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Post by The Summer of Muskrat XVII on Mar 26, 2018 8:21:27 GMT -5
Reading Linkara's post on his website about leaving, it sounds like he wanted to make it to the 10th Anniversary Special (if they're having one) and then leave, but all the recent news and controversies have gotten to him and he decided to go early. He was honestly the guy that got me into Channel Awesome in the first place. I saw him posting on the old Superdickery boards and followed a link he had in his signature to his old blog that was at the time doing text reviews for bad comics. One day I decided to check it out to see if he had posted any new text reviews, and instead saw he had videos up and links to the old That Guy with the Glasses website. From there I discovered The Nostalgia Critic and several other producers which I became fans of. This was shortly after the Inaugural Brawl. While there are still a lot of old Channel Awesome producers I still follow (Linkara, Brad, Todd, Tamara, occasionally Lupa, is SFDebris still with them?), I do it on their personal sites or youtube pages, I haven't been to the main Channel Awesome page in years. I remember about three years ago watching a Channel Awesome Christmas special video where a lot of the producers of the site would do quick one or two minute bits for the holidays. It was about 40 minutes long, but I didn't recognize a single person on it until more then midway through when Film Brain showed up. The site just isn't what it used to be. Similar experience for me. I first stumbled over Spoony around early 2008 due to this review of The Thing, and I still think for a five or six year span he was one of the funniest reviewers and content providers out there. From him, via the Adamantium Rage crossover, it introduced me to Linkara's AT4W and from there, Channel Awesome. But, outside of watching some of Brad Jones and Lindsay Ellis, I never really followed or watched anything from the site. The Nostalgia Critic style just didn't appeal to me, so mostly I simply kept on watching Spoony, Linkara and bits of those other two. Oh, as SFDebris thanks to Linkara. The crossovers were a fun idea that did show off a lot of their creators. The Brawl was short but entertaining, and I really enjoyed Kickassia. Helps that the Street Fighter '94 movie and Julia is a guilty pleasure. In retrospect, that was kinda the high point, when they felt like a united group and this was something big happening. But then... Surburban Knights in 2011 was an uneven mixed bag and the next year there was the big blowup with Spoony that bummed me out. Took me a while to get the enthusiam to watch To Boldly Flee knowing he was already gone, and indeed it was even more of a mixed bag and just an overlong, lacklustre feeling of things having run their course. That's when I drifted away from anything to do with the site, while still keeping up on Spoony's (increasingly sporadic, JewWario's death really seemed to knock him hard) and Linkara's content separately. I'd occasionally hear stuff third-hand about the failed attempts at the game show or Demo Reel or people leaving under a cloud, without actually watching any of it. So I can't say I've been going to or paying much attention to the site for over five years now. I knew of some rumblings of discontent and negative comments for a while, so I was already under no illusions and felt I was better off out of it. But these recent revelations have been really next-level bad. Linkara was one of the main long-time pillars of the site...him going is a major hit, not just in terms of audience but also perception. It's a sad way for things to be ending up. The first anniversary brawl was one of the best things they did, if for no other reason then it got me to check out a bunch of other reviewers I hadn't been paying attention too. I didn't stick with all of them, but I checked out alot of reviewers based on the crossovers they did then. I never finished watching Suburban Knights, and that's pretty much when I stopped following pretty much anyone from Channel Awesome until about 6 months ago when I started watching Doug, Linkara and Brad's videos again. |
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Post by Confused Mark Wahlberg on Mar 26, 2018 8:57:59 GMT -5
Went from Channel Awesome to Channel Unimpressive pretty damned quick.
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Post by Hurbster on Mar 26, 2018 12:37:34 GMT -5
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CMWaters
Ozymandius
Rolled a Seven, Beat the Ads.
Bald and busy
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Post by CMWaters on Mar 26, 2018 13:19:35 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2018 14:41:26 GMT -5
Man, reading all this just makes me realize I neither know or care how the whole system of YouTube/online video content creators works.
