Hi folks, how’s it going? I hope everyone is getting on alright with current worldwide events and are managing to stay strong & positive through these challenging times.
Editor’s note: it occurs to me, after reading this post once I’d finished drafting it, that it comes over as a little rant-y & a bit of a lecture. So… “rant’y lecture” disclaimer here at the top I suppose LOL
I’ve had a lot of time with my thoughts this last few days and wanted to take a couple of minutes to share one I’ve been having about the endeavours of content providers and the subject of ‘Subscribing’ to Dice Masters content creators…
You should. 100% should. Go and find one you don’t subscribe to and give them a Follow/Subscribe/Sign Up.
There are a couple of reasons you should do this, and none of them are about internet fame & fortune. (Well… except for me maybe, I have a massive ego and want those mega YouTube bucks! :P) Let me share why…
It’s about gaming the system
Consider this: if a new player did a video search right now for Dice Masters, what do you think they’ll find? Let me tell you – they’ll find a strong presence up top of content created 5/6 years ago, mostly created by “mainstream” tabletop gaming content creators like the ‘Dice Tower’ reviews and ‘Watch it Played’ “how to” guides, and very little from the fan-made creators.
Why? Well… it’s because in the beginning, at a time when the game was new, exciting and had a larger player base these vids got A LOT of ‘likes’, high viewing figures (and average viewing lengths) and these creators have large Subscriber numbers. They have high ‘click through’ rates and engagement levels are strong. This is attractive to the search algorithms that decides what goes up top of the search results. The “system” is in their favour.
As you can see from the screen shot above of the first page of results its all predominantly over 5 years old. The “How to Play Dice Masters” video guides are mostly using AvX teams. The vast majority of reviews were from Tom Vasel and of earlier sets. There is no game play content or current commentary on the game.
Not that I have a problem with the “mainstream” tabletop sites, they clearly get gaming out to a large audience and are prepared in a way that could be considered more “entry level” friendly, BUT I’ve just watched a handful of “How to Play” Dice Masters videos and there are actually quite a few differences now to how it was played then. Relatively minor but fundamental things: there is no mention of the Transition Zone (to James Blore’s horror I’m sure), They all roll 4 dice in their first turn, some Keywords are different, and some mechanics are not played how they describe nowadays due to subsequent rules changes. That’s just a handful observations from a quick skim through – there’s likely going to be more than that too.
I for one would rather a new player be seeing the “How to” guides on ‘Dice Masters with James & Zack’ and ‘DMArmada’, wouldn’t you? Made by active players who keep on top of current rules changes and popular trends? Who are fan-made content that deserves the views more?
In addition; it doesn’t make it look much like a game that’s active with a dedicated, dynamic player community around it right now. Old content says old game. Thing is – there is current, energised content out there; peeps just ain’t seeing it. There’s weekly commentary from CRGR (which also talks A LOT about tournaments online), my stuff, and game play on DM-North/Dice Masters with James & Zack/Weekly Dice Arena/CRGR to be enjoyed.
Let’s all pitch in and help get the top searches across content a little more contemporary, vibrant, and fan led, so passers-by get the right experience and see the game is alive and kicking.
It shows support & encouragement
ALL of the Dice Masters content creators do it as a hobby that comes from their passion for the game (Except me – I’ll re-iterate the ego & fame thing). It’s disheartening sometimes when you work hard on something, in your free time, and there is little to no audience interaction & feedback, not even a click of the ‘Thumbs Up’ on YouTube or a star rating on a podcast service, to re-assure you it passes muster and is enjoyed.
And that’s all it takes most of the time. A matter of seconds to click a button, or a minute or two to sit down & write a review. To use YouTube as an example again: look at the total viewing figures on this vid compared to ‘Likes’ clicked – it’s wildly disproportionate. That’s an awful lot of consumption (for free) with little real, positively re-enforcing feedback for the creator.
I know I jest about the ego, but, joking aside, it would be nice to have a little more support & encouragement out there for our Community of content creators – which in itself will boost things up in the algorithm space. You wouldn’t believe the effort that goes into some of the output, and we’re all driving it ourselves for no real reward other than the personal satisfaction of creating something. That something you use for information & entertainment.
So; take a minute to show Arge some love for the editing work on the “Rollin’ Thunder” podcast or Chris over at CRGR for running the technical element of the channel over there – it will be worth it’s weight in gold to them, and costs you very little at all. (we’ll also take some of that love if you’re dishing it out too – our YouTube stats and analytics tell us nearly half of our video viewers are not subscribers to the channel)
Alright – I’m gonna wrap up the big whinge-y bit – it was like I was nagging just then, wasn’t it? Sorry about that. I’ll stop on that point now. I genuinely don’t mean to sound like I’m berating you. Well… maybe some of you… a little bit 😜
There’s Something for Everyone
I mean, this point is pretty much what it says in the heading; whatever type of content you prefer, however you like to consume it, there’s something for everyone.
Like to listen to podcasts on the commute to work? There’s enough podcast in a month to fill a couple of journeys with us, ‘Rollin’ Thunder’ and ‘Double, Double & Dice’ putting stuff out (there’s a rumour of a new podcast on the way too, another journey to work boxed off).
Like watching YouTube on the telly when you iron your work gear on a Sunday? A multitude of video types to soak up – ‘DmArmada’s’ brews, and game play from ‘DM with James & Zack’, ‘DM-North’, ‘Breath Weapon X’ and us . You’re a bit of a reader? Hit up ‘DM-North’ or stick around here. Like to interact with live streams? ‘CR Game Room’s’ got you covered every Wednesday and the ‘Weekly Dice Arena’ puts games out on Twitch every Tuesday.
Whatever your poison – the fan-made Content creators have got you covered. It’s good stuff too, with so much enthusiasm & passion, I can’t stress how much energy & love goes into them. You can engage with whatever you like, however you like, pretty much anyway.
That’s pretty amazing, isn’t it? These guys should totally be on the top of the search page.
So – go sign up, subscribe and follow someone today, and just to make it easy here is links to as many as I can think of…
YouTube Channels
Dice Masters with James & Zack
DM North (and a Twitch stream HERE)
Weekly Dice Arena (and a Twitch stream HERE)
Podcasts
WEBSITES
BritRollerSix (This one your own now )
Well said, mate!
Lovely article!
Here here!
> I genuinely don’t mean to sound like I’m berating you. Well… maybe some of you… a little bit
One needs to be careful when berating people, otherwise they might elucidate as to why they haven’t bothered to subscribe. Or why they listen to one minute of a podcast or video and turn it off.
The problem with complaining about a lot of the older videos on youtube is that they are well made. It’s all well and good arguing you are doing it for the passion of the game, and they did it back when it was the new thing. But they spent money on decent cameras. They spent money on microphones for audio. Their content, five years old or not, is lightyears ahead of the “community” output right now. There’s solely two guys who have at least bothered to buy equipment to put out decent quality content. The rest is not only not decent, but barely acceptable. If you want people to subscribe and watch, put the effort in. You, and everyone else, are not entitled to those subscriptions, just because you make things in our sphere of interest. I love the game, I’ve played in tournaments around the world, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to subscribe to the latest podcast which sounds tinny as heck like it was recorded on a can and string. Or watch a video that looks like it was filmed on a potato.
Now, _I_ genuinely don’t mean to sound like I’m berating you or anyone else, but come on. You want people to care, yet you make it apparent that, really, you don’t care enough yourself to make sure what you produce is of a good quality. Equipment of a good quality is cheap and commonplace. Direct some of that enthusiasm and passion for the game into enthusiasm and passion for making content about the game. Don’t make do with the crap free headphone mic that came with your telephone.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Robin.
