{"id":19429,"date":"2021-11-09T10:52:13","date_gmt":"2021-11-09T02:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=19429"},"modified":"2021-11-11T10:19:02","modified_gmt":"2021-11-11T02:19:02","slug":"the-rebellious-game-content-creator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2021\/11\/the-rebellious-game-content-creator\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rebellious Game Content Creator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ade Zun has surprisingly attracted a bunch of faithful fans despite refusing to create contents appealing to the public.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Alina Chen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Live streaming on Bilibili so that his fans could watch him playing video as usual on January 19, 2017, Ade Zun, found words in different colours suddenly appear out of nowhere and swoop across the screen. These messages are called danmu, which literally means \u201cbullet screen\u201d, and they are popular on Bilibili, one of the many Chinese video-streaming websites with 50 million subscribers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of receiving bullet messages commenting on his contents as usual, Zun received birthday wishes from hundreds of his fans this time. \u201cThey said they were notified by the Weibo\u2019s birthday reminder,\u201d the game content creator says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was surprised as I had never mentioned my date of birth before \u2026 I was touched,\u201d the forty-year-old man recalls the wonderful moment like it happened yesterday, adding that he rarely celebrates festivals in real life after stepping into his 30s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Journey to Content Creation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zun had never played video games until he received a game console from his dad in 1991. Since then, he often watched videos recorded by other players to learn more about game strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought I could do the same,\u201d Zun reveals how he was inspired to broadcast himself playing video games online so that others can get tips, ideas and solutions on gaming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, unlike other content creators, Zun simply recorded his games and uploaded the videos without editing as he merely wanted to share his game experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He started to play The Sims 4 in 2014, a life simulation game published by Electronic Arts, immediately after it was released for Microsoft Window users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ade Zun has made a video series for The Sims 4. (Photo courtesy of The Sims 4)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the life simulation game where players can create unique characters, their homes, and families, Zun has created a family called Zhao, which has lasted for more than ten generations. He records the lives of the family and uploads them to a video series called Life Goes On.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up till now, Zun has more than 53,000 followers with an average of 2,000 views for each of his 1,700 videos.
He is not that \u201cpopular\u201d since other similar Bilibili game content creators usually each has more than 100,000 followers and an average of 10,000 views for each video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focusing on the Niche Market<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zun attributes his relatively low popularity to the type of games he plays and the style of his videos.
\u201cHonestly, I do care about the numbers (of his channel) \u2026 but content is more important,\u201d Zun says<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHonestly, I do care about the numbers \u2026 but content is more important.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Unlike other game content creators playing exciting games and making visually satisfying videos for the sake of attracting the mass audience, Zun prefers playing relaxing simulation games that could last for several hours. He would also narrate his games in a peaceful way and chat with his fans about life casually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zun says he works as a fulltime game streamer and uploader but refuses to disclose how much he earns.
Other than the series of The Sims, he did try to follow the public taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ade Zun has set up a game channel. (Photo courtesy of Ade Zun)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

He once tried to record a popular game called Animal Crossing, a popular game released by Nintendo, and edited the videos before uploading to his channel. Although viewers did increase after he changed his style to cater to the public, they left when he gave up playing Animal Crossing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apparently, those viewers are not the kind of fans that Zun wants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This made Zun reflect on his target audience. He says, \u201cMy real fans watch my videos for two reasons: game and style. They like my videos as I am playing their favorite games in a unique way. Once I change, they leave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen, I follow my heart and be myself,\u201d Zun says he would not mimic other trending videos since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose (viral) short game videos are having negative effects on our society. They are \u2018easy to consume\u2019 but shoddy,\u201d Zun complains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zun thinks The Sims is a game that allows players to \u201cexperience a real life\u201d. \u201cLife is not always an exciting party. It is full of ordinary things,\u201d he says he especially likes to interpret fine details of the life simulation game with his fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs I mentioned in my videos, we have mixed salad for a thousand times, but life will go on,\u201d he says he is determined to continue to make his \u201cmonotonous\u201d game content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moments with Faithful Fans<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember one of my fans said watching my game videos was more interesting than playing the game directly,\u201d Zun reminisces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember one of my fans said watching my game videos was more interesting than playing the game directly.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


Zun says his friendly fans always motivate him to keep uploading videos. \u201cAlthough many people will leave unfriendly comments, most comments on my videos are encouraging \u2026 I think I am so lucky (that most comments I have received are positive),\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSometimes I will even invite my fans to play with me, they can share their own \u2018Sims\u2019 and ‘live’ with character that I have created in the game. It turns out that the game (experience) belongs not only to me (but also to all fans),\u201d he says as he describes his interactions with fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOther than the game itself, my fans like to share their real-life moments with me, say entering a dream school or passing an exam,\u201d he adds, saying that his fans are indeed his close friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can feel the joy of connection through these moments,\u201d Zun concludes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by Isaiah Hui
Sub-edited by Coco Zhang<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ade Zun has surprisingly attracted a bunch of faithful fans despite refusing to create contents appealing to the public. By Alina Chen Live streaming on Bilibili so that his fans could watch him playing video as usual on January 19, 2017, Ade Zun, found words in different colours suddenly appear out of nowhere and swoop […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":19555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1817,79],"tags":[1839,438],"class_list":["post-19429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issue-160","category-people","tag-content","tag-game"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19429"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19828,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19429\/revisions\/19828"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}