I've never understood it as a business. Maybe I'm just ignorant, maybe I'm just super jealous that they watch movies & play video games for a living, but when I see people on YouTube going crazy about monetization there's a part of me that just can't take it seriously. It's nice that they're making money off this stuff but at the same time I can't understand all the drama around it.
While there is LEGIT bad crap going on here (which stinks because Doug was the 1st content creator I started following and he's always seemed like a decent guy) it makes me look at the whole "business" of making videos on YouTube and ask......... bwaa?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2018 14:49:00 GMT -5
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Futureraven: Beelzebruv
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The Ultimate Arbiter of Right And Wrong
Spent half my life here, God help me
Posts: 15,595
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Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Mar 26, 2018 15:05:33 GMT -5
Man, reading all this just makes me realize I neither know or care how the whole system of YouTube/online video content creators works. I've never understood it as a business. Maybe I'm just ignorant, maybe I'm just super jealous that they watch movies & play video games for a living, but when I see people on YouTube going crazy about monetization there's a part of me that just can't take it seriously. It's nice that they're making money off this stuff but at the same time I can't understand all the drama around it. While there is LEGIT bad crap going on here (which stinks because Doug was the 1st content creator I started following and he's always seemed like a decent guy) it makes me look at the whole "business" of making videos on YouTube and ask......... bwaa? Some of the monetization I get. I'd imagine a lot of these guys started out doing reviews just for fun. Then they started earning money, in a lot of cases enough to quit their jobs and do this full time. That's the dream right? Do something you find fun as your job, amazing. Then the platform you use, e.g. YouTube, changes the rules with no warning, suddenly you have no job and no money. No matter who you are, that's gonna hurt. |
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Paul
Vegeta
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Post by Paul on Mar 26, 2018 15:07:55 GMT -5
Man, reading all this just makes me realize I neither know or care how the whole system of YouTube/online video content creators works. I've never understood it as a business. Maybe I'm just ignorant, maybe I'm just super jealous that they watch movies & play video games for a living, but when I see people on YouTube going crazy about monetization there's a part of me that just can't take it seriously. It's nice that they're making money off this stuff but at the same time I can't understand all the drama around it. While there is LEGIT bad crap going on here (which stinks because Doug was the 1st content creator I started following and he's always seemed like a decent guy) it makes me look at the whole "business" of making videos on YouTube and ask......... bwaa? Some of the monetization I get. I'd imagine a lot of these guys started out doing reviews just for fun. Then they started earning money, in a lot of cases enough to quit their jobs and do this full time. That's the dream right? Do something you find fun as your job, amazing. Then the platform you use, e.g. YouTube, changes the rules with no warning, suddenly you have no job and no money. No matter who you are, that's gonna hurt. I hope the smarter ones amongst them kept their day jobs and viewed video reviewing as just a fun way to earn a little extra income. They weren't expecting to make lifelong careers out of this, were they? |
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Post by Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! on Mar 26, 2018 15:14:54 GMT -5
Some of the monetization I get. I'd imagine a lot of these guys started out doing reviews just for fun. Then they started earning money, in a lot of cases enough to quit their jobs and do this full time. That's the dream right? Do something you find fun as your job, amazing. Then the platform you use, e.g. YouTube, changes the rules with no warning, suddenly you have no job and no money. No matter who you are, that's gonna hurt. I hope the smarter ones amongst them kept their day jobs and viewed video reviewing as just a fun way to earn a little extra income. They weren't expecting to make lifelong careers out of this, were they? It seems silly but considering it IS their job and they do make money doing it, not really. I mean it's kind of like telling someone whose auto plant suddenly closed that you hope they kept a second job because they should've known better. |
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Futureraven: Beelzebruv
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The Ultimate Arbiter of Right And Wrong
Spent half my life here, God help me
Posts: 15,595
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Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Mar 26, 2018 15:17:45 GMT -5
