Oh God DAMN it Nintendo

Around 1:50 to be specific

 

ROFL GOOD LUCK GUYS

If they actually try to enforce this I'm moving all my shit off of Youtube

 

Playing video games and posting videos of it doesn't count as a job anyway. Companies should just have interns make official playthroughs and then ban people from getting money for their own Let's Plays. The companies get to keep their content and Let's Players learn a valuable lesson about life. Everyone wins.

 

Strong over reaction... You beat the system from within, not from trying to build next to it and shooting.

Also, Patreon is freaking stupid anyway. People who already get paid to make videos have started to use it. Plus, since there's no guarantee to getting paid you can't live off it like you want to. Annnd it puts the creator largely in a position of fan demand. "Make this video or I'll stop paying you." Eat that month and give up your integrity as an artist or starve, hm...

 

See that's one thing

but this is clearly laden with PR sugarcoating and makes NO mention of how it will affect uploaders with copyright concerns or if anything will change

 

I remember VGA raging about this...

They're in Canada and Nintendo basically took their idea. (Sitting on a couch and playing video games with friends via video camera and capture card.) And took two obvious employees of the company sitting in two chairs playing video games on a tv and commenting on said game.

They're not a huge fan of Nintendo nor Youtube right now due to all these policies. I'm actually not surprised they're doing this. Nintendo seems totally against change that will help them and benefit others without screwing people in the process.

 

You're right. You know what else down't count as a job? Those people who just talk in front of a camera and get paid. what are they called? Actors? What do they even do.
Those people who put words on paper don't deserve a dime either, how does that even take effort?
I hear people are paid to do stuff on TV, too? Like share their opinions? TV companies should just get their interns to make official opinion pieces.
I can't wait until everybody I decide doesn't deserve money gets put out a job, then they'll learn a lesson![DOUBLEPOST=1401243340][/DOUBLEPOST]

They didn't even fully steal it. They didn't use a capture card. Nintnedo literally made a potatocam LP

 

Headline: Business talks like a baby sitter in a suit and tie to its audience

 

The difference here is that while actors and writers are actually putting effort into creating things, Let's Players just piggyback off of other people's work. How much effort actually goes into recording gameplay, slapping on an intro (which only has to be made once), slapping on some video effects (maybe), and uploading the whole thing to Youtube?

And since it's been mentioned, I also think that, for the most part, reality TV stars shouldn't be paid. The same goes for people who only share their opinions on stuff without adding anything meaningful or unique to the discussion.

 

...Not sure if making fun of me or agreeing

 

Of course there are tons of lazy Let's Players out there- and to be frank, they probably aren't people who should be concerned about this with their view count of seven. The more popular people know to how to communicate and entertain their audience while being genuinely likable on camera.

That all said, RoosterTeeth's LetsPlay channel would like a word with you and your lazy comment.[DOUBLEPOST=1401245144][/DOUBLEPOST]

I'm saying there's no reason to get worked up about it because it's the norm and businesses have to do this. If they say something that can be misconstrued in anyway, BOOM, there go investors and here come lawsuits.

The better things to care about here is actually what is lost and what is gained.

Listen folks: I'm not fond of this happening either, but Nintendo meeting people halfway is actually what should be expect. Not wanted, just expected. They're basically entering a business partnership with content they feel (and can reasonably argue unfortunately) that they have every right to. The fact that most game companies don't ask for this is a blessing, not the norm.

And to give Nintendo credit here, they didn't haaaave to do this. They could keep taking money for your hard work and time. That all said, at least they let videos stay up unlike SEGA. So many Shining videos...

 

So people are whining about Nintendo taking a percentage of the money per YT video. This would only bother you if you cared about the money which is exactly what Nintendo is doing. I see no problem here.

 

I still don't think that changes the fact that they're piggybacking off the work of a large and likely underpaid development team. Besides, how are any of the popular Let's Players "likable on camera?" All the "popular" Let's Players I've seen, from PewDiePie to Tobuscus to Game Grumps and yes, even RoosterTeeth, are just plain annoying due to their constant commentary and disregard for the fact that most games aren't made with non-players in mind. And do you really think someone who's playing video games and collectiong on ad revenue for a living would make an effort to be "likable on camera?" It's just how they are. No effort required.

And what would that word be?

 

Welp, seeing as they often make up their own games or challenges within the game and are likable people as shown by the fact that everything they do is insanely popular and have six players being switched between at all times without the viewer feeling like they're missing anything, yeah I'd say they're not lazy. In fact, I'd say what they're doing is similar to that of machinima (something considered an art form in the UK, mind you): taking a source material and using it to create their own situations and letting the comedy draw from that.

