TotalBiscuit's very strange behavior in this Vlog video....

[Sight Unseen]

What do I think?

Never seen one of this guy's videos before. Just got done watching the video you posted. Not going to start watching this guy any time soon.

This is why I hate it when people like OP intentionally miss the point of his video in order to spread hate and misinformation to gullible people such as yourself who base an entire person's worth off one little thing.

Much like TB did with his little Defiance video?

That is, complaining like fuck about AI whilst in the tutorial, giving his viewers a false sense of the quality of the game because the devs intentionally made the enemies in that area braindead because they're hoping to entice the viewers of the TV series who may not be big time gamers to play and want to ease them into the game gently.

The game actually gets a lot tougher and the AI a lot better later on, the only valid complain in that whole video was that the options menu could be better for PC.

OT: Way back when I watched all of his videos and then he went into it full time and I was OK with that, and then he threw his first tantrum and I was a bit put off but recovered and then he started getting very elitist and threw more tantrums and I was put off and my interest in his videos dwindled rather sharply from there to the point that I'd only watch his videos if the game was one I wasn't totally sold on but liked the look of.

I won't deny it, his WTF videos are helpful but his personality is very grating to me.

Did you miss the parts where he mentioned that this is still the tutorial and not to take it as an overall representation of the quality of the whole game? He said it several times, and said that since this isn't his overall WTF is... for the game that it should be taken with a massive grain of salt. He posted it as an early concern, because the AI was HORRIBLE for the tutorial. It wasn't even like they were slightly stupider, it was like they were blind, deaf and retarded...

His vlog video actually showed background footage of Defiance outside of the tutorial and offered some more insight into it, and he will do a proper WTF is... once he gets a better idea of what the game is and where it shines and falters.

OT: Nothing was wrong with that vlog, just a guy who gets paid based on view count wondering if he fucked up something or id his viewers dont want convention footage.

 

[Ickorus]

What do I think?

Never seen one of this guy's videos before. Just got done watching the video you posted. Not going to start watching this guy any time soon.

This is why I hate it when people like OP intentionally miss the point of his video in order to spread hate and misinformation to gullible people such as yourself who base an entire person's worth off one little thing.

Much like TB did with his little Defiance video?

That is, complaining like fuck about AI whilst in the tutorial, giving his viewers a false sense of the quality of the game because the devs intentionally made the enemies in that area braindead because they're hoping to entice the viewers of the TV series who may not be big time gamers to play and want to ease them into the game gently.

The game actually gets a lot tougher and the AI a lot better later on, the only valid complain in that whole video was that the options menu could be better for PC.

OT: Way back when I watched all of his videos and then he went into it full time and I was OK with that, and then he threw his first tantrum and I was a bit put off but recovered and then he started getting very elitist and threw more tantrums and I was put off and my interest in his videos dwindled rather sharply from there to the point that I'd only watch his videos if the game was one I wasn't totally sold on but liked the look of.

I won't deny it, his WTF videos are helpful but his personality is very grating to me.

Did you miss the parts where he mentioned that this is still the tutorial and not to take it as an overall representation of the quality of the whole game? He said it several times, and said that since this isn't his overall WTF is... for the game that it should be taken with a massive grain of salt. He posted it as an early concern, because the AI was HORRIBLE for the tutorial. It wasn't even like they were slightly stupider, it was like they were blind, deaf and retarded...

His vlog video actually showed background footage of Defiance outside of the tutorial and offered some more insight into it, and he will do a proper WTF is... once he gets a better idea of what the game is and where it shines and falters.

OT: Nothing was wrong with that vlog, just a guy who gets paid based on view count wondering if he fucked up something or id his viewers dont want convention footage.

Exactly, he said the AI might get better later on so he should have realized how unfair it was to post a video on his relatively popular channel slamming the game for it's tutorial AI.

I saw MANY comments of people saying the video convinced them not to buy the game and he knew full well that his video would have that effect, I find that rather annoying.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

What's the problem? He is just asking for feedback on what his viewers want to see.

 

[Clowndoe]

I had actually watched the full 20 or so minutes before this thread came up (I am subbed after all). Frankly I didn't hear anything shocking (though maybe I'm just a fanboy). He didn't tell people that they should be watching his videos anyway, he just asked what made his PAX videos less appealing and if it was worth doing.

In fact, I'm kind of always confused why people think he comes off as too arrogant or mean, although maybe I share too many of his sentiments.

 

[BrotherRool]

Exactly, he said the AI might get better later on so he should have realized how unfair it was to post a video on his relatively popular channel slamming the game for it's tutorial AI.

