And now to try a Let's Play series! Hope you like it! :D : III

» Mon Feb 15, 2016 11:08 pm

Hello Everyone! :wave:

It is with great pleasure that, at long last, I am able to announce that my new gaming channel on YouTube is taking its first baby steps into Vvardenfell! For those of you who have been wondering why I haven't done much of anything with the http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1537520-what-is-the-current-state-of-better-clothes-here-in-2015/, well, this is why. It took me some time to get everything together, figure out how it all works, and then actually make some videos! At present there are three Morrowind videos* up, all part of a new Let's Play series based on an alchemist-type character. I plan to do several a week and see how that goes. I also have a Terraria series that has been neglected for two weeks now, but there are six videos up for that one just in case you like Terraria**. Here's a link:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb25p8i-PsvIaA1NyqEeyRQ

Wait. That's a silly link. You don't want a silly link like that. You are much more refined than that. You need something more sophisticated than that, more dignified. Here, try this one instead. It will take you directly to the Morrowind playlist. Go ahead. Give it a try:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPD_4nUA6Bc&list=PLO035QDRH1SfWRzNXq_iguDljP67iQ1da

There, that's better isn't it? :yes:

In all seriousness, I hope that there is something there that might make you smile, or make you think, "Oh yeah, I've had that happen before!" This is something I decided to do because, well, I'm playing the games anyway... why not try capturing some with some commentary? If it garners some interest that would be great, but my reasons for gaming run much deeper now than they used to, so I expect I'll continue to do this regardless. I would actually like to share with you all a little about why gaming has taken on such a big role for me at this stage in my life, and I probably will in an edit to this post... in fact, I have since added a bit of my story: see the spoiler tag below for details. But for now, I just wanted to let you know about the channel!

So drop by sometime and check it out! I'd love to hear what you think here or in the comments. Thanks, and I hope to see you there! :thumbsup:

For anyone interested in "the rest of the story" please read the contents of this spoiler:

Spoiler

Not too terribly long ago, I was a software developer. I loved my work, and I was good at it. I also loved gaming, but I had very little time for it and would often go for weeks without playing anything. But that was OK; for the first time in my life, I loved my career!

About ten years ago, I started having a ton of mysterious health problems. I’d have bizarre and often severe symptoms, but none of my doctors could find a cause. Things went downhill for a couple of years, but I did my best to work through it. Then in 2012 things became too bad for me to work through. I was having trouble standing, my hands and feet were in constant pain, and worst of all I started forgetting how to “do” software (to avoid going into an even longer explanation, I’m going to leave it at that, but if you’ve ever written software perhaps that makes some sense to you). Things reached a tipping point when I fell down one afternoon because of the pain in my feet, and my wife took me to a local walk-in clinic.

To make a long story short, the doctor I saw that day happened to be a Lyme Disease specialist. She listened to my story and ordered some labs. They came back and told her what she had suspected: I have Chronic Lyme Disease (CLD).

If you are aware of CLD, you know how difficult things are for sufferers. But if you aren’t aware, imagine an autoimmune-like disease that is similar to Lupus, plus a neurological disease that is similar to Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimer's, all with an added layer that is not at all unlike Fibromyalgia plus Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Now imagine you have something that mimics all of these and more, but the “something” you have is currently part of a bigger, politicized argument with Big Pharma on one side and well-meaning doctors on the other. Suffice to say it’s a huge mess, and many people are slipping through the cracks because of it. I almost did, and I still might before it’s all said and done. Please, if you are intrigued, I encourage you to look into CLD; the more people that are aware, the more likely it will be that this silly political battle will come to an end and more people will get the help they need.

Moving on, I tried to keep working, but by the end of 2012 I was no longer able to do consistent work, and I had to bow out. There was just no way I could compete anymore, plus my work was no longer something I was proud of. Everything looked bad, and I didn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. It is about at this point that I rediscovered gaming.

I’ve been gaming since Pong first came out in the early ‘70s. I spent much of my adolescent/early-teenage years in arcades. During the ‘90s I was doing a lot more outside and almost forgot about gaming, but then in 2000 I bought a new computer and got back into it. Later I dabbled in consoles, but my career in Computer Science was taking off by then and I didn’t have much time. Then, in late 2012, I suddenly had more time on my hands.

