Wikitubia:Interviews/N&B Gaming

This interview was conducted on December 12, 2016 by Aidan Dunphy

N&B Gaming is a YouTuber with over 117,400 subscribers as of December 16, 2016.

Q1: How and when did you discover YouTube?


 * I think it must have been back when I was in high school. I don't actually recall the very first time I stumbled upon YouTube, but I have no doubt it was just someone randomly linking something viral.

Q2: Can you remember what the first YouTube video that you ever watch was?


 * That's a tough question since it was so long ago. I'd say there's a good chance it's probably that Dancing Through the Ages video that every aunt in the world has probably forwarded to their extended family with re:re:re:re:re in the subject.

Q3: Who was the first YouTuber that you were a fan of?


 * Probably LevelCapGaming. He was pretty informative with most things related to Battlefield, which I was pretty big in to at the time, and he'd go into much more depth regarding weapon load outs that helped me pick out the better gear to use. In all honesty, I haven't actually watched much from him recently, but he's generally one to just cut to it without all the extra filler. I enjoy when people are succinct in their videos if the goal is to inform.

'''Q4: Who influenced you to make YouTube videos? '''


 * It was actually an ex-girlfriend of mine. At the time, I didn't even realize that being a YouTuber was a career option or something you could make a living doing. I always assumed it was just a hobby people enjoyed. My ex, however, had told me that she had friends that were doing it as a great way to make a secondary income and encouraged me to give it a try. I was already spending a ton of time gaming, so I figured maybe it'd be a great way to take something I already do for fun and build something around it.

Q5: What do you think about the new YouTube Advertiser-Friendly content guidelines?


 * I really don't like it at all. YouTube is far from transparent with what it's doing behind the scenes and that's honestly worrisome in a lot of regards. I think a lot of people prefer watching it over something like tradition cable because content creators are free to use whatever language they want or voice whatever opinion they have. It should be an open forum for people to put up whatever they want without having to listen to corporate overlords dictating their message in order to package them into something that's more profitable as an advertising platform.

Q6: How did you come up with N&B Gaming as your YouTube channel name?


 * N&B stands for Noobz and Boobz. The premise of the channel was going to be centered around my girlfriend at the time and I making videos involving her trying to figure out how to play different games. She didn't have much of a background with video games or know what she was doing when she was in them, so that was basically the premise. We figured watching someone struggling with the simple stuff would lead to hilarity. The name doesn't make that much sense without that context, I suppose, but I had already gained some traction with subscribers when I started taking it in a different direction. I didn't want to start over again with a new name, so that's basically where it stands haha.

Q7: Currently who is your favourite YouTuber or YouTubers?


 * I think I'd have to say AlabasterSlim. He was the first big channel to reach out to N&B Gaming (I think we had 2,000 subscribers at the time and he had around 90,000). He asked if he could join in and play some Titanfall with us and then went out of his way to give us a shout out (twice!). He just genuinely wanted to help us out. He must have known there was very little I'd be able to do to repay the favor, since we barely had any influence or followers yet, so it was quite a selfless act and really gave us a bit of momentum. I'm quite thankful to him for that as it really helped things out in the beginning. I'd strongly recommend people go check out his channel here (https://www.youtube.com/c/alabasterslim) if they enjoy paintball or airsoft. He goes the extra mile in his editing and does a great job.

Q8: Do you have a favourite and least favourite video that you have uploaded?


 * Probably either of the Cunning Stunts videos I made for San Andreas Test Dummies would be favorites of mine. They were way more difficult to edit than normal episodes since there are so many moving parts to it and how they involve a large group of people racing around at high speeds in sports cars. Trying to figure out the camera placements and ensure I'm capturing everything that's happening, while still trying to make it entertaining, can be such a lengthy process. I really enjoyed how the final product turned out though, when all was said and done. You get out what you put in, and I feel like I put a lot extra into those episodes.


 * As for least favorite... I don't have any particular individual videos that come to mind. I think just most of my older stuff in general. Hopefully that's not too broad of an answer. It does serve nicely, though, as a reminder to myself of how much the channel has evolved. When you're first starting on YouTube and making different types of videos for the first time, it's pretty experimental and tough to figure out what's going to translate well into a video and what won't. In my older videos, there are a lot of moments and scenes that I probably wouldn't choose to include in my videos now, or I'd approach it differently. It's all about learning what works, I guess. I also had significantly inferior hardware than compared to what I currently use, so a lot of scenes just sound and look awful haha. It is nice to look back and see how much I've managed to improve the quality though, so they're reminders of that.

Q9: What is your favourite game?


 * I have a hard time narrowing this down to 1 specific game because it depends really on what I'm trying to do. I'd say from a sand box perspective and for creating content, GTA5 is hands down my favourite. The Rockstar Editor is basically the sole reason I think I even have most of the subscribers I do now.


 * If I'm just going to be running solo and want to relax on my couch, The Witcher 3 is definitely my next choice. Every time I sit down to play that game, I think to myself that I'm going to be doing some particular quest I want to get done. I boot it up and a couple hours later I'm down in a cave on the opposite side of the world where I never intended to be, all because I got caught up in some crazy random story quest. It's an amazing game that ends up leading you to all these new places without you even realizing it.


 * If I just want to take a load off and shoot some people online with my friends, Titan-fall 2 is my go-to for sure. I love the speed of that game and the relentless action. That and I also never have a shortage of friends that are playing it so it's just great to socialize and catch up with them or let off some steam.

Q10: What is your favourite game to record?


 * GTA, entirely because of the Rockstar Editor. I really wish tools like this is something more games would include. From my perspective, it's the single most powerful tool I use and it really lets me take an average scene and make it something special. It's actually really helped me improve my overall editing as well, as I've had to learn how to incorporate different styles and camera angles I'm going for any particular feeling.

