Cheating in Video Games & Toxic Fandoms - SimplyPodLogical #65

On this episode of SimplyPodLogical, Cristine and Ben talk about Dream, Minecraft, cheating at video games, fandoms and the unintended consequences, and how Cristine feels about some of her own fanbase.

0:00 - Hey what’s up holo everyone
3:38 - Cristine is a streamer now
8:00 - Who is Dream?
11:28 - What is Minecraft?
14:22 - How do you cheat at Minecraft?
18:55 - Parallels with the King of Kong
20:52 - Why probability proves he probably cheated
30:59 - Weaponizing your fanbase vs. cheating at video games
33:30 - Are creators responsible for their audiences?
35:49 - Was Simply Nailogical’s fanbase toxic in 2016?
41:57 - Cristine’s comments section before she got popular
45:13 - Creators don’t want fans to spam
52:51 - When did fandoms becomes so promotional?
55:09 - Watch Inside on Netflix (not spons)

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Cristine:

Ben:
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©Simply Nailogical Inc. All opinions are our own.

[lizzy_huffman]

At this point, you can expect Cristine and Ben to turn any topic into a deep conversation that you can learn from.

Props to you, for someone who doesn't indulge themselves into the gaming world that often, you have really changed my perspective on it.

[meri]

Ok so using mods in the minecraft community isn't an inherently bad thing. Mods can change a lot of things drop percentages (like in the case with dream), adding in new animals and blocks, adding in new mobs(monsters) to defeat, etc. Mods are made to make the game more interesting and the minecraft modding community is large. Most minecraft creators use Mods in some way, most of the time they don't change the game too much, like shaders that make the lighting easier to edit. So the problem isn't with him using mods, it's with him submitting a speed run without disclosing he's using mods that change the game and impact his speed run in such a major way.

[alanal]

Since you guys and Safiya and Tyler are now doing long form content on Tuesdays, on April Fools day, y’all should switch channels and pretend like everything is perfectly normal

[elizabettno]

The fact that these sort of hats in my language tend to be referred to as "nail hats" (as in fingernails, not the construction nail), makes it even more fun

[maryread]

I'm a fan of Kpop, and most fans actually agree with what with Ben says here, some comments/spamming are not appropiate. But like Cristine says, some fans are very young, they won't even lisen to their own idols. Other fans and even the Korean artists ask to be respectful (most of them are more respectful than occidental artists, in my opinion), but we are talking about millions and millions of fans all around the world, it's impossible every single person is going to listen.
On the other hand, kpop fans have done some very possitive things like spaming tags promoted by homophobic groups, disrespectful politicians... making a joke of them. So I guess fandoms and social media have this duality.

[cozie]

The crossover we've never expected

[Redsammeh]

"People are allowed to have their opinions, I just don't know the value in sharing them all the time" LOL

[linmax]

As someone who considers/considered themselves a “Kpop Stan, ” I’d like to explain a lot of stans get annoyed with those people who act inappropriate/share fancams in threads that aren’t appropriate too. Many fans can be embarrassing and I wish that individual fan could be held responsible rather than the entire Kpop community (bc there are so many different kinds of people from all sorts of backgrounds across the globe in the Kpop community—we all have very different beliefs, but happen to enjoy similar artists!)
As for idols/groups being held responsible for those fans, Kpop entertainment groups do a really good job at promoting their idols to create these huge, incredibly powerful fanbases. But the idols have very little control over what they can say or do because they’re tied to such strict contracts. I’m definitely not saying they shouldn’t take responsibility for their fans/not controlling their fans (several idols have owned up to their past mistakes) however, I’m saying it’s mot really an option (currently) for them to “control their fans” because their companies are the puppet masters. Hopefully that all makes sense? And Kpop is evolving, it’s slow progress, but every year more and more idols/fans speak out about issues that are close to their hearts or haven’t been (but need to be) addressed.

[LU-qrkh]

Simply talking about Dream? This podcast is really evolving.

[melaniem]

Fandoms have always been like this. Like the Beatles were literally promoted by their teenage girl fandom. I do think that fan girls understand they work harder than the marketing team and there’s an entire conversation about how exploitative it is.

[marysmith]

To be clear, most people who do these kinds of speed runs will actually go before starting and intentionally turn off all mods. Its common for YT who produce this kind of content to run mods sometimes, but also to turn them off for legitimate runs

[jenunboxed]

I love that you guys engage in conversations about online "stuff" in general---it's a reminder that people can be interested in the stories or workings of other topics outside of their own day-to day without necessarily being 100% invested in that topic.

[tinapaytinapay]

I'd probably be downvoted anywhere else I post this but even as a kpop fan myself I think the way kpop companies market their idols maximizes the whole parasocial relationship dynamic for profit and its very creepy to me

[ivanluke]

As someone who regularly enjoys Dream’s content, I definitely think that Dream is a bit too lenient towards his fanbase. Like, he is not directly responsible for the toxic part of his community, but he could’ve handled many of his situations a lot better in many ways.

[kerricacavio]

I love what you've shared on the topic of fandoms being promotional. As someone who started getting into a kpop group, every time I see a post about votings/streamings, I somehow feel obligated to participate to prove that I'm a fan. However, it can get really exhausting and just takes the joy out of simply enjoying their music/content, so I do try to pace/limit myself. Nevertheless, I genuinely respect and appreciate those who dedicate their time and effort to obtain great achievements for the idols they love, because I do understand the publicity that such activities bring about too.

[noeyyang]

About the inside special: personally, being a fan of Bo’s work, he is known for doing dark honest comedy. This special to me spoke to the hard working side of me that I discovered this quarantine. I learned I needed adhd meds and taking those meds helped me focus on my work and become more successful. While watching the special I related the most to the burn out Bo felt, and some of his frustration, it clicked with me that I felt less alone because what I was dealing with felt so foreign I was sure I was the only person going through it. Hearing other people thoughts on the special I felt at ease that I wasn’t the only one feeling this huge burnout with work, and relationships. Anyways those were MY personal thoughts on the special loved the podcast <3

[ozge]

as an 26 year old adult with a full time job (an MD to be exact) and also with an active fandom account i can say i agree most of your points. it can become unhealthy really quick but the examples you see all the time are the bad apples in fandoms that you mentioned in the beginning. unfortunately the loudest parts of kpop/bts communities are the ones who promotes under everything or spams dance cams or whatever. they are definitely minority but they are way way way too loud so people only see them and come to conclusion that yep that's what a fan of this artist do 🤷🏻‍♀️. i wish i somehow could show you what a peaceful, excited and fun of an experience i am having being a part of fandom

[LuccaPassos_]

I think it's also very important to say that Dream IS a programmer who makes plugins (similar to mods) for minecraft. I meann it's not like he's not knowledgeable

[mai_komagata]

I would argue that randomness mixed with skill is an important part of speedrunning -- it requires not just skill one time, but consistent skill over many runs so that when you *do* get that good luck, you are able to pull off the same high level of skill.

[entername]

me after watching 2 hours of mine craft content while playing mine craft i see it on christines channel i can’t escape it