Personally, I enjoy watching people who are better than me play a game. One of my favorites is Insym, dude is just incredible at figuring out the mechanics behind gameplay and screwing around with the game engine. It's really interesting to watch him figure stuff out and test his theories in real time.
On the opposite end of the scale it can also be hilarious to watch someone like Jerma walk around talking about food while ignoring the most obvious things in the game. It's like a mobile ad that makes you want to play the game just to do it right.
There's plenty of trash content on twitch but there are definitely creators that make watching them play a lot more about their personality than the game itself.
I agree steel frames are great, but trek, specialized and gt abandoned steel in the late 90's. I love a good vintage frame, but for mtb the modern geometry is an undeniable upgrade.
High end: Orange cycles, Cromag, Ritchey, Chumba, Cotic.
Mid range: Kona, Marin, Surly, Niner.
Also: go tubeless and never buy an innertube again. I bought a 5 pack of tubes for emergencies and used 2 of them in the past decade. The sealant can be a royal pain in the ass, but it beats getting stranded out on the trail.