Minecraft Forums

I've been doing several let's plays for awhile, and I want advice on how to become a better commenter, and help getting noticed on YouTube.

My main problem is that my voice isn't pleasant to listen too because puberty hates me. I've done both co-op let's plays with two of my friends (we're doing a series where the three of us play minigames called the "Minecraft Trio"). Co-op let's plays are far easier for me, because it feels so less awkward around friends. But commentary on singleplayer feels awkward and lonely. There's times where I'm completely silent to where I start rambling unchorently. There's times when I talk to myself and I'm not even aware of it. I've always been bad at speaking and getting my thoughts straight. Editing my videos is very difficult, mainly because my editor takes up to much memory and I only have 4 gigs (luckily enough, I have an excellent video card).

I'd love more subscribers and viewers (I consider myself lucky if one of my videos gets 10 views)--but I'm not here to demand for that. I want to ask more experienced people to watch a video I've created or two, and give me some solid advice on it. They're not terrible videos, but they need work.

I have a playlist of one of my Minecraft series--in this one, I simply playthrough the latest snapshots that come out, or if there isn't any new ones I'll just use the the offical updates. And try watching the more recent videos--there's a lot of boring episodes in the beginning.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn7XC7revzartSMP9hLyylH-7t2gjjgsl&feature=mh_lolz

If anyone is willing to give advice--even if they didn't watch any of the videos--please do. I want to improve, and quality is more important than popularity.

PS: How do I add tags to my videos properly?

Hey Knifebladepresents! I'll definitely be taking a look at your Let's Plays this afternoon as soon as I'm off work and I'll make some notes to share. Believe me, we are far from "accomplished Let's Players" but we have a good time with what we do. Take a look at our latest playlist, Hardcore Minecraft Survival - Race to the Enderdragon (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcdPu6JrcV8TChKaOakTrkvxNLqffip_S) because I think it is our best to date. You may get some ideas from that.
I definitely agree, though. Co-op is always easier. You can maintain more casual, fluid conversation.
Feel free to shoot me a message if you have any direct questions and I'll be back later with my thoughts.

For someone who cannot speak for entertainment well, I would suggest writitng a script of a story or something you would like to talk about so that you aren't rambling and stuttering around. As for the times when you cannot think of anything to say, just take a little break to think about what you could say, and edit out your stammering. If you want any more advice, just talk to me on skype 'acecard111'

And also, try to record other games too, so that you can get subscibers and viewers from more fan groups than just minecraft.

All of these tips are based on the first 5 mins I saw of your first lets play snapshot video: Hopefully they help.

If commentary feels really lonely on singleplayer, get a "familiar". Find a pig. Talk to it. Kind of like a dog. It'll probably make yourself look silly. But. It might be entertaining to viewers.

Editing IS hard. For any video. And it takes FOREVER. But it's the bread and butter to your video. You don't want the silence and random rambling to go on. However, a "Workaround" is to add slight background music, that fits the mood/game. But you have to gauge how loud you're talking vs the sound.

Know what you're talking about. To me, in your snapshot vid, you keep saying "well they added a lot of stuff." I had a broadcast teacher who tells me "Say Dog, See Dog" If you say there is a lot of stuff, show a lot of stuff. Add small images of cool flowers, new fishing stuff, and etc. Just a glimpse, a still image in the corner when you mention it. So that they know it actually exists. Maybe. Idk that's just a suggestion.

For you, to "fix" your awkward and long pauses you might want to come up with a script like this :

"DAY1 : Starting Out
-Find Food : Pigs are my favourite
-Find Shelter : Debate what kind of wood is best, pose a question to audience. Come up with own opinion, and reason."

Etc. Etc. I personally don't use a script. So. It's all a matter of preference. but these might help you through these awkward long silences - especially when gathering raw materials like wood and dirt and sand. After you've built your script, run through it once, and maybe twice, fairly quickly so you have an idea what you're going to do.

Talk about things people will care about, first 3 minutes you basically talk about how long it'll take for you to upload your video. I'm about 95% sure no one cares. No offense. This'll probably be easier with a script. Going off into tangents about things people care about isn't nearly as bad as going off on a tangent about something they don't.

