Here’s a conversation I had recently with streamer and cosplayer igetexcited who is a Twitch Affiliate and member of the Nomads and the competitive Overwatch Team Foxglove. You should check out igetexcited’s website, current streaming schedule, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and in her Discord. igetexcited was selected by the Nomads as Streamer of the Month for February 2018.
Who are you as a streamer?
I’m still figuring out who I am as a streamer. Like a lot of streamers, I’ve had some technically issues (faulty motherboard), getting my settings right and stream off the ground. Once I finally accomplished that, I started streaming December 2017 with my competitive Overwatch team, Team Foxglove. The team is currently on break. Since then, I still stream Overwatch competitive games as well as Fortnite. I’d love to stream some fighting games but I don’t think I’m too great of a player yet and I’m really hard on my skills set for myself.
Aside from cosplay, I’m also working on a prize for future Nomads streamer of the months going forward. Only issue here is learning a bunch of new techniques, I’m currently stumped learning Fusion 360 for this little project.
Oh, yeah, it’s always a struggle with technology. Streaming is like a technology magnet for Murphy’s Law! It seems like everyone’s got that learning curve, but it’s also something that I think one keeps learning too, yeah, like anything in a technical field.
Yep, this is very true. Technology is constantly changing so as with anything, it’s something that we are constantly learning and relearning as the software updates and changes. It’s fun though once you really dive into it!
I’ve not been on a competitive esports team, so what’s it like? Any fun stories about that?
Oh man, so many stories! Besides just being a team though, we really turned into a close knit family. Practicing 4-5 nights a week together, you really learn a lot about each other. Between knowing each others habits, personal life, having a Foxglove Secret Santa exchange, and our general love for bad dad puns. You could say we stayed close in each others friendship bubbles (Overwatch Winston bubble reference/pun).
Part of being on a team means running monthly and even sometimes weekly scrims. One week we faced off a team we had never played before, once they found out we were a team of all females it quickly went from professional to uncomfortable. They started to ask for nudes and Snapchat, etc. In the most professional manner I could, we told them we were here for business and scrims not for exchanging social medias and asked them to stop, and then proceeded to kick their asses in every match we faced against them. It was not only a very satisfying win because all of us played very well as a team, but also because they clearly underestimated us.
I can only imagine. I went through a whole journey there with you, cringing and then cheering. I recently had to drop out of an ongoing game group because of a racist dick I wasn’t willing to have at my table or on my stream. But, the shit you must have to deal with would be unimaginable if it weren’t real, yeah? I want to believe the resistance to racism and sexism, in gaming and beyond, is helping make things better, but is it at all?
I think it’s helping to an extent. I try not to let things bother me. If it’s small casual joking, I might let it go. If it’s someone blatantly egging on a situation, I speak up and loudly. Although I speak up, I’m only going to state my opinion once. I feel like some people want you to get mad and keep arguing and to me there’s no point. I’ll state my opinion and let it be. In this case for the scrims, it got a little out of hand and as one of the team captains, I for sure had to speak up on it and wouldn’t let my girls play scrims in an uncomfortable situation.
What support do you, individually as a streamer and as a competitive team, hope for from guys like me? I mean, showing up with an attitude of respect for the work you do, for sure, but also helping to shut that shit down, right? I mean, there’s a certain schadenfreude in watching you stomp on them, but that’s not enough, is it? On the other hand, you don’t need a bunch of dudes thinking you need to be rescued, which is still part of the problem, innit?
As a streamer (or YouTuber, esports team, cosplayer, etc), you have to think, acting as a public figure. You should come into your role expecting things like this to happen. No matter who you are, whether you’re female/male, white/black/asian/hispanic, like cats/dogs, you need to come into your role expecting a certain amount of nonsense going on. Nonsense being guys trolling for Snapchat, someone hating on you for liking cats vs dogs, people being racist, etc. It’s unfortunate, but you should expect it to an extent. That being said, I try to shut that shit down and move on. I don’t want to dwell on it.
As a viewer, I think showing up and supporting is plenty, that’s all we can really ask for. Cheering us on and what not. I think if someone in stream chat is acting up, then for sure be like “hey man, that’s not cool” and if they don’t stop then we get a ban going. That being said, I also don’t think having stream chat arguing for the majority of the time is support. So kinda finding the middle ground is a plus.
