Back in 2013 I had my first Let's Play experience on YouTube. As someone who wanted to always do a Let's Play, but was too nervous to ever commit, I finally made the leap by playing Breath of Fire 3.
I didn't want to do just any Let's Play that continues on forever. I wanted a clear focus with a definite end. Breath of Fire 3 was the perfect specimen to start with, because I remembered how easy it was to turn the game into a cakewalk by leveling up Peco with the masters system.
It was my first Let's Play and it shows in the first episode just by how nervous and shaky my voice was. As I kept doing it, the more comfortable I became with talking out loud to an empty room, and within a few minutes recording became natural, and by the end it was no big deal.
That trip down memory lane was squashed by Capcom when they flagged parts of my series through YouTube's ContentID system.
Why does ContentID hurt me if it just places ads on the video? Because I never put ads on it to begin with. I was and am a small YouTuber and ads directly impact channel growth. People are taking a risk to watch my video over anyone else's, so the last thing I want is to subject them to an unskippable just to watch some BOF3.
By putting ads on against my will Capcom is directly hurting my chances of growing my channel. So I pulled down those videos that were flagged. Now if the video was just footage of me playing the game without commentary, I can understand the flag. I'm just showing parts of the game off with nothing substantial of my own to contribute. Instead I showed players how to optimize their game playing experience by crushing any and all opposition that stands in their way.
I have found a workaround and that is Facebook video. The Game 'N Pals Facebook page has the entire 19 part series of Breaking the Game for Breath of Fire 3. Anyone can even play along if they like, since Peco can become a party member rather early on into the game.
Thankfully there is becoming an alternative to certain kinds of video on YouTube. I'm actually not much of a hater when it comes to YouTube protecting content creators, but when gaming is their largest demographic on their service they shouldn't punish the little guys. All I want is to share my experience. That shouldn't be difficult.
Enjoy the journey!
