REport: Channel Changes Planned

Aww that's sad... I'll miss the costume videos. But I understand you have to do this to keep the channel going.

I will miss the recording videos for sure I always looked forward to watching those videos.

Thanks, Tony, and we'll take a look at those channels to see how they're handling things!

Random Encounters

Hi, Annie! When we looked up which behind the scenes content does the best, bloopers and recording videos were the front runners! If there is a good opportunity to show recordings, we still intend to. :)

Random Encounters

I understand that you probably aren't doing any more recording videos, which are my favorite side content, but I was wondering if every once in a while you would be able to show us snippets of you guys recording? If that takes too much effort then I completely understand! I'm just asking.

As I said, earlier, you guys are doing great even if the "algorithms" don't think so. Not sure you know this, but Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn have side channels to their primaries, Scary Pockets and Pomplamoose, respectively. Of course, he's CEO of Patreon. She's CEO of Pomplamoose. The JackConteExtras channel might be worth perusing (trigger warnings.) I liked this, too: Letting go of the past... on the PomplamooseMusic channel.

Thanks for the feedback, Sparky! Gwen still has costumes to make each month, and she likes filming the process, so it's possible we'll occasionally post them still, or cut back on editing, or even post them to her personal channel.

Random Encounters

THIS. Thanks for bringing this up, Kevin. It was meant to keep traction on Fridays between musicals, but the more swol it got -- and the more the algorithm changes -- the less it accomplishes its intended goals. :/ I actually called side content the "spiritual successor to Encounting" last week. 😂I still like the concept... but the platform no longer seems to allow for it...

Random Encounters

Thanks, Anthony! You've been around RE a long time and have seen plenty of ups and downs, so I hope this is just one more that passes uneventfully. The most consistent thing has been our core content, and we don't plan to change anything more than necessary to give that core content a shot in the arm. Thanks for sticking with us!

Random Encounters

Appreciate the feedback, Cloudy! I've told many people that I would probably only watch the musicals (and maybe the bloopers...) if I were just a random fan online, and that probably should've inspired this change a bit sooner. >_< Time is short and the internet is huge -- there's a lot of great stuff to watch, and we want to make sure RE's videos are just as easy to find as they are easy to enjoy. We'll be delighted to still connect via REplayed, Patreon, and other opportunities... and hopefully have more music videos to show for it as well!

Random Encounters

Thanks for supporting us, Dakota! It feels like a crime to sacrifice side content after so many years, but it feels like an even greater crime to pour so much into video game musicals that YouTube won't share with 90% of our fans (or, dare I suggest, NONSUBSCRIBERS?!) 😂

Random Encounters

Thanks for the epic post, Zak! You always put a ton of thought and perspective into your feedback. :) Gwen also went through our detailed records about side content, and she found bloopers often performed best, due to their relationship/proximity to the musicals (especially massively successful ones!) Lyric challenges seem to outperform other types of challenges. As you mentioned, those lyric challenges do pretty well, too, but take extra prep time, an extra shoot, and a couple days of editing. Also, only the first two Lyric challenges have hit a million views. There are three so far that haven't, though all of them thankfully have at least 100k. Non-lyric challenges are some of the rockiest, so far as work put in. There are currently 8, and all but our newest one have at least 100k views, though none ever reached a million. I'd love to do more with older musicals, as you suggested! I'm really disappointed the No More Mama animation didn't really play out as expected... -_- We've unfortunately not been able to secure any reasonable deal with 3D/Minecraft animators, and we're mostly hiring 2D animators for new projects. There was talk, though, of trying to hire on a fulltime animator using Patreon funding... If that happens, we'll probably see a number of old videos resurrected! I appreciate the enthusiasm and hope however we balance this, we're still providing content you're proud to be part of. :) If nothing else, Patreon has no algorithm requirements, so we can always share whatever we want with you guys here! 😈

Random Encounters

Glad to have someone handy who can attest to the lengthy editing process! 😂 It'd be awesome to straight up take a week off, but if we want extra musicals out, we'll just switch what we're editing that week (or writing... or recording... or filming!)

Random Encounters

Thanks for the thoughts, Kira! I agree that Patreon can still be used to feature some behind-the-scenes material, though nothing as long and elaborate as what we were producing on RE. I love the idea, however, of hammering out more musicals a year... and making sure they get watched! It's like my personal nightmare to imagine entire game communities who never found an RE musical we made especially for them... Looking forward to continue seeing you for a palette cleanser each week! ;)

Random Encounters

Grateful to hear that, Christian! There are just so many games we want to make musicals for still, and so many that we think could've been seen more had we sharpened RE down to a point.