Right! And let’s not forget the massive job done almost behind the scenes by moderators. I kinda dread getting to the point where I need to have moderators full time. That’s a whole thing I’ve not had to deal with yet as a streamer.
Any projects other than streaming you want to mention?
Aside from streaming, I also cosplay! I’d say I set high expectations for myself when it comes to cosplay, trying to have really clean and detailed work. My last project, Juri from Street Fighter, is my favorite and most difficult cosplay to date. I am currently working on a gender-bent Rocket Raccoon, with a life-sized 3d printed prop of his gun.
What cosplay have you done so far? And, has it been public, like at a con or something?
My very first cosplay was Yoshi. I actually made this for Halloween and won best costume at a bar that night! I was ecstatic. I slowly upgraded Yoshi over the years as I learned more about cosplay. I also did Amy Rose from Sonic and wore her at New Orleans Comic Con another year. This one was interesting because I made the costume and large prop all in 4 nights after work, this being my first prop as well. I think I did well but messy. Juri is definitely my best cosplay and I wore her to Evo in 2016. Some other small closet cosplays I’ve done is gender-bent Beetlejuice and Android 18. You can find pics of all these on my Facebook page.
What does cosplay mean to you? I mean, I wonder about whether it is the crafting part that is the draw or the chance to closely identify with a character, or something else?
Usually, when I pick a cosplay, it’s a character I really love. Its just fun to dress up as characters you like, go to events, and meet other people that also have the same interest as you. They see you in the cosplay and run up to you all excited wanting to nerd out about the same topics. Its really great. The only exception to this was my Android 18 cosplay, I honestly have only watched a little bit of Dragon Ball-Z (I know! I know! I’m sorry!) and was trying to figure out a quick last minute cosplay using what I had on hand. Even though DBZ isn’t my favorite, I think I made a damn good Android 18.
I remember you posting an image of some 3D printing you were doing for cosplay and I don’t know why it never occurred to me me how awesome 3d printing would be for that! So, you’re building a makerspace in your garage, right? Right!?
Not so much yet hahah, I wish, so hopefully soon. I currently have the third bedroom in my home setup as a workspace with some power tools for crafting props and such as I have done prop commissions as well. Since I haven’t took the plunge to make the 3d printer purchase, I have a friend that owns one. Once we finish printing all the pieces, I’ll be assembling, cleaning, and painting the prop. I may possible add some LED lights to it as well, which is also a new ballgame for my cosplay skills. I have been working with him crafting a Rocket Raccoon prop. After working through all this, I will likely purchase a 3d printer in the very near future.
What’s in the future plans for your cosplay?
Oh man, again, I’d love to make it big in cosplay but this is something I’m just rolling with because it’s a lot of fun. If I didn’t have to pay bills and work that pesky 9-5 to pay the mortgage, I’m sure I’d be able to whip out cosplays left and right. But for now, I can only do so much in my spare time along with gaming.
What’s your setup like for streaming?
Motherboard: MSI Z97 Max Power Ac
Processor: Intel Core I7-4950k
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 970
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB
Hard drives: 500GB Crucial SSD and 1TB Western Digital
External drive: 1TB Seagate
Case/Cooling: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced
Power Supply: EVGA 850 Gold plus
Keyboard: Razer Blackwidow Chroma
Mouse: Razer Mamba
Headset: Astro A40
Mic: Blue Snowball
Webcam: Logitech c920
That’s quite a list. Is there a strategy to your setup or a plan, or is it something you’ve built component by component as the need arises? Did you start with everything from the beginning?
I actually bought all the parts (aside from peripherals) at once through Newegg.com, love them. This is my second custom build that I’ve done for myself and I am honestly still learning. I did have a plan to add a second graphics card eventually, hence the gigantic case, but I haven’t quiet done that yet. I think I may wait and semi start again because my motherboard was defective but I didn’t figure this out until way later down the line.
Aside from all that, I am working on getting a new desk and green screen.
What do you look for in a desk?
I love L-shaped desks personally. The one I have now is L-shaped, but both sides of the desk are different heights and it’s like a rounded L-shape desk and I hate it. It just feels off and wonky. I have had this desk since I moved out from my parent’s years ago and I don’t know what teenage/adult me was thinking. Hoping to get a cleaner L-shape desk very soon with a tad bit more space.
