Ravenfreak

I have around 6 or 7 different subscriptions to streaming platforms but I'm also subscribed to other things like hosting and Retro Game Treasure. I think it sucks a lot of companies are going the subscription route for things like photo editing software like Adobe. I would rather pay a one time fee and be able to pay a renewal fee in a year to keep getting updates. Streaming services are different since they offer original shows on top of popular shows so in a way it's sort of worth it.

I must pay for the highest tier of Youtube Premium because I've never seen ads. I think it's lame that Youtube has been cracking down more on adblockers though, I mainly subscribed to Premium so I can listen to my music on my phone without having the app open but I know not everyone wants to pay for premium. I think this will give people more reasons to try and move to different platforms. Maybe people will start making more Peertube instances?

I believe you should pick a niche you're familiar with when you want to start creating content. Though this can be tough since for example gaming is the niche I'm the most familiar with so my channel is based around gaming, but I don't get too many views because the gaming market is a bit oversaturated. I will say that lower end phones do not have the best cameras, many people use lower end Androids so you're still better off getting a go pro depending on the content you're filming. You should also look into getting ring lights if you plan on live streaming. Always get a good mic too, look at reviews and pick the best one.

I think the Steam Deck is the best option to play indie titles on the go, since so many get released on Steam before they make it to consoles or even mobile. Also indie titles often get updated first on Steam, so that's another advantage of playing indie titles on a Steam Deck. I personally don't have one though, I have an Android phone and a Switch so those would be my preferred options lol.

I'm not really a fan of Kick, I view it as the Rumble of video streaming services. I don't think it could overtake Twitch fully and I think it will eventually shut down or at the very least just fade into obscurity where only a few thousand of people use it. Since Amazon owns Twitch and it's been around much longer, I just don't see any other platform dominating it.

You should look into creating a social media presence so you can promote your creations. It also helps to have your own website too, it looks more professional than just sticking to social media. You should also look into promoting your brand off the internet, look into ways to promote it offline such as making bumper stickers or looking into billboard advertisements.

Do you believe that one day Peertube can truly rival Youtube? I personally can't see it happening soon, which is a shame really. Youtube has really been going downhill more and more as the years go on ever since Google bought them. I think more and more people would benefit if they can install their own instance of Peertube and be in control of every aspect of their video audience. However since we live in a time where people tend to stick to what they know and don't really branch out, I don't think Peertube will be as popular as Youtube. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!

At first I read the topic and thought "Wait he's excited for slower software updates?!" but then I got to thinking that the weekly releases did push the company too much, it's great knowing that they care a lot about their product that they're showing "Hey look we're updating our software weekly!" but overall it's better to spread updates out. I wouldn't want the devs to get too burnt out, I know they work for a big company but it's great they'll start to focus on the bigger obstacles rather than releasing small updates here and there weekly.

I personally think the paid options are a bit too bloated. Not only that but you're right they do add up quickly and the cost of living is high. I think you can get away with using free alternatives more, maybe if I had to pay for one service it would possibly be Shutterstock for stock images. I know Adobe offers stock images if you subscribe to their service, but you'll have to pay for other tools that you might not really need.

I did this as well, Bluesky is much better because I don't have to deal with toxicity. Plus you can actually block accounts you don't want to see on your feed, which is something you can't do on Twitter. Lots of people jumped ship from Twitter after Elon Musk was hired by the United States Government too, that's when people really started moving over to Bluesky. I think we'll continue to see the downfall of Twitter as long as Elon owns it IMO.

I think if you use AI to make a few things for your videos, such as thumbnails and maybe a few clips it can be viewed as more helpful than harmful. Now if someone is using AI for the entire video, to me that looks lazy and I wouldn't be interested in watching a video that was strictly made with AI. I personally don't use AI for anything when it comes to my Youtube channel. That's just a matter of preference though, I know it would make a few things easier if I did use it but eh.

I haven't tried livestreaming on Twitch yet, but I have a feeling a good number of people who would be interested in what I do on Youtube might be on Twitch. My channel is mainly a gaming channel, I did livestream once on Youtube but I forgot to let people know I was going live so no one really watched. I wouldn't use Kick since I'm sure the same people who use Rumble uses that platform.

There's a few different gaming engines that game designers can choose from to make their own games. Unity and Unreal Engine are just two of the biggest gaming engines that have been around for decades. There's other ones such as GameMaker that make game development easier and more accessible to newbies. If you're a indie game developer which engine did you decide to go with? Perhaps you've written your tools from scratch in your programming language of choice? I'm curious to hear all about it!