Good things now!
When you said they added tall grass ferns, you showed me tall grass ferns.
I liked the "Why do I have a chest? Cause I'm a dirty cheater." that was funny.
You expressed your opinion upon cows and villager cities. Which was good.

So Hopefully your youtube "career" or hobby goes as far as you would like it to go. Continue to make videos good sir.

Quote from xCaptainJax

All of these tips are based on the first 5 mins I saw of your first lets play snapshot video: Hopefully they help.

If commentary feels really lonely on singleplayer, get a "familiar". Find a pig. Talk to it. Kind of like a dog. It'll probably make yourself look silly. But. It might be entertaining to viewers.

Editing IS hard. For any video. And it takes FOREVER. But it's the bread and butter to your video. You don't want the silence and random rambling to go on. However, a "Workaround" is to add slight background music, that fits the mood/game. But you have to gauge how loud you're talking vs the sound.

Know what you're talking about. To me, in your snapshot vid, you keep saying "well they added a lot of stuff." I had a broadcast teacher who tells me "Say Dog, See Dog" If you say there is a lot of stuff, show a lot of stuff. Add small images of cool flowers, new fishing stuff, and etc. Just a glimpse, a still image in the corner when you mention it. So that they know it actually exists. Maybe. Idk that's just a suggestion.

For you, to "fix" your awkward and long pauses you might want to come up with a script like this :

"DAY1 : Starting Out
-Find Food : Pigs are my favourite
-Find Shelter : Debate what kind of wood is best, pose a question to audience. Come up with own opinion, and reason."

Etc. Etc. I personally don't use a script. So. It's all a matter of preference. but these might help you through these awkward long silences - especially when gathering raw materials like wood and dirt and sand. After you've built your script, run through it once, and maybe twice, fairly quickly so you have an idea what you're going to do.

Talk about things people will care about, first 3 minutes you basically talk about how long it'll take for you to upload your video. I'm about 95% sure no one cares. No offense. This'll probably be easier with a script. Going off into tangents about things people care about isn't nearly as bad as going off on a tangent about something they don't.

Good things now!
When you said they added tall grass ferns, you showed me tall grass ferns.
I liked the "Why do I have a chest? Cause I'm a dirty cheater." that was funny.
You expressed your opinion upon cows and villager cities. Which was good.

So Hopefully your youtube "career" or hobby goes as far as you would like it to go. Continue to make videos good sir.

Thank you so much!

This was my first time with a let's play...so yeah, its not that good. But in the future episodes, I get better at it. I will try editing--my RAM won't like it, but if it gets me more views=cash=better equipment. I'll try to make sure its something that people care about (I think I'll save the delay complaints for the description, in case if anyone was wondering why they're there).

A script sounds weird, but I'll try it out.

Hey guys, I'll be updating this series sooner or later; but I've run into a few problems.
First, I really don't know what to edit out in the videos, and I haven't update in such a long time, I think I might release the next episode unedited (it actually is pretty eventful)
Second, I like doing snapshot LPs, but unforunately since I have two more episodes to convert and release. Now that the snapshots are running, it shoves me into a more offical (yet still unorganized) schedule again.

Thanks MoosDalai! I'll take my time.

In the mean time...I finally got another episode uploaded! The next one's already converted.

A question: I convert my files from avi to wmv so they make easier uploads. However, the videos are starting to clog my hard drive a bit and make tedious uploads. Is it OK to convert them to mp4? There's going to be some more quality loss, but do you think it will seriously annoy anyone or turn people off?

Should I archive all my videos on my computer? Is it OK to delete some?

New video! I didn't get to editing this one either, mainly because it was already pretty short compared to the rest of the recent episodes.



PS: Another episode has been recorded, but definitely needs some editing because its over a half hour long.

If you look at your first youtube video of this series vs the one you just posted, the quality improves a ton.

You might consider thinking about what your next youtube series will be. It looks like you are pretty close to defeating the dragon, and after that I don't know what your plans are. I'd suggest, and this is by no means a requirement, that you move away from survival-vanilla-standard-let's-plays.

I've made this post a ton, and it sort of feels like I'm spamming, but it applies here.

