Roosterteeth / Achievement Hunter / Let's Play / Funhaus / Inside Gaming - Do you ever wonder why we're still here? Dick pics and sellouts ahoy.

[Druveer]

You know, I’m glad I was just old enough to not grow up on/get involved with social media and have this whole “post intimate details of my life for millions of people to see” thing that seems so prevalent these days.

No fucking shit man, same.

I've thought before what a retard I was as a teenager, you know shit that happens and you look back on years later and you think, "Wow that was stupid what was wrong with me?" Social media wasn't the thing it is today when I was a teen, I'd have been fucked. Thinking of dumb shit I thought, or said or did as a teen getting spread on social media is embarrassing as fuck.

 

[Chilson]

As for Ray-Michael and Ray-rest of the AH crew, Ray was always portrayed as a homebody and almost agoraphobic who also didn't drink so he had no interest in bars like Geoff, Gavin, and Michael, so I wonder how much hanging out they did outside of the RT campus. Maybe the not talking outside of work was just not texting each other or not online gaming together during their off hours.

When he guest starred on the Internet box podcast he talked about never getting invited to anything, primarily because he didn't drink and often refused most invitations on those grounds.

However, he seemed genuinely annoyed (and a bit sad to be honest) because he would accept an invitation every once in a while and AH's main crew would just tell people at the company who wanted to invite Ray to various work and non-work related events not to bother because "he wouldn't come anyways".

Not to power level too hard, but I had similar experiences when I was younger and found it to be infuriating whenever I was told about this stuff after the fact. Even if I wouldn't have gone in the first place, I would have liked to have been given the option to choose in the first place. I think that's where Ray may have been coming from with his frustration during the podcast.

 

[Anchors-Away]

Yoggscast just partnered with RT and still seem to be doing alright despite losing some of their most popular members due to #MeToo a while back, they've just done a much better job at finding replacements, and with such a huge cast it's easy to rotate people in and out of collabs and make things feel at least somewhat fresh + dig deep into the nostalgia every year for their Jingle Jam where they get to play all the hits for charity.

Yogscast are very much in touch with the beat of Twitch, with most of the current partners they have hired being full time streamers. Whereas the original crew are from YouTube LP background. This in my mind, allows for an interesting dynamic to merge at a natural pace, since you have to be very reactive for either line of work. It also helps that the games that are in rotation for Yogs are often group focused, ensuring a whole host of combinations to happen.

As others had mentioned here, the hires RT have scream of corporate. Sure, they may have an impressive application that ticks boxes. But did anyone when doing the hiring actively watching or engage with what the person made?

 

[pephickshigh]

No fucking shit man, same.

I've thought before what a retard I was as a teenager, you know shit that happens and you look back on years later and you think, "Wow that was stupid what was wrong with me?" Social media wasn't the thing it is today when I was a teen, I'd have been fucked. Thinking of dumb shit I thought, or said or did as a teen getting spread on social media is embarrassing as fuck.

I feel like the original social media was your America Online profile and then a little later your AIM profile and away messages.

 

[Sharyn]

Yogscast have hired so many people that you'd barely even noticed that Sjin was fired, that Tom stopped playing TTT entirely and got replaced by Spiffing Brit, that Spiffing Brit also got bored and replaced by guys like Ravs and Pedguin, etc. They're doing due diligence in recruiting people that fit their culture, I've seen very little complaints about who they're putting into their videos. They found their niche in 15 minute TTT videos with a rotating cast with Simon, Ben, and Duncan usually being the constants. They all have great chemistry together, even when they bring in a brand new player

Ray was one of the best parts of core AH content, but I don't think he really fit in with everyone else. He abhors drinking and partying which is most of what RT did until they got bought out. When Jeremy came in he was filling the role of both Ray and Michael's old role of doing anything for content and did a good job at both imo. I think Matt and Larry were slept on for too long before they became full time members, Larry is a great host and Matt is a great punching bag that they could've played off earlier.

Like I've said, AH is either too quick or too slow on the trigger, they'd benefit with some younger talent doing their own thing but could still play off nostalgia doing Lads vs Gents stuff and literally re-doing some of their old stuff since they've got to basically erase Ryan for their catalog.

AH have lost the friends fucking around together dynamic, might as well play the hits.

 

[ToddleDoddle]

Yoggscast just partnered with RT and still seem to be doing alright despite losing some of their most popular members due to #MeToo a while back, they've just done a much better job at finding replacements, and with such a huge cast it's easy to rotate people in and out of collabs and make things feel at least somewhat fresh + dig deep into the nostalgia every year for their Jingle Jam where they get to play all the hits for charity.

