Bob Worldbuilder debunks the Daggerheart license “scandal”

[CleverNickName]

Outrage Culture has become part of the norm.

Being loud about about an issue on social media is currently a proven way to make money.
Whether or not the issue is real has little influence on either the volume or the monetization.

There's no such thing as a "bad click" or a "bad view" on YouTube at the moment. The content creator gets paid either way, so they have no incentive to be honest, factual, or even pleasant. You've already clicked on their video, so they've already gotten everything out of you that they expected.

The same goes for comments. It doesn't matter if you are commenting to tell them how wrong they are, or yelling at them about how angry they made you, or just throwing insults and rhetoric back and forth...it's all "engagement," and it helps promote the channel. It's kind of an open secret among YouTube creators that most of them don't even read the comments on their own channels. (And why would they?)

Until YouTube changes the algorithm, the only thing we can do about garbage content is stop clicking on it.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

There's no such thing as a "bad click" or a "bad view" on YouTube at the moment. The content creator gets paid either way, so they have no incentive to be honest, factual, or even pleasant. You've already clicked on their video, so they've already gotten everything out of you that they expected.

The same goes for comments. It doesn't matter if you are commenting to tell them how wrong they are, or yelling at them about how angry they made you, or just throwing insults and rhetoric back and forth...it's all "engagement," and it helps promote the channel. It's kind of an open secret among YouTube creators that most of them don't even read the comments on their own channels. (And why would they?)

Until YouTube changes the algorithm, the only thing we can do about garbage content is stop clicking on it.

It does help to not watch the full video. Stop when you realize it's crap.

And you can -- and should -- remove the view from your history, which will make the algorithm less likely to show you similar videos in the future. It can be a lot of work to clean out your history if you haven't ever done it, but you will notice a change in what the algorithm pushes at you very quickly.

If everyone in the RPG space stopped seeing and clicking the most clickbaity nonsense, those creators would either go away or have to change what they're doing.

 

[Morrus]

There's no such thing as a "bad click" or a "bad view" on YouTube at the moment. The content creator gets paid either way, so they have no incentive to be honest, factual, or even pleasant. You've already clicked on their video, so they've already gotten everything out of you that they expected.

The same goes for comments. It doesn't matter if you are commenting to tell them how wrong they are, or yelling at them about how angry they made you, or just throwing insults and rhetoric back and forth...it's all "engagement," and it helps promote the channel. It's kind of an open secret among YouTube creators that most of them don't even read the comments on their own channels. (And why would they?)

Until YouTube changes the algorithm, the only thing we can do about garbage content is stop clicking on it.

Correct. Views and engagement are quantitative, not qualitative metrics. That's the very foundation of clickbait (and it's ragier cousin, ragebait).

 

[Lidgar]

Wait. So someone I've never heard of with no legal training is going to give me their opinion about the legal implications of a licensing agreement, and explain why their opinion is better than the opinions of other people I've never heard of who also have no legal training about the legal implications of that licensing agreement?

I need to make a youtube reaction video of my looking shocked about this. And then other people could react to that video! It's monetized reactions, all the way down.

You should do an unboxing video of your shockedness. I’d click that.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

It does help to not watch the full video. Stop when you realize it's crap.

Indeed. Clicking right off (especially with newer creators, or creators branching into different content) can be a stronger disapproval than not clicking at all. Low average watch time tells the creator its a dud, whereas not clicking just makes them think they're title and thumbnail are duds. The algorithm (to the extent we understand it) also seems to give up on videos with low watch times faster than ones that just don't get many clicks in the first place. It's part of why new YouTubers are advised to not send their videos to disinterested friends and family who will often give them the polite click but no actual watch time.

 

[GrimCo]

What is so bad in Daggerhearts license? Sure, it's not Creative Commons, but then again, it makes sense to not release it in CC cause of their overall business model.