Didius interview
Who are you?
My name is Paul. I go by the handle, Didius, on the internet. I am a content creator whom is primarily focused on live streaming on twitch. However I do some YouTube as well as have an instagram, snapchat, discord and twitter which I am active on all of them. Prior to becoming a streamer I use to own a business creating scenery and props for films in New York City.
How did you choose your Twitch name, Didius?
I needed a name for my Tauren druid when I started vanilla World of Warcraft. I was googling names and got into Roman names. Didius Julianus was a Roman emperor and I liked his name.
How long have you been streaming, and how did you get into it?
I started streaming in 2015 for about 8 months, but took a 2 year break during which I pursued other adventures. During that time I increased my coding abilities making video games.I started streaming again early January 2018 and have been going hard ever since. I have no plans to stop streaming at the moment.
I got into streaming by stumbling upon speedrunners and was flabbergasted at the fact people were making a living playing older games. The kindness and positivity of this community created a welcoming atmosphere. I watched awesome games done quick and was in love. Back then it was a small room of about 20 people. They got me through a hard time and inspired me to want to help people with the power of positivity and enable them to enjoy video games and life.
Which streamer would you love to collaborate with?
I don’t really collaborate with streamers. Sometimes a streamer will ask to play something with me and I will be happy to do that however I do not really have any plans for collaboration at this time.
Any advice for beginner or wannabe streamers?
Just start streaming and have fun. You don’t need all the bells and whistles to start. Just make sure your video looks decent and your audio is alright. No one wants to watch when the video is messed up or when your game sound is overpowering your voice or your mic crackles with static or is overly quiet or loud. If you enjoy streaming (which honestly most people find out they don’t after trying it a while), people enjoy you and the rest falls into place.
Favourite stream you’ve done so far?
Just the other day I played Surviv.io for a few hours and switched to a spooky game, God’s Basement. I really enjoyed that stream. The chat was so lively and hilarious and I enjoyed reading it more then the actual game, which is a good game. I plan to play more short story games in the future now.
Favourite clip taken of your channel/streams?
A lot if viewers have favorite clips. I think my favorite clip is yet to be made. I notice myself learning how to be and becoming a better entertainer. My next clip just might be my favorite.
How do you choose which games to play on stream?
Choosing games is actually pretty hard. When I started I just played whatever I felt like at the time. Now I keep my audience in mind, how a game performs on Twitch in general, if I can grow from the game, suggestions from viewers and my own interest in the game.
Is there any type of game you refuse to play?
Games I have little to no interest in or are banned on twitch are ones I will not play. I need to be interested in playing it if I want to entertain people watching me or I am just miserable. I would say 3rd person games put me off the most but they are so popular it is hard to get away from them sometimes for example Fortnite.
If you could stream only one game for the rest of your streaming career, what would it be and why?
If we could go back in time around 1999 before EA bought Ultima Online, I would choose that game. The servers are nearly dead now and there is no viewership on Twitch. However I could play that game forever if it stayed in a similar state to that time and if the servers were bursting at the seams. The reason being is at the time it was basically the only mmo and so everyone you talked to or knew were playing it, which was super cool. Now there are so many games that everyone’s on different wavelengths. Also the game itself was just amazing and I could totally still rock it. Richard Garriotts new game tries to bring back that past success but in my opinion it is way off course.
What’s the most immersive game you’ve ever played, on or off stream?
One of the current games I am streaming, Escape from Tarkov, might just do the best at pulling me into the world as any other game I have played. The sounds and environment just are top notch and my attention is grabbed everytime I hear the slightest noise.
Is there anything that immediately turns you off a game/book/film/etc?
For games, poor controls turn me off immediately. If I am not in the driver seat then I don’t want to be jerked around by bad design. I also play games with inverted controls and some literally do not offer that in the options so I have to refund them. For films it is usually poor writing unless it is just funny bad, because that can sometimes work. I consume far too few books to answer the book part.
You seem to be one of the largest surviv.io streamers on Twitch. How did you come across the game?
One of my viewers back in May, when I was at around 5 average viewers, asked me to play. I refused for weeks on the ground that browser games are mostly bad and circles running around seemed silly. Still, he persisted. After playing it I was very surprised at it’s fun gameplay and great design. Having devs that actually fix and maintain a nearly bug free experience while pushing out regular content, is quite rare in gaming nowadays. I definitely appreciate that aspect of their effort, considering my own game development experience.
If you had to live in one franchise, which would it be and why?
The elder scrolls franchise. I love the world building and the paths of who to be or how to go about being are plentiful. Magic is cool too. If only I could cast magic missile at a goblin and go buy a full meal and drinks for 2 gold in real life.
Are there any small streamers you think deserve more attention?
There are a plethora of small streamers that deserve more attention. It is just so hard for people to discover streamers they might want to watch and most of the time people just click whomever has the most viewers. As a smaller streamer you must just persevere and it can be very hard physically, emotionally and financially to do so.
Where can we find you online?
You can find me Tuesday through Sunday at 4pm CST on twitch. https://www.twitch.tv/didius Also my twitter, youtube, instagram and snapchat are DidiusTV.