To me, it opened up a lot of things that helped making my stream a bit more interesting. Emotes, channel point redemptions, transcoding so I could push for a better quality (when I do get access to it), the ability to work with certain extensions without paying (Crowd Control), as well as some random stuff to the side of it.

This does come at a price though, I cannot go and be "HEY, LOOK AT THIS GREAT MOMENT WE JUST LIVED ON STREAM" on Twitter. I have to wait until the next day which absolutely sucks. Same for VODs. There's also the problem with the current ad system for affiliates which hinders growth as well. You'd be better off having multi-streams, or streaming on Youtube to get bigger at this point.

It's not necessarily a "scam", but it is a "risk". If you're willing to work and wade through all of these restraints, go for it. But if you are doing this for fun? Heck no.