I hope everyone has had a good end of their year, and look forward to starting this one anew. While my own household is a mess, filled with equal parts laughter and mayhem, I wanted to be sure to jump into yet another promise I made to these amazing people within the Stack Up Stream Team. Today I’ll be introducing a streamer by the name of CNMercy.
He goes by multiple nicknames, which include Mercy, Merc (pronounced Merss), and his name, Bryce. Mercy is an advocate for mental health, disabled Veterans, scuba diving, and autism. Each plays a considerable role in his own life, to which he shares, “I am on the autism spectrum and medically retired from the army. I focus on mental health through activities because of it, and SCUBA and gaming help create that healthy space,” he claimed, then added, “I am also PADI Divemaster.”
First, it’s important to mention just how significant it is to know oneself. Mental health is a huge undertaking, something we’re all working on every day of our lives, whether we realize it or not. To be able to choose to work on himself despite the challenges he’s faced is to live a full life. Mercy’s activities in the scuba community are definitely ones to respect as well.
For those that might not know what being a PADI Divemaster entails, it is a generous amount of time completing numerous diving courses that include open water, advanced, rescue, and logging at least 40 dives, among other expectations. Gaining the Divemaster status is more than just another course, a midterm and final. It takes dedication to the field, another 60 dives, or possibly more, depending on the diver’s location and instructor, prior to passing the final as well.
This notation to Mercy’s level of excellence here shows in other aspects of his life, which includes streaming on Twitch. While his schedule varies due to school, commuting, and mental health, he does post when he’ll be live on the site. This also includes what he’ll be playing and for how long. It is reassuring as a supporter to know that I’ll be able to catch him on at those times.
Along the lines of what Mercy plays, he’s notably enjoying Valorant, FIFA, Hunting, and TFT (Teamfight Tactics). “Anything really,” he explains. “Streamed content can be anything from beer to mental health, to cooking, to sports talk,” of which he enjoys bringing up Soccer, Hockey, and Football. “My favorite games are Borderlands and Pokemon,” Mercy mentions, leaving me to wonder if I’ve missed streams with these games in the past or if we have something else to look forward to in the future.
Still, getting to know why Mercy got involved with streaming in the first place is an excellent nod to his character. “I got into streaming when I got hurt playing soccer my freshman year of college. I found some FIFA streamers that got me into the game; same with Destiny,” he said. Streaming has been a positive practice for Mercy. The community he’s gathered over the time he has started has been everything. “Tankus, Sheepyy, PerkyDaisy, and Castro1021 are all either good friends or someone who has inspired me in streaming,” he adds.
For as much fun as Mercy portrays on screen, steamers work on their craft behind the scenes. As the viewer, I can attest his screen setup is clean and concise; the overlay designs he’s chosen are crisp and keep the viewer engaged. Personally, I love the use of the Stack Up logos, their placement, the addition of the scrolling text at the bottom, and that he’s chosen to include his camera feed at the top right corner. While the camera placement can certainly move, consistency is key. At a glance, Mercy certainly has pride in his work, and it is clearly shown in his stream.
“I take pride in my scuba videos and the chaos I can create in games, too,” he explains.
I can attest to this. The joy that comes from his reactions in-game especially shows this ten-fold.
As a member of his audience, the first thing I noticed was that the broadcast itself was very clean. It made settling in easy.
Next, I found that Mercy is steady-handed, refraining from whipping the camera around or jostling his character for extra attention. It’s nice to see the smooth movement between taking calculated shots and changing out gear. For someone who hasn’t played Valorant (or anything but my select few), watching his stream is encouraging. It says, “You can play this too.” In my book, Mercy plays like a professional. Communication with his team is solid. His main focus is on his task until it’s completed and then again his teammates thereafter. It’s clear that Mercy pays full attention to the game while it’s in session rather than boasting about his abilities, keeping his additions short unless he’s won or lost. During the transition between games is a lovely spot where his audience gets a true look into the type of person he is. Truthfully, it has sincerely been entertaining as Mercy is full of life and laughter, joking with his friends afterward before entering a new game. It says to me that he’s humble and welcoming, among other attributes that make sticking with his stream an easy decision overall. Within my first viewing, I found that his team fills in the chatter, helping with the ease of radio silence while he’s in game mode. This is something a lot of streamers usually concern themselves with filling. I’m happy to say that even if they weren’t available to play, I would still thoroughly enjoy watching CNMercy’s stream regardless of the added flare. My enthusiasm towards this streamer is certainly based on how he composes himself. While it can be funny to see someone give a game “a piece of their mind” here and there in other streams, I have to say, I truly appreciate that he doesn’t overreact or scream into the mic when things don’t go his way.
I do have to note that I have been watching his stream for the past couple of weeks, and while CNMercy’s stream content is usually on the cleaner side due to gameplay, it is still considered for mature audiences and seems to depend entirely on who is playing with him. Since streaming is an open-ended field, where no one streamer is the same, I did want to ask Mercy if there was any advice he would give to anyone that was looking to get into it.
"Don't focus on numbers."
“Just do it,” he says. “Don’t focus on numbers. Just have fun. If you don’t have fun doing it, don’t do it. Streaming isn’t worth ruining your gaming experience over. Too many people focus on the numbers of viewers or subs, or followers. That doesn't matter. What matters is the one person you can make laugh or smile that day!”
CNMercy is absolutely right. Streaming is about overall enjoyment of the activity a streamer puts out. It’s not an immediate success story or a way to get rich quick. It’s an experience an individual is having that they want to share; what builds from it thereafter is up to that person.
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to find out more about CNMercy, and please stay tuned to meet more of the incredible individuals that support Stack Up by engaging in Stream Team status.
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