Thinking of creating a YT Channel to Read and Support VN's - Good or bad?

[Minty_Readings]

Greetings, Lemmasoft!

My name is Mint Monster Readings, or simply Minty_Readings here and... Well, I'd like to discuss this idea I've had for a while now.

Like many of you here, I am a rather creative person. I love writing and telling stories, drawing, making simple animations, and programming in general. But one thing that I love the most is playing interesting, compelling, and cute visual novels. As a big fan and contributor in the shadows of the visual novel community, I always thought it would be nice to create a YouTube channel that acts as a visual audio-book for visual novels that do not provide with full voice acting or those that have a Japanese cast instead of English. As a voice actress myself, I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to practice and enhance my skills. There are a handful of people to whom I am acquainted with that have told me that they would play more visual novels, however, they simply don't have the time to sit down and enjoy it; preferring to listen to Let's Players or audio-books as they work and/or exercise.

For free visual novels, I would play it in its entirety. For commercial visual novels, if they have multiple endings/love routes, I'll only play one good ending (and/or one love interest) completely so that viewers can be encouraged to buy and play the game themselves. I know that there are a lot of people here who are working or have worked very hard to make a visual novel but not many people even play them due to lack of interest and/or advertisement. It makes me very sad to just think that all that hard work is not even acknowledged. I'd like to be a helpful service to all of you creators and qualify as a good channel to advertise and read visual novels to help advertising your projects!

I would be lying if I said that I wasn't a little hesitant to do this... Would it be a good idea? Is there anything that I should keep in mind when I end up playing the visual novels? Any suggestions to make it entertaining/enjoyable?

If there is a visual novel that you (or a team that you support) have recently or have finished a visual novel that you would love to hear narrated, please feel free to leave a suggestion down below or send me a private message...! :'D

[Aviala]

Personally, I think it'd be great if you did that - as long as you'd only play one route like you said. Uploading a whole game, especially if you don't talk over it, is really bad, but I consider let's plays free advertisement as long as they don't cover all of the content in the game. If you want to be absolutely sure, you can always contact the devs and ask for permission to do a let's play. Indie devs are likely to answer your messages.

But even if you don't ask for permission, in most cases it should probably be fine. Just be prepared to take down your videos if the devs ask you to.
P.S. Feel free to play my game, Your Royal Gayness, once it's released :) (you can even email me for a free copy if you have a channel running by then)

[sake-bento]

I don't mind LPs of my games, and different perspectives are always welcome. What's making you hesitant to more forward with the idea?

[Caveat Lector]

That sounds like an awesome idea! I'd say go for it!

Maybe, to expand on the idea of reading different routes, you could make it more viewer-participant by having a small poll over, say, twitter or Facebook about which route to cover?

[Jain]

Sounds awesome. I would say a little bit would probably get lost in the medium transfer: bu people only interested in hearing the stories won't be too miffed to miss the background art or character sprites.

[Katy133]

Sounds good to me. I think the biggest challenge would be consistency (how many videos you'd post a week) and juggling between games. Maybe if you plan on playing longer games, you can try just playing the beginning of them?

[Minty_Readings]

Personally, I think it'd be great if you did that - as long as you'd only play one route like you said. Uploading a whole game, especially if you don't talk over it, is really bad, but I consider let's plays free advertisement as long as they don't cover all of the content in the game. If you want to be absolutely sure, you can always contact the devs and ask for permission to do a let's play. Indie devs are likely to answer your messages.

But even if you don't ask for permission, in most cases it should probably be fine. Just be prepared to take down your videos if the devs ask you to.
P.S. Feel free to play my game, Your Royal Gayness, once it's released (you can even email me for a free copy if you have a channel running by then)

"- as long as you'd only play one route like you said. Uploading a whole game, especially if you don't talk over it, is really bad, but I consider let's plays free advertisement as long as they don't cover all of the content in the game."
Right, that was my thought process as well. I do want to encourage people to play the visual novels that everyone here has worked so hard on, so I do plan on only playing one route or a few endings. I suppose one thing that I'm afraid of is receiving complaints from viewers saying how they can't pay/play the visual novel and how they would want me to play the entire thing for them. If developers say that only a certain portion or only a few endings are allowed, then of course I'll stick with the developer and deny those complaints. However, I would be lying if I didn't say that I was conflicted about it. On one hand, I want people to experience the visual novels themselves and support the person or group that made the game, but on the other hand, I hate the feeling of cutting off after a certain point as I have failed to complete a game. I can always play the game on my own time, but I also want the people who lack or are restricted to play the visual novels to experience with me.

I've thought about live-streaming the rest of the game/routes on Twitch or on YouTube as a way to finish the game alongside the viewers who have come to appreciate it as well, but not post the live-stream on the channel. Instead I would only share the live-stream highlights as a way to encourage the people who have failed to join the live-stream to download the game. Or another idea I have is to create some sort of account on places like Paypal or Patron so that people will be forced to pay in order to see other routes or endings. Then, I would give the money to the main developer as a way of paying for their service as well as a way to thank/apologize to them for playing their entire game... But even with these ideas, I feel conflicted about what to do. What are your thoughts?

