Classic Game Room moving to Patreon

[adamchevy]

 

 

I personally would never even consider quitting my job to make $12k per month on YouTube. $12k per month in gross revenue for a sole-proprietor small business does not make that proprietor a rich man.

I would quite my job, then do a little dance , and be freakin thrilled to make that much money making 1 5-7 min review a day of any video game! Hell, I would do it for my measly 7k a month .

[CGQuarterly]

$12K a month for something you love is nothing to sneeze at, though.

No, certainly it isn't. But I'm saying that you have to really figure out what's going to end up in your pocket out of that. You have to pay income tax, You have to buy single-payer heath insurance, you have to save for retirement because you don't have any kind of employer-run 401k or pension plan, and I'm not even sure that you're paying into social security. You also have to cover the costs of having your show (unless you're going to do low-effort stuff like AlphaOmegaSin where you just cuss at the camera for 10 minutes a couple of times per week). It sure beats working a minimum wage job, but if I as someone who is college-educated and has a career actually sits down and does the math, $12k on YouTube starts to look a lot less attractive when I look at the big picture.

 

You also have to consider the fact that you aren't building any kind of resume that's really translatable to an outside-of-YouTube job. So what's going to happen when retrogaming isn't a popular thing anymore, and viewership & ad revenue drops off? YouTube ad revenue is already a lot lower than it was a few years ago (which is why Mark had to go the Patreon route in the first place.) Mark could probably just go back to making documentary movies (plus it doesn't hurt that his dad is rich.) What are these other YT gaming e-celebs going to be doing 10 years from now? How many "hidden gems" videos can Metal Jesus make before people just quit watching? Even Mark doesn't get a lot of viewers per episode. He just uploads a lot. But I think he has a serious subscriber burn-out issue. Don't get me wrong, for a YouTuber Mark is doing well for himself. But he has a die-hard fan base that really hooked it up with the Patreon money.

 

YouTube as a self-sufucient hobby that maybe even nets the creator some profit (as in my case) is awesome. YouTube as a career? No thanks.

[StopDrop&Retro]

Even Mark doesn't get a lot of viewers per episode. He just uploads a lot. But I think he has a serious subscriber burn-out issue. Don't get me wrong, for a YouTuber Mark is doing well for himself. But he has a die-hard fan base that really hooked it up with the Patreon money.

 

I couldn't agree more. A lot of people here like Mark and he has an extremely likable personality, and I get the whole shtick is that he has a new video pretty much every day but I get burned out from any channel that has that kind of upload schedule. His content has also become noticeably worse since he started on Patreon which is the opposite of what you would expect to see. Finally I had to unsubscribe after his channel basically became a Patreon funded shout out service. I watch other channels that give thanks to their Patreons but the manner and extent to which CGR does it really cripples his flow.

[BillyHW]

 

I couldn't agree more. A lot of people here like Mark and he has an extremely likable personality, and I get the whole shtick is that he has a new video pretty much every day but I get burned out from any channel that has that kind of upload schedule. His content has also become noticeably worse since he started on Patreon which is the opposite of what you would expect to see. Finally I had to unsubscribe after his channel basically became a Patreon funded shout out service. I watch other channels that give thanks to their Patreons but the manner and extent to which CGR does it really cripples his flow.

 

The Patreon thank-yous are at the end of the videos. All you have to do is click stop once it gets to that point.

[CGQuarterly]

It's actually pretty amusing to re-read this thread, considering the current state of CGR. Mark has uploaded over 20 videos in the last week. Now he's doing Let's Plays and unboxing videos? Grasping at straws. Makes me sad honestly, because he was the very first YT channel that I ever subscribed to, and was probably the biggest inspiration behind me starting my own channel. This is why you don't try to do YT full-time.

[CGQuarterly]

I finally unsubscribed from CGR today. Today in my sub feed was yet another unboxing video along with Mark announcing a KickStarter campaign to fund a 90 minute MUSHA review with a physical release. It's just getting ridiculous.

[Prosystemsearch]

It's actually pretty amusing to re-read this thread, considering the current state of CGR. Mark has uploaded over 20 videos in the last week. Now he's doing Let's Plays and unboxing videos? Grasping at straws. Makes me sad honestly, because he was the very first YT channel that I ever subscribed to, and was probably the biggest inspiration behind me starting my own channel. This is why you don't try to do YT full-time.

How is doing lets plays grasping at straws??

[mickcris]

He seems to have a lot of reviews of box art now and other strange things. I just cant believe his kickstarter is already funded. How is he going to make a 90 minute review of Musha? I like the CGR reviews, but i could not sit though a 90 minute review.

[Gabriel]

I finally unsubscribed from CGR today. Today in my sub feed was yet another unboxing video along with Mark announcing a KickStarter campaign to fund a 90 minute MUSHA review with a physical release. It's just getting ridiculous.

 

Yeah. I'm thinking of unsubbing too. The first video I've watched in a while was the Robotech unboxing, which I thought might be funny to watch him take it out of the box and have it fall apart. (The Toynami 1/100 Robotech figures are notoriously horrible quality). When he just took it out of the shipping box and then set the product box on a high shelf, I sort of sighed and clicked out.

