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.

 

[SteveC]

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.

I know this is going to sound trite, but this thread comes from a video that discusses the "scandal" and comes to the conclusion that it's a nothing burger. So the easiest answer to your question would be to watch the video.

From what I've seen and read about the issue, the key complaint seems to be that Darrington Press has as part of the license, if you create something with it and then we make something official that's similar, you won't sue them. That's the point people are making, saying that they'll steal third-party content.

Other issues involve online videos or podcasts about DH, you have to attribute it and use a thumbnail in a specific way. And that if you make a book, you need to do something similar. And that you're not allowed to make VTT content.

Now I'm not a lawyer, so it seems I'm not allowed to have an opinion about this, but that seems to be the crux of it. There's already been big changes in it (Foundry has the go-ahead to make a module for it, for instance) and the first commercial third-party product for the game doesn't seem to be following the branding restrictions despite being advertised on the DH stream, so ... it's likely going to go through a lot of changes and revisions. In short, not the end of the world.

But I'd suggest actually watching the video the thread started with.

 

[The Soloist]

YouTubers don't have to do clickbait. It's choice. Ginny Di, doesn't do clickbait and has more followers (804Ks) and more views per video.

Bob: 220k
Prof DM (Dungeon Craft): 104K

 

[mamba]

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.

I assume it is the fact the DP reserves the right to revoke the license, at which point you can no longer use it for new material (while the old material is ‘safe’ under it) and choose to either release an updated license or to just revoke it

After we had the irrevocable OGL, I guess people are nervous about ones that say they can be revoked right from the start

 

[UnplayedRanger]

YouTubers don't have to do clickbait. It's choice. Ginny Di, doesn't do clickbait and has more followers (804Ks) and more views per video.

Bob: 220k
Prof DM (Dungeon Craft): 104K

Ginny is the one dnd YouTuber I can actually stomach. And I’m just realizing it’s the lack of clickbait.