New Computer Build

Finally Friday night had arrived, the time that FacelessJim had set aside to build my new computer, to try to get me online and begin training as a proper gamer. Unfortunately, Faceless and Vara’s dog, Hemi, had had a vet’s appointment earlier in the day, and a small tumour had been discovered, which is probably benign, but needs to be removed anyway, as soon as they can find the money for the operation (any donations would be gratefully accepted here). Hemi’s brother had died of a tumour a year and a half ago, and we don’t want that to happen again. Faceless wanted to go ahead with the build anyway, as it would help take his mind off Hemi’s situation.

Faceless set up his camera rig so we could watch over his shoulder as the build happened, and for the next 2 hours we watched him sit cross-legged on the floor (for the most part) as he put it together. When I say we, I mean myself and a few of his followers and subscribers watched the process. One in particular was really interested, and commented often. Turns out he builds computers for a living, and had some good suggestions as Faceless was doing the build.

I mentioned to my other son that Faceless was doing this build, and his immediate response was “you could have asked me to do that.” His second response was “I’m glad you didn’t ask me to do that because people always go to the person who built it for support afterwards.” Years ago I would have done it myself. When the library where I worked finally started getting computers I was the tech person, even though it had nothing to do with my actual job. That’s because I had an early computer (TRS-80) and had done all the upgrades and peripherals on that and subsequent computers. I’ll bet neither of my sons have installed acoustic couplers or built CD-ROM towers! When we started making internet available to the public I installed filtering software on the computers in the children’s department. I tested the different brands of filters by sitting in my office and typing in every, shall we say, impolite word that I could think of. Turns out I could think of a lot of them. Some of the filters were so effective they filtered stuff that they shouldn’t, such as whole medical websites because they discussed penises and vaginas. Surprisingly enough , I discovered that the White House site is not whitehouse.com but whitehouse.gov. Whitehouse.com was a porn site (not there any more, I just checked), but it did have a prominent box redirecting people looking for the actual White House site.

Anyway, Faceless took this picture of the components of the computer before he started the build. He had a few basic questions for me about the setup, and off he went. I was well impressed with his confidence and knowledge as he commented clearly on what and why he was doing, and when asked why he was doing something one way instead of another by the knowledgeable subscriber previously mentioned he could always rationalize and explain his choice, but also took suggestions. Hmm, sounds like I’m writing a job recommendation there. Well, he does need a job, & would make an excellent tech support person if anyone is looking for one (he is also very patient, kind, and polite!).

It was actually fascinating to watch Faceless build this computer from all of the components. I’m looking forward to getting it in person and starting gaming with it. I’ve linked to the video below for those who may want to view it.

Click here to watch the build video on Twtichtv

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New computer

Before we began the process of teaching an old geezer new tricks, and seeing if I could actually learn how to game, we did an equipment check. I already had XBox set up, as I have several grandchildren who come over and use my computer to play their games. Following FacelessJim’s instructions I downloaded first Grounded, the game we would be playing, and then Discord, which apparently you have to use in order to get into the livestream to converse with the other players. Sounded fairly straightforward, yeah? Well, not quite. Downloading Grounded was a cinch, and, first hurdle overcome, the computer check said that Grounded would work just fine with my system. Yes! No need to spend multi 💲

Then on to Discord. After setting it up, first they couldn’t hear me. Now I knew from doing Zoom meetings that the headset I’m using works just fine with both speakers and mic, with no reverberations. So I checked the settings in Discord and finally got the mic and headphones to work, just that everything anyone said echoed. After about 10 minutes I managed to get the echo off my mic, but everything everyone else said still echoed. The others (Faceless, mastervara77, and thennightmarefox) were being very noisy. Someone kept throwing things at Faceless’ face, and in addition to the noise it made when it hit his face, he would let out a squeal every time. Very annoying, especially when the real-time squeals and the echoing squeals overlapped. One of the benefits of having adult kids is that they go live on their own so you don’t have to hear them squealing and bleating on all the time.

Anyway, eventually with the help of Google I found a setting in Discord that allowed noise suppression, and, voilà, when I rejoined the game in progress (how long do these games go on for?) the echo had disappeared.

Yeah! Now I was all set to join in and whoop the butts of these upstart kids! (when you’re my age, a 32-year-old is still a kid). Problem is, when I tried to do anything it was slower than molasses. Worse than that, it was slower than Faceless getting out of bed in the morning. I logged off, then tried running it in one player offline mode, and it was just as bad. Turns out my computer was not adequate for the job.

Now the question became – do I love my son enough to invest in a gaming computer so that we could get this cockanamie idea off the ground, and help him supplement his income? Well, if we could get his career as an influential gamer off the ground then yes, it would be worth it in the long. run. My mother-in-law had just died at almost 103 years old, and had left me a small amount of money in her will, so I decided I would use that to help pay for a new computer. OK, the money hadn’t actually arrived yet, but I would use my line of credit & pay it off when the money did arrive (see: Micawber Principle). A look at the cost of a few computers made me gulp, then Faceless mentioned he could build one from scratch for a lot less money by buying the individual components. So yeah, one minor earthquake and an e-tranfer of funds later, and the building process was underway.

Yesterday, the last of the components arrived at Faceless’ house. He is going to record the build, and explain what he is doing, and adding it to his YouTube channel. That should be happening this Friday. I can’t wait to get it and to get started with the gaming process.

