On the topic of why do people like, watch, and support Phil, I have to say that's part of why I pay attention. I got into Phil from finding TIHYDP MGS2 and I thought it was a joke for the first few minutes, then I realized what was going on. I was amazed. Then as I got into the lore and really started consuming media, watching videos, reading forums, seeing more of his personality, I wondered how he could be around for so long as such a horrible "entertainer." How does this guy make money? How does he live life?
But the focus is typically on him and how bad he is and what he does. I have seen people get close to my current curiosity, but never expand on it. And maybe it's in this 4,000 post thread, but I just mean I personally haven't seen too many people discuss it... And what I am referring to is what other people offer that he doesn't. And I mean that as a very kinda separate thing from what does Phil not do that he should. There's plenty of talk about how Phil could fix his problems.
I don't mean to sound like I'm the first person to think of this because I fully understand I'm nobody special. But I guess an example of what I mean is:
I decide to watch someone stream a game (which I already don't understand. I watch walkthroughs/guides for when I can't figure something out, or I watch impressive feats like really cool speedruns, or things like the guy that beat God of War's hardest boss on GMGoW [the hardest difficulty] at level 1 without taking damage), so I go to Twitch. I somehow come to picking between some regular streamer and DSP.
Let's say they're both playing uh... Some team based game. Like a team death match. Now, Phil of course plays his online multiplayer games with chat all blocked and muted, so there's no social interaction there. This means he's now just wandering around doing who knows wtf. So he's not helping his team win. He sucks at games so he's probably getting destroyed. And then of course there's the bitching and excuses and bad jokes, etc. We all know this.
If I look at most any other streamer, and I don't know much about streaming culture because like I said, I don't watch it much because I'd rather play the game myself, but this is a whole hypothetical situation anyway. If I look at another streamer, chances seem to me to be high that he will have his chat unmuted and will probably interact with his teammates. Maybe they're friends of his already and it's a premade, or maybe he joined a group of randos. He will probably be decent enough a human being that if there's not an already toxic group of people there when he joins, that he will strike up a conversation or join in one that's already going. Maybe he makes friends with one or two or all of his team. They communicate, they play the objective, they cooperate to play well. Maybe they begin streaming, or if he already has friends that stream, then I can follow them, too. I can get involved in their group. There's more incentive for me to watch and pay attention to their interactions because they're friends and they're having fun. There's more a chance for in-jokes that makes me feel like part of their group the longer I follow them. That in turn makes me more likely to support not just the streamer I started watching, but his whole group.
My alternative is some antisocial curmudgeon sitting in the boringest, saddest little room, doing poorly at games and talking about all this horrible shit in his life that I'M TRYING TO ESCAPE FROM IN MY OWN LIFE, PHIL. I play videogames and perhaps watch a streamer to get my mind off MY bills and personal shit. I give zero fucks that you got yourself into an unsustainable situation based on over optimism about how long you were gonna be making money, and now you can't keep up the lifestyle. He refuses to even entertain the idea of a lifestyle downgrade.
Sorry for the really long ass post but damn man. I had a lot to vent out before I got too angry and started really toeing that line of A-Logging.