February 2019 Patreon Update - I Need Your Feedback!

Hi Mike, Super late comment but hopefully you'll find this of some use. First, I want to say that if something is making you feel unhappy or unmotivated you should stop. As a fellow video content creator I understand the maddening frustration of trying to balance accessibility, viewer demands and personal interest. I think you are in the unique position of having the artistry and creativity to launch into what personally motivates you, pulling people along for the ride. That's why we are all here. I will say the following, and this is my personal experience as a viewer and as a Patreon. The reason I fell in love with your channel is because of the care and attention to detail i saw in videos dedicated to games I love. Games that I feel were neglected. It may not be difficult to find videos about FF on Youtube, but it is very, very difficult to find videos about FF that are well produced, rich and focused. That's the reason why I love your channel. Because you provided exceptional content on a topic that very often gets denied exceptional representation. If this is what you want to do for interviews and in depth thematic analysis, then I think that's a great idea. Again, not because those things don't exist, but I do believe your level of polish and analytical insight will add something worthwhile to the conversation. Don't feel restrained by what you think the format of this conversations should be. Create and figure out your own format. I wanna add that, as much as I love your retrospective reviews, they do feel programmatic. I can see how you feel like yo are straining to hit some buttons. Don't. I don't believe in reviews that blindly touch on all aspects of art as if they were a checklist. Read some reviews from Wesley Morris, Richard Brody or Manohla Dargis and you'll see a rich psychological approach to reviews and analysis that is not bound by having to hit this or that bullet point. Another example is the Like Stories of Old channel. It creates video essays about films based on themes a film or films touch upon. You go ahead and open the possibilities of what you want to tell based on your interest. We'll follow. I will say this tho. I love your content because I think it spotlights things that have not been looked in this way before. I support that approach. When it comes to the art of storytelling and books however, well... I really don't need more content in my life about narrative structure and Crime and Punishment. There's plenty of that already. One thing I haven't seen is an exploration of race and gender in Chrono Cross (Just an example,) That I would watch the hell out of. I know initially i said "do what you want" and now I'm like "but not that!" Bottom line is, I think you are unto stuff that's truly new, and captivating and fresh. I would focus on that, and I think all your followers will stick with ya. Ultimately tho, do do what you want :)

My only suggestion would be to focus more on video game topics on the podcast. While I do enjoy listening to you and Casen talk about anything, I'm personally not very interested in the art of storytelling. Perhaps do a 50% - 50% balance?

Hi Mike,

I feel like I'm commenting a bit late here, but briefly I believe the reason the retrospectives are so much more popular is because they incite the same feeling you describe at the beginning of the Suikoden video. You remind us of (and expand on) the feelings we experienced when playing the game in a way that is both concise and thorough. You give us that condensed experience echoing what we loved about those games and we learn a few new facts on the way. Personally, I love both styles of video, I always watch them, and I hope you will keep making both.

Oh, and as for branching out to other media, I think that would be tricky. You would probably need to produce your current content (jrpg stuff) while also doing other stuff and try to bridge them while essentially building a second audience for the new stuff. Eventually, if you make enough good videos about movies, people will be subscribed to you for those. But I think you would have to do it consistently and for quite a while to essentially build a new audience for it.

William

Hi Mike! I'm a bit late to the party and there are a lot of thoughtful comments already (and I'm not going to read all of them so I'm sorry if what I'm going to say has already been said, but hopefully that will just reinforce any points that have already been made). First off, I think that comparing Hyper Light Drifter and Suikoden is a bit of an apples and oranges situation. Suikoden has a lot of nostalgia attached. HLD is probably in an awkward place where it isn't necessarily a nostalgic game, it wasn't necessarily groundbreaking (It did very well but I haven't heard much about it in the year it came out), and it's not new enough to be in a lot of people's minds right now. Those games different audiences. So I think you would get a better comparison if you did your Suikoden 2 video in the style of HDL. Because it targets your core audience in a way that HDL doesn't. As far as your music video... I have a couple guesses: 1) People subscribed for JRPGs and didn't care about something that wasn't that. 2) People subscribed for JRPGs and didn't notice you put out this video. If you're like me, you have a handful of people you are subscribed to and you only watch about half of what they put out. Sometimes you are looking at your subs and your eyes kind of gloss over anything that doesn't look fun at the moment. Idk. 3) There are a lot of videos about video game music. There are many channels devoted just to that. Doesn't mean that yours isn't good (it was!), but it may just be something people think they've already heard. Granted there are a lot of people talking about Suikoden and Final Fantasy, but not necessarily recently and with the same production value you have. As far as whether you need to do retrospective reviews, I really don't think you do. I don't think people came to your channel to know about the minigames in Final Fantasy VII. In a lot of ways, your videos function similarly to podcasts in that they are a dude talking for a while about a thing I'm interested in. And the "dude talking" genre of podcasts often functions as a way for the listener to *feel* like they are having a conversation about something they really like (they just have their half of the conversation in their head or in the comments). The games you review are old. And often well loved games. I don't think people watch the video because they need to know whether or not they should buy Suikoden. They watch the video because they like Suikoden and want to have a conversation with you about it, or they are interested in Suikoden and want to hear you talk about it. And the format maybe doesn't matter that much? What matters is that you are a good one sided conversationalist with high production value. Personally, I haven't played and will never play the majority of the games you talk about. But I watch (listen actually) to the videos for the reasons I mentioned above. I had a history with JRPGs as a kid (though Snes was a bit before my time) and I'm curious about the history of a pretty unique genre. So my suggestion would be to make a Terranigma video in the style you want, but keep the naming convention. It can be a Terranigma Retrospective Review where you review core themes and the things you think are valuable about the experience.

