TheKingofAverage
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Discussions I've been having...
🕑 Added 2020-06-28 16:00:04 +0000 UTCHey guys! I started to type how much I appreciate you guys but then thought I'd explain something instead. But first, this is a long one, like many of my videos. I'll get back to shorter and more frequent updates again here real soon with some nice looks into what I'm doing behind the camera :)
In case you haven't noticed, every single video I do, right at the start is thank each and every one of you. That's not some fake sincerity, you'd see straight through me anyway if it was. YouTubers are constantly told to jump straight to the topic. Make your video as close to 10 minutes as possible and make your intro 30 seconds at most. Viewers supposedly don't have the attention span for anything else.
But I don't care. It's incredibly important to me that anyone watching any of my videos knows up front what my focus is. Knows up front that the video they are about to watch is largely made possible by other viewers, and for that I am incredibly thankful. It's the meta that needs to be set for the rest of the video.
Discussions of Meta
I've been thinking a lot lately about that meta. About what my channel is about and what it's purpose is. It's never my goal to just provide "dumb fun". Since I don't make any profit from YT I'm not doing it for money. I do it for my passion, for a purpose.
Lately I've taken a hard stance on several issues and on several companies. Any time you stick your neck out and take a stand for something you're going to get a lot of feedback. Some will agree, others disagree. Some will love it and some will hate it. Regardless of stance I got a lot of people responding both publicly and privately.
The private ones have been the most interesting for sure. This morning (I'm writing this Saturday evening) I had a great 2 hour discussion with Leo from Mythic Games.
I'm not going to go into huge detail about how it all went but instead want to focus on something I kind of thought over afterward.
It's important to note that Leo, like many people (I don't pretend to be *that* popular) hasn't seen a lot of my videos, even when it comes to my reviews of their games. For the most part it seems his worry was that I fell into 1 of 2 categories.
- Category 1: I'm "extreme" or "edgy" just for views. I go over the top and make drastic claims because I want to be as clickbaity as I can be.
- Category 2: I'm usually positive and to maintain my "cred" I have to insert some hardcore negative critique so I keep my "image" up online.
Now you guys know that I'm neither of these, and now after a great conversation he knows as well, but it has had me thinking (combined with other conversations I've had) about how I'm perceived to a first time viewer.
Honestly, I'm not sure how to fix that. The problem lies in the fact that I don't "think" prior to speaking, at least not in the high level "how do I want to word this" notion. At most for say a review, I have some bullet points but even then sometimes I forget those are even there. I'm very much the raw, uncut version of myself. So it's not really something I can maintain throughout a video even if I wanted to.
My goal is to help consumers. I care very little about how that affects the company directly. I'm not out to get backers to company A, and remove backers from Company B. Instead the focus is on the other side of that equation and always is. How best to ensure that "meta" is established even for a person who's not seen dozens of my videos?
Honestly I'm not sure. Perhaps it's another section of the disclaimer. Perhaps it's a different intro? Perhaps it's just something I'll have to deal with as a fact of life concerning my channel and how I operate.
So often I find myself clarifying what I say in the comments. I'll say a quick offhand sentence I don't even recall saying and then that's what's picked up and analyzed and questioned about. Most of my responses to those comments could be whole videos.
Perhaps that's the answer? A video series about what I believe? It certainly wouldn't be my most popular videos, but might be nice to do for 1, because I'd have to overtly think through things and 2, would be nice for people to try and understand where I'm coming from on various issues.
What are your thoughts on this? I'm always wanting to do these sorts of "meta" videos about the channel, industry practices, etc. but I never seem to have the time. At the same time, I think having a video series like this would help me save time by responding less to questions.
Some Teases
Still stewing on this one myself, but it's helped to type it all out here. I'd like to end on a more fun note though so how about this?
Tonight I plan to record my Starcadia Review, no more putting it off! Next update I plan on showing you some of the Conan miniatures I've been painting lately. There's also a very special unboxing for part of a highly anticipated game that I'll be doing here very soon that I can't wait to show you all.
