murderofbirds
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Here's To Proper Change... (UPDATE)
🕑 Added 2021-03-25 08:54:28 +0000 UTCHey guys, what's up! (This is a LONG post btw)
This is a long overdue post that I’m sharing to my community on YouTube, Twitch, and Patreon. It's becoming somewhat of an embarrassing routine to make posts like this when promises aren't kept or when expected content gets delayed with zero follow-up or communication. At the same time, taking a look at myself in this way makes me feel so ashamed because I know that I've let down and upset the people in my community who've ultimately been supporting me and giving me chances time and time again. This will be the most open and honest that I can be to provide some perspective and, hopefully, a proper roadmap for how these challenges will be faced in the future.
As many of you are probably aware, a couple of weeks ago, I made a post on YouTube, Patreon, and Twitch, with a survey asking for my community's feedback on various topics. These included thoughts on my overall content, my community benefits for Twitch subscribers, YouTube Channel Members, and Patrons, what new content you'd like to see, but most importantly, your constructive criticism on where improvements with the channel need to be made. That survey was created in part by Calxiyn (my girlfriend) for her final University Exam for graduation this year. However, it was meant to double as a barometer to gauge how my community views my channel and content compared to how I viewed it as the content creator. It was a VERY eye-opening experience.
First and foremost, I’d like to thank EVERYONE that left some form of constructive criticism or feedback. Every written remark was very respectful, upfront, and came from a good-faith place of wanting what’s best for me and wanting my content to thrive. It’s also because of that that I’m incredibly sorry for needing to be told that things aren’t all sunshine and rainbows instead of seeing it for myself. This isn’t easy for me to say because I'm sure it’ll likely be met with skeptical and sarcastic comments, but I really am sorry for the terrible lack of consistency and communication for any content that isn’t RWBY related. This isn’t just an issue that I’m dealing with on YouTube or Patreon, either. My lack of communication also bleeds into my personal life with friends and family members not hearing from me for weeks at a time, and it’s something that I ultimately NEED to work on as a person.
Now the first thing I want to answer is “why”? Why do I go for so long posting RWBY content or streaming on Twitch when things like Red vs. Blue and Persona 5 uploads fall to the wayside? Why not make a simple tweet or post on the community tab, at least so your community knows for sure when content is coming back? Is it really that hard? Realistically, no, but mentally, it’s an ongoing struggle.
Now I don’t mean to connect this to RWBY in any way, but one poignant point made by Ozpin during Volume 7’s finale really struck a chord with me and quickly resonated with my position as a content creator. “Fear of failure...And as more people depend on you, those fears can take on greater power.”
I’m terrified sometimes. My success on YouTube and Twitch, and Patreon is undoubtedly the greatest accomplishment of my life, but there’s a cyclical part of my mind that’s afraid of failing and succeeding. If I let people down, it undoes all of the work and growth that I’ve spent the last eight years building up, and ultimately, I squander an opportunity that most people would kill for. On the other hand, statistically speaking, I’ve outperformed every metric, year-over-year, in terms of views, subscribers, revenue, and all-time patrons, since I went all in back in 2016. Now I’m not saying that to stroke my ego; I’m saying that because when I was smaller, everything was more manageable. I edited every video by myself, posted multiple videos every week, and even started streaming. But as time went on, more numbers begot more expectations, more people to disappoint, more chances to fail, and more content to put out to maintain that expectation, while still being that ONE person from 2016, but now with more on his plate and more to lose in 2021.
And that’s what it ultimately comes down to; there’s too much I NEED to do, too much I WANT to do, but not enough of me to go around. And as you’ve seen for yourself, that growth leads to the expectation of bigger & better, which gets out of hand to where I turn into a hermit that only focuses on what I know is a sure thing, being RWBY or streaming until I can get off one horse and onto another, particularly during RWBY’s off-season.