I had heard that gaming can be theraqeutic and I had always thought it made a lot of sense, but I never really considered that I’d use games in that way myself. But it didn’t take too long to realize that while gaming, I often got immersed enough to forget about pains and problems for a little while. On top of that, the Xbox controllers (for the 360, and now also the One) are extremely well made, ergonomically speaking at least. Over the next few months, I found myself playing more and more when I felt up to it. Before long I began to realize there was yet another benefit to gaming in my new world: it kept my mind active. Before falling ill, I had filled my mind with data structures and algorithms. I couldn’t do that anymore, but I could let my mind go in strange worlds with unique stories and challenging problems to solve. Gaming had gone from being a pastime to being a lifeline, and it all happened so organically that I didn’t realize it for a while… but I’m really, really glad it did.

Jumping ahead to this past fall, I finally got myself a computer that allows me to capture gameplay. With a small upgrade I was able to capture gameplay from my Xboxes. I got myself a halfway decent microphone, and well, this thread is an example of what has happened since. I can’t game like I used to; the days of long marathons are over for me. But video editing allows me to stitch things together so I can at least simulate playing for extended periods. It also allows me to clean up my many mistakes and lapses of memory!

But the main thing is that I now have something I am excited about, something that’s giving me more of a reason to try to be productive each day. That’s why I said above that I’ll probably keep doing this regardless of how many subscribers I get, or how many views any of my videos get. And just so you know, this isn’t something I plan to share with the entire YouTube audience. At some point I’d like to promote Lyme awareness, and my channel may end up being a good place for that. But the details of what I have just shared with you are things I’d rather share with a group of people that already knows me, at least to some extent. I have been a part of this community longer than any other non-professional organization, and I feel comfortable sharing this with you all.

So in the future, if you hear me talking about how gaming has become more important to me and has taken on a deeper meaning in my life, you will have some idea what I’m talking about. If you have questions about it please feel free to hit me up anytime… I am more than happy to share my story, and I especially want to be able to help anyone affected by Lyme Disease, chronic or otherwise. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

* 2016-02-13 UPDATE: The copyright claim against my video has been released! Yay! I don't know if Beth had anything to do with it or not, but I was informed this morning that the claim has been released and my video is now 100% in the clear and available to all in its original form. Hooray! I am leaving the original content of this note for anyone who might run into the same problem, but I have updated it to show it is no longer applicable. Strikethrough text shows original information that is no longer accurate; bracketed text provides updates for the strikethroughs. The original note starts here:

Sadly, after uploading only three videos, I already ~~have~~ [had] a copyright claim against the first video in my playlist. I ~~plan to start~~ [started] another thread (http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1589992-alert-anyone-making-lets-play-videos-of-morrowind-gameplay/ [however, it is now locked]) in hopes of raising awareness about this, but for the sake of those reading this thread I want to let you know there ~~is now~~ [was] an alternative version of that video available. [The alternative version of the video is no longer necessary because the copyright claim has rightfully been released.] If you live somewhere that bars viewing videos that have copyright claims against them, please check in the description of the first video in the Morrowind playlist for a link to an alternative version that you should be able to view with no issues (or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk-CBkmBISg) [you have nothing to worry about; the claim has been released and you should now have no trouble viewing the original video]. I want to stress that I have not used anyone's intellectual property in my videos that I don't have the right to use. Bethesda has a very generous, forward-thinking video policy and I have made sure I am in compliance. This copyright claim is [was] completely bogus, but YouTube's process for handling things like this is slow [or so I thought]. ~~It could be some time before the claim against my video is dismissed, and in the meantime~~ I want anyone who wants to see my videos to be able to see them. ~~I apologize for the inconvenience, and I sincerely appreciate your patience while this is being resolved.~~ [I hope you were not inconvenienced by this, and I thank you for your patience while the issue was being resolved.]

** Fair warning: The Terraria series moves at a very slow pace. Because it is my first series in that game, plus the likelihood that a somewhat younger crowd might be tuning in, I describe most things in detail and they might move more slowly than you might like. On the other hand, it might be just what you're looking for! Only one way to know for sure, ha ha! But seriously, I just want you to know what to expect. If you're a seasoned Terraria player, you're going to hear a lot of things you already know. You have been warned!!! Ooooooo!!!!!!!!... No, seriously, check 'em out! If you want to, that is.

» Tue Feb 16, 2016 10:34 am

Thanks for sharing your Let's Play, but holy cow the videos are so dark they are almost unwatchable. (I only checked-out the first one,)

I suggest raising your gamma and/or correcting it in editing, because Morrowind is usually dark to begin with.

You have good commentary, though. (but you might want to lower the music volume a bit.)

And since we've recently had problems with similar topics, just be sure not to spam or bump your thread needlessly. Responding to feedback is acceptable, but posting just for "updates" is often seen as spam and advertising. (neither are allowed.)

» Tue Feb 16, 2016 12:38 am

Thanks, Pluto!

You know, I've had about a dozen people preview these things for me, and this is the first time anything has said anything about the videos being too dark, let alone almost unwatchable! You really think so? I'll take that into consideration, of course, but this is completely a surprise. I'll be curious to see if anyone else thinks they are too dark. Thanks for the compliment on the commentary! This is the first time I've ever heard my own voice recorded and didn't think it was the worst thing ever (now I just think it's the second-worst thing ever, ha ha!)

Thanks again, Pluto!

» Mon Feb 15, 2016 11:37 pm

I'm four minutes in and already I agree with Pluto about the music being too loud and the game being too dark. Here's a few thoughts.

Music overpowering the voice is a common mistake in game videos that feature commentary. Here it's not so bad during quiet passages. But Jeremy Soule's music tends to swell to crescendos at times and during these moments the music is as loud as your voice. One spot when this happens is when you are talking about timescale. Listen to that moment again. The music swells to nearly the same volume as your voice.

My opinion? I don't watch Lets Play videos to hear the music. I watch Lets Play videos to hear the commentary. Turn the music off. But if you absolutely must have the the music on, at least turn it way down, so far down that it is barely noticeable. I don't want to have to strain to hear your commentary.

About darkness. Take a look at the opening scene on the boat. In that same scene in which the music was swelling too loudly it is also pitch black. All you can see is Jiub's face. I can't see the ship at all. It lightens a bit later (when you start typing in your name) but even then it is still so dark I can barely make out any details in the scene. I see a crate behind Jiub and I see some wood floor to his right. But that's it. If this video were my first contact with Morrowind I wouldn't even know he was on a ship.

About your problem with copyright. Here is an existing thread on the topic from the Community Discussion forum. Evidently, this has become a real problem for a lot of YouTubers in the last few weeks. http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1587386-more-problems-with-youtube/

EDIT: By the way, I hope that didn't come off sounding too harsh. I meant for it to be constructive criticism. I hope you aren't offended.

» Tue Feb 16, 2016 2:24 am

Okay, I've finished the first video. I'm afraid my opinion hasn't changed. When we exit the hatch, the ship we're on is just a black shape lacking detail. When you pan to the right, the ship out in the harbor is a solid black silhouette. When you pan further to the right, the ground surrounding the lighthouse and directly in front of the Census Office is, to my eye at least, just a featureless black void.

The interior of the Census Office had a nice amber tint, but I thought there was far too much contrast. Again, it was hard for me to see details in the scene. When you panned up from the table (at about the 18:30 mark) I could barely make out anything on the shelves. When you opened the book the background behind the book was virtually pitch black.

The music continued to be an occasional headache. When you were talking about some the objects on the table (at around the 17:00 mark) the music again swelled and almost overwhelmed the sound of your voice. It happened several more times including when you were standing in front of Sellus Gravius (at about the 23:46 mark). My opinion is that you need to turn that music off, or at least down. Before I reached the seventeen minute mark I was becoming annoyed with the music competing with your voice.

Again, please take this as constructive criticism. I like your commentary a lot. And I look forward to watching the rest of the series.

» Tue Feb 16, 2016 8:48 am

Well, I definitely do appreciate the constructive criticism... I'll need that if I'm going to make quality videos. Let me address the sound first.

