Before, I get into it, I want to give a shoutout to DragonClasher for bringing this to my attention. You can go check out his youtube channel, he posts VG vids. He didn’t ask me to do this, I just want to give credit where credit is due. Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Ohb6qxuEWziSpQ0VK8_9Q
What he brought to my attention was a tweet from a small VG content creator. The link to the tweet is below (Check her out too btw).
https://twitter.com/TheFatalBeauty/status/1037405751831089152
The short version is that due to some changes in the content creator system, she was booted from the program and isn’t eligible anymore. The Vainglory Creators Program has been up since Nov 11, 2016 (or at least, that’s when the post explaining it was made), so I thought it was strange that it was being changed, especially since the version we had until now was pretty good. After looking into it a little deeper with the power of google, I ended up finding what looks to be the current (and polished, nice looking) version of the content creators program. Of course, I read the whole thing.
Link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sovi75ag4k5v6rd/AACU98RDIpozKxugSYKa16BSa?dl=0 (In case you want to get a full context before going into this. I’ll be posting relevant images throughout the post.)
- Rules!
My first problem comes with how vague the rules are. This is the same problem that youtube has where due to how vague their rules are, different content creators often get different treatment based on their history. It’s POTENTIALLY possible for whoever is managing this program (I’m assuming wolf_hands, based on the fact he posted it) to twist the rules a little to shut out whoever they personally dislike. I wouldn’t expect that from SEMC, I imagine they still do have morals, but it’s a possibility. I would just prefer to know what offensive material MEANS. Can I use an image of Pepe, since he is technically defined as a hate symbol by the ADL? Or are we using our common sense, and we know that Pepe isn’t actually a hate symbol, but a frog on the internet that can be used to both make you laugh and angry. Can I swear? Will I have to bleep my curse words with random asterisks from now on?
Well sh*t.
The point is, these rules aren’t properly defined. They’re more vague outlines that have too much wriggle room for someone like me (AKA Someone who’s watched youtube fall into the dumpster) to feel comfortable with. - Rewards :v
So, what does the program offer you! Access to a discord server and free heroes? Nice. Oh, skins? Neat. Oh damn, EVERY SKIN? That’s so cool.
That’s all fine and dandy, but uh, excuse me.
What’s the deal with the EXCLUSIVE GOLD CREATOR VCP DISCORD CHANNEL!!! I can understand that the gold creators will get priority at events. That’s pretty normal. I wouldn’t want joeshmo who sucks at VG and has 20 twitch subs to be at VG Worlds instead of someone like Excoundrel. But what’s up with the segregation? More on this later. - Mobcrush!
Alright, 500 followers for bronze, fair enough. 2000 for silver and 5000 in gold means that the nothing -> bronze will probably be longer than bronze -> silver and silver -> gold, but fair enough.
I’m not entirely sure about the minutes watched, since I’m not a streamer and have never looked into the data for it (although now I kind of want to), but I think it looks fair.
Wow, this streaming thing looks really good! Thanks VG creators program!
Oh, wait a second… what’s this?
Streaming a minimum of 6/10/15 hours for a week, every week?
Hm, I don’t know SEMC. That seems like a little bit too much, considering these streamers have lives (says me xd). You know, studies, jobs, other things they want to do. It’s not like you can make a living off of steaming VG, considering how small the playerbase is. (Note: While making this post, I checked twitch a few times for the highest view-count stream and then checked their followers. Highest I got was 300.)
I’m sure that they’ll be exceptions to the Hours/Week rule, but this is ruthless. Even if you streamed 5 times a week (which is unrealistic for most) you’d have to steam for 3 hours at a time. I get that VG wants to encourage the BIGGEST STREAMERS TO RIIIIIIIIIIIISE but there’s also the need to be realistic. - Vimeo!
Okay, so before starting, I went over and checked how many people would actually pass the subscriber count for gold. The people who pass (that I found within 5 minutes) are: Rumblysuperset, Excoundrel, ttigers, DNzio, Halcyon Masters (RIP), Cyeye. I had to scroll past so many cringy Rumbly thumbnails, so please don’t blame me for not having more than 5 minutes of patience.
Let’s break this down.
Growing on youtube is already difficult. Throwing VG and its small audience base onto it makes it even harder. Currently, there are three ways I would say there are three ways you can make content on youtube to try and grow.
1 - Drown your channel with consistent uploads that you hope you can drag along a consistent audience of those with too much spare time.
2 - Talk about meta and professional play. Be an educational channel. Hope your opinion is respected enough for the videos to get shared around.
3 - Make cinematic, creative, high effort and high quality videos, and pray that it’s good enough to go viral.
Those are just my opinions, but I think you’ll agree that those are the three types of content are pretty much the three main staples of VG, and of other MOBAs too. For context, I’d say that Rumbly is a #1, Exoundrel and Halcyon Masters are #2, ttigers and DNzio are a mix of #1 and #2 and Cyeye is a mix of #1 and #3. Remember, that’s my opinion, but I feel like it’s pretty universally agreed on (AKA I’ll be using this from this point onwards).
What this creators program is doing is killing off creative, cinematic content UNLESS you’re in gold tier (which can’t be reached unless you reach silver, it seems). The reason for this is the upload/week. It follows along the same lines of a prior youtube algorithm, which not only killed off numerous animation channels on youtube but also brought in numerous young adult vloggers (you know who I’m talking about) and strange nursery rhymes videos to the platform. I’m not saying we’re going to get ‘VG vloggers’ and ‘Gythia Finger Family nursery rhyme’, but I am saying that it encourages lazy, same-y content.
What SEMC should be doing it doing the opposite. Encourage creative videos, the type of stuff that has the potential to go viral, and act as a megaphone to start the snowball. I hate LoL, but I still watch LoL youtubers because they’re funny, have entertaining edits and are passionate about creating because they know it can be shared amongst a massive playerbase and be enjoyed by millions. Although VG doesn’t have the millions upon billions of players that LoL has, they can still motivate through this program, and to light that spark that they need to create something amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XIhUeCGXAU
I’m sure most of you have seen it, but this in my eyes is an amazing video, and this kind of content has the potential to drag players into the game. If I were to watch a VG video without any idea what it was, rather than a full gameplay or a meta analysis, I would rather see something someone no doubt spent hours on, from drawing to recording to editing.
Unless there are exceptions for that type of stuff, but hey, it doesn’t tell me properly.
Tell me properly please. - Other stuff
I’m skipping to 7 because not only do 5 and 6 seem pretty fair to me, but I also have absolutely zero experience in talking to companies for sponsorships and I would prefer not to make a complete fool of myself.
Okay, so I can understand this one being vague. They didn’t cover many topics, so having a endless chasm of requirements for the ‘everything else’ category is standard. I wish they would just cross off the obvious stuff, such as ‘negative criticism on reddit/forums’ or ‘complaining about matchmaking on twitter’.
Unless those count of course, in which case, hire me SEMC.
#Conclusion
What I’m trying to say is that these rules are not only vague, but they screw over certain types of creators. These guidelines need to be changed IMO, to better suit all creators. I’d prefer to see 1 hour of an entertaining streamer a week than 15 hours of one who isn’t, after all. A lot of the ruling is vague and there isn’t support for any of the little guys, which I also hope changes in the future. I’ve always been pretty passionate about VG content creation, particularly videos, and although this is a step, it’s a step which is 30 degrees off from perfect.
Also can we get the replay system on the PC version zooming and moving around because I don’t want to record cinematic shots on my old ass iPad kthxsbye.
