Affinity for MTG

I think a lot of the low watch time comes from mobile viewers casually flicking through videos. It might also count auto-plays, where someone finishes a video, the next one starts auto-playing and they click away after a few seconds. I've also wondered if people returning to a video to post in the comments affects average watch time, since they technically play a minute or so of a video while posting. I kind of wish instead of "average" watch time there was a "mean" watch time, which would probably be more accurate.

I don't spend a ton of time deep-diving into my analytics, I've reached a point where I generally know which videos will do well (guides) and which don't (gameplay) but I don't really let it determine what types of videos I make. I also think that, having made videos for so long (4 years now) I'm less focused on day-to-day analytics and like to look at the big picture. I spend more time looking at quarter-by-quarter trends as opposed to the day-by-day spikes and falls. Youtube occasionally has this monthly/daily button in the dashboard, and I find the Monthly tab much more useful, but the feature isn't always available for some reason.

I'm pretty sure the microtransactions are bad. I don't have any intention of buying into it, but the Store page reminds me of some of the more toxic microtransaction games I've played, like Raid Shadow Legends. I posted a video in the Videos section and I browsed the store a little at the end. The most egregious were the Planeswalker bundle things, which were $25 each for 1 character and cosmetic garments, and there were 5 of them. There was a 3gb patch today though and it seems to have fixed a lot of the lag issues I was having, so that's a plus I guess.

The Magic the Gathering open beta is released today, on Arc and Epic Games, has anyone else tried it? I've played maybe 2 hours and, as expected, I'm not super impressed. I think the gameplay elements are solid, but emulating MTG's randomness doesn't feel great in an action RPG, and the game runs like a potato. The microtransaction store is also alarming...

Saying things "were bad" is an oversimplification though. There are 2 categories of "bad," the first is the idea that music/tv/video games are a negative influence on children. Violent video games and "satanic" music ruining the youth, etc etc. This has largely been proven false, time and time again. The other category is obsessing over a thing to a point where it has negative psychological implications, and with social media, many people get to that point faster than they expect and without realizing it.

I'm totally down with lowering the prices, personally! Print! Print! Print!

Did the Epic game launcher exist since you last played PC games? The reason I ask is they give away a free game (or 2) every week, so if you're unsure what to play you can build up a library of games pretty quickly just by claiming those every week. I have 70+ games in my library and I haven't payed for any of them, and they do offer AAA games from time to time. Taking a quick look at my library, I have Watchdogs 2, Total War Saga: Troy, Torchlight 2, Hitman, Metro 2033 and Last Light (redux), Rage 2, and Star Wars Battlefront 2. Not to mention many popular-but-not-quite-AAA games like City: Skylines, Darkest Dungeon, Tropico 5, Enter the Gungeon, etc.

I get those from time to time but assumed they commenter just deleted the comment.

We have our first look at Strixhaven. I feel like I'm in the minority, but I'm really looking forward to this set. Maybe it's because I'm an unabashed fan of the Harry Potter books. https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/first-lesson-introduction-strixhaven-2021-02-18

It's crazy that 6 cards from a single set were too strong for Standard, Throne of Eldraine was crazy.

I'm still playing a ton of Rocket League, but I've also been playing Endless Legend a lot lately. 4X games are a curse! Such a massive timesink, but I really like this one. The fantasy theme is super cool (so many 4x games are either history-themed like Civ or sci-fi) and the factions are really unique and interesting.

I suppose I should mention here that I have a new(ish) gaming channel! Right now it's a lot of car games, as I've been playing Rocket League and Mudrunner, but I'm hoping to focus on tactical and turn-based games. I'm not a loud and crazy person, so expect more chill, relaxing, and contemplative gaming videos. The video quality isn't always perfect though, as I'm still working on optimizing my OBS settings. I'm recording everything on a laptop, so some of the faster-paced games like Rocket League can get a little choppy at times. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNtTnVFpaiIXsLMxFNrkZvQ

I've been obsessed with Rocket League since it went free-to-play. I've managed to log 150+ hours in the last 3 months. It's kind of a problem! :P

Discord links are so weird. You can create an invite link and set it to never expire, but they still seem to go bad anyway. Here's a new one: https://discord.gg/cy66Fa5