Update #24 - Current Projects, Next Video Questions, and more YouTube Issues (Patreon)

There's a lot more to talk about this time contrary to last week. 

The guide video is coming along nicely. I've organized it into sections so that I'll be able to have a nice list of timestamps for people looking for relevant data. For example, if people have a YouTube channel already and already have the proper hardware and software for their purpose they can simply skip that section since they already know what works for them. The part I'm currently working on, and slightly stuck on honestly, is stuff that's outside my realm of experience like whether or not it's "worth it" to make sponsored videos (since I don't), proper disclosure of review copies of games, merchandise, etc. There are also some elements that I don't know the answer to, like the proper amount/way to interact with viewers, the best way to use social media, and other things that I'll be eternally figuring out. So most of the issues I'm having trouble putting into words are more on the side of someone who is already somewhat established on YouTube rather than people looking to learn some basic tips. I'm at a point where I could easily release the video if I just cut out the "established YouTube advice" section since stuff like tagging, thumbnails, metadata, project management, and other aspects in that realm are stuff I've gotten really good at giving advice on over time and was able to put together quickly. I'm still torn on how to go forward with this, but regardless the video should be done sometime this week. 

On the backend, I got hit with some copyright issues!

While some networks had immunity from copyright bots, around the middle of last year videos went from being immune to them to "scanned by them, but not automatically acted upon" since it would be up to the rights holders to do that. I suspect that it's changed since February that they ARE automatically scanned since I got several videos hit, including bizarrely enough some unlisted videos including a microphone test where the background static sounded similar enough to an "official sound effect" of static that it got claimed. Other cases were some tracks that I went out of my way to check were "okay" to have on YouTube, but their rights holders have changed owners or policies. "Video Killed the Radio Star" was fine on the Aurora 4x video before, but now it's strangely enough being claimed as an "80's Weightloss Remix" despite that NOT being the version that I used. Unfortunately it's UMG, so I elected to do an audio swap. That dispute is still going on in the background. The only two videos currently affected are the beginning of the MechWarrior Online video and the end of the Aurora one. I've gotten the others taken care of. At this point I'd be fine with holders getting all the money since I'm doing really well here, the issue is that the videos end up being blocked in other countries with Germans seeming to get the most screwed over by it. 

In an unrelated note, everyone is TOTALLY fine to download backup copies of my videos. I've had some people ask me if it was okay to do that, like I could somehow stop them. It's probably a good idea if there's a video you especially like since there's no telling what else this kind of thing could happen on. Even a few sound effects in games (*cough* FireWarrior) can be claimed despite being an in-game sound effect due to licensing issues and other fun copyright law.

Anyways, back to VIDEO GAMES.

The poll I did last week is a list of games I want to do sometime this year, it just helps me to gauge what people are looking forward to the most. I'm also hoping to do Sunless Skies at some point since I've had a lot of people asking, and it's another case of developers reaching out to me also interested in feedback on that. That's going to be many months away since I have other priorities for videos right now, but it's coming.

I've started recording on Overlord when I'm stuck on the guide video. I'm doing two runs, a "good Overlord" run with a controller and an "evil Overlord" run with keyboard and mouse. I've heard people arguing over which control scheme works better, so I'll finally be able to see for myself which works more efficiently. Before the keyboard and mouse run, I'm likely going to be recording some Metro Last Light. I mentioned in one of the credit sections that there was a DLC in particular I'd like to talk about, and I may have an opportunity to do just that. It might not end up being on my own channel depending on how long it is, since this will be a collaborative effort if it does go through, so I'll have more on that in time. Elite Dangerous is also on the Horizon(s).

If you have any questions you'd like answered in the next video you can put those below.

Thanks for the support! It's going to be a very busy month for me.