End of 2017 and BEYOND

Hey there guys and gals! It has been... Okay, it's been months since I last updated this blog but now's as good a time as any right?

A lot has changed since I was last around here, I got a regular job, I stopped uploading every single day to YouTube, I basically stopped streaming on Twitch... A LOT has changed. I originally intended to go with a vlog to detail all of these changes, but with the regular job, I basically have no daylight during the week to work on any vlogs. I'm not as comfortable at work yet as I'd like, so maybe at some point I'll film a little bit of a vlog here or there. Maybe I can do some car vlogs too, since my commute is about an hour... Anyway, that stuff just isn't here or there, so let's get back on track!

The real job has really gotten in the way of me uploading a video every single day (except Sundays, most of the time), but I realized quite a while ago that the every-day schedule just isn't something that's sustainable. I had intended to try and go about this for the whole year, but I could tell that this wasn't really helping me that much. Sure it brought in some new blood to the channel, but most of them did not stay for very long as my content was just ALL over the place. I had done research previously to find that variety channels thrive on multiple concurrent let's plays or infrequent, but very high-quality, highly edited videos. I mean, the stress alone from just trying to upload every day was also getting to me, so it's probably good that something came along in my life that forced me to stop that. We all know I would have been too stubborn to stop otherwise, haha. 

In regards to Twitch, the first couple weeks that I was getting used to my new work schedule were EXCEPTIONALLY busy and I ended up just not having ANY free time after work at all. On top of that, I got another update from Elgato for Game Capture HD that basically ruined my HD60. If I ran it through GCHD it would ruin any captures and the video files would be corrupt so they were all unusable. If I ran it through OBS I'd get an hour or so of video and then it would just fizzle and crap out (However while recording Zombie Vikings with Lea/Orange I've discovered that might just be an issue in general with OBS at this point...). I went the distance and downloaded OBS Studio (FINALLY), but I've found that if you used the HD60 as a source your CPU would jump up... If you actually turned the thing on my CPU would shoot up past 100 and my computer would lock up and eventually crash. I have since found that this is a known issue with the HD60 family of capture cards and it's because of the Creators Update. Apparently the Creators Update wrecked the HD60 family of cards and they fixed it post update. I had tried to install the CU twice before and it basically made my whole system unusable so I was completely out of luck on that front, and since the game I was streaming at the time was a PS1 game, I was just too fed up to continue trying to stream. 

Well, I got the Creators Update for the THIRD time the other day and I think it's fixed my HD60 problem. My CPU hasn't run up crazy high and I was able to run through a single test recording off my PS4 in GCHD properly without any corruption/pixelation. It took me FOUR HOURS to fix my sound, in essence I had to install the known wrong driver for my system sounds, and then install a newer version of the drivers that came with my system ON TOP of the wrong drivers to get my sound to function the same way that it used to. It was a crazy four hours and I was pissed off the whole time, but I got my computer working in a reasonable manner. Now that I have OBS Studio I'm going to start new series recording with it and Game Capture HD (if it is in fact usable again) and I'll do my best to phase out regular OBS. I might not totally phase out OBS though, it seems like OBS Studio doesn't properly record videos for games that stretch when they go full-screen so I may be keeping regular OBS around anyway. I have my alerts running in both OBS Studio and GCHD at this point though, so that will bring a bit more interactivity to my channel in the future. 

In regards to scheduling for the channel, I'm going to work first on finishing off series, and then I'll work mostly on series, as opposed to one-off videos for YouTube. I may have a metric butt-ton of games, but coming up with which one I want to record for each day was driving me crazy. Don't get me wrong, I fully intend to work on one-offs in the future, but constantly trying to make sure there's an upload every day is definitely not going to be a priority for me anymore. In the case of Twitch, I think I'll be changing my stream schedule in the coming days from every other day to Tuesday and Thursday at 8, and then one long stream on the weekend, either Saturday or Sunday. Please continue to follow me on twitter for updates on when I'm streaming/if I will be that day. If my elgato is up and running I'll be going back to streaming Ball Breakers on Tuesday/Thursday and when Alisa is available, Portal 2's single player campaign until that is complete (should be soon though, I put in a good 5-6 hours last week!) on the weekend. 

