Youtubers asking for donations

[Twirlywoos]

I have been a subscriber to someones channel for a couple of years who makes Battlefield videos, I knew this person through other forums before and even considered him a (virtual) mate. A few months ago he asked for donations so he could buy hardware (144hz monitors, input lag equipment to perform tests). I thought because I enjoyed his videos and these were necessary I would give a little contribution.

In his last video he asked for donations again so he could upgrade his 4 year old hardware. This is his system specs:

➜ CPU: core i7 3770k OC'ed to 4.6GHz
➜ CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15
➜ Mainboard: Asus Maximus V Formula
➜ RAM: 32GB (because of Video Editing and CAD)
➜ GPU: ZOTAC GTX 970 (always latest WHQL driver)
➜ Windows 10 Pro 64bit

I understand that donations are voluntary and it's your decision whether the cause is good and justified but to me there is nothing wrong with him using his current hardware to produce videos and asking for donations for this is taking the ****.

I questioned him on his video and was met with negative reactions from his minions. I've heard the expression "If you like my videos please like, favourite and subscribe." But never "If you like my videos please like, favourite, subscribe and donate."

Is this now the norm for content creators on Youtube to ask for money after they get partially successful? Am I being unreasonable as his hardware is really showing it's age with the content he creates? To me he just wants luxury items and I know people will say well if you enjoy his videos and want to make his task easier for him then donate.

I did question him directly and this was his reply.

interesting how you seem to know the challenges I face in the production of my videos due to my current hardware.
Guess you also work a lot with After Effects, 1080p60 material, color correction, 10+ video layer editing and capturing gameplay at 60FPS using dxtory as no other capture tool is able to provide proper video quality? And no, shadowplay does not provide good video quality because thats not what nvec is meant for.

3770 was good enough as long as YT was 30FPS - to work and produce everything in 60FPS is a whole new level where I have to wait for the CPU to finish processing a lot. And that is a problem considering the limited amount of time I have available to produce videos. Most of the time I have to stay up until 3AM just because of all the times I am waiting for the processing to finish, instead of being able to go to bed at 1AM.


So if you don't want to support me then this is okay! But don't tell me that that my hardware is not slowing me down and becoming a problem, as you have no clue what I do here.

Opinions?

 

[Twirlywoos]

It's not that he can't produce videos at 60 fps, he also wants to show how input lag is affected by frame rate, and how in the BF engine, server update rate now scales with frame rate. i.e. he want's to show why the 144Hz master race have an advantage in game.

That was for his previous donation request (next level latency tests) which he met and exceeded. From that he bought 2X144hz monitors and equipment to test input lag with controllers and mice.

This request is just so he can make encode videos faster by upgrading his hardware.

Next he will want for us to pay for Hypertronic broadband.

I do respect these EAUK members but asking people to pay for your hobby is going to far. Where do you draw the line? He isn't a Ronku stooge and I will give him that but if he wants to take things to the next level then maybe he should give up his day job. Anyway it's all voluntary but I won't give him a penny and I think there has been a bit of bad blood between him and I lately when I've criticized some of his videos for regurgitating what other youtubers say.

 

[Twirlywoos]

I think it's just natural progression for ALL content creators. You start of small, build your fan base and when you start getting enough subscribers power gets to your head and you start requesting money, approach sponsors as Youtube ad revenue is no longer enough. What you happily spent time doing before is now considered a means of income and entertainment for those subscribers you built and you can take advantage of that by asking for donations.

If he stays up until 3am then that's his lifestyle choice and following on from his last video - The one where he mentioned his Brother in Law died and said enjoy every minute of your life then he must enjoy staying up late rendering.

Whilst the reason for his latest donation is something I disagree with I think that it just becomes the norm for all content creators as a way getting something for free. It goes from being a personal hobby to something that is strictly business.

Anyway thanks for your opinions, gave me some food for thought and due to "tone" I got from his reply I've unsubscribed from him.

 

[Twirlywoos]

That sounds like a response to a troll post, so I would like to know exactly what it was the OP said to him in the first place.
We have only really seen 1 side of the conversation so far.

Find his latest video on youtube and read the conversation. I am not going to link it as I don't agree with "donations" for non essential/luxury hardware.