And I don't get what you mean by that they don't get the games are made for non-players... Are you saying that they overly crack jokes at the game and bash great works for money? Because yes, that's a problem. I kind of respect Markiplier because, even though he plays terrible games, keeps his opinion to himself.

I mean, if you don't want commentary then you shouldn't watch Let's Plays... That's the point... Luckily, RT never does anything like a single player game and talks over cutscenes like that trash DSP.

And it's not a video makers fault if a dev team is underpaid. Those are two separate issues. And if anything, let's plays and twitch INCREASE game sales making the dev team more likely to get bonuses. That's a dumb thing to say.

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence, KS. ._.

 

See, that's okay. In fact, that's not even what I'd call a Let's Play. Why not just call that a "challenge run" or a "speed run" or something more appropriate? Have they always been like that, or did it just evolve that way? I distinctly remember Rooster Teeth Let's Plays being just as bad as others the last time I saw them.

On machinima, I recognize the value in that. I love Red vs Blue because it feels more like good Halo fanfiction than Halo gameplay. Save for the first few seasons, I could actually see it taking place in the Halo universe. Speaking of RvB, I really need to catch up on that.
[QUOTE'I mean, if you don't want commentary then you shouldn't watch Let's Plays... That's the point... Luckily, RT never does anything like a single player game and talks over cutscenes like that trash DSP.[/QUOTE]
Note that I said "constant" commentary. I don't mind a well timed snarky comment here and there or a genuine chuckle when something funny happens. It's just that in most Let's Plays, the player feels the need to comment on everything all the time and always try (and usually fail) to make those comments funny.

That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying that they clearly don't understand that the core of a game experience is "play" and seem to assume that their viewers are getting the same experience that they are. And before you say that I don't do my research, I'll have you know that while I was in the process of realizing that Let's Plays are trash, I'd always watch a couple of episodes of a couple of different games from each new LPer I saw. While they were unique in many ways, they all had that same recurring flaw. If Let's Plays are ever going to fix that flaw, they'll have to go the way of how golf and professional poker got "sportified" by providing easy to understand explanations of what's going on for people who haven't played the game (and thus don't understand the mechanics) while also not cutting away from the action in-game. But that's not going to happen because it's too much work for the Let's Play genre.

I realize that the video maker has nothing to do with how much the devs are paid or overworked, but that doesn't mean it's okay. Would you say it would be okay if Boris Johnson got all the credit for implementing a law when Ken Livingstone did all the work to get it ready to be signed into law? I mean yeah, they're opposing parties so that's pretty much never going to happen, but still.

And really? Increasing game sales? If anything, they're decreasing game sales because they encourage the thought process of, "Oh, I don't need to play that game, I've already watched a Let's Play of it." I've seen this happen countless times and really, it's only slightly better than piracy. I doubt there are any statistics to prove either of us right on this, though, so I'll concede this point.

Hey, I'm not saying that people shouldn't make Let's Plays. I'm just saying that they shouldn't get paid for it, that I don't find them entertaining, and that they are a very flawed way of presenting games. I'm sure you're just as good as all the most famous Let's Players.

 

Yeah, but, see, that's just your opinion. You don't like Lets Plays, then fine, that's cool, you shouldn't be forced to watch them or anything. Personally, I love watching Lets Plays and I love making Lets Plays and I can totally see the effort some people put into it. Editing is a time-consuming thing, bro, even on something as 'simple' as a Lets Play, and some people deserve to get paid for it. Obviously not everyone, but it's absolutely a viable job option imo.

I'd love to get paid to make videos, and I actually aspire to do something like that (maybe not Lets Plays in particular, but my videos and art in general) for a living someday. My anxiety makes it really hard for me to hold down a 'proper' job, and I've actually been fired before because I couldn't handle jobs, which just makes it worse. I got really lucky when I fell into my teaching job, but I can't make a living off it, because it's only 10 hours a week. If I could get ad revenue on my videos, I'd have at least a little extra cash so I'm not constantly in the red like it feels like I am right now.

I'm exhausted so this might not be entirely coherant but yeah.

 

tyrannosaurus rekt

 

itt ks puts his opinions above others as per usual

entertainment is all subjective, man. If people enjoy it and if there's a substantial following, which clearly they do and clearly there is, there's no reason the entertainers shouldn't be able to make money off of it. Kudos to the person who can make money off of their hobby, they're clearly doing something right.