Look, I know our readers are probably thinking that was a silly question, but the struggle is real, and the desk is part of the gear! These things are important! (For the record, my desk is actually a dining room table repurposed because I nnneeeeeeddd the space to spread things out and I also can’t use a desk that has a stupid tray or shelf underneath that hits my legs! Ugh!)
LOL, hey man, no shame. I say you gotta make what works work. So if a dining table is what’s working for you, then so be it. I respect it. And I totally agree on the underneath tray getting in the way, can’t stand those things! A big minimal nice L-shape desk is something I am definitely looking for.
I’ve been thinking about a green screen too, and considering options. Are you thinking a big one you’ve got to steam to keep wrinkle free, or a pop-up screen, or something else?
Since I own my home, I was thinking of turning my desk around so that I could put the green screen against the wall. I even considered painting the one wall in this room green. I basically want hassle free. Another fear of mine is if I get a green screen I have to handle a lot, the cat will get ideas and ruin it, that would be tragic.
Painting it on sounds like a cool thing if you can do it! Also, you know, room scale VR: paint the whole room! And, yeah, I’ve had the cats destroy my feeble backdrop in various ways. Cats are why I cannot have nice things, except for cats, who are nice, and I totally love them all the time. (Are they still listening?)
They are def still listening. Cats run the house no matter what you think, poor Amigo (my dog) understands this all too well. But hey, they just want to join in on the stream fun too.
What do you know now about streaming that you wish you’d known earlier? Or, best advice about streaming you’ve gotten?
This is a hard one. I’m the type of person that does research for like a year before jumping into something like this. So most things I’ve read, actually happened to me and it wasn’t that surprising or off-putting. If anything, just remember to be patient with everything. You will have technical difficulties with bitrate and settings you need to figure out, you will start off slow and need to build your audience, don’t let any of these minor things get you down. I knew all this going into streaming, yet it still bothered me every so often, but when you remind yourself that it’s normal, then everything is a lot more smoother and positive.
How long have you been streaming?
Decemember 2017.
What stuff are you streaming now?
Mostly Overwatch and Fortnite. Hoping to move in some other games.
And with Fortnite, I’ve seen you play not just Battle Royale, but also Save The World. Not many people seem into both, so that was cool to see. Would you recommend people try out the original mode who like the other?
For sure, the Save the World mode is a lot of fun! It can feel a little grindy at times, but its honestly just a chill game. You can quest, earn schematics, level them up, and so much more! I’ve actually gotten a few friends into the PVE mode and they all have enjoyed it as well so far. I encourage everyone to try it. On top of that, if you are a BR player that loves buying skins, we all know v-bucks can get expensive sometime (cough cough, we won’t name any names here). A perk to playing the PVE is you can earn v-bucks from the story line, daily quest, and daily rewards for just logging in! So that adds up over time, hence saving you money :wink emoji:
What about some IRL or creative streams around your cosplay stuff?
This is something I would love love love to do! I recently got a new webcam so now I have two. The biggest problem is that my stream setup is in one room and craft supplies is in another room. Also if working with foam, it can get really messy with sawdust everywhere so I need to be able to protect my streaming equipment. This is definitely something that is coming in the future for me, but for now I’m working out the kinks of how to accomplish it in a good fashion in the space I have to work with.
Any upcoming games or other stuff you’re looking forward to?
I love fighting games, so I’m looking forward to the EVO tournament this year! I was planning to attend to play in Marvel vs Capcom Infinite but they decided not to put it on the main stage this year.
What goals do you have for the future with your stream?
I’m honestly not too sure. I’m kind of just streaming with a fairly regular schedule and going with the flow. I don’t want to set high expectations and stress myself out. Now if I ever did make big things happen with streaming, then so be it and that would be awesome!
Eventually if I get the viewer base, I’d love to do like a Sub Sunday where I play with viewers etc. My biggest goal has to be getting my setup right to where I can stream my cosplay work. That would be amazing. It’s going to require some work but I fully plan to make this happen. Cosplay work takes a lot of time, meaning less stream time. So if I can stream and do cosplay work at the same time, I feel a lot better because I don’t need to neglect any of the things I love.
Thanks to igetexcited for talking with me, and be sure to check out her stream!