I'm also thinking of starting a secondary channel on YouTube. A lot of my content lately has been dismissed as monetizable by the adpocalypse regulations and I realize that having ALL of my content on one channel hurts it more than it helps. People expecting to see video games aren't really happy to see the vlogs (nor do they care), and vice-versa. I'm considering at this point starting up a secondary channel specifically for real-life stuff and keeping my original channel there for video games. If you're wondering what that means, well... It means Unfair-Y Tales would be moving over to the new channel. Since I'm going to have a lot of trouble recording for Unfair-Y Tales in the near future, I'm considering starting the new channel off by uploading the existing Unfair-Y Tales episodes there one by one to get it started, and then from then on upload them there alone, one by one when they are ready to go. I'd also keep vlogs related specifically to video games on the Kage_Okami channel, while moving the personal ones over to the new vlog channel. I actually already have a second channel that is personally branded because it's tied to my gmail account so starting it up wouldn't really be a problem, it's just the branding and all that. 

Speaking of branding, I'm currently in the works for a new icon for the clan, so that'll help when we do Okamigakure Plays videos, and also it'll help with my business cards and all that jazz. I made business cards for eBay a little bit ago and then I realized I should have them for YouTube stuff too, in case I'm doing a vlog out or talking to people at a convention. I'd rather they have the info for my online persona than like... My actual address, y'know what I mean? I was supposed to be getting all new branding for my YouTube channel as a whole, but at this point, I'll settle for just the clan stuff getting better. It also helps that my current job has some ties to the gaming market, so I think having content creation-related cards will be beneficial to me in the future as well! Also, speaking of that, since I'm done experimenting with the style of my first channel, maybe it's finally time for me to finish up the patreon I've had sitting around waiting for the new branding and release it to the public? We'll see how that goes, but for now, I just wanna say thanks for everyone sticking with me over the years, and that I'm looking forward to continuing to provide content for everybody in the future! 

P.S. Thanks for reading this big huge post if you got all the way down here!

Hero of the Hill Tournament

My birthday party is approaching pretty quickly, and there's still a lot of stuff I need to get done before the fun really begins, but I thought I'd get the tournament rules out of the way pretty early. I've got a cheat sheet with the controls ready and waiting to go which will be available to all of the combatants once the tournament begins, but let's hash out the actual rules here!

Within Disney Infinity 3.0's Marvel Battlegrounds playset there are a couple of different modes, you've got your typical deathmatch scenario, a strange 1v3 mode, and then Hero of the Hill (A.K.A. King of the Hill). I've spent some time playing all of the modes, but I've come to find that Hero of the Hill is definitely the most fun of them all to play as a group, so that's what we'll be doing. 

The matches will be four player free-for-all brawls (THAT MEANS NO TEAMS). Since you don't actually need to use the figures (though they must all be placed on the portal beforehand), you needn't worry about racing to get to a character first come first serve. You can all pick the same character if you really wanted to, so that's not a worry. I will say that since your actual character's color doesn't change based on your team color, if there are duplicate character picks, and alternate costumes are available (So far we've got ones unlocked for: Falcon, Cap, Hulk, Iron Man, Iron Fist, & Spider-Man -- I'll have finished unlocking all the things you can in the game by the time the tournament rolls around, so there will probably be more!) please choose an alternate costume so as not to confuse the other players. No characters are banned but take note that each and every character has one thing special about them that differentiates them from the others (Think of it like a passive bonus). Each player is allowed one practice round to get a feel for a character and to check their passive bonus. This means PER PLAYER, as opposed to per character. SORRY BUT YOU'RE ONLY GOING TO GET ONE CHANCE, so make it count.

As far as the rules go, we're going to be going for 50 points (because if you get in ahead of the others on 20 it sometimes seems like you can win instantly, which SUCKS), 5 min timer (yes, you can get 50 points within a 5 min limit), health modifiers of 100% (DON'T EVEN TRY AND CHEAT BY GIVING YOURSELVES A HANDICAP) and a damage modifier of 200% (We want the brawls to be fast and you to weigh taking a beating!). There will be NO power discs in play, because well, I don't own any of them that pertain to this play set, hahaha. 

