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.
Introduce yourself!
I’m Frosty_TV, I’m a streamer and podcaster for the FFXIV community.
How long have you been streaming for?
I started streaming January of 2015. About a month into it, I decided I wanted to try my hand at Podcasting, with literally no clue what to do and absolutely zero experience.
What was your inspiration to stream?
Honestly, it was just to try it as a hobby and see if I could make it succeed. I love video games and I enjoy being around a group of people who also have the same passion. Streaming is a very accommodating hobby for that.
You host a FFXIV podcast called MogTalk. What was the original foundation and intent for starting it?
MogTalk was created when I was looking for something extra to do. There was nothing in my background that suggested I could make it into anything successful. The original idea was just to talk about FFXIV game topics, which most people do on a day to day basis. Although, those conversations usually just are very mild “in passing” discussions. I felt like most of the time, the conversations never really went far and stayed pretty simplistic. With MogTalk, I was able to take a topic and really grind into it. Explore every facet of it. It eventually started to evolve into something much more, where we have conversations that you can’t have with your friends – bringing on guests who provide unique perspectives and discussions you couldn’t really have day to day.
With State of the Realm and MogTalk existing, do you feel like you bring a different flavor? Do you think there is room for other shows to co-exist?
First off, Mr. Happy and Sly are both FFXIV entertainers I respect greatly. I believe State of the Realm fits perfectly with the goals they have in mind and is an excellent podcast. There are also other great podcasts for FFXIV, such as Limit Break Radio, Phoenix Down Radio, Aetheryte Radio, and many more. As with anything, there is room for as many versions of a product as people are willing to put out. I believe it’s important for content creators to have more than themselves out there making a product. Competition is important. That being said – I don’t think I’m in competition with the other podcasts. I believe we are all providing what we believe is the best for our product and within our capabilities. That being said, in regards to the question, State of the Realm brings a great venue for Mr. Happy and Sly to voice their thoughts and bring a lot to the community. My show’s viewership isn’t even close to SotR. But I’m still extremely content with the work I put out, and I feel like I provide my own insight in what I think the community is interested in, as well as trying to support the parts of the community that deserves to be highlighted. I provide what I want for the community, State of the Realm provides what they believe the community wants, as well as the other podcasts providing what they feel is best. There is always room for content creators to provide content, as long as they are inspired to do so. Whether they have zero viewers or a thousand.
Have you thought about creating another show?
The show I have running now is literally everything I have the energy to do outside of normal streaming. Unfortunately, my life current depends on a reasonably stable income to support my family – even if it just consists of my fiance and two large dogs. MogTalk brings in currently absolutely zero revenue. That being said, I have of course had dreams and visions of expanding MogTalk – even if they fleeting and unlikely. I’d love to highlight lore, pvp, raiding, and more multiple days throughout the week. I’ve realized in the years I’ve done MogTalk – there is tons of content people care about in the game. I’d like to reach out to all of those communities within the game on a regular basis. But, unless MogTalk or streaming provides what my current job does for my family – it would be impossible to expand to that level.
Was there any thought about going full time?
As with the previous question, the answer draws back to the financial issues this would create. I often go to work with dread, thinking of what I could be doing for the show. I definitely have a passion for what I do with the FFXIV community. Final Fantasy has been something close to me while growing up. Of course it’s close to a lot of others as well. It’s been a staple of diving into a realm of escape from the world, into stories that inspire them to be the people they are in their lives now. Whether or not people admit it, I definitely believe video games have the power to change lives and the way we think. A huge majority of the playerbase are fans of the series. Players who have had their lives affected by the video game franchise in some way. I constantly dive into discussions with the players of this game who have had this experience. I love what I do. Full time would be an amazing experience for me. One day, if things change – I would go full time. This comes back to it not being feasible financially for me to do. Otherwise, I would love to create content for the game full time.
(Frosty interviewing with Susan Calloway)
What advice would you give to someone starting out?
For anyone looking to get into podcasting, especially centered around a video game – make sure it’s something you want to constantly absorb yourself in. You’ll be expected to know a relatively decent amount of information about the game. Also make sure you enjoy yourself. If you are just starting out, you definitely aren’t going to be making money and the only thing you will get out of it is enjoyment from doing it. If you aren’t getting that, then you will burn out quickly. I currently don’t have any financial gain from doing the show, I spend much more money than comes in. The reason I do it is simply because I enjoy working with the community. Make your own reason, and make sure it happens.
A FFXIV game related question but since you covered the World First race quite extensively, how did you like Creator Savage?
Creator savage was amazing to cover. Due to the short nature of the race compared to previous ones, it make it much more exciting. This was also the first time I did anything like it. As for playing the content, I felt the pace was pretty well laid out for a casual raider. It’s definitely missing that extra step after it gets cleared. It feels like there should be another ladder to climb for the players who have the time to climb it. The content was well done, I feel like the fights were enjoyable and beautiful. Of course, the very first fight will get a lot of heat due to the extremely easy nature of it, but other than that, the rest of the fights seemed like they were tuned pretty well for your average MMO player. But with only four bosses, if the difficult level is this low – the content runs dry fast.
We’re wrapping up! Any parting thoughts? Also any shoutouts?
For shoutouts, I would like to thank everyone that is a part of the FFXIV community and supports content creators. Thank you everyone who creates content for the game. It helps keep the game healthy and growing. Special thanks to Kerora, my fiance, for supporting me in this endeavor – without whom I wouldn’t have been able to do what I do. And of course, thank you Geno for bringing me on for this interview.
For parting thoughts, I think I would just like to say if you have a passion for something then go for it. There is no point wasting your life being unhappy. Enjoy yourself.
Thanks for joining us!
Frosty’s Social Media
Twitter: @FrostyTVstream – twitter.com/frostytvstream
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/frosty_tv