Major Changes In Youtube Involving Let's Players

[alphamalet]

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Now then, a little conversation between us forum posters:

1: What do you think of this sudden change happening next year?

2: Are you worried about your favorite Let's Player's future?

3: Do You Think This should have happened a long time ago, and are proud of Youtube's Decision?

4: Anyone think that Video Game Crash is going to happen due to this being one of the factors?

5: Which Let's Players do you think would be fine with this outcome? Which ones do you think would not be?

6: Freestlye Final Thoughts - Your take on this with a good conclusion?
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You may now post.

1) Meh. I find it a little ridiculous that people's "jobs" are fooling around on youtube making videos, but I do like being able to hear individuals' opinions.

2) Not really considering I've never found any to be compelling.

3) Not proud of the decision, no. Am I going to lose sleep? No.

4) When will these nihilists get off of this whole video game crash thing. It's not going to happen, and if it did I guarantee it would result in nothing positive for the hobby you love.

5) Don't watch them so I wouldn't know.

6) There are other avenues for these people that don't include monetizing copyrighted material. Podcasts are one of them, and blogs are another. There are ways to profit off of getting your opinion out there without a video using copyrighted material, it just probably isn't as convenient. Surely these let's players whose primary income were youtube video knew that this wasn't going to last forever... it just seems like it might have ended a bit more suddenly than anticipated.

 

[Weaver]

Affiliates can still be monetized, they just have to pass the audit first.
Not that that's good, as the audit process can take days and managed people don't have to do it.

The major issue I'm seeing is... why the hell would anyone bother with a network now? They take 40% of your pay for ... what? They provide no legal defense for you, your videos are still audited like normal and there's literally no benefit to you in any way to be affiliated instead of managed with a network.

I almost want to make a youtube like site but for only games and allow 60fps uploads.
Game Anyone exists, but the site has it backwards IMO. It's easy to find playthrough of games, but not easy to find a person who you like. People don't have channel identities on that site like on youtube which I dislike. The UI is kind of crap too.

 

[Roxas1359]

People will simply migrate away from YouTube. YouTube is already a giant corporate mouthpiece, they have killed what made people go there in the first place; democratization of content. Now it's like any other content provider; protecting the ingrained interests of a few giant IP holders ans swatting down the little guys.

Many have already started to move to Blip or other such services. They have lower visibility but higher revenues and much less interference.

I've been seeing people migrating more to Twitch as well, especially since the PS4 and Xbox One support Twitch. Well PS4 currently allows it from the console, while support for the Xbox One is gonna support it later.
I'm hoping that if enough people migrate Google will end up changing some things, since the only listen to them losing money. But sadly YouTube is so big and popular that some people still won't leave.

Affiliates can still be monetized, they just have to pass the audit first.
Not that that's good, as the audit process can take days and managed people don't have to do it.

The major issue I'm seeing is... why the hell would anyone bother with a network now? They take 40% of your pay for ... what? They provide no legal defense for you, your videos are still audited like normal and there's literally no benefit to you in any way to be affiliated instead of managed with a network.

Pretty much agree, what's the point of joining a network if you're losing money for no benefits. You might as well just stay that fake type of partnership that you are given by default.

 

[lacktheknack]

For as many people calling the companies greedy, aren't the LPers just as greedy?

I never watched any channels or follow anyone, and most of the ones I do watch are by people who only did a game or one series. I really don't see this affecting anyone who does it to show off a game they love.

Except the LPers often put in a ton of work making videos and they usually don't make much money to offset the costs.That's why most have other jobs to help them make money.

Do you need someone to pay you to do hobbies?

When said hobby cuts deeply into my time to the point that I can't hold a full-time job at the same time? Yes.

Plus, people WERE willing to pay them. If they stop paying, then the hobbyists won't be able to afford to live without getting back into a nine-to-five, so no more LPs.

It's pretty simple. There's only 24 hours in a day.

 

[j0frenzy]

A lot of people apparently want to burn down the entire LP forest to cut down the PewDiePie tree, which to me sounds like a terrible rule. We don't like this one guy, so rather than avoid his content altogether, we're going to stop anyone from using his business model because we don't like him.
Also, I may have missed it or it's covered elsewhere, but does Youtube have a policy in place to be discerning, because not all developers have problems with monetization, just the big ones.
http://canipostandmonetizevideosofdevolvergames.com/

As a side note, can we please finally get around to passing a new Copyright law that isn't coo-coo bananas already?

 

[Rednog]

You may want to reread the article because your post kind of runs at odds with what it actually says. The check system is already in place and has been in place, it isn't coming next year. What's changing is that everyone is going to be subject to the system; as it stands now youtubers were able to bypass the system by joining up with a company/manager. The article is basically saying that anyone managed or not is subject to having their video demonetized.

