Twitch, Food & Gaming: Interview with VikingPrincess
How was your stream originally born?
I had been a part of a large gaming community for a few years, but the game died and I was looking for something else. I found PUBG but I was missing the community aspect I had had before.
I enjoyed watching streamers interact with their chats, and figured "Hey! I can do that!" So one random Sunday afternoon, after thinking about it for about 1 hour, I plugged in my suuuuuuper old camera and went live!
What helped excite your early audience and get your community engaged?
At the beginning, it was all about getting in touch with my former gaming community, as well as meeting new people. I had little structure and no set paths on how to grow. After about 8 months I decided to set my first sub-goal. I asked my community what they wanted to do if we made the goal, and they said COOK! So I Set up a monthly sub-goal and we crushed it! The community LOVED the first cooking stream where we made a traditional Norwegian lamb stew and I broke a very expensive crystal wine glass....! I decided to continue setting simple, attainable goals and to do themed streams if we reached them, involving the community in what those streams would look like. Even though cooking streams is a regular occurance for us now, the community still love the themed streams where they get to manipulate what happen on stream/what I do - like getting a pie smashed in my face, adding cinnamon to my chowder (which was actually really good!), taste super awful sour candy etc.
What did you learn about yourself through becoming a food-focused streamer on Twitch?
I always loved cooking, and making meals from scratch has been something my family has done my whole life. Cooking is like therapy for me. Through my cooking streams I realized how rare my relationship with cooking is in my community, and how many misconceptions there were related to food. I remember asking once why people don't make dinner, and they pretty much all said because they don't have time. So I asked "how much is too much time"? and pretty much everyone said that if it took 30 min or less, they would do it. So I started my series of "Healthy Meals in less than 20 min" making dinner on stream twice/week. By demand, this made me write my cookbook "Winner Winner Chicken Dinner" which led to me creating 2 online courses relating to food, healthy eating and how to get comfortable in your own kitchen - even if you have never made anything in your whole life! I guess I never really appreciate how lucky I was growing up and getting such a great relationship with food and cooking.
What makes the food community on Twitch so special?
I love how many different variations there is of cooking streams on twitch! From college students making their favorite pizzas or pastas, to professional chefs in large kitchens! There are streamers that only stream to the Food and Drink category, and there are streamers who do it only once as a special event for their community. No matter who it is, a food stream is always so positive and excited - cause I mean - it's FOOD! The creativity streamers have with their setups, cooking outside or at their dining table - it is something incredibly welcoming when they open up their space to you that way. It's definitely different than the RGB lit gaming rooms (don't get me wrong, my regular stream room is as purple as you get it with LEDs everywhere!) when you get to see someone interact in their home. It feels a lot more personal and you get a very different connection with the streamer and community.
Which streamers influenced you the most?
For cooking, I honestly didn't get to see much before I jumped in it myself! I never considered streaming from the kitchen, and at that time there was no "Food and Drink" category or stream labels on twitch, so it was hard to find cooking streams. I did however attend my first TwitchCon just a month or two after, and there was a cooking stream panel happening. The room was PACKED! I loved hearing about the difficulties the panelists had experienced during their streams, and it felt great knowing I was not the only one who was breaking things or accidentally missing an ingredient! I was really impressed by the variety of cooking streams and how there was so much creativity within the scene - from "cooking with whatever is in my fridge" to planned and structured meals. But it is clearly a space where everyone can fit in.
Any fun stories or wild moments of how you made the transition from Mixer?
I only ever streamed on Mixer once. Although it was a good experience, I decided to focus on Twitch, as my schedule wouldn't allow me to dedicate the time I wanted to 2 communities.
What's your favorite memory as a gamer?
ooooh. This one is hard! But it has to be from January 2015. I had been a PC gamer for ~6 months and was becoming a part of a large TF2 community. One of the clan members was a singer/songwriter, and he used to have Friday concerts through Mumble (pre-Discord days) where we all listened in while having drinks, singing along, playing the game, and giving song requests for him to play on an impressive collection of instruments! Although all these nights were magical, one day I had requested my favorite song at the time (From Eden by Hozier) and I was deep in the song, swinging my head, when I noticed the lyrics had been changed. The last part of the song had been altered to include a formal invitation for me to join the Clan. My boyfriend (who was one of the founding members of the clan and been a part of it for over 10 years) went on to dump a bucket of balloons on my head as I was just choked, excited, and incredibly grateful! I had never thought I could have found so strong relationships and friendships through an online community like that, and it meant the world to me. Lol even writing this now gives me goose-bumps and happy tears!
Who will enjoy your stream the most?
Although I mainly play PUBG, my stream is all about community. We are there for each other 24-7, even if the stream is not live. If you are looking for honest, kind people to play games with, share recipes with, or get motivated for your workouts - the Silvered Vikings is the place for you! Although I play competitive PUGB, when I stream, my chat is what is important. So if you are looking for insane plays, there are other channels more suitable for that! But if you want to interact with the streamer, ask questions about the game and gameplay, food, health and fitness - or just find a positive place to hang out - we would love to meet you <3
Anything else you'd like to add?
I am incredibly excited to be invited to be a part of this event! Combining our community's interest and passions with supporting a charitable cause means a lot to me. I can't wait to step out of my comfort zone and play a completely different and new type of game for me, and also involve the community in what is happening on stream.
