Just thought I'd bring this over to the forum here, since I see Youtube videos embedded in a lot of threads, and my attempts to discuss this on Youtube Video comment sections just get drowned out by smegging flamewars; I've been watching stuff on Youtube for ages now, like pretty much everyone, but I'd never really made an account, and never randomly browsed the stuff available. It was always clicking Related Videos, or doing specific searches. Over the past month, however, my experiences on making my own channel- a non-gaming channel, so no need to get excited- has caused me to notice some... patterns... when it comes to Youtube's comments. Lately, it's been the sheer number of Let's Play channels.
For anyone who might not know, Let's Play channels generally consist of the channel owner playing some game, while they narrate or comment over the audio; often with a webcam showing their face in one corner. I first saw one a long-ass time ago, one of Pewdiepie's first Amnesia vids... and since then, it just seems that the number of such channels has EXPLODED. There are hundreds, if not thousands of people doing this lately, some playing retro games, many playing the same game at the same time; some of them only have a dozen subscribers. Others have hundreds of thousands. Even some people who have YouTube fame for some other reason, like Toby Turner, has gotten into doing Let's Plays.
This has led to some backlash, however, as a few people have started raising a ruckus because they believe that certain people are just trying to 'cash in;' doing these Let's Play videos for the ad revenue money. Not going to name names, because one of the strongest advocats against this, ironically, has his video monetized, making him a little hypocritical. And, yes, mine are monetized too, but you don't see me complaining about other people's moneymaking. Mostly. Anyway, these individuals believe that Toby and others- generally, those whose fanbase mostly come from some other Youtube channel thing- shouldn't do Let's Plays, and should step aside so 'proper' hardcore gamers can do it instead.
So, what do you guys think? Should there be some limit placed on who can post what? Should Top Youtubers just stick to what they know, and keep out of games altogether?
Personally, I don't. Even forgetting the whole 'freedom of expression' dealie, I don't think introducing more hardcore gamers would solve the problem; I believe the entire Let's Play phenomenon, and its popularity, harkens back to that old ritual where gamers would try out some new game themselves, while two or three friends sat on the couch pretty much just sitting and watching. Jokes aplenty flying, etc. Generally the really popular channels of this nature are because the viewers find the person charismatic, and the type of game he's playing doesn't really matter. By extension, whether or not the person playing the game is a 'hardcore' player like me doesn't really matter either, because hey, if I find them entertaining, I'm going to invest my time in watching them, and maybe even subscribe to their channel.
If these people want to draw in the tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of views, they should stride to make a more entertaining product and drag people in to watch them, not rant about how 'The Man,' so to speak, is keeping them down. End of the day, most of these Youtubers used to be in exactly the same position, trying to claw their way up to a high subscription count.
Considering how tiny my channel is, I can safely say I'm not speaking as 'The Man.' I admit, it'd be nice if everyone with a higher subscription count than me died peacefully in their sleep so they'd be out of the way... but I have only thirty-four subscribers, so it'd be a lonely planet if that happened.
For anyone who might not know, Let's Play channels generally consist of the channel owner playing some game, while they narrate or comment over the audio; often with a webcam showing their face in one corner. I first saw one a long-ass time ago, one of Pewdiepie's first Amnesia vids... and since then, it just seems that the number of such channels has EXPLODED. There are hundreds, if not thousands of people doing this lately, some playing retro games, many playing the same game at the same time; some of them only have a dozen subscribers. Others have hundreds of thousands. Even some people who have YouTube fame for some other reason, like Toby Turner, has gotten into doing Let's Plays.
This has led to some backlash, however, as a few people have started raising a ruckus because they believe that certain people are just trying to 'cash in;' doing these Let's Play videos for the ad revenue money. Not going to name names, because one of the strongest advocats against this, ironically, has his video monetized, making him a little hypocritical. And, yes, mine are monetized too, but you don't see me complaining about other people's moneymaking. Mostly. Anyway, these individuals believe that Toby and others- generally, those whose fanbase mostly come from some other Youtube channel thing- shouldn't do Let's Plays, and should step aside so 'proper' hardcore gamers can do it instead.
So, what do you guys think? Should there be some limit placed on who can post what? Should Top Youtubers just stick to what they know, and keep out of games altogether?
Personally, I don't. Even forgetting the whole 'freedom of expression' dealie, I don't think introducing more hardcore gamers would solve the problem; I believe the entire Let's Play phenomenon, and its popularity, harkens back to that old ritual where gamers would try out some new game themselves, while two or three friends sat on the couch pretty much just sitting and watching. Jokes aplenty flying, etc. Generally the really popular channels of this nature are because the viewers find the person charismatic, and the type of game he's playing doesn't really matter. By extension, whether or not the person playing the game is a 'hardcore' player like me doesn't really matter either, because hey, if I find them entertaining, I'm going to invest my time in watching them, and maybe even subscribe to their channel.
If these people want to draw in the tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of views, they should stride to make a more entertaining product and drag people in to watch them, not rant about how 'The Man,' so to speak, is keeping them down. End of the day, most of these Youtubers used to be in exactly the same position, trying to claw their way up to a high subscription count.
Considering how tiny my channel is, I can safely say I'm not speaking as 'The Man.' I admit, it'd be nice if everyone with a higher subscription count than me died peacefully in their sleep so they'd be out of the way... but I have only thirty-four subscribers, so it'd be a lonely planet if that happened.
