Classic Game Room moving to Patreon

[Austin]

 

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.

 

It's not really "normal" on YouTube. If you look at the guys that put out content that is consistent with their style and/or what people sort of expect from them, their ratios are much higher and their views on new uploads are up from what they were many years ago. CGR is doing just fine in the view count department on a monthly basis (1.6 million views last month alone according to Socialblade), but his attach rate for new uploads is horrendous. We all know why and that was kind of the point, and it's sad to see where the channel has gone. I'm sure Mark is doing just fine financially considering the views on YouTube isn't taking into consideration his loads of Patreon backers ($8,000 a month there? Wow).

[Great Hierophant]

But Internet videos should be free!

 

Trust me, it's impossible to do that anymore if you want edited content. Free is great for vlogging videos, unboxing, video clips from a phone. Frees not so good for edited content like CGR.

https://www.patreon.com/ClassicGameRoom

 

Hmm, the content is kind of sliding toward the "vlogging videos, unboxing" direction. The current product is not worth $8K a month.

[Professor Gull]

I was an avid fan about 2 years back but lately I am losing interest seeing not a whole lot of new items plugged into the streams for viewers. I sense his other hobbies like drawing are taking up more of his time. An unsubscribe moment might happen in the near future for me at least just not my cup of tea anymore.

[Gabriel]

I see a new CGR review is up. It's a 4 minute long review of a York Peppermint Patty.

 

CGR has done reviews of completely random stuff like this before, It's just that I feel some kind of line has been crossed. The level of churn material like this has completely overwhelmed and utterly routed everything else. I even went against my better judgement and watched it hoping it might be a misleading title. Nope. It's a review of a York Peppermint Patty.

 

I'm out. I unsubbed. I mourn the loss of the CGR I enjoyed. I console myself that at least Mark doesn't seem to be on a TheSpoonyOne trajectory.

 

[leods]

Truth is, It's about 100x easier to do this vlogging and silly crap than actually reviewing games. A 10 minute good review will take 3 full days to make including playing, recording footage, scripting and editing. You can produce 5 random crap videos in an hour. Easy. No editing, no scripting, no thinking, no playing... There's a reason why youtube is so terrible. Hard work isn't rewarded at all.

[Csonicgo]

I have no idea what has happened to CGR as of late. I think a lot of this year was spent fixing all the problems he himself created when he decided to cut off everything (and everyone) Undertow still being there with the Patreon would have worked. People liked Derek. Derek liked his job. Mark cutting Derek off was a mistake, even if Brandon wanted to leave (I hate that he did, but he has the right to).

TJ is still around, I yak with him on Twitter. But Mark really needs to figure something out before the end of this year. I can't keep giving him the moneys if all I'm getting are unboxing videos.

[karokoenig]

I observed that his junk videos do get a few less views, but when you actually check them out, you see that they get very few dislikes. People who are upset with Marks current policy seem to be content with simply "not watching". I wonder if using the dislike button more would convey a clearer message to Mark.

 

I just watch his reviews, which are still informative. His other (time waster) videos get 3 seconds and a thumbs down.

[Gabriel]

I unsubbed last year and made sure to click "not interested" when CGR videos showed up in my recommendations. For many months I haven't seen CGR videos show up, until today. I decided to see if matters had improved and check out a new video. And... it didn't suck. Mark seems to be back to producing something resembling the kind of content I enjoyed from him back in the day. It seems he doesn't do the junk videos like York Peppermint Patty reviews anymore (or at least hasn't for a few months). I've decided to re-subscribe and see how it turns out.

[Jim Pez]

IT'S sad i have to work 40 hours a week to make a living wage and you tubers make a living wage by posting a 15 minute video once a week reviewing and playing video games.

Edited November 6, 2017 by jim1174

[Flojomojo]

IT'S sad i have to work 40 hours a week to make a living wage and you tubers make a living wage by posting a 15 minute video once a week reviewing and playing video games.

