BobGodz and I2awInstinct have both put up videos over the past couple of days lamenting YouTubedom.
Bobgodz:
I2awInstinct
BobGodz says:
I have decided to take a break from the Youtube Cod Community, because I feel that a great majority of it is loosing touch of what commentaries are meant to be, and why we upload.
After that Machinima post, more people critized me on being a ginger, which im not, then on my gameplay. If the community is going to write comments about one’s appearence or ones voice or anything unrelating to the actual purpose of the commentary then it seems all pointless. I wouldn’t be making a big deal out of this, if it wasn’t occuring so much. I feel that people now just watch commentaries to judge the person not the gameplay, and this all seems pointless now.
One of my biggest goals was to be apart of Machinima, however after seeing that community react the way they did to me, and to many others, I am disappointed.
But,
If I do decide to come back, I am going to try and change how people see commentaries and people. I want to tell all of you, as my subscribers, as BobGod’s viewers to respect every single commentary and to give every person a chance, because people put so much into Youtube, and some of us just seem to get little back. Respect.
The problem is not YouTube, but the perception of it. The people who post the douchey negativity seem to fit in two brackets – the first being those whose hobby it is to just hate. I can’t put it any plainer, I could go on for pages and pages for the reasoning behind why they do it – but when it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter. Just the same as honking your horn at the idiot in the car in front will not improve their driving ability, giving an anonymous internet troll a piece of your mind is not going to alter their behaviour. The second type are those people who think that EVERY video that is put has been created to entertain them, and only them, and also has to meet some unwritten quality criteria to be acceptable.
There are people who attempt to please all the people all the time, and it’s not going to happen. Making videos should be about fun, whether the fun of making them, or the fun you had in them. If people like that, then great, if not…. well, there are plenty of other videos out there. Popular channels/commentators are also Douche-Magnets…. sort of. Statistically, the more views/subs you have, the more likely you are to attract Douchery. But you also reap what you sow – which is why those commentators with poor or negative attitudes also have a higher level of negativity (not necessarily negative comments aimed at them though) on their channels.
Failure to effectively moderate or police your channel is like carte blanche for YouTube douchery. If you allow abuse on your channel then pretty soon the hyenas descend and any good you may be trying to do goes out the window. Machinima is a prime example of this. Because they are only interested in views (for advertising revenue) they don’t take any action against abusers – which is why it is such a negative channel for comments and mob mentality. But if you post to Machinima you’ve got to expect it. It doesn’t make it right, but it’s the reality.
One issue that both I2awInstinct and Bobgodz mentioned that I totally sympathise with is the time and effort that goes in to making videos. While writing this I have a video rendering, it’s just over five minutes long and is going to take…………. just over *edit four hours to render (normally render time is about an hour on a vid that length, but this one contains footage from about two and a half hours of gameplay) an hour (left a marker in the timeline that screwed it up). I then have to check it to make sure it’s kosher, then upload it. For a 5 minute video in HD to upload will take about 40 minutes (90 minutes for a ten minuter) then wait for it process to at least 360p (why YouTube doesn’t do this automatically I do not know) before making it public. Total time for this vid: about two hours processing time, and that doesn’t count the time it took me to edit it.
That’s not me complaining. I don’t think that ANY uploader has the right to put it on to viewers that they should be more appreciative of their videos just because they take one lunar cycle to upload. If making videos is a chore then don’t do it. I know that I schedule my video making/rendering/uploading around quiet/sleep time (although not always). That way it doesn’t matter that the machine runs like a dog, or that the internet connection is choked. I make vids because it’s fun – and if other people share the fun then it’s high fun fives all round!
So the point of this post? Something to do while a video renders. Give my tuppence worth on YouTubery. And…. that’s pretty much it.
Peas and loaves.
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Hey! Let’s all play Call of Duty 4! It’s soooooo awesome, it’s the most perfect game ever made…..
No it’s not, and no it wasn’t. When I was playing up until my 360 RROD’d (Red Ring of Death) the majority of people who played it and also posted on forums/YouTube spent their time complaining about pretty much everything – sort of like it is with Modern Warfare 2 now. Everything was given the suffix -noob. Juggernoob, martyrnoob, M16noob……okay the last one doesn’t really fit, but that’s how it was. Whatever weapon/perk you chose there was someone waiting to call you a “[insert whatever here]-noob”.
