I wonder what he’ll actually do when Swaggins or whatever paypig finally does it. To go back to Max, he’s gotten massive donations before and it’s pretty much led to him cancelling the stream and trying to give it back because he’s profoundly uncomfortable taking really big sums from his viewers. Would Phil have the presence if mind to realize that it would look really weird to just take the money or is he really too greedy and stupid to not get rid of it?
Max doesn't really need the money (although I say that without knowing how finances); I don't think I've ever been to a stream he does where he's not getting dozens of subs and ridiculous resubs. I'm sure he knows exactly what he has in overhead so giving money back somehow I can absolutely see him doing.
. . .on a tangent, people like Max, Kripp, Disguised Toast and Trump (to name a few) are exactly the successful streamers I think of when Phil whinges about "the muppetry of successful streamers." These guys aren't clowns, their overlays aren't crazy offensive and they aren't preoccupied with tips and subs. They play their games until it's time to quit, have a pretty reliable schedule, actually take time to exist in the real world and seem to enjoy what they do. Trump, the least popular of the group, in terms of stream numbers, still manages to pull 150-200K on his YT videos. . . even when he's playing not-Hearthstone his viewer numbers are usually 1K or above for fringe titles like Cult Simulator or Surviving Mars; these are numbers Phil would kill for. Hell Max just spent the last few weeks replaying Resident Evil and the stream numbers were gigantic.
TLDR: Phil is beyond out of touch on what makes a successful steamer, and even if he could get his"schtick" in order, his personality and ego would kill any quality he'd hope to squeeze out.