14 December 2018

Good Evening Everyone!

It has been a while since the last time I got to share my experiences here. Now I am back for my final blog post where I won’t be sharing about my time playing games on Kongregate, but I’d like to keep this discussion about gaming. If your interested in video games, an important individual, and an influencer I believe has changed how we identify the social media spectrum is Tyler Blevins (Ninja). To be an influencer on social media, you need to reach out to a large audience, show your authenticity, gain credibility, and establish a large following or fan base among different social media platforms.

Tyler Blevins, a 27-year-old Twitch streamer became famous for his extraordinary gaming talents. As of December 2018, Blevins has become the most popular Twitch streamer with a total of 12.5 Million followers who can access his channel and stream clips of the alias ‘Ninja’ playing video games. Blevins has become an influential figure on social media platforms such as Twitch, Twitter, and Instagram for broadcasting himself playing the highly acclaimed video games, such as Fortnite, Halo, or Call of Duty. After thoroughly examining Ninjas’ Instagram account and Twitch stream, it is obvious how he uses these platforms as a tool to self-brand his achievements and become famous by marketing his talents to such a large and accessible audience, similar to how Alice Marwick portrays the ability to “self-brand”.

There’s little doubt that social networking has become the most popular virtual space that humans visit to socialize, share their personal information, and experiences, while also becoming one of the most lucrative markets for individuals to advertise, promote, and self-brand. Although Twitch is one platform Ninja uses to market his talents, he has also received tons of attention on other platforms like Instagram, where he’s now reached 11.8 million followers to continue extensively following his life and gaming career. According to Alice Marwick, “Self-branding is primarily a series of marketing strategies applied to the individual. It is a set of practices and a mindset, a way of thinking about the self as a salable commodity that cant tempt a potential employer.” (Marwick, 166) Tyler exemplifies many of these traits through, not only his interactions in the gaming realm but through his social media fan base. Having such success and highly talented skills in video games makes children and gamers around the world desire of being the next ninja.

Out of nowhere, Blevins has climbed above the charts in streamers, subscribers, and earnings. There was a time not long ago where streaming had not been a popular commodity. Blevins has taken advantage of the social and economic services provided to him, by showing true dedication and passion his performance along with professionalism has trademarked the name ‘Ninja’ in the gaming community. Through his goofy impressions along with skills and tactics, Blevins achieved such a large fan base that has made him the most popular streamer to watch on Twitch. It’s reported that Blevins averages just over 53,000 viewers per stream and manages to earn over $500,000 per month playing “Fortnite” by receiving donations to his Twitch channel. Browsing through Blevins content and engagement on social media platforms identified that Blevins knew how to market his name and establish himself as a popular figure or celebrity, portraying “Social media provides the means to broadcast one’s self-promotion far and wide.” (Marwick, 175) His fame and success along with Fornites’ popularity have made the duo a hot phenomenon in pop culture. Ninjas’ credible reputation, along being a gamer expertise has brought Fornite rapid success making it one of fastest-growing games to generate over 1 Billion dollars since its release in October 2017.

Tyler Blevins has found a creative and intelligent way to take advantage of what he enjoys and presents himself in such a unique fashion to be apart of Fortnite success. Using market strategies through social media he advertises himself and makes a successful career, establishing a positive and influential image of the self promotes what Marwick was emphasizing about self- branding, self-branding allows people to reach personal fulfillment and economic success; it creates a new self-conscious persona known as the “edited self”. “ The edited self is an entrepreneur whose product is a neatly packaged, performed identity.” (Marwick, 195) This new edited self that Ninja has branded into has created a modest reputation for him, showing he’s authentic, trustworthy, and attracted the attention of many popular figures around him in the social media spectrum. Tyler Blevins attractive performance has marketed famous names in the gaming community, such as Drake, Travis Scott, Josh Hart, JuJu Smith Schuster, and various other celebrities’.

These attractive and creative superstars adopt a positive public image for a game like Fortnite, and a company such as Epic Games to market and sell their games. Tyler Blevins methods and techniques outline the strategies Marwick illustrates through self-branding, he says, “ Self-branding is not a reflection of actual life. It is about constructing a strategic self-image to appeal to a particular audience and furthering that image through every online and offline action.” (Marwick, 199) The characteristics and social ethics, along with professional marketing tactics Blevins embellished apply directly to Marwick characterizing self-branding.

Hello everyone. It has been a while since the last time we checked in. This week on Kongregate, Alexander will discuss how his last outing went with the Action, Thriller, ‘Mob Wars’ game experienced being like. Also, Alexander is here to discuss a new entertaining, action, strategy game he found that he thought was interesting to share. Furthermore, after a long couple weeks of being on and off the Kongregate platform, Alexander is still on the search of finding more comrades to enjoy his gaming time with, although this has not been so successful for him, the hunt is still on to find those out there who can help him succeed in the Kongregate faction.