I'll be posting the rules up on white board posters like I usually do in case some combatants don't intend to read this blog post, as well as the brackets. As always, there will be prizes for the winner (from my lot of prizes or my digital code listings, winner's choice), and the rest of you all out there in internet land are free to join in on the excitement via the tournament's livestream over on my Twitch Channel! I'm not sure of the time just yet, but there will definitely be twitter notifications and a post or two on the Okamigakure Facebook page, so be sure to follow me/us on these three outlets for updates, and to join in on the fun come tournament day (which, btw is Sept. 23rd)! 

Research and Implementation

Hey there guys and gals! It's been... Literal months since I last wrote a blog entry, but I've actually got some stuff I want to say (I mean... Not that I don't usually, but this I think is at least worth an entry). What I want to talk about in this entry is that it's always good to know what the other people in your field are up to, and when you see results, that you can use that as sort of a guideline for your own trail. 

I was having a conversation the other night about how it's impossible to will popularity into existence, but you can head along a path that might intersect. I've looked at a lot of YouTube channels that were similar to mine (I'd generally consider myself "variety gaming," if I had to give it a name), and the ones that succeed seem to almost all do one of two things. The way they provide content is broken into these two segments: constant content or professional presentation. 

I've been subscribed to the constant content method for about a year now, and while it is helping, there's ALWAYS going to be a somewhat major push to give more and more. When you're a one-man show (Obviously not that I don't have other people in my videos, but instead that I do all the planning, recording, editing, and then the uploads/metadata additions), there's a limit to how much you can push out, and the presentation quality isn't always your first concern. There's a lot of videos content creators like myself can put out that requires little to no editing, but without a personality to hold it all together, it often ends up becoming first of all strenuous, but then tedious and it doesn't draw the crowd. 

I'm not saying that I don't think I have the personality to hold it all together, but there has to be some kind of vision for the type of content you put out. Within the constant content type of variety gamers, there's a quite obvious schism between Let's Players and then we'll say... All the rest. I'm trying currently to exist within both of these schema at the same time and while hard, it's not exactly impossible. The Let's Players within constant content often run upwards of 5 or 6 let's plays at the same time, and if this is the case, they barely (if at all) edit the videos, so they can CONSTANTLY upload as they finish playing something. And while I do currently have the next SEVEN LPs for my channel planned after I've finished Transformers: Devastation, I don't have any plans to start uploading them ALL at the same time. I will however, if you've noticed, be doing my best to run two concurrently at most times, but one will be single player and one will be multiplayer. I'm hoping to finally be able to finish the Okamigakure Let's Play of Dungeon Defenders II, but I'm also working on Curses 'N Chaos with BurningPunch and on top of that there's another Let's Play I literally JUST started to record with CrazyBacon that I've been wanting to do for a while. That one will start up soon, but I'd like to keep something under wraps for you guys and gals out there. 

The other thing that I'm noticing more and more is that there are fewer and fewer YouTubers left that were part of the professional presentation cadre. Of the couple that I followed, only one is left, and just barely. The rest all pretty much burned out, regardless of how many times they told their audience they were doing what they loved and moved right over to Twitch, as that requires virtually 0 editing, and you get to interact with your audience. While Twitch could be what I've wanted in the long run, right now I still prefer YouTube, but I do stream over yonder every other day if you want to tune in there as well! I have a completely different game schedule over there that you can find right on my profile in a neat little box I designed. The environment and the interaction is completely different over there and I've already spoken about it at length here on the blog and won't go into detail here, since that would be a waste.

I've been reevaluating a lot of things about my life and I want to put it in writing that it's high time I started moving forward, so I'm going to do my best to do that! Maybe I'll even get my Patreon up and launched this year, maybe...?

Time to double down!

