An Apology, and a Rant about Youtube.

I've been feeling increasingly guilty over the past month especially because I believe a lot of what I've been uploading has not been up to quality. This post is going to be a two-part piece, first explaining why content (in my opinion) has been suffering lately, and secondly a bit of a rant regarding current series.

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Firstly, I'm sorry for the lack of communication. Though I hope none of you have been actively upset about it, I still feel as if an explanation is necessary to why I haven't been so active on Discord, writing up the monthly Patreon Youtube stat reviews, and ultimately why I feel like content has taken a massive blow.

Right now I'm uploading three to four videos daily. One warm up video on the second channel, the regular daily Ck2 and Rimworld, then the alternating Bannerlord video, plus a new CK2 mod I'm working on for next series - this isn't the mod I teased a month back, more on that towards the end of this post.

One of the issues is most likely the workload itself, but I'm struggling to find ways to really make that any easier. I feel that it's mostly just a confluence of circumstance at this stage. We have the GRRM series that is incredibly slow, the Rimworld series where we've hit a brick wall in terms of resources, and Bannerlord is a lot of slow grind and management that I have to edit a lot more than other series. I think all of these in tandem have really pushed my recording time up, and is why Bannerlord in particular can only be on every other day.

Downside to this is that I tragically only have 24 hours in a day to record with, and second takes are no longer possible right now. I have scrapped entire videos before because they haven't met my standard but really it's a luxury I just cannot afford. Honestly, a lot of what prompted this post is that later today (22nd April) the Ck2 and the Rimworld video I would have scrapped and restarted if I had the luxury of doing so, but I've gone ahead with them because I think it's at least better than giving you guys nothing at all.

There is also the personal issues I've talked about a little bit in the Patreon discord.

First of which is that according to the 15 texts I've received from my doctors practice, I am a high risk individual, so I have to self-quarantine. We're not talking about a government recommended one outdoor activity a day kind of quarantine - this is a life or death type of quarantine because in the last six months I've had severe respiratory issues. (In fact, if you go back to the CK2 Rise to Power series with battle grandma I did back in January, I sound like a pitch-perfect Darth Vader impersonator.)

Secondly, the currently rental contract on our house expires in June. That gives us roughly one month left (obviously we were looking beforehand) to find a new place to live. Strangely enough, that's proving extremely difficult when every estate agent, landlord, and property owner have all apparently retreated to their bunker on the fucking moon - or at least I assume that's where they are considering how difficult it is to find somewhere to live.

We could have, in theory, remained in our current house, but our landlord in his infinite kindness only offered us a 24 month contract at a 15% increased monthly rate. Nothing like a bit of kindness during a these tough times. The house was already too small when we moved it, but we were willing to compromise because it was pretty convenient to where Elise worked at the time. When I say small, I mean small. As in so small we can't fit a bed into the bedroom so we have to sleep on the floor. It's not quite as tragic as it sounds, it's actually pretty comfy - but not exactly convenient.

That, plus Elise's brother is living with us because his plans have been ruined by the pandemic, means that living here is just not viable at all. But mainly it's because I would actually rather live on the street as a poor orphan boy than give the landlord the satisfaction of paying his extortion. 

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One of the other big issues right now, as I have eluded to in every single outro card for the past month, is that Youtube is tanking extremely hard right now.

It's also no secret that Youtube pushed ads a lot harder recently, and though it was a double-edged sword, it really helped smaller channels like me claw back some revenue. That is essentially gone entirely now, and though I've said it a lot, I sincerely mean it that without Patreon I would absolutely not be doing this.

For the hours I put into the channel, taking into account recording, editing, mods for series etc, Patreon basically equated to (after transfer fees and an abysmal transfer rates, thanks Paypal) slightly more than a minimum wage job - but the trade off for me was that it was extremely comfortable, and at the end of the day, playing video games.

I've worked a real minimum wage, 5am - 3pm job, and it sucked, so I absolutely appreciate what I have. The aggressive Youtube advertising over the past few months definitely drove some people away, but that, in tandem with Youtube red, actually netted a decent amount.
I can't discuss specific values because of Youtube monetisation policy, but it elevated me from "Whether my rent is paid or not depends on the kindness of strangers" to "Holy shit this Youtube thing might actually work out in the long term" - the latter of which entirely disappeared overnight.

