Streamer Spotlight aims to highlight Twitch casters to promote their personality, game, and content over what game is currently trending. Streamer Spotlight will focus on interviewing several casters, looking into what specific brand of entertainment they are willing to give to the audience. While the spotlight focuses on gaming casters now, we’re open to interview anyone who has the motivation to share their passion with the world as a caster.
MTQCapture also known as Mizzteq is a Twitch broadcaster and Youtube content creator focused on streaming and making guides primarily for Final Fantasy XIV. Her Youtube guides are the most viewed for both veteran and new players alike. Her easy-to-listen-to voice and puns make every learning experience a fun experience even for the most intense fights. Mizzteq constantly tries to improve her own gameplay and experience for viewers.
Introduce yourself!
Hi everyone! My name is Addie, but you’ll find I go by Mizzteq or Mizz in most online games. I am a FFXIV content creator on Youtube, a variety streamer on Twitch, and the poster of utter nonsense on Twitter! I’m also obsessed with really, really, REALLY, bad puns.
How long have you been gaming for?
My parents were both programmers growing up so I’ve been messing around with computer games since I can remember. Our family moved a lot before finally settling in Canada when I was around 6 years old. I was lucky enough to have a PC early on and I used it as a way to learn English. Word Rescue was my jam. I fell in love with Myst and various Apogee games. Eventually, a cousin of mine introduced me to Blizzard games and that laid down the groundwork for my eventual MMO addiction. As involved with PC gaming as I was growing up, I unfortunately never owned a game console. For whatever reason, console gaming had a negative stigma in the minds of my parents and outside of renting a Nintendo 64 from Blockbuster that one time, I rarely touched a controller until a few years ago. Now I’m making up for lost time by going back and experiencing the hidden console wonders of my childhood.
How long have you been streaming? When did you first start?
I’ve been streaming for a little over 2.5 years now. My first stream was sometime in August 2015 and I was partnered with Twitch in October that same year.
What inspired you to start streaming?
When I started off making guides on YouTube I never pictured myself streaming. It never seemed like something I could do. I felt that I didn’t have the personality for it (I’m pretty introverted outside of stream) or that my voice outside of a controlled recording environment was too messy. One fateful day, Slyakagreyfox, a FFXIV streamer that plays on the same server, approached me about doing an interview on his stream. I had so much fun and was blown away by the community he had created that it planted the seed of the idea in my mind. I started researching audio/video equipment and stream settings and what it would take to produce a stream that I would be proud of. Once I felt ready, I decided to give it a shot and see where it could take me.
Do you do this full time or is that still in the works?
My first year streaming I worked a full-time job while streaming at night. Sometime in my second year of streaming I transitioned into working part-time and now I am working full-time as a content creator/streamer.
For your Youtube content, what drove you to make guides specifically?
Everyone starts out a complete and utter noob. I did, and I can guarantee that every top player in every top guild on every top server once had no idea what they were doing either. End-game PVE content can be intimidating for any new player. I’m a huge believer in “anyone can learn, anything can be taught” and I make guides in an attempt to ensure anyone that’s new or looking to improve has a resource to turn to.
Also, it’s not enough for me to just be told what to do. I’m the kind of person that needs to fundamentally understand the reasoning behind specific mechanics. It’s how I learn and allows me to think on my feet if something goes wrong. Writers often say “write the book you want to read”. I essentially make guides that I would personally use to help me clear content. End-game raiding is my favorite part of FFXIV and I want as many people to experience it as possible.
How much time would you say you put in to prepare for a stream or videos?
If it’s a normal stream, when there are no crazy events, it takes me about an hour to prepare and set-up. If it’s a longer or special celebration stream it’ll take about a day or so to prepare for. Youtube videos take anywhere from one to five days to complete.
You have partnered with Angered for content. What exactly does the partnership entail?
In the past I would rely on my own static for raid footage, and as our raiding schedule was pretty casual it would limit how quickly I could get my guides out. My partnership with Angered allows me to have some extra hands on deck. They provide me with footage from different perspectives as they progress at their World First pace, allowing me to put out the guides in a more timely manner.
What are some changes you would make to FFXIV if you had the power?
Coming from other MMOs, I would love to see the implementation of an add-on creation system. I understand that FFXIV is in a strange position with the PS4/PC and the argument is often that PS4 players would have no access to this feature. And of course, there are the usual arguments against addons, saying they inspire “lazy” play or create a toxic environment, etc. What I would like to see is a “curated store” of addons for both PC and PS4 players. Allow players to create add-ons and submit them for review, and if they pass, offer them to all players.. I believe this style of community-driven add-on creation not only helps the growth of the game, but the community as well. Think of it as a braintrust or crowd-sourced development. This delegates quality of life UI changes or small fixes to the community, allowing the dev team to focus on other important stuff. I believe giving players the ability to help grow the game they love helps everyone in the end and would definitely be worth the effort.
My static member Ellesmera Druidae wanted to ask where you get your puns?
Usually they’ll come to me as I write the guide or from my stream chat as we are progressing through content. Most of my puns are pretty bad, so they’re not that hard to come up with! If I have pun block I have a few trusted punvisers I can turn to.
Any advice for people starting up?
The internet can be a cold, dark place. Don’t take yourself or others too seriously. Be proud of your work, even if you only ever get 1 or 2 views. This type of work is a slow grind and unless you’re extremely lucky, you won’t blow up overnight. It’s a lot of hard work, a lot of thankless hours that nobody acknowledges and it takes a long time to establish yourself. Never listen to your inner saboteur. Stay positive, never stop learning, treasure the people around you and their mind-blowingly unique perspectives and you’ll find that it can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life.
Any parting thoughts?
FFXIV has one of the most open and welcome communities I’ve ever been a part of. It’s a great place to plant roots and start building a community of friends. I’ve never seen a more passionate group of people, and I hope with the release of Stormblood we’ll see more and more of that passion. Two months to go! WOO!
Shoutouts!
Shoutout to my community and everyone who has worked to make it such an amazing and welcoming place (major props to our lead mod, Sulu_9000). Shoutout to my partner in life, Braddock, who has helped me through every long night of editing and keeps my inner saboteur from getting the best of me. Shoutout to my raid group, who has managed to cling onto life through the darkest of times and become some of the coolest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing video games with. Shout out to Angered FC of Ragnarok EU, for being just so darn amazing! And finally, shoutout to everyone a part of the FFXIV community, whether you’re a streamer or YouTuber, or part of the many online communities, or even if you’re just that one Roe AFKing in Idyllshire in nothing but a subligar. You are a huge part of what makes this game great. You are why content creators exist and have the passion to continue. Thank you for being awesome.
Mizzteq’s Social Media:
https://twitter.com/mtqcapture
For the interviewer Geno: