State of the Channel: April 2018

Fun fact: the last time I did one of these State of the Channel posts was March 2017. I guess I just didn't find it necessary in the last year to do more of them, but recent events have convinced me that its time I get off my ass and talk to you guys about what is going on with the channel presently and what is coming to you all in the future.

Where I have been the last month?

Some of you may have noticed that many of my videos have been late by days or even weeks. Those who follow me on Facebook or Twitter may also have noticed that I have skipped several days of social media posting. I like to apologize once again for this...but unfortunately more delays are likely in the near future.

I can't go into too many details, but at my day job my department got saddled with a massively important project that has sucked up any time I've had to do anything else. I've been skipping lunches, working late at home and even putting in hours during the weekend. Even when I do have free time I am usually exhausted and would rather spend time with my family.

Now if this channel was just a hobby like I have said many times in the past, that might be a legitimate excuse, but I don't think I can call this a "hobby" anymore. I have a lot more subscribers and Patreon supporters than I had a few months ago giving me a serious obligation to make the videos I promised to make. Thus I will do everything I can to meet those promises.

All I ask for is patience as I struggle to balance family, work and the channel. To be honest all of you have been super supportive and I couldn't be more grateful that you all still follow me, but I guess I have just been feeling guilty lately and wanted to apologize again and promise to do better going forward.

Speaking of the future...

Sliders Retrospective Incoming!

So I recently reached one of my Patreon goals to watch and review every episode of the alternate history series Sliders. I'm looking forward to this one because I never did finish watching the series when it was on the air. I remember watching the first season, but lost interest in the second season and only watched a few episodes here and there as the show went on.

General consensus among alternate historians appears to be that this show had a great premise, but poor decisions by the producers led to the quality of the show's writing to deteriorate as the seasons went by. It will be interesting to see if I agree with this consensus.

So when will you get to see the first episode? Well I need to finish my Warping History series first. For those who don't know this is a mini-series I am doing where I recount the history of the online alternate history community. You can watch my first episode here where I discuss GEnie, the early years of Uchronia, the 90s alternate history boom, the founding of the Sidewise Awards and more. My next episode (which should be my next video) will discuss the soc.history.what-if years up to the year 2000, so stay tuned for that.

Because Warping History was a Patreon goal as well I think its best I finish it first. I think I got 4 (maybe 5) episodes left so the Sliders retrospective should begin in late 2018. In the meantime, I'm looking for ideas about what to call the show. If you have any ideas, feel free to share it in the comments below.

New Patreon Goals?

While I am excited about the upcoming Sliders retrospective, I am honestly surprised I reached that goal so quickly. I guess I didn't have much confidence that anyone would spend money on me to make videos (growing up a loner on the heavy side doesn't do wonders for your self-esteem).

So I made some changes to my Patreon goals. My next goal is to post a review of an alternate history every day for one month has been changed from $100 to $200. This is because I honestly don't think I could handle such a project right now with my lack of free time and my outstanding Patreon requests (more on those later). Hopefully the new goal will get me some breathing room to take care of my current patrons.

More importantly, that is my last outstanding goal! I need some new ones to encourage future patrons. So my question to you is: what kind of goals would you like to see? Feel free to share them in the comments below.

Patreon Requests Backlog

So I'm super thankful about all of my current and new patrons. You guys rock! Also why are so many of you named Sean?

Anywho, there are a lot of videos I need to do and due to my current scheduling framework (where every other video is a map analysis) it means several requests won't be completed until months from now. I may need to stop doing so many map analysis videos, but I'm hesitant to do so because they are consistently my most popular videos on my channel. What do you guys think I should do? I would love to hear your suggestions.

Livestream Q&A?

So my next Q&A is scheduled for when I reach 20,000 subscribers and as I write this post I'm only a couple hundred subscribers from 16,000, so the Q&A is coming sooner rather than later. Would anyone be interested in doing a livestream Q&A? I've seen several other YouTubers do that and I'm curious about what you guys think of them. Do you want to do a livestream or do you prefer my current format? I've asked this question before and got only a tepid response so I dropped the idea, but now that there are more of you I've decided to revisit the idea once again.

Thanks again!

Well I think I've rambled long enough. Thanks again for sticking with me and here is to even more speculating for 2018!

State of the Channel: February 2017

I am a little late making my State of the Channel post, but here it is now. Enjoy.

February 2017 Schedule

Week of 2/5: The Bowling Green Massacre (That Never Happened)
Week of 2/12: Map? (or bye week)
Week of 2/19: Plausibility Review: The Domination by SM Stirling
Week of 2/26: Map?

So as you can probably tell from my upcoming video, current events are pushing me to change my schedule once again. To be honest I didn't think I would be covering a government official saying something stupid so soon after my video on San Escobar...but here we are.

After that I may either post a map analysis video or skip that week. That's because I may need more time to do justice for "Plausibility Review: The Domination by SM Stirling". This is one of most analyzed alternate histories ever created and