[Gregory DG]

I think he's frustrated and annoyed that he puts a lot of work into his game reviews only to be totally overshadowed by Let's Play videos that have zero work put into them. So he's trying to find a happy middle ground.

 

I will be super glad when he gets his new "Space Arcade" set up. I'm not crazy about his doing reviews from his basement or where ever it is (in the 70's room.)

 

And he could use a partner to play off of once in awhile. That's one of the things I miss about Derek and Brandon not being there. Haven't seen a good Game.com beating in awhile...

Edited September 24, 2016 by Gregory DG

[StopDrop&Retro]

I think he's frustrated and annoyed that he puts a lot of work into his game reviews only to be totally overshadowed by Let's Play videos that have zero work put into them. So he's trying to find a happy middle ground.

 

Why should he care about Let's Plays? They're a completely different demographic. I know it's "gaming related" but audience-wise it's as different as prank channels. Kids 8-12 are not watching Classic Game Room but they are watching the big Let's Players and those god awful fake prank videos.

 

I can understand why he would get annoyed by the Let's Players but it's for all the wrong reasons. In the early YouTube years when Mark was one of the few names in retro gaming, he got a lot of attention. But now YouTube has exploded with a wide array or new types of content and he can't expect things to stay the same forever, nor should he expect it to change for the best. The best way he can serve his existing subscriber base and patreons is by just doing what he's always done. I'm not saying to stay static but just know where your place is in the world of YouTube and play to your strengths. Other channels do this, like LGR, I think I was listening to an interview with Clint on The Retro Hour podcast when he said "I make my content like it's still 2009" and he's very successful at that from what I can tell, he's in no danger of losing me as a sub.

[CGQuarterly]

 

Why should he care about Let's Plays? They're a completely different demographic. I know it's "gaming related" but audience-wise it's as different as prank channels. Kids 8-12 are not watching Classic Game Room but they are watching the big Let's Players and those god awful fake prank videos.

 

I can understand why he would get annoyed by the Let's Players but it's for all the wrong reasons. In the early YouTube years when Mark was one of the few names in retro gaming, he got a lot of attention. But now YouTube has exploded with a wide array or new types of content and he can't expect things to stay the same forever, nor should he expect it to change for the best. The best way he can serve his existing subscriber base and patreons is by just doing what he's always done. I'm not saying to stay static but just know where your place is in the world of YouTube and play to your strengths. Other channels do this, like LGR, I think I was listening to an interview with Clint on The Retro Hour podcast when he said "I make my content like it's still 2009" and he's very successful at that from what I can tell, he's in no danger of losing me as a sub.

 

 

Yeah, Clint is awesome. I don't really understand what the deal is with Mark anymore. He should be making enough off of Patreon and merch sales that adsense revenue is just gravy. So I don't get why he is suddenly spamming YouTube with low-effort content. He needed to find a way to maintain the CGR flavor while upping his game a little bit. I hope he is able to continue to do well. He certainly seems like a likable guy who's living the dream. I'm just tired of my subscription feed being gummed up by stuff from him that I have no desire to watch.

[BillyHW]

Mark often does reviews of modern games, which I have no interest in, so I just skip them. It's not that hard to skip them.

 

I mostly skip everything but the classic game reviews. I don't begrudge him if he wants to make other videos too. I'm happy just watching the ones I'm interested in.

[leods]

"Now he's doing Let's Plays and unboxing videos"

 

It's even funny that this would be happening...

 

I wasn't even reading this thread the last week or so. Maybe even more. And I unsubscribed from CGR just the other day... It has become a youtube channel.... It's really weird. I wish Mark all the best, and Ihope people have lots of fun. But it's really strange seeing Mark doing everything that the Patreon was supposed to allow him to avoid.

 

I would sincerely be down with a really good video every second day. It is hard to do that. Takes a lot of time. Now what I DON't want to see is unedited, shallow content that's not informative. Specially because there is only so many times I can hear the same joke. And with a crazy upload schedule it's just impossible to not repeat the same stuff.

 

One thing I never really understood is why Undertow went under as it did. Maybe Derek has another job now, not sure. But he was going in the right direction with that channel. Still, youtube is one hell of a frustrating platform to be on.

[Ransom]

I can't imagine how difficult it must be to feed the content monster day after day, month after month, year after year...and do it well. Heck, TV production studios struggle to put out 22-24 high-quality episodes a year.

 

So, while I stopped watching Mark's videos around the time he started posting videos of his comic, I sympathize with him.

[Austin]

I finally unsubscribed from CGR today. Today in my sub feed was yet another unboxing video along with Mark announcing a KickStarter campaign to fund a 90 minute MUSHA review with a physical release. It's just getting ridiculous.

 

Yeah, I unsubbed months ago. Couldn't put up with that crap anymore.

[bretthorror]

YouTube sucks in general now, everything is so watered down with people who don't need to be there. The people who DO need to be there still barely are holding onto their place. When was the last time there was a really good AVGN? It's been a long time. How many videos can you possibly want involving the history or games and facts found on Wikipedia and Google? And even if someone does manage to put together a good documentary style piece on some part of gaming history, who really gives a shit? That's why those videos don't get many views. YouTubers use the word "content" and "entertainment" like a local telethon does. YouTube is a haven for collector nerds and kids.

