Speaking as someone who joined shortly after Dwarf Fortress released on Steam, I enjoy your tutorials and they have helped a lot. As some have mentioned, your videos like these, almost always get recommended on my feed, though not as much as others as you have noted.

I love these videos because you're so honest as to the difficulties content creators face

For me I most consistently watch your interviews and future of the fortress videos. I also like to see the cool things you do with your fortresses, though I don't have enough time to watch your streams/vods.

@ctempleton3

24 күн бұрын

I concur

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

Then you should be perfectly okay with the change.

Personally, I use an ad-blocker to block ALL shorts. I don't see 'em and I don't watch 'em. I also make the subscription page my KZread 'home' page. I see videos I subscribe to, and I don't see what the algo thinks I should watch (except in the sidebar or after watching a video I've subscribed to). I know I'm one of dozens out of the sea of KZread watchers, so tailoring your content to viewers like me probably makes 0 sense. I do like polished longform content. But I also like your informative guides.

@Makkenhoff

24 күн бұрын

Largely this is exactly how I use youtube; I only pay attention to the people I'm actively subscribed to, and don't care about 'recommendations' this makes shout-outs a pretty big deal though. Word of mouth is my preferred choice. Algorithm based video watching to me, seems really foreign. I suppose in a sense it's like the people who used to sit around and 'channel surf' on the tv instead of just watching a program.

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

I don't care. I block ads as well. Just don't brag about it and we are coo

Imo. Uncut dwarf fortress play videos usually take too long for something fun to happen. They are also hard to see it when it happens. Shorts with no context are meh, and I just ignore shorts altogether. The best DF videos I like to watch are playthroughs edited down to 20-50 mins.

@arthurbarros5189

24 күн бұрын

Like Kruggsmash?

@rudiger86

24 күн бұрын

Could be wrong

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

The second vod channel is a archive not really meant to be watched unless that is what you are specifically are looking for.

@rudiger86

24 күн бұрын

@@BlindiRL I’ll be there

Instead of highlights I think more people would be much more interested in seeing a complete narrative for each fortress you make. Edit your stream from one fortress to tell a story. Either a story from one dwarf, a group, or even your goals or troubles encountered. A condensed stream with a narrative focus in a manageable view time could do well.

@ilari90

24 күн бұрын

Yeah, I think this would help with writing too a bit, and easier to get those juicy short clips. Maybe not complete narrative, but at least the dwarf perspective could be there more.

@boatoflol

24 күн бұрын

I have to think about Kruggsmash when I read this suggestion. His Videos are short enough to be watched in one go but they also stay interesting throughout. Maybe take notes as he can really condense stories and keep things super interesting. Of course his (and his wife's) artworks add a lot to it.

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

More or less what I'm working on yeah.

Let him cook 🗣️ 🔥

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

👨‍🍳

algorithms are such a pain

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

yup

your channel is truly a blessing! thank you for everything you do for not just DF, but for us as a community

7:55 Why the woods, why not make your own mountain home?

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

I grew up on a mountain. True story.

I love your videos, your tutorials have been a tremendous help. Thank you for your work on them. I signed up for the newsletter!

Frankly, I'm on this channel mostly for news on the development of Dwarf Fortress and information about the brothers 😅 More than anything the things they are working on and that they are putting in the DF.

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

That will continue. I have zero plans to stop the news.

I really enjoy listening to the interview you do with game creators. Even if I don't play that particular game, its good to hear the story behind it

The little bloopers in the middle absolutely sent me. Keeping them in were a good addition.

I've always appreciated your guides and tutorials

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

:D

waiting for that video essay

gotta love that random subcription inserting itself in the video

Very very good ideias! As a suggestion, one kind of content I’m eager to watch is a funny bugs in dwarf fortress, silliness of dwarfs, and stupidity that ensues from those interactions. Maybe a series where you talk about famous bugs of DF in a documentary style (drunk cats and whatnot), and more relaxed ones about stupidity and the stories that come from it.

@marcbennett9232

24 күн бұрын

I would watch these! im not an old hand at DF, I started about the time the steam version was announced and man was it a struggle at first! but I love your videos and would love to hear more on the crazy bugs or maybe a video explaining how the dwarf mind and memory work or something. get into the nitty gritty. and stupid stories are always entertaining.

