I’m a ways down on the blog here and on YouTube.

This is a continuation of Sunday’s article on YouTubers with 140K+ subscribers complaining about losing views. Sorry, but my sympathy is not forthcoming yet. I’m wayyy down here at the bottom and I’d like to think I’m rising, maybe?

The catch is, TableTop RolePlaying is a pretty niche hobby. It’s not as mainstream as it was in the heyday of Critical Role, Rick & Morty, and Stranger Things Seasons 1-3. Even then, we’re primarily talking about Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. It’s what pretty much all of the big DungeonTubers got big with. Heck, half of them didn’t start the hobby until 5E. (Darn kids.)

But I’m not a 5E guy. I’m technically not even an OSR (Old School Renaissance/Revival/Roleplaying/R-word-this-week) guy. My current fantasy obsession is Dragonbane RPG. It would be Old School, if I had started roleplaying in Sweden back in the 1980s with Drakar och Demoner. I came into the hobby 40+ years ago with this Red Box D&D.

Luckily D&D wasn’t the only game I ever discovered. The list is too long to easily recite in one post, much less this one. Needless to say I’ve heard-of, read, played, run, written adventures for, or otherwise experienced hundreds of TTRPGs. I don’t think I’m over 1,000 yet. I have different game systems for different subgenres of TTRPGs if I want to run them. I could run a new game title every day for a year and not run out.

Let’s go deeper in the TTRPG rabbit hole.

D&D is great, sure. What about other games? If you look on YouTube, you will be served up mostly D&D content of some kind. Most fantasy TTRPGs would be next because they can be shoehorned into D&D. There are a few sci-fi, supers, horror, solo and dramatic roleplaying channels, but most of what an average home page displays is fantasy if you want TTRPG content. I know this because I have been finding channels for the OG GM to talk about on Saturdays. After a certain point, it’s like digging for gold in a silver mine.

D&D5E was the mainstay of TTRPG YouTube for almost a decade. I sorta suspect there might be a push on high from either YouTube and/or Hasbro to phase out much of the old guard. It’s kinda how the OSR felt when they were just “School” and 3E appeared on the scene. I think the powers-that-be want a fresh new crop of DungeonTubers giving advice about the 2024-25 Core rules who are more in line with what we hear the corporate culture is like at Wizards of the Coast these days. Great for some of my friends just starting out or having started in the last two years or so.

The Old School is a niche within the fantasy TTRPG niche and the D&D niche. I love Shadowdark and Dragonbane. Shadowdark is basically D&D 5E condensed and streamlined to the most basic core making it look Old School. Dragonbane is old school, just not in the USA. Both are another step down the ladder from D&D. Both Shadowdark and Dragonbane are competing on the market with dozens of other revised or new fantasy games. Many of which are D&D clones.

That means the YouTube algorithm is already struggling with recognizing what D&D content to push is not going to do well with a tiny operation like mine doing Dragonbane. Grumble, grumble, grumble.
“Start a YouTube channel in 2024,” they said.

“You’re perfect for it,” they said.

“Make sure to niche down,” they said…

“The algorithm is pushing new channels out more now,” they said.

Remember when they said blogging was dead? Where are we now? Ha!

REALLY?!?

No shade on Ginny or Bob for doing their own thing, getting their name on products, pivoting with the trends. No shade on Ted and other DungeonTubers for sucking up to WotC more than ever. The good Professor went all the way to Ireland for the Discourse School of Clickbait Thumbnails. DungeonTubers gotta eat, right? It’s all good.

I don’t believe the old guard wants more TTRPG channels competing for a sliver of TTRPG ad money and sponsors, though. A few of them have been pretty transparent that we new people are seen as competition. If you know me, you know I believe there’s plenty of room for everyone, even if others don’t see it.

Personally, I don’t see a change in the YouTube algorithm. This is exactly what I was told to expect two or three years ago when I was first getting ready to start the channel. From where I stand, nothing has changed.

I just want to get to my 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours. Even if the AdSense money is peanuts, it might help pay for a microphone or get a couple of new TTRPG books to review/enjoy. I also think game companies take people more seriously on YouTube when that 1,000 subscriber mark is met. Maybe I can pick up some sponsors?

Right now it seems so freakin far away, though. If I wanted to niche down even further I could start talking about superhero or horror games, two things I really enjoy. If I wanted to bury my channel, there’s always mecha and anime gaming.

Anyway, I hope that answers the original question: Is D&D YouTube Dying? The answer is immense change can sometimes appear traumatic or even fatal when in actuality it’s metamorphosis in motion. Dying? No. Changing? Yes, and fast.