Q11: What is your favourite part about having a YouTube channel?


 * There's so many parts to this whole endeavor that I love. The one that stands out the most to me, though, is the network of friends I've made along the way. When I originally started the channel, it was just me and 3-5 of my real life friends. Eventually as the channel grew, the group blossomed into a much larger collection of people. I've made lasting connections with like-minded gamers who I would very much consider to be my best friends, despite never having met many of them in person. Even when we're not gaming, a lot of us are just hanging out in teamspeak, conversing, and cracking jokes. It's a pretty awesome community. We're a close bunch and I've made a ton of lasting relationships that have completely changed my gaming experiences, and even life outside of gaming. I have a group of people that share my interests that want to hop into video games and work together for the sake of having fun. That's something I'll always appreciate. It's made my hobby immensely more enjoyable and I wouldn't trade that for anything.

Q12: Do you play games in your free time that you don't record and upload?


 * I do. Usually if it's a single player game that I just want to play in some of my down time, I don't bother recording. I think most of the humor in my videos is the result of the back and forth between the people I game with. If I'm just off doing something on my own, that aspect is missing and I'm not sure it'd be very entertaining. Right now I've got The Witcher 3, Hitman, and Doom on the go, whenever I just want to play something without worrying about making content for the channel.

Q13: You currently have over 108,900 subscribers, did you ever think you would have that many subscribers?


 * I had hoped that perhaps I might reach that milestone some day, but it was always with guarded optimism. I felt like I had the quality of content that a lot of bigger YouTubers have, but when you're dealing with a diverse audience and trying to appeal to their sense of humor, it's very difficult to know how far your content will take you.

Q14: You currently have uploaded 246 videos, did you ever think you would uploaded that many videos?


 * Absolutely. I just enjoy making content. If anything, I probably would have thought I'd have more than that out by now but the videos slowly just kept growing in scope with regards to editing and they're also quite a bit longer than they used to be.

Q15: Currently your most viewed video has over 104,700 views, did you ever think one of your videos would have that many views?


 * I didn't think I would see that many views on a video for quite a long time. I remember being ecstatic when the first video I posted gained around 20,000 views simply because it took off on Reddit. I only recently started hitting that many views consistently on my videos, but it's funny how your expectations scale over time. What seemed like so much at the time, doesn't feel that way anymore as ambitions continuously grow as well.

Q16: What is your lifetime subscriber and video view goal?


 * I don't know if I have a specific number in mind for either. My goal with the channel size has always been to get it large enough that I can do it full time as a way to make a living and live comfortably while doing so. Anything beyond that is just a bonus to me. I love making videos so the thought of being able to have that as a full time job would be a dream come true.

Q17: What was your lifetime subscriber goal when you first started uploading YouTube videos?


 * I never really had a concrete number. I always wanted to reach 100,000 as a pretty significant milestone, as that seemed like the most realistic goal I could achieve in a reasonable amount of time. Something about having a 6 digit number for your subscriber count just feels so much quantitatively larger than 5 digits when you're looking at it lol. Considering how far off 1,000,000 subs feels, 100k seemed like a realistic goal, and also getting a silver play button meant at least I'd have some sort of tangible type of recognition for myself.

Q18: How long do you think YouTube will last?


 * I can't see it going anywhere any time soon. People get access to video content on YouTube that you can't really find aggregated anywhere else. The only way I can see it ever getting shut down is if some competitor came along which offered something way better. The barrier for entry is so high, that you'd basically need another massive corporation to step in to really ever be a threat. The problem with that, I think, is since it's such an extremely costly endeavor just for their server hosting, YouTube hasn't really generated much of a profit, if any at all (I don't know the actual numbers, this is just what I've heard). I think Google treats it as a peripheral service that adds value to their other products which is why it's feasible for them to maintain it. As much as I think competition would be a great thing for creators, since being stuck under a monopoly is never good for the consumer, I can't think of anybody other than Twitch giving YouTube a run for their money. Even then, Twitch is only focused on gaming, so there's still all the other video genres that would keep YouTube relevant.

Q19: Are you planning on going to any YouTube conventions?


 * It seems like something that'd be a lot of fun, I just have a difficult time getting to any being up in Canada. Maybe one day if I'm doing this full time. As for right now, I don't think I could justify spending all the money to get down to one.

Q20: What advice would you give to someone who is trying to make videos on YouTube?


 * Probably to go into it with realistic expectations. I think a lot of people probably don't realize just how much work goes into a well made video or how difficult the grind is when trying to grab new subscribers. I found I'd often get discouraged in the early stages because it was hard to go that extra mile and give up a huge portion of my free time to try editing something to the best of my abilities when there was uncertainty as to whether anyone was even going to watch it. You have to treat it like a job in a lot of regards if you want to build a following, but that's pretty hard to do when you don't know what the payoff is going to be. There are those days where you don't feel like editing or sacrificing your precious few free hours of the day, but you have to if you want to stay consistent and ensure there's always new stuff on it's way out.

Q21: What is the future for you and your channel?


 * I'm pretty much hooked at this point. It's been a massive investment of my time and effort, but I've had a lot of fun along the way and I can't foresee myself stopping any time soon. Right now I'm pushing hard to try and get my channel to the point where I can do it full time. I have so many projects in my head that I want to work on and just not enough time to do them. I think that's a good thing, though, as it means things haven't grown stale. I'm excited to see how far I can take this. So I guess the short answer is: As long as people keep watching, I'll keep making content.

Q22: Have you ever done a interview like this before?


 * This would be my first, so thank you for the experience :)