This young lady I am about to introduce you to is an inspiration. Just read her story and I bet you will love to go hang with her in her channel.
- What is your Twitch name? Gitsie (although in IGTV I am commonly known as Gutspee)
- Is there a special reason you chose that name? Gitsie was the name of my imaginary friend. I was a bit of a loner as a kid, with serious self-esteem issues and Gitsie was the opposite of that, she was really confident and outgoing. So when I grew up and realized I was good enough, and talented at things, I decided that I would reinvent myself. I kind of became my imaginary alter-ego.
- Why did you become a Twitch Streamer? I started streaming to meet new people and show people that gaming is for everyone. You can be any race, any size, any religion, any age, and gender, etc. and people will love you for who you are because you share a passion for gaming. The gaming and streaming community is very inclusive and I love that! I’ve made so many friends through streaming, people I would have never met otherwise! Streaming has helped me get over some of my social anxiety too.
- Why did you choose to stream for Twitch? Twitch is the most ionic live streaming website. There are other out there but I feel like the community on Twitch is incredibly supportive, and will always be there for you if you’re having a bad day/week. I don’t see that support on any other live streaming sites.
- How long have you been a streamer? I started streaming in November 2016 on my own channel, but before that I streamed on a community channel for epicLAN for about 6 months. I wanted to branch out and play titles that wouldn’t have worked on the channel, so in September 2016 I started looking at what I would stream and how I would brand myself. November 16th 2016 was my first ever broadcast on my own channel.
- Do you only stream or do you have another job? If you are comfortable in telling my readers, what is your other job? Like most streams, I work full-time outside of streaming, I don’t make a huge amount of money from streaming, and everything I do earn either goes to charity or straight back into the stream. Twitch income funds giveaways, new equipment, new games, etc. I work in the Energy Sector which is demanding but the bulk of my past employment has been Nursing and then in Business Development for the Construction Industry.
- What are your favorite games to play? My favorite game franchise of all time is The Sims. I have played every generation of The Sims and to this day I could play it for hours without blinking an eye. Other than that, I love FPS, RPG, and MOBA games. League of Legends, The Mass Effect Series, and Diablo series are definitely in my top 5 games of all times.
- What are your favorite games to stream? I mainly stream The Sims 4, being such a huge fan of the game means that people really get to see my passion for it on stream. I have found the simming community to be one of the most accepting and loving groups on Twitch too which helps! But I have a soft spot for my Friday night streams, which is when I play co-op or multiplayer games so that my viewers and subs can game with me. PUBG is a big favorite at the moment, as well as sill games like Golf With Friends and Quiplash- everyone loves that game! I would love to play through an RPG game or a story-based adventure game like a TellTale game but thee’s plenty of time for that later.
- Do you have any games that you would like to recommend to my readers to play and why? Was it hard to talk to your viewers when you first became a streamer? If I haven’t already, then play Diablo 3. It’s HOURS of fun and enjoyment and you can play it with your friends too which means you can have a really good weekend gaming session. I have played through all modes with all of the character types. It’s the kind of game that will have you raging one minute and laughing the next. If FPS is more your thing, then I cannot recommend PUBG or Rainbow Six Siege enough! Both very good games with amazing room for expansion and lots of amazing streamers to watch for inspiration.
- How long before you became at ease with streaming? Oh my god yes! My social anxiety means that I can sometimes have panic attacks out of nowhere. And being live in front of even 5 people you don’t know is daunting to begin with. The most important thing I think you can do when you’re first streaming is to never stop talking. Even if you’re chatting to yourself half of the time, never shut up. I used to talk about what I was having for dinner, or where I was going over the weekend, or what I’d been watching on Netflix. The more you talk the easier it becomes! I think I started to feel truly at ease when I was at 500ish followers and about 20-30 viewers, because by that point I had 10 or so regulars who would come back time and time again and we would chat like we were old friends. It’s a really nice feeling!
- Would you like to tell my readers anything else about yourself or your channel on Twitch? My channel is a place for anyone to come and hang out. I like to be inclusive and if you’re new I will always make a point of chatting to you so that people get to know you as well as myself. I try to keep things entertaining with lots of derpy moments, but I always laugh at myself and encourage viewers to laugh along with me! I have lots of interaction, and I encourage people to ask me questions, request songs, chat to each other. I like to think of it as just hanging out with some friends at home, no stress, and lots of banter.
Definitely come join the lovely Gitsie at her channel at twitch.tv/gitsie. She has an amazing stream and I have enjoyed going into her stream to chat and to lurk while I write. Listening to her is a lot of fun.