Any advice for an aspiring let's player?

[TBman]

So, I want to make Let's play videos for youtube. I have this thing for consoles

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812156023

and fraps for pc games. But I wanted to see if anyone knows things like, which games should I play, can I monetize the videos, should I do any voice exercises because my normal speaking voice is kind of bland. Or anything else I haven't thought of, thanks.

 

[tippy2k2]

Give it a shot and see what happens is all I've got for advice.

I have (well, had, it's currently on break) a Let's Play for XCOM here on the Escapist and just jumping in and trying it out was the best way to learn. My second go-round went much smoother (I think at least but maybe everyone hated it T.T). Hell, it might be a good idea to do a test one and just see what kind of reaction you'll get (feel free to PM myself with it and I'll let you know what I think).

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

So long as you use a proper capturing device (as opposed to filming the screen or something like that), I don't have any solid advice. Horror games are a good start I think, it's easy to empathize and they're pretty immersive, plus not that long. Just don't be like PewDiePie. The guy has nice hair but screams a lot and has no comic timing

 

[oplinger]

my best advice....accept that you may not be cut out for it. Some people just aren't as entertaining as they think they are.

I do LPs for myself though, it helps me get through my backlog. I realized i'm not that entertaining, so..no one sees them >.>

 

[Windcaler]

Dont be like everyone else out there and dont just be a lets player. I believe you will have to join a group such as Michinima or The game station to monotize the ad revenue you can receive but I know at least one of those has requirements (what they are I have no idea).

The reason why I say dont just be a lets player is because thats what everyone does. You want to differentiate yourself from every other let's player out there. So some other things you can do besides lets plays include first impressions videos (especially surrounding indie titles), Alpha/Beta previews (NDA's permitting), detailed video reviews of games and/or hardware, news annoucments/breakdowns, opinion pieces, and I highly recommend doing something to interact with your audience such as a mailbox or livestreamed mutliplayer. To do all that you will have to learn how to edit

I also highly recommend using Twitter and Facebook to market yourself. If you do decide to use them then I highly recommend you get your "brand" under a single name in every one of these things. Its much easier for an audience to find you if they know LPer1234 is the name you use on youtube, twitter, facebook, twitch, etc

Remember that youre looking to start a business here and you need to treat it as one. Many LPers just jump in head first and turn out to be awful because they treat it like a hobby which leads to marginal success at best

 

[NightmareExpress]

Be original, have an entertaining personality, have a good speaking voice, get good with your editing software (three of the four can be accomplished through acting and practice). The four steps to becoming a good LPer. If there is a single good thing I would point out about "Game Grumps", for example, it would be the usage of editing to periodically insert some very amusing jokes.

Doing something similar would engage your (potential) audience far more than if they were just subjected to straight gameplay with commentary from a single person. But as with everything, moderation is key. Learn to isolate the truly glorious moments deserving of the extra attention during the post-recording time. That extra bit of effort will differentiate you from a good many fledgling LPers and potentially garner more views.

As for monetization;
you cannot monetize a large amount of (modern) games out there unless you get express consent from the publishing parties involved. A lot of famous LPers are with groups such as Machinima and so forth that do this process for them. Uberhax0rNova and PewDiePie are both Machinima producers if I'm recalling correctly. Some developers/publishers will give the okay after contact, some give permission in the legal section of their website or elsewhere. I've noticed that quite a bit of small studios/indies do this.

As to what games, there's two tried methods that you can approach.
If a game has just been released, you can try to rush an LP out there as soon as possible so that your videos pop up with a larger audience looking for extended footage for the title...or you can attempt to go a more niche route and become "the guy to go to when I'm wondering about more obscure y instead of mainstream x". The hidden third option is to disregard conventional LPing and try to bust the framework as much as possible. Attempt at own risk.

As for the voice exercises, go for it if you believe it to be beneficial. If LPing doesn't take you where you wish, you get experience in other facets that involve using your voice. What I find generally works is to exaggerate your emotions, become yourself times five or so. That is, if you truly find yourself "bland, monotone and mildly enthusiastic" on your default setting.

One thing I'll warn you about here is that you'll get a warning if you try to link your own stuff in a thread.
From observation, a mod will edit your post to remove the link or embedded video.

I hope this helps.
But if you're doing this solely as a quick cash grab, I think you'll be sorely disappointed.
It takes time and work to get up there, and a good many people get nowhere and give up. It's something you have to enjoy doing, even if money is out of the equation.

 

[omega 616]

The "lets play" scene is over saturated, so as long as you know that you're going to be one of many MANY people doing the same thing, then you shouldn't be in for a surprise.

You should get the absolute best quality you can, spend a lot of time adjusting settings. Make sure people can hear game sounds 'cos apparently that shit is important but that game sounds don't drown you out. Drift0r actually did an video on this.