Still sucks that Sjin is gone. I don't know exactly what he was accused of and if he deserved to be booted or not but him not being part of their content is a negative and he still hasn't resurfaced. On the other hand losing Turps was great because he annoyed the fuck out me. I never realized your point before but I can't really think of anyone new who has shown up in a TTT video that I felt like didn't belong.

Except of course when they had a crossover with RT and Fiona was in the video.

 

[Chilson]

Still sucks that Sjin is gone. I don't know exactly what he was accused of and if he deserved to be booted or not but him not being part of their content is a negative and he still hasn't resurfaced. On the other hand losing Turps was great because he annoyed the fuck out me. I never realized your point before but I can't really think of anyone new who has shown up in a TTT video that I felt like didn't belong.

Except of course when they had a crossover with RT and Fiona was in the video.

Sjin was allegedly sleeping with underage fans and soliciting for their nudes. The evidence is heavily biased (mostly from his ex-GF who was fired from Yogscast I believe), but enough unbiased people (his Twitch mods, other yog members, and other accusers) came forward to at least verify that he was soliciting underage fans for sex and their nudes. Considering that this was supposedly going on for three years, he probably pulled a Ryan and started banging them whenever he was at an event.

 

[batigol]

Still sucks that Sjin is gone. I don't know exactly what he was accused of and if he deserved to be booted or not but him not being part of their content is a negative and he still hasn't resurfaced. On the other hand losing Turps was great because he annoyed the fuck out me. I never realized your point before but I can't really think of anyone new who has shown up in a TTT video that I felt like didn't belong.

Nobody does except those directly involved. Other than a few rumours they kept that shit on lockdown, dealt with it professionally and moved on (I am sure that Yogscast + 4th Floor Creative having shared ownership helped here).

Looking from the outside you could be confused as to which was the company with a dozen employees and which was backed by a multi-national conglomerate.

 

[Sharyn]

One of my close friends was contacted by Sjin multiple times and he was asking for nudes/trying to meet up at Cons, but she didn't do either. I don't have the receipts because it's been several years, but she sent my SS's of him messaging her privately and saying dirty things like "you'd look better with it off" so I know first-hand he was at least contacting fans. She wasn't underage, but she has a baby face and looks like it

e: They did meet at cons, but not privately

 

[parapost]

At this point I'm wondering if RT will ever be back in the office in the same capacity they used to be. Either because of perpetual COVID fearmongering or because having everyone work from home most of the time cuts facilities costs (or both). They'll probably do basically what they're doing now, only meeting at Stage 5 sometimes for bigger shoots, but recording all of the day-to-day content from home. For example, the company is less obligated to buy food for employees (which they often did in the office). They don't pay the electrical costs of running everything, not to mention heating and cooling. Don't have to maintain as expensive of an internet plan, don't lose all content if the internet goes out in one place, less likely to have to pay for desks, chairs, accessories, etc. Most of the podcasts are probably cheaper and easier to produce, especially audio only. Seems like they are typically managed by 1-2 people now instead of a whole broadcast team.
They played Jeremy moving back to Boston as "not a big deal" and supposedly somehow unrelated to any goings on at RT/AH or in the world, but let's be real: assuming Jeremy plans to stay with AH long term, if they had any plans of going back to the office any time soon it would make no sense for him to move. Of course, there could be other factors we're not aware of, but still. On the surface, it seems to point towards this being the "new norm."

 

[Sharyn]

Sounds like paranoia to me. Jeremy already explained he went back home because he knew the pandemic wasn't going to be over anytime in the near future and wanted to be with his family if he was going to be spending months indoors. It's still going to be months yet, maybe even a full year before things are normal enough that people feel comfortable spending time in close proximity with other people and they can do most of their content from home already

They're owned by Warner now, cost shouldn't be a big deal unless they pull all funding from the company. If AH is cutting back it's for different reasons than the pandemic, it's just that the pandemic compounded them.

 

[parapost]

I feel like we're saying the same thing, honestly.

Jeremy already explained he went back home because he knew the pandemic wasn't going to be over anytime in the near future and wanted to be with his family if he was going to be spending months indoors. It's still going to be months yet, maybe even a full year before things are normal enough that people feel comfortable spending time in close proximity with other people and they can do most of their content from home already

Right, they're clearly not planning on going back any time soon. I'm not saying there's some conspiracy behind the Jeremy move, just that it's evidence that there's no plan to return in the near future, or perhaps indefinitely.

They're owned by Warner now, cost shouldn't be a big deal unless they pull all funding from the company. If AH is cutting back it's for different reasons than the pandemic, it's just that the pandemic compounded them.

