As mentioned in this blog post, I am working on a new section of the site called Noobie Pack. It will include the basic (?) info and regulations about the VTubing community and VTubers in general, like general etiquette and a directory of clippers1 who take their time to clip the hilarious and eye-opening moments from the original hours-long streams. There will be more, but at the same time, I hope that anyone brand-new to VTubing would take some time to check the upcoming Noobie Pack section when they can before they start joining in livestreams of the VTuber(s) of their choice.
Got it? Great!
Why VTubing Chat (and Community) Rules are Important?
I would like to share TEMPUS (VG) member Josuiji Shinri‘s latest community post about the issue of backseating. For those who aren’t aware in this case, backseating is the act of spoiling or telling a gamer (be it a standard streamer or a VTuber) what to do while they’re currently gaming, or even someone who criticizes the gamer based on their actions they don’t like. We as fans and viewers are there to watch our favorite talents play the game, which will also give them a chance to enjoy and experience the game itself on their own.
Here’s a copy/paste (with a little formatting) of his community post if you’re too lazy to go to the original source linked on the paragraph before this one:
[What’s Changing?] Moving forward, I’ll be expressly stating a rule on my channel regarding backseating. Backseating is allowed but only when I ask for it. Unsolicited backseating comments will be ignored or deleted, and trying to evade by other means will result in timeout or more.
[Why this change?] Backseating when requested has always been allowed on my channel, but recent events have gotten a little out of hand, so this change is really just clarifying and making explicit a rule that’s always been here.
I understand that viewers love to share their enthusiasm and excitement for the games, especially ones they have already played. However, I’d like to ask for the space and opportunity to try playing a game for the first time and figure things out on my own. I believe it helps make for a better experience for everyone when sudden realizations, plot twists, those little "ah ha!" moments happen organically on stream.
And specifically for myself, I find that I resonate with a game a lot more when I have the chance to learn about it on my own instead of getting it spoiled or backseated with messages in all caps in chat. As someone who really wants to enjoy the stories of the games, getting it spoiled by a comment in chat ruins a lot of the excitement, particularly when it involves some clever game mechanics or a unique gameplay twist. These are moments that are supposed to be big and impactful to the player, but having it spoiled leaves a bad taste in my memory because that spoiler is how I’ll remember it, not through natural gameplay.
[Last remarks] I know that the majority of the koillective are great and have already been following this rule since the beginning. I really appreciate it and thank you for the patience and space you’ve all shown me. This is mostly just to make clear an unwritten rule that we’ve had for newer members of the koimmunity who may not be fully aware of the general vibes of our streams! Please don’t harass newer members who may be just overly enthusiastic and if we see any one unaware of the rule, take a moment to inform them!
Generally, most, if not all streamers, have the same rule such as this one regarding the issue of backseating. I’ve noticed that regular viewers are aware of this, but those who are new probably aren’t. And then there are those who just join in and do whatever they want to annoy everyone just for the sake of trolling. But please, this is common courtesy here. The streamers can set their own rules and regulations in their channel whenever they want because it is their channel. Break any of them, or even get them mad, and you’ll be reported/banned out of the channel. That’s it.
In addition, most streamers do have their own chat/community rules indicated in the description of their livestreams, so please, check those out before you start participating in chat. I’ll be talking more about this subject once I get the Noobie Pack section up on this site.
Merch News and Updates
If you haven’t noticed yet, I’ve updated the sidebar to your right regarding the available merch on sale at the HoloPro Shop and/or GeekJack. I will be updating these per month, so whatever you see on the sidebar will only apply for the month of March. Go check them out when you can!
Regis Altare Birthday Merch Deadline
Yup, pre-orders for Altare’s birthday merch will be closing on March 6th @ 11:59pm JST. This means, if you live outside Japan, you’ll have to sync your time zone to theirs. For example: If you live in the U.S. in the PST time zone, that would be on March 6th @ 6:59 a.m. PST. Yeah, that early.
If you love to eat from a bowl, complete with chopsticks and a beautifully-illustrated placemat, this set is ideal. Go check out the link and pre-order your merch!
Hanasaki Miyabi Birthday Merch Pre-Orders Open
Did you enjoy your Yokohama trip with the daisenpai Miyabi? I bet you did! If you missed it, you can always watch the VOD.
While EN daisenpai Altare’s birthday merch pre-orders will be closing on the 6th, there’s brand-new birthday swag now available from JP daisenpai Miyabi, which includes another useful item— a cutlery set!
Just like any other birthday merch and most merch, this is made to order.((Made to order – when you order a merch, they will be created and eventually be shipped to you at a later time. This means that you are actually preordering, as the item is not available right away to be sent to you. In short, these are limited goods, so better pre-order them ASAP before they close the ordering period or they’ll be gone!)) You have about one month to pre-order them — deadline date is on April 3, 2023!
SUPER QUICK REMINDER!!!
If you are following TEMPUS or anyone from the EN side and are checking out their time schedules but live in a country that doesn’t practice Daylight Savings Time, the clocks will be adjusted one hour forward on March 12. So, please keep in mind and check your clocks so you don’t miss their livestreams!
[TAKE NOTE STARTING MARCH 12!!] 0:00/12:00 am JST = 11:00 am EDT / 8:00 am PDT
EDT = Eastern Daylight Time (as in opposed to EST (Eastern Standard Time)) PDT = Pacific Daylight Time (as in opposed to PST (Pacific Standard Time))
Just keep an eye out on the schedules and the time they indicate once we hit March 12!
And that’s it from me for today! All of you take care homies~!
- Holostars mostly [↩]