Getting Started

A few weeks ago I was discussing with FacelessJim his Twitch account, and he casually mentioned that he had received some money from subscribers and gifting. This brought to mind a conversation I’d had with a student who was attending the local university and was in the seminar I was leading on building branding both personally and in business. Every week, there was a homework exercise where the students had to answer 5 questions about what they actually do, and their goals and aspirations. One of the questions asked was “what is getting in the way of achieving your goals?” This particular student answered something along the lines of “I have a huge following on Twitch, and I’m losing income because I have to come to classes to get my degree.”

This was pretty much my first introduction to Twitch, so after class I asked him about it, and how he made money at it. I knew YouTubers and bloggers could make lots of money, but wasn’t aware of Twitch. I got his user name, and went home, made a Twitch account, and watched his livestream. At this point I have no idea what the game was that he was playing, but I was really impressed by the number of subscribers and viewers that he had. Personally, I didn’t see the attraction of watching someone gaming instead of doing it yourself, but apparently it was a thing.

Anyway, after the conversation with Faceless, I read a few articles about Twitch, how to monetize it, and I started watching some of the live streams. What became apparent was the connection that they had with their followers, and the pleasure that Faceless and mastervara77 were getting interacting with each other and their followers. I had been quite concerned about them, as they had a really hard time during covid, and hadn’t recovered well from it afterwards. This was the happiest I’d heard them in a long time. I realized that if they could get more followers and subscribers they could actually supplement their income and eventually make a decent income from this. Faceless’ brother derives all of his income from being a YouTube influencer and podcaster. I don’t know how much he makes, but I know last year he paid more in income tax with 4 dependents than my wife and I paid together. Hopefully FacelessJim and mastervara77 would be able to achieve that level of success also.

Some of the articles I read mentioned to have a “hook,” or a unique focus to gain followers. I was watching them game one evening and asking some questions about the game, but also the sounds and effects that their followers were doing, and someone gifted me a subscription to the channel. It occurred to me that perhaps the hook could be me – teaching an old dog, er, geezer, new tricks, as I would be starting from basically no knowledge of gaming and what it involves. I mentioned this to Faceless and Vara, and they were very enthusiastic about it. It will be an interesting exercise for us going forward.

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Introducing the main characters

There are three main characters involved in teaching this Old Geezer new tricks.

First up is the old geezer himself. Old Geezer is a retired librarian, whose first personal computer was a Radio Shack TRS-80 computer, which had 16K of RAM, and used a cassette tape as backup. I just realized that I got this a full decade before FacelessJim was born. Over the years Old Geezer became the lead on introducing computers to the library for both staff and public use, and helped develop a massive database of photographs and information dealing with local history. Previous gaming experience is limited, with my favourite game being a pinball game made for the PS1, which was unfortunately never upgraded to any other version. I still own that disc.

Old Geezer decided to learn how to game using Twitch after watching FacelessJim and mastervara77 play Grounded and seeing the interaction they had with their followers, who welcomed my presence in their chat room. In fact, some of them now call me dad, and others grandad. It is obvious from watching FacelessJim game that his mother and I were completely unsuccessful in stemming his use of bad language!

Next is FacelessJim. Faceless describes himself as a wolf Vtuber who loves to play games, open Pokemon cards, and hang out, which is evident when you visit his channel. Faceless has two older siblings, and plans were in place for a younger sibling, and then, well, he came along and his mother and I decided enough was enough and I got a vasectomy. Not saying that he was a difficult child, but, to quote Robin Hood, Men in Tights, “what an unusual child.”

In real life, Faceless loves paintballing and is an accomplished and meticulous CNC operator (he uses special cutting machines to make tiny parts for satellites). He’s taken this penchant for creative detail onto his home base, with his own laser cutting and engraving machine to make specialized equipment for paintballers, as well as gift items that are totally customizable. He uses some of these as rewards and draws on his channel for those who subscribe. Visit his Etsy shop, JimsEngraving. I was watching one of his live streams the other day where he gave away one of the laser engraved photo tiles that he was going to engrave with a photo of the winner’s choice.

FacelessJim’s avatar was created and is copyrighted by @JuliaWinterPaw

mastervara77 has known Old Geezer and Faceless since she and Faceless were in elementary school, and Old Geezer moved to a house across the road from mastervara’s family. In high school they developed a symbiotic relationship and became inseparable, so much so that when Old Geezer got remarried and relocated to a town further down the highway Faceless and mastervara threw their lots in together and led a somwhat nomadic existence until they settled into their current home with their children, a cat, dogs, and an iguana, and a whole bunch of fish. The fish they actually raise for food in an aquaculture setup where the water is filtered through an aquaponic garden to grow their vegetables.

mastervera has an impressive collection of whips, handcuffs, and other devices that Old Geezer would prefer not to know about. I suspect that their use may be in some way associated with her name.

Why this blog?

In March of 2023 I set up a Twitch account to follow my son, and try to find out what online gaming was all about. I’d previously used games such as Slither.io and card games, but no interactive games. My son and his paramour have had anxiety issues since the onset of Covid-19, and had become reclusive to an alarming rate. When I’d signed on to Twitch and watched them game I was impressed by the community they had created, and was much encouraged by the excitement and life that I heard in their voices. I felt that this was a way to reconnect with them and stay in touch.