TL; DR: because I want to make videos that I like.
I am very aware that there are plenty of evidence that supports the practice of uploading regularly to aid channel growth.
BUT – “making videos to grow the channel” vs. “making videos that I like” – are two very different modes of operation. Former being more business-driven and latter being more about enjoying the hobby at my own pace.
However, I admit that at the start, I wanted the best of both worlds, I wanted a great channel, because I like gaming, and I like making videos. So I tried to do regular uploads in the beginning.
But by forcing myself to constantly produce and upload videos – “for the sake of having content regularly”, I ended up disliking the process altogether, it was frustrating, and mind-numbingly dull.
For example – TWAB – a blog post that comes out every week containing latest news and updates by Bungie’s development team. A quick video idea is to record myself reading the TWAB, slap some D2 gameplay in the background on a loop, render + upload, job done.
That sounds significantly easier than scripting / planning / recording specific clips to produce a single video that may not even get any views, so why don’t I do it? I guess I just like torturing myself, but I also genuinely think the latter to be more “fun”.
My ideal type of video, regardless of the subject, is “something I don’t mind watching another few times”. This is quite difficult to do in a video format like TWAB, and quite frankly – the same can be said about weapon review videos that I produce – because Destiny is a forever changing sandbox, so videos in this domain are doomed to have a limited attention/life-span.
But still, I try – so in each video, I would include elements that are relatively “timeless”, for example, a well-timed pun or (dad) joke that isn’t gaming-related, or some special editing that gives the video an extra visual boost that makes it stands out from the others (e.g. No Time to Explain). These are all hints of me attempting to make the video fun to watch again in the future, even if the subject is no longer relevant.
If you haven’t noticed it before, then feel free to re-watch some of my older review videos and see whether you can pick up these small “hints” (nudge nudge, go and watch it).
So that is in essence, my answer to the question in this blogpost’s title. But while we are here (if you are still reading), I would like to briefly mention some plans for this channel.
Right now I am planning to include “playthrough” videos for new games into the channel.
I deeply believe that no one should be restricted to just a single game, especially when there are some great games coming up.
I really like “playthrough” videos – I did quite a few in the past, like the Uncharted Lost Legacy, which I absolutely adored to bits.
It’s a format ideal for me to enjoy games naturally and still be able to produce content at the same time. However, historically speaking, diversifying away from an audience base primarily consist of (likely) Destiny players has always brought some sort of negative effects, most notably – subscribers leaving the channel.
Given the current state of Destiny 2, and the foreseeable dry-ness before Lightfall expansion, I think including some other videos right now would be a “healthy” move, and it will help the channel progress to getting a wider reach in audience.
However, I am also aware that not everyone likes playthroughs, because YouTube is LITTERED with it, it may not be your “thing”, also my playthrough style is to include commentary, and then obviously there is a big debate on whether to include commentary or not… it’s a can of worms which I do not want to open right now in this blogpost. The gist here is that “it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and I understand if you don’t like it.”.
So, in short – bear with me whenever I decide to post anything non-Destiny related on my channel, it’s because behind all the user interface, there is a very real person behind trying to work out the best thing to do for the future.
That’s all I have for this blogpost, GG y’all.
Porc
PxPorcupine 