I need your advice...

Patrons,

I’ve been on holidays for two weeks, and during that time I did a LOT of thinking. I have a lot of ideas swirling but I want some advice, and I think you would be the best people to ask.

Beginnings...

I began this channel covering Tom Clancy’s The Division. And one of the ways that I got big fast, was that I did a highlights reel of The Division’s Weekly State of the Game stream, and a weekly review of vendor weapons available at the dozens of vendors in the game.

But over time, I became ashamed of those videos. They weren’t bad- they were just…lazy. I felt that there was more in me to share, and that pushing out generic content each week was something that I could no longer be proud of.

I quit those videos and it was the best decision I ever made. It gave me time to work on other things. Soon after that, I made my Nier: Automata video, which really changed me and my channel forever.

Nier changed everything

That video is among the most watch Nier videos on YouTube. The Creative Director of the game, Yoko Taro, personally thanked me for it. It saw my channel gain at least 30 to 40 thousand subs, and awakened me to the idea that I this was something I could do. And I did it again with Destiny, The Final Review, and with my Warframe review (which is about to hit 1m views) and with my Destiny 2 review, which I know has had a lot of impact on both the community and within Bungie (some of the Bungie crew contacted me about it).

As I continue on my YouTube journey, I’m becoming less and less proud of being a ‘guides’ channel covering 3-4 games. I’m very proud of my reviews and commentary. I am decidedly ‘un-proud’ of a ‘Beginner’s Tips’ video for Fortnite Battle Royale.

Where I want to go next

I look at YouTubers I admire like TotalBuscuit or Jim Sterling or SuperBunnyHop or Raycevick or Dunkey or H3H3 or Danny O’Dwyer and I think ‘I want to do that- that’s what’s next for me’. I don’t look at any guides channels and truly love what they do, because it’s a different, more transactional sort of relationship.

So I’m thinking that I want to evolve what Skill Up is. I want to be providing less content, but better quality content. And I want it to be about a wide range of games, rather than squarely focused on Looters. I want to be focused on high-quality reviews and thoughtful commentary. And my question to you is- what do you think about that?

Why do you watch Skill Up?

You are my biggest supporters, and I think that if I knew how you felt about this sort of move, that I’d be able to make this decision with more confidence, or change course based on your feedback.

Would you watch me if I went do that path? Are you here for guides? Are you here for one game only? What is it about what I do that brought you here?

This is something I’m very much grappling with atm, so I’d appreciate any and all thoughts you might have. 

Ralph