Quote Originally Posted by jjordan View Post
After doing some digging and reading the material I found I think that GNS/GDS as a tool for analyzing RPG systems is a little broken. As a tool for analyzing player style/desires it's pretty good. But reading about that led me to the WotC survey in 1999 (with online summaries here and here) which looks to be more useful still, particularly the first link.

I would guess the most successful streams are the most story oriented (other significant factors have to come into play but I'm not even going to attempt to list them) because those are the closest to traditional media and the most accessible for observers/watchers.
Hmm... So that is where the idea started. This is really cool! More can be found in the 3.5 DMG II, the 4e DMG, and I think, a page in the 5e one, that break it into 8 or 9 roles, of Actor (Roleplay), Explorer(Find new things), Instigator (Get in trouble), Power Gamer (Numbers and power), Slayer (Beat up bad guys), Storyteller (Game of a novel, Novel of a game), Thinker (Outsmart the foe), Watcher (Be with friends). I would guess that most of players who stream successfuly are of the Actor, Storyteller, Explorer, and Instigator persuasions, with a few slayers and thinkers, if only because the math of a power gamer is boring to watch, and a stream is devoted, lacking new or shyer players. (This said without watching any streams).