 

Actual effort? I'm what I'd classify as a middle-low effort Let's Player. To LP a game, I have to first record it, which isn't particularly fun. I have to restart missions a lot, I have to look up guides, reference maps, basically make sure the game is completed to my liking and presentable. Then I have to sit through that all again as I edit it down into little chunks, at best doubling that time spent, but more than likely adding even more than that, since I have to pause to check things, cut things out, splice things together, and so on. Then I have to actually schedule a meeting with my co-commentators, do DO the commentary. We have to do retakes, too, or dub stuff in later if we're too silent for too long. In advance we have to look over what's going to happen, determine whether there's lots of interesting stuff to talk about or if we're going to have to find something else related to the game to talk about. So there's a bit of research involved. The actual commentating takes energy too. You have to maintain your excitement for hours, you have to speak loud and clear or nobody will be able to hear you. It's why I don't like the argument that Pewdiepie 'just' screams into a microphone for ten minutes. Try screaming for ten minutes straight. It's not easy. I don't like his content personally, but there's more too it than people seem to want to think. Anyways, now that I have the commentary, I have to sync it up. Listen for mistakes. Fix those mistakes. Note that by now I've essentially experienced the game four times.
Then I have to make a thumbnail for each episode, too. But that's also not enough, there are TONNES of LPs out there, so I need to do some networking if I can't to get any views. Even with that I count myself lucky to get over 100 views on a video (which translates to roughly 1 cent in ad revenue, soetimes more if you're lucky, but more often less)
and I'd call myself a mid-low effort. People like Chuggaaconroy do tonnes, they have a bunch of custom art made. When he LPed the DS gmae Okamiden he had to manually switch back and forth between the top and bottom screens with each episode. Hundreds of times per episode. Heck, I'm going to be entering that bracket pretty soon with my LP of 358/2 Days, which I started working on before finishing KH1 or starting Re:CoM because I'm creating an overlay with bestiary entries and the like for all the heartless and worlds, as well as splicing in the HD cutscenes.
Basically what I'm getting at is that even the lowest effort LPs have to do something, and if they're actually making money and barely doing any work, then they're doing something ELSE right.

So... you find them annoying. But they have millions of followers, clearly other people do find them likable. Find their commentary valuable. None of the LPers you listed are people that I currently follow, but literally millions of people DO.
Oh wait, them being likable on camera isn't worth it because it comes naturally? So, what, a naturally talented artist or actor doesn't deserve recognition, because it's effortless to them?

Splitting hairs about the definition of Let's Play is redundant at this point. It used to mean text based walkthroughs of a game with witty commentary. It's now a catch all term for "person who plays a game and also talks" provided it's not a stream. Calling Let's Plays you like something other than Let's Play doesn't mean that this is suddenly not the exact same brand of content.

Humour is probably THE most subjective thing out there, and you've already gone from 'ban all Let's Plays' to saying some are good but most aren't. All you're saying is that you like Let's Plays that are good to you. You like light commentary Let's Plays. Most people like high commentary Let's Plays, hence the popularity of the stuff you mentioned earlier.

The point of a Let's Play is to play, you're right. So how is a Let's Play in competition with the game? You can't play it on Youtube. And again you talk about Let's Plays as a whole, why not just look for better Let's Plays? You mentioned not liking reality TV. Would you go "Ugh, Reality TV sucks, all TV has this recurring flaw that needs to be fixed"?

You act like a Let's Player gets credited for making a game. The best case scenario is a Let's Player is credited for POPULARIZING one. Really game devs ad LPers are in roughly the same boat. Both are underpaid because there are too many people who want to do those jobs.

There's proof of increased game sales from LPers playing games. Pewdiepie, love or hate him, has been a driving reason many indie games see any level of success. Because he exposed the game to an audience of millions. If a person is willing to jsut watch a game, then they weren't likely to buy it in the first place. And besides, people would still be able to watch the game whether or not the person gets paid (and wouldn't they look for a walkthrough or something? If all I cared about was the game, I wouldn't want someone blabbering over it)

Here's the thing, I had a view like this when I was younger. that LPers shouldn't 'do it for the money' and just be passionate about the game. But I got older, and I realized that the time it takes to make an LP, combined with the need to actually make money to survive showed how impractical it is to expect someone to make no money off hours upon hours of work. You say LPs don't deserve money basically because they use someone else's ideas, and because you don't find them funny. You're not even against making them, just that people shouldn't be able to make money for their video editing, improv, acting, vocal, artistic, PR and business talents. And believe, anybody who is making a living off Let's Plays, liek Gaem Grumps or Pewdiepie or whatever, has ALL of these talents

... pardon me if I've forgotten anything, I've lost track of the paragraphs in this sea of text