Backseating on Twitch is when one of the audience members tells the streamer what to do. A lot of Twitch channels have rules against backseat gaming: it can be pretty annoying, as it not only takes the fun out of gaming for the streamer, but the user who's dictating what to do can also unintentionally spoil future details in the game.
I am not a fan of backseat gaming and no Twitch gamer that I know is. In fact, all of my streamer friends have rules against it on their channels. Just last week, my cousin who started using Twitch wanted to know more about backseat gaming, because someone accused him of doing it on Ludwig's channel.
So, if like him, you'd like to know more about it, you can read ahead.
Contents
Backseat gaming is when a viewer tells a streamer what to do while they're gaming. So, they try and call all the shots. Most channels have rules against backseat gaming. You won't usually get banned for it, but you might end up with a time-out.
Why is backseat gaming so hated? I think it's a combination of a couple of different things. For starters, the user who's trying to call the shots might think that you're not capable of finishing the map you're on. In doing so, they aren't letting you make your own decisions, which takes the fun out of the stream.
Plus, a lot of users who backseat the game accidentally end up spoiling future details in the game. You don't need me to tell you how irritating this can be for everyone on the chat.
As mentioned, backseat gaming results in a timeout most of the time. But if you keep doing it, then you can potentially get banned from the channel.
You can't really stop backseat gaming - you can only try and reduce it. So the best thing that you can do is make a rule against it, and then try and enforce it heavily. Your viewers will know that you don't take the unsolicited advice lightly.
To enforce it, you can go ahead and timeout the viewers whenever they tell you what to do. You don't have to do this yourself, as your moderators can take care of things. And if a viewer keeps trying to tell you what to do, then you can go ahead and ban them.
Here's how you can timeout a user:
Here's how you can ban them:
I've heard from a few other streamers that how you act on stream can also affect whether viewers backseat game. Like if you act calm and cool, they wouldn't think that you don't know what you're doing. But on stressful games like Little Nightmares, this is easier said than done.
Backseat gaming comes from the term 'backseating' (or backseat driving) which is when someone's in the back seat of a car but still tries to tell the driver what to do. Similar to backseat gaming, it can be equally as irritating.
Answered below are some popular questions.
No, Twitch Autobots can't help with backseat gaming. They're not able to detect unsolicited advice and take action against users. This is unfortunate, as it would make things easier for you and your mod team while you play games on stream.
Backseat gaming is when someone provides unsolicited advice while a streamer is mid-playing a video game. It's quite annoying, as it takes the fun out of the gaming experience, as the person who's commenting tries to dictate what to do.
A lot of the time, they think they're being helpful, but they can end up ruining the experience for all the other viewers, as they can potentially spoil future plot points in the game.
The only way to get rid of backseat gaming is to create a rule against it, and then enforce it heavily. You don't have to do this yourself, as your mod team can take care of this.