I fully expected that I may find someone such as yourself come along that didn’t share my view when I wrote the post. That’s ok – if you prefer the more mainstream guys with the older output because of the camera quality etc then that is your preference and that’s your prerogative.
Incidentally – I’ve invested financially quite heavily in my equipment of late, it’s disappointing to hear that the investment isn’t making a difference in your eyes. I’ll never see that money back… maybe I should run a kick starter like Tom Vasel does… 🤔
We see this differently – I’ll think about what you’ve said if you’ll consider thinking about what I said.
Oh, and another “incidentally” – if you’d like to contribute to the cost of technical improvements to the Ministry of Dice you’ll find a donate button at the bottom of the webpage 😉
Incidentally, lose the snark when people offer criticism. If your reaction to anyone who disagrees with you is to be snidey, it doesn’t paint you in the best light. I won’t apologise for now blowing smoke up your arse like the others here, I know the usual circle jerk is to say everyone is doing great and they’re wonderful. But you’ll never improve with that attitude.
“if you prefer the more mainstream guys with the older output ” Now then, where did I say that I preferred them? Genuine question there. Are you putting words in my mouth so that you can take a dig at me because I didn’t pat you on the back, or do you genuinely lack reading comprehension so I need to spell things out clearer for you?
“someone such as yourself”. Nice. Knew you were a flagwaver, but didn’t take you for a “you people” sort.
So what is it of yours that you want me to consider? The bit where you offered veiled insults, the bit where you fabricated a strawman to yell at, or the bit where you moaned that you spent money but you still sound like you’re talking in a can and somehow that’s not your fault?
And my other incidentally? You’d have maybe got a donation had you not been a dick. But, as always, you just couldn’t resist could you, Chris? England is in lockdown, right? Maybe you can learn some manners in your free time. Instead, the Armada continues to be the only decent DM folk worth giving money to.
There are some elements of your reply above that I believe to be a wild misinterpretation of my response, and there’s just something about the way you write and how you choose to communicate that leads me to wonder if that misinterpretation is intentional and designed to try and pick a fight. It feels like you’ve chosen to escalate to some places there that really have no bearing or connection to our topic of discussion. The initial comment post came across to me as confrontational and that has clearly been amplified in this message. I’d like to think the confrontation of the first message perhaps wasn’t intended, but my gut tells me that’s unlikely. The hostile tone of this subsequent comment is 100% intended, and contains some offensive intimations.
So… Yes, Robin, it would appear that I, and my content, are a bad fit for you. I think best that you unsubscribe (not that I believe you actually do subscribe, based on your comments, although you have read the article and come back to review the comments) and continue to enjoy DMArmada’s work without me in your world winding you up.
One final incidentally – your comments were flagged as your e-mail address fails to be verified by my Hosts verification service. It indicates that the mailbox does not exist. There must be a reason you want anonymity for your posting. In any case; any further correspondence will remain in the Unapproved Flagged folder.
Chris, The content that you produce for the Dice Masters community is top notch. I love that you do videos with Andy for gameplay, combos, and sometimes just showing people information about the game (cribs etc…)
People need to understand that we are not professionals, we do not get a salary for what we do, we do it for the love of the game we play. We can easily keep our gameplay and combos for worlds, but I for one that hasnt played a physical in person game of Dice Masters in over 6 months, look to videos like the ones you produce.
Alot of the game play videos do not have commentary, or when they do, the people doing the commentary dont seem to look at the team lists before the recordings. this is unfortunate, as for new dice masters players it will help them. I know sites like yourself, and how James and Zack did, usually the first 5 minutes of a video go over the combos and what the cards do for the new users.
I have done a few videos in the online community and I know how frustrating it is when you take the time in the first 5 minutes to go over the combos that you and your opponent are going to play, only to see that you have an average view time of under 5 minutes…. its quite frustrating, however, if it hels one player than the video has done its job….
Keep up the great work Chris and Andy!!