More Developers Abusing Youtube Copyright Rules to Censor negative Reviews.

[Malacite]

Re: More Developers Abusing Youtube Copyright Rules to Censor negative Reviews.

A little from column A, and a little from column B.


Starting with the PS4 for financial reasons, eventually intend to get a full blown Streaming/Gaming PC set up for video, audio and graphical editing (all stuff I took in school though been ages since I really used any of it).

And that's not exactly cheap either, so it's a lot easier to start with just the PS4 and my capture card and work with what I've got atm. Build up the YT channel, eventually get setup for full-time twitch which is where the real monetization's at.

[Firewind]

Re: More Developers Abusing Youtube Copyright Rules to Censor negative Reviews.

You need to have a plan in place. Gunning for the field of dreams approach does not work. Trust me. I was part of a group of people I know IRL that wanted to make a Minecraft LP series which failed badly. Well a huge chunk of that was because they left all of the editing, recording, scripting and setting up everything to me which burned me out pretty quickly. But also because they were pretty lazy in promoting it too (yeah they left that to me too) and they had little plan over "let's record some stuff, edit it together nicely and put it on youtube"

Channel lasted for about 1 week before I walked out. Mostly because they could only be bothered to appear for enough footage to make a week's worth of videos.

It wasn't just that either, they wanted to do Minecraft at the time when Yogscast was exploding so there was an oversaturation of Minecraft videos. It also put me off playing Minecraft completely for a while as well because I simple couldn't be bothered after that horrible experience.

[Malacite]

Re: More Developers Abusing Youtube Copyright Rules to Censor negative Reviews.

I don't have like, a full-blown warplan or anything but I have a fairly good idea of what I want to do and need to do. More importantly, this is something I've been waiting to get a shot at for a good while now so I've got no shortage of determination. Lack of enthusiasm can really kill ya fast, I've seen it happen.

I've also got some RL buddies that want in on this too, and will (hopefully anyway, or I'll disavow all of 'em) help me out

[Firewind]

Re: More Developers Abusing Youtube Copyright Rules to Censor negative Reviews.

Make sure they do help you out. Trust me, it's horrible when everything is on one person, and that person is the only one coming up with any ideas or doing all the work.

Don't get me wrong, I have no doubt that some of the ideas would have been bad, but it was something, more than what they were doing.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: More Developers Abusing Youtube Copyright Rules to Censor negative Reviews.

Starting with the PS4 for financial reasons,

Mal, you're just too easy to see through - What you're doing is blowing $400 to play the shiniest version of BF4 short of a PC version when you could just get the PS3 version and put cash on what really needs the investment if you want to do LPs. You're kicking the can down the road, nothing more.

Going in as an early adpoter and there being so very little software in the first year of these new consoles, you're going to be facing serious professional competition on Twitch for what few big games come out. Just playing BF4 and shooting the shit with a pal isn't going to get you far. I know this because I've done podcasts with you and a big reason we lost our drive was a lack of structure - which I managed to weasel in and things went better toward the end - but then there was exactly what Firewind described, which is to say we left Icemage to edit everything and then there was some guy who started the whole thing and never showed up again after a few episodes

I work better off of structure, but that's also because I like to usually organize my thoughts first and not just get put on the spot. You speak without a mental filter or gut check and that can lead to all kinds of problems doing videos and live streams.

Not only all that, you're going to need to seriously get your name out there, maybe maintain a blog, facebook, tumblr and twitter accounts - and you're also going to have to participate in new gaming communities. If you go to Destructoid, for example, and make a c-blog that is just a dumping ground for links to your LPs, that's just a fast way to get ignored by that entire community. I've seen it happen over and over again.

There's a lot more to this than just streaming some BF4. If you want to make something that grows, you're going to have to invest more in it than you're planning to.

Just as an example, as I've been playing FFVI this week, I thought about the changes I might have to make with playing it if people were just watching a video or a live stream. Do you think anyone is going to want to watch someone just run to the Inn every time they need to heal up? No, you put that gil into tents and sleeping bags.

Even with the games you love and want to shoot the shit over, you need to think of the viewer's time with what you play. Its kind of like how some people plan their entire experience around a list of achievements. You're going to need to know what bullet points to hit, what questions to answer that people want to know.