People are constantly speculating that Warner is cutting funding (in some ways), and from a corporate standpoint it makes sense to be as low-cost as possible anyways. So I just went with that line of thinking. I agree though, I would not say that any single thing is the sole reason. This thread has more than adequately documented the decline in QoC as well as views, which insinuates a decline in profitability.

I'm just trying to say that I'm sure time in the office will scale back up, but, much like many other things, I don't know if it will ever go back to the way it was before. Perhaps I should sperg a little less and focus on being concise.

 

[Most Dumbest Bitch]

They're owned by Warner now, cost shouldn't be a big deal unless they pull all funding from the company.

People are constantly speculating that Warner is cutting funding (in some ways), and from a corporate standpoint it makes sense to be as low-cost as possible anyways.

RT has definitely taken a notable hit budget-wise, and that's definitely because they're in hot water with Warner as their profitability tanks (both from lost viewership and all these goddamn PR scandals). I think you're both right about the current style of their content being likely to persist for at least another 6 months, if not another full year, but I also think they'll try to get back in person as quickly as possible simply to get back that chemistry and energy they had before. It's hard to be fully locked into camera work like what they do when they're at home in their PJs instead of at work (in their PJs ). So I think there will be a push to go back to in-house filming once things are completely or almost completely cleared up.

The real question we should be asking is, if they DO make that push to go back to in-person work, will it be able to recover the dynamic that was lost in the year of not seeing each other?

 

[ChevroletBlackboard]

Warner's also bleeding money as part of AT&T's general money bleeding. Part of the entire reason they approved the Snyder Cut was to desperately hope Snyder fans buy HBO Max and stay as that service needs a huge shot in the arm.

RT likely wouldn't be too affected by a general AT&T loss (they'd get moved somewhere else or just go independant and try to survive until they get another buyer, which would likely result in downsizing depending on how long said acquisition takes) as they're too low on the totem pole to go after.

 

[Sharyn]

I don't know how their chemistry would change, but I know just because of the people involved there's going to be plenty of between-the-games type content coming out again and they've got literal years of stuff to open from their PO Box now. Kinda excited to see how the dynamic of Off Topic changes now too since Gavin, Jeremy, and Matt have been day-drinking pretty much all quarantine

As far as budgeting goes in RT, they're kinda bad at spending big money on projects imo. Shows like Day5 and Haunter got too costly to produce because their intentions were to sell it to a network and they just dropped the projects. Despite being owned by Warner/ATT they're still not willing to pick up the cost on pseudo TV shows it seems. But then they'll drop a bunch of money on Lazer Team 2, a movie I don't think many people were asking for.

I think their whole vision when getting bought out was having enough money to put into passion projects but it turns out nobody wanted to buy them and nobody wants to watch them so all they've ended up doing to themselves were stifling creative freedom from their other divisions in the process.

They're in this weird limbo of not professional enough to be cooperate, and too cooperate to be unprofessional. It's happened to Giant Bomb to an extent too, although they did get a huge boon temporarily when Dan joined because of how weird/obsessive/outgoing he was.

That's been the story of almost every internet media company that's been bought out, people leave because they're not given the freedom they used to enjoy when they were self-owned, and despite all this "money" in the company, it doesn't seem to be going to employees.

If you're looking for old-school type AH or Funhaus content OneyPlays fills that niche and really the only change they've made recently is censoring profanity on newer videos so they don't get demonetized. There's also Hololive/V-Tubers if you're into anime avatars and subtitles.

 

[Druveer]

Warner's also bleeding money as part of AT&T's general money bleeding. Part of the entire reason they approved the Snyder Cut was to desperately hope Snyder fans buy HBO Max and stay as that service needs a huge shot in the arm.

I would be really happy if the vast majority of all these shitty streaming services failed. Fuck the reason everyone liked streaming was you could watch all the content you wanted in one place...

 

[Sharyn]

Yeah these companies missed the reason why early Netflix was so popular. Content you wanted to see for like $8 a month. Now there's Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Disney, Amazon Prime etc and since every company pulled their content from Netflix every streaming service only has a small handful of movies/tv shows worth watching at any given time so you end up paying like $50 to get all the content you used to get from one of them 6 years ago.

Rooster Teeth was one of the last companies to really get on the YouTube train and after the third Adpocalypse they're trying to funnel people into their website that's been poorly optimized for the last decade while increasing costs and making less content people want to see than ever before. There's just no good way to sort/filter videos and it's impossible to find videos on their own website (I know Gavin's complained about the website for years and people always tell him to shut up about it)

All the stuff Rooster Teeth is doing poorly would be overlooked if they're still making great content but I was subbed to First, I dunno like 8 years? Maybe longer? After the 2019 price hike the only time I've come back is to watch Haunter for a month and I've not used the website since. There's just so much content out there that offering 10 more minutes of a podcast or a day early to their Minecraft LP's aren't worth whatever they're charging now and since they're cooperate owned I don't know that my support even goes "directly to the creators" anymore.

