We’re a day ahead because of Worldbuilding Wednesday.

The principle remains the same, regardless. Today I am so happy and grateful to be free from a corporate job or any sort of employer. I am happy and grateful to be my own boss and my own best employee. (*I still call OG GM “Boss” as an inside joke.)

The 19th of every month is a mini celebration of not having to bow and scrape to the Reptilian Overlords at the top of the corporate food chain everywhere. Please don’t mistake this for envy. Be as rich as you want. I still aspire to be counted among the wealthy so I can help my fellow human beings.

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Disclaimer: This is my blog. This is how I see things and how I feel. There is little factual information being presented. If you have issue with anything being presented, please contact me privately on X (Twitter,) Instagram, BlueSky, or by email. Otherwise, there are lots of platforms out there for you to vent your feelings and opinions, too.

Lots of ups and downs this month.

The month began and struck in the middle with a ton of self-doubt, anxiety, depression, and general loathing for certain things. My frustration with monetization efforts on here and YouTube are mounting. I love you all. We just need to get some fundage coming in to pay for the site renewal, editing software, and all kinds of other stuff.

It’s starting to look like July of 2021 around here. Right after I was relieved of my job, unemployment hadn’t kicked in, and there were no job prospects was a rough month or two. I was in a depressed funk for most of it. I do seem to remember us having just enough to get by and take care of the kids. I’m glad my wife didn’t throw me out. That was good at least. She’s actually very supportive.

That’s how February has looked so far, too. My wife and I are holding down the fort. We’re grateful for each other and the little miracles that happen every day. We’re overcoming the wave of Influenza A that rampaged through the house. So far my wife and our high school student have stayed safe.

The upside is we survived. Yay! Any day I wake up on the correct side of the dirt is a good one.

Tabletop Roleplaying games and me.

My love for gaming has not waivered. I have debated, at the risk of sounding like a hypocritical idiot, maybe alienating my whole audience, about taking a massive step sideways and working on some Dungeons & Dragons 5E content. I mean, YouTube might take off if I go full 2024-25 D&D. Whelp… weighed that for about three seconds and I can safely say I’m sticking to my principles.

Dragonbane is still my Number One fantasy TTRPG. March is possibly going to be focused on superhero gaming. I’ve been jonesing to do some Power Rangers and ICONS stuff again. I’m also still on the hunt for a horror TTRPG that I’m completely happy with. Same issues with a good mecha/space game. We’ll get there very soon. I happen to know D6 Second Edition is on the horizon. Original D6 one of my favorite systems of all time.

Then there’s YouTube.

I watch copious amounts of YouTube videos. I almost have YT on 24/7 unless I’m doing something that needs my undivided attention or I’m trying to have a conversation with someone. ASMR while I sleep. Law of Attraction/spiritual/UFO/conspiracy stuff when I first wake up. TTRPG content during the day with some YouTube learning and LoA sprinkled in, and finally whatever category got my attention the most before ASMR restarts the whole process.

I can recommend dozens of channels in just about every category I watch. I listen to veteran gurus as well as complete noobs. I lend more credence to some than others, but everyone’s opinion is treated equally at first. Obviously I have my favorites that I look for every day. (OG GM, Knigobi, Gaming Table on Wednesday, anything Dragonbane, and Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast news.) I won’t bore you with all of the LoA experts and ASMRtists I listen to, but if you ask I can give you a huge list of both.

The thing I have been most focused on when it comes to YouTube as of late is figuring out how to get monetized. 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 public watch hours is what it takes to become eligible for the YouTube Partner Program. Those AdSense dollars are perfect for my needs. Not too much, but enough to maybe cover some minor expenses.

The thing that continues to baffle me is I’ve seen people hit it within a week or two of starting up and others who’ve been struggling for years. I fear I may be in that latter category unless I can shift up the paradigm somehow.

I literally just saw a DungeonTuber bragging about his 30K subs. WTAF?!? Why can’t I get to 100??? Like seriously, who do I gotta hump? Admittedly Mr. 30K subs sucks up to WotC like D&D is his mother. It makes me wonder if I just need to sell out.

YouTube channel growth experts are unfortunately a dime-a-dozen. A lot of their advice is regurgitated from one another or the same old sources. I think some of them are running a regular pyramid scheme with their marketing plans.

“You can get monetized outside of AdSense revenue. There’s no trick to it. It’s just a simple trick…”

Or hear me out, you can monetize a YouTube channel ethically without offering a thousand dollar course, coaching, or e-book that says the exact same thing you say on YouTube. The experts don’t like hearing that, though. They’re almost touchier than some of the LoA frauds. (Oddly there’s overlap between the two.)

I’ve contemplated a number of approaches to YouTube going forward. Yes, there is a forward to making new videos as soon as I can get the house all to myself for an hour or two. I have a lot of content I want to make, but what I want and what I sell are two different things.

I’ve experimented a little with more negative commentary on the TTRPG industry. Paizo and Wizards of the Coast videos are at the top of my analytics every day. They have gotten some views but not a lot of watch hours or subscribers. Plus the comments can get pretty brutal if/when I allow them.

