"Why on Earth would I ever waste my time watching an online gaming stream?" This was my general sentiment towards all of these people who put themselves out there on live video for people to just watch them playing games. I just couldn't wrap my head around it. All of that changed when I met @bambam808 on Discord one day and we started talking and became quick friends through some crazy Universe-in-your-face-don't-ignore-this-connection type of thing.
You see, the crazy thing about meeting @bambam808, is that I had just randomly hopped into the Steemit Bloggers channel one day, back when it was still developing into what it is now, to drop a small suggestion to @jaynie on how we can improve our post interaction/engagement between members of the group. He just so happened to be in there at that time and saw my message and replied to it, and, me being from an island myself, of course I noticed the 808 area code for Hawaii in his username, so I commented on it and we started talking about island life.
Apparently, he knew about Saipan because he had gone to school with some kids from Saipan who had moved to Hawaii. That's not too crazy for me, because a lot of people from back home end up moving to Hawaii to get that "States" feel while still keeping true to the island vibes. What blew my mind was what happened next. This was the sign from the Universe that we were supposed to meet each other, and that were are going to do some great things together.
He mentioned that he had gone to school with these brothers from Saipan, Jose and Syd, and that they had an older brother whose name he couldn't remember at that time. As soon as I read those names, my jaw dropped. I replied in all caps, "TIM. THEIR OLDER BROTHER IS TIM." He matched my excitement at that point and confirmed that we were both talking about the same people.
The reason this is so significant to me, is not just the fact that we knew the same people from Saipan (I mean, in a world of over 7 billion people, what are the odds, eh?), but the fact that Jose, the middle brother, was my meanest bully back in elementary school. Like, that kid made my life such a miserable experience back in those days, that I had suicidal thoughts as early as the age of 10! I grew up hating him.
So it blew my mind that I was now meeting someone, years and years later in my life, who personally knew him and went to school with him as well and could confirm that he didn't really change much as he got to high school. That being said, I want to just make it perfectly clear that I harbor no ill feelings towards him, and in fact, thanks to this fortuitous meeting, I am grateful to him for the role he played in my life. Wherever you are now, Jose, I hope you're doing well.
ANYWAY...that was how I met @bambam808. We started talking to each other more and we started throwing ideas back and forth and whatnot, and after a while he invited me to come watch him play some games on Mixer. My mind rushed back to the question I asked at the beginning of this post, but this time, because he and I had established a friendship with each other, I figured, "Sure, why not, I'll give it a shot." So I took the plunge and watched my first ever live gaming stream, courtesy of @bambam808 and his project @gsgaming, or Get.Set.GAME.
I found that I was actually enjoying myself just sitting there watching him play his games, and he was really entertaining to watch because he kept me engaged in conversation the whole time and would make funny comments about things that were happening to him in the game. When more people started coming into the audience, he would engage with them as well, and then we would all just hang out and talk to each other while he played his games. It really was a lot more fun than I ever expected it would be, and not once did I ever feel like I was wasting my time.
One day, I hopped onto the stream (which he announces whenever he goes live, so be sure to check out his profile and follow him so you can get updates on whenever he is streaming), and there was a discussion taking place about how to grow on Steemit because someone in the audience was asking about Steemit. That was when I met @btcvenom for the first time. I had never heard of him before that, but apparently he's making waves in the Steemitsphere right now, with his project @PayWithSteem. It's a new service that aims to make online shopping easier for people on the STEEM blockchain. I'll go into detail on that later. ;)
Our first meeting is kind of embarrassing, now that I think about it, because of how I chose to respond to his messages to me when I stated that it was somewhat difficult to build up a loyal following and grow post value on Steemit. I got all defensive because it felt like he was trying to school me as if I had just joined the platform yesterday. So my tone was less than amiable, needless to say, and I probably left a bad impression during that first meeting.
We kept on hopping on to more of @bambam808's live streams, and I started to see him around more in various Discord communities that I am involved in, so I started to learn more about who he was and gained a newfound respect for him after that botched initial encounter.
Eventually, that rough first meeting became a distant memory and I'm sure neither of us even thinks about it now except from this post. Anyway, I started to really look into PayWithSteem and I was amazed at the whole concept of it, and I couldn't believe that nothing like that had been thought of before.