Personally I don't know why youtube is doing this, they're basically shooting themselves in the foot because let's face it "Let's Players" draw a huge amount of consistent views. Sure each of their individual video views aren't going to reach the latest internet viral video, but they're still most likely youtube's biggest earners.

I'm wondering how legit this news really is. I haven't heard of this guy or his site, and considering this is people's livelihoods, this would be all over the place like the SOPA stuff was and not just on some small site.

 

[unindexedsearchengine]

Well, shit. I've only recently started LPing. This sucks quite severely. I fail to see the logic behind this. The companies aren't losing any profit due to these LPs, and they get quite a bit of free advertising.
Good thing I've got some fully original stuff planned. As for Let's Plays, I guess I'll have to stick to indie games.

 

[Roxas1359]

As a side note, can we please finally get around to passing a new Copyright law that isn't coo-coo bananas already?

Really the Copyright laws at this point need a full on update or rewriting since us LPers have to use the Fair Use Act of 1976 to try and defend ourselves, and it doesn't always work. The market and things have changed so greatly, and with LPs being in this grey area then it's a pain, and combine it with YouTube's broken copyright system you've got hell itself to fight if you do LPs there.
I know I've learned the hard way after doing Kingdom Hearts Final Mix on YouTube.

 

[Mister K]

This. Is. Bull. First Google+, now this.
I pride myself in being calm and thoughtful person, so I'll wait for how this turns out.
But (and that's a big BUT) if TBFP, Maximilian, Angry Joe and anime abridgers will leave Yotube and will post their videos on other site, then I'll follow without second thoughts.

 

[Weaver]

As a side note, can we please finally get around to passing a new Copyright law that isn't coo-coo bananas already?

What would be nice is to make a common use license that companies can stick on for free. Think of like a GPL but for let's plays. A license that lets people know they can record this footage legally and monetize it. It could even include logos and such for companies to include.

 

[j0frenzy]

As a side note, can we please finally get around to passing a new Copyright law that isn't coo-coo bananas already?

Really the Copyright laws at this point need a full on update or rewriting since us LPers have to use the Fair Use Act of 1976 to try and defend ourselves, and it doesn't always work. The market and things have changed so greatly, and with LPs being in this grey area then it's a pain, and combine it with YouTube's broken copyright system you've got hell itself to fight if you do LPs there.
I know I've learned the hard way after doing Kingdom Hearts Final Mix on YouTube.

That's because the last true Copyright Act to be passed in the US was the 1970s. We're still using an outdated Copyright Act that never envisioned the power of the internet and assumes any infringer to be a competing business as opposed to say individual making fan content. And then there's the DMCA, which is best left ignored.

 

[Silverbane7]

well, while i can't say its a surprise (after all, all money is THEIR money, from the corps point of view)
i just hope that the places the LPers move to will support such things as HTML5.... im sick and tired of using the /embed/ trick to watch things in bed on my wiiu pad, and then finding i cant watch anything somewhere else because its all crappy flash.

infact i cant even watch anything here, becasue i have to be a subber to access the HTML5 version of the popup. let alone blip and any of the other places.
(yes, i do get that probably everyone else but me seems to be ether using a pc or phone to watch stuff, or uses those auful you tube apps. but i don't use my TV in bed to watch lets plays. i like to use the easier to use wiiu screen lol. at least with that, i can roll over in bed and not miss any action)

so please, if you are a LPer, can you poke the places like Blip ect to add a HTML5 option? i was told once that flash player was going to be phased out, what changed?

 

[Baddamobs]

I don't know: this sounds like this is going to hurt/take down a lot of people who just LP as a hobby, not to mention several LP'ers (what the hell kind of wording is that...?) who definitely don't deserve to be taken down.

 

[GoaThief]

For as many people calling the companies greedy, aren't the LPers just as greedy?

I never watched any channels or follow anyone, and most of the ones I do watch are by people who only did a game or one series. I really don't see this affecting anyone who does it to show off a game they love.

Except the LPers often put in a ton of work making videos and they usually don't make much money to offset the costs.That's why most have other jobs to help them make money.

Do you need someone to pay you to do hobbies?

Heh, that's not a totally unfair assessment.

It's really not hard to make LPs, especially as nearly all of them are of someone just playing a game normally with an annoying running commentary of nothingness.

 

[mirage202]

Part of me doesn't disagree with this. In a way I've always thought it a bit iffy to take someones game, talk over it and suddenly make money. I know lots of people will disagree with that because of XYZ reason yet it's still a fact. YouTubers doing gaming content do make money off of other peoples backs. Without those games there would be no content, nobody can deny that.

