I watch a number of LPs on Something Awful. Not gonna list individual LPers because there are so many. I tend towards the funny video LPs, usually with groups but I enjoy a range. Solo completionist LPs (great ones being Project: I'm Going In by Girgast(sp?) or the Devil May Cry runs by Accounting Nightmare) to subtitled informative LPs (Geop's Shadow of the Colossus) and Screenshots which are really overlooked. I like them all for different reasons.

Some are fairly low effort but funny and some are insanely high effort with lots of well done editing like the Jurassic Park: Trespasser LP by Research Indicates. So either I'm being entertained like the GB ER's or I'm learning really odd/interesting things about a game I don't feel like playing or simply don't have time/skill to explore as thoroughly.

As long as they aren't faking anger, just describing what they're seeing, know when to edit or hamming up to a scare cam (which are terrible 99% of the time, sorry Tricky) then I'm happy.

No scare cam(you can learn something from this Patrick...), no fakery, entertaining commentary, secrets, actual skills(no DSP fuckery) and properly edited.

As mentioned above, the something awful LPs are top notch. Personally I recommend Chip and Ironicus' LPs. (They're currently doing MGR) and Geop's BLIND(not fakery like DSP does) run of Dark Souls.

I only watch LPs of games I would like to play, but have no way of doing so or don't have the money, patience or will to invest time for (The Last of Us, for example). I hate blind runs of games, I want to see everything there is to offer in an efficient run through (supergreatfirend's LP of Deadly Premonition, for another example) by someone who knows what they're doing in an entertaining manner and not necessarily humorous.

The ones I find most interesting are the really skilled players or at least knowledgeable players. I really like one particular Dark Souls player because he did a bunch of challenge runs where it was obvious he knew a lot about the game, and it was really fun to listen to. Humor in an LP is tough, because everyone likes a different brand of humor. If I knew what was needed to be successful at LPs, I would be doing them myself. It really seems like the ones that score the most viewers either do so through a high skill level or just by random luck.

@popogeejo: Thanks for the comment, glad I am not he only one, I will try those ones you have mentioned, that Jurassic Park: Trespasser LP sounds right up my street, I would try adding Manng to your watchlist as his are funny and there is no faking as far as I can tell (his Dark Souls and Demon Souls LP's are great from someone who doesn't play either game!, and yet useful to people who have, he even guides them to more advanced LP's if needed, super useful)

@ahaisthisourchance: Sounds fun, will check these out, thanks

Really, I mostly care about the entertainment value and personality of the LPer in question. I don't really care about skill (In fact, failure can lead to more entertainment than pure success) and pretty much all of the Lets Players I actually like tend to be "bad" at games, or are at least sometimes easily distracted by each other's banter (Think of all the comments to the tune of "How could you possibly miss X and Y?!" on Endurance Run episodes )

A stereotypical "nerd voice," especially with bad audio quality is an instant pass for me, too.

@thecreamfilling: Good comment, it is sometimes fun to be enlightened to to game you don't know about for example the Persona and Deadly Premonition endurance run, neither games for me, but loved the videos (which were essentially LP's)

@wemibelec90: Thanks for you time. I would try having a look at Manng this Dark Souls and Demon Souls LP's are great (from someone who doesn't play either game!), and yet useful to people who have from people I have spoken too, he even directs them to more advanced LP's if needed for certain sections or classes his is not showing which helps.

Effusive enthusiasm for and encyclopedic knowledge of 8‐bit game show games.

Go watch every episode of Retsupurae and then don't do that.

I like it when the LPer knows what they are doing and 100% the game, showing off everything there is to it, and being funny at the same time.

Supergreatfriend is good, I loved his LP of Illbleed, it was very informative, and the game itself provided most of the humor for that LP.

I also really liked Sir Ron Lionheart, because he was absolutely insane and freaking amazing at all the games he played, his Kaizo Mario play throughs are a ton of fun, because unlike other people who rely on raging and cussing while playing games like that, Sir Ron Lionheart just laughs off everything and never cusses ONCE. I also love how he pretends to be the other characters and talks with them, it's a LOT of fun!

There is a really fun LP of Sonic 06 that I watched a few years back, I don't remember who did it, but it was a group of friends who stayed up all night beating the game in one sitting. It was pretty great to hear them slowly lose their minds as they played that awful game, haha.

@kentonclay: not much of the nerd voice or bad audio quality but for sheer entertainment value Mangg playing Magica with his mates (http://www.gameanyone.com/game/PC/16512.html) is just blissful mayhem, also his 62 LP videos on Skyrim were a lesson in how to keep an audience entertained whilst running over a mountain/through a swamp, over a field, towards God knows where,

ha, i'm suddenly an old man. i went into this thread all ready to discuss this.

@mellotronrules: Haha, this blog is for cassette users only, god bless the Walkman