I saw MANY comments of people saying the video convinced them not to buy the game and he knew full well that his video would have that effect, I find that rather annoying.

But of the time of him making that video, with the information available, he was sure that it was a bad idea to buy that game. If the game is improved he'll mae a video about it being good and people can buy it then, but as it stands, this is exactly the situation people have become aware of where we're very willing to buy games with no or negative news about the quality on the hope it'll be better when the time comes.

And after he played the game a lot and had experienced a lot more, he said he still felt he was right and he'd still recommend that people don't buy the game. If he'd waited, all those people you're talking about would have gone and bought a game that wasn't very good, that he knew wasn't very good and a little time later turned out to still not be very good.


And it's not like the people who said they wouldn't buy a game based on it weren't informed. He spent a crud load of time talking about the limitations of the advice he was giving them. If people are making decisions and choosing not to include the full scope of information he gave them, I don't know if he can be held accountable for that.

The main thrust is, ultimately holding off on buying a game isn't and shouldn't be a bad thing, it should be something that it's routine for people to do and it doesn't hurt the developers if those people then go out and buy the game when they've got the correct level of information, unless publishers and developers have been relying on people buying games that they wouldn't have otherwise bought if they were correctly informed (which is exactly what publishers do and what happened with Aliens Colonial Marines)

 

[Orange12345]

I didn't really think he was lashing out at viewers, he was just depressed about the situation, he spent a A LOT of time, money and effort to get those videos and for what? he would have been better off just making more content patches and wtf is. So he made this video to try and get an answer

 

[Judgement101]

TB complains about his subscriber's over zealous fanboy-ism yet whines when his videos don't get enough views. I really cannot stand him anymore, I used to be a fan, I really did, until his crusade on FOV. I tried getting back into his videos with his The War Z video, but of course 5 minutes in he complains about the FOV. In all honesty, this is how he always acts.

he get money every time some one watches his videos, the only money he gets, this is his job, this is not about fanboys this is about he lively hood, if you suddenly began losing money on your job you by all right would be asking why, thats all TB is doing. as for the FOV thing, on larger moniter a small FOV can cause motion sickness, which for those who suffer it can be a big deal.

I should have clarified what I meant about the video thing better. He always over-saturates his channel with PAX/GamesCon/Other gaming convention videos, complains how they don't get enough views, then says that he apologizes for the over-saturation. He has done this several times over (please see his Shootmania series and GamesCon coverage.). My issue is that he pretends to be professional when he's really just stuck in a cycle of raging then apologizing. I don't dislike him, I just don't like how he acts. And as for the FOV thing, it just bugs me because he's been beating a dead horse for several months now about that. (The main thing that bugged me was his Retro-City Rampage video, just watch the part where he talks about FOV and you'll know what I mean.)

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

I'm not really seeing any aggressiveness or sentiment of "you should be watching my videos" to it either.

TB's always pretty blunt. Sometimes arrogant, but as fair and honest as you can reasonably expect anyone to be. I don't really get this criticism that people often make of him that he thinks he knows better than everyone else and should do what he says. If there's anything unusual about the video it's that he sounds kind of confused. Whenever he makes videos he always tried to make sure he knows what he's talking about. So it was kind of odd to hear him come out and say he doesn't know what's going on.

As he's made clear many times, he doesn't care much for the specific opinions of commenters. I personally think he goes too far in that. Although there are obviously a lot of stupid people commenting on Youtube videos, I think when he does lash out at people, they're not entirely deserving of it.

But I don't begrudge him deciding to create content that he thinks is good, instead of trying to pander to his audience. So it's really strange to see him actually do what he has basically said he is against doing. That's not something TB would do if he understood what was going on. Also the reason he did it was something that I think would confuse somebody. I personally can't see why so many less people would watch the PAX videos compared to the regular content. If I was in his position I would probably be thinking a similar thing.

For me it came down to the games and Project SHIELD just not grabbing my interest. The three games that did grab my interest enough to get me to watch the video for (Daylight, Transistor, Delver's Drop) just ended up looking very boring to me (sucks to say that about a horror game that deliberately tries to mix things up each playthrough).

I'm also quite the "WTF is..." watcher. When I see a vid on a bad or lackluster game in that series, I get a good laugh out of it and thus am encouraged to watch vids on games I otherwise wouldn't pay any attention to. Whether the game's good or not, I'm almost guaranteed to get some enjoyment out of the vid on it in that series. For a convention video, however, one can't justifiably rag on an incomplete or crappy looking game while the game is still in development. If the game's not up my alley or seems like crap, there's a good chance that I won't get much enjoyment out of a video on it and thus I end up only watching videos to games that seem like they'll interest me.