However.

This I believe is the wrong way to go about this. If publishers are so concerned then they need to realise that neither YouTube nor LP'ers need to change, but they do.

EULA's and the like should be changed to state that yes you can do this kind of thing on places like YouTube, to pretend that it is not the way forward while desperately clinging onto TV ad spots is backwards and stupid. The stipulation should be that publishers and/or developers should be entitled to a 5-10% cut of all ad revenue generated by their game.

That way LP'ers and the like can still make a living if that is what they choose to do, and the original content creators can take their slice of the action and actually make money on top of sales.

Why this isn't happening instead of a blanket "Fuck You!" I don't know.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

If this stops cunts like Pewdiepie making money from their shitty videos then I'm all for it.

Sucks for the few good ones though.

Good. PewDiePie is a talentless shmuck who really needs to stop making money for being a waste of organic matter and screaming at the video screen. The fact that he's getting shafted makes me so happy. I really hope he quits making videos.


Also, there's nothing really wrong with this. I never understood why people enjoyed watching other people play the video game for them anyway, and the videos themselves can still exist it just won't be a freaking market.

Look at Mr. Smiles over here. God forbid he gets paid for granting entertainment there's actually a demand for. The bastard.

I actually like Pewdiepie. It's not any form of intellectual entertainment, but it's silly, it's easy on the brain, and I (and obviously many others) enjoy it. So I don't hope he gets shut down.

And why do LP's exist? The same reason we like reaction videos. It's funny to see from other's perspectives, especially when they freak out.

I honestly don't understand you types, it's like eating soup at a restaurant and complaining that the salad is horrible just because someone else is eating it ten feet from you. Just don't eat the frikkin' salad.

 

[GoaThief]

As a side note, can we please finally get around to passing a new Copyright law that isn't coo-coo bananas already?

Really the Copyright laws at this point need a full on update or rewriting since us LPers have to use the Fair Use Act of 1976 to try and defend ourselves, and it doesn't always work. The market and things have changed so greatly, and with LPs being in this grey area then it's a pain, and combine it with YouTube's broken copyright system you've got hell itself to fight if you do LPs there.
I know I've learned the hard way after doing Kingdom Hearts Final Mix on YouTube.

That's because the last true Copyright Act to be passed in the US was the 1970s. We're still using an outdated Copyright Act that never envisioned the power of the internet and assumes any infringer to be a competing business as opposed to say individual making fan content. And then there's the DMCA, which is best left ignored.

But people who monetize game videos without permission could certainly be considered an operating business.

Without money it's a bit different but I can understand well the creator's perspective. Essentially people are taking your work and making money from it for nothing.

 

[lacktheknack]

Good. PewDiePie is a talentless shmuck who really needs to stop making money for being a waste of organic matter and screaming at the video screen. The fact that he's getting shafted makes me so happy. I really hope he quits making videos.


Also, there's nothing really wrong with this. I never understood why people enjoyed watching other people play the video game for them anyway, and the videos themselves can still exist it just won't be a freaking market.

"I personally don't enjoy it, therefore no one should".

This is exactly what you're saying. Pardon me if I think that your opinion is entirely scrappable.

 

[RicoADF]

I am surprised this didn't happen sooner. Both the EULA and copyright laws are pretty clear on the fact that using an entire, or parts of a, computer game to make money is considered a copyright infringement unless you have some kind of consent from the holder of the copyright. This is essentially Youtube adapting its' policies to abide by the law (and to avoid lawsuits, no doubt) while still giving LPers a fair chance of keeping up their work as a non-profit venture with the permission of the copyright holders.

I can't say I am very upset by this and I can't really see all the nefarious scheming people seem to read into this. Copyright laws are what they are, even if gamers are notoriously bad at adhering to or respecting them. I mean, you'd get sued to the moon and back if you made a Rifftrax-style voice over to a movie and put it on Youtube, and we all accept that. But having someone do the exact same thing with a computer game and getting a cease and desist and suddenly it is BigDev trying to screw over consumers?

I don't know about the US but in Australia reviews are covered under fair use and don't require the copyright owners permission. Then again let's plays range from reviews to people just posting videos because they can, so their in a gray area.
They really need to start updating the laws to allow creativity back into our society.

 

[Neverhoodian]

As if the Google+ integration wasn't bad enough.

It's shit like this that makes me glad I abandoned my channel long ago. Youtube is shooting themselves in the foot with this, as it's only going to encourage people to migrate to other sites for LP content.