Some of the monetization I get. I'd imagine a lot of these guys started out doing reviews just for fun. Then they started earning money, in a lot of cases enough to quit their jobs and do this full time. That's the dream right? Do something you find fun as your job, amazing. Then the platform you use, e.g. YouTube, changes the rules with no warning, suddenly you have no job and no money. No matter who you are, that's gonna hurt. I hope the smarter ones amongst them kept their day jobs and viewed video reviewing as just a fun way to earn a little extra income. They weren't expecting to make lifelong careers out of this, were they? Some will have, some won't. Clearly the Walkers for example, thought they could use this to transition into becoming successful comedy performers. Other will see how much the big youtubers get and be seduced as their income grows and think if they go full time they can get up there.=, then have the rug pulled out from under them. Given how many times youtube's done that crap, I think people will be more reluctant to try and make it a career. But like any form of entertainment, it's a risk to really go for it and some people will. |
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Paul
Vegeta
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Post by Paul on Mar 26, 2018 15:24:59 GMT -5
I hope the smarter ones amongst them kept their day jobs and viewed video reviewing as just a fun way to earn a little extra income. They weren't expecting to make lifelong careers out of this, were they? It seems silly but considering it IS their job and they do make money doing it, not really. I mean it's kind of like telling someone whose auto plant suddenly closed that you hope they kept a second job because they should've known better. Well it's only their "job" because CA decided to pay them (or not pay them, as the case may be). |
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Post by Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! on Mar 26, 2018 15:28:05 GMT -5
It seems silly but considering it IS their job and they do make money doing it, not really. I mean it's kind of like telling someone whose auto plant suddenly closed that you hope they kept a second job because they should've known better. Well it's only their "job" because CA decided to pay them (or not pay them, as the case may be). I'm not really understanding the logic here. Especially since most people get paid by YouTube, not channel awesome. |
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Futureraven: Beelzebruv
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The Ultimate Arbiter of Right And Wrong
Spent half my life here, God help me
Posts: 15,595
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Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Mar 26, 2018 15:28:26 GMT -5
It seems silly but considering it IS their job and they do make money doing it, not really. I mean it's kind of like telling someone whose auto plant suddenly closed that you hope they kept a second job because they should've known better. Well it's only their "job" because CA decided to pay them (or not pay them, as the case may be). Not just CA, CA never paid anyone, they were paid through views from youtube/blip etc CA were just a means of publicising it. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2018 15:29:21 GMT -5
Man, reading all this just makes me realize I neither know or care how the whole system of YouTube/online video content creators works. I've never understood it as a business. Maybe I'm just ignorant, maybe I'm just super jealous that they watch movies & play video games for a living, but when I see people on YouTube going crazy about monetization there's a part of me that just can't take it seriously. It's nice that they're making money off this stuff but at the same time I can't understand all the drama around it. While there is LEGIT bad crap going on here (which stinks because Doug was the 1st content creator I started following and he's always seemed like a decent guy) it makes me look at the whole "business" of making videos on YouTube and ask......... bwaa? Some of the monetization I get. I'd imagine a lot of these guys started out doing reviews just for fun. Then they started earning money, in a lot of cases enough to quit their jobs and do this full time. That's the dream right? Do something you find fun as your job, amazing. Then the platform you use, e.g. YouTube, changes the rules with no warning, suddenly you have no job and no money. No matter who you are, that's gonna hurt. I'm going to assume they took the new media talk more seriously as their numbers began to improve and money started (miraculously?) coming in and they began making more serious life choices to take advantage of that. Meanwhile schlubs like me would love to at least be able to ditch this writers block I feel like I've been under for years and just blog a bit while at work again lol. There's a business model there, I guess, but with any new media thing there's risk. I lived thru the internet bubble in the 2000's (was in night classes for an internet communication degree at the time, and by program's end in 2002 the professors were admitting we wouldn't be getting a job in the field at all unless we knew people who were still safe) so the risk is real and can probably get depressing. Bless 'em for cashing in on it for a while (some still) at least. I've gotten used to podcasting more, I guess. The folks I listen to tend to all be regular joes who have regular jobs and do the podcasting on some regularity (though some do have long gaps; which stinks since they tend to be the ones I like more) and some more recently have delved into the Patreon thing, though there's still a bunch who apparently just do it because it's just fun to do. |
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Post by Confused Mark Wahlberg on Mar 26, 2018 15:33:19 GMT -5
They rejected my idea to have a channel where I discuss how cool my parakeet is.
