You wait ages for an update post, then 2 come along at once! This update is more of an announcement than anything else, so let’s get into it!
You may remember back in the summer I took a break from content creation on the M4J channel. At the time I was suffering from burnout and just couldn’t motivate myself to make new content. Taking that break gave me some new ideas to work on, but sadly the burnout is back with a vengeance, and so I think another break is needed. I’m also about to take on a whole new adventure with my partner by moving into our first proper home together, and so with the stresses of moving combined with the frustrations of where my channel is right now it does make sense to just have some time away.
Now just to put people’s minds at rest, I’m still not walking away from M4J. Even though I am taking a break, you might still see a video popping up here and there over the next couple of weeks. I’m not putting a timeframe on how long I’ll be stepping back for yet, as there are a lot of factors in play that could affect things. I will say it will be at least until the end of September, possibly extending into most of October too. I’ll go into the reasons as to why I’m still burnt out in a bit, but right now let’s talk schedules.
I’m sure one day the Stagz will return, there’s been some big changes to the club!
I was always told that having an upload schedule was the way to be successful on YouTube. Not just uploading on a certain date at a certain time, but also what that upload would be. To me it made sense, if I upload OpenTTD on a Friday at 6pm, people will expect to see OpenTTD at 6pm on a Friday and will be on YouTube waiting to see it drop. That might have been the case a few years ago, but if there’s one thing I’ve noticed now it’s that channels can be successful when uploading randomly, and so I think that’s a method I will start using more.
My channel has always been a vessel for sharing my passions. Whether it’s football, transport, Formula 1 or even theme park/zoo management, I’ve always wanted to meet like-minded people and just share my interests. I’ve never wanted to be the best at what I do, or even be famous for it as such, I just wanted to build a community around my content that enjoys what I do whilst at the same time making a living off of it. My channel got me my current job, I can now make content about F1 and other racing games full-time and for that I’m very thankful. That’s one reason why there’s been less F1 content on M4J recently, as I’m currently halfway through my first season on F1 Manager 22 on the Racing Games (RG) channel. I’ve tried to switch focus onto the most popular games on my channel, and that’s where the burnout comes in.
Enjoy the last look at the original map before we move on!
Transport Fever 2 is fairly simple to produce, just live record some gameplay, add the graphics and it’s ready to go. The game running slow was an issue but as you’ll see from the next episode onwards I’ve gone for a clean break and started a new map. Planet Zoo is also pretty easy when streaming, go live for an hour or so and it becomes a video the next day. OpenTTD was becoming more and more difficult due to spending all day recording scripts and doing a lot of editing for RG. You can imagine after a full day of Premiere not wanting to spend all evening on it as well! I have still got 2 episodes left of the M4J Network Overview, one needs recording and editing with the other needing pretty much everything done to it. One day I will get them finished, honest, but now I want to talk about why it’s left me all burnt out.
As the saying goes ‘it’s the hope that kills you’. Every time I start a new series, I get that massive buzz watching the view count go up. Planet Zoo did well, North Reef did ok before that, and Transport Fever 2 continues to outperform everything else. If only the buzz never went away. Sadly the views do drop, as you’d expect, and that’s when the excuses to not make videos start creeping in. I find myself asking myself a lot now why bother spending hours making a video when only a handful of people will watch it. 2 hours for 4 views just isn’t viable, for streams or for videos. I’m bored of talking to myself for 2 hours on stream, I’m tired of watching the view count barely tick past 10, and I’m fast running out of ideas to change things. The truth is my content needs more effort, and until I can find a way to give it the effort it deserves there’s no point in doing it.
Land of the Apes is finally finished in this episode!
I spoke last time about the F1 series. I have races recorded and I plan on speaking to Tom about how to make the videos more engaging. It’s really low effort to just record a voiceover as I watch the video back, almost to the point where I feel lazy for doing so. This isn’t like Transport Fever where the game is playing out live whilst I record, this is just me not bothering to write a script and just winging it. It’s never worked, yet still I try. That will change going forward. Same with series like Wild Realms. I have ideas for parts of the zoo, but during streams I am mostly just winging it. I again think that’s a little lazy, or at least I feel I can do better. I watch a lot of other creators and I’m always amazed not by their build as much as how they present it. I admit I’m not the best at detailing in Planet Zoo, but I have parts of Wild Realms that I’m really proud of and want to show off, but I want these videos to do well!
A big reason why OpenTTD hasn’t come back yet is preparation. I’m actually thinking about what I want to do, and ways to present it. I want my videos to open with shots of the finished product, before going into how we got there. Whether it’s a live build or a time lapse, I want every video to have the same level of production. I know I can do it, I do it every day for work, it’s just finding the time and inspiration to do it. I’m also wanting to take the game online, have Patrons run their own franchises whilst I work away expanding the network. I want to do major rebuilds, add tens if not hundreds of new rail routes, and finally add everything I’ve been promising in the Overview videos. Most of all though, I really want to look at my content with the same glint in my eye that I get when I look at the RG channel. I want to feel that pride when a video gets 1,000 views within 24 hours. I want the work to be justified.
Soon there will be plenty of new rail journeys for us to take!
So, back to the subject. This house move is the start of a new chapter in my life, and therefore it makes sense to make it a new chapter for M4J too. M4J might be a character on a YouTube channel, but it’s still a big part of my life and I really want it to work. I have ideas that I know I can do, I have enough belief in my skillset to make them work, I just need that motivation. When you’re away from something, you miss it. I know if I take a break now I’ll miss making videos, but I’ll be able to work without the daily stresses of meeting arbitrary deadlines that only I care about. I’ll be able to make content that I’ll be proud of again.
When I come back, it’ll be goodbye to the schedule. You might get 2 Planet Zoo videos a week, you might get one Planet Zoo and one OpenTTD video a week, or you might get one of everything. You may even get a week with nothing if work gets in the way. But I will say every video will be better. The video quality will be high, the music will be on point, and the commentary will be coherent and on topic. Live streams will return, but hopefully with an engaged chat. I really want this to be successful, and for that I need your help too. Any feedback you can offer will be appreciated greatly. Sharing the content will be awesome, joining the streams whenever you see them will keep the chat alive, and becoming a Patron will help me get better equipment and software to keep improving the quality. Plus you’ll be able to join the OpenTTD server, and who doesn’t want that!?
M4JR will be back spinning soon, this time with better commentary too!
It's been a long one this month, but hopefully it all makes sense. Basically the TL;DR is I’m taking a break in order to recharge the batteries and to be able to be better at making content. I love making videos, and I still feel very lucky that I get to do a job I love all because nearly 10 years ago I sat in front of a microphone and started talking. Since then I’ve worked for Hashtag United, formed my partnership with Hatfield Town, and made well over 3,000 videos for multiple channels! I want this to continue, and so for now it’s not going anywhere but on ice, just until the fire comes back.
Thanks everyone for reading, and well done for getting this far! Please do follow me on all my social media (click here to see them all), and be sure to join the M4J Discord where I’m online practically every day. Remember to take some time off if ever you need it, your health is always more important than anything else, and until next time I will see you soon!