Channel Update #5 (July) – boring stuff and complaining about youtube (Patreon)

I have a few things to go through so I’ll try not to be too long winded about each.

1. I’m moving at the end of the month. 

I’m going from one side of the country to the other, which is a lot less dramatic if you live in little old England compared to big boy USA, but this is still a big change for me for a number of reasons that I won’t get into. The main point I want to make is that this hopefully won’t impact my output but the key word is hopefully. If all goes well I’ll have one video out before I leave and I’ve already got a head start on the next video so my upload schedule should remain consistent. But there’s always the chance something goes wrong so that’s why I’m mentioning this now. Got to get my excuses in early.

2. Patreon rewards

I still don’t have any great ideas but for now I’ll change the $6 tier to name in credits, and leave the $9 tier as tbd, with people who pledge more appearing earlier/more prominently in the credits. If any $9 people want to drop down to $6 feel free to. Otherwise I’m thinking of starting a discord just for patreons (I’ll have to learn what discord actually is first but I’m not that much of a boomer that I can’t work it out… I think). And I’m also thinking of doing some one off Q&A’s where $9 people can submit questions if they want too, but we’ll see.

3. Paypal

One person reached out to me to say they didn’t like using patreon and would rather donate through paypal, which is fair enough, so I set up a paypal for that here https://www.paypal.me/NeverKnowsBestYT

Obviously, you are welcome to use whatever you like but don’t feel like you need to donate on paypal if you already donate on patreon and are happy with patreon. I’m mentioning this as an either/or thing rather than as something I want (or expect) anyone to do in addition… despite what I am about to complain about….

4. Youtube money problems

My Last of Us Part 2 video got demonetized because violence, which I understand but it’s still frustrating because I know other videos that feature the exact same cutscenes I use which are monetized. One video even got manually put on trending. But for me no money because that’s how youtube works. I also firmly believe that a video being demonetized means it will be promoted less by the youtube algorithm, which is a really annoying side effect. And I didn’t even like the last of us 2 (or making that video) very much, so the least I was hoping for was to get a little money out of the whole ordeal. 

I’ve also had several older videos either demonetized or copy right claimed this month, which also makes me a bit sad. I guess it’s the price you pay for gaining popularity and it’s all just part of the youtube experience but I wish it wasn’t; it’s demotivating and youtube’s inconsistency with its own rules, and the ever growing reach of automated bots, just makes it all the more demoralizing. I really worry about the day when gaming companies start using bots for video game soundtracks to claim any youtube video with a game soundtrack in it because that’s all of my videos and this is a future that seems quite likely. 

Anyway I’m not just mentioning this to elicit sympathy (although it is nice to vent). I more wanted to say thank you to all of you again for supporting me on patreon. It is demotivating to spend a long time on a video and get zero money from it, but the support I’ve received through patreon is anything but, so thank you for that.

Also sponsorships. I think I need to be more realistic about sponsorships going forward, and while I’ll always have standards (and haven’t agreed to anything yet), don’t be surprised if you see some sponsorships in some videos someday in the future. That just seems to be how youtube works these days and I might as well embrace that.

And lastly,

5. There should be a new poll soon™, and new video even sooner™