So yeah, lots of good and fun stuff planned and upcoming :)
Have a freaking fantastic rest of your day guys!
Comments
The King of Average
I sincerely hope you guys do :D I do try my best. I'm certainly not perfect but I do try!
My thoughts reading this is that the world today is largely the 5 second soundbite or tweet and no matter what you do or say people will take you out of context or form false opinions. That doesnt mean do nothing, in fact you are doing exactly what I would - a pre-video disclaimer and being active in your comments section. You have earned a great reputation in this hobby (judging the odd comments I run across over the net) so you must be doing something right. Always good to stay self-aware and gather feedback. I guess I'm not really saying much other that to give you assurance that the wheels of the bus are on and I think your Patreons will let you know if they see otherwise...at least I will!
The King of Average
Thanks a ton man, that means a lot to me :) Looking forward to releasing my next review here soon, couldn't change even if I wanted to :D
The King of Average
Yeah I think my reviews I do a great job at that actually! It's mostly my news/updates/KS videos where I'm covering a dozen or more items and can't really spend a great deal of time on any one item so I don't get super nuanced and so if it's something negative I say I worry some might perceive me of just trying to be edgy. Perhaps it's actually quite rare and I'm just being too self critical. Either way I think a proper "Channel Introduction" video would be useful for new people to get a good sense of what I'm all about. Otherwise I might just be a guy that randomly ranted for 5 minutes about the glue job on the inside of a box haha :D
You already do an amazing job and you've grown because of what you are doing currently. Personally I don't see any reason to change.
I think it's great you are having representatives from some big game company's reaching out to you and willing to engage in dialogue. I'm not perfect, you're not perfect, they're not perfect, so having a genuine conversation on topics we might disagree on is what moves the world forward. Some people just spew anger and bitterness because that's the world they live in, and it's part of their core values...you aren't going to change that...ever...so best not to even respond. But similar to what @Alexander Sawyer mentioned, you've actually grown to the level were you probably do need to have a bit of self-evaluation and reflection about which direction your review is going to go, and why. Objective items could cost and quality and content. But even then your points of view may differ from others. When you get into game playability, then you are getting more into the subjective realm. It would be easy enough to say "I'm used to paying over $100 per board game that includes minis, and this to me seems to be a great value based on content and quality" or "I really enjoy games that are story driven but allow for a lot of replayability without getting stale, and (insert criteria here) makes me feel I would actually look forward to playing this again and again and teaching it to others. I don't agree with making a separate video about the who's and why's and how's the information in your reviews comes to you. The best journalist and reviewers should never have to explain themselves if they do an adequate job of presenting the facts in an unbiased way. If you feel it gives credibility to the channel, simply type up a 1-2 sentence disc disclaimer and have it scroll at the bottom of the screen during the first 20 seconds of each video.
The King of Average
Thanks man for the very kind words :) I think once you see my next review that I just filmed you'll see I can't change who I am lol. Definintely the same 'ol me! It doesn't actually happen often, but every now and then I do find that my intended message is lost on most viewers. For instance my stance on "Kickstarter is lying to you" about fake funding goals, most came out of that video thinking I wanted an honest funding goal number when the whole point of the video is how impossible it is and how useless a single number is to me as a backer. I think with 100+ videos it's just sort of bound to happen from time to time and I just need to keep doing my best to ensure I say what I feel and explain it well :) Too true about politics as well! There has been a couple times where I've been tempted to take a "no communication" stance with the industry. This was around the time right before I started doing preview copy reviews. It's a hard line to navigate at times, working with the industry where it's beneficial (like being able to tell you guys my thoughts on a game after playing it at the time the company is asking for money, instead of just after delivery) and not getting too close to them as well. In the end I think I have a good balance, but always kind of interesting when new trends like the emails and FB messages I've received lately start to pop up :) As always you guys are fantastic to talk to about it. You might say it doesn't matter much to you, but you guys are a wonderful sounding board and I know I can always count on you guys to speak up if you ever think I need some course correction :)
The King of Average
Hah yeah right? I might have some strong stances but edgelord? Not even close :D
The King of Average
Yes that's what I've come to think I want to make after speaking about it with you guys, a channel intro/overview I think would be perfect :)
I'm annoyed anyone thought of you as an edgelord. Bah.
