A few months ago we began interviewing some of our streamers and notable community members. In continuation of this series, we've interviewed Quin69 from our very own New Zealand! Find out what Wanganui's #1 gamer has to say about life as a Path of Exile streamer.

Hi Quin, thank you for taking part in the interview! Please introduce yourself.

Hey! I’m Quintin, but most people call me Quin! I’m just some rat from New Zealand who really likes to play computer games and thought it would be a good idea to broadcast it to the internet.

When did you first start streaming? How did you get into it?

I started streaming in 2014! One of my dreams was to have a career in video games, but I never thought it would be a possible living in New Zealand (GGG sure proved me wrong) but then I discovered Twitch! The second I found out fiber optic internet had been rolled out in my hometown in Wanganui, I moved back and started streaming.

What can people expect from your stream and schedule?

Here’s the “!schedule” command I use in my stream:

★ ★ ° ☾ ☆ ¸. ¸ ★ . . • ° ★ . * . ¸ . ° ¸. * ● ¸ . ...somewhere ° ☾ ° ¸. ● . ★ ° . . • ° . * ...in a parallel universe* ● ¸ ° ☾ °☆ . * ¸. ★ ★ ° . . . ☾ ° . * ● ¸ ...Quin...° ☾ ★ °● ¸ . ° :. . • ○ ★ . * has a schedule ☾ ★ °●

But on a serious note, I’m practically live 24/7 during any new content patch or game release and then I usually end up defaulting back to streaming from 1AM NZT(ish) onwards so that I’m able to go outside after stream during the daylight with my girls!

What were you doing before you started streaming?

After a short stint in the New Zealand army I decided it was a good idea to get a diploma in commercial skydiving and I ended up working as a professional skydiver based out of Taupo - basically just jumping out of planes, making videos and packing parachutes! Both jobs were pretty cool but at the end of the day it was all just to fund my obsessive gaming habits.

When did you first get into Path of Exile?

I first started playing Path of Exile in between one of the first Diablo RoS seasons because Twitch chat kept spamming me to try the “superior” game. The Path of Exile fans were pretty relentless!

What one thing caught your attention in the beginning and what one thing kept you coming back?

The thing that caught my attention in Path of Exile was the ability to make insanely “custom” characters and skills. The fact that you could completely change the way abilities would activate and function was insane to me. It's a really fun game for try-hard hipsters like me who like to try make stupid builds work. I’d say the consistent content patches were the thing making me come back or maybe just twitch chat spamming stuff like “PLAY NEW POE SEASON REEEEEE”.

Are there any highlights from your time playing Path of Exile that stand out in your memory?

To be honest, recently killing shaper on SSFHC was probably the thing that stands out to me the most. RIP that character ;_;

What are your thoughts about the Betrayal Expansion?

Initially, I didn’t really understand or care too much about the expansion mechanic due to the fact I had a couple of league mechanics to catch up on, but after I sat down, figured out how it actually worked, and realised that you can totally manipulate and control how things run to make a bunch of currency, it quickly turned into my favourite Path of Exile expansion ever #Bridge69

You've made Wanganui famous! Are there any perks or challenges that people wouldn't expect from streaming from a small town in New Zealand?

The niche of being a Kiwi is a great perk because everyone by default loves us (except the Aussies) and all the foreigners think we live in mordor or someshit lol.

Challenges?! Well let me see…

• All of the relevant Twitch conventions are a 18~38hr flight away.
• Very bad for networking with other streamers because there are so few of us in New Zealand.
• Very little Twitch support for New Zealand streamers. (They should practically re-name Twitch ANZ to Twitch Australia).
• No Twitch server in New Zealand, so whenever some idiot messes with the trans-tasman cables we have massive connectivity issues.

Otherwise it's totally mint condish! Hopefully ExileCon later this year will at least add one more perk to the list!

You recently became a Dad! Are there difficulties or advantages about being a parent while also making your career as a streamer?

I didn’t really sleep much anyways as a full-time streamer, and my god tier fiancee, Abby, carries super hard with the baby stuff! Really hard to explain the advantages outside of the fact that I love those girls more than anything <3

Is there anything you'd like to see more of in the streaming community?

I recently tweeted about how nice and welcoming the Path of Exile streaming community is. It's easily the best community I’ve been apart of on Twitch but the thing I’d most like to see out of the Path of Exile Twitch community as a whole is that we hunt down, bully, ostracize and maybe just permaban every last BACKSEAT GAMER. My theory is that because of the level of complexity Path of Exile offers, it’s developed a diehard culture of fans that watch build guides which is totally fine but then some less experienced players who are only just starting to get an idea of what's going on take it upon themselves as some sort of duty to try and tell the Twitch streamer that their skill setup is wrong and to use the skill/item setup that they saw in a guide.

Do you have any advice for people who are looking to make their own career out of streaming?

I’d say MAKE SURE you give it a go part-time see if you like it because the reality is always different to what you’d expect. Then, if you love streaming and it's working out, try to further develop the unique aspects of your stream which keep people coming back.

Are there any up and coming streamers that you'd like to shine a spotlight on?

I’m pretty much a normie when it comes to watching other streams on Twitch, I pretty much just chuck on the top dudes of whatever game I’m playing at the time. To name a few I’ve been watching… Mathil, Raiz, Ziggy, Alkaizer, Nugi, Don, Cutedog, Modz and Ziz!

What hobbies or interests do you have outside of streaming?

I just straight up stopped all my normal “hobbies” once I started streaming, i.e. rock climbing, sport jumping, mountain biking. Does min-maxing my streaming setup or buying ridiculous smart products count!? But really, when I’m not streaming I’ll be trying to spend as much time as possible with my girls.

How has your life changed from before you were streaming until now? What role has streaming played in that transition?

Oh god, where do I start... almost all aspects of my life have changed as a direct result of streaming. They've been mostly positive changes (excluding a couple of things like the destruction of my physical and mental health LOL). Through streaming, I met my future wife, ended up buying property and building a house, met and became friends with some of the coolest people in the world, and gained the ability to choose my own work hours, make my own choices, and (within the Twitch Terms of Service) just do whatever the viewers and I feel like.

What is one thing you think every Path of Exile player should hear?

DON’T BACKSEAT GAME TWITCH STREAMERS :rage:

(Unless they specifically ask for it, then that's ok xoxo <3)

Do you have any projects on the horizon you'd like to talk about?

I really want to create my own private league in the future with as much of the Path of Exile community as possible but I just have to convince the lovely amazing god-tier GGG devs to implement a new feature! (Solo-only, trade-league)

Thanks so much for the interview! If you'd like to follow Quin, you can do so on Twitch, YouTube and Twitter.