Holy shit guys and gals, I'm writing a blog entry! It's been what, something stupid like three months? Well, that just means I have something I actually want to talk to y'all about (Well, realistically I'm going to throw a block of text at you should you feel like reading it). Anyway, I've been talking to a few friends lately about the prospect of moving. The end goal since I got to this house has definitely been to move. That makes sense, doesn't it? I think that's everyone's goal when they live with their family. 
For some reason I have had this feeling that last year was going to be my last big birthday party, but I dunno anymore. Maybe that'll change. I did however have a conversation about the future of my YouTube stuff with a couple friends lately. One of the biggest problems I feel I will have once I move is being able to collaborate on videos. Large events are going to be even more of a pain than they already are (I'm talking stuff like Okamigakure Plays and our Tournaments). The first friend I talked to suggested I just make a new network. 
I don't mean partnership network here, obviously. In this case I'm talking about a friend/gaming network that I will have access to wherever I am. While that's not exactly impossible, it does take time, and that's going to put a damper on big events for my channels. Not only will it take time to get it going, but it's also going to take time to build up trust and influence among those people, especially without a venue that is accessible to many. I have to trust those people to use my stuff without breaking it, to invite them into my residence, that kind of thing. The other component, with the influence portion, is that they have to know (of) you in order to draw them into an event. When you're new to a network you generally don't have that kind of authority unless you're exceptionally charismatic (While I do have somewhat of a magnetic personality, it generally attracts far more trouble than its worth, ha).
Anyway, in order to alleviate some of the stressors that may arise in the future, I think it's time I doubled down while I have the chance, and thus, I'm going to attempt to run 2 tournaments a year! Since we always have a tournament at my birthday party when everyone is around, I figure 6 months apart is a pretty good breakdown of times, right? Thus, this month we'll be our first tournament for the year, and the game of choice? Oh, it's a fan and friend favorite, URBAN REIGN. 
I invite all of you, regardless of where you are geographically, to tune in to my Twitch Channel on March 25th @ 5 PM EST for a tournament of champions!
I've got an event posted on the Okamigakure facebook page, which you can view here to remember when the fun begins: Urban Reign Tournament

If you can't be with us in person, I hope you'll join us live on the internets! 

500 SUBS

HOLY CRAP GUYS N GALS. I THINK THAT THE IMPOSSIBLE JUST BECAME POSSIBLE.

No, but seriously. Thank you. Thank you all for sticking with me over the years, for being a friend, for hanging out. It means a hell of a lot to me. I had a... We'll say, rough time coming to grips over the years with being me, but now I know who I am and I'm glad that through the wonders of YouTube and the rest of the internet I've been able to share that with all the people that I've been able to over the years. Today has been a really swell day for me just being on the internets, but this achievement is the most amazing icing on the cake I've ever seen. 

While we're on the subject of this year and my channel, why don't I give you guys a heads up on what's coming down the pipeline? That's right, it's UPDAAAAAAAAAAAAATE TIME! It's everyone's favorite time, right??

Welp, Unfair-Y Tales is proceeding completely as planned for once, and I'm almost done with the outlines for all of the episodes this season. There's going to be even more stories left over for a season 4, but I think we all knew that was going to be the case. You don't just... turn off crazy, now do you? 

Tech-wise there's been a couple changes that I'm pretty sure you've been noticing if you've been keeping up lately. I finally have a hookup that lets me record console games without HDMI cables (oddly enough by adapting an HDMI connection, ha) RELIABLY. This means PREPARE TO BE INUNDATED WITH OLD SCHOOL GAMING GOODNESS. 

Actually, starting tomorrow on YouTube there will be an example of this! Tuesdays are my Let's Play/Longplay days and since JackBauer is away on vacation and he wouldn't sit his ass down at his computer, there's going to be a break in the Dungeon Defenders II Let's Play. I'll be filling that gap with some longplays in some games I've been meaning to show you guys for a while now, but I'm also 90% certain I'm going to make it so that there's double videos on most Tuesdays, with a multiplayer and a single player let's play/longplay! I think this will alleviate my need to always be on the rest of Okamigakure's back about sitting down to play something. Also, I have A LOT of games that I still want to play, and share with y'all! 

If you follow me on Twitch, I've started to move down the list of games in that table I've had up on the channel for like 3+ years! Right now I'm working on X-Men Legends II so if you want to join me there, I'd very much appreciate your help! The table on Twitch is set up in a "I'll be let's playing all or part of this game>i want to stream gameplay of this game" fashion. So while I'm currently doing a let's play, the next game will just be some footage, hopefully single and multiplayer! In addition, I'll certainly be streaming Skylanders here and there, as well as Battleborn (HELL YEAH, WINTER UPDATE).

That's all the important news I've got for you today, so stay tuned for the next milestone!