YouTube woes

Critical thinking might help you improve the quality of your videos. If you're going to continue trying to become a youtube personality, who is, in a matter of fact, an entertainer, you have to be constantly thinking about what in your videos is entertaining what not, and getting rid of what is not. It's important that you have some fun making videos, but you need to think about what the viewers would find fun, because it's not always the same thing.

That said, it's good that you're keeping in mind that the niche of let's players is pretty much full. Good luck with finding something more creative!

Pretty much all the long timers started small on places like Something Awful and built up a following while the whole LP thing was still pretty new, so as it became more popular they naturally grew their audience with it.

Breaking in now is going to be nigh-impossible, it’s a completely flooded market. The people who get big at Youtube nowadays either know how to promote themselves to a big audience that others can’t (i.e. already having an audience to cater to), or they have a unique gimmick to make themselves stand out.

If you’re desperate for fame and fortune, you can try coming up with a plan from that. But my recommendation? The best ones are entertaining because they make it seem effortless, not like their job. You’re not gonna make it if you’re not enjoying it.

My recommendation, however, is to keep going and carefully plan any next moves, and work hard think smart. If you completely lost your joy of making them, then and only then I find it justifiable for you to leave your long-time hobby

This is very very very important. The only thing I can say is do because you want to see the video be made, not because you want people to see the video.

You also need to think about how you market yourself. How and why are people going to see your videos? As a small channel you need to have a plan for how you're going to get your stuff out to the masses, without getting flagged as a Reddit bot.

Long LP series from nobodies are hard to advertise, end of story. If that's what you want your channel to be then keep them up, but also devote some time to something that you can share on social media/reddit/etc that people might want to share with their friends. Highlight formats, funny moments, exclusive looks at indie games - these are all things that market better than a long series.

It's still balls hard to get noticed though, and it will take a lot of work.

I enjoy making videos, I actually love to edit. So I guess I'm not done yet.

I've made compromise on my channel. I'm going to do something else along side my Zelda playthrough, hopefully to please people.

Let's Play; the original meaning of it, is dying. I don't think people really like to watch full playthroughs anymore so I think it's eventually time I moved on.

And as for gaining viewers, I need to find a good place to advertise myself, places I've used just don't work. I think it's impossible honestly to get noticed. Oh well.

Thanks all.

I don't get why people liked it in the first place. The only LP I watch is Game Grumps, and that's because they often play buggy games and say funny things while doing that.

Try doing oneshots, there nearly always more popular with LPers.

Yeah, it pretty much is and like you said, it's 99% luck based. Keep doing it as a hobby but whatever you do, don't become dependent on it as a source of income.

I used to watch full Let's Plays a lot when I was younger. Usually games that I've played before or look really interesting. It's more of a personality driven thing.

And I used to watch the the Game Grumps. But I stopped when Jon left. (It just wasn't the same)

Oh no I've never depended on my YouTube for money. I mean I literally can't. My network is fucking horrible. I barely get anything and have since shut down their actual channel. I actually forget i'm a partner sometimes.

I would never say it's luck based. Except for when it comes to guys like PewDiePie, who represent nothing

That's precisely why it is luck based. Think of how many shit YouTubers you know are massive. There's a lot more bad than good, as there is with anything.

Most of the channels I watch are under 50,000, and that's not just me being a hipster, it's because those are the good ones.

Plenty of channels I like are very popular

I started watching LPs a few years back, when they first started becoming more popular but before the Youtube crowd really came in. Most of my taste comes from what I started watching – people making videos just having fun, maybe goofing around with a group of friends, a few informative series for games that seemed interesting. Things like the old Sonic 2006 LP, the Freelance Astronauts, Chip Cheezum etc.

Most of what I watch now stems from that taste, I always look for a game on lparchive.org first before going to Youtube because I know they’re curated from the same ilk that the older stuff comes from, and they rarely come from people trying to be big time Youtube celebs.

e: basically what I’m saying is I’m an LP hipster.

Remember that just thinking a channel is bad does not necessarily make them bad. You just probably aren't the target audience. Appealing to minecraft kiddies is a valid strategy for having a big channel, but at this point is an impossible game to break into.

I actually didn't like Jon at all and didn't watch them at all except for the Sonic '06 playthrough, then when Danny showed up I gave it another try and now I own both Starbomb CD's, a t-shirt, and a Skyhill CD.
And sometimes watch the show too.

