New youtube channel for commentating of BGA replays

[pault111]

Hi everyone,

I'm starting a new youtube channel to share BGA replays with the public with my analysis added in. The objective of the channel is to cater to folks who already know how to play the games (although I did just do a how-to video on Pacifica) and appreciate discussion/analysis of the strategy of the game. I am trying to present it as an e-sport channel to try to differentiate from all the how-to channels that cater to new players/players learning the game. Would love some feedback on the channel from the experts over here at BGA. Are the videos entertaining? Is it boring and no one is going to watch? I enjoy making the content but it'd be great to know what you think of it as consumers of content.

Here's the link, feel free to spread it around to anyone you might think is interested. I'll try to add new content every week. Who knows, maybe the channel will go viral (although I know that's an uphill climb).

https://www.youtube.com/@CDNBoardGameReplays

[Andrei3009]

You wrote about expert opinion and e-sport. Based on this, I would prefer to see less random games. I haven't heard about pacifica and loot and don't have enough experience in tacta, but I know up and down, dice mission, flip 7 and fliptoons, and I don't think these games can bring long-term viewers to the channel (they aren't deep enough).

I liked your tacta video and the idea of showing the hands of both players. The only thing I was missing was the sign of which hand was which. And in my opinion the game lacks a bit of analysis.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same about up and down. The screen was cut too and unevenly, and there was no analysis, as if you were mindlessly watching a movie. In addition, showing the opponent's hand in this game is not very good, as it deprives the viewer of awareness of one of the essential elements of the game - predicting the opponent's hand.

Despite my mixed reviews, I am glad that there is another channel for board games.

[BananaHarambe]

I think a channel like that is a great idea, but would need to done by a player that is "good at games" that can provide accurate insight and would want to focus on the most popular strategy games on BGA like Ark, TFM, CATAN, Azul, TTR with arena settings. I don't think the smaller games have much audience.

Lots of people do this for Chess already which has a huge audience and a huge advantage with computer engines being able to review games to assist with meaningful commentary about mistakes and critical moves. Reviewing games on BGA without an "engine" will require you to be very well versed in the game to be meaningful in my opinion.

[Archisian]

I think a channel like that is a great idea, but would need to done by a player that is "good at games" that can provide accurate insight and would want to focus on the most popular strategy games on BGA like Ark, TFM, CATAN, Azul, TTR with arena settings. I don't think the smaller games have much audience.

Lots of people do this for Chess already which has a huge audience and a huge advantage with computer engines being able to review games to assist with meaningful commentary about mistakes and critical moves. Reviewing games on BGA without an "engine" will require you to be very well versed in the game to be meaningful in my opinion.

Oh, snap!

[Name_Taken]

I gotta say, those were really such perfectly polite ways to say "You Aren't Good Enough For This", I mean whether they are right or wrong, they deserve some credit for doing it politely lol

I haven't analyzed the analyses closely enough to judge that myself, but I want to say something that can apply either way: There is plenty of room (imo) for the right kind of niche channel somewhere in between How To and Gameplay. And this is all my opinion but I do sometimes wish there was a new channel somewhere in the middle, because there are so many How To videos that really just read the manual to the camera, and many Gameplay videos that won't be helpful to someone who also needs a little How To. But if there was a channel to bridge that gap? A quick How To and some introductory gameplay, and analyses from the pov of a new player? Before being ready for some serious strategizing? Could be an opportunity for the right new channel regardless of skill level...

[Archisian]

I gotta say, those were really such perfectly polite ways to say "You Aren't Good Enough For This", I mean whether they are right or wrong, they deserve some credit for doing it politely lol

I haven't analyzed the analyses closely enough to judge that myself, but I want to say something that can apply either way: There is plenty of room (imo) for the right kind of niche channel somewhere in between How To and Gameplay. And this is all my opinion but I do sometimes wish there was a new channel somewhere in the middle, because there are so many How To videos that really just read the manual to the camera, and many Gameplay videos that won't be helpful to someone who also needs a little How To. But if there was a channel to bridge that gap? A quick How To and some introductory gameplay, and analyses from the pov of a new player? Before being ready for some serious strategizing? Could be an opportunity for the right new channel regardless of skill level...

Yeah, I thought it was humorous to me to see someone say "You aren't good enough. We need someone who actually knows what they are doing." in the nicest way possible lol.

[Name_Taken]

The more I think about it, the more I like it and want to get involved The theme could be like "The First Questions" and you start with a short How To Play, and then you start a game, and demonstrate using the How To that you just gave, and then giving rise to the first questions:

"So now that we know How to play Catan, let's start a game, which begs The First Question: Where should you place your initial settlements? Something like this? Let's see what happens.........."

[BananaHarambe]

EDIT: confused someone else for OP

I'm glad others thought found my comments nice, I wasn't trying to be rude. Since they said e-sport I assumed a higher level of gameplay and was expecting games higher on the strategy side.

A player that is good at strategy analysis for a game should be able to apply those principles themselves to improve to a measurable degree. I would want to watch this kind of content if it showed you or someone else getting better at a game over time. Showing replays from earlier in history with mistakes, followed by simple strategy lessons that get applied on a later game when they are a strong player. Alternatively you could show examples of beginner games with mistakes and compare to games with 2 experts playing to highlight the major differences.

I like the idea of a "Road to 300 Elo" series that follows a player's progression from beginner level 100-200 Elo up to 300+ Elo and shows examples of them applying the core strategies better and getting wins from it. If OP were able to do this themselves for a few games (Harmonies, TTR, Carcasonne) that would be a fun watch. I can advise on Vale of Eternity or Faraway.

[Ceaseless]

Yeah, I thought it was humorous to me to see someone say "You aren't good enough. We need someone who actually knows what they are doing." in the nicest way possible lol.

Hi, I'm glad you though found my comments nice, I wasn't trying to be rude. Since you said e-sport I assumed a higher level of gameplay than you meant and was expecting games higher on the strategy side.

A player that is good at strategy analysis for a game should be able to apply those principles themselves to improve to a measurable degree. I would want to watch this kind of content if it showed you or someone else getting better at a game over time. Showing replays from earlier in history with mistakes, followed by simple strategy lessons that get applied on a later game when they are a strong player. Alternatively you could show examples of beginner games with mistakes and compare to games with 2 experts playing to highlight the major differences.

I like the idea of a "Road to 300 Elo" series that follows a player's progression from beginner level 100-200 Elo up to 300+ Elo and shows examples of them applying the core strategies better and getting wins from it. If you were able to do this yourself for a few games (Harmonies, TTR, Carcasonne) that would be a fun watch. I can advise on Vale of Eternity or Faraway.

That's not the OP. If you think there's an alt that wouldn't be the account I'd suspect either.

[BananaHarambe]

oh no, OP never did respond, my bad. will edit. As an example, Ceaseless has the type of "good at games" profile suitable for competitive BGA game analysis I was thinking of.