The experience Alexander had with the game ‘Mob Wars’ did not turn out the way he seemed. At first Alexander thought Mob Wars would be an action, driver, shooter, first or third person computer game. Turns out, it was not even that good, ‘Mob Wars’ is just a role play game where you cant access many functions, it is very strategic to organize your settings, and the game became very complicated and boring. Most missions turn out to be a timer, with the individual in the game being at a shooting range or target practice, making Alexander believe this game was did not reach the standard or hype he expected, so he left and found something new! To get a sense of the gameplay and functions of ‘Mob Wars’ here is an image that characterizes this game.

Besides Mob Wars, Alexander discovered a new thrilling game to consume his time and aspirations with. Alexander started playing a new game, “ Shell Shock Live 2” that was very well designed, creative, organized, and was actually one of the more successful and attention-grabbing games Alexander uncovered in his time spent with Kongregate. Shell Shock Live is a user generated game where users are in a third person tank battling one another. Each game can consist of 1-6 players, 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, and they begin inside a tank where they are given a wide variety of weapons, shield, and health, to battle their way towards victory. Additionally, you can make upgrades, rank up faster, and overall have a constructive and productive time playing. This game also has a user chat inside the game itself, set aside from the Game Chat and Forum Chat offered by Kongregate. From Alexander’s perspective, users on this game were frequently active, and communicated more often than other chats brought to you by Kongregate. The game itself was also worth spending some free time on and having fun. Shell Shock Live entertained Alexander and fulfilled some of the aspects he tried acquiring from playing games on Kongregate.

Overall, its been an enjoyable time witnessing new games designed by the public for my amusement. Although Alexander’s time is devoted to gaming, he still has a strong focus on having interactions with other users and getting the most out of the platform. Alexander has not had the best success in chatting in the games or on forums to receive Intel or make friends. This week, he tried a new strategy, where he created his own forum and blog post for all the users on Kongregate to see. His post aims towards finding new users that want to help Alexander progress in Kongregate and reach new goals and standards. Hopefully, Alexander’s post is successful, in finding more comrades that want to help him find new games and be alongside him in conquering. Here is an idea of Alexander’s Forum post, wish him the best of luck as still is trying to succeed in the Kongregate faction.

October 3, 2018

Had it not been made clear in his first post?  Users should and must, follow Alexander’s Kongregate account (Aealavi).  Last week, Alexander introduced himself to the Kongregate faction where he described his first experience as a Kongregate user.  To recap, Alexander learned the system and features of Kongregate; he played dozens of action, shooter, adventure, and strategy games to become more oriented with Kongregate. He went on a quest to meet other users, find more friends, and get the scope on the top rated highly anticipated games based off other users experiences. Although Alexander’s first experience did not turn out the way he believed. This week, Alexander returns with more exhilarating and exciting news about the Kongregate platform. Alexander will provide more information on his progress through his favorite games. Furthermore, he puts more effort into his communicating with other users to have a more creative and successful experience playing Kongregate.

To start this week, Alexander dives deep into one of his favorite and most enjoyable games on the Kongregate platform. ‘Kingdom Rush Frontiers’ the action packed, adventurous, mythical war game that is highly addictive and extremely entertaining. Dedicating hours of time to this game, Alexander commanded his army to travel across various exotic lands in the map, where he got to defend his kingdom from multiple, fictional, evil characters. During Alexander’s expedition in‘ Kingdom Rush Frontiers’ he noticed the game offers an “Encyclopedia” which gives players advantages or tips on how to have more success in the game.

The encyclopedia offers a strategy guide to create the most secure system for a kingdom, additionally it features the list of numerous towers with shields and enemies with tips on how to cause higher damage and be more defensive during the game. Once Alexander discovered this accommodation, it became certain how to level up quick and effortlessly, while becoming more efficient in the game. Alexander’s gamer profile successfully made it to level 2, thanks to this information.

After his first post, Alexander demonstrated few of the issues there are with communicating on Kongregate. Alexander tried socializing with other users to work on his communication skills as well as find more friends to play games with online. This started out very difficult for Alexander, because many users responses in chats were out of the ordinary, blatant, and lame. Alexander stressed that he must be the initiator in the conversations in order for other users to engage with him. Alexander noticed the parties and chat rooms in Kongregate come in two different forms. There is a separate chat room or a forum for users that Kongregate automatically or randomly will assign players to. Also included is a chat room for the specific game a player is interested in playing. The two have identical functions, but the two chat rooms consist of different players to communicate with, and this allows the average player to be more accessible and flexible.

