaigns tend to also last for over a year and require a great deal of dedication from all parties involved.

EXPECTATION: UNDERSTAND FUN BEFORE PROFIT

When we first started podcasting – we quickly came to the reality that without a pre-established product or reputation we were starting from square one and building up. When we talked with the staff at Libsyn (the largest podcasting provider) the common period before making money in our field that was bandied around was 3 years. However, it wasn’t just “stick it out” it was “have a good, consistent show” for three years. It was a first few shows with little to no training in fields that there was no manual or expectation – our sense of quality was ever in the school of hard knocks. So, we had to make a tough decision from the start because doing anything for three years after countlessly dropping money into it is asking a lot from the common person. We decided then to be “fun first” and that we do what we do is primarily for the enjoyment of it.

However, we do also say in that line the word “profit”.

Honestly, in the Actual Play scene there are those who say you can only excel in one of these fields: either have fun or make profit. We’re letting everyone know where our intentions lie from the start. We’re here to have fun. We dream of a day when we can make profit. In the end if we don’t make profit but had fun we win. If we didn’t make money and fail to have fun, we doubly lose.

EXPECTATION: WE DO NOT MONETIZE YOUTUBE

Before we get started discussing this: YouTube requires 1,000+ subscribers for a channel and a specific point of usage of hours viewed to monetize thru ad revenue.
Our experience with YouTube is that it works well as an opportunity to advertise – but we have already dealt with challenging copyright strikes and people reporting our videos(even when they were PG to PG-13 in content). YouTube as a platform exists to cater to higher level shows and their TV content while small creators are used to draw audiences to them which has created a dog-eat-dog mentality for a lot of streamers who focus on that content. Our goal is, again, fun before profit and our source for profit comes down to two select methods:

(a) Twitch monetization,

(b) Uplifting our cast and creative team to the fandom (such as advertising their Paypal or Ko-Fi),

EXPECTATION: SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE

Whomever is acting as showrunner for any show being broadcast on the Twitch channel is ultimately responsible for the social media and announcements going out over general social media and motivating their cast to help with this burden. Common tags that should be used on social media platforms include: #TTRPG, #TTRPGfamily, #TTRPGlove, and #TTRPGsolidarity.

If there is one day you should post and interact other than the day of your show Saturday for #selfpromosaturday - be sure to search for this term as random people will open their account for tagging and replies with what you are doing! Dedicate 30 mins to really searching and replying and be sure to follow whatever rules the set (if they want you to follow and retweet) do so. Feel free to create your own for people to tag themselves in by using other examples as a template! Be sure to check back at 12pm and 3pm and like your post or responses to your posts to refresh your post on the page if it loses momentum. Also, always thank those who open their account’s reply section for “giving you the space to make the post”.

EXPECTATION: COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

The production and directors of Rook and Rasp believe that those GM’ing and acting as Showrunners are also the leaders of our community. That means we request that while they are running a show with us that they also help bring topics and respond on the Discord server when they are able. We also request that those who are showrunners also show up for other shows (however brief) and engage with the audience. If you can motivate your audience and players to do likewise it would help to further build the community as a whole and create solidarity. Please, know this is an expectation and not a rule - but other show runners will notice if you don’t participate. We’ve been down that road and, trust us, it can build some bad blood.

EXPECTATION: REAL LIFE HAPPENS

Life can take us on many positive and negative turns – sometimes it’s a surprise birthday party and sometimes it’s an illness. Either way these are just two examples of the life events that can take us away from games – and we support that!

In past the game community has had a bad reputation for developing and holding games as paramount. We would rather state that games enrich our lives and should not supplant them!

Players and GMs - must be prepared to handle life events taking priority when working with Rook and Rasp.