They're also at the mercy of the whims of their audience and other Tuber competition. Not to mention that neither Patreon nor YouTube offer a health plan. Maybe I'm overly risk-averse, but hustling for clicks online doesn't seem like much fun to me.

 

In contrast, your day job probably meets payroll every week, and in theory you could learn some new skills and advance in the organization.

 

Would you rather be (1) a stray cat with unlimited freedom that usually has to sleep outside and hunt for food? Or (2) an indoor kitty who sleeps in a warm soft bed with humans and gets fed regularly.

 

Option #2 might be fatter but almost always lives more than twice as long.

 

Still, nice work if you can get it. I have no problem contributing to people I like, and I assume they get a little something from advertising or YouTube Red. I don't watch enough game stuff to be bothered either way but I wish the guy luck.

[Eltigro]

To be fair about videos reviewing York Peppermint Patties or whatever, he used to state at the beginning of videos "on its never ending mission to review everything."

[CGQuarterly]

I unsubbed last year and made sure to click "not interested" when CGR videos showed up in my recommendations. For many months I haven't seen CGR videos show up, until today. I decided to see if matters had improved and check out a new video. And... it didn't suck. Mark seems to be back to producing something resembling the kind of content I enjoyed from him back in the day. It seems he doesn't do the junk videos like York Peppermint Patty reviews anymore (or at least hasn't for a few months). I've decided to re-subscribe and see how it turns out.

 

 

I'll check it out. I would honestly enjoy seeing Mark return to form.

 

Edit:

 

I checked out his latest video and also took a look at the kind of content he's been uploading for the past month or so. Definitely looks like he's sort of skewing back towards classic Classic Game Room. I'm still shocked by the view numbers, though. I get more views than that on my "minor" uploads, and I have a fraction of his subscribers. You'd think that would make me happy, but it actually doesn't.

Edited November 6, 2017 by CGQuarterly

[HoshiChiri]

IT'S sad i have to work 40 hours a week to make a living wage and you tubers make a living wage by posting a 15 minute video once a week reviewing and playing video games.

 

It's not that simple: We may only see a 15 minute video, but we don't see how much footage was actually filmed, or how long it took to edit that into a 15 minute video.

 

Also- why assume they're making a living wage? They could, and often do, have day jobs. One of my favorite YouTube channels is Loading Ready Run. They currently consist of a dozen-ish regular contributors, post multiple videos a week, stream on twitch almost daily, and have a Patreon. Do you know how many of them are able to live on LRR money alone? Four. One of whom only got the bump to full time LRR last year. (They've been around for over a decade- they predate youtube itself!)

 

Basically, it's not money for nothing & chicks for free, it really is a lot of work. It's just more 'fun' work.

Edited November 6, 2017 by HoshiChiri

[Austin]

I checked out his latest video and also took a look at the kind of content he's been uploading for the past month or so. Definitely looks like he's sort of skewing back towards classic Classic Game Room. I'm still shocked by the view numbers, though. I get more views than that on my "minor" uploads, and I have a fraction of his subscribers. You'd think that would make me happy, but it actually doesn't.

 

I'm guessing that's just the result of him digging a hole with that throwaway content he posted for the last several years. I have seen a similar effect with other channels I follow and it shows how important consistency is on YouTube (well, unless it's consistently uninteresting). I'd personally like to see him rebound with greater views on new uploads too.

[zetastrike]

I tuned him out earlier this year and jumped off the patreon, but I've also noticed a returning to form. I find myself clicking on his new uploads and being glad I did. Here's hoping he gets it now, and just produces old style CGR which is what people wanted from the beginning. And it's Pac Man month.

[Flojomojo]

I'm guessing that's just the result of him digging a hole with that throwaway content he posted for the last several years. I have seen a similar effect with other channels I follow and it shows how important consistency is on YouTube (well, unless it's consistently uninteresting). I'd personally like to see him rebound with greater views on new uploads too.