Quote from ducky215

Basically, the problem with most Let’s Plays I see in this section is that they are the same old same old. Youtube says there are About 17,500,000 results for Minecraft, and About 4,510 results for “Vanilla Minecraft Let’s Play Part 1” in the last 24 hours. It seems to me that the most successful youtubers are the ones who do something that isn’t just the normal vanilla minecraft let’s play.

Now, let’s look at something more original. There are probably about 100 results for “Minecraft ICBM Mod War”, “Minecraft Cold War”, and “Minecraft Nuclear War” combined in the past week. Only about half are actually anywhere near what I’m searching for. There are probably a ton of duplicates too. Not much competition, but tons of demand.

- Modded server series featuring a storyline about an alien invasion and Minecraftia's desperate attempts to rally and defend itself.
- A sky-pirate series using Metaworlds or archimedes’s ships or such with a crew of pirates taking on other vessels. Could be a storyline or a pvp map series.
- A fake "company" in FTB. Each video would be advertising a specific product, from nuclear missile turtles to floating castles.
- Two teams, ICBM mod installed. Cold war ensues. (The finale of that series will be fun)
- Recreate popular games in Minecraft maps, from temple run to Skyrim.
- Recreate battles in history using minecraft as a medium.
- PVP battles on arenas you or your friends have made. Obviously don’t just play others maps, make your own!
- Pig Grand Prix: Each episode, some players get together to do a new course of pig racing. From rainbow-road-esque highways to the nether, get your pig to the finish first.
- A spy movie in minecraft. You could really take this any way you want, but if you had maybe 5 people to play the bad guys, you could do something really awesome with grappling hooks and air ducts. I don't know

As you can probably tell, I'm a fan of roleplaying and scripts. But that doesn't mean you have to be. Maybe you would enjoy doing a let's play of a adventure map, or a mod review, or even make your own mods? I really don't know. Play to your strengths: If you are good at comedy, do comedy, and so on.

You have a ton of potential and your survival series was one of the more entertaining I've seen.

If you look at your first youtube video of this series vs the one you just posted, the quality improves a ton.

You might consider thinking about what your next youtube series will be. It looks like you are pretty close to defeating the dragon, and after that I don't know what your plans are. I'd suggest, and this is by no means a requirement, that you move away from survival-vanilla-standard-let's-plays.

I've made this post a ton, and it sort of feels like I'm spamming, but it applies here.

ducky215, on 11 January 2014 - 06:32 AM, said:

Basically, the problem with most Let’s Plays I see in this section is that they are the same old same old. Youtube says there are About 17,500,000 results for Minecraft, and About 4,510 results for “Vanilla Minecraft Let’s Play Part 1” in the last 24 hours. It seems to me that the most successful youtubers are the ones who do something that isn’t just the normal vanilla minecraft let’s play.

Now, let’s look at something more original. There are probably about 100 results for “Minecraft ICBM Mod War”, “Minecraft Cold War”, and “Minecraft Nuclear War” combined in the past week. Only about half are actually anywhere near what I’m searching for. There are probably a ton of duplicates too. Not much competition, but tons of demand.

- Modded server series featuring a storyline about an alien invasion and Minecraftia's desperate attempts to rally and defend itself.
- A sky-pirate series using Metaworlds or archimedes’s ships or such with a crew of pirates taking on other vessels. Could be a storyline or a pvp map series.
- A fake "company" in FTB. Each video would be advertising a specific product, from nuclear missile turtles to floating castles.
- Two teams, ICBM mod installed. Cold war ensues. (The finale of that series will be fun)
- Recreate popular games in Minecraft maps, from temple run to Skyrim.
- Recreate battles in history using minecraft as a medium.
- PVP battles on arenas you or your friends have made. Obviously don’t just play others maps, make your own!
- Pig Grand Prix: Each episode, some players get together to do a new course of pig racing. From rainbow-road-esque highways to the nether, get your pig to the finish first.
- A spy movie in minecraft. You could really take this any way you want, but if you had maybe 5 people to play the bad guys, you could do something really awesome with grappling hooks and air ducts. I don't know

As you can probably tell, I'm a fan of roleplaying and scripts. But that doesn't mean you have to be. Maybe you would enjoy doing a let's play of a adventure map, or a mod review, or even make your own mods? I really don't know. Play to your strengths: If you are good at comedy, do comedy, and so on.