Well okay, not literally overnight, but pretty god damn close. I've seen a -47% revenue drop as of last time I checked (I think I'm okay to say that much without Youtube hunting me down) over approximately two weeks vs a -23% views drop. I would have expected slightly less of a views drop, but still a significant one, as the 300,000+ views on the first episode of the CK2 Rise to Power series completely fucked up my numbers, however the revenue drop is unprecedented.

Luckily, I know it's not just me - I was linked to a Twitter thread started by Hank Green showcasing the platform wide drop, but it is still massively demoralising to see the numbers fall day on day.

The Crux of it all?

For me, the money going away, the views going down, is a demoralising, but not world ending -  I knew what I was getting into with Youtube. I've said this before, but I can hardly complain about it when people have quite literally lost their jobs recently. 

The issue is the complete lack of communication. No assurances, no explanation to why people's livelihoods are being snatched away suddenly - obviously we're in a global pandemic and corporations hardly want to advertise during it, but there was no forewarning of what to expect when we saw this on the horizon, and now it's hit, there's still nothing.

But-you-fucking-know-what-there-is-instead? A new self-review system, implemented by Youtube, in the middle of the platforms biggest revenue decline ever, that forces users to manually review their own videos before they're even permitted to be uploaded, let alone monetised.

Yes, I'm sure it has the bonus of allowing Youtube to not require so many staff members during the pandemic to review videos. But I would sure as fuck put money on this system not being a temporary measure. What's more is that the review system is deeply problematic, there's more than enough for me to write an entire separate post on but I wont for my own sanity. I did rant about it in the Patreon discord chat though.

Not to mention the extremely vague and general expectations of a rating. How hell am I supposed to know if "unedited simulated violence as part of a video game" applies to Crusader Kings, or Rimworld? We're not exactly on Grand Theft Auto levels of car battery applied directly to the nipples torture scene, but it is, quite literally, simulated violence. And what if I honestly don't believe Rimworld or Ck2 belongs in the same category of violence categorisation as GTA, or COD?

They use extensive terminology such as a "your trust rating", and allowing YouTube to "understand how my video aligns with advertisers". The trope of China's "social rating score" is becoming a little bit too real in the Youtube space. Reading between the lines it seems to be a very simple case of "do our jobs, and if we deem you untrustworthy, you do not get paid". Now also bear in mind my previous point of vague categories, and you can see why this is so concerning. I might be accidentally taking my "trust rating" by not correctly flagging CK2 as a violent video game.

I'll upload a full volley of screenshots of the mandatory questionnaire with each upload now.

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As for secondary projects, I'm going to have to make some changes going forward.

Twitch streaming will basically be shelved, at least until we find somewhere else to live - the bonus to this is that I might be able to setup an actual studio if we get a larger room for me to work in.

The big CK2 mod project I teased a month ago is indefinitely postponed. Though progress was going pretty well, it was basically just me working on it. I realised that it was my passion project that the other members of the group had little interest in and were most likely only there to be polite. Despite common rumour, I am not a primordial force of nature, and a one man overhaul mod would be borderline impossible anyway, without an entire Youtube channel to carry.

Second channel videos might also have to slow down, or be cancelled completely until I have moved. They're a useful tool for me to warm up with, but they also require rendering and uploading and there just aren't enough hours in the day for it.

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And of course I'll reiterate the point I made in the last post - look after yourself first. I fully understand Patreon subscriptions being cancelled at a time like this, I've had to cut back on luxuries entirely so I fully understand you doing the same. At this stage I will survive on pure vitriol.

To those of you continuing to support this dumpster fire - thank you. If all goes to plan, I have some interesting ideas coming up over the next month. Figured if we're in a rut might as well use it as an excuse to experience seeing as we haven't exactly got much to lose on the analytics front. Stay tuned - but you guys will get to vote on the next game after I retire Bannerlord, we're going to have a permanent rotating third series directed by the Patrons.

As always, you can contact me with feedback, complains, or just for a chat over discord. DMs are always open.

Tales of your misdeeds are told from Battania to Shittle's Creek,

Sam,
Mr Streamer,
Roll1D2Games.

PS - Coincidentally, I wrote this over the course of about an hour while editing tomorrows episodes. If it makes no sense then that's because it's 5am and I working on the content so haven't had a chance to read it back!