I would definitely stick to using forums and Discord to reach my audience. I have a feeling most people will be flocking towards forums again and will stick to Discord as well since it's easy to access. I think a lot more self hosted websites would come back too and we could reach a new audience on other's websites like back in the day. I think people should prepare for if and when social media will crumble in on itself and disappear.

I've never actually tried to make money from social media before but I believe you're absolutely correct with Facebook being the number one platform to make money on! Pretty much every other platform is harder to earn money on, for example with Youtube you need to reach a certain amount of subscribers and views on your videos. I do have a few things I could sell on Marketplace, but honestly I've been trying my best to stay away from social media lately for my mental health.

I would tell my past self to have a set schedule. I still have issues with posting consistently on my Youtube channel, I feel if I could go back in time and tell myself to really focus on my Youtube channel my career path may be different than it is today. I also wish I jumped on different trends when they were more popular, I probably would have more subscribers now. Also I would tell my past self to save up for better equipment so I could make higher quality content.

If you currently own a blog do you prefer to type things up in a word processor before you post it to your website? Or do you prefer to write your drafts on your website and then whenever it's ready to be posted you post it immediately? I just typically save drafts on my blog and just edit and add things to each article before I post it. I've tried using a word processor in the past but the formatting was always off. Though it might be better to do both just incase your website glitches out and you lose your drafts.

On Windows I always use DaVinci Resolve for my video editing needs. Whenever I use Linux, I use Kdenlive. I know DaVinci Resolve works on Linux but last time I tried using it I felt that it was more of a pain to use. I couldn't move the window so it was fixed into place which was annoying. I'm not sure if they fixed this problem, but I'll just stick to using Kdenlive when using Linux. For sound recording I just use Window's built in software. :V I have audacity, I should probably start using that instead.

Do you currently use any decentralized web platforms? Anything that is part of the fediverse falls under this category, ActivityPub connects a bunch of websites together which makes it easier to locate platforms that aren't made by big corporations such as Meta social media platforms. I believe that the internet is in a state where soon the bigger names are going to eventually fail and many people are going to find alternatives. I highly recommend looking into integrating your projects to the Fediverse if you can. I'm hoping more forum software will go down this route eventually.

I always have music playing in the background whenever I'm working on any of my projects. I even do this when I'm at my 9-5 job too since it keeps me going. I also try to limit the amount of tabs I have opened in my browser as well when working on projects at home, this way I will have less distractions and won't be tempted to browse forums or reddit when I really need to get things done.

I would tell new indie developers to take your time and breathe. Deadlines can be stressful for new indie developers, which may cause them to rush things and end up releasing a broken game. Overworking your team will cause issues to arise, whether it's conflicts between team members or people getting burnt out. Also do your research when looking for a good publisher, I've heard of indie games being stuck in limbo because their publisher basically ghosted them.

I miss split screen multiplayer the most! I also wish there were more turn based RPGs coming out, thankfully there's still some big ones that have come out this year like Clair Obscur Expedition 33. Also easter eggs are cool, I always loved when games had those hidden. Not sure if that really counts as a game mechanic though. Also to make things more challenging, save points in modern games could really up the challenge! I remember playing Tomb Raider on my PS1 and having to use save crystals. It made the game more immersive IMO, because then you'd start playing a bit more cautiously so you wouldn't have to do a bunch of stuff again if you died.

I've only backed one video game on Kickstarter and it was a disaster. I know not every game ends up like the one I backed, but now I'm a bit weary of backing projects. Kickstarter is a good place for indie developers to get extra funds for their games, as long as that's what they plan on using the money for. I backed the game Mighty No. 9, which was made by Comcept and Keiji Inafune was part of the project. It was supposed to be the spiritual successor to Mega Man but the company ended up using too much money on concepts for an animated series which never seen the light of day and because of that the project kept getting pushed back and many people never got the versions of the game they backed the project for.

I've always tend to focus on a few platforms than try to branch out and use different ones. Not only would I need to take the time to get familiar to how other platforms are set up, I would also need to find the time to work on my projects while also promoting on many different platforms. Currently, I believe I've promoted my projects on around 4 or 5 active communities right now. I've used Facebook in the past too and Twitter, but didn't get too far with Facebook so I've sort of given up on that platform. I don't like Twitter anymore, so I wouldn't use it again like I did in the past to promote one of my websites.

You can also join places like Reddit to help spread the word about your game! Also be sure to join the support forums for whichever engine you're using for your game, that can help bring in more exposure to your game. Discord is another great place to promote your indie games on, there's plenty of servers out there.