Author: SiniBlob

Raevnly has been somewhat inactive both on here as on Twitch, which I'm guessing is due to COVID as mentioned in the latest update on Gamactica. I'm hoping everything is going well with that and will leave a review anyway for until they'll be able to be active again! Raevnly has a good flow on Twitch when it comes to narrating their thoughts and doings; there isn't much empty air whether or not chat is moving, which in my opinion is one of the more important aspects of live streaming. The presence of constant entertainment. They're quite a swear parrot at times, which isn't a bad or good thing in and on itself, but it may deter some others from the content. For a true criticism I'd like to point out that the Twitch Panels at the time of this writing are images only. These can be prettier and more orderly than writing the text out directly into twitch, but they're a nightmare for anyone using accessibility options like page readers. They can also be difficult for mobile users depending on the aspect ratio.

I'll start off by saying that the overall score is likely lower due to Gamactica Engagement; seems like it was 2 months ago since there was last an update on BooBooCrew's timeline so I couldn't give much with a good conscious to that score. But onto what actually matters, which is the stream itself: Usually I'm not a fan of seeing streams with other people on them because often times they tend to overpower the streamer and take away from the entertainment value of a stream. However, I have to say that BooBooCrew has some excellent friends that are pleasant to listen to and don't overpower her during the sttream, though I do still prefer just listening to her alone. If I had to critizise one thing on this it would be, that BooBoo's microphone could be higher to make it clearer that they're the main star of their channel. Otherwise entertainment offered is rather fun, there's a constant flow of jokes and silly moments and the overall atmosphere, despite DbD being the main game, is relaxed. Chat interaction goes pretty well too, there isn't too much of it yet, but whenever there's activity it seems noted. There is one accessibility criticism I have in regards to the channel About page and it's something I've mentioned on an earlier review of mine: Panels that are only images are pretty to look at, but people who navigate the site using readers can't get any information out of them. They can also be difficult to read depending on what kind of screen the person reading them is using or if they're looking at them from mobile, for example. So while the picture panels look sweet it might be worth considering to write out the text on Twitch itself anyhow.

This review will be based on FirstDropDanny's past few VOD's, since I haven't caught them live. First off: The gameplay and gamactica engagement portions seem to be perfectly fine! However, when it comes to entertainment of the stream, there's a lot of silence throughout the VOD's. To me commentary is very important in a stream whether or not chat is moving at the time, so that took off quite a few points in my eyes. Chat interaction is mostly alright though from what I've seen. Something I'd suggest for the bettering of the viewing experience, besides adding a bit more commentary, would be a repositioning and cropping of the webcam. Right now it's a little too high and Danny often dives lower while playing, therefore taking up even less of the cam real estate. My suggestion: Point the webcam angel lower and crop out empty space with alt + mouse drag on the edges. This way you are more of the focus and the camera as a whole takes less space, but you take a lot more space. Which seems only fitting for the star of the show. Another little quality related suggestion: Bitrate is too low for the resolution you stream at, according to video stats it's at around 3k bitrate while the source resolution is 864p60fps. With something high moving like Apex Legends that ends up rather blocky during the action. So I'd either drop the source resolution if there's a reason for the low bitrate, or up the bitrate to better fit the resolution you want to stream at!

I haven't caught RitsumaruKaitsu live, so this will be off of some of the VODs. The energy during the stream is high, there's constantly some excitement, jokes or otherwise going on, which is at the top of the list for important things for streamers to master. For the first time I also see panels with plain text added, making the about me section accessible, which was lovely to see. Audio balances are also great in the sense that Ritsumaru is always louder than the game or team members, while the latter are still hearable enough, but aren't taking away the spotlight. However, one criticism I do find has also to do with audio. The microphone often has a harsh, peaking quality to it, which I'm certain could be lessened by utilizing a compressor filter on OBS. If the issue comes from boosting ones mic through the windows volume slider to keep the ideal audio balances, then I highly recommend putting in limiters for both desktop audio and the mic/aux. That will ensure the other audio will never reach as high as the microphone. Either way, it's a good watch time with just a few things to file!

First the good: The stream looks clean and so does the room in the webcam. Webcam could maybe be cropped to just JDATOR lessening the realestate the webcam takes up but also focusing it to the streamer, but isn't bothersome in its current form. The animated border is also not too flashy, taking away from the action and other overlay elements don't take too much realestate to become overwhelming. However.. I went through an almost 4 hour VOD, skipping through bits and pieces and watching for maybe 5 minutes each time and there was no commentary. Not one word of anything ever said. I went to another VOD, someone said hi once and there was a reaction of saying hi back.. and nothing after that. This is something that deducts a ton of points for me, because to me a VOD should represent what I'm getting myself into with your channel and to me entertainment is an important factor. This is why I highly recommend considering to try and talk even if there is no chat activity going on. This will make your VOD's more entertaining to watch, it will help you make out if your microphone sounds good (it didn't in the VOD I heard the hi from, I'd definitely look into that since audio is kind of important) and if people are browsing the category they might be tempted to join your community if you're fun even by yourself. If you work a bit on this and try to present yourself more on your streams, then I'd love to revisit my review and update it accordingly.