Creator Spotlight - AsylumGC8

In our latest Creator Spotlight we have a pirate who has a certain Executive Producer tattooed somewhere on his body: it’s AsylumGC8! We asked him some questions about his Voyages across the seas so far, and what experiences those travels have brought him.

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[Q]: What was your introduction to the world of games?

[A]: When I was a young warthog, my karate sensei owned a gorgeous Commodore 64 that simply blew my mind. Such escapism was but a keystroke and a tape load away. I was invited to have a look, and a play, of the aforementioned C64, and thus my gaming journey began with a LOAD command and a huge smile.

Let me tell you, the majority of gamers today believe they know about long load times. To them I say “balderdash”. They will never know the aching anticipation of inserting the cassette of Blackwyche (yes, I played it), then finding another activity to occupy 10–15 mins. This then progressed through the Atari 2600, followed closely by my own Sega Master System, in partnership with my cousin’s NES, through handheld, early mobile (yes, I had the Nokia N-Gage), into Xbox, then ultimately into PC.

[Q]: How did you become part of the Sea of Thieves community?

[A]: I had been told very early on about an amazing new soon-to-be-released pirate adventure game, from the wonderful folk who made Battletoads, by a good friend who was in the Technical Alpha. He told me he couldn’t say anything due to NDA, but it was going to be amazing fun for all involved. I watched the progress of the game through early articles, then on release date, swooped in with my Game Pass subscription (shameless plug), leaving behind many other, far more negative communities, and set sail for the grandest, most engaging adventure my gaming life had ever taken. Now, after two-and-a-bit years of playing one game solidly, I can, hand on heart, having played far too many titles, state that I have never had this much fun in a game.

[Q]: How did creating content become your ‘thing’?

[A]: I watched a few streamers do their thing roughly five years ago. They were having a ball engaging with their communities and playing games they loved. It appealed to my extrovert side, and a side of me that loved gaming with friends. No need to be active in the game. Just sharing a love of gaming, while being social. The beast simply evolved from there.

[Q]: How do you decide what kind of content to create?

[A]: Once I had gone through a plethora of gaming ‘personas’ to make a community, I took it back to the core reason of why I started: relaxation, socialising and connecting. From there, it was simple: make content that includes everyone, promotes an escape from the day and affords a chance to laugh. Being a Stoic, learning to be still was always a trial for me, so once I had learned how to slow down and draw from my environment, I tailored my channel to reflect this mantra. To slow down, to be present, to engage, to connect. Life doesn’t need to be a frantic blur, so I create content a viewer can use to slow their pace down as well.

[Q]: What are some of the challenges you’ve faced while creating content?

[A]: The biggest challenge facing any creator from Australia has always been our underwhelming technology infrastructure. I spent the better part of two years streaming via a 4G connection, as our woefully inadequate internet wouldn’t carry enough speed to make a video call, let alone a gaming stream. I’ve never been uncomfortable speaking to people or adapting to personalities. I’ve never had a bad time gaming with the majority of people, so I consider myself extremely lucky that I was able to carry myself through those personal hurdles quite effortlessly. It was then simply a case of making my best efforts to stay connected.

[Q]: What different channels do you have?

[A]: At the moment, I have devoted what I feel may be too much of my time to Twitch. I have the tools and the resources to expand to other avenues, but have focused on reaching my highest elevations/goals on this channel for now. In the coming months you’ll be seeing a lot more content on YouTube and Instagram from our nightly exploits.

[Q]: What’s been your most memorable Sea of Thieves moment so far?

[A]: I am super-proud that my whole family has joined me on the seas. My wife enjoys the game so much she is now the most skilled helmsperson I have ever encountered, and my daughter had such a great time she is now a meme in my channel. To have my little girl with me, smashing some skellies and being welcomed by my community put a huge smile on my face that hasn’t really left.

[Q]: What do you enjoy most about the game now, and what are you looking forward to in future?

[A]: Sea of Thieves is one of those unique and truly special games wherein not one element stands proud from the rest. If I had to pinpoint one thing though, it would be how everything works so harmoniously to create a constantly evolving experience. No single voyage will ever play out the same way the last did, or the next will. The player must learn to adapt to all manner of situations, all the time, making it the defining game of our current age. Yes, you can quote me on that.

[Q]: What’s something you’re particularly proud of accomplishing in gaming?

[A]: This may sound as though I’ve topped it with a heavy layer of mozzarella, but making it to the goal of Sea of Thieves Partner has given my chest the puff it needs. I’m immensely proud of the fact that I now have no derrière, after working it off to get here, but my community have had my six from the very beginning and still push to keep me motivated to this day. I can’t thank them enough, and I can’t thank the greater Sea of Thieves community enough for being there with me.

[Q]: How did you come up with your channel name?

[A]: ‘Asylum’ was a nickname given to me by my peers at a very early teen age due to the silly and dangerous sports I used to partake in. It stuck through my career as a pro wrestler, and became almost an identity. As you can well appreciate, such a word would be quite quickly snapped up as a username, so I had to think of a way to make it even more unique. Enter my favourite car I have ever owned: a ’99 WRX STI, the make code for this car being a GC8. Sandwich the former with the latter, and you have yourself... me.

[Q]: What advice would you give to a new content creator?

[A]: You will not be famous from the beginning. You have a hard road ahead of you, and if you take your time, keep your personality true and be mindful of you as a person, you will pass your goals in the future. Don’t ever give in to worrying about viewer count or statistics. These will come eventually. For now, have fun, grow and learn all you can.

[Q]: What’s one thing you would advise a content creator not to do?

[A]: Don’t give yourself the option of watching your viewer count or your viewer list. These will only create distraction during a stream, and heartache after a stream. Let the stream progress naturally, enjoy your game and your surroundings. The viewership will arrive exactly when it needs to, so don’t force it. Viewers can tell when you are forcing your nature, and it turns them away from your channel.

[Q]: Could you give us one more random fact about yourself?

[A]: One fateful day, my community thought it would be a funny idea to rally around me in getting a new tattoo. A tattoo that would make many groan, but mostly make a lot smile. “But what would you get that could tie your love of Sea of Thieves to a meme tattoo, while making others smile?” After many laughs, and much cringe, my community were inspired to raise the funds needed, and with their idea on deck I proudly had Sea of Thieves EP and all-round gorgeous man Joe Neate tattooed onto me. 

That’s all for today’s Creator Spotlight. Thank you to AsylumGC8 for letting us delve into his life as both a creator and a Sea of Thieves fan! We’re off to trawl through wrestling videos and see if we can spot him…

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