 

[Effluvium]

Screw Attack had other shows that weren't Death Battle though, that's just all they ended up keeping after the split.

There's other various members of the failed "Let's Play Family" like Cricken (Quit) James Buckley from The Inbetweeners (Was so quietly dropped he didn't even know he was fired) Sugar Pine 7 (Although technically still around, quit RT and stopped making their signature content because of burnout/intense schedules and pressure)

Kinda Funny is still around and probably always will be as long as Greg Miller doesn't retire

JTMusic just got absorbed into RT

I don't think the scope of the "Let's Play Family" was too big or grand, they just didn't handle it very well, and almost everyone that's left hasn't had anything bad to say about Geoff or their coworkers just that their contracts were awful and they were poorly managed by higher-ups.

The whole thing had a very supernova feel to it. They were hot, tried to expand too fast at once, then burnt out just as quickly. It's the same kinda thing that happens to a lot of tech companies or entertainment, you either move too fast or you take the buyout and either way it's rough to recover from that.

AH is suffering bad from the "We've gotta hit our metrics" type schedule. Some of the better stuff they've ever put out were just random one-offs, like when Geoff wanted to get an achievement in Fuel and it turned into a 2 hour descent into madness, or when Gavin and Geoff were nostalgic about playing Uno on the 360 and the Uno Movie was born. They don't seem to deviate a whole lot from their scheduled content anymore, I think they'd do pretty well if Matt/Michael played more Randomizers on the main channel (Instead of stream archives), they let Fiona play a game she's actually enthusiastic about with guests, more Git Good, and just let everyone play the games they want to for main AH content instead of it being isolated on their personal streams.

Since everyone's working from home they could really bring back things like Game Night (Play with members of AH on stream!) and even go back to their original content and put the new people through the ringer like their old Minecraft LP's built in Achievement Cove (Which they never really use), Minigolf LP's, even Go! would be fun if they put Matt, Jeremy, Fiona, and Alfredo through the original playlist and let them scramble to find games in their own house.

AH lost a LOT by not sharing an office anymore because some of their best performing content were them fucking with each other between games. While Funhaus was more "bits" and narrative gameplay, Yoggscast is a massive group of personalities and most of their stuff is completely self-contained, AH at it's core was about the chemistry in the office. Just a bunch of friends getting paid to fuck around.

e: I just want to bring up as a fun thought experiment that Ray & Gavin were involved with Rooster Teeth at the same age that Fiona is (Michael was a little older) but her role in AH is "Aw look at our little zoomer". If there were a few more people her age in AH that could feud against Gavin/Jack/Michael with Jack becoming the disgruntled father and Jeremy/Matt/Alfredo/Trevor playing the gap in between.

Michael & Gavin are in their 30's right now which during the early Minecraft days, they were making fun of Jack for being old at. I think Fiona has the potential to be in the Gavin position as the village idiot as long as she has two friends her age to play off instead of just being the baby of the group

Fiona isn't quick on her feet and she's pretty bad at the types of games AH plays, AH should go back to their community well and hire some younger fans that have much quicker wit so Fiona isn't on an island

Funny you mentioned Greg Miller.

 

[Druveer]

Yeah these companies missed the reason why early Netflix was so popular. Content you wanted to see for like $8 a month. Now there's Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Disney, Amazon Prime etc and since every company pulled their content from Netflix every streaming service only has a small handful of movies/tv shows worth watching at any given time so you end up paying like $50 to get all the content you used to get from one of them 6 years ago.

I went thru this not 30 minutes ago, decided I wanted to watch the movie "The Gentlemen", google to see where it's streaming, Hulu... cool.... I have a hulu sub. Log into Hulu, search for the movie and click on it, "IF YOU'D LIKE TO WATCH THIS MOVIE YOU NEED TO ADD SHOWTIME TO YOUR SUB" fuck that shit. Canceled Hulu (I'd actually forgotten I was still subbed) and pirated the fucking movie.

 

[Effluvium]

I went thru this not 30 minutes ago, decided I wanted to watch the movie "The Gentlemen", google to see where it's streaming, Hulu... cool.... I have a hulu sub. Log into Hulu, search for the movie and click on it, "IF YOU'D LIKE TO WATCH THIS MOVIE YOU NEED TO ADD SHOWTIME TO YOUR SUB" fuck that shit. Canceled Hulu (I'd actually forgotten I was still subbed) and pirated the fucking movie.

At least it wasn't any disclaimer disavowing the "harmful values" in the movie.