When Blind playthroughs ask for help

[Reality]

I was the spectator to someone playing through Star Control 2, and I was in the weird position of them insisting they don't care about spoilers... but myself (due to it being a funny and story based game) kind of wanted them to see a lot of things fresh

It was a very hard weighing how much to give away and how much to withhold.

In the end I (and the other main person watching the stream) wracked our brains trying to remember what the "Non-Melnorme" In game hints/sources of information were  to direct him toward those rather than giving direct quest locations information.

Does anyone have similiar experiences/advice?

[Karimlan]

I normally ask the streamer if he'd want some assistance, and try to keep the tips spoiler-free, but depending on the game, that may be easier said than done.

[Parrhesia]

If the streamer directly asks for help, sure. But backseaters are insufferable. Especially like. I watch a lot of TheViper, who is the best Age of Empires 2 player in the world. He's done playthroughs of all the campaigns, and people backseat him during that.

When in any doubt, just... don't.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

I've been in the same situation. Me and somebody else watching a mutual friend go through a game. And he private messages me about whether we should tell him about X. My answer is immediately no. Because he's doing just fine and deaths are A-okay. I'm definitely not in a habit of disclosing information unprompted. I get that you want people to see every corner of a game you love, but it's unlikely that somebody wants to go for 100% completion on a first playthrough. If you want them to like the game, let them play at a comfortable pace and talk about stuff you like as it happens. You'll often get a reaction like "oh yeah, I didn't think of it like that. That is a cool detail." Streamers also tend to think aloud as part of their mental process for solving stuff. So I'm the rare sort of person to see that and know that they're not actually fishing for an answer from chat. If the streamer is having trouble continuing the game on his own then maybe the problem is with the game or their personal tastes and they ought to consider playing something else that won't roadblock them. There's a reason why certain types of games are popular for streaming. Like those battle royales. They're programmed to end whether the players want them to or not. 

Edited April 9, 2021 by Glennstavos