Steven and Alexander have written pretty much what I would have said. You could do a video series on what you believe and what you think. You already share your personals in your videos. But it might be useful to new viewers, solo vid viewers, other youtubers, and industry folk. It may not be your most popular content but it doesn't mean in isn't important. A channel intro video might be enough.
I think the more exposure you have, and the more you’re drawn into the industry because of it; the more you’ll have to deal with politics regardless of your wishes to avoid it. I can imagine that is taxing, but try to hold onto the perspective of the average joe watching your videos. Sure, we have all sorts of personal opinions but I think it’s safe to say we’re all tuning into your videos because it feels like having a good chat with someone who feels like an acquaintance who pays attention to and knows a lot of what’s going on in the miniature boardgaming world! I recommend staying focused on being ‘that buddy’, be genuine and zero in on what you enjoy! Like you say, you don’t live off this so there is no need to take on too much grief. I think you are wise for being prudent, reminding the viewers that you are just sharing your opinion; but don’t take on too much grief! :) I would imagine that doing a little mental work sorting out what you and your channel is really about - further defining the identify of the KoA - would be helpful to you, but that doesn’t matter much to me. I just hope you keep on enthusiastically sharing news, reviews, unboxing and painting videos - genuinely praising cool things and complaining a bit about things you find uncool - and stay ‘that buddy who is in the loop’ that the rest of us can tune in to while we’re painting our own miniatures!
The King of Average
Thanks so much Steven! :D My long and detailed style videos certainly aren't for everyone, but I'm glad they are helpful for those that want that level of detail. Personally I *hate* when they are associated with a game and don't say it. I remember the Conan review from Dice Tower and never once did they say that they were involved enough to have a special thanks in the manual. When I reviewed Oathsworn I said I don't know how many times that I've been playtesting it for a few months and that I've provided feedback and specifically what my feedback was and if it was implemented. If a game is in any way slightly tailored to your liking from your request, it's important to disclose that sort of stuff. It's not even a bad thing, just important information to provide I think. The coverage of board games has always felt pretty lackluster to me so I'm happy to help improve that, even if just a little :)
The King of Average
That was exactly my thought! It'd be nice to have a link, and could also serve as that default "welcome to my channel" video people get when not subscribed. And very happy to hear that you understand where I'm coming from when we disagree. I can't stand when someone is critiquing say a game and says something is bad but doesn't explain why or give any examples. Ideally I'm always providing enough information for you guys to determine for yourselves if the point I'm making is something you agree with or not or even if it's important to you or not :)
The King of Average
Oh you bet! Like I said you guys would see any fakeness, even in attitude right away I imagine :D I'm so glad that my videos are helpful for you Carl, makes it all worthwhile :)
I can't tell you how many times I've watch a review of a game by other people not realizing that they had something do with the company. Then, I get the game and it's different here and there and the quality is not what I thought. So, when you sit there and talk about the quality of the box or the insert being weak or other seemingly insignificant pieces of a game, we know that your passion runs deep and you are worth trusting. We work hard for our money and deserve to know the full truth about a game before we back it. So you keep doing what you are doing, we have complete faith in you!
Mark Manders
I watch your videos to get news and possible different perspectives. I think I disagree with you on mostly trivial things often enough, but I always see where you are comming from and it helps seeing other people's take on a game. You could create a default video that tell people who watch it who you are and what your take is on the industry. Post a link to that video with every video you post, so people can get to know you and see why you say certain things.
Keep doing what your doing. I started watching and kept watching your stuff because of the rawness and realness if it. I don't like paid reviews because they will say what they have to to get paid. Also your videos have led me towards certain games and at times kept me away from others do to game play problems or what ever it might be. I don't have the time to research all the companies and games and I truly appreciate what you do.
