My wife is a (semi-)pro gamer, so the only way it affects our dating is that I have to help her write LUA addons, performance analytics and Twitch bots.

Sounds like a fun job to me

@M1sf3t "git gud".

In all seriousness, for her it's a combination of minor league prizes, some Twitch subs, ad income from YouTube walkthroughs and some gameplay trailers with voice narration for some indie games.

Real "salaried pro" level is a combo of insane top level talent plus lottery ticket levels of luck... But at a "semi-pro" level combined with streaming and other work you can make a good income as well.

@bittersweet Does she do that full-time or work besides?

@M1sf3t you join a pro clan and get listed in a team and then climb your way up. there's a lot of training much like a sports team and the rewards aren't that good unless you have godlike skills.

source: I used to play COD4/promod for a clan when it was popular.

@PonySlaystation It's full-time work/training, but extremely variable income. To live off gaming, you either need to be signed on a pro league esports team, or get lots of paying monthly subs on Twitch — And even then it's not great job security. She actually has had better payouts for gameplay trailers & voice acting.

But my dev income pays the bills easily as well, we live in a cheap old house and could make ends meet even on a single minimum wage salary if necessary.

I read "my wife is a semi pro grammer, lol

@LuxARTS She is also a semi programmer, and semi pro-grammar.

Read that as twitch thots. Man, I needa stop watching pewds for real...

@-ANGRY-CLIENT- The sad reality is that the internet lifts two awful stereotypes to the top: Toxic guys and whorish girls.

Not everyone is like that, but sadly it does mean that if you want be noticed for streaming serious quality content you'll have a slower follower buildup, and have to endure the continuous influx of dimwitted spoiled brats with semi-boners who expect you to flip a table if you have a penis and show your tits if you don't.

Of course streaming is about entertainment, but the level of what is being seen as "entertaining" by the majority is sometimes a bit disappointing.

Not that surprising, this heavily sexist lowest common denominator has repeatedly been demonstrated to emerge within other media: From popular magazines to TV shows, it always circles back to the same brainless shit.

So, my wife, mostly just chatting about game lore, PvP strategies, sci-fi shows and tech news has built a loyal following, but I do think those principles lead to an uphill battle.

@-ANGRY-CLIENT-

Also yes, unfollow both pewds and that Indian trashchannel, and sub to something which lights up a few neurons once in a while.

Who cares who is the king of being dumb, as long as there is a strong layer in the middle of quality intellectual channels.

@M1sf3t it was the first Modern Warfare one. (remember Cpt. Price?)
promod is a mod where you disable most perks and turn it into a more CS style system. fun times.

@M1sf3t I entered the "semi-pro" scene (for some reason I was way better at games when I was a 7yo than I am now... cri...) because we (my guild and I) managed to just make a total shitfest in the guild sieges (seriously, we got in the top 10's back then pretty much without actually trying because we just cheezed our way to victory).
Our way to become semi-pro back then was just to git gud.
But this was in the pre-yt and pre-twitch era so it was all based on ranks.
We didn't make money off it at all tho.

Fast forward 13years and it's a lot harder.
Now that pretty much everybody plays competitive games and streams you'll really have to blink out (which is why I'm a nobody with my stream) if you want to get a name.
You can become "semi-pro" without even being good at a game (like some popular streamers whom I shall not name as most of them are e-girls).

Ofc, your best course of action is still to git gud.

@FinlayDaG33k The most noticeable aging effect between ages 15 and 35 is reaction speed. The silver lining is that tactical insights and "map sense" can increase with age though. You become less reckless, less dependent on mechanical skill, more calculated and dependent on strategical skill.

@bittersweet I never have been known for my mechanical skill though :p
I always pick macro-based build n characters over micro-based.

You have a WIFE? I thought programmers only had their computer to love /s

@Xenoslyce You need a backup source of entertainment during power outages.

@bittersweet Just use a laptop, problem solved 😂

I read it as (semi-)pro grammer. Would have been cool to be a pro grammer though, whatever that is.