 

[Zipa]

Its TBs way to be blunt and direct to the point, its his way and he prides himself on being honest.

Also I don't see anything wrong with his video, he saw that he had a significant drop in views for his PAX coverage so he asked for feedback as to why. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with asking for feedback, its a sign of he himself being mature and treating his viewers the same.

 

[Forobryt]

I watch his first impression WTF is series and his hyper incompetant single draft dota series.

The dota one is what showed me what DotA was and since then I started not only playing but watching a few of the professional tourneys. Though its become a sadist thing because i end up crying when he fails on my heroes (oh poor broodmother)
And WTF is .. I watch simply to see what some of these new games on steam are so I know if they are worth getting.

Id rather watch stuff on games that are already completed and ready to play NOW than stuff that wont be out for awhile.


Though its getting to the point where I only watch his DotA stuff and ignore most other vids due to them all being indy puzzlers/8-bit retro both of which I dont like/he has mentioned he sucks at playing so TB doesnt show them in the best light anyway.

 

[alphamalet]

snip

Look buddy, I've produced video content online too, and a similar situation has happened to me. You know what I didn't do? Complain to my viewers for 20 minutes with a passive aggressive tone that attempts to make them feel guilty. I sat down, figured out what I did wrong, and tried something different next time. He goes on and on saying, "This is one of the few times I'll actually ask for feedback from you guys." How ridiculously arrogant is that, and how would the common viewer know what went wrong better than him and his team? They wouldn't. If you want to call me a dummy for that than be my guest, but my statement stands. After that, I won't be watching this guy, and I think it rather sad of you to defend him after that display.

 

[Inconspicuous Trenchcoat]

Spoiler: Herein is contained: A long rant from a stupid person, featuring no research or well-thought out opinions

I'm a long time follower (don't mean that in a fanatical sense) of what TB does. Been listening/watching to his stuff since his early Blu Plz! podcast days (and his history as an entertainer/pundit goes back further than that). I've gone through slumps with his content before, where I lose interest in what he his doing. But I always check back in. Usually I check his recent uploads once a day after work and may watch something or listent to it in the background if it looks interesting.

One of the reasons, I'll postulate, he didn't get amazing view counts on his PAX coverage is possibly this: It seems as if for weeks (before he recently diversified again) his content had been dry. It felt like the only videos were DotA let's plays and "WTF is" of obscure puzzle games. I imagine that comparatively dirge-like period in his content may have fatigued his viewers, as it did me. I didn't pay much attention to TB's channel between getting tired of that period and very recently. He's picking it up again, with Blood Bowl and PAX, but maybe his viewers just got a bit bored, like me. Content Patch has been a bit dull from the beginning, in my opinion. It's always been too newsy for me. I prefer the more punditry focused Mailbox--though that got old multiple times as well. He needs a new core show that showcases what he does best, punditry. Less straight news, more analysis and (at times wacky) opinion, please.

I can't help but feel that he's had lengthy periods of somewhat dry content recently and that may have caused a lull in numbers, which in combination with Easter weekend, and coverage of obscure games, resulted in less than expected results. This is all just a feeling though. As to the video in question: I didn't have any issue with it. What people have said above defending it, is similar to how I'd defend it.

On the internet, so many people interpret every little thing as arrogance, stepping-over-the-line and elitism. Some people don't seem to get TB's putting on a persona, and often exaggerates everything. Seems like no one understands nuance and degrees anymore. One little thing doesn't instantly scale an action or statement from innocuous to supreme arrogance. (Some) People are mad at him for that initial Defiance video, in which he repeatedly states that he's not sure if the AI is this dumb throughout the game--maybe it was just in the tutorial area, which according to an above post, is the case. Yet, a bunch of people are mad as if he's condemned the game. Seems like no one pays attention; then fly off the handle when a few, incomplete, contextless snippets of TB's thoughts float across their narrow scope of focus that set them off. I feel like I'm from the neutral planet sometimes though, so maybe I don't know what's what on Earth.

Note: I'm a hypocrite of the attitudes I'm criticizing, I'm sure. Almost everyone alive is a hypocrite though; it's easier to criticize what you know all to well, isn't it? But let's not explode over it, shall we?

 

[Bonecrusher]

This guy... yeah, he has this idea that if everyone was like him the world would be filled with rainbows and lolipops.

He can be right about some things but the way he says them are usually very hipocrital, like "I dont like this and you are an idiot if you do, you are hurting the industry by giving money to whoever did this, etc..."