I am aware of the issues with sound, although I was more concerned with the sound effects than the music. There are a couple of points in the 2nd and 3rd videos where my character is standing beside the fire in the lighthouse, and the crackling is nearly unbearable. So I have tried to fix as much as I could in "post-production" but I'm pretty limited. In short, I have no way to separate the game's soundtrack from my voice, so I can only edit them as a single clip. But I had it in mind to turn the effects even further down in the next video, so I am somewhat on the same page.

Regarding the music, I have seen a couple of Let's Plays in Morrowind that did not have the music playing. From what I could see, most people didn't like that. Everyone knows that the Morrowind soundtrack is one of its better assets, and it seems that people really miss it when it's not there. It's been a while since I was looking at that series (I'll see if I can find it again), but it really stuck with me when people complained about the music not being heard. I guess I agreed and put a lot of weight on that, maybe too much.

I will definitely turn down the volume. I don't think I'm ready to walk away from the soundtrack completely, but I will turn it down. Thanks!

Now for the much more troubling part... the video. You guys have me very concerned now. I am not seeing what you're seeing at all... the difference is literally at opposite ends of the spectrum! You say the ship in the harbor is a solid black silhouette, and the ground is a featureless void? Something is amiss here, because that's not what I see, nor is it what my testers have seen.

At this point, can I ask what you guys are watching these videos on? The reason I ask is this: if I lighten up the videos much at all, the exteriors look very desaturated and washed out. The interiors look like there's a light "haze", if you follow me. I don't see much room for lightening on my end, I really don't. Are you guys using HD monitors? I am not, but two of my testers are and they didn't say anything about darkness. Still, as time goes by, more and more people will be using more and more HD monitors, so if that's part of the issue I definitely need to take it into consideration.

One more thing I'll toss out there: I noticed that MGE XE by default seems to start scenes off very darkly, but within a few seconds it brightens. I assumed this was to provide something like what we experience when our eyes adjust to differences in brightness. Is it possible that this feature is part of the problem? Is this even a feature in MGE XE, or is just that MGE XE makes it more noticeable? It has not bothered me at all, in fact I kind of like it. But if it's causing problems in my videos I want to address it. This is my first MGE XE build, so I'm hardly an expert at using it... do you suppose this is part of the problem?

Thanks for the constructive criticism, seriously. There is so much to take in and try to get right... I know I still have some work to do. For what it's worth, these videos came about after many hours of test video were recorded, assessed, and rejected. I felt like I was in an endless cycle of trying things, deciding they weren't good enough, and starting over. These three that I have uploaded were not at all what I would call perfect, but I reached a point where I thought, "if I don't go ahead and publish something, I'm never going to!" Anyway, the point is I was sincerely hoping for some constructive criticism. I think people that know me well are sometimes a little too quick to say, "Yeah, that's awesome!"... without really thinking about it. So no, I'm not offended in any way. This is what I was hoping for. Thanks!

:thanks:

» Tue Feb 16, 2016 4:12 am

Sorry Vegtabill, the lighting seemed normal on my side so I'm guessing it varies greatly from a setup to another. I re-watched parts of your first video and took a peek at the alt version too, but even during the darker first segment before you entered your name I was still able to see the surroundings without issue. I'm curious to know where the huge difference in brightness comes from.

Edit: If you don't mind doing a little test, Pseron Wyrd or Pluto, could you take a look at that video and tell us if it's unwatchable too?

https://youtu.be/50URWvwCtHQ?t=3m15s

» Tue Feb 16, 2016 5:08 am

Logorouge, my friend, you have absolutely nothing to be sorry for. You've been a huge help to me in pretty much everything I've done that's related to Morrowind (and more)! For what it's worth, I wasn't referring to you when I spoke of "testers". That's not to say you haven't helped me a great deal in that regard, but I haven't given you time to let me know what you think of the Morrowind videos yet. My wife's co-workers and my step-son have been my primary video testers for these; in fact, they are why I went ahead and published them, as they were bugging the crap out of me to make them public on YouTube!

But as for the lighting in the videos, your description is much more in line with what I'm seeing and what had been reported to me before I mentioned them here. And yeah, it sounds like there exists quite a discrepancy between the viewing experience across different setups (GPUs, monitors, etc). If these videos are really that dark on some systems I'm going to have to do something. But at the same time, I don't want my videos looking washed out; I can't stand how that looks, personally... I'd much rather a video be too dark than to light. So I'll have to find a middle ground, or at least try to.