William

Thank you, Lloyd. I agree with a lot of what you've said here.

Resonant Arc

I 100% agree with this idea. Most people will 'get it' after a while. They will realize that the content of the reviews is changed, but the quality will still be there so I don't think many people will be bothered by the change.

Also, it looks like your Hyper light drifter video has 1.9K upvotes to only 22 downvotes. This is still really close to Suikoden review video's 2.2K upvotes and 21 downvotes. Hyper light drifter has only 300 less upvotes even though it only has about half the views as the Suikoden video. I think a lot of people really enjoy your new style of videos! The trick will be to getting the general audience of your channel to just click on them! But I think you should go ahead and start making the transition to the new style gradually.

Hey Mike, I haven’t read through all of the other suggestions and comments, but I agree with a lot of the general sentiment I’m seeing. I have 2 suggestions: 1. I think you need to slowly just integrate the style of video you actually want to make into the “Retrospective Review” series of videos. You should do this with the upcoming reviews slowly. So for example, title your Terranigma review something like this: “Terranigma - The forgotten Masterpiece - A Retrospective Review”. Then, in the review, only touch on 1 or 2 gameplay details that you think is relevant to the main thesis/idea of the video. Don’t bother even listing each pro and con of the game, only what is relevant to the main ideas you are trying to convey to the viewer. If a certain gameplay element makes the storytelling of the game stronger or weaker, mention it and explain why it works or doesn't work. Then move on. (This is basically what you did with Hyper-light drifter video from what I recall). Also, include in the description of the videos a disclaimer that you are changing the format and content of these “reviews” to focus on specific parts of the game like the story, main ideas of the game, and the creation process behind them and less on the gameplay, graphics, etc. Over time, you will be able to title your videos using that template (Game name -- What makes it good/great -- “Retrospective Review”). Once the audience is accustomed to the new style of Retrospective videos (which may take a while. Maybe a year or so?), experiment with dropping the word “Review” altogether and replace it with something else. (Game name -- what makes it good/great -- “A Deeper look”) or something like that. See how that affects the total views and to what degree. There will probably be some people who will be confrontational and come at you saying “This isn’t really a review anymore!” or “You didn’t talk about the gameplay at all. How can you still call this a Review?” I think you can gently point these people to the disclaimer in the video descriptions explaining the new focus for the videos. I don’t think it will be a huge issue for a majority of the audience. And the people who are bothered by it will get used to it eventually over time. 2. Another suggestion I have is to make a new series of videos focusing specifically on the Best Storytellers/creators in Video games. (Maybe induct these creators into “The Hall of Beasts!” haha.) For example you could make a video called “Hironobu Sakagucchi, The Father of Final Fantasy”. You could either make it a documentary style video going through his history of development and library of great games, what makes them great, etc. Or just focus on his most successful or impressive works. Or however you want to sing his praises and explore his accomplishments of storytelling in videogames. Check the view count on that video after a few months, and if it does well enough. Turn it into a new series focusing specifically on the creators. Perhaps Uematsu would be next, then Matsuno, and so on. Since these videos don’t require a full playthrough of a long JRPG (but perhaps more research), you could probably create these videos more regularly than the full review style videos? Anyway, thanks for sharing your concerns with us. I hope you find this feedback useful in some way.

I agree with something someone else already said. Do what you want and title it like people expect and you'll get the clicks and people will realize the content is great. I loved your hyperlight drifter video, i bet most people who click on those "retrospective reviews" would too if they actually clicked on it. Do whatever thesis you want, experiment with the terranigma one since it's safe JRPG ground but title it like the other reviews and I bet it'll be a success because the problem is all about that initial click. As an example, I think the channel super bunnyhop does the kind of content where he discusses more than superficial details about the systems or story and he still titles like something akin to a "review" by naming it "critical close-up". If you haven't watched it, his dark souls critical close up would be a great example of that. Calling it a retrospective simply would also work and you could add a sub title once people start "getting it"