People complained that the game was “broken”……
Any of this sound familiar?
So now if you go on YouTube you find the very same people who spent the last days of CoD4 complaining about it now putting up video after video of…..CoD4. They’re all gushing about how great it is, and how crappy MW2 is.
Personally, I find it boring. Every video is the same. There is no variation in CoD4 – it is Ogga Ug Banga Whack Whack. All the weapons were equalised, all the killstreaks are the same…BOOOOOOOORING!
The most amusing “I love Cod4” video I’ve seen so far was when the commentator was lamenting about how powerful the assault rifles in MW2 are. How they are all you see in MW2 whereas in CoD4 you can use an assault rifle, an smg or a shotgun and do equally well with any of them……. Ogga….. Ug….. Banga….. Whack….. Whack……
In MW2 I use a variety of different weapons, but let’s be honest here: an assault rifle SHOULD be more powerful than an smg and have more range than both an smg or a shotgun. The clue is in the name.
CoD4 is the epitomy of nerfdom. If you’re thinking of complaining about something being overpowered, or unbalanced in any game STOP! Think……do you want to be playing a game that presents a challenge, or do you want to be playing Ogga Ug….. I mean CoD4? Before you put your indignant fingers to keyboard why not just trade in your obviously broken and unbalanced game and pick up a copy of CoD4?
It’s the perfect game apparently….
And while I’m posting about being bored by some people’s YouTube videos, here are a couple of other things that make me stop watching a video:
Sniper rifle – especially if it is 1337 n05c0p3Zzzzz
UMP45 – an ACTUAL overpowered gun that -surprise, surprise- no one complains about because it’s what all the cool kids use……
complaining….. just plain old bitching about everything. If you don’t like a game – don’t play it. Problem solved.
And that concludes my rant.
Peas and loaves.
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Three to Watch Week 6 is finally up, and has a slight change of format this week as it contains two Battlefield Bad Company 2 clips and only one Modern Warfare 2. The main reason for this is that a lot of commentators are switching to BFBC2, and those sticking with MW2 seem to have been injected with complain-o-matic.
This week we have StoneFaceLock who is producing some excellent guides to BFBC2. Erik52193 a newish Modern Warfare 2 commentator, and blackjester40 who produces a little bit of everything in his videos.
As usual, check them out – rate (or thumb up if you’re on the new layout), comment and subscribe and all that as the amount of activity on a person’s channel really does help.
Okay, I’m late getting this weeks Modern Warfare 2 Three to Watch video up. But, when a friend is in need of help you do your best to help (which also means no gameplay tonight). It’s not too late anyway, it’s still Wednesday in some parts of the world….
***Update – I did upload the video at 12.30am, but as it was still processing at 1.30am (it’s only 2 minutes long!) I decided to call it a night and make it public in the morning***
****Update – 29-04-2010: Macaroconi has been removed from the recommended list because of this ****
So this week we’re looking at B3ATNIK, Macaroconi and MrPatch247. My favourite out of the three is MrPatch247 whose commentary reminds me of Mark Curry who used to present Blue Peter when I was a kid.
As usual, check them out – rate, comment and subscribe and all that as the amount of activity on a person’s channel really does help it become bigger and better.
YouTube Modern Warfare 2 commentator OnlyUseMeBlade has announced in his latest video that he may not be uploading many, if any, videos in the future due to a career change that will take him out of circulation for up to six months at a time.
Geoff (sasbenjr – more click throughs than Wings of Redemption or Hutch yesterday!) has two videos up about tactics in Terminal. Specifically staying inside around the metal detector and shop side. It’s not actually two different videos, it’s the same video, but one is a dual commentary with WoodysGamertag
In Modern Warfare 2 there are a couple of maps that I seem to have particular difficulty with: Favela, Skidrow, Wasteland and…Terminal. I don’t know if it’s because I avoid my team mates most of the time, but where ever I go someone has me in their sights or they magically appear behind me. And frustratingly, if I decide I’m going to hold down an area, the other team decide they are going to stay at the other side of the map! So it was nice to see Geoff’s new video and get three commentaries for the price of one.