That's a good point -- speaking only for myself, I would prefer a few very good things that come out whenever as opposed to scattershot crap just to meet a schedule.

 

Especially for subscribers, who know what they came for.

[atarilovesyou]

I'm a bit curious...why do people bother to subscribe to channels anyway? And when you do, why do you then complain about the content AFTER unsubscribing? I've removed my youtube account after google bought them. I now no longer can comment, subscribe, or any of that. Not surprisingly, my life didn't fall apart. And I still get to watch whatever I want. I don't have to worry about Patreon (didn't even know what that was until these types of threads), likes or dislikes...world still turns.

 

From what I can gather, folks seemed to like his channel, then the quality decreased (objectively speaking), and then it came back, yadda yadda, some of you unsubscribed...am I missing what's supposed to be interesting about all of this? If you don't like his channel, his reviews, his unboxings, whatever candy reviews, why keep complaining after the fact? At some point, it starts to sound like typical internet bandwagon griping. I stopped watching AVGN after a while, but it's not like I'm complaining about it. I moved on, he's still making a living doing what he loves.

 

I think I laughed most at the Kickstarter idea, and how folks can't figure out 'how it got funded'?...seems pretty obvious to me: somebody out there DOES like it, and they're paying for it. He's also been doing this a long time, and that brings advantages that goes beyond the niche of retrogaming. And apparently his 'rich dad' even made it into some comments...wow, sounds like grade school jealousy, regardless of what was intended, that's how it reads. Oh...and 12k monthly gross for a youtube channel, apparently that's also not enough for some. I understand your reasoning, but we're talking about a retrogaming youtube channel: that's flipping great, end of story.

 

So whatta we got...his material is terrible, he caters too much to his Patreons, his unboxings are somehow cheating his viewers of some kind of entertainment value...but he's got his channel, his subscribers, his Patreons and a successful Kickstarter. Sounds like he's doing just fine to me.

[StopDrop&Retro]

I'm a bit curious...why do people bother to subscribe to channels anyway?

Because they enjoy what someone else is creating and they want to see more.

 

And when you do, why do you then complain about the content AFTER unsubscribing?

Why do people complain about movies after the credits roll?

 

am I missing what's supposed to be interesting about all of this?

Yes.

 

You already told us you don't subscribe to anything. Why would you ever expect to understand any of this?

[xenomorpher]

I'm a bit curious...why do people bother to subscribe to channels anyway?

Because it's easier and less complicated than searching for individual channels every single time you want to see if they have any new videos. You can see if multiple channels have any new content at once if you're subscribed. It saves time and it helps channels you like. Plus you can flag videos to watch later, unless you like filling up your bookmarks.

 

 

I've removed my youtube account after google bought them. I now no longer can comment, subscribe, or any of that. Not surprisingly, my life didn't fall apart. And I still get to watch whatever I want. I don't have to worry about Patreon (didn't even know what that was until these types of threads), likes or dislikes...world still turns.

Some people just like saving time or communicating with content creators. Plus giving a like helps out and it doesn't take long or cost money.

 

 

From what I can gather, folks seemed to like his channel, then the quality decreased (objectively speaking), and then it came back, yadda yadda, some of you unsubscribed...am I missing what's supposed to be interesting about all of this?

He was one of the first people that reviewed classic and modern games in video format online. He started in the early 2000's before YouTube. There was a time he had to stop making videos, so people get pissed when he puts out lazy videos about peppermint patties or whatever because it's arrogant. He doesn't need to rent an office or studio to make a video of a box or container sitting on a table with him talking about it. It's like he's pissing away his second chance or whatever. It's interesting and aggravating to people who have watched his videos for years. If it's not interesting to you, then it's not interesting.

 

Edited November 8, 2017 by xenomorpher

[Eltigro]

Speaking of CGR, Mark just reviewed an Atari Age produced game.