Hey Mike, I'm not really an active member of the community (I mostly just watch the videos and listen to the pod on my commute) but I'll offer my view, for what it's worth. I think if it makes you unhappy to produce the reviews, you should stop. It seems worthwhile to ask yourself what producing content for the channel actually offers you. I can't imagine a channel focused on reviews in a niche genre like JRPGs could ever offer enough financial return to make it worthwhile to churn out stuff you're not personally interested in. So if financial gain isn't the answer, then creative fulfilment should be. I get that it's a 'rock & a hard place' problem though. Without starting a brand new channel & starting from scratch it seems difficult to overcome the problem of subscriber interaction = algorithm boost = views, given that most people subscribed expecting a different type of content, but I don't think it's insurmountable. I would hope that there's the possibility to condition the audience to expect & enjoy the different style of content by just biting the bullet and producing it knowing it won't be as successful. You might get low view counts at first but I would hope that over time, those might grow as people get used to the new content (NB: if that's the path you go down, it might be worth holding off on the FF re-review project for a while). I'd also suggest that it doesn't seem impossible to get away from JRPG reviews - Casen's One Punch Man video is one of the most popular videos on the channel. Granted, the crossover between JRPG fans and anime is probably a big contributor to its success, but still, the possibility for broader content than just retrospective reviews of JRPGs is already out there. Finally, I saw a couple of people above suggest calling the 'new style' videos retrospective reviews to hook them in, but I'm not sure I agree. It would be pretty disingenuous to sort of bait and switch like that (imo). However, if it solves your motivation problem, then the ends might justify the means - I'd still watch :) A middle ground could be titling it something like Terranigma Retrospective: [Thesis statement]. Sorry about the wall of text, hopefully you get something out of it. I loved the HLD video - it made me really interested in playing it (after I finish Xenoblade Chronicles). Your 'How Music Moves Us' video was really great too (clearly very personal to you). I would love to see you produce more content like that and cover films/TV shows etc, I'm a sucker for that sort of storytelling analysis (a la Just Write, Lessons from the Screenplay etc)

Lloyd James

Thanks for reaching out, Tostigroover. It's always nice to hear from you. Ultimately I think that where I want to focus my attention in the future is on highlighting the artistry and the beautiful work of the devs, rather than using the video as a platform to share my opinions. I just find my opinion to be terribly uninteresting to the average person, whereas the thoughts, dreams, and opinions of the developers will really matter to the audience of the game in question. I want to do documentaries on how the games were made, rather than giving commentary on a game's quality.

Resonant Arc

I agree. Meeting in the middle is the best way to move forward. Just need to find that balance. I'll use Terranigma as an experiment to see if I can do it.

Resonant Arc

This is it! The answer I've needed all along!

Resonant Arc

Thanks for taking time to comment. I'll do what I can to move toward what I feel inspired to make while still retaining the things you are saying you appreciate about the content!

Resonant Arc

Hey man I'm a small time content creator so I know the struggle. For example I've found that when I do dev interviews, they tend to be way more popular than my other "from the heart" style content, which only the most devoted of fans tune into. Ya it is a bummer and bothers me too. My 2 cents, if you're interested, is trying to launch a new series that allows you to blend the content you want to make, with the content your viewers expect. Basically I think you have to meet your viewers in the middle. Or you can just trick them and start sneaking in the style of content you want to make into your retrospective reviews.

The Electric Underground

Let me first say that it sucks you feel stuck and unmotivated. Hopefully, you can soon make a decision you yourself feel happy with. You feel torn between making well-performing Retrospective Reviews you do not have that much of an interest in making, and creating under-performing thematic videos you have a passion for. That sucks. You decide the content of your videos but also the contents of the job that makes up your livelihood. The freedom is there, but those choices weigh on you. Choices can make you question a lot of things, and they can halt your progress. While I do not suggest you mindlessly keep churning out Retrospective Reviews, I do suggest you make the choice simpler for yourself. You must provide for yourself financially and in a self-realising manner. Do you want to make no Retrospective Reviews at all? Perhaps you can sprinkle in some in-between the thematic videos to boost your salary. As it stands now, top-tier Retrospective Reviews gain 10 to 30 times more views than a video like How Good Music Moves Us. Do you want to create 10 to 30 thematic videos instead of one Retrospective Review or do you want to take a hit in your income? Hoe fulfilling will the thematic videos remain when you need to create so many? Those are real questions you need an answer to. Of course, these two videos are not the only two types you can make. For now though, they help make the choice before you simpler. You have already narrowed-down the infinite types of possible videos out there for you. That helps. Now you need to find a balance for yourself. I hope you find a balance.

You need to pander to a younger audience. Sell yourself Mike!

I might the minority here, but like you Mike, I play a lot genre of games. J-RPG seems to be my confort zone, but sometime I need to get out of it, otherwise i'm going crazy. Variety is the spice of life and everybody in the discord should try it. I love how you are honest and point out the quality and the fault of the media you consume. My favorite part of your contents is when you go in depth of the creation process and try to find to find a common ground between your interpretation and the intension of the game, movie, book, etc. based on how it was executed. My recomendation for the reviews to come is, like you said, brush aside some lesser elements of the games that aren't nessessary to talk about and focus on what has Heart. Use the next review to optimize your format....................... And afterward take a brake and finish your book. :P

HandsomeArtist