Whatever your expectations are for channel growth, dial it back a few notches 'cos like I said there is a lot of this content and unless you do something new you're just another face.

 

[thiosk]

The "lets play" scene is over saturated,

Repeated for posterity.

It was neat and novel for a while, but I would not expect monetization. Build an audience of tens of thousands of loyal followers who chomp at the bit for just one more video, then you can think monetization.

Higher education (not including humanities, psychology, or sociology) or vocational study is probably the way to go

 

[Trull]

I hate to break it to you, but that ezcap is crap for newer games. A godsend for everything before ps3/360/wiiu, but recording a game with 420 isn't HD enough for the masses. But that doesn't matter as much a this;

Have a personality, but don't always talk. The only person I like who constantly talks is when cynicalbrit does it (so if you have a sexy accent, go for it). Don't make a crappy remark EVERY time something happens, you'll soon get over it.

 

[TheNarrator]

I have no experience in LP'ing whatsoever, so this is purely based on intuition: I'd recommend finding a niche. The market for Let's Plays of big AAA releases (or bandwagons like Slender) is completely saturated and there is just no demand left. If you want to stand out there, you don't have to be just good, you have to be exceptional (and even then it'll be hard to get noticed in the first place), and no one can give you any advice on how to be exceptional.

Smaller LP channels can be healthy when they find themselves a niche though. If they focus on a handful of obscure games that aren't covered by the big LP'ers, they can get a small, dedicated fan base of a few thousands, occasionally, which can be considered a success in such a saturated market.

For example, there's this guy on youtube, "iDubbzTV" who does Overgrowth as one of his main things. Overgrowth is an indie game in development, where you can play the development build if you pre-order. Because it's under development, and because it's very moddable, there's constantly new stuff, so it's easy to make video's about. Just try out random mods or showcase new features and you've got yourself 15 minutes of footage. Now, I don't really like the guy, I don't think he's insightful or amusing, but neither do I dislike him. And I haven't pre-ordered Overgrowth, but I am interested in the game, and might buy it when I get a better computer. So I occasionally watch his video's, simply because he has no real competition. That market (the OG community) is not being served, and he's doing quite well because of it: he regularly exceeds 10 000 views (and occasionally even multiples of that figure) on his OG video's. I honestly don't think he'd ever make that if he hadn't found a niche like that. I doubt he can make a living off it, but he'll probably make a nice extra buck.

You don't have to stick to your niche all the time, once you've reached an audience they'll probably be willing to check out your other stuff, as long as you don't completely break with what you were doing (going from Dwarf Fortress to Call of Duty doesn't strike me as a good idea, for example ).

So, if you're not into small, obscure titles, I think your chances of finding an audience larger than 100 people are really really low.

 

[SecondPrize]

Don't feel the need to read text to us. We can read for ourselves and if we can't, then it's not like we can leave a comment on youtube complaining about it.
Don't try too hard. The worst LPs are those where people feel the need to come up with a joke for every single thing that happens. Most of them come off as forced and it'd be better if there was just silence instead. You might find your LPs a little light on commentary at first but that's better than packed with crap and you'll have more to say as you get more comfortable.
Don't fucking advertise your damn LPs on any thread with any connection to the subject, this can turn people off. Make your own thread when you've posted a new one and have a little more content in it than "This is my new LP" and the link. In addition, we know about subscribing and liking. No one as ever actually forgotten to like or subscribe and we don't need to be told to do so twice in every video.
As to your actual questions, play what you're good at. I'm not saying not to chase the latest hotness but you're going to be one of very many if you do. Get a following before you worry about putting in ads to monetize. I haven't heard your voice, but professional voice people do training for a reason and I'm told that diet will actually affect how we sound and to lay off alcohol and dairy products when working. There are people who have found success in playing a role with some odd voice or a lot of shrieking but I'm sure there are very many who have failed in trying to be something they're not. There's never anything wrong with being yourself, unless you're a Nazi.
Edit- If it all works out for you better than anyone could have ever predicted, get a lawyer and have them go through your contracts. If you have a great product you'll get many offers and don't need to sign a shitty contract.

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

Some of the best LPs are blind playthroughs of either difficult, or obscure games. Try to either show a game that not a lot of people may have played themselves, or one that they haven't played in a while.

Idk about everyone else but I rarely watch LPs of games I could be playing right now instead of watching someone else play. The exception is something that JUST came out, so once again not a lot of people would be greatly familiar with it yet.

If you have a bland voice as you say you do, don't feel the need to narrate 90% of the time. If you have a lively and enthusiastic voice that is like ear candy, the same thing applies.

I cannot tell you how many LPs i just stop watching because the person just talks nonstop with nothing interesting or funny to say.