It amazed me that I was becoming internet friends with someone who had such a vision for the future of STEEM and was paving the way for it to be adopted widely. I mean, could you imagine using that as a selling point to your friends to get onto the STEEM blockchain, that they can earn money by being active on the platform, and then use that same money they earned to buy basically anything on Amazon? Am I crazy to think that this project will blow up once more people start to learn about it? I am a full believer in @PayWithSteem and plan to make my first purchase through it real soon. I will write a post about the whole process/my whole experience with that as well, so be on the lookout for that.
Anyway, as I got to know @btcvenom a little better, I was shocked to find out his real age (which I won't disclose on here, you'll have to talk to him and find out yourself!), because he had always come across as someone even older than me! This guy is definitely wise beyond his years, and even though he has a long life ahead of him and a lot of growing into the world to do, he is definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, way ahead of the game and way ahead of everyone else his age. I wish I had his mentality when I was his age, that's for sure! I definitely have a lot to learn from him, and I'm glad that we are becoming friends on here.
Eventually, I met @sirlunchthehost through an @MSP-Waves Radio Show session, and also several other voice chats over other Discord servers within that same week that I first heard about/encountered him. Right from the start, I just loved his personality and how funny and entertaining he was. That guy is definitely meant to be an entertainer deserving of countless views everywhere he goes. I'm sure that anyone who's ever heard him talk online will agree that it's never a dull moment when Sir Lunch is in the house. :P
Anyway, eventually I found out that @sirlunchthehost, @bambam808, and @btcvenom all knew each other (interesting how that works out, eh?), because Sir Lunch started co-streaming on Mixer with the Ginger Samurai himself, and of course I caught most of their sessions because by that point I had already become a loyal viewer of the gaming stream. After a few sessions of co-streaming with just the two of them, @btcvenom eventually decided to jump into the mix and play with them as well, creating an epic three-person live gaming stream on Mixer. Only two of the screens were visible, but viewers could hear BTC's voice over the stream, so it was like having all three of them live streaming anyway.
One day, recently, in fact, their co-stream randomly got hosted by BLACKIECHANXBL, who is apparently a big deal on Mixer with over 3,000 subscribers, and I guess that was the catalyst that they needed to really push their gaming stream for widespread adoption by the people who watch gaming streams (and people like me who had never cared to watch a gaming stream before...which is kind of why I'm making this post now, actually).
I've been hanging out with them in the stream and getting to know all of them better, and the other day @sirlunchthehost started to talk about using the posts to raise funds to buy me an XBOX One so that i could join them and start playing along. At first I thought he was just joking around about it, so I didn't really put much stock into the idea and just laughed about it and said "that would be cool." @bambam808 was all for it, though, and @btcvenom further solidified the idea by saying that if we can raise the money for it, he would let us buy it through @paywithsteem and he would waive the fee that he usually adds on for the service.
Next thing I know, I'm getting notified yesterday that @sirlunchthehost had actually made a post promoting his live stream, in which he mentioned that he was going to put all the earnings of the post, as well as all subsequent gaming stream posts for the week, towards BUYING ME AN XBOX ONE.
OH MY GOD, I thought to myself. This dude was serious. I was in complete shock, but needless to say it was a very welcome and unexpected surprise. As I write this today, I am still in shock that my three newest friends on the blockchain have decided to come together to get me, a complete internet stranger, an XBOX One. It truly just blows my mind, like, there are no words to fully express just how amazed I am at the power of this platform to bring people together like this.
I realize that people will laugh at me for saying this on a post about a gaming stream, but STEEMIT TRULY IS LIFE-CHANGING.
If you haven't ever watched a live gaming stream, I really encourage you to check one out the @gsgaming stream whenever @bambam808 and @sirlunchthehost post about it. It's always a good time in there, and you are always guaranteed to have fun with these guys! If you haven't already, go check out their profiles and consider following them too!
I guess I will end this post now by saying a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE THANK YOU!!! to @bambam808, @gsgaming, @btcvenom, @paywithsteem, and @sirlunchthehost for this amazing and unexpected act of kindness. You guys have seriously made my day/week/month/year/forever on Steemit. :P
Check out some of my other posts!
What You Need to Know About Telling Veterans "Thank You" on Veterans Day
How The Minnow Support Project Helps You Achieve Your Dreams on Steemit
How I Achieved 200 Followers in My First Month on Steemit
Why I Chose to Invest $100 in Steem
How To Set Up Your Steemit Profile
The Dawn of The Dancing Dreamers
The Dawn of Friendship In a New Age
I'm Just an Island Boy Living in Utah who Loves EDM
!steemitworldmap 40.754539 lat -111.902618 long Salt Lake City, Utah local Steemian! d3scr