Also, I would love to play your game! Thank you for the opportunity! ^ v ^ I'll have to look into the development status first and get a feeling for it, if you don't mind. Do you know when you think the game will be done? (Just so I can send you an email asking for that free copy XD I am quite the poor woman so I would be eternally thankful~!)

[Minty_Readings]

I don't mind LPs of my games, and different perspectives are always welcome. What's making you hesitant to more forward with the idea?

Ah, I'm so glad to hear that! Is there any works that you (and your team) have made that I can start on first? :'D

The thing that is making me hesitant about moving forward with the idea is... I suppose receiving complaints from viewers saying how they can't pay/play the visual novel and how they would want me to play the entire thing for them. If developers say that only a certain portion or only a few endings are allowed, then, of course, I'll stick with the developer and deny those complaints. But at the same time, I want to complete the game and share it with the people who have grown to love the visual novel. But by doing that, some people will no longer feel like they need to play the game as they have already seen and heard me play it which is the last thing I want to do. But I hate the feeling of cutting off after a certain point as I have failed to complete a game. I can always play the game on my own time, but I also want the people who lack or are restricted to play the visual novels to experience with me.

I've thought about live-streaming the rest of the game/routes on Twitch or on YouTube as a way to finish the game alongside the viewers who have come to appreciate it as well, but not post the live-stream on the channel. Instead I would only share the live-stream highlights as a way to encourage the people who have failed to join the live-stream to download the game. Or another idea I have is to create some sort of account on places like Paypal or Patron so that people will be forced to pay in order to see other routes or endings. Then, I would give the money to the main developer as a way of paying for their service as well as a way to thank/apologize to them for playing their entire game... But even with these ideas, I feel conflicted about what to do. What are your thoughts?

[Minty_Readings]

That sounds like an awesome idea! I'd say go for it!

Maybe, to expand on the idea of reading different routes, you could make it more viewer-participant by having a small poll over, say, twitter or Facebook about which route to cover?

Ah, I'm glad you think so! :'D

And yes, the idea of the viewer becoming involved has crossed my mind. Although, I am a little conflicted as to what social medium to cast those said polls on... I've heard that Twitter polls can be a bit misleading and perhaps not a lot of people would feel comfortable using a Facebook poll. So far, I'm thinking of just doing a good 'ol YouTube comment suggestion and counting it all up and/or Facebook. But if you know any websites made especially for hosting a poll, please let me know! I would be eternally grateful! ^ v ^

[Minty_Readings]

Sounds awesome. I would say a little bit would probably get lost in the medium transfer: bu people only interested in hearing the stories won't be too miffed to miss the background art or character sprites.

Ahhh, I'm glad!

And yes, I would agree. The channel would be mostly targeted towards people who enjoy audio-books, visual novels, or just plain old story telling. So even if they don't like a certain aspect, there is a slight possibility of the person still sticking around to enjoy the other aspects ^ v ^

[Minty_Readings]

Sounds good to me. I think the biggest challenge would be consistency (how many videos you'd post a week) and juggling between games. Maybe if you plan on playing longer games, you can try just playing the beginning of them?

Ahhh, I'm glad you think so! :'D

So far, my way of attack is like this:
- Record playing the visual novel in advance
- Edit the audio and video all the way through, then combine the two together
- Render the video into an .mp3/.mp4 file, review it, and do any fixes needed
- Repeat the steps again until I come to the point where I know that the decisions I make will impact who I end up romancing or determine which ending I get
- Then, post the videos I have made accordingly once a week (at first - I plan to post more videos during breaks/vacations which will be known as "Reading Madness" or something). Then, if people leave any comments or vote which character/ending they favor, I continue playing the game and edit the videos, repeating my process.

That's my course of action as of right now. What do you think? Do you think it is effective? Or should I change my plans a bit?

[Qwxlea]

A channel to watch visual novels being played sounds great, but I for one would not watch a whole novel on your channel. I would be interested in seeing what a game is about, what kind of music it has, like an honest demo of sorts . But a whole novel /storyline would take quite long, and if I like the novel I would rather play it myself.
And I can imagine that some devs won't be happy if you would show a whole game, especially if it has only one storyline, it might make people stop buying their game (maybe ask beforehand?).
But in short: I would watch your channel \o/

[Minty_Readings]

A channel to watch visual novels being played sounds great, but I for one would not watch a whole novel on your channel. I would be interested in seeing what a game is about, what kind of music it has, like an honest demo of sorts . But a whole novel /storyline would take quite long, and if I like the novel I would rather play it myself.
And I can imagine that some devs won't be happy if you would show a whole game, especially if it has only one storyline, it might make people stop buying their game (maybe ask beforehand?).
But in short: I would watch your channel \o/

Hahaha, well, that's good! After all, I plan for the channel to mostly be dedicated in helping the developers get more recognition for their hard work! Even if you or other people didn't stick around to watch an entire reading because you had gotten the visual novel yourself to experience it, it'll be alright! Because that would mean that I have succeeded in what I wanted to do.