I've also seen plenty of LPs where the person maybe says only 3 or 4 things per video and it was fine. Hell with some games, mostly survival horror games where sound is key to the process it is generally preferred to let the game do the talking so to speak.

Unless you have the comedy chops to turn a serious game into MST3K that is.

If you aren't that funny, don't try to be. Tobeygames isn't funny, and they sound like someone mind melded with a squirrel yet people seem to like them. So I guess I'm not the one with all the answers.

I also don't like Game Grumps because I don't happen to think listening to 2 guys laugh at each other back and forth, without actually saying anything funny, for an entire video is that entertaining.

Most LPs are male, although there are some good female LPers. The bad ones tend to talk like they are just off a shift of phone sex operation or like they are 6 years old. Sometimes both

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

If you have not already done so you should get used to hearing your own voice, and more importantly, get used to having other people hear it over the internet. I know when I first started appearing on video game podcasts and gameplay recording sessions I was very meek and reluctant to say much(aside from a bajillion 'ums'). If you know anyone who does this sort of stuff already, ask if you can take part as a guest or something. Better to dip your toe into it before starting a whole LP channel.

 

[Muspelheim]

First: Try to keep talking, and talk properly. There is nothing that marks a bad Let's Player more clearly than lots of silence and "uhms" and "ehrs". Choose the quiet moments carefully.

Second: Invest in a good microphone. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it can't be an annoyance. It's a good investment.

And third: Remember that the LP scene is fairly full at the moment, and very, very few can look forward to the sort of fame and prestige the big top tier ones get. If you do, great, congratulations! Just don't count on it. Keep a reasonable goal. Keep at it and do your best and you will likely gather an audience sooner or later. Even if it's small and won't make you an internet boyar anytime soon, you are still enriching their lives and your own.

You might make a shilling or two, but it's better to treat that as a potential happy side effect than a stated goal.

Oh, and finally, exercising your voice is always a good idea. Even if it doesn't end up for Let's Play purposes, it will still be time well spent.

(And for heaven's sake, swearing and shouting isn't inherently funny on their own. Don't include that for its own sake. Be strategic!)

Good luck in your endeavours!

 

[Zhukov]

If you're doing commentary then:

- Don't talk over cutscenes and/or dialogue
- Don't talk in a monotone or nasal voice. (Don't know if that bothers other people, but it sure as hell does me.)

 

[Auron]

professional voice people do training for a reason and I'm told that diet will actually affect how we sound and to lay off alcohol and dairy products when working.

As a professional singer I can say that you can eat drink and do whatever you want as long as it's not while or up to 2 hours before you're going to use your voice for extended periods of time(a LP, teaching a class or doing a 3 hour heavy metal gig.) Anything sugary can create friction between the vocal chords and potentially help you damage it, alcohol makes it relax but can also lead to misuse of the voice, this is mostly for activities where you're going to really use the extension of your voice(like singing) but it can have an effect on a LP or a lecture as well.

The "lets play" scene is over saturated,

Repeated for posterity.

It was neat and novel for a while, but I would not expect monetization. Build an audience of tens of thousands of loyal followers who chomp at the bit for just one more video, then you can think monetization.

Higher education (not including humanities, psychology, or sociology) or vocational study is probably the way to go

Wait what? Higher education doesn't include the human sciences did I get that wrong?

 

[Muspelheim]

Wait what? Higher education doesn't include the human sciences did I get that wrong?

Humaniora seems to have gone dreadfully untrendy, I'm afraid. :<

 

[x EvilErmine x]

Don't um and ah too much, it gets annoying fast.

Do plan out what you are saying. You don't have to write a script but having a few thoughts or appropriate jokes on hand can help you out a lot with the flow of your commentary

Do peer review your jokes, talk to some friends and bounce a few ideas off them, good jokes are hard to write, a good friend will tell you if your jokes suck and help you make them better. They can also be a wonderful source of ideas.

Always record the game with subtitles on, lots of people like to know what's going on in the game as well as hearing you commentate.

For your first lets plays pick games you are familiar with, this will let you concentrate more on what you are saying rather than having to also figure the game out at the same time. The more you do the more your confidence and experience will grow and you can then start to do more adventurous things, like blind LP's

Listen to the other advice in this thread, some of it is quite good.

HAVE FUN!!! i can't stress that one enough, If you are enjoying the game then it'll come across to the viewer and they are more likely to enjoy it too

 

[Toxic Sniper]

Have a plan for what you want to do with the Let's Play beforehand. Blind Let's Plays tend to be bad UNLESS you can grab somebody who has already played the game to help you with it.

Speaking of which, Let's Plays become 40% funnier whenever there is a second person voicing over. Dialogue tends to bring out jokes, and the second person will often see things that you missed.

Try scripting some jokes beforehand or getting some practice speaking. That can get rid of your "um" and "ah".