The Classic Game Room/YouTube Content ID Thingamabog

This was a topic that I touched on in the recent episode of the DTM-Cast, but since THAT episode has been removed for reasons unknown to me (and a subsequent "protest" edition has been posted in its place), I've decided to post the text I wrote up regarding the matter here. You can find that after the break...




Classic Game Room is officially leaving YouTube. Mark Bussler recently posted video teasing a review of Soldier Blade to be seen at his website; classicgameroom.com... or on his Dailymotion page which he failed to advertise but whatever. Um, obviously, most of you have heard about the rampant wave of Content ID flags going on on YouTube and a lot of partners are upset and they're bitching about it and yeah, it's a shitfest. Look, here's the deal. To all the folks who are bitching about how their videos are getting content id'ed and now they're not making money off those vids... it was only a matter of time before the gravy train was going to end, it was only a matter of time before YouTube no longer became a viable means of making money and being a full-time thing. Classic Game Room saw that, they moved on, and Mark was classy about the whole deal. He didn't piss and moan and complained. He said thanks for supporting the show and despite changes to a certain website, the show WILL go on. Just not on YouTube... and while I'm sure he was livid at the whole thing, he didn't show it, he didn't go on a rambling, rant for 18 to 20 minutes about how he gave a job to do this full-time like a certain other individual who shall not be named because once is enough. He was classy, he was cool, and he's taking his ball elsewhere and I'll be following him on his website.

And for those partners who decided to take this on as a full-time money-making gig and are angered by the wave content id and apparently more changes are coming to make this complicated... but for all those folks who are becoming raving rambling idiots because of this, I can sort of sympathize to a certain extent, but at the same time, you had to know that there was going to be the remote possibility that this was going to happen sooner or later, in some form or another. If it wasn't this Content ID thing, it was going to be something else. Sooner or later, the time would come where YouTube would not be a viable source of income and you would have to pursue other avenues. Do you take a chance with another video site? Do you continues onwards or change the format to better conform with the new changes? Or do you leave the video creator bit and pursue a career change?

Just a couple days ago, there was an announcement from Canada Post that they were ending mail deliveries to homes. Now they're setting up a system where you go to a public mailbox and you would pick up your mail there. So they expect you to go to a place to collect all those bills or notices or junk mail and why? Like, honestly, that's a stupid idea... but more than the concept, it means you're going to putting hundreds, if not thousands, of delivery people out of work... through no fault of their own. They're going to be laid off because the system is changing, not necessarily for the better, but it is changing. It sucks for them and I truly hope things turn out well for the folks affected by this, but... that's just it. Those delivery people are losing their source of income through no fault of their own. It's something I'm sure they were made aware of before the announcement, but it wasn't something they were expecting to happen.

When you produce video content and you make money off that content - and this is especially true of video reviews and let's plays and things that use intellectual property -  when you decide to make that a full-time job, you went into it with the Sword of Damocles hanging above your head that there would eventually come a time that circumstances would no longer make that career a viable option. In which case, you need a back-up plan that you would have to fall back on. I can sympathize with the folks hurt by this - and I do hope they make it through this one piece in one form or another - but I'm not going to feel sorry for them as if they deserve my pity because they were wronged because they don't deserve my pity. Right or wrong, this was always a possibility and when you decided to do the video creator thing as a full-time gig, you knew AND accepted that this was going to happen sooner or later. This is the first wave and god knows it's not going to be the last. And you can go about it two ways; play it cool like Mark or you can be a bitch like Joe... oops, I said his name, the fanboys are gonna revolt...

But in all seriousness... I do not say this with any malice or hatred or any stupid bullshit internet reason. It's just how I see it. And it's something that has been looming any video creator and now the initial wave is here. People are revolting, the ones screaming loudest are unfortunately the ones giving us the bad name... and so I salute Mark Bussler and the Classic Game Room franchise for taking the high road and moving on to their own little empire, which I do they succeed in turning into a bigger empire. And if YouTube isn't the way to make money, it's time to go down another path. And if you survive, great, good for you. And if you don't, well, nothing of value will have been lost, but hopefully, you'll get back on your feet... but don't think this is something you haven't seen coming, because the threat is always there and fair use can only take you so far...

As far as my thoughts on this whole YouTube Content ID thing... well, it blows, sure, it's a problem... but my feelings on the matter are largely irrelevant. Because I'm not a big-time player, I have no intention whatsoever of becoming a big-time player. The last thing I want for is for this to turn into a full-time job that I'm obligated to do in order to earn a livelihood. This isn't a job. This is a hobby that I do. It's always been that. And it will continue to be that for as long as the interest is there or as long as I can maintain this. And if things get to a point where I can no pursue that hobby with any expressive freedom, I'll find something else to do. Or go another way. Can't do videos because of the restrictive policies? I'll go back to blogging on a regular basis. Writing, reading, that sort of thing...

It's just the way it is. We'll see how things blow over a year from now or even a month from now... things might pan out for the better or for the worse, but there's always other avenues to pursue whether you're a small-timer or a partner. Bitching about it online isn't going to help matters. We need less guys like Joe Vargas pissing and moaning about policies that were a long time coming one way or another and more guys like Mark Bussler who will handle this crisis with a bit of class.