I am also very happy to hear that you would watch my channel! ^ v ^

[Mammon]

Both the publicity and the voice acting sound great, and I'll check out your channel if I can find a link and/or am reminded by this thread around the time you upload your first video. And if it's a free game I can't imagine the developers minding a full playthrough, I know I wouldn't. If it's a commercial game, they might not like it but it's always a mixed bag. Plenty of letsplayers do a full playthrough regardless of permission, but from what I heard (from not too reliable sources, I admit) it doesn't actually affect the dev's income a lot. I know for a fact it's the case with A-list games, but with VNs I can't tell for sure.

With your planned method of work though, I'm not sure if that's such a sustainable method. While I have heard that letsplaying is actually harder and more time-consuming than people tend to think and I have no idea how much work it truly is, your plan seems to be even more time-consuming. Especially considering the effectiveness of regularly scheduled uploads which you'll probably won't be able to uphold with this, your plan might be a bit too perfect and high-quality to be practical.

From what I understand, you'll be playing the VN in it's entirety before even uploading any video and fully edit it as well. That either suggests you plan on tackling short games mostly, or that you actually intend to play >2h games and edit them in their entirety. Especially once that duration gets >10h, doing it the professional way might be a very big job. I don't say it won't work, you might have the focus for it, but just playing it more casually like the streams you suggested might be more doable.

(If you do record and edit, don't forget to back it up often! Computers can easily crash or lag a lot with the strain of hours of recordings.)

[Minty_Readings]

Both the publicity and the voice acting sound great, and I'll check out your channel if I can find a link and/or am reminded by this thread around the time you upload your first video. And if it's a free game I can't imagine the developers minding a full playthrough, I know I wouldn't. If it's a commercial game, they might not like it but it's always a mixed bag. Plenty of letsplayers do a full playthrough regardless of permission, but from what I heard (from not too reliable sources, I admit) it doesn't actually affect the dev's income a lot. I know for a fact it's the case with A-list games, but with VNs I can't tell for sure.

With your planned method of work though, I'm not sure if that's such a sustainable method. While I have heard that letsplaying is actually harder and more time-consuming than people tend to think and I have no idea how much work it truly is, your plan seems to be even more time-consuming. Especially considering the effectiveness of regularly scheduled uploads which you'll probably won't be able to uphold with this, your plan might be a bit too perfect and high-quality to be practical.

From what I understand, you'll be playing the VN in it's entirety before even uploading any video and fully edit it as well. That either suggests you plan on tackling short games mostly, or that you actually intend to play >2h games and edit them in their entirety. Especially once that duration gets >10h, doing it the professional way might be a very big job. I don't say it won't work, you might have the focus for it, but just playing it more casually like the streams you suggested might be more doable.

(If you do record and edit, don't forget to back it up often! Computers can easily crash or lag a lot with the strain of hours of recordings.)

First off, I'm very happy to hear that you would be interested in the channel and even plan to watch it once I start uploading videos! :'D

Secondly, letsplaying is most definitely a very hard and time-consuming processes. However, I have come to find that visual novels are a bit different than normal games. One thing that is nice about visual novels, especially since what I am doing so far is just reading them aloud with very few commentary, most of my editing is focused on the audio more than the video. With audio, I have to clean it up a little and cut out any mistakes that I end up making (sometimes, I'll even redo the line). After the audio is fixed, I just have to chop up or speed up the video so that it can better sync up with the audio (and vice versa).

Now, when I talk about recording and playing the visual novel in its entirety, I don't exactly mean to play everything in just one sitting. I don't want the videos to be too long and want it at a rather reasonable length (so far, based on the videos I have made as an experiment of this process, they're clocking in to about 30-35 minutes). Most visual novels, at least from what I can understand, have chapters or some sort of effect that breaks the game into small pieces, which is often where I plan to stop recording (which is usually about 40-45 minutes or even just under an hour long). Even if the visual novel doesn't have a chapter system or anything of the sort, I make sure to be responsible with my time and only record to around the time said above (40-45 minutes or an hour). This will give me enough time to edit the video at a rather decent pace which usually takes about 5-6 hours (or even longer if my program crashes). Of course, if a visual novel does end up having some sort of chapter system and I end up cutting a video just before the end of a chapter, I'll just stop the recording and add the new chunk to the episode.

So far, I think that the way I'm doing things right now is effective enough and certainly has been proven decent to me, but at the same time - as you've stated, it could be more time consuming and far too "perfect and high-quality to be practical". Do you perhaps have any suggestions that you think could help my process or perhaps anything that you think might be a bit more convenient and doable (besides from the streaming)? I would love to hear what you think! :'D