You have a ton of potential and your survival series was one of the more entertaining I've seen.

Yes, the series is drawing towards its end (literally), but it might be another 10 episodes or so, mainly because I keep on...well...dying. (SPOILER ALERT!) I literally just recorded an episode, where I'm all prepared to venture into The End again, but suddenly the dragon swoops down and literally ROCKETS me into the sky, and I fall and die and loose everything I've had. Its funny to watch, but it doesn't progress the "plot" of the series (despite that its unscripted), if you know what I mean.

The idea of scripts and roleplaying is weird. I one time saw this series from Chimney Swift that felt like a cross between a let's play and a machinima, because it was kinda crossing both styles. It was in first person, but it had some stories and voice actors.... As a storyteller myself (I'm actually pretty good, not to brag), if I really wanted too, I could probably pull something off like that. Maybe a "found let's play" series that kinda parodies of the Blair Witch Project. That would be hilarious and kinda awesome.

As for an unscripted series, I was thinking about doing something with the Mo Creatures mod, because that's a ton of fun. But my friend told me I should probably do something more complex than that.

Thanks for the reply! I will take your advice.

Quote from knifebladepresents

Thank you so much!

This was my first time with a let's play...so yeah, its not that good. But in the future episodes, I get better at it. I will try editing--my RAM won't like it, but if it gets me more views=cash=better equipment. I'll try to make sure its something that people care about (I think I'll save the delay complaints for the description, in case if anyone was wondering why they're there).

A script sounds weird, but I'll try it out.

The views=cash=better equipment part is something I cringe at. Newbie youtubers always come in with high hopes and sometimes don't realize that they just aren't fit for youtubing. Also, cash is something that makes so many people stop youtube... And it should. If you go into youtube and you think that you are going to make any amount of cash, you are wrong. Sure there are many people that make youtube as their full time job, but compared to the huge amount of people who try, it is nothing. So go right ahead and try to do youtube. But never involve cash. From what I see in your videos, you don't have the potential to do youtube for a large audience. They just would not want to stay. So I would be careful about what you want with your youtube life.

The views=cash=better equipment part is something I cringe at. Newbie youtubers always come in with high hopes and sometimes don't realize that they just aren't fit for youtubing. Also, cash is something that makes so many people stop youtube... And it should. If you go into youtube and you think that you are going to make any amount of cash, you are wrong. Sure there are many people that make youtube as their full time job, but compared to the huge amount of people who try, it is nothing. So go right ahead and try to do youtube. But never involve cash. From what I see in your videos, you don't have the potential to do youtube for a large audience. They just would not want to stay. So I would be careful about what you want with your youtube life.

YouTube is sorta a hobby thing, and I don't really expect to ever make any serious money off this. But if I do, great! There's other careers I might pursue, and I'm only 15. I'll probably get better equipment someday...somehow.

New episode, sorry I didn't post this earlier!

There's something else I need to talk about. Today, I got a copyright claim on episode 24. It said that "The End" by C418 was owned my "Indmusic". I was stupid and...I let them take it.

The message I received was kind and polite, and I was reassured my account was penalized in anyway. It told me, "in some cases, ads may play on the video".

Wait a second.

Minecraft isn't into copyrightnazism movement. Is "The End" music supposed to be free...or is it? Well, if it isn't, that means that Indmusic is basically stealing my monetizing rights, and they get to keep the profit!

However; for some reason, as if it was a miracle by Notch, episode 24 was taken of my copyright claims list. It wasn't monetized anymore, so I re-monetized it again. Let's see what happens from here.

Sorry about the delay--school's been pretty rough. Anyway, here's a new episode, even its kinda late...



I've dealt with the controversy surrounding the claims, BTW. And yes, I'll be releasing videos soon that are up-to-date with the current snapshot.

Guys, this series has been put on hiatus. I have literally lost EVERY item in my chest, furnace, and inventory because of a glitch (I loaded it 1.7.4). I'm sorry this had to happen. I'll return to this series eventually, once I gather enough resources again, but for now things are going to be a little quiet.

Took me awhile to re-collect all my resources, but this series is back!

This one came late because my internet went out last night :/

THE FINALE! Thank you all for watching!