[cidbahamut]

Re: More Developers Abusing Youtube Copyright Rules to Censor negative Reviews.

Who in their right mind would want to make their living by playing video games? That seems like the fastest way to ruin a wonderful pastime.

[Malacite]

Re: More Developers Abusing Youtube Copyright Rules to Censor negative Reviews.

Uh, I want BF4 on PS4 regardless, but time to rip you a new one.

- My PS3's component is faulty, and thus I can't use my capture card on my PS3 since the damn thing has HDCP. Why the fuck would I buy a new PS3 when PS4 is coming out?

- I'm well aware of the whole promotional side. I need to get a secondary Paypal account (or at least a separate e-mail to attach it to) as well as looking into an alt on FB and others. Again, I'm not totally alone in this as I have friends who want to join me, 1 of whom is a part of a successful Minecraft group and they profit every month.

- You're a jerk

- I've already come up with some segment titles, and while I'll be starting with BF4, I intend for it to be a variety channel (with emphasis on certain titles) and eventually want to get a 2nd screen set up so I can play and stay in touch with the stream chat which is vital.


Not that I ever give 2 shits what you think anyway.

[Firewind]

Re: More Developers Abusing Youtube Copyright Rules to Censor negative Reviews.

Another thing to remember is that a lot of games are fun to play but pretty boring to just sit and watch. Starcraft II being a notable one. The problem is, is that a lot of games do not lend themselves well to a let's Play format. BF is one of them really. Sure you can do livestreams but it is a popular game, I can name you five people I know personally that are already doing Twitch Live Stream, and that is before I get to people over the internet.

I'm not trying to shoot you down here, I want you to do well. But believe me when I say that making YT videos is something that you have to pretty much dedicate all of your time to to get the videos out there, and get them seen and promoted. The more popular or mainstream a game is, the harder it will be. Especially in the Let's Play format. Dear God that format is oversaturated, and the majority of it is just bad.

Okay let us look at what you need to make a good Let's Play:

1. A game that is actually compatible with the format and isn't boring as hell to just sit and watch.
2. You are actually very, very good at the game and know all of the mechanics and nuances of the game. You need to be able to give the game the treatment it deserves and just running in there and sucking is just disrespecting the game and fans. Only the Yogscast and OMFGCATA seem able to get away with sucking at games but that is because they make sure that the video is really funny before putting the video on their channels.
3. Make sure you have something meaningful to say throughout the LP. There's so many horrible channels out there PewDiePie being the most notable one that is just nothing but yelling and screaming. You find out nothing about the game or what it's about, it's just nothing but shit. TotalBiscuit is a great example of a channel that pulls it off well. A lot of the is game discussion videos are set to him playing a game while he dubs over it with his latest Vlog stuff.
4. This is a personal one here but I rarely watch an LP, unless it is a game I have 1) Finished 2) Love enough to have played it enough times to know it inside and out. If I know nothing of a game I won't watch a Let's Play because what's the point? I won't know what is happening and everything will be spoiled for me.
5. Raging at stuff. Just don't do it. A lot of the guys on the Polaris network like Angry Joe, Jesse Cox and TotalBiscuit can all pull off rage videos but that is because of an above point: they still do it to contribute meaningful discussions and debate, the rage is just there for comedy value to make things entertaining. csanders is another Vlogger I like to watch because he does the "Meaningful discussion with light rage for comedy value" thing well. Again PewDiePie is another horrible example of rage videos.

And that is before we get to even recording stuff. Trust me, I have been plotting out making a gaming news vlog/thing/whatever on Youtube and have been listing the stuff that I need. it is pretty staggering.

You are going to need a good setup. Just winging it with a PS4 and livestreaming isn't really going to do a great deal. You want a good mic, and a room with good acoustics, if you don't have one then you will need to make yourself a good makeshift soundbooth to deaden reverd or echo. You will need a good closed back headset and trust me, the comfortable ones do not come cheap. Cheaping out on the headset will just mean your game sound leaks through.

Plus you need the actual time to make content and edit it. I don't mean "turn it into your whole life" or "quit your job", I mean you need damn good time management and a lot of the kills that self employed people need. The main reason a lot of the Polaris Network guys can put out videos damn near daily is because they have guys that can do the editing, promotion and social network stuff for them. You will have to do all of this alone. yes I say alone because you can't trust friends who aren't serious about making a gaming channel. You don't need super production values, but you do need someone to make a good job of it.

