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The fact of the matter is that I think that making Youtube videos is really rewarding, and being able to talk about games how I've always wanted to talk about them is really amazing. Thank you all for that.

I also really love the game of it, with the thumbnails and the analytics, the click-through-rate, the retention charts. To me, just like reading comments, all of that is just more information about whether people enjoyed what I made, in what ways they enjoyed it, and how good of a job I did at getting what's in my head into your head, which is the whole point. On that: here are all the thumbnails I made for the recent Fallout 3 video.

The top one is the one I currently have it set to. You can look between that one and the other similar one-- I just sort of cleaned it up and made it easier to look at, brightened up the building and darkened the ground. I haven't decided if I like that best or not; sometimes I like when thumbnails look a little more rough and ready, but I also do like when more people see my videos so whatever.

Initially it was set to the brown one with the extra icons in the back. I liked that one because I thought it communicated what the video was actually about a little better, but it also didn't scream "Fallout 3" to me as much so I changed it.

Anyway, tl;dr--- If you were going to pick one, which would you pick? Why? Do you have any better ideas? Do you think I'm wasting my time? Talk to me about thumbnails.

As always, thank you all very much! I hope you're doing well, and if you're not, feel free to reach out and tell me about it. I'll reply when I can.

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Comments

Hannah Rogers

I think you did a great job of blending the best pieces of all of the potential thumbnails. I used to have an online crochet shop, and choosing photos that communicate exactly what I want to get across can be tough. I'm also fascinated with the analytics behind it too

phoebe cool and epic

forward facing austin + multiple explosions is my fav. conveys that theres several and u look like a lost child which is true

Kira

I also really like the brown one with the extra icons in the back. It gives a sense of depth and tells me "we're looking at explosions on maps" - which is totally accurate. But looking at the pockmarked landscape also doesn't really read as *specifically* Fallout 3 the same way the crumbling national monuments do... I'd almost recommend sacrificing the Austin uniform for photoshopped power armor or a vault boy jumpsuit, but that price may be too steep.

Clam Copeland

I prefer the brown ones with extra icons in the back. to me the ones with an icon pointing to a building clash with the title, since obviously the bombs didn't fall there, right? but I'm literal-minded, other people might not care about that

tyler prock

I like the green hued capitol building with the mushroom cloud icon most. When I think of green hued fallout, it’s Fallout 3. Capitol building? Fallout 3. It strikes a chord with the game more so than the others specifically with three than others do in my opinion. Plus, nice juxtaposition and more contrast with you in the shot with the green hue.

Kurt Refling

The subtle shadow you're casting on the backdrop is a nice touch.

Sir Chasm

I also like the current one. The grey, for me, makes it feel lifeless without going too far into the cloying "ooh, nuclear radiation" appeal that comes with the video's title. I also like that you have a teeny little smirk, showing you know that this is a very silly idea.

The Bread Pirate

When I make thumbnails, I only make one or two before I decide. I have NEVER made SIX! That seems bonkers to me. You ought to keep the thumbnail where you are point behind you into the brown Fallout 3 landscape. It has a lot of depth and feels like an appropriate representation of the game. I recognized the landscape immediately.

Gary Rickelman

I like the one with the spire. And I enjoy my thumbnails wacky.

Shannon S.

The current one is my favorite! I think the dark background gives good contrast and the nuclear bomb image is more relevant to the nuclear safety image. For whatever reason, the image of you with your arm raised is more visually appealing as well vs. you having it down at your side. I guess when I’m looking at thumbnails , I’m looking for things that are fun and maybe a little goofy but also not over-complicated I guess.

Model Citizen 3D

I like the one where your arm is down. The look on your face combined with your posture makes it look like you're intensely serious about what you're talking about and I think it's a funny vibe

NantenKnight

I'm torn... I like the second one because of the multiple icons which to me communicates the idea of multiple impact sites more clearly but I also like the thumbnails with buildings in them because they help distinguish that it's about a Fallout game. At the same time, I understand that the multiple icons on the image with a building will look to cluttered and easy to scroll past. I think I just understood a small portion of why being a good content creator can be very hard 😅 Keep doing what you're doing, Austin! 👍🏾

Abena

I like the one you picked but close close second is the multiple crater icons. But yeah you were right

Sean Connolly

Serious question - do you hair clips help with watch rates?

Atherean Gamez

Bro i just checked out your "Unremarkable and odd places in Skyrim" video and you said in the beginning that you liked the parts of Skyrim that have the Mario 64 feel of more weird, surreal, less realistic and curated aspects. Bro let me tell you, that if you go out of bounds in Skyrim in a couple places you find things you probably find really interesting, specifically, half finished areas/locations that invoke that feeling 10x because they are unfinished and not meant to be looked at. Very luminal space/area/forbidden vibes. If you want specific areas, i can definitely send you some great ones.

Austin

if you look back in my channel's history you'll see I've done a few Skyrim glitch videos, one of which covers that very thing! I think it was an episode of my old glitch show "EGGBUSTERS" so if you search EGGBUSTERS SKYRIM it should come up.

Atherean Gamez

Ah yeah nice one! But what you covered there is really only the very tip of the iceberg so it might be fun to do another video on it