Some of the biggest and most successful streamers on Twitch from the MMO sector and World of Warcraft work together as the group “OTK” (One True King). The group includes streamers like Asmongold, Mizkif, and Sodapoppin. They are usually used to success, but a new project involving custom gaming PCs escalated on Monday, August 8th. It particularly highlighted how poorly the streamers handled criticism of their new venture.
Who are OTK? One True King is a group of Twitch streamers, many of whom have connections to MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV, or Lost Ark. Some members of the group also play LoL or have played it in the past.
The group was founded in 2020 in Austin, Texas. They work loosely together, create joint formats, and support each other. Since the founding, several well-known streamers have joined the core, and OTK now has 12 members.
Among the owners are:
- Asmongold – the poster nerd of Twitch, who has lived in World of Warcraft for over a decade
- Esfand – a former football player with the stature of Hagrid and a love for WoW
- Mizkif – an up-and-coming Twitch streamer who enjoys drama and has not yet found a trend he could ignore
- Sodapoppin – a, as one must jealously acknowledge, damn cool guy who previously had an Adderall problem
Asmongold is an extremely successful MMORPG streamer who is more present on YouTube than ads for Raid Shadow Legends:
“Starforge Systems” wants to build the best PCs in the universe
What did the cool streamers do? On the evening of August 8th around 10 PM German time, OTK and the affiliated streamer “MoistCr1TiKaL” presented their new project “Starforge Systems”, a PC-building company that claims they want to build “the best PCs in the universe”.
The plan was to live stream every month how they assemble PCs on their channel.
Tech-savvy viewers criticize excessively high prices
What were the reactions? The reactions were predominantly positive. But this is the internet and the Twitch streamers have some tech-savvy fans. Almost everyone who deals with technology is a friend of building a PC themselves rather than buying one ready-made. Because that saves money.
And many fans of “I build my own PC” are more than willing to explain their viewpoint to anyone else, whether they want to hear it or not.
So, some reactions immediately suggested to the team to reconsider the pricing structure. It was said that the company’s offers were “way too expensive”.
Users calculated for the team that their PC for $3,500 would be about $1,000 more than if they bought all the parts separately.
Streamers criticized for handling of criticism
How did the situation escalate? As became known on Reddit, channel moderators banned critical users who made disparaging remarks about the prices in the live stream or even just posted certain emotes.
While regular users of the streamers were permanently banned, Asmongold simultaneously spoke about trust and the community, as detailed on Reddit. This is perceived as bitter irony (via reddit).
The moderators of the Twitch channel tried to suppress the negative sentiment while viewers joked that tech channels would soon thoroughly discuss the prices of the new company.
Overall, the offer was viewed critically by some users and was apparently not the celebrated success the streamers had hoped for. There were also positive reactions, but the harsh suppression of the negatives led to a backlash.
“We were informed that the prices are not the same as 8 months ago”
How are the streamers reacting now? After the backlash, MoistCr1t1KaL spoke out in his own stream. He said that the PC company wants to reconsider its pricing policy.
“So now we can adjust and change it and make it better. That’s what it’s all about.”
According to him, the criticism has now made it clear to the streamers that prices today are different from those 8 months ago. Therefore, the criticism has fallen on fertile ground.
The statement that they would only change the prices because of the shitstorm seemed unfair to the streamer: Criticism leads to change and rethinking. That should be the goal. To complain about it now seems wrong to him.
The Twitch streamer emphasizes that quick action and addressing the criticism shows the difference from traditional companies: At OTK, they came together and decided how to respond to the criticism just 3 hours after the backlash. Traditional companies cannot react that quickly.
Many Twitch viewers currently think of a story when it comes to “Custom Gaming PCs”:
In 59 terrible seconds on Twitch, a CEO destroys everything – company for gaming PCs must now close