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

I have one half made that I've been plugging away at.

@lambaman

23 күн бұрын

@@BlindiRL hype! 👀

Thanks for the update! Ive been enjoying the blog.

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

honestly i'm very proud of you for trying to improve your own videos, its very hard to admit that things are on a downward trend. i've been following your channel off and on since a couple years pre steam. a couple tips if i may: pirate software (a programming youtuber) recommends turning off sending shorts to your subscribers because if they "ignore" the short it does poorly, and its inevitable that a large portion of your audience is inactive from either just not being on or no longer being an active account. that way its only suggested to live users. i like peeking in on your stream videos, but their sheer length makes them unwatchable in their entirety. i just dont have time to watch a full stream is all. but that would make your stream videos do "poorly" compared to your other videos, maybe a VOD channel is a good idea so they dont drag your channel down. i love dwarf fortress, but maybe branching out more regularly is a good idea. maybe something short and easily digestible like a 15 minute review is a good way to start on that. just a suggestion of course. i just worry that higher quality videos on their own is not enough to bring in new people, but reviews could branch to people who have an interest in this other game, and discover your channel. good luck!!

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

Pirate softwhere has raided me a few times.

Subbed to the newsletter.... re video ideas, I'd definitely instantly click on vids from you that were in more of a 30-40 minute range

Seeing you breakdown your thought process on how you want to handle the growth of your channel is honestly so valueable in itself. Change is always scary but its those that stay complacent that never grow. its also kinda inspirational seeing someone trying new things instead of giving up. Your dwarf fortress videos they helped me get into the game faster ty for that. I hope you reach the goals your looking for and I look foward to seeing the future content.

love your videos! I would be excited to see more variety on the channel

I love your tutorials. Thank you for doing them, and for teaching me.

I've definitely found the newsletter better for tracking your uploads. Always happy to hear your thoughts on the environment as a whole.

You got this!

All the best for the new direction. I'm very much enjoying your content, also uncut content as it helps me to understand better how to play 👍

I always get these ones recommended, even watched the linux one. An in depth linux vid maybe?

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

I'm a total beginner at the Linux stuff but something along those lines is in the works.

Good luck with your change of direction! Hope it all works out for you :)

Hope the strategy will work! I plan to be there to see the results!

I've been using Linux for a couple years but it was neat seeing you dive in to it too to make content.

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

I'm not an expert so linux is not really my focus. Don't need another bumbling novice making linux videos.

I try to catch what I can, sometimes have to go straight to your youtube channel to catch newer stuff. I certainly enjoy your tutorials to DF, Caves of Qud etc. I enjoy the interviews as you can get them. I will keep my eyes out for new content on this new path you move on.

Good luck with all of this, Blind. We will be watching!

le reaction for le algoritm! i love what you do blind. keep it up!

I’m a former content strategist for publishers and tech companies and I focused on how-to content. This is the kind of thinking we would do on an annual basis as part of strategy and I think you are heading down the right path. One of the things I’ve found helpful is to do a business model canvas.

Best of luck in your endeavors ;D

don't worry about "writing." DF writes for you! Just pick out something that you're doing in the fort anyways, and, idk, say the mayor is busily shaking hands and meeting with guild members to make it happen. tada, a narrative. Kruggsmash does illustration, blah blah blah, but he does whatever he wants in the game and just finds ways to tell a story about it. kinda workshops it out loud (in a very abbreviated format, in the actual video itself) until he can say urist wants this because urist did this in the past an values this other thing. and now you gots a story cookin'. plus he's in nova scotia, i think, so coastal canadian unity FTW

@ilari90

24 күн бұрын

This.

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

You do realize kruggs scrips his videos yeah?

Hoodie hair does some nice fortress recap stories that are around 10 min i like a lot. I don't have time to watch hours of unedited df. Love the channel good luck!

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

She is fantastic yes.

Badass (comment interaction)

Is the blog the same as the newsletter? you mentioned your blog in a few videos now, but i wasn't sure where to go, it would help me and maybe others if you made that clear in your video description

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

Noted. Yes they are one and the same.

@fhmikoto

24 күн бұрын

​@@BlindiRL Appreciate the response! Look forward to reading them!

Good luck! I dabbled in DF a few times over the last severap years but it took the steam launch for me to get comfortable. Your videos have been a fantastic resource and I've learned a lot from them.

Can’t wait to see what it looks like 👍

I thought I would comment with my preferences and experiences in case it helps; I rarely comment on videos and I do not know how representative I am. I found you via tutorials after the Steam launch and regularly watch your news and interview videos. I also love the shorts. I've never watched a stream; no offense to you, but I don't watch anyone's streams. I have shopped at your store a few times and I recommend your channel anytime I recommend the game. KZread recommends shorts pretty consistently. I would personally love to see more videos on the history of Dwarf Fortress and videos detailing the history of bugs in Dwarf Fortress. Love your content and I wish you the best of luck!

Change is scary, but it's necessary to adapt. The blog is a great idea, it helped me a lot last year. Give it some time and think about reducing the time needed to write the article. Another thing I can recommend for that is something you don't like - Twitter. Putting an effort into getting to the point within the character limit can improve your writing and communication by a lot.

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

Sorry I don't ever plan to log into twitter again. However I'm active on Mastodon and I have a lovely little community there.

@wizardsofthecode7923

24 күн бұрын

@@BlindiRL I haven't been on Mastodon, but it can serve the same purpose if there is a character limit. :)

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

@@wizardsofthecode7923 500 characters but it depends on the instance. Some more, some less.

A well-known and simple truth.. “It is impossible to develop while standing still,” this rule works everywhere, both in business and in blogging, but there are also exceptions everywhere. External factors can also radically influence the situation as a whole. There will be no increase in the audience on the channel for a specific game if the game itself is in the stage of stagnation (player outflow and decrease in interested players). I don’t want to sound smart, but in my subjective opinion, these are the basic and main points. Although I don’t know English, it was DF that attracted me to this channel. And I’ll be honest, I don’t watch all the videos and I also don’t always watch the stream. The videos are too long and I don't have that much free time. And at one point, if I forget about DF, most likely I will forget about the channel. People love novelty, feast and spectacle. It was, is and will be. Therefore, I wish you development and experiments!

@yevhen2755

21 күн бұрын

This is my main KZread channel(@yevhen2755). I just noticed that I wrote a comment from the wrong page. I use the second channel to view the publication of my comment. Recently, something has been going wrong with KZread and neutral messages and comments are being censored.

I know i’m an anomaly, but i just got into DF, and for what it’s worth just found you and love your tutorials and your content in general! 💞

@BlindiRL

23 күн бұрын

Yay! Trust me I'll continue working on DF content just gotta expand a bit more for long term health :D

As someone who has watched the vast majority of your content, including all the really long ones, I love your content (except when you get ultra snappy with dick heads which you have to just that I don't like conflict). I applaud whole heartedly this move. Personally I dislike YT videos with face and scrolling text chat and you are the only CC I will watch with those features. Good luck, I hope this succeeds, I will watch everything you post (almost) and I promise to be better about pressing the like button.

When I use KZread, it's usually to keep up with development on the games I follow. I watch maybe one or two let's play series at a time. Maybe I'll binge tutorials. Inevitably my tiny brain gets caught up into shorts. I love running into your shorts on the Algo though. I used to play old DF but I just don't have the time to play much anymore. I really wish you all the success in the world. You've been on this grind for so long, and your tutorials and interviews are really really helpful and they'll always be there for new/returning players to binge. You're the man

you say you're not a very good writer, but I'd disagree. you occasionally put out video essays, and they're always top tier. One of my favorite pieces of content you've ever produced was your essay on why you don't use DFHack or Therapist when playing dwarf fortress. who knew video games could be so philosophical

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

I have not scripted a single one of them.

Best of luck. As a new subscriber to your channel and a long time DF watcher, I look forward to the new and old content available from you. Take care and let me know if there is anything I can do to help you succeed.

@BlindiRL

23 күн бұрын

The df content won't stop. It'll just look different.