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Paul
Vegeta
Posts: 9,370
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Post by Paul on Mar 26, 2018 15:35:01 GMT -5
They rejected my idea to have a channel where I discuss how cool my parakeet is. I'd much rather watch that than Demo Reel or the clipless N.C reviews- and I'm not joking.  |
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Futureraven: Beelzebruv
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The Ultimate Arbiter of Right And Wrong
Spent half my life here, God help me
Posts: 15,595
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Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Mar 26, 2018 15:35:37 GMT -5
Some of the monetization I get. I'd imagine a lot of these guys started out doing reviews just for fun. Then they started earning money, in a lot of cases enough to quit their jobs and do this full time. That's the dream right? Do something you find fun as your job, amazing. Then the platform you use, e.g. YouTube, changes the rules with no warning, suddenly you have no job and no money. No matter who you are, that's gonna hurt. I'm going to assume they took the new media talk more seriously as their numbers began to improve and money started (miraculously?) coming in and they began making more serious life choices to take advantage of that. Meanwhile schlubs like me would love to at least be able to ditch this writers block I feel like I've been under for years and just blog a bit while at work again lol. There's a business model there, I guess, but with any new media thing there's risk. I lived thru the internet bubble in the 2000's (was in night classes for an internet communication degree at the time, and by program's end in 2002 the professors were admitting we wouldn't be getting a job in the field at all unless we knew people who were still safe) so the risk is real and can probably get depressing. Bless 'em for cashing in on it for a while (some still) at least. I've gotten used to podcasting more, I guess. The folks I listen to tend to all be regular joes who have regular jobs and do the podcasting on some regularity (though some do have long gaps; which stinks since they tend to be the ones I like more) and some more recently have delved into the Patreon thing, though there's still a bunch who apparently just do it because it's just fun to do. It's easy for us to see on the outside how much of a bubble it is, but that's the thing. As you're doing it, and seeing the money start to come in the temptation will grow. Take Linkara for example, his storyline stuff. As he goes on, he gets better equipment but if he had that little more time he could get things that little bit better, tweak the writing. Or he would have time to do those other videos on the History of Power Rangers. Then it can be a trap, never mind getting a job, if you have to rush things or cut back on releases which will lose your audience and it can snowball till you're back where you started just with less money and more debt. From the inside, as obvious as things seem, they'll seem different. |
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Paul
Vegeta
Posts: 9,370
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Post by Paul on Mar 26, 2018 15:36:20 GMT -5
Well it's only their "job" because CA decided to pay them (or not pay them, as the case may be). I'm not really understanding the logic here. Especially since most people get paid by YouTube, not channel awesome. Yeah, but aren't a lot of them complaining that they weren't paid by CA directly when they were supposed to be? |
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Post by Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! on Mar 26, 2018 15:53:06 GMT -5
I'm not really understanding the logic here. Especially since most people get paid by YouTube, not channel awesome. Yeah, but aren't a lot of them complaining that they weren't paid by CA directly when they were supposed to be? I'm not really sure if CA were the ones who were footing the bill or not but if so then it's like any other job where you're paid for your work, no matter how outre that work may seem to an outsider. |
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Futureraven: Beelzebruv
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The Ultimate Arbiter of Right And Wrong
Spent half my life here, God help me
Posts: 15,595
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Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Mar 26, 2018 15:55:22 GMT -5
I'm not really understanding the logic here. Especially since most people get paid by YouTube, not channel awesome. Yeah, but aren't a lot of them complaining that they weren't paid by CA directly when they were supposed to be? CA never paid them, they got all their money through views and later, patreon. So it was their own shows and popularity that brought in the money. CA just kept giving them false promises that eventually they'd be paid in order to get them to sign contracts so they couldn't, for example, sue for injuries during filming the anniversary specials. Basically continually lying to them to try and get them to agree to terrible conditions. That had nothing to do with reviewing becoming their job. |
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