Thanks for your feedback, man, I sincerely appreciate it! Hope you're doing well! :thumbsup:

» Tue Feb 16, 2016 12:57 pm

Pluto and Pseron Wyrd, have you guys had a chance to think about the follow-up questions I had for you? I've now had about two dozen people give me feedback on these videos, and you two are still the only ones to say anything about them being too dark. I have even gone back and gotten some of my early testers to look again with what you said in mind, but so far no one has agreed with your assessments. If you do have some thoughts, and particularly if you could help me by telling me a little more about what you are watching these videos on, I would be happy to hear what you have to say. Also, have either of you had a chance to contrast my video(s) with the one Logorouge linked to? Personally I think my videos look better than the one in the link, but I'd be interested in hearing your opinions on the matter.

Everyone else, I have gone ahead and added a spoiler tag that tells a little more about how I came to be a YouTube content creator. It's a little long (hence the spoiler tag), but I wanted to share it in case there are others out there with similar stories. Also, I have found it's good for me to talk about what I'm facing these days; the more I talk about it, the more I feel like I can come to terms with it and move forward in life. If I can do that, maybe I can help someone else do it, too, and so on. It's all about support, you know... individually we may be weak, but with each other's support we become strong. At least, that's what I believe.

Thanks, and my best to you all! :thanks:

» Tue Feb 16, 2016 3:18 am

I sincerely hope that no one had any trouble trying to watch the first video in my Vegtanit Billantic series. I did everything I could to ensure it would be available to everyone, including uploading an alternative version of it without the audio from the Azura dream sequence. It was frustrating in that it shouldn't have been necessary, but when you're first starting out with something new, the last thing you need is for the first exhibit in your series to be unavailable to some of your audience.

Well, I want you all to know that the copyright claim against my video has been released!!! Yes, released! The alternative form of the video in question is no longer necessary (though it is still there in case you need it for reference... it shouldn't show up on my channel anymore, but the link in this thread should continue to work indefinitely). The thread I started about the copyright claim itself has been locked, and for what it's worth I agreed with Rohugh's reasoning; everything that needed to be said had been said. However, that means that I can't update it and let people know that I have been exonerated of any wrong-doing and that my video is once again freely available, so I am using this space to do that instead. And besides, I would want anyone who may have seen that ugly copyright issue to be able to come to the announcement thread and see that things have indeed improved! :yes:

So, one more time, INgrooves' copyright claim (on behalf of Zenon Records) against the first video in my first Morrowind Let's Play series has been released, and the video is now freely available in its original form! Chalk one up for the good guys! :rock:

» Tue Feb 16, 2016 7:21 am

Congratulations! !!!!!!!!!

» Tue Feb 16, 2016 11:50 am

Woohoo! That's some good news and it didn't take them 6 months.

Thanks for the update.

» Mon Feb 15, 2016 10:55 pm

Thank you, sir! By the way, I've been enjoying the Arena videos I got to from the link in your sig. At this point it's pretty unlikely that I'll get around to playing Arena myself, so it's great to be able to enjoy some of the gameplay without having to install a thing. Keep up the good work! :thumbsup:

Thanks, man! You know, I really don't know if Beth had anything to do with it or not. When my thread dealing with the copyright issue was closed, I was informed that the whole thing had been escalated to people at Bethesda who could do something about it. A couple of days later I got the email from YouTube saying the claim had been released. It was curious, too, because the email was a typical "form letter" that said the claimant had not responded within 30 days and so the claim had been released. It hasn't been 30 days, so I can't help but wonder if something else happened and they just sent that letter because it's the most "catch-all" one they have, know what I mean? :shrug:

At any rate, I was very pleased to get the email, and even more pleased to be able to take down the alternative version of the video in question. Thanks for the support, Logorouge!

» Tue Feb 16, 2016 9:24 am

Thank you, good sir! It's nice to know that someone is enjoying the videos!

Sneak Peek Below:

Spoiler

Stay Tuned, for next, we travel to Skyrim!