A couple thoughts. Some of this you may have thought of or know about but someone else might get something out of it as well. About increasing the shorts quality, if you use OBS, I would suggest looking into adding a "Replay Buffer" in a separate instance of OBS with clean recording on a quick key. It will keep an ongoing recording of the last X-seconds of whatever you're capturing, so you can set it to 15, 20, 30 seconds, and if something neat-o happens, you can press the quick key, and it'll start recording. It's easier to keep bite size recordings that way. Other recording software may also have these capabilities as well, just OBS is the one I know of. If you're having trouble with writing dialog scripts, perhaps consider (bear with me) doing guest videos, or collab type videos, especially if you find your interview videos are performing well, and are enjoyable. Not necessarily playing the game together, but doing bite size base tours either with the base creator, or another player/friend and talking about what you each like about the base. Touring your base included. It is a lot easier when you are talking with someone, instead of inventing the dialog, you both notice different things, and personally, I find a creator's energy is so much more vibrant when they're with a friend, it's delightful. It may also help the algorithm, if they also have a channel, to see tags back and forth. Short 3-7 minute videos, or even shorts, for mod spotlights, or a tier list, or lists, for different types of players, like "Mods for base builders" "Mods for potato computers" "Mods for military" etc, or even scenario/challenge ideas, might be interesting too, for people who are already part of the DF community but are looking to expand their experience, tailored to their playstyle. I tend to play for the "pretty" and design aspect, for instance. I think since most of your existing community already knows a lot about how to play DF, this may be a good way to re-include them, and get them interacting more. Rereleasing tutorials is always good as updates happen, especially small bite size ones. It takes me seeing something explained several times to absorb something completely so I appreciate a couple reminders and different ways of doing something.

I haven't watched recent Kruggsmash, but recent videos from Just Don't Die were really entertaining for me. Story focused challenge videos, basically. That style of compressing a playthrough into one or a couple of hours of storytelling 20-40 minutes at a time really fits me as a viewer. Grabbing snippets of such videos into shorts work really well as well. People watch the shorts, some of those people watch the videos, some those people continue watching the vods/streams. Using Dwarf Fortress as a story generator more than a game seems to be a key aspect of that. But, yeah, that probably requires a whole bunch of scripting and editing. Like a lot, a lot of it.

this my favorite DF-channel. make any content you are happy with. I love it.

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

I'll be around for a loong time dw.

The irony is that KZread recommended this video to me, but not your other ones.

Tutorials are great, stories are great. If you have lots of recorded gameplay you could do voiceover of the story and what everything happens, add some drama into it and make it a series for every new fort :)

Hey, Blind. Nice to see that you're taking steps to adapt. As much as I love Dwarf Fortress, I think that the possibilities of creating new, unique stories with it are entering into an Ice Age, so to speak. At least until we get that magic and deities uptdate. Besides favoring quality over quantity, I think you would do well to dedicate some of your working hours (let's say 25%) to exploring and showcasing new games. One of the things that make people come back to a channel is a sense of trust that the KZreadr is a good curator of novelties. There are so many games coming out every month, it's nice to have someone looking out for what's good and giving their honest evaluations for us before we buy. This is not to say that you have to go full Nookrium (he is the best example I can think of), but it would be nice to see what you find interesting to try out and what you think of the games you choose to showcase. You don't have to limit yourself to roguelikes and games similar to Dwarf Fortress, maybe it could be good if you explored some games outside your pattern. That's what I have to say, best of luck with your endeavors. We'll be watching.

I had the same periods of kinda stagnation, and I have the same lesson as a result. I try to learn more about video editing, post production, adding new voice (not the original footage voice) etc. It works really good for me, but is very time consuming, 'cause my lack of skills. I learned pretty well how to make good shorts format videos, but for good 10-20 minutes videos there's a lot more work, and sometimes I'm frustrating and just can't finish good projects. Another problem for me - sometimes you are just like waterfall of ideas, and sometimes u just can't produce any idea. It depends on work/relax balance I guess... And there's a last problematic part of youtuber/streamer live for me - money. Some type of content directly makes money for me, but is bad for channel growing, and another ones are just opposite, and there's a little part of videos, what makes views and money. How to deal with it? It's hard if you are grown man with your own obligations as I am. So I'm in infinity researching of balance in my life. Good luck with your ideas, I hope you would go fine, and found the solution for yourself.

I have watched many of your shorts, but I also tend to watch long form content when I don't have the motivation to play, or feel stuck. I am looking forward to an updated set of Caves of Qud tutorials, but I don't know how close the UI now is to the one that will be on full release. I really enjoy the interview videos, but I would think that covering similar roguelike or story generating games would be a good thing. I am not sure why YT is pushing shorts so much, since the can't sell ads on them, but it is clearly a thing over the last year.