So why don’t I just say that? Why not make a tweet or post an update on the community tab? Well, because “obvious” advice like that comes from people that think it’s that easy when it’s not. My mental anxiety comes from the fact that no matter what I say, people will be disappointed, upset, makeup assumptions, claim I don’t like RvB anymore, etc. They don’t care that I’m having a bad week, feel burnt out, or want to focus on something else because it’s a first-world problem to be a content creator, and they subscribed for content, not excuses. And so, my short-term solution to preserve my mental health, which has NOT been the right way to go about it, has been to focus on Series A when it comes around solely, then swap back to work on Series B while incorporating new content during the off-season when I have more time.
Now I just want to emphasize that I know this situation, unfortunately, comes with the territory of being a creative, and nobody owes me anything just because I make videos online. It’s ultimately MY fault for failing to communicate with my community. It’s also my responsibility to work on my communication issues and pacing when it comes to my content if I want things to work out for the future. And so, this next part will be addressing what a portion of my community’s concerns have been and outlining the solutions to fix them! I’d also like to thank Calxiyn for helping me with many of these ideas and solutions. I know this was originally for her Uni exam, but she was the real driving force behind using this data to help me reach my full potential. She believes in me and knows I can do better, which has been so needed, and I just wanted that to be known.
1) CONSISTENCY
Being a content creator means that you’re essentially your own boss. This can sometimes be a double-edged sword because you live or die by your work ethic or lack thereof. And despite my best attempts, I haven’t been the best at planning more than two weeks for content until now. So to stay productive, consistent, and accountable with my community’s expectations, I’ll be incorporating a viewable, color-coded Google Doc schedule link at the $2+ tier on Patreon, where you can check on the status of uploads at any time. It’ll outline videos in the process of being scripted, recorded, edited, prepped for upload and release dates. Keep in mind that release dates are relative to YouTube uploads, so applying it will be on a viewer-to-viewer basis if you have Early Access.
2) VIDEO EDITORS
Suppose you ever wondered why content takes so long to come out. In that case, it’s because it’s infinitely easier to record videos in bulk than it is to go back, re-watch the entire video for visual abnormalities, balance the audio, render, and schedule the video for upload. Any content creator will tell you post-production can be the WORST sometimes. Unless, of course, you had an editor to do it for you. I’ll admit, I’ve needed an editor for years now. However, my biggest struggle with getting one has been finding an experienced editor familiar with the content I cover. No offense, but I wouldn’t want someone to edit a RWBY video of mine while having ZERO knowledge of the show while also lacking the necessary context needed to understand the relationship between video and editing synergy. It’ll still be a while before I’m able to hand any RWBY or Red vs. Blue reactions over to someone else. But for supplementary gaming content, Genshin Impact, the Halo series, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will now be edited by two editors other than myself. Halo 2, BotW, and Genshin have yet to debut because I’ve been doing all the editing behind the scenes, by myself, for so long, on top of all the current content that's being edited and uploaded on a weekly basis, so not having to worry about the gaming content will be a blessing.
3) RETURNING CONTENT (Red vs. Blue, RWBY Chibi, Gaming, etc.)
This might disappoint some people, but I’m not ready to give any specific dates for when content will be returning until it’s READY to be uploaded. This is because I’ve burned myself too much by jumping the gun and missing the mark, and the last thing I want to do is promise something before I even start on it. Once a series has been uploaded, following the Google Doc schedule will outline all future upload schedules, along with my workflow, so everyone is on the same page. But in the meantime, I can do two things; reveal the returning content and give a release window minimum for when content will start back up.
Following RWBY Volume 8, Calxiyn and I will begin production on The Ozcars: A RWBY Volume 8 Award Show. This will be similar to the Award Show project that we did last year for Volume 7, and the entire project took about a month to produce following the Volume’s conclusion. The returning and long overdue content will be recorded ASAP but will NOT be uploaded until AFTER The Ozcars is complete and published for the community to watch, sometime in late April-early May. The content in question is as follows:
Red vs. Blue Season 13 Reactions/Reviews
RWBY Chibi Season 3 Reactions
Beastars Season 1 Reactions/Reviews
Patreon Monthly Q&A Series
Gaming Content (Persona 5, Halo 2, Genshin Impact, Breath of the Wild)
4) VARIETY CONTENT (Anime, Vlogs, etc.)
