Before We Go Live

Navigating the Abusive World of Online Entertainment

By: Stephen Flavall

Narrated by: Ray Chase

Starting out, I made three dollars an hour, then I made four, then eight. After a year and a half of streaming full-time, I was finally making minimum wage. A couple of years after that, I was signed to a professional team and advertising products to my audience for $1,000 an hour.

Streaming video games is now a billion-dollar industry. In 2022, Twitch alone had over 140 million active monthly users, with top players earning millions each year. But success breeds envy, and when big money's being made, everyone wants a piece.

In Before We Go Live, professional streamer Stephen Flavall, aka jorbs, invites the listener behind the scenes of this new frontier.

From the boardrooms of LA to doctors' offices in the Midwest, dealing with trolls and stalkers to mingling with crypto scammers and ruthless opportunists, Before We Go Live is both a true story about the dark realities of streaming and the tale of a deep and enduring friendship.

It's about what happens when real life intersects with entertainment, and learning to act with kindness and humor in an online world full of prejudice and abuse.

This audiobook edition is narrated by Ray Chase, voice of Noctis Lucis Caelum, L, and Bruno Buccellatti.

©2023 Spender Books (P)2023 Spender Books

An incredible look at the world and relationships

Jorbs shared with us many very personal stories that gave us a look at the strategy gaming space on twitch. In doing so, not only have I learned a lot about streaming by listening, but I feel like I have garnered something about the world as a whole. There's so much hate in inequality in the world, but in the relationships we form and the actions we take there can be beauty and kindness. After listening, I feel inspired to do more to put that beauty and kindness in the forefront of my life and my streams. Thank you Jorbs and all those you talked with for your words and stories. And thank you to Ray whose wonderful voice brought this book to my ears.

jacques orblong has done it again

this is a good book, about an excellent boat, and a great person who also happens to stream video games for a living. harrowing, principled, well-told, insightful and above all necessary for our moment in time, this is a kind of story and of storytelling I haven't found anywhere else. the narrator is really good, too.

An honest, human story of growth

You know that feeling of: "this is so obviously wrong, why is everyone going along with it"? This story is Jorbs not going along, and the resulting human connection from that choice. I loved this tale and its resulting triumphs. Gratitude to the author for, again, opening up more of themself for the audience.

Valuable perspective

This book is difficult to describe succinctly because it covers a range of topics. On one hand, it includes discussions regarding morality and individual choices that I believe are in a way timeless, while also providing autobiographical elements and a focused account of recent events leading up to 2023 (the year I’m writing this review). The quality of the presentation of the two elements in a combined manner is higher than what I would expect based solely on the individual parts because the events recounted in the book provide a concrete backdrop for the philosophical and personal discussions.

To look at it another way, most people don’t know what it’s like to run a live show as a full time job (and some of the other things that it may entail). This book gives the reader a peak behind the curtain.

I’ve got a lot more I could say about the book, all good things, but the short of it is that (as a regular consumer of Stephen Flavall’s content on Twitch and on YouTube) this is an interesting and eye opening account of events that I previously was only vaguely aware of as an outsider. Very much worth the read for anyone who consumes any amount of individual created online content.

This is important

It’s hard to write a review for this. More than anything I think this book feels important. I get so much value out of watching Stephen’s streams, not just learning slay the spire, but beyond that a framework for decision making. And beyond that a demonstration that approaching others with a baseline of care and love is a pattern that we can follow. This book doesn’t dwell too much on strategic decision making, but it reveals the heart-wrenching reality of the abuse endured by the people bringing us these lessons.

An honest story of human empathy and growth

This is a wonderful look at the human behind the entertainer.

if you want an honest story of human interaction and friendship told with humility and passion, do yourself a favor and read this.

ray chase is an incredible narrator

Jorbs is a great teacher

This tells the story of a streamer, but moreso the story of modern society and how we can make things better for our fellow humans.

A genuine and insightful perspective on streaming

Story: Steven "Jorbs" Flavall leverages his years of expertise in strategy gaming to write a heartfelt and impactful narrative about the difficulties of establishing himself as a successful twitch streamer. He primarily describes his and others experiences at a professional gaming company and takes a look at a tech industry bankrolled by unapologetic, sexist, craven, capitalists. He gives an honest recounting of the human cost of having toxic manipulative people have control over others that is both acutely revealing of the darker side of the industry but also tragically commonplace in our day to day lives. As a long time Jorbs viewer I found it an instructive tale about the underlying motivation of how he manages the community. I think it has more general merits as a thoughtful narrative on how and why we should try to treat each other with respect and dignity.

Audio: The audiobook is narrated by Ray Chase who is a fan of the community and does the voice acting for Jorbs own Slay the Spire mod character. Ray does a great job speaking earnestly on some very difficult subjects and it is clear that he has reverence for both the material and the author. Absolutely worth a listen.

Excellent

This book is a great peek behind the curtain of streaming. Very informative and enjoyable.

Powerful and insightful

You don’t need to be familiar with jorbs’ content to be absolutely engrossed in this book. One of the most incredible books I’ve ever listened to and completely reshaped the way I think about sexism in male dominated fields and the streaming industry as a whole.