jaybird3rd Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Sorry, I have to rant here for a minute ... I've been in my nephews' room this afternoon, working on one of their computers (hard drive crash). While there, I was subjected to the torturous experience of overhearing one of the plethora of Minecraft videos that are apparently spreading like the plague all over YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yyp_rqDx5g This is the particular one they were watching, but it doesn't matter because they're all the same. I'll summarize it for you, to spare you the agony of sitting through the whole thing. Imagine some dude with a microphone playing Minecraft (very badly) and saying ... "... oh my God, look at that, I was, like, TOTALLY not expecting that, seriously, this is, like, not even funny, I'm still, like, Wow, that was just, like, ..." ... over and over and over again for twenty interminable minutes, and you've got the idea. Of course, there's also the requisite "goofy girl" there to chime in with such pearls of wisdom as ... "... omygaaaaaaad, this is so fuuuuuun, I've, like, never been good at this, but aaaaaaaaah! ..." Both of my nephews (ages ten and eight) watch these godforsaken videos all the time, and for the life of me, I cannot understand the appeal. There's no content whatsoever. There's nothing clever, nothing funny, nothing insightful. Even for those who like Minecraft—which I don't, probably because I've been subjected to too many of these videos—there's nothing to see because these people are terrible at playing Minecraft, which is apparently the whole point: they're not there to show you how to play, but to contribute their "goofy" and "wacky" comments as they try and fail to play. I could almost feel myself getting stupider the entire time I was in there, but judging from the millions of subscribers these videos are getting, kids all over the country are lapping them up like candy. Can somebody please explain this to me? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godslabrat Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Never played Minecraft, and I can't imagine wanting to watch a video of someone else playing a game, but I have come to a realization... When I was a kid, and I couldn't play video Games, I would fill the gap by reading magazines ABOUT video games. Same concept, different generation. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leods Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Can somebody please explain this to me? No. I have no idea what the appeal of this is. Even Pewdiepie has some pretty good videos. Granted, not all, but he has some funny videos. But these random teens screeming at Minecratft are a waste of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 Never played Minecraft, and I can't imagine wanting to watch a video of someone else playing a game, but I have come to a realization... When I was a kid, and I couldn't play video Games, I would fill the gap by reading magazines ABOUT video games. Same concept, different generation. That's what I thought at first, but now that I've seen more of these videos, I don't think it's the same thing at all. When I was a kid reading magazine articles about games, they were either reviews or strategy guides. In either case, I had a specific goal in mind: I was either reading about games that I wanted to play, or I was getting information about how to be a better player of a game that I already had. These Minecraft videos, on the other hand, teach you nothing at all about Minecraft: whether it's deliberate or not, the people who make them are generally poor players, as far as I've seen. The videos also tend to be unscripted (or are at least made to sound that way) and are completely unenlightening, whereas those magazine articles were usually intelligent and well-written. Another difference: after I read the strategy guides, I actually played the games and tried to apply what I had learned. My nephews, on the other hand, seem content to just watch other people play Minecraft. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punisher5.0 Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Are they on drugs? Never played the game before but it looks interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+eebuckeye Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 They are terrible and my daughter loves them.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaperman Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 (edited) I kind of like minecraft vids. Without them I wouldn't know some of the more glitchy block placement techniques, rules for farming monsters, or redstone theory. Some of the less instructional ones are still nice for previewing mods or prebuilt worlds to see if they're worth loading up. The game vids I strongly dislike are the ones that discuss youtube drama, soft bullying, or social justice garbage over random footage of FPS games--now THAT I don't get. Since I watched a video game channel once, youtube naturally thinks my recommended feed needs to be full of this kind of thing. worse than minecraft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYEsG-6hSv0 Edited July 17, 2016 by Reaperman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Helmet Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 My 12 year old daughter loves them. She plays Minecraft while watching them. If I'd let her she'd likely stream them 24/7. With all of the streaming we do in my household it's likely that Comcast hates us. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mulletino Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Maybe they're this generations version of the stupid cartoons we all watched as kids? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted July 18, 2016 Author Share Posted July 18, 2016 Maybe they're this generations version of the stupid cartoons we all watched as kids? I wouldn't even rank them that highly. At least the cartoons of the 70s and 80s were actually written and had a purpose, insofar as they were meant to tell stories. Within the conventions of that medium, the best of them even succeeded in telling some pretty good ones ("Star Trek: The Animated Series" comes to mind). That's hardly the same thing as annoying people "being random" over footage of Minecraft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mulletino Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Oh don't get me wrong, it wasn't a direct comparison, what I meant was that cartoons have also "evolved" though the ages, from the old Looney Tunes up, taking many guises and seeminlgy getting louder and more pointless as time goes on. The art style also seems to get worse and worse in my eyes. Unless that is just a side effect of the sepearation caused by age. Myself, I can't stand "random" humour, especially people deliberately trying hard to be "random" or even labelling themselves as such. I have even less time for the multitude of "youtube personalities" that seem to plague that medium. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Never played Minecraft, and I can't imagine wanting to watch a video of someone else playing a game, but I have come to a realization... When I was a kid, and I couldn't play video Games, I would fill the gap by reading magazines ABOUT video games. Same concept, different generation. Basically yes. I use to watch a lot of minecraft videos myself until I got the game. Nowadays I just play it instead. Well, on occasion. It comes and goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newsdee Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I've found some interesting because they give you ideas on what and how to build different things. Other than that it's like those Let's Play videos, kind of modern equivalent of going to a friend's house and watch him play because he knows the game well and you want to see more of it. I don't seek out those videos but I kind of get that kids want to watch something close to their interests, especially if they can go and try it out shortly after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPA5 Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I don't understand, and have never understood, what the appeal of these videos are. I could go into a huge rant about how utterly inane they are, but I won't bother. They are stupid, and have always been stupid. That being said, these things have been spreading like the plague for years already. And someday when they finally die, some other silly bullshit will take its place. Now what I really don't understand are vlogs. Why on earth do people watch other people live their boring, regular lives? It's not as if they're celebrities, they are just regular people doing lame regular people stuff. What the fresh hell is this? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I just hope you remembered to like and subscribe. Always like and subscribe. Did you remember to like and subscribe? 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted July 18, 2016 Author Share Posted July 18, 2016 I just hope you remembered to like and subscribe. Always like and subscribe. Did you remember to like and subscribe? That's another thing: through the first half of these videos, they keep on saying, "Don't rate this video yet! Don't rate it based on how well we're playing (because we suck), but on how funny we are! So don't rate it yet!!! We'll start being funny any time now!!! Don't rate it yet!!!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I think the people who make these videos do it simply because they can, they have the time and the technology, and they like what they're doing. They resemble a modern version of Geocoties or MySpace pages. It's possible that YouTube and/or Twitch streaming is built into the Minecraft client. If so, and yore the kind of person who likes to push ALL the buttons in the elevator, it's more a case of, why NOT stream and yak over it? There also seems to be a tiny little bit of wishful thinking that they'll get discovered, or rich from advertising or Patreon tips. There are a few people making some money via streaming games (or political rants, or porn, or whatever). At the very least, there's a tiny bit of validation via thumbs up or subscriptions. There's probably a network of people liking each other's stuff. You could say the same thing about blogging and podcasting. Some are good at it and make an attempt to put together an informative or entertaining show, while others just let er rip with the camera and/or microphone on and ship the whole thing to someone else's cloud storage. Minecraft videos are exactly as interesting to me as 7-hour flabby podcasts like the RetroGaming Roundup, which is to say, not at all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 This person makes a fair point: Minecraft is the most streamed game ever because it's so diverse, and there are so many things you can do with it. http://www.gameskinny.com/gimme/the-real-reason-minecraft-is-so-popular-on-youtube The bigger something gets, the more annoying little personalities you'll see attached to it. Add in monetization and the structural attention-whoredom of the web economy, and "look at me, I'm on Minecraft!" becomes the norm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inky Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 South Park did an episode about this, featuring, of course, the real Pewdiepie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPA5 Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I just hope you remembered to like and subscribe. Always like and subscribe. Did you remember to like and subscribe? I like this post. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoRacer Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Is the southern lisp thing a gag, or is that how he actually talks? I can comment as to why I think gaming videos are exciting for people.... but this? No. Sorry, I just... I just can't imagine why anyone can think it's entertaining. I was only 20 seconds in and had to shut the browser down. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omegadot Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Is the southern lisp thing a gag, or is that how he actually talks? I can comment as to why I think gaming videos are exciting for people.... but this? No. Sorry, I just... I just can't imagine why anyone can think it's entertaining. I was only 20 seconds in and had to shut the browser down. Not just the tab. The entire browser window. To quell the shame. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercylon Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 My own kids make these videos of their own Minecraft worlds, though there is no screaming involved... more a narration of what they have made and what they are making. They are into enough other activities that I just let this one go. They could be doing far worse things with their time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moycon Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 What's to understand? This one is easy.... At that age the human brain hasn't finished developing yet. What they find humorous or entertaining is vastly different than what their parents find entertaining mainly because their brains aren't all there. By my estimates most people don't have a fully developed brain until about the age of 40, although sometimes it takes a decade or two longer than that. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xenomorpher Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 (edited) I understand the appeal of Minecraft videos, just like any other video really. People like different things and like to share, nothing there stupid in my opinion. What I don't get are the videos of people being obnoxious, screaming, overly opinionated, or acting stupid and/or annoying. I say acting because most of them say it's a character. Ever notice these "characters" are pretty much the same? How much work and effort did they put into their "character"? But for some reason annoying characters sell and are funny to most kids. Look at the Fred "character" and how much that guy has probably made with those "movies". Sketches thrown into reviews are usually not funny and are cringe worthy. It's like they know they don't have the talent or confidence to have them stand on their own. They have no problems tearing movies and games to pieces without mercy, but when it comes time to show their "talent" they fail shockingly. Gamesack is the only exception I've seen, but their sketches last five or so minutes tops and doesn't involve screaming and are saved after the credits usually. They have a purposeful cheesy infomercial charm. Kids need to learn from this. Edited July 19, 2016 by xenomorpher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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