Patron

[KirbyTech]

I know Linus was talking about vessle on the WAN show why not do something like patron but run it off the sites store. There is already contributor levels so I don't think it is far fetched. Upload the videos to YouTube unlisted and send out the link in a mass email/forum message. Thoughts? 

 

@nicklmg

[Scia]

It's getting ridiculous.

[dadasmithywinkle]

I know Linus was talking about vessle on the WAN show why not do something like patron but run it off the sites store. There is already contributor levels so I don't think it is far fetched. Upload the videos to YouTube unlisted and send out the link in a mass email/forum message. Thoughts? 

 

@Linus_Tech

It's @LinusTech and I think, if I am correct, that he wants to keep everything open to everyone. While acknowledging the monetary supporters, he doesnt want to make it a pay and get rewards kind of thing. 

[KirbyTech]

It's @LinusTech and I think, if I am correct, that he wants to keep everything open to everyone. While acknowledging the monetary supporters, he doesnt want to make it a pay and get rewards kind of thing. 

That is exactly what Vessle is, so I don't see the difference other than him getting to keep more money. Do the 3 days early and maybe other rewards like a google hangouts with a certain tier of support. 

[KirbyTech]

YouTube doesn't facilitate this very well (if we send a link to an unlisted video, nothing stops the recipient from posting it to Reddit or another message board, sending it to all of their friends, etc.), which is why we're planning to test Vessel. We've been discussing other options internally, and hopefully will have more information for you guys soon.

It was a primary idea, maybe you could host it on your own site and link it to forum accounts. I realize this would take a bit to implement but I would guess that it would be the cheapest route in the long run (past 1 year). I don't think you would even need to keep the videos on the data base for that long either, keep them up for as long as you need maybe a week or so. 

 

Another option is to create your own video site and use google ads like you would on YouTube. This would also give you the option to not allow users on the site with ad block or have the ads replace with text stating ads are how you keep the site open. 

[Scia]

What is? Attempting to maintain our revenue levels while dealing with YouTube's changes in order to keep paying people to make quality content for everyone to consume?  :unsure:

 

Maybe a little less megalomania would help?

 

Trying to be a TV-Network with 456 employees off YouTube revenue may work for a very very select few, but already the genre you're being present in, does not hold this potential, 99% of people still don't give a cunt suck about what's in their PC as long as they can play their games && do their work.

 

I mean, I didn't mind chipping in like 10$ as the forums went up in the first blood campaign and so on, yet, trying to milk the people even more than having part 1 to 38473483 on every second video, which does enhance the views / ad money, but at the same time is nothing short annoying and clearly is a measure to make more molla of a single video, is nothing short of bold.

 

Not only was LMG asking for 50k for a new office, but now you're trying to squeeze even more bucks out of your viewership. That's sad, and embarrassing.

Ofc if I was in your position, I'd probably do the same, considering there seem to be plenty of people throwing around their money, yet, if you were in my position, you'd probably say the same as I do now.

 

But honestly, since my time has been decimated by a lot lately and I can only watch a few vids / week if any at all, it's usually Tek Syndicate, as I prefer their approach towards content, money and so on.

[Scia]

It's interesting to me that you say our genre doesn't hold the revenue potential to sustain a business, considering that is exactly what we're doing...

 

The reason behind multi-part videos has been explained many, many times already, but since you don't watch the channel anymore I guess I can't blame you for assuming that it's all about money. Editing a series like Scrapyard Wars or Whole Room Water Cooling is EXTREMELY time consuming. We have handled the release schedule of Whole Room very poorly - we're the first to admit that. But it was our first foray into the muti-part release schedule, and we've learned from our mistakes (as demonstrated with Scrapyard Wars, where we let everyone know when they could expect the following parts in the first video and delivered on those promises).

 

 

Anyway, on to the "measure to make more molla of a single video" thing. Are the extra views nice? Sure. That continues to drive exposure for the channel, drives new subs, and keeps people engaged. That's the ultimate goal for us - creating entertaining, engaging content that people love, and making a decent living doing so. But, does the money from AdSense on multi-part videos like Whole Room and Scrapyard Wars turn a profit for us given the time invested in those videos? Not even close. Linus and Luke come up with crazy projects like this because they love coming up with ridiculous, outside the box ideas with computers. If we weren't passionate about the content we create, we wouldn't do it - especially not for AdSense rates.

 

Yet, splitting a video still ads up to more views and so on. Of course having a larger project such as "Scrapyard Wars" is time consuming to edit and so on, yet you can see the angle I'm coming from, as it still triples (realistically probably 1.9x) the views / ad sense and so on, and it its a video you were going to do anyways... The main issue, for me personally at least, is that it's somewhat annoying to watch a video of 30mins over 3 weeks. It takes away from the YouTube experience of watching what I want, when I want and makes it more like serials where I'll actually have to wait a week for a new episode or even longer for that matter (Damn you american horror story ><).

 

 

Anytime we ask for contributions, we are doing just that - asking, not expecting. We make every effort to make that clear. Maybe we faltered a bit in that regard on the new office campaign.

 

If people enjoy the content and want to support it, then we are extremely appreciative. And if they enjoy the content but don't want to or can't contribute, we don't hold that against them. We don't limit our content - whether you contribute or not, you can still view everything we do, absolutely free on YouTube. You're a first blood contrib, you should understand that just as well as anyone else here...

 

I'm well aware that stuff like the office, first blood and contributors are completely voluntary, yet, it seems like once it worked, it never stopped. Linus seemed somewhat overwhelmed with the success of First Blood and went ape shit from there ^^

 

I'm just saying asking for money on a regular basis, seems somewhat... greedy, or in this case to be fair, needy... which somewhat verifies my point of not being able to sustain a business off YouTube revenue =P

 

 

 

If I was in your position, I would understand what you don't seem to. Running a business is expensive, no matter what industry you're in. Paying talented people is expensive. Creating the quality and quantity of videos that we do, for FREE to the viewer, is extremely expensive. That money has to come from somewhere, and when our revenue is being choked off by Google, we need to start exploring other options.

 

I know very well what it's like to run a business, not on YouTube, but in the real world, first hand =P Thx for that ^^ That's why I am saying it's a somewhat ludicrous attempt to run a business off an unreliable income source, which, as shown, can go wrong ^^

 

What I am saying, if you put yourself in the position of the consumer, such as myself, would you not think it's somewhat getting out of hand?  Having FB / Contrib / Office and so on is greedy already, but playing movie industry is somewhat forcing people to pay for content if they want to get it as soon as it is released (e.g. cinema vs TV).

 

 

I'm sorry to hear that you no longer watch our videos, but I hope that you enjoy the Tek Syndicate videos that you do watch, and I hope that you continue to support them. And, if your schedule gets a bit more manageable, I hope you pick up where you left off with Linus Tech Tips content. 2015 is going to be an outstanding year full of fantastic content, and I would hate for you to miss out on it. Just give our "Scrapyard Wars" series a chance and you will see the kind of amazing content we can create with the talented team we have - all supported by our "megalomania"  

 

First off, nicely phrased post, have you considered working in marketing / customer care? =P

 

And I didn't say I didn't watch any LMG videos anymore, more like if I have to choose what I am watching Saturday mornings with my gallon of coffee it's probably the Tek rather than the WAN Show, came to appreciate TS and especially their attitude more over the last 2 years. (Even though LMG was my gateway drug so to say). And yes I saw Scrapyard Wars, and omfg did it break my balls every time it stopped right in the middle =P 

[MLGNOSCOPEHEADSHOTGETREKT]

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