I am a fan of TB and his reviews. However I don't like some of his behavior, especially view count obsession.

It gets pointless when some Youtubers behave like subscribers are not there for their own personal experience and enternatinment, instead they are there just to earn money to that Youtuber. Such Youtubers should know their audience is the "customer", not the Youtuber's himself is "customer". We are not serving money to them, they are serving content to us.

So Total Biscuit should ask himself the question "why my view count is low", instead of asking us "why you are not watching ME!"

Total Biscuit acts contradictory towards his comments and subscribers.
Some days, he fights with his followers by saying "I DON'T TAKE REQUESTS! I STOPPED VOTING IN COMMENTS! THIS IS MY CHANNEL, I WILL DO WHAT I WANT TO DO!". There are funny parts in that situation. First of all, yes, you can not satisfy everyone in the world, and if he starts to take requests, there will be no end to it. However, if a comment upvoted by tens or even hundreds, that could mean a huge amount of his followers want to see that thing in his channel. And carrying out that idea is not same as "doing a request for a single person leads to a huge problem" matter. He automatically claimed that every upvoted comment is made by a single troll (that means, that troll opened hundreds of Youtube account and upvoted his comment over and over), and he neglected that it COULD BE upvoted by majority of his followers (that means, many of his followers are agreeing on that comment). Weird, he takes requests from game developers, but not from his followers.

Now, he asks his followers "why you didn't watched my latest videos? don't you love me anymore?" type of questions.
There could be many reasons for it, but he automatically jumps to "they don't like me, so I have to renew my channel" attitude.
Maybe people were at holiday? Maybe people were stuck on a specific game? Maybe people don't care games at PAX? Maybe people were waiting for a specific game and news were not exciting for them?

Low video view count doesn't automatically means that video sucks or people don't want to watch it. Maybe "target audience for that specific video" didn't heard or seen such a video is exist. If so, announcing or advertising that video for that video's target audience, will improve the view counts. Cancelling and destroying everything just because some of your followers didn't watch them, will not solve the problem.

I don't know if TB will read the posts here, but I wish to tell him this:
"Stop worrying about view counts and continue what you do best. Some periodic changes can always happen, but everything sits down eventually."

Never really understood Total Biscuit's appeal, or how he got so big in the first place. I mean, having seen his videos, he doesn't seem to offer any more or greater insight into gaming than your average Escapist user, his reviews don't tend to stand out all that much or seem to offer particular noteworthy critique...
Guys like Jim or Yahtzee, I can understand how they get popular. Yahtzee has a rare skill in scathing cynicism, which is always fun to watch, and Jim manages to mix superb trolling with actually quite intelligent/humorous arguments about the state of the industry.

You are hugely overrating "average Escapist user" or underrating Total Biscuit.

Total Biscuit's channel's aim is not "comedy" or "humor", but "review" and "information". So it will be pointless to compare TB with Yahtzee.

Yahtzee teases games weekly. It is aimed primarily for humor. You don't get much information from Yahtzee's videos, but entertained by the funny parts of the game.
Total Biscuit review games every other day. It is aimed primarily for information, review and critique. You watch his videos for getting knowledge and news about gaming.

I don't think "average Escapist user" is that knowledgable or careful in gaming. or "average 4chan user", "average Youtube user", "average Steam player" or briefly, "average internet user".
A typical gamer follows only one Ideology and shapes his comments around that Idea.
Total Biscuit tries to be objective, unbiased, and reviews every aspect of the game deeply (yes, even the settings menus, I don't know any internet user-gamer who cares about settings menus).

Let's give an example, in DA2/ME3 discussions on internet (in every forums of every sites), there are two types of gamers:
1- One that protects and defends Bioware just because "LGBT is the new modernism values and the new target of humanity" and Bioware likes to put Gay relations on their games.
2- One that bashes and mocks Bioware just because their games are not "the next Fallout 1" and "a non-isometric game can not be called a RPG".
So, I don't expect much from any "average internet gamer".
However, Total Biscuit reviews these games from the eyes of both the developer and the gamer. He points out both the advantages and the disadvantages of the game while playing it. He doesn't bash a game "just because it is not his favorite genre" or doesn't overhype a game just because it is the trend of the month.

People love TB's channel, because he is not your typical game media site that gives a game automatically 9.5/10 just because it is a triple-A (AAA) game. People love to see objective game reviewers.
Reviewers like Total Biscuit or Angry Joe are not common in gaming media.
If you know "average Escapist user" who can review a game as detailed and deeply at least as TB or AJ, please let me know.