Random Encounters

Your comment breaks my heart. ;_; I'm really sorry, I love RE for being unique. It's been a point of pride for me to go against the grain and be more present than other, similar channels. We'd definitely like to leave the door open for other content still, but on a more voluntary basis instead of forced-schedule. I also happen to know Gwen loves doing costume videos and may try including some on a personal channel (that I don't have to help edit!), so hopefully there will be opportunities to enjoy some of the same material even off RE. :)

Random Encounters

Thanks, Rachel. That's really special of you to say! And it gives me some food for thought... It's a constant battle on this platform between product and personality. We want to have both, but apparently this isn't the right way to accomplish that... RE's community gets in a huff as it is when we make Fruit Ninja instead of FNAF musicals, so I can't imagine the fallout if we spent time on a THIRD channel for our lowest performing videos in lieu of delivering more musical projects. 😂 Thanks for being a very rare Encounterer!

Random Encounters

Thanks, Rebecca. We want everyone to feel just as much a part of the behind-the-scenes process as ever, and hopefully Patreon is able to do that.

Random Encounters

That's a good point. Our goal is definitely to focus on musicals and helping them reach their full audiences, but expanding Patreon as a side-effect would be pretty cool, too!

Random Encounters

I'm glad to keep Bloopers as well! The reason we wouldn't start a side channel (or dump content on a pre-existing one) is because, from a business standpoint, the videos no longer support RE very well. REplayed, for example, has 60k subscribers, and makes about 1/2 as much as Patreon each month! And adding those side videos to an existing channel might hurt that channel's other content for the same reasons it's hurt RE's musicals (gaming fans may start skipping half the uploads that aren't about gaming). In a perfect universe, a documentary team follows us around with a camera for free, edits the footage together, and posts it all on a brand new RE Behind the Scenes channel. 😂 In a more probable universe, the YouTube algorithm chills out at some point and we bring back more side content. We'll see which we can make happen first!

Random Encounters

Thanks, Squeebs. I'm hopeful most people subscribed to RE won't actually notice (since they don't seem to notice when videos get posted, either...) 😂

Random Encounters

Thanks, Nico. I personally hate making changes once a routine is set, so hopefully we won't need any others. I'm with you 100% that I want this channel to be making new musicals for many years to come -- thanks for sharing my dream! ^^

Random Encounters

Sounds like trying to bring back a convenient livestream option for European Encounterers would be a good addition then. We can see how side content forms a better, more "authentic" connection than musicals-only, and how much losing it could impact Encounterers like you. :( We'll work on a plan to prevent that as much as we can.

Random Encounters

The costuming videos are some of my favorites, but if they have to go then I hope the channel is stronger for it. Either way I still plan on sticking around.

Sparky Wolf

To my recollection, the only reason you started doing as much weekly behind-the-scenes content was for the algorithm anyway.

Kevin Orfield

I'm a little disappointed that the C+ Shanty isn't doing so well, I really enjoyed it. But the youtube algorithm is a mystery. I like behind the scenes gubbins, but even if some stuff is removed from the main channel at least I still get these REports, and you could always throw some stuff on the second channel. So long as you guys are still making musicals, I'll continue to be happy.

Anthony Mushrow

We all completely understand the decision to cut back on the side content, and even though it’s makes me and a lot of other people sad to see it go, I’m still looking forward to hanging out with y’all every week on REPlayed, and on discord and such. I can see how the side content is affecting the musicals, as my sister and my o lot friend that likes RE are the kind of people that just like to pop in once a month, to watch the musical and maybe the bloopers and don’t really care about the side content. Hopefully, this will give y’all a chance to relax and destress more, extra stress about getting content that barely any people (compared to the size of your subscriber base) will watch is the last thing y’all need right now. We will all still be excited for the content we get, and for now, the side content is getting a grave in my animal crossing graveyard.

I trust your judgement to know you wouldn't be doing this unless you absolutely had to and if an animal crossing song is only at 40K the first weekend (which I was in disbelief about until I saw for myself), I think you're making the right call by changing it now...

sammythyst

Hey guys! Firstly, I definitely am not going anywhere!! Secondly. Let’s get into the meat and potatoes. I think there are definitely a couple reasons musical views have been on the decline. And it’s so unfortunate since I think the C+ Shanty is one of the best musicals you’ve released! But, I think some of it may have to unfortunately be due to the lack of any “special guests” like Mark, Nate, MatPat, even like Adriana or Jules. And of course, that isn’t your fault, especially with the virus and the lockdown and everything! In fact, you shouldn’t always need guests. All 3 of you contribute greatly to making videos amazing, which is I think what made people love musicals like ‘60 Seconds!’ a lot, since the chemistry between you 3 is unmatched. But people of course want those special guests. Hence why musicals like ‘How to Beat a Monkey at Chess’ are SO popular for you, even tho it didn’t even release on the RE Channel! When it comes to BTS content, I kind of liked what Alec had to say. Just kinda slapping random clips together, not worrying too much about the quality of the editing, and putting it on Patreon. Because at the end of the day, we are here for you guys, and we’d love to see more cool behind the scenes stuff! Even if it isn’t edited that much. I also looked at your channel to see what kinds of side content do best, and I actually think you should keep doing challenges. Out of all the content, they usually get the most views. The Finish the Lyrics ones all have over a million I think, so I personally don’t think challenges should be cut. I am excited to see more musicals tho. Like I said, we are here for you guys and will watch all the fun content you put out, but we definitely love seeing musicals, so if you can put out more of them (WITHOUT STRESSING YOURSELVES OUT!!!) then go for it! We support that whole heartedly! But I really hope BTS stuff does get preserved in some way. I always think back to the BTS of the ‘Arkham Rock Opera” musical and how much it shows the love and care and effort you put into these videos. Also, this is a personal thing, but I think you should do more stuff with your older musicals! Your Finish the Lyrics videos introduced me to Muffins the Musical, Hyrule Warrior’s Heart, Determined till the End.. etc. I remember you wanting to do a Minecraft version of “No More Mama”, which is cool! Or just other things as well! Maybe even some more remixes? Or medleys? Something kind of creative and fun that you can do with the old musicals since you have a huge backlog! I know this was a very long comment. But most of us aren’t going anywhere! And we hope you can get through the slog that is the YouTube Algorithm!! You got this!!!

