State of the Stronghold: August 2022
Wow, am I really doing this? My YouTube channel was started after a number of frustrating conversations about the economics of MtG Arena. Many content creators were giving well meaning advice to new players, which I none-the-less, thought was wrong or at the very least, short sighted.
Advice like;
"Using your Wildcards to get the Rare Dual Lands in Standard is the best things you can do."
"Here's how to use your wildcards to upgrade your New Player Experience deck..."
"Put everything into the one deck, it's all you need."
The most frequent regret I hear from Arena players is how they didn't understand the Economy, and misused resources early on, and had to overcome those setbacks. I made it my mission to use my background in business, economics, statistics, and game theory to offer different perspectives about MtG Arena. I didn't even own a computer for daily use, but despite that, I found an old laptop in storage which I had intended to destroy, and forgotten about. I posted my first video in April of 2019.
Fast Forward to January of 2021, I had decided that if this was worth doing, I could do it better...which isn't saying much from the perspective of the low production quality which defined my efforts. I invested some of my JOB bonus money into a Gaming Desktop, and took things to the next level with the ability to record game play. I began to explore different content and styles. Mistakes were made, but I like to think I'm learning a lot along the way.
Fall 2023 Renewal Cleanup
Would you believe that at any given time nearly 40% of the YouTube videos I've made can't be seen by you. That's right, each Summer I go through and "unlist" the videos which don't do much for the community moving forward. Not to worry though, I have plans to continue making these available in more appropriate venues. More on that later.
The time has come to diversify the digital footprint of the Stronghold.
When I first started to take the YouTube channel seriously, folks told me at some point it would reach a critical mass and it would start growing of it's own volition. I read someplace that the time it took to reach 100 subs, would be be the same time it would take to reach 1000 subs. While monetization was never a serious goal, I am beginning to see the YouTube channel reach that sort of critical mass, and I'm intrigued at just what could be accomplished.
I'm re-launching this Blog, from the depths of more than a decade ago, as a place to put behind-the-scenes style content, which I've found doesn't perform well on the YouTube channel. It also gives me the potential to explore similar content like Table Top Role Playing Games. Dungeons and Dragons immediately comes to mind. While I have a passion for this, I just don't have the time (or enough meaningful content?) to support another YouTube channel at this time. This Blog also gives me a place to publish/link resources and data which viewers often ask for, but is hard to make available on a platform like YouTube. Lastly, I like the idea that I may be able to give a voice to other creative people out there which may have something to say on these subjects, but haven't developed their own platform. I currently find myself with a lot of time on my hands, and the need to work remotely a couple of days each week. This platform is perfect to allow me to be more productive in a wider variety of efforts, including focused formatting of some of those unlisted videos exploring past years of NPE collections, older Draft formats, and which Historic sets best create Budget Historic decks.
I launched a Twitch channel recently as tool to explore new content avenues. Live play, and Interactive Audiences are significant areas I have notably lacked thus far. This platform seems perfect to Live Play events like Midweek Magic, especially in formats which I want instructional clips, but most people don't seem compelled to watch "my play experience" content. Twitch also allows me to develop more of an on-screen presence and persona which will be important for any future "Brand". I also want to explore the idea of viewer interactive event through Arena's Direct Challenge option. Who Wants to play? Twitch has a two week retention, and not everything will make it over to YouTube, so you may want to check in on it from time to time.
I am also VERY excited about a recent development of a mentoring style of content in which I will collaborate with another player to discuss topics from their varied perspectives. Discord is being explored to support this effort, and potential community interaction.
I've had Aetherhub for a long time, but haven't really integrated it into my content. It has always felt easier to just post the deck list in the description. I find that in the course of doing Budget content, I produce a lot of decks that revolve around cards from Standard or the current New Player Experience (NPE) decks. This lets new players participate in formats like Historic, without needing to use a bunch of wildcards. The problem I am now encountering is that Standard rotates, and NPE changes every year. While the deck strategy remains valid, the reasons for the specific deck list does not. I've always been hesitant to publish YouTube content which may distract from the Budget mission. Aetherhub seems like the perfect place to re-address this type of content, with less risk of leading new Free to Play (F2P) viewers off the path, while still offering more to my long term and more established audience. I project that YouTube will reach 500 subscribers in December of this year, and Aetherhub becomes even more exciting as new creator support unlocks. Once we hit this milestone, you can look forward to a curated Historic and Brawl collection on this platform.
YouTube remains my primary focus, which I hope will be enhanced by these other things. I feel like the 4 video per week schedule continues to be the right fit. These other fronts allow me to enhance, without oversaturation. I can't even conceive of a state where YouTube isn't my strongest asset, and I think it is the right vehicle for the budget focused content.
Future Development in the works
Monetization on YouTube begins to look more like a question of "When" rather that "If'". Patreon seems lie the next logical step on this path, but I want to find away to offer real value and not just sell out for the money, this is budget content after all. I'm looking at other creators, and thinking about how this tool could do work for my audience, aspiring to create a higher volume and higher quality of content. YouTube has it's own version of support, but I really haven't looked it.
Who knows what the future may hold;
Merch Shop?
Free&D content, a streamed game?
Comments