Team Interview: Deenol

Quick Facts

Name: Derek

Age: 30

Favorite Game Genre: RPG / Adventure

Favorite Game: Pokemon, Final Fantasy, and Dark Souls

Favorite Food: All foods

Favorite Color: Blue

Favorite Streamer: "Is this a trick question?"

Random Fact About You: I'm a music lover as much as I am a game lover. I play the drums and saxophone.

When did you start streaming and who or what influenced you?

I started streaming for real June of 2019 and I have been heavily influenced by my wife and her encouragement to getting me started.

What do you like to stream and when do you typically stream?

I stream mainly FF14, but I enjoy lots of games and I'm currently working on adding some variety into my schedule. I stream M-F 8:30pm EST

What platform do you stream from? Where do you publish your content?

PC and all on twitch but I will look into YouTube once I'm more comfortable on twitch.

What is the very first game you ever remember playing?

Oh man... I have good memories playing Mario and Mike Tyson's Punch out on Nintendo with my brother and dad.

What about you and your stream do you feel sets you apart from other streamers?

I stream with my raid group in discord very often so there's always some kind of conversation going on if chat is a little quiet. We push end game content so there's some hard content going on raid nights. We like to get loud and rowdy though its not every night and can relax and enjoy a nice chill hangout as well, its always something different!

What are your goals for your streaming community?

I honestly just want a community of people that enjoy hanging out and chatting with each other as much as with myself. If I've got my focus face on then it makes me happy knowing chat is still having a good time among themselves until I can break to catch up on chat. If I could make a career out of doing this then that would be fantastic but for now its just been an exciting ride!

How do you personally balance your streaming with work and your personal life?

Quite easily so far, wife and I enjoy dinner together after work and watch TV a bit and then we both are always gaming together.

Have you encountered any hardships with streaming? How have you worked through them and what advice do you have for your fellow streamers?

Oh for sure! Personal motivation to just get into it for one. Self doubt and personal image, doubting that I'm even entertaining to watch, not having anybody watching or chatting really bums me out. But its just all in your head, Just be yourself as best you can! If you want to be that person to put on a show and have an "act personality" then so be it but I personally feel if I'm just myself then the people that come around and hang out are doing it for me and hopefully will stick around with me for the long run.

What are some of your long term goals outside of your streaming career?

We just recently moved across country, well from south to north, and so we are on the house hunt! Beyond that who knows, maybe have a kid or two one day? honestly I'm just looking to be happy in my life no matter where I end up or what I'm doing.

Do you have any streaming tips or suggestions for your fellow True members, or anyone looking to start streaming?

GET OUT OF YOUR OWN DAMN WAY! I know its a lot easier said then done trust me, but it really is true. You are your own worst enemy when it comes to this and you are definitely your biggest and worst critic! You don't need all the fancy gadgets for streaming either, go cheap for a little while if you need to and just have fun with it! I've watched streamers with the worst mic and camera but they were fun to just chill with.

Is there anything else you'd like us or the community to know?

Since seeing Sunnysinger randomly surfing the FF14 twitch I have been more involved with this than I would have been. You guys have all been great for advice, tips and just general chat on stuff. These weekly questions are great for getting to know some people and to give me ways to improve my streaming even it the question doesn't pertain directly to that.