Why do people waste their lives watching twitch tv streams?

Wow... going after the low-hanging fruit here... Bravo! Why not go after the NFL, NBA, NHL & MBL while you're at it? You'll like see the same stuff within a similar paradigm! (//end sarcasm)

While DOTA & LoL are the major "e-Sports" games that tends to stay at the top of the games list on Twitch, you can find other users & communities that are less toxic & more interesting to watch. DOTA & LoL do tend to get a lot of trolls, spammers & "toxic users" because they're popular.

If those games are your thing, then by all means enjoy! Just be aware that the similar behaviors that you'll find at actual sporting events (& sports bars) tend to appear within those channels as well... even if the general viewing age is a bit younger (but still within the adult realm).

I personally watch a couple of Twitch streams, NOT for the e-Sports, but for the games & the players themselves. The one stream I regularly catch ( http://www.twitch.tv/LoadingReadyRun , shameless plug... I know) is more for the commentary from the streamers than the games themselves & the community pretty friendly. The streamers may not be good at the game they're playing, but they're thoughts, struggles & successes through the games they play drive the community with a fair amount of natural comedy mixed in there.

This becomes even MORE distilled during Desert Bus for Hope ( http://www.desertbus.org/ -- Mid-November for ~1 week straight) as the game itself is mind-draining boring, but the stuff that happens off-game is the major star of the show (skits, fan-issued challenges, art challenges for fans, raffles, auctions, ect.) as the staff strives to raise money for charity... with some pretty rare collectables (like this Kill la Kill Scissor Blade, shown at

http://desertbus.org/live-auction/254 that went for an $8,000 donation) to score.

I will generally visit some other streams on Twitch, like Papers Please & some older games (generally avoiding speed runners for personal reasons) to see how others handles those games & assuming they're no going for a "blind run", try to participate in the commentary & throw a few hints their way (whether they choose to take it OR ignore it is their option) OR pick up some pointers for a game I'm playing (& don't care about spoilers). This is usually when I get home after work & don't feel like firing up a game console NOR want to catch something on Netflix / Hulu.

If it's not something you enjoy, go do something else. Just don't get offended if people start taking shots at your activities when you start taking shots at their activities in the process... that's just the karmic process in action.

Hope this sheds some light here.

Sometimes, it's entertaining enough watching other people play a game, especially when there is something on the line (like a prize). If your not watching for the tournaments, then you could watch it for the walkthroughs or to see how experienced players go about doing things like raiding and stuff.

Plus, aside from gaming, Twitch has also been using it for other things like Music (Ultra Live was on Twitch not that long ago) and talk shows.

LOL@ these idiots comparing e sports with sports I bet you nerds can't even run a mile or lift 20+ pounds.

Why do people waste their lives watching sports and not play sports themselves?

I dont do this either, but its probably the same reason as to why people watch sport..

Why do you choose to complain about how other people spend their own free time? Don't you have anything better to do with yours?