It certainly has been a long time since I updated this blog. I’m still here, still plodding on, but what happened?
YouTube Pushback
When YouTube introduced their new monetization criteria for channels, my channel was demonetized for not meeting them. It pushed me back. I became enraged and felt as though the rug was pulled aggressively from under my feet. Many others feel the same way too!
This happened right when RPG Maker Times‘s rebranding (including its YouTube channel) was almost complete.
Fueled by the emotional response, I started looking for alternatives to YouTube and ultimately became distracted by other things, other projects, and other avenues. This meant that I lost sight of the original purpose of the channel (after it had been dormant for awhile), and that was tutorials and video showcases for RPG Maker and Smile Game Builder, with the main focus being on the latter.
Still influenced by the fallout, I uploaded fewer videos in this quest and neglected the blog.
New Computer
My old computer, which I named "Dinosaur", could no longer cope with the demands I made of it, especially with regard to graphics and live-streaming. So, the time came for a newer, less passé one.
And, after some time, I finally bought a new computer!
I pushed it to its limits, playing all kinds of games at various settings for the best FPS output, as well as extensive video editing and live-streaming tests.
Live-Streaming
Live-streaming is something I wanted to do for a long time, but had been unable to. The main reason was that Dinosaur (and my previous computers), although being upgraded to near max, still fell short.
Consequently, live-streaming began on Twitch, mostly Mad Max at the moment. And I live-streamed the Smile Game Builder update v1.11 as well. However, due to the sudden onset of a bad migraine the stream ended abruptly.
I’m not live-streaming for awhile to shift the focus back onto tutorials.
Work and Personal Life
Inevitably, work and personal life often interferes with game development and its progress. We all go through it!
Time – or lack thereof – is always a factor in everything you want to and need to do. Some things might take longer than you anticipate; some might take a shorter time to complete. Even with a good time management system, you can’t always achieve specific goals without sacrificing or deferring another one.
I took on too many projects, believing that these were achievable within clear-cut time slots on my days off. With deadlines looming left, right and center, I simply couldn’t complete them in time. Overreliance on spending hours at a time on these projects overwhelmed me. I burned out.
So, I stepped back, reevaluated priorities, and gradually went back to the more tangible projects. My other half and I discussed at length what we should regarding the longer-term goals and projects and found a viable solution.
Now it’s a matter of time, motivation and drive to work with that.
What Happens Now?
Despite my personal feelings about YouTube and the desires to migrate away from it, it’s still the established platform for uploading videos. At least for now.
So it follows that prerecorded videos are essential for consistency. And, for those days where I don’t have time to complete certain projects, I can schedule videos regularly and still continue with other projects.
As far as rebranding, that will continue in a different form. YouTube videos will be no longer than 15 minutes in length, kind of dumbed-down versions of the full videos (uploaded elsewhere: DailyMotion for now).
However, I’m investigating other possibilities, such as DTube, which looks promising.
I’m not continuing with live-streaming for sometime, except perhaps on a whim. Most likely, not on Twitch but returning to YouTube.
Future video content includes some of my RPG Maker MV plugins and tutorials, showcases and play-throughs for Smile Game Builder. Updating the blogs across the RPG Maker Times Network is definitely a priority too.
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