 

[wolf thing]

TB complains about his subscriber's over zealous fanboy-ism yet whines when his videos don't get enough views. I really cannot stand him anymore, I used to be a fan, I really did, until his crusade on FOV. I tried getting back into his videos with his The War Z video, but of course 5 minutes in he complains about the FOV. In all honesty, this is how he always acts.

he get money every time some one watches his videos, the only money he gets, this is his job, this is not about fanboys this is about he lively hood, if you suddenly began losing money on your job you by all right would be asking why, thats all TB is doing. as for the FOV thing, on larger moniter a small FOV can cause motion sickness, which for those who suffer it can be a big deal.

I should have clarified what I meant about the video thing better. He always over-saturates his channel with PAX/GamesCon/Other gaming convention videos, complains how they don't get enough views, then says that he apologizes for the over-saturation. He has done this several times over (please see his Shootmania series and GamesCon coverage.). My issue is that he pretends to be professional when he's really just stuck in a cycle of raging then apologizing. I don't dislike him, I just don't like how he acts. And as for the FOV thing, it just bugs me because he's been beating a dead horse for several months now about that. (The main thing that bugged me was his Retro-City Rampage video, just watch the part where he talks about FOV and you'll know what I mean.)

i never really noticed an over abundance of con footage on his channel but you are right when he does post it there is a tone of it, much of it does not interest me. i still dont think hes being to angry about it this time, hes asking what he did wrong and how he can change, it has his overly confident and some time arrogant tone but that is what does. he has been overly angry at times but i dont think he is this time.

 

[pspman45]

When I first saw this video, I felt like he was bitching at his viewers for not watching his videos, and in turn not making him any money.
I never watch his PAX stuff because I watch his videos to hear his opinion on it, but I'm really just hearing the dev talking and him not really discussing the game, the noise in the background is also really annoying

 

[Susan Arendt]

Erm...bit of a whiny git, isn't he?

 

[dennett316]

What do I think?

Never seen one of this guy's videos before. Just got done watching the video you posted. Not going to start watching this guy any time soon.

This is why I hate it when people like OP intentionally miss the point of his video in order to spread hate and misinformation to gullible people such as yourself who base an entire person's worth off one little thing.

Much like TB did with his little Defiance video?

That is, complaining like fuck about AI whilst in the tutorial, giving his viewers a false sense of the quality of the game because the devs intentionally made the enemies in that area braindead because they're hoping to entice the viewers of the TV series who may not be big time gamers to play and want to ease them into the game gently.

The game actually gets a lot tougher and the AI a lot better later on, the only valid complain in that whole video was that the options menu could be better for PC.

OT: Way back when I watched all of his videos and then he went into it full time and I was OK with that, and then he threw his first tantrum and I was a bit put off but recovered and then he started getting very elitist and threw more tantrums and I was put off and my interest in his videos dwindled rather sharply from there to the point that I'd only watch his videos if the game was one I wasn't totally sold on but liked the look of.

I won't deny it, his WTF videos are helpful but his personality is very grating to me.

Did you miss the parts where he mentioned that this is still the tutorial and not to take it as an overall representation of the quality of the whole game? He said it several times, and said that since this isn't his overall WTF is... for the game that it should be taken with a massive grain of salt. He posted it as an early concern, because the AI was HORRIBLE for the tutorial. It wasn't even like they were slightly stupider, it was like they were blind, deaf and retarded...

His vlog video actually showed background footage of Defiance outside of the tutorial and offered some more insight into it, and he will do a proper WTF is... once he gets a better idea of what the game is and where it shines and falters.

OT: Nothing was wrong with that vlog, just a guy who gets paid based on view count wondering if he fucked up something or id his viewers dont want convention footage.

Exactly, he said the AI might get better later on so he should have realized how unfair it was to post a video on his relatively popular channel slamming the game for it's tutorial AI.

I saw MANY comments of people saying the video convinced them not to buy the game and he knew full well that his video would have that effect, I find that rather annoying.

So he shouldn't point out potential problems to people in a straightforward manner? He made very clear the fact that what he was pointing out will not represent the quality of the full game. If I were you, I'd be rallying against the dimwits who were prepared to write off an entire game based on that single issue, which TB stated several times shouldn't be taken as gospel.
Honestly, I think some people take what he says, and how he says it, WAY too seriously and completely overreact....like the OP saying he was aggressive in his VLog when he simply wasn't being aggressive in any way, shape or form. Is it a cultural thing? Are Americans or other countries simply not used to a Geordie accent and mistake it for being aggressive? As a Scot, I know that people often mistake our accents and volume of speech as being aggressive when it's anything but.