I would just like to say how much I appreciate everyone who expressed an interest in more varied content outside of the realm of Rooster Teeth properties within the survey. That means so much because content creators tied to a specific fandom are typically ever known for doing that one thing. And the most challenging task for any creator who wants to succeed is to pivot and produce content that their core audience didn’t subscribe to them for initially. I’m thankful that my community wants me to thrive and be known as more than just “The RWBY Guy,” but at the same time, I feel like I need to focus on the task in front of me with unfinished content before I can add more to the mix. Just know that I SEE AND HEAR your requests; anime reactions for shows like MHA and AOT, personal vlogs, new gaming Let’s Plays, etc. I promise, once my plate is clean and I figure out a format that won’t get me DMCA struck, they will be included.
5) PATREON TIER CONFUSION (Revamped)
Long story short, the wording for some of my Patreon rewards has been confusing and a bit wordy for what’s exactly included, so all Patreon tiers will be revamped to tell you EXACTLY what you get, as well as giving more value and incentive to give consideration to newcomers.
6) TWITCH STREAMING (Genshin, Persona 5 Strikers, Kingdom Hearts, PS5)
And lastly, I want to express my sincere gratitude to everyone that’s watched, subscribed, and shared my Twitch streams over the last few months, especially for Genshin Impact. As I mentioned with The Ozcars and catching up with YouTube content, Twitch streaming will be on a two day per week schedule until I start getting a content backlog going. Still, Genshin Impact will remain at the forefront of that content until I’m caught up with everything the game has to offer, especially regarding my plans with the lore. However, following the Ozcars, my attention will shift to that of Persona 5 Strikers, which is highly anticipated among my Twitch community as Persona 5 Royal is my favorite video game of all-time! I also plan on dabbling into Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory during the Spring and FINALLY unboxing and playing some games on my still-sealed PlayStation 5 that I’ve had since Launch Day, lol. New emotes are also being considered for Persona 5 Strikers, as well as the new RWBY-themed emotes.
But yeah, I think that’s everything I wanted to say. I’ve been typing and deleting this message for the last three hours, just so I’m as crystal clear as possible for what everyone can expect moving forward beyond RWBY Volume 8. I’m sorry to anyone in the community that I’ve burned out, disappointed, or let down from falling short and not delivering on my promises of the past, but I’m committed to working hard during this next month to ready up and deliver on the goals that will help with my consistency and productivity. It cannot be understated, but you guys are the reason I’m here. I know my actions haven’t been very reflective of that, but I sincerely appreciate everyone that comes to love and enjoy the content I’ve made, the community I've fostered over the years, and I’m forever grateful for the generosity and support that you’ve shown me during the high and low times.
But enough talk. It’s time for me to wrap up RWBY Volume 8, make my plans and stick to them. I appreciate all the love, kind words and support during these last few months, and I hope, with a bit more time, I can win back your hype, trust and continued support.
Thank again, take care, and I’ll be in touch.
-Arnold (MurderofBirds)
Comments
Zach Feifel
I completely understand, not to mention the past year has been utterly fucked. I love your content. And I know this is just who you are and it probably won't change, but I really hope that down the road, you don't feel bad if you put something on a hiatus. Just communicate it. At least 80-90% of your fanbase will understand.
Solyluna
Just a short but sweet addition to all the other thoughts on here. The survey results are interesting to be sure, but don't make the mistake of changing your content and style to suit the few that responded. It's a data point, that's all. You didn't achieve your success by modifying yourself to the whims and erratic desires of your audience. You built your audience by being you, watching and reacting and shitposting and analyzing the things that interested YOU and that YOU had the time and energy to put into. My only advice for you would be to, rather than pushing harder to meet your promises, maybe look to managing your expectations of yourself and by extension your audience a little more realistically. The old adage still bears a lot of truth: Under-promise and over-deliver. Love your content and wishing you continued and ever greater success Dave
