When it comes to local charity involvement and good vibes within the Oceania Twitch community, you think of RubeePlays. Not only is she a recently new full time streamer to the platform, but she also takes part in Community Management for Twitch Adelaide, helps out around the place for WomANZ and even has been a part of CyberGamer for the past year. All in a day’s work, right?
I learnt a lot about RubeePlays over the past few days and some of it honestly brought a tear to my eye; reading about how her community came together for her father’s illness, makes me proud to be a part of this industry. She’s a hard worker and has a lot of heart behind her, all the success that comes to her is well deserved and I couldn’t be more happier to see Adelaide have a strong advocate for positivity.
Starting off my interview with RubeePlays, I asked her the most simple question to kick things off and that was: Who is RubeePlays?
“I’m a recently partnered full time streamer from Adelaide, Australia; who focuses on charity, entertainment and good vibes. I try and make even the slightest difference whether that’s fundraising for a good cause or even just making someone laugh. I play a lot Blizzard games, story based shooters, and horror games – since I know my community love to see my reactions (usually screaming like a wimp). I’m currently working on finishing games like The Last of Us, since I used to have major issues with seeing a game through to the end.”
In my opening statement, I mentioned the areas that RubeePlays has a strong involvement in and I was curious to learn more about them, hence my question: What has it been like being not only the Twitch Adelaide Community Manager, but also being a part of CyberGamer and WomANZ? How has that impacted your life and also how has it affected your streaming life?
“Community Management for Twitch Adelaide is so very rewarding. I’ve learnt so much about people, and how to help the community thrive in an ever growing environment. Every time someone new finds their place in the local community, it’s nice to know that I had a small part in it, especially since I know sometimes the internet can feel like a lonely place.
CyberGamer have been an awesome organisation, and have taken care of me more than anyone else could. I couldn’t stream from home because the area had such terrible internet, and they solved it for me by giving me an entire space to use at my leisure. For over a year, CG has been my home.
I do a small amount of social media, event planning and moderation for WomANZ, the team definitely do much more and it’s absolutely amazing to be surrounded by such hardworking and inspirational women. I honestly could not be more honoured to be a part of this community.”
Diving straight into her streaming life, I wanted to find out more about how Rubee was attracted to streaming and where it all started, by asking: How did you get attracted to streaming and when did it all kick off?
“Originally I started with a group of friends on YouTube, but we had no direction and really… No idea! I had had a Twitch account for a while and then in 2015 I decided to make one of my own personal brands and just go for it. Sharing games with a live audience to connect with and bounce off of just felt so much better to me, and while I was on and off of streaming, I never really looked back. I started to actually take it more seriously in 2017 and I feel like it’s definitely paid off!”
Following on from her “taking it more seriously” statement, I wanted to expand more on it and focus more on how full time streaming has changed her life, by asking: How much has streaming changed your life?
“I’ve met and spoken to so many brilliant people. I have friends from all over the world and some that will last a lifetime. I’ve tried so many new things and learnt skills I wouldn’t have before. Through streaming I’ve met my closest friends, my current partner, received the experience for my most recent jobs, and has really pushed me to explore the things I love. It’s shown me that I don’t have to do anything the “traditional” way, it can be more creative than that. My first cooking streams are what inspired me to study baking. I can’t wait to see what’s next.”
Of course streaming has its positives, but it surely comes with its negatives and that was something I wanted to find out more about. Which lead to my question focused on what Rubee finds the hardest to deal with on Twitch, asking; What is the hardest thing for you to deal with when you go live over on Twitch?
“Originally I used to struggle with the idea that every stream needs to be 150% and then if I didn’t think I could give that, then I didn’t even want to go live. I’ve built a community that always makes me feel like they’re ecstatic that I’m live at all and that every stream is worth it. Generally people will accept you on your down or average days, they understand you’re human, but for the longest time I myself, couldn’t accept it.”
RubeePlays on a panel at AVCON 2018 in Adelaide
And of course with that being said, I’m sure Rubee had faces plenty of criticism in the past, which lead to me asking: How do you deal with criticism?
“If it’s genuine and from a good place, I’ll take it into account and work on it. I’m always looking to better myself and my content. If it’s negative and purely meant to sass or harass, I don’t stand for it. Generally a mod will time out trolls to perpetuate a positive environment, and occasionally I’ll have to tell people they are free to watch any stream they like and that mine clearly isn’t for them.”
RubeePlays seems to have an amazing mindset on not only dealing with the negative side of things, but she also seems to have a wide range of knowledge on streaming itself and the environment you need to surround yourself with, so I moved on to ask: What advice would you give to any up and coming streamers or otherwise those that are trying to make it, but just haven’t?
“Keep trying. Try new things, new games, get creative, add bits of personality to your stream that are so undoubtedly “you”. People will connect to you more, and it will set you apart from the others. Once you find your spot on Twitch, you start to feel more comfortable in your own streaming skin and it grants you the confidence that will push you onwards.
You’ve probably heard this a million times but that’s for a reason… CONSISTENCY. It’s important that you’re live when you say you will be and that people know when they can watch you.”
I want smaller streamers who may read this piece to find some inspiration from Rubee in my next question, because it’s something that hits home for a lot of people, but definitely something to be proud of in a lot of aspects: What is your most proud moment on Twitch?
“My most proud moment is something so special to me. My dad has been battling cancer for years now and we were given some bad news: he needed a treatment that wasn’t covered, and without it, the outcome looked grim. Within five hours of the campaign being up, it was covered… and then some. People supported on social media and in stream and I don’t think I’ve ever cried so much on stream. I had never seen anything like it, and I had never been more proud to be on Twitch. I still wish I could thank people more personally and deeply for supporting my family during this time, I don’t think anything I can say will ever be enough.”
Moments like this are something that no one within the community will ever forget. Cancer can be one of the worst things to deal with; to not only have the support of family and friends, but also to have your online community come together and show how much they care for you, makes you think how beautiful this world can be and helps you stay in focus with what lies ahead.
Speaking of what lies ahead… I rounded off my interview with Rubee by asking; What is on the horizon for RubeePlays?
“Streaming… streaming.. and more streaming. I feel like I haven’t even scraped the surface of my stream quality right now, so I’ll be working on that. I’m currently in the process of writing and filming some neat stuff. I also definitely want to up my game with charity events. In the past year we’ve raised over $25k for charitable causes, I know we can continue to make a difference and I’d like to do it in new and creative ways. There’s no reason fundraising can’t be fun! (Yeah.. I resisted a pun there).”
RubeePlays is one of the most kindhearted people I have had the pleasure of interviewing and I cannot wait to see where her Twitch streaming leads her in the future. I highly recommend you check her out on Twitch and be sure to stay connected with all of her life updates via her Twitter!