Community Focus: AllTimeBrianna

“In my community, if we’re “lepPOINT’ing” at you as you fall off the map, it means we love you.”

Hello Guardians and welcome back to the next Community Focus. Today we are chatting with someone who not only raises money for charity, but works at one of the, well, as the subtitle says “Meet a Twitch streamer and St. Jude researcher who has a passion for science, travel, charity, and making new friends.”, but how about we let her speak for herself?

Hi and welcome! Lets start off with introductions first. Who are you? What are your pronouns? Where are you from?

My name is AllTimeBrianna but I go by Brianna or B and my pronouns are she/her. I am from a small town in Ohio but I’m now living in Memphis, Tennessee.

Alright, we did mention where you work already, but lets talk a little more about that and how you balance your work with your streaming and fundraising.

I am a hematology researcher, where I do research on blood disorders, primarily Sickle Cell Disease at St. Jude by day and a Twitch streaming Guardian by night. Balance is something I have struggled with plenty, and I am still learning to navigate the “art of moderation.” I have been slowly getting better at trying to leave my work at work when the day ends and switching over to my content creation brain in the evenings—having separate spaces in my house for each has helped tremendously.

That’s what its all about though, learning how to do things in moderation and adjusting as needed. You just happen to make it look easy.

So, what got you into streaming and content creation?

I started streaming on Twitch when I was living in Florida for graduate school. I didn’t know anybody there and needed a social outlet, so I started streaming sitting crisscross applesauce on my bed from my Xbox. I quickly got my first PC and it’s been a crazy 3.5 years since.

Hey crisscross applesauce in front of my Xbox is how a lot of us started really gaming too, so you’re in good company! But I think what we really want to know is how did you find Destiny and when did you start playing?

I had a bit of a later start to Destiny than a lot of people. I started playing in July 2020 as a game to share with my long-distance boyfriend. I had always been intrigued by the game but had no idea where to start. Naturally, I jumped in with both feet and finished all the campaigns in about 48 hours. Luckily, I found an amazing group early on I did all of the raids in two back-to-back nights. I started streaming the game that fall and life has been crazy ever since.

Oh goodness me, that is some professional raiding right there. So are you a raid shepherd? Or are you more of a PvPer?

What you’ll find me doing on stream at any given time is always a toss-up. Raids and dungeons are my favorite thing in the game by far, but it is just as likely to find me running around in the open world exploring or running meme kits in PvP. I try to keep things light and low pressure, because I find I can provide better content that way.

As someone who felt a bit overwhelmed getting involved with Destiny, with how much incredible lore and character development there is, let alone stream the game, my number one goal of every stream is to be welcoming and kind. I pride myself in cultivating a community that is full of the most kind-hearted, helpful people and I hope that is reflected every minute someone spends in my stream or Discord. I stream to give myself and others a place to escape the “real world” and vibe out together over a mutual love for video games. I am constantly mind blown that anyone would ever want to spend even a second watching me play video games, let alone go out of their way to do it, so I make sure to let everyone know how grateful I am, occasionally (frequently) with tears.

Light and low pressure is the best way to play in our opinion as well. Do you happen to have any advice for players looking to improve their skills as a player?

I think skill improvement in any game begins largely when you realize what your playstyle is. Whether it’s in PvP or PvE, we all have some kind of playstyle that guides our decision-making. For me, realizing that I tend to end up in the middle of the danger resulted in making the decision to focus on high-volume AOE control. That change helped me improve exponentially. Also, if you can’t jump on a Warlock at first, trust me I get it.

As a Warlock main who still can’t jump seven years in, I 100% agree, don’t give up!

So does that mean what I hope that means when it comes to your main?

Oh yeah, I am a Warlock main through and through. However, I decided to set a pretty ambitious goal during a charity fundraiser, with me deleting my Warlock as a prize. And wouldn’t you know, my amazing community hit the $40,000 (you all are amazing) . So then I started playing on a Hunter and a Titan and had a ton of fun.

And what would be your favorite loadout?

My favorite loadout changes a lot, but I would say for PvE it’s Necrotic Grips + Thorn + Unforgiven + Cataclysmic. And for PvP, it’s Reckless Endangerment + Le Monarque (yes I realize there’s a poison theme it’s intentional) + Blast Battue (also realize the randomness of this, I don’t know, it’s just the Heavy I’m best with).

Anytime someone asks, “What advice do you have for new players?” I always respond with, “Play with your favorite guns and what your comfy with.” So here, here to that! But let’s turn it back around, what advice would you give to our New Light friends?

There are soooo many resources out there to help understand all the intricacies of the game! People much smarter than I have made guides for nearly anything, and they are life savers. DIM, light.gg, D2 Armor picker, etc. are so incredibly useful.

Destiny is such a powerhouse of a game/community.. I wish I knew early on that there is never one sole “right way” to do things. Have fun with it! Find activities, loadouts, and people who make you laugh the entire time you play. Not everything has to be a speed run. Use weapons just because they look cool or you like the name, no matter the meta. There is nothing wrong with running the meta and putting your tryhard pants on if that is what’s enjoyable to you, but if not there are plenty of ways to find enjoyment. Fun is subjective. That’s the beauty of Destiny. Oh, and if you’re level one on the Cosmodrome and it says “Public Event Incoming” and your screen starts flashing, run away from the rally flag.

Exactly, there really isn’t one right way to play, so no matter the meta, use what you love.

We did want to ask, do you have anything fun coming up on your channel?

Yes! Finally returning to the channel is a fun community event called Drinkstiny. Every other Friday, we choose an Exotic weapon and make a cocktail themed around it and then use that weapon as a group in Crucible, dungeons, raids, etc. An example of one we’ve already done was Risk Runner + Electric Blue Lemonade + Crucible. Everyone is welcome to play, no one is required to drink (though if you are of legal age and plan on partaking, making the featured drink is encouraged), and I try to pick Exotics most people will have. It is an amazing way to get everyone involved and maybe even find love for an Exotic that’s been sitting in the back of your vault. Drinkstiny will be starting back up at the end of April and all are welcome! Oh, I also dress as Bob Ross and follow along with some of his painting tutorials here and there. That’s not Destiny related but it is one of my favorite ways to spend a stream.

And where can people find you?

I am AllTimeBrianna on everything but Twitter, where I am @_alltimebrianna. I post lots of gaming, travel, and food content on my socials!

• Twitch

• Twitter

• Youtube

• Tiktok

• Instagram

Alright Brianna, that is just about it, any last thoughts or shoutouts?

Just a big ole thank you to everyone in the Destiny community for welcoming me with open arms. Whether it’s my amazing boyfriend who suggested I download the game and supports me endlessly (I love you x3000), my core group of friends who I will never ever be able to adequately express my love for (but will try till the ends of the Earth), DrLupo for having a community full of amazing people who quickly became like family over the years, Bungie for giving me a game that has given me more than I could’ve ever believed a set of pixels could, and my community who is probably annoyed at how often I tell them how grateful I am for their loving, charitable, welcoming selves— thank you!

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And there we have our community focus with AllTimeBrianna. Make sure you go check out her channel if you read something that resonated with you, or you just want to see more of what her community is about. Oh, and if you need more Community Focus goodness, because who doesn’t, don’t forget to check out the last one with Liana and SamiKat.

Stay Crafty,

Sam