This week Alexander started engaging in game chat rooms as well as forums. The conversations he started and responses got in return was somewhat amusing yet facetious. The computer gaming chat rooms consists of players who can be helpful at times to your gaming experience, but there’s also people in game chats who are there to outright dis you with no remorse. LOL. Playing his favorite game Kingdom Rush Frontiers, Alexander connected with both chats. Based on his findings, he witnessed the forum chat room consisted of other gamer profiles that were vulgar and offensive. Good thing Kongregate blurs out fowl language.As always Alexander initiated the conversations, some of the responses he received in return were not what he interpreted. In this case, Alexander got negative responses that were unhelpful to his observation of the Kongregate platform. Furthermore, Alexander jumped into his second chat room, the live gaming chat room for Kingdom Rush Frontiers, where Alexander has positive interactions and receives beneficial information.

While successfully getting through one of the levels in Kingdom Rush Frontiers, Alexander met another gaming profile by the name of “BHDDD”. God knows whatever that abbreviates for, looking at the users gaming profile and level, BHDDD, is a very active and frequent user in Kongregate. Not only did Alexander get to make a new friend and add this individual, he got recommended a new game, “Mob Wars” to play while utilizing Kongregate. Surely this was some good Intel for Alexander to collect from a highly ranked gamer as he slowly progresses in computer gaming and building on his profile. It is also a sneak peak to “ Mob Wars” which will be the next game Alexander plans to play and conquer. For Alexander, this turned out to be one of the many positive experiences that are yet to come during his productive participation in computer gaming. Stay tuned till next time where you’ll see live interactions in a new game and hopefully learn something practical about Mob Wars. The Intel is on its way!

Sneak Peak at “Mob Wars”

September 25, 2018

Hello gaming community. The time has to come put down your Xbox Controller, put away your PlayStation, turnoff your Nintendo or whatever other gaming devices individuals interact with today, and get on your computer and mobile devices to focus your attention on Kongregate games. Kongregate games are a web gaming portal designed for users to enjoy thousands of spectacular computer games designed by the public for the public. Users can connect with each other across the web on web game chats, special in game chats, forums that range on topics anywhere from general gaming to game development and much more. Users of Kongregate can later then share their insights, and collaborate with game developers, designers, and people who can teach the ropes to a wonderful experience in the virtual community. Once familiar with the system and controls of Kongregate, users can gain experience in designing their own games, one that is enjoyable and entertaining for all users in the gaming society. Kongregate games offer incredible, unforgettable games that will keep you active and entertained for hours.

Now, first and for most, follow Alexander’s Kongregate account known as Aealavi, where you’ll get numerous updates on his adventurous, exhilarating, and educational experience into the Kongregate world. There he will reveal a little bit about himself, and share his thoughts on the numerous games and features Kongregate offers the public. It will also show his progress, achievements and career stats in the Kongregate community. Furthermore, Alexander tries engaging with other members of the Kongregate community to make new friends. Through this new interaction, he got insight on the popular, advanced, and top rated games designed by Kongregate. He also got into conversations that led him absolutely nowhere. Later, he plans on joining forums on developing, general gaming, and learn the ropes to one day inventing his own gaming platform for everyone in the world to play and interact on. This will also boost his social interaction throughout his activity on Kongregate. Now sit back, relax, and watch as its time to dive into a new world of modern gaming.

It has been a week since becoming an avid member of the Kongregate community. The various people one can meet through chats, forums, and especially the games’ Kongregate creates is remarkable. Aealavi has slowly progressed in his time spent in the Kongregate faction. He has shown lots of interest in action, adventurous, racing and strategic developed games to pass his time. Most of Alexander’s encounters and interactions with other users in games so far have been friendly, yet vacuous.Alexander spent his time trying to get answers from the Kongregate community, explaining how and why Kongreate games are so notable. There were very few users that were helpful to his case. This seemed so because not many people tend to chat up the Kongregate community. It’s an unusual occurrence users can startup a notable conservation without a microphone. Alexander realized, users who were most helpful seem to spend their time in the highly rated advanced, mythical, modern and exclusive games. Alexander got some helpful tips during his time playing ‘Kingdom Rush Frontiers’ an online strategy game intended to protect your kingdom from forces of evil. Overtime, Alexander ranked up, built a larger army, and successfully defended the Kingdom. Furthermore, he met another user, ‘Kryptthng’, who gave him helpful advice and tips on having a more efficient and productive time playing.

Additionally, other users Aealavi encountered were streaming various computer games, shouting out their gamer tags and channels, as well talk lots of nonsense. This again goes back to explaining the difficulty in starting up live conversations on Kongregate. It seems in most Kongregate games you must be the initiator in the chat to get something started. Below shows few of the Kongregate games Alexander’s played and how he unsuccessfully could get a decent conversation going. Hopefully later in Alexander’s Kongregate experience this problem will have been fixed.

Overall Alexander had an educational first experience with Kongregate games and will continue to reinforce his computer gaming skills. He will build on his profile and start a quest to add more users, encounter numerous more highly advanced games, and hopefully up the conversations in the game chats. Additionally, he has hopeful ideas on one day creating his own game. Stay tuned more information, coming soon.

Here to play, socialize, and visualize Kongregate games!

Here to have a blast