It was also nice to see inside ‘Burger Town’ or whatever it’s called as I have never actually been in there – that section of the map is like a massive bullet magnet as it’s at the end of not one, but two major corridors. Which is why I tend to avoid it. Maybe I’ll be a bit more adventurous on there now – but it is officially the weekend which means that my K/D is about to go through the floor…..
In the meantime, if you don’t know who sasbenjr or WoodysGamertag are, click on their links and check out their channels – show them some love. For those who don’t like to click on links “I ain’t clicking on no steenking link amigo!” here are the two Terminal videos. If you like them, be sure to rate them if you have a YouTube account.
So here’s a quick update on what’s been happening in my game related existence:
YouTube
I’ve now subscribed to 70 YouTubers. Some popular, some YouTube famous and a lot of overlooked and new uploaders. If you’re interested, check my subscriptions list by clicking on the YouTube icon coming up. There’s a lot really good peeps on there, so have a look and show them some love.
Three to Watch
My little montage videos of YouTubers whose videos I particularly enjoy watching has reached week 3. I’m getting positive responses from those that are featured – in most cases the first they hear from me is when I send them a message letting them know. They’re not going to get masses of traffic from my teeny tiny channel but in most cases just that little bit of recognition is a boost for morale in a place as angry and negative as YouTube.
Hauppage Fund
Slowly slowly catchy monkey – apparently. Except the monkey keeps getting bigger and my foot is nailed to the floor 😀 Damned monkeys!
My now ex-surfboard got to its destination so the Hauppage fund is looking a bit healthier:
The hump has been broken so it shouldn’t be long now…..
Search Terms
As I mentioned in a couple of previous posts, I take note of what searches bring people here and try to accomodate what they’re after as much as possible. Here’s the search terms for the past two days – the majority looking for WoR’s face!
I’ve outlined one search term in red to see if you guys have any thoughts on what it’s referring to. After a quick brain shake of the in games sounds I’m thinking that it might be referring to the Scavenger perk sound? What do you think? And how popular is WoR’s face!?
That’s it in a nutshell. I think that my resolution for the following week is play more and post less. This week I’ve been seriously side tracked by the goings on in the gaming community and its been a bit of a downer. I’ve felt as though some of my posts have been quite negative and I want to avoid that – who wants to be negative, or more importantly – who wants to read a load of negativity? It gets boring and spreads to other things so I’m chucking negativity out the window. Positivity rocks, and rolls – it should be the new rock n roll, or at least the new black.
It’s Wednesday….well it was when I started editing the video, it’s technically Thursday now, but I haven’t gone to bed yet so it still counts as Wednesday.
And Wednesday is Three to Watch Day (until I run out of people to pimp).
There’s no denying that Battle Field Bad Company 2 looks good and sounds awesome. A lot of MW2 commentators have taken a hiatus from Call of Duty and are tearing it up on Bad Company 2. I don’t have the game and I didn’t get around to playing the demo (“for shame!” I hear you cry) so I enjoy watching the vids and first thoughts that people are expressing.
One problem that most commentators are running into is the length of a game. Most MW2 game modes are conveniently 10 minutes long which is just the right length to be accepted on YouTube. But apparently BFBC2 games are in excess of 20 minutes each which means that unless you are posting to Machinima or one of the other YouTube partners you need to do some ruthless editing.
However, there is another issue with BFBC2 videos…..they can be quite boring. I have no doubt that the game itself is amazing to play – from what I can see it does seem to be a more immersive experience for the player than MW2, but it doesn’t appear to translate well to game commentaries. There’s a lot of shooting at stuff that you can’t see and vehicle mayhem. The majority of YouTubers I subscribe to are there because I enjoy what they talk about so the gameplay is not always the most important aspect of the viewing but at the moment there seems to be a major “What to do with Bad Company 2” feeling in the videos.
I think the major issues for commentators are the size of the maps and the fact that it is mostly squad based with a more team orientated play style. So now instead of gameplay focusing on the individual achieving greatness it’s more “So here I am in this building for the forseeable future with my squad while we shoot at people in that other building waaaaaaaaaaaaay over there….”. BFBC2 is obviously a really good game, but I’m not sure that it is going to be successful for the commentators. Plenty of scope for tasty montages though.