And you also need to be able to make stuff that is engaging and plot what you want to say. This needs reiterating a lot. You would be surprised as to how hard it is to speak for ten minutes straight on a subject while staying professional, and making sure what you are saying is relevant.

You also need to look for channels that have ideas like yours. You will be competing with them for an audience. It's why I keep telling you that LP and Twitch Streams are a horrible idea unless you are already a famous Youtuber with a substantial following. Honestly I would just focus on getting *a* job and using that to fund making a gaming channel because it's going to be years before you see anything resembling a sizeable audience, nevermind seeing all the ad revenue. This is something that you want as a living right? It really is a mountain to climb and it only gets tougher as more and more LP/Twitch stuff pops up.

Mal I honestly want you to do well, but your posts have been making you sound like you really haven't been thinking things through.

[Armando]

Re: More Developers Abusing Youtube Copyright Rules to Censor negative Reviews.

Who in their right mind would want to make their living by playing video games? That seems like the fastest way to ruin a wonderful pastime.

Replace "video games" for some arbitrary sport and you'll see it's not without precedent.

[Malacite]

Re: More Developers Abusing Youtube Copyright Rules to Censor negative Reviews.

The very 1st thing I intend to do is explore BF4's new training area, both so I can adjust myself to all the changes that I couldn't in the beta, but also to act as a tutorial video for people new to the series, or who maybe haven't been keeping up since the release of Bad Company 2. I intend to make that perfectly clear at the beginning, that this isn't something for the vets but more of the CoD crowd or really just anyone with an interest in it that didn't play BF3 and doesn't necessarily know what they're getting into. BF4 has a fair number of complex mechanics compared to some shooters. Shouldn't take more than 10 min tops I would think to go over the basics of how the game works, the importance of teamwork compared to other shooters (Going "Rambo" like people do in CoD is a surefire way to cost your team the game 9/10 especially with the new squad perk system) and if there's time, give out a few pointers.

After that, probably a campaign LP pointing out all the Hollywood bullcrap and just having fun (again, would be much more ideal if I had a proper PC so I could check the stream chat without turning away, but then I'm also just starting so not like there's gonna be a huge audience to chat with in the beginning anyway).

I'm fully aware of the work involved in this. One of my friends said he'd only back me if I treated this very seriously, as though it were my day job and that's exactly the intent I have going into it. There's going to be a flood of "hipsters" who think they're cool and will just half-ass it. Nuh-uh, not doing that. I don't have any fancy intro screen or theme music yet, but I can work on that later (or at least get some custom thumbnails) for the time being I'm much more concerned about producing quality content and getting noticed.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: More Developers Abusing Youtube Copyright Rules to Censor negative Reviews.

To hammer home the point that Mal wants to keep missing:

[Firewind]

Re: More Developers Abusing Youtube Copyright Rules to Censor negative Reviews.

Yeah that video pretty much sums up my points about an oversaturation of the LP/Twitch Stream content. It is also why I'm not 100% sure about contuning the idea of a Gaming News Roundup show/vlog thing. Totalbiscuit's Content patch pretty much does everything that idea does, and he is able to put out multiple ones per week, while I would only be able to put out one a week.

This is actually a pretty good example of the kind of setup a Professional Youtuber would have too:

Anyway, I'm not trying to shoot you down Mal. I want to make that abundantly clear. I consider you a friend and WANT you to succeed. It's why I want to make damn sure you are sure about what you are doing before sinking so much time and resources into a project.

[Malacite]

Re: More Developers Abusing Youtube Copyright Rules to Censor negative Reviews.

Admittedly, it'd be a lot easier if I hadn't spent about $2k on a personal trainer way back in May, but I had to make a decision - get in shape, or buy a new PC for streaming. I chose my health over a *possibility* of making some cash, maybe even a "career".


I still don't regret it either, but I do wish I had bit more leeway in terms of spending money. That's why PS4's a big deal for me, it's the cheapest platform I can use to get started with. A lot of the guys I follow on YT who have been *very* successful, like MuzzaFuzza started out with little more than a basic capture card, a laptop and a love of games, that's it.