Buying GF, 100k!
This is one of the most recognizable saying from Runescape, a MUD (multi-user-dungeon) MMORPG (multi million online role playing game). Beyond the dragon slaying, ore mining, and dwarf punting, it has become a platform for online relationships.
Now, we all hear about online dating. Two people meet online through their respective avatars and fall in love. It’s the same as offline dating without the awkward first dates, meeting with family and so on. For the ones that are not as suave, they can take a mail-in bride option: buying an online girlfriend.
As we all know, prostitution is the world’s oldest career and it is no different in the online communities. While many of these communities understand this reference as an inside joke, it is still a nod to the concept that sex sells with interaction between said boyfriend and purchased girlfriend similar to contemporary sexting.
As Runescape and MODs are becoming more dated (they peaked in the early 2000s), other online games have become dominant in the public’s eye. The website Twitch.tv offers livestreaming capabilities to these players, with top players reaching up to 50,000 unique viewers at a time. Through Twitch’s subscription service and advertisement, they make up to six digits annually.
Some streamers have been under fire for using Twitch as a platform to be focused more on their sexuality than the games played. Kaceytron is an infamous streamer of League of Legends who focuses her streams on her features instead of the game. Now, most people watch these streams because of the streamer’s fun personality or great individual skills. Instead, the Twitch community has adopted the word “personality” into breasts.
The community at large and many other popular streamers are critical about how ex-camgirls like Kacey are able to pull 10,000 viewers and receive donations up to $5000 for wearing a low-cut top while playing video games online. Twitch has responded to this criticism by enacting a requirement that at least half the screen must consist of the game.
This small sub-category of female streamers have been an extremely divisive addition to the gaming community. Some other female streamers are arguing that Kaceytron and her kin are hurting the reputation of female streamers that are actually talented in their respective games. Others are saying that they are simply using their talents to their advantages, as there are male streamers who are not mechanically good at the game but are simply entertaining. It’s going to be interesting to see how sexuality plays more into the future of online gaming.