That's usually what I look for too. For instance, CP, I really enjoyed a lot of your videos where you were just having fun with the game and not forcing your way though something.

I told you this on Facebook as well, but I think your main problem is that you're trying to chase an audience instead of letting the audience come to you. If you want to please the biggest audience there is, go play Call of Duty or go play professional MOBA. But we all know that's not what you like to do, and as such that will show. People will know its an act and nobody will be happy about it, including you.

Just play the games you enjoy playing. People will see you are passionate about the things you do and the audience will follow. At the same time you will have to accept that the retro games you mostly play are never going to be as popular as some of the other genre's and for that reason growth will be slower.

Also at least 50% of an audience's reason for subbing is personality, not the game you play. Just have fun, be passionate about what you do.

This is kind of shit though. Even some larger channels have problems with viewer retention over long series, which Chris tends to make. Personality is important, playing games you enjoy is important, but you 100% do have to reach out to an audience if you want to get noticed on Youtube. People can call it luck all they want, and some people do just make the right video at the right time, but the more you put yourself out and find ways to attract new viewers the more chance you have of getting a "lucky" break.

I agree that he needs to do what he enjoys though, and keep a clear theme to his channel. If he somehow attracts a million views off of one COD video he wouldn't get many subs because the rest of his content won't appeal to a majority of that audience.

Eh.

As someone who makes YT videos on a more or less regular basis, I can relate to some extent. My audience is by no means as big as yours, Chris (right now, I have 29 subs - mostly friends who I play with, people from OWF, or people who found me on YT and were interested in my content), so I don't really expect a big turn-up when I submit videos.

Most of my videos follow the generic LP format (that said, I've never finished a single one of them), but every now and then I try something new, and in my experience, those are the ones people notice the most. My most popular video is a "review-esque opinion piece" on Just Cause (originally intended to make an LP of it, but the sound levels were bad in the recordings, so I turned the whole thing into what it is now). At the start of the year, I also made a short series about a Payday 2 mask that I was making for a game con, and that also seemed interesting to people. I also did some where customizable characters (Skyrim, Wizardry 8) were inspired by a novel series I've read (and translated). I shared them with the author who actually liked them and featured them on his blog, which obviously helped a lot with views.

I guess the point I'm trying to make here (it's something I've heard over and over again from successful YTers) is that, while it might work to specialize in a single field (in your case, Chris, that's probably Oddworld, with the old Crazy OW videos, the LPs, news videos and all), in the long run it's better to branch out and experiment with other things as well, to see what else your audience might be interested in.

It might also help if you consider what sort of gaming videos you like to watch on YT. I've found that for me, it's mostly videos where there's some sort of interaction between multiple players, and where it's not a whole, uncut series of videos (Spike and Barley would be a prime example). I've found that this format works for me too when I make videos (I've made some of Saints Row IV recently, I was pleased with the result).

In short, for me, YT is more of a hobby than anything else (I've never seriously considered monetizing), and I treat it that way. I make videos for fun, sometimes by myself, sometimes with friends, and I share them where people might find them relevant. I guess that's the most you can do if you think you're in the same shoes.

Also, I think a lot of people would gladly join you in some co-op/multiplayer gameplay if you needed footage along those lines (kinda like the MC stuff in the old days).

Seriously guys, Thanks for this. I did need that reminder that to just play games and have fun.

The whole reason why I starting LPing games in the first place was to show people the games I loved, and how passionate I am about them. It's a theme that's going to stick with no matter what.

Oh and Wil. It was meant to say that you have a rather more successful YouTube and that I'd like to see more videos from you. Sorry if it was a little unclear

You don't necessarily have to do LPs to show your love for games. You can do e.g. thematic videos like ProJared or others about certain aspect of games or just review them

I know I came along to this post late, but knowing full well that time put into videos often feels completely unappreciated on YouTube, I can wholeheartedly understand the feeling of wasted time.

But that's the thing: if you enjoy the LPs you record, doing your videos and churning out videos that you enjoy making, that's all there is to it. Don't ever let a lack of feedback kill a hobby you've developed which, quite frankly, is entertaining for tons of people, myself included.

Keep with it, Chris. I hope you don't let the slump get the best of you, and even if you do decide to stop, I believe you've definitely left a positive mark on YT.