ZakPak

Algorithms can be the worst. But you guys go ahead and take a week off. A lot of people don’t realize how long editing a video can take. As a film major, I know.

Lacey Derr

Honestly, this new change is making me pumped more for what you guys have in store! I enjoy all of the behind the scenes content, not gonna lie.. but I completely understand on what kind of route you guys are going for, and I think this is going to make this year pretty interesting.. (for me at least!) And just like the others here, you guys can also put a lot of the behind the scenes content through Patreon more thanks to it. It even saves you guys more time as well! I'm just also glad that REPlayed's ways are staying, since I really love coming to the livestreams to watch you guys play some games. It's like my week's palette cleanser! So I'm still going to support you guys, every step of the way. Can't wait on what kind of musicals you guys have to offer for the next months coming in!

scarletfeisty

While there is some extra content that I enjoy, it has nothing on watching the musicals. I am pretty excited for what is in store.

It saddens me that this change is being made. Don't get me wrong, you guys totally deserve to have a week of not scrambling for uploads, and being able to do the things you love. But, when I subscribed to this channel almost a year ago, I fell in love with how different the channel was. Other music channels I sometimes check out, but RE gets me excited, even if I don't know the game. It's been one of the things I'm thankful for during quarantine because my mental health was at such a low place back then, and this helped. Anyways, I'm glad the bloopers are staying, and I'm glad REPlayed will still be up every week. I'll be sad to see other content go, as I enjoy your content no matter what. As much as it's a sad goodbye, I do hope this helps your channel in ways that you haven't seen before. And, every once and a while, I'm sure we wouldn't mind a goofy challenge or costume video, because those are fun to watch in my opinion. Anyways, sorry for the long comment, but this REport came with a lot of mixed emotions and thoughts. I will continue to back the channel, however, because I love what you do, even if it's not every week.

Cat and Books are Life

I'm still gonna support you guys and be excited for everything there is to come, but all I know is that I'm part of the small minority that honestly kinda prefers side content to musicals. Sure, the musicals are great, but I'm here for you guys. Anyways, you could put the bonus content on this channel? I'm not sure. But you've gotta do what you've gotta do. Hope you're all doing okay. 💜

Rachel A

Honestly guys it’s ok that you need to make those changes, obviously I love the side content as well as the musicals and I’ll miss them but the amazing musicals you guys make doing well and getting the views they need and deserve is important. Do anything you need to do to help the channel, I’ll support it no matter what love everything you guys make.

Rebecca Scowcroft

As much as I love the side content, I will completely support your decisions. And honestly, I feel like this might boost your patron amount, because quite a few people know that this is the place for behind the scenes stuff that they can guarantee will still be here.

Well what if you put the behind the bonus videos on replayed? Like you did with the comment videos or have a separate channel for the bonus stuff I’ll definitely miss the bonus stuff! But I’m glad the bloopers are staying

I think that the behind the scenes patreon idea sounds good.

Rachel A

A few observations, Looking at the average views per musical for the last 3 albums (8, 9 and 10) the average has been in a rapid decline from an average of 30 million views per musical to 6 million and ending up at 3 million views per musical. So something is holding that back. and if you think that your solution solves the problem than go for it. Regarding the patrons and side content. If you want to maintain some level of side content for patrons you could make something simular to the reports. a relativly unedited look behind the scenes video. This would allow you to still feed patrons side content without the expectation of the highly eddited RE channel standard. still saving you time. P.S. Sorry for my grammer. my brain is not working today.

I will support no matter what and if this is what helps the channel I will support it! You gotta do what you gotta do!

Squeebers

Changes are necessary sometimes! Just try everything that can help the channel. I will support you, no matter what. The content you make is absolutely amazing! I hope we can enjoy your fantastic musicals many years to come!

that sucks, i love the behind the scenes stuff. i wish i could wach the streams live but they are at 1am in scotland and i take meds to get me to sleep

Sam the Scotsman