Something Wicked this Way Comes

Hey guys,
It's been a while since I posted on here, but I got big news I wanna share with everyone. So, to make a long story short, I plan on doing a massive overhaul to this site and the YouTube Channel very soon. So, what's going to be changing exactly?

Well, as far as the website goes, we're still in the early planning phases of the new site, and I don't want to ruin any of our new ideas, or promise anything that ends up being highly impractical later. But I will promise you that you can expect everything you have come to know and love from GamersCast. You will get all the same great content and more.

But after careful consideration, with this new change to the site, we have also decided to close our forums. Why? Well, we have come to the realization that the age of the forum and message board is starting to end, and more importantly than that. 95% of what is posted on there was produced by bots and is spam. We find the forums have become more a nuisance than a convenience. Maybe one day in the future, we may reopen them, but for now, we have found them to have become highly inappropriate for our site, in its current state.

The rest of the changes to new site will consist of new features, a more streamlined user interface, and an updated aesthetic.

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Now onto the YouTube Channel.

The GamersCast YouTube Channel is by far the most frequently updated section of the GamersCast Network, but since it began it's primary purpose has been constantly changing.

When it first began, the YouTube Channel was made for my own short film endeavors. It was later made into a hub for raw gameplay (all of which has since been removed and moved to a different area of YouTube). From there it expanded into the realm of video game reviews, to remixed 8-bit music tunes. After that, it was used to relive the past with short bits of gameplay over-layed with own commentary. And now, it's mainly being used for full game playthroughs.

So, what's the next step?

I thought a lot about the future of the YouTube channel. But I'd always draw a blank, until I started asking myself, "Why do people enjoy watching these videos?"
And more importantly "Why don't some people enjoy watching these videos?"

For now, I want to stick doing playthroughs as it is the most efficient way to get lots of quality content out, quickly. But why don't some people like watching playthroughs?

I have come up with a possible solution. They're time consuming. But at the same time, despite this once one typical YouTube watcher comes across a video with an intimidating timecode, they spend (or waste) even more time doing something else without realizing how much time they spent.

Lately, social interaction has become the latest fad of the internet, and that's where the majority of one's excess time is spent. So, what if a social media aspect could be added to game playthroughs, to make them more interesting to watch?

I don't want to spoil much more than that. But I will be making a full announcement soon on my YouTube Channel. And I can confirm that I plan to implement the changes to the YouTube Channel this Winter Break.

GamersCast's YouTube Channel