 

Which brings me to the funniest thing - people seem to hate let's plays despite the fact they embody everything people actually want to see. Do you think people are giving CGR big bucks because they like his videos? Nah, they like him and/or he's a fixture. Let's plays are the purest form to see what people are really like (or idiot goofballs like the 9 year olds like, but no one here is gonna last 2 minutes with one of those) and how quick and witty they are. Oh you sat and wrote a script and planned it out? Big deal, you're not funny, bruh. You know what was funny? Shit like Keith Apicary who was the character in a series about a hopeless nerd who loved Sega and made it like a reality show instead of some dumbass review series. That is the type of old school gaming content I want to see. Videos about people I can relate to or laugh at with video games are the forefront, not some dumbass whining about the controls of a game we all know is poor to begin with or will certainly find out how poor it is glancing at a couple text reviews instead of sitting through a long ass video. Take a look at old AVGN, character driven at the forefront... great show. Look at it now... review driven with a bit of Nerd... not good. No one remembers the review, they remember you shitting on Bugs Bunny's face.

 

I've switched to Twitch for nearly all my gaming content and I'm so glad I've done so. I have met some great, hilarious fucking people and have learned more about games and have been inspired to play more games by them than YouTubers ever could have done.

[mickcris]

The next logical step is loot crate unboxings.

[Gregory DG]

The next logical step is loot crate unboxings.

 

Haha, he's almost there. Right now he's doing donation unboxings.

[DesertJets]

If he could just show a little cleavage in his video preview thumbnail I bet his viewership would go up. Hopefully he'll find his groove -- I always thought CGR was one of the better retrogaming channels out there and I appreciated his voice and style.

 

I think if he followed the production schedule that LGR does with twice weekly videos, with a semi-regular rotation of features like oddware, tech tales and thrifting he could get his groove reestablished.

[HoshiChiri]

I'm a more recent convert to the CGR family- it has taken on a sort of vlog-ish quality in recent weeks, with multiple videos a day but several focusing on silly things, like previews of reviews where we see the tech/game for 5 minutes but don't really learn anything about it. I feel like he really just needs to slow down... I know the way Youtube is you need a breakneck upload schedule to stay relevant, but even cutting back to 1 video a day would be nice. He could still throw in the occasional silliness- I genuinely got a good laugh out of him screaming 'DOOOOOM!' while whacking the game case on things- but it doesn't need to be everyday.

 

I wonder if part of it is running low on content- I mean, if donations are a big part of how CGR gets its review material, and those are down, he might be having trouble finding new games worth reviewing. Perhaps now is a good time to dig through the archives for content to be refreshed. The Sega Saturn review is 7 years old now- with skyrocketing game prices & copy protection workarounds now available, perhaps it warrants a second look to see if its still worth having today?

[keepdreamin]

The next logical step is loot crate unboxings.

 

His newest vid is unboxing POP figures. So, he's pretty much there now. If that's what his Patreon supporters want, guess he's got no choice.

[Austin]

Damn.. I just checked his channel and noticed he has nearly 450,000 subscribers. I didn't realize his following had grown so much. You know you're doing something wrong when you have that many followers, but can barely eclipse a few thousand views per video.

[karokoenig]

You know you're doing something wrong when you have that many followers, but can barely eclipse a few thousand views per video.

 

That's normal on Youtube. He's been around for ages, and most of these subscribers are dead or half-dead profiles from back in the days. People have moved on or don't check their subscription feed all that often. Also, there are those who just don't watch most of the junk that's uploaded. Like me. Of course I see he's uploading like crazy, but I only watch very few of his videos. I can't even be bothered clicking on those lets plays and unboxings to leave a thumbs down.

Edited September 28, 2016 by karokoenig

[StopDrop&Retro]

 

That's normal on Youtube. He's been around for ages, and most of these subscribers are dead or half-dead profiles from back in the days. People have moved on or don't check their subscription feed all that often. Also, there are those who just don't watch most of the junk that's uploaded. Like me. Of course I see he's uploading like crazy, but I only watch very few of his videos. I can't even be bothered clicking on those lets plays and unboxings to leave a thumbs down.

 

Not true. It depends on a lot of factors but dead subs aren't it. YouTube purges accounts periodically so I've seen one instance this year where I lost almost 300 subs overnight, which is a lot for my channel. They're not bots or anything, they're just people who haven't logged in for a very long time. So while dead subs can factor into it, that's not what's happening here, the only way you can explain getting 2k views while having 450k subs is that people are ignoring your content in their subscription feed. It's subscriber fatigue. I've had a couple channels I had to unsub because I was tired of seeing two or three videos per day clogging up my feed.

 

My own rule of thumb is that for good content you work hard on you should expect to be able to pull in at least 50% of your sub base. Anything less than 10% is a problem unless you know the video is catering to a niche and those are rare. No one who runs a channel as a business (like Mark does) would ever have more than a couple of those super niche videos per year. They're not worth the time investment.