Meet Lomadiah, February’s Spotlighted Streamer
Wednesday, February 8th, 2023
We couldn’t do what we do without the support of our incredible community of streamers, and as part of our Stream Team Spotlighted Streamer interviews leading up to GameBlast23, we recently talked to Lomadiah!
Hello Lomadiah, thank you for your support and taking part in GameBlast23! Please, introduce yourself.
Hiya everyone! I’m Hannah, my pronouns are she/her and I’m known as ‘Lomadiah’ on the internet. I’m a Twitch ambassador and variety gamer with a love of reading, cats and being a casual hedge witch in my garden when the weathers decent.
I’ve always enjoyed gaming – my dad bought me my first games when I was around five years old – with an extra special interest in narrative, storytelling and visiting new places. I stream five times a week on Twitch, playing a variety of games and sharing them with my community.
Wow, so you’ve been involved with gaming for a long time then! Could you tell us how long you’ve been a content creator, and how you got started?
I’ve been making content for myself or editing for other people for about fourteen years. It originally started as a part time project alongside the tail end of my university degree but when the economic crash of 2012 made me redundant, I ended up going full-time and I haven’t looked back.
For my own content, I started out making long form let’s plays on YouTube of games like L.A. Noire and Assassin’s Creed, although several folks know me specifically for my Telltale ‘The Walking Dead’ playthroughs. Around 2016, I moved my content production over to Twitch as I had discovered how much fun a live audience and community was when playing games; you can share more of the experience than a retroactive back and forth in a comments section.
Over the last 14 years then, what has been some of your favourite content to make?
I love sharing stories with my community and going on a journey together! I was an English major at university, so I’m a huge fan of how gaming has evolved to better use storytelling, themes, and symbolism to get important points across; especially when it’s amplifying the voices of marginalized groups. Chat and I get to share new places, new voices and learn things together that we might not have otherwise, and I think this is vital in an ever-growing and international world.
On the slightly sillier side, I’ve also got a soft spot for terrible music video trailer edits, so I do these on the side – mostly for my own personal enjoyment more than anything else.
Okay, the Last of Us trailer was incredible! What are some of your favourite games, and why are they important to you?
There’s a huge crossover for me between the books and genres I loved as a kid and the games I play today. I’ve always loved science fiction and fantasy writing, so games that bring those to the table get a thumbs up from me! I’ve also got a soft spot for games with big vistas or mythology, so games that tap into any of these things usually get my interest.
In terms of older titles, I’ll always love Tomb Raider. My dad had spotted that I was enjoying watching Xena: Warrior Princess one day, and thought it was the perfect companion game – and he was right! My dad is also the reason I enjoy escape rooms with a side of horror (like The 7th Guest) and dungeon crawlers (Diablo II), so it’s entirely his fault that I still gravitate to these types of games in my mid-30s.
With newer games, there’s so much to enjoy and love! On stream, we’ve just finished the powerhouse that is God of War: Ragnarök, which has one of the most beautiful personal growth stories I’ve seen in a long time woven into a game about stopping a Norse apocalypse.
I also get excited when I see games that are passion projects intended to amplify voices that aren’t always prioritized or platformed in gaming; Kena: Bridge of Spirits and Miles Morales’ game to name a few. It’s partly a selfish reason, because I get to experience that voice without any interference or whitewashing, but I also remember how delighted I was as a child to see Lara in a game as THE playable character and I want more people to experience that feeling of belonging and recognition for themselves.
Absolutely incredible choices there! Tell us, how did you first hear about SpecialEffect, and why do you support us?
SpecialEffect has always been around for me – we first bumped into each other at an event like EGX or Insomnia and that was that! I’ve fundraised annually in one form or another ever since then.
Why do I fundraise? Because SpecialEffect are lifesavers who absolutely align with my viewpoint; gaming is about inclusion. No-one should ever be left behind, especially due to physical or mental barriers.
Very kind of you to say so and thank you for your support! What are your top tips for running a charity fundraiser/event?
Firstly, get yourself a cheat sheet – a one page document which has all the details you need about the charity on it. I like to try and get rough statistics of what the charity has done in the last year, as well as examples of what £5 would buy, £10 etc so that my community has an idea of what their money goes towards.
Secondly, automate the process as much as you can – set up a donation overlay with alerts well in advance, then get yourself a chatbot if you don’t have one already. You can automate them on a timer to post donation links as you need, as well as tying them to chat commands. Basically, take as much of the work out of the live part of the fundraiser as you can!
Thirdly, incentives – these aren’t essential, but can help with encouraging donations. If you have a working relationship with PR or developers, then reach out and see if they’re able to provide any game codes to giveaway. You might be surprised!
Finally, the activity on stream – different streamers do different things. Some do very active fundraisers with lots of different activities, but that’s not for everyone! My personal strategy for a fundraiser stream is to boot up Planet Zoo and make a charity zoo, where donations help choose the animals that go into the zoo as well as naming them and the staff. After doing this strategy for about four years, we’ve been through about six zoos at this point – due to the community’s generous support, they end up getting so big that the save files give up!
Those are brilliant tips, especially around automating and making your stream easier to run! Do you have any final words before we sign-off?
Remember to be kind – and uplift those voices that aren’t always heard! Here’s to the future of gaming and accessibility, it’s not going anywhere but up <3
Thank you so much for your time today, Lomadiah! Where can people find you online?
- Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lomadiah
- Website: https://lomadiah.com/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lomadia
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lomadiah/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lomadia
Find out more about our awesome Stream Team, and how you can stream for SpecialEffect, on our Stream Team Page.