And because I like to involve you as much as possible in what I’m saying I’ve finally worked out how to use the poll thingy. So if you are not registered at WordPress you can at least vote on which commentaries you prefer:
Let’s get some caveats out of the way before we get to the main feature. These tips are what work for me. I’ve been playing FPS games for almost a decade on and off and have been rubbish at them. But thanks to the wonder of YouTube and the YouTubers who take the time to upload videos and share their tips I’ve been able to improve by analysing what I’m doing compared to what they’re doing. There are two users whose videos I’ve found to be most useful – SeaNanners and Sasbenjr. The reason why I use them as examples out of the 60-odd other people I’m subscribed to on YouTube is that in their videos they explain what they are doing (sasbenjr to a much higher degree than SeaNanners) and because they also use a tactical play style that is more suited to us older (I never thought I’d be calling myself old at 34…..) and slower gamers.
So on with the tips.
#1 – Handicap yourself
This tip is not for everyone. It can cause you to fall out of love with the game, reconsider your life choices and generally cause a complete crisis of confidence – so if you are of sensitive disposition move on to tip #2. In order to improve your aim you need to be able to aim to begin with. Any nugget can pick up a Scar-H or an ACR and be a demon in game. It’s easy when you use a strong recoil-less gun. But that’s a crutch, doesn’t help you improve, and it soon becomes boring using the same thing all the time. What should you do? Use this loadout:
Sleight of Hand
Whatever second perk you like
Steady Aim or Ninja
The FAL
What?! The FAL!? Yes the FAL. It’s single fire which means that YOU will have to stop relying on spray and pray kills and actually learn how to aim properly. Think the FAL is too easy? Then use a pistol. Think the pistol is too easy? Then you don’t need to be reading a post about improving your aim. Using the FAL helps you get into the habit of #2…..
#2 – Make your targets come to you
Okay, there’s nothing you can do about someone zooming around the map using Marathon, Lightweight and Commando getting you in the back, but for everyone else you can pretty much control what happens if you are in the right position. In Modern Warfare 2 it can be difficult to hang back when everyone is running around like the sky is falling. But that’s what you’ve got to do – you already know the high traffic areas of the map (it’s where you die a lot) so your mission is to get a vantage point of that area that gives you a low profile to the enemy while allowing you to easily see them. You need to keep your crosshairs on the traffic area ready to get your victim. Always be looking straight down that corridor so that enemies are running towards or away from you – not across your field of view. It’s much easier to shoot a target when it is stuck in your line of sight rather than moving across it. I wouldn’t stay in the same spot for more than two kills (or a couple of minutes) – best move to another location that also gives you a view of your previous perch in order to ping the guy going for the revenge kill. Moving also prevents you from getting tunnel vision or ‘zoning out’ due to inactivity.
#3 Practice shooting stuff
Set up a Lan game and join it. It’ll be lonely as you’ll be the only one there, but it also means that you won’t spend your time being shot in the face while you attempt to improve your aim. Choose a target, or targets and practice shooting from one to the other. I like HighRise for this as one of the buildings has a clock above a doorway – I run around the corner and bring the aim up to that. If you do this for a couple of minutes before going online proper you should be a bit more prepared.
Target Practice
What you’re trying to achieve is the ability to bring up your sights and hit the target as soon as it comes into view. This skill will aid you when you spot someone while moving around the map. Also try shooting targets at varying distances – the exploding barrels are particularly satisfying targets.
#4 Make your aim true
Your crosshairs should always be where the threat is most likely. In buildings your sights should sweep the corners and then stay on the doorway as you move towards it ready for anyone coming through – apply this to moving through maps like Favela, Karachi and Invasion where there are many streets as well as buildings. When you’re maintaining a strategic presence (or camping) you should be sweeping the areas that the enemy are most likely to be coming from. Keep an eye on your mini map – unless your green triangle buddies start disappearing you should be looking in the opposite direction ready to get anyone who is attempting to flank. When you’re moving keep your sights up – if you find that you’re all over the place, move on to #5.
#5 Choose a sensitivity that suits you
Some people play on sensitivity 10 and treat it as some sort of mark of 1337ness. And good for them. Personally, I’m currently on sensitivity 3 on the PS3. When I had my Cheap Freaks on it was 7. Your level of sensitivity should compliment your playstyle and controller control. If you spend 12 hours a day playing and have the reactions of a rattle snake on speed then chances are that a higher sensitivity would suit you. Conversely, if you play a couple of games a day and are generally ham handed then lower sensitivity will be your thing. In either case you need to find what works for you. The only way to do that is to play – try the exercise in #4 – if you can’t hit the clock on your current sensitivity then try lowering or increasing it depending on your results.
#6 Choose your shots
I think it was Hutch that said “You’ll miss every shot you don’t take” which is true and is especially correct when sniping. But “Nothing gets you killed quicker than giving your position away” – that’s mine. If you are using an unsilenced weapon don’t blast wildly at anything that moves. If you miss, you panic and your aim gets worse, in the meantime the enemy knows where you are and is going to shoot you in the face. Load up a silenced weapon and add Stopping Power – then try it again. The silencer prevents you from showing up on the radar, and in my experience unless you’re standing right in front of the enemy they tend to get all jack rabbitty and hop for cover as they don’t know where they are being hit from instead of returning fire.
#7 Take a breath – relax
This is probably the most important one, at least it is for me. I noticed that when I saw an enemy I would get a bit tense and my aim would be all over the place. This is because that tension made my movements stiff and jerky. By relaxing, my aiming movements were smoother and more controlled. It made sighting running enemy a lot easier. Get into the mindset of “I’m gonna shoot you sucka!” rather than “There’s a guy, has he seen me, can I get him…?”. Make it so that as far as you’re concerned you’ve already won the firefight, the only thing left to do is pull the trigger.
#8 Prefire and burst fire
When just using the crosshairs you can swing around quick and easy, but as soon as you ADS this movement is slowed significantly – even on higher sensitivities (although it is also dependent on the weapon you are using). When you encounter an enemy at closer range who is an active threat (an “Oh shit!” moment where you’ve seen them and they’ve seen you) get your crosshairs over them and fire before bringing up your sights – that initial prefire can be the difference between your killstreak, or just plain being killed. When you are firing a fully automatic weapon ensure that you burst fire by tapping the trigger. This will create a narrower grouping of your rounds. This is especially important when using LMGs, the MP5K, Tar-21 and the F2000 (not that anyone uses that one anyway). Although the recoil can be useful for getting headshots, after the initial kick you’ll be shooting at the sky – and unfortunately you don’t get kills by doing that.
#9 The Strafe Fire
When I first started playing FPS I was given this tip by a guy who played Quake (never my thing). It’s what they would do, back in the day, during the ‘dance of death’. The what? I know, you don’t see it so much anymore due to the lower health and stronger weapons in most games. The Dance of Death was what would happen when two players find themselves toe toe with no melee ability. They would basically circle each other until one had managed to shoot the other to death. Although the Dance of Death is pretty redundant nowadays, the circle strafe technique is not. It’s useful for getting around corners where you suspect there is someone maintaining a stategic presence (yes, camping). So here is how you do it. Find an object like a barrel that you can move freely around. Now put your crosshairs on it, or ADS if you like. Once you’ve done that your task is to move around it in an arc keeping your crosshairs or sight on the target object while maintaining a set distance from it. In order to do this you need to push the movement stick in one direction and the look stick in the opposite direction. Start off slowly with small movements and then build up the pace. You should practice doing this clockwise and anti-clockwise. This is actually easier to show rather than describe…
When I get the capability to record I’ll make a video illustrating these tips.
And so, example videos. First, SeaNanners. There’s not too much commentary regarding what he is actually doing at the time, but he give some good advice on playing the game. Main thing to watch for is where he positions himself, how he moves around the terrain the way he moves from position to position.
Narrowing your profile to the enemy by using cover
Although he’s mobile he is not blindly running and gunning (ignore the Heart Beat Sensor). Watch how his crosshairs are always pointed at his direction of travel and where the enemy will be coming from – the pauses at junctions and minimising his profile to the enemy.
And now sasbenjr. This is the Rundown with M16 video. In contrast to SeaNanner’s video Geoff talks us through what he is doing and why, including cool little graphics to illustrate threat areas.
Graphics showing threat areas from sasbenjr
Check out the part where he is on the balcony facing the bridges which allows him to control the engagements while maintaining a lower profile with height advantage.
I’d appreciate any feedback on this. If it’s been helpful to you, not helpful, or even if you have some tips of your own. Like I said, these work for me, but I’m always looking for ways to improve.
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