It’s impossible for me to definitively say when or where I was first introduced to Day9, but I know I’ve been watching his stuff for at least four years now. In the past he was known as a Starcraft pro (especially Brood War), and he did a lot of commentary in tournaments as well as keeping a stream of Starcraft related content (a lot of it was instructional, which I suppose is where the “Be a better gamer” slogan came from).

In more recent years, he started streaming other games. These days I’d say he’s more known for his Hearthstone streams and his “Day Off”, which is simply a game playthrough of a game that usually only takes around seven or eight hours to complete.

Now, I don’t watch streamers or YouTubers very often (or at all, really). It’s a community I don’t really enjoy, and if I’m watching somebody play a game, it’s most likely because I don’t have access to the game, and I still want to experience it. I think another reason it’s not something I do much is because when people watch YouTubers run through video games, a lot of the time it’s because it’s a high energy thing. They want to laugh, or panic alongside the person playing it. For me, though, sitting at home on the computer usually means I want to relax. Focus and be competitive, sure, but I generally want to keep a mellow tone.

Day9 fits that bill perfectly. One of the big reasons for this is that though I watch most of his stuff on YouTube, he streams everything he does and takes part in his community. Whenever he’s playing any game, he’s always watching chat and answering questions, always engaged with his audience. In fact, he messes up what he’s currently focused on a lot because he turns his attention away from the game to throw his opinion into whatever is being talked about in the chat.

He strikes me as a very genuine person, and I really connect with his humor. In fact, my favorite content of his isn’t even him playing any games. He’s made a few ‘Story Time’ videos where he talks about an interesting experience he had or some of his philosophy on life. He encourages an awesome community, and watching him play through whatever game just fills me with a sense of warmth I can’t really seem to find anywhere else. In fact it’s difficult to do homework and generally be productive when I know there’s new content Day9 has put out. It’s an easy escape, you know?

I was talking to a friend the other day, and I mentioned that there are three “famous” people who I’d want to be more like. Sean “Day9” Plott, for his humor and charm, Brandon Sanderson, for his creativity and writing capabilities, and Matt Mercer, for his creativity and acting ability. In all honesty, as far as I can tell they’re all great people and personality-wise, there’s something to be admired in all of them. I’ve talked about Brandon Sanderson before, so I suppose I should bring up Matt Mercer down the line.