I’d rather be doing videos about things I enjoy in TTRPGs like being a Game Master, creating monsters, spells, magic items, characters, etc. I want to talk about Dragonbane and ICONS. But the analytics aren’t very favorable for those kinds of videos.

If you think the YouTube algorithm doesn’t favor Dungeons & Dragons, think again.

YouTube wants whatever keeps people glued to their platform the most. Even new D&D channels rack up awesome mileage in terms of subs, views, and public watch hours. (Lots of love for Knigobi, but the secret sauce for lady DungeonTubers is a bit different.) My own experience and research into the platform shows people are tuning into D&D first, maybe some generic fantasy content, and then everything else last.

If I put Pathfinder or D&D in a title or description, there are views. Anything else and the results are considerably less favorable. Then it becomes a matter of doing what I enjoy or playing the YT game for money. I have no desire to sell out to a large corporation just to lose all self-respect, compromise my ethics, and watch my hobbies turn into a job I hate every day. On the other hand, I need some extra cash right now and I’m too physically/mentally broken to do much else. Tough call. I do like money…

Dragonbane compatible projects are in the distant future.

I’m writing/rewriting some projects for Dragonbane that I previously built for other systems. I have notes about another six or seven adventures and supplements I could do. It’s looking pretty good for having one or two things on DriveThruRPG by the end of March.

DriveThruRPG money mostly helps out other DTRPG creators, though. I mean, that’s great. I’m happy to do it, but I now the money doesn’t flow from that source. I think the purpose of DTRPG projects is to hopefully get noticed by a larger content creator and hired to do better paying projects.

The ultimate goal is to get hired as a freelance writer for preferably an indie company. I’d like to do some convention appearances on behalf of myself or some other company. I would truly enjoy doing some public speaking about TTRPGs and the awesomeness of gaming. As always, these dreams require money and time. I’ve either got to break through on YouTube or on a written level. If anyone has any other suggestions I’m all ears. (Keep it clean and legal, please.)

Addendum: I’m now wrestling with my ethics when it comes to YouTube.

Principles: I desire success through sticking to my niche. I want to stick to Dragonbane and other slightly smaller indie TTRPG creators. I want to avoid making content for large corporations.

Conflicts: I want to make that sweet, sweet AdSense money on YouTube, maybe pick up a sponsor that’s in line with my goals and standards. (Honestly they’re not that high.) I want to hit that 1K sub and 4K watch hours, and anything after that is pure gold. The easiest way to make a big splash is to make 2024-25 D&D content. In order to go big, I have to be someone I’m not. I refuse to make content for a company who has repeatedly shown extreme disregard for me, a fan and fantasy game content creator.

Also, Imposter Syndrome. Am I a well published game designer yet? No. Have I been in the freakin hobby for 40+ years? Yes, and I’m very passionate about my TTRPGs. Sometimes I just don’t know if I belong in this larger content creator social media.

Maybe I shouldn’t be here. There are bigger bloggers as I recently rediscovered. There are wayyy bigger YouTubers/DungeonTubers/D&DTubers/Whatever Tubers than I could even hope for at this stage. 30K+ subscribers seems very, very far away right now. I know it’s because these bloggers or DungeonTubers do almost exclusively D&D content.

I do NOT support Wizards of the Coast. How many hundreds of FREE copies of the latest Monster Manual 2025 did they send out to DungeonTubers for publicity? Have we heard even one of these people say they would have handed over cash money for this book? I would love to hear even one DungeonTuber say, “I bought this thing, and it sucks because…”

If someone sends me free product, (and thank you if you have,) I go over it as well as I can and give it favorable or at least a neutral review. I won’t review anything I wouldn’t shell out money for. I’ll offer as much constructive advice as I can if I have issues with something. Nine times out of ten, the product is solid, and I can just be honest.

Sorry Wizards of the Coast. You wouldn’t respond to my emails. You don’t send me freebies to review. I don’t have $180 laying around for three core rulebooks. I won’t shill for a company that treats fans like walking money bags.

I love D&D, just not the 2024-2025 version. I’m irritated that the YouTube algorithm favors your game over everyone else in the TTRPG space. I’m also irritated that WotC either directly or effectively buys all of their social media publicity, especially on YouTube. That’s just when they’re not stirring the pot in the community to start arguments on X (Twitter,) Threads, BlueSky, and YouTube.

There’s the dilemma. Become a shameless, mindless D&D shill or watch my YouTube channel sit in limbo. Right now I don’t even think anyone wants to hear about older editions of the game. Everyone seems complacent in cramming this new not-a-numbered edition of D&D down our throats. (*I’ll explain why they won’t number it elsewhere.)

Give in for better metrics. One YT guru accused me of “holding yourself back” because I won’t sell coaching, courses, or an e-book. Because I just want to make a few AdSense dollars. Obviously the guy doesn’t know the niche. I can’t offer a course or 1:1 coaching on TTRPGs. What would I even do?

Anyway, I have rambled a-plenty. Please go be decent human beings to one another. Be kind. Spread goodness. A little politeness can be a good deed for the day. Game on.

Thank you for being here with me today. I appreciate you. Keep it real, but please strive for positivity, too. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy in your life.