For story stuff I have seen some great stuff in the Shadows of Doubt channels. A dark noir naritive from the first person of the detective. Stories like that from a couple of the dwarves, or adventure mode would fit it well.

@BlindiRL

20 күн бұрын

I unfortunately can't play shadows of doubt due to motion sickness. :/

At the end of the day Blind you are THE dwarf fortress guy i think for much of this games community and the public at large. When people think of a dwarf fortress youtube channel its either you or kruggsmash. When it comes to dwarf fortress news, tutorials, or techincal stuff you are the #1 first thing that 90% of people think of.

We would love to see you play shadows of doubt

Long time follower. Even though id consider myself a DF pro I still tune into your videos to learn new stuff

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

You're the best combination of skill, creativity and presentation in the DF creator community, I hope this all works out for you. I only watch DF content when I'm actively playing DF, so I definitely think it tracks with player count. I've been a sub for about a year and it wasn't until I started actively searching DF that you popped up in my feed again (A short). Now I'm binging. (Edit: Shit, lots of people mentioning PirateSoftware.) You could take the Pirate Software route and use shorts to be quick explainers/breakdowns/discussions he has with chat. That way the shorts can be about anything, politics, your job, philosophy, w/e, and maybe draw some interest from a non-DF crowd.

I tend to see your shorts in my feed more than your full size videos, i also tend not to watch your streams or vods for long periods due to just how long they are compared to the time i have to watch

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

yep thats what my stats show.

I'm actualy moving to a house in Italy with no wi-fi in two weeks, I bring my laptop with Dwarf Fortress. Your videos where extremely helpfull when I started out.. I'm going to follow you whenever I get access now and again.. Just funny,(to me), since you mentioned the farm stuff, hehe. Anywho, I wish you luck, love from Norway..

Man, it's a great direction you're picking. go for broad audience in things that still interest you!!!! love your content

I stopped playing dwarf fortress since 2 months after its steam launch, I stopped getting your videos suggested around then too.

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

Sounds about right yeah.

these are truly difficult times. seems like you've got your ducks in a row though mate! in my little circle, shorts are the harder one to make numbers on, so in spite of the rest of the situation, Grats on getting good shorts numbers!

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

:D

I think that Mandolore Gaming is a good youtuber to emulate/borrow from for the content you're trying to branch out into. Good luck!

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

I won't borrow anything. But I do like the vibe.

IMO taking a narrative approach to your channel is a really cool idea. Perhaps something like Welyn does with his SoT, Rust, Tarkov content. Al Beit it's probably going to be harder because these are two very different genres, and you wouldn't be gaining the advantage of wild multiplayer encounters, I think I'd be sweet!

I'll be watching, Blind. Alwaysssss wAtCHinG.

I really feel ya on the production time vs quality thing, it almost feels like a 10% increase in quality demands a 50% increase in production time. As for episodical let's plays, editing them into a longer movie seems to be the strat/meta at the moment. A large portion of my daily views comes from just one video, which is the re-edited Krastorio2 movie. So I just make the episodical series normally, but also render out the audio tracks separately so i can re-mix / edit the episodes once I've finished the series. It's also nice to hear about this "summer slump", I was worried I was doing something wrong resulting in less views

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

Yea mate. I've had this annual slump from about mid june till about late august. I think it comes from covering games that tend to have older audiences. If your playing Valorant or games the "kids" like they have free time in the summer and traffic goes up. If you are more niche covering smaller games that tend to have older player bases you get a slump in the summer cause vacation, kids at home, going outside etc. I had the same sort of success with my 7 hours of tutorials video. All my guides and shorts cut together. But even that dried up in the last month.. lol

Here's a thought. I've played both versions of DF for close to a decade but I've never played Adventure mode. I would enjoy watching shorts on the cool, weird, strange, etc. stuff in AM. Without knowing much about AM, I do suspect that short clips of AM would be much more conducive within the Shorts format. You may have already thought of this but wanted to mention it. I thoroughly enjoy you channel. Keep at it!

As a new viewer it'll be interesting to see what happens

@BlindiRL

23 күн бұрын

I hope so :D

I rarely play DF anymore, but I love listening to stories that come out of people playing it.

You're cool. Please don't stop!

I am not part of the stats shown here, but do whatever you wish! I support!

keep it up brother!

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

I plan to.

When I want to convert friends to Dwarf Fortress I will them the stories of the crazy things you can do. Short videos from the “Ideas” series are in that vein. I am curious what the share rate on those are? I know I share the fun with mine carts from Kruggsmash because that one makes me laugh with his story telling.

I don't do twitch, but i love your work my good man. Here, take this comment for algorithm gods.

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

Thats fine, I don't really care where you watch! :D

Its depressing if KZread ends up like tik tok , i will quit and go back to audiobooks

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

I might have to start recording audiobooks.

Do you reach out to other KZreadrs to do collaborations or at least reciprocal shout outs? As for feedback, for me, the thing that really keeps me coming back is the likeability of the presenter. I do have good friends, but it's nice to have a familiar friendly face around when I want company. I also wouldn't mind if you branched out to similar games.

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

Not really no. Not something I'm super interested in currently.

good luck. I hope you do well

For what it's worth, I could really use some good tutorials on exploiting and stabilizing in the caverns, for Fortress mode. More Caverns info, in general. Also I've never even gotten past them so... Whatever that's worth too.

@BlindiRL

23 күн бұрын

fair. They keep saying they will rebalence them after adventure mode so likely I've missed the boat on that one at this point. But I'll make note of it.

General drama and nonsense is the trend that floats in top in KZread. To see anything produced or with focus comes only by searching it. I got so thick sub count that I barely use my subscriptions page.

Spiffing brit did a great video on this. You can game the system or letplays by rereleasing videos as a super long compilation video, it goes huge in the algorithm. Also, you should release uncut vod. Watchime is king, and vod watchers will go to streams

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

I hate to say this but spiffing brit makes a lot of creators lives harder.

Enjoy your channel. Have you thought of doing Dwarf stories, where you follow individual dwarfs in your stream and then turn them into a personal journey short (The life and death of Urist Spoonjabbers)?

If you are streaming 40 hours a week, your are selecting for an audience that is unemployed. This is the trap that the old school "Let's Play" people fell into. At one point KZread ranked videos based on how consistently and frequently you posted content. The Let's Play people realised that the more they posted, the more views they got. The problem is that they got a transitory audience. No productive person wants to try to follow a series that is putting out more than 10 hours a week. These Let's Play people were surviving because they kept getting a steady stream of new subscribers. When that dried up, the viewers went to almost literally zero. The biggest mistake I saw people make in those eras was that in order to appease the KZread gods and to hang on to their audience, they tried to increase the production quality of their videos. Better writing. Better narrative. Better editing (often hiring a dedicated editor). They increased the cost of production, but never addressed the actual problem: Nobody wants to follow a narrative that spans multiple hours a week. The key is to produce less content. You must leave people wanting more. Although that also requires better production values, the key is to produce less content. It has to fit into the watcher's week and *not quite satisfy them* for amount. You have to leave them hungry. If they are getting near the end of the video and cranking it up to 2x speed (like I did with this video), you are going to lose them. When the next video comes out -- even if they know about it -- they will simply not click because, "I need to put this aside until I have time to watch it". And then "Oh... I'm out of touch. I need to put these 2 videos aside until I have time to catch up". And then "Oh, fsck it! There is no way I can catch up now. I'll wait until the next series". I'm sorry to say that every single one of your series ended up that way for me. I have never managed to watch even one of your series from start to finish, even though I enjoy them. Your shorts are doing well because they address the right problem: They reduce the amount of content and make it accessible to people whose lives are not dedicated to watching a single KZreadr playing video games. However, I think you need to step back and consider this carefully (which I think you are already doing, ha ha ha!). The shorts need to be stand alone if that's the way you are going to go. The more they refer back to events documented in the stream, the less relevant they will be for people who aren't watching the stream. You will alienate the casual viewer (which are going to be your bread and butter because they have jobs and money). My personal opinion is that you probably should *not* construct shorts from streams that you do, or from a series that you are doing. They should be engineered to have exactly the effect that you want to produce. Which means more work. Although more work seems bad since you are already overworked, I think you can probably guess my suggestion: cut out the stuff you are doing that doesn't contribute to your plan. Reduce the amount of content, giving you more time. And if it were me, I would cut the streaming in half -- at least. Opinions you didn't really ask for :-) (though, you kind of did...) Hope they prove interesting even if you don't decide to follow any of them.

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

I have not read the whole post but I'll get back to you. Trust me. My audience is employed.

@Stephen...

24 күн бұрын

I find that in KZreadrs that I follow who are successful this is both true and not quite true. The most successful ones I've seen kinda don't recognize "Nobody wants to follow a narrative that spans multiple hours a week" as the only problem. The most successful channels I've seen have included subplot, lore, catchphrases and recurring characters that span their video catalogue in ways that leave people coming back for more while not detracting from a story that can be told in a single or series of videos (upper limit is usually about an hour and a half to two hours, but some people are exceptions known for their long videos). Collab content, especially with a friend or superfans, can take a lot of load off while providing those continuity things that seem to keep people feeling connected. But just having a loud PC fan that you reference from time to time as a jet engine is one of those lore building moments that I've seen be successful (people seem to really remember and reference the change over to Linux). But the rest of what you say is very much true. Only very niche audiences will usually be able to follow a creator over the course of 40 hours a week of video or what have you. And fans want to be fanatic and watch everything. If they can't they will often put it off and save it for later until later never comes and it's forgotten about. And then they are behind. Less content is really probably key to making it. Doesn't mean you can't play 40 hours of Dwarf Fortress, just maybe play half of that privately and take notes of interesting points as you play. But also editing takes forever and it's the age of streaming now. Our advice might be out dated. It's hard to say for me personally. Also the financial insecurity of not getting those Twitch dollars. I totally understand any scaling back concerns for sure.

Honestly it's really unfortunate to see someone who creates good quality content just fade into the void because the game they specialise in is extremely niche. It also feels like you can't even switch to other games since the vibe of gaming "playthrough" content has also died out on youtube. All I can say is good luck chief, hope to see you see success you deserve.

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

Thanks mate.

I would also watch other games. Norland or rimworld or or or. Maybe DF is to slow in its update schedule but it can be a part of this channel.

It's really frustrating that they don't always show me when you have uploaded videos.

It's not the algorythm. Your videos are recommended.

@BlindiRL

16 күн бұрын

They are now. But two weeks ago they were not. I see the analytics.

... Potentially your shorts could take off? Well, I suppose that's one way to pivot. KZread is rough. Always worth experimenting, seeing what works, especially if you've got an idea to work with. You probably won't nail the quality you'd like first time without dumping a stupid amount of time into it, but that's just about roughing the process out. It'll get easier to figure out where the rough parts are the more you do it. Best of luck!

I always watch because u find the emerging stories that I love about dwarf fortress if u can Capture more dwarf stories maybe animations ? Like kruggsmash I really love your stories in dwarf fortress the shorts are good because u find small stories within the game that makes it so special for me at least I probably have 500 hours of df now and I only got into it from steam and your videos

I check your channel manually and a couple times of week check the Discord announcements. Definitely not a regular viewer. I am looking forward to the eventual complete shift from Patreon.

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

I would describe the habits that you just posted here as a regular viewer. Maybe not a front page KZread doom scroller. But definitely a regular viewer.

You can maybe do some "tutorial" on adventure like ” how to become a dark lord" or something to tell stories ?

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

I'll be making adventure mode stuff yeah but, I've made 20 tutorials now soo..

Can someone summarize this?

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

I'm putting more effort into videos with less uploads. Aiming for higher quality more watchable content.

@bugtank

24 күн бұрын

@@BlindiRL I like your videos! I don’t watch the DF long plays. But you’re one of the two DF creators I watch. I watch all the other stuff. Thanks for the summary.

If KZread just promoted what people want to watch and left it there, advertisers, audiences and content-creators would be happy. We could all find what we want. But no. They'll give us what they want or burn the whole platform down trying.

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

Oh I'm aware yeah. Its built perfectly to make youtube as much money as possible.

I appreciate you. 🍺

Similar to others, I don’t like shorts in general I don’t want to interact with them at all, as I feel my brain actively decomposing after I do I use addons to remove them on desktop, and avoid them at all costs while on my phone Now, the ones I’ve watched from you, some are interesting, but most of them feel almost automatically generated

@BlindiRL

24 күн бұрын

I also hate shorts. But they are the only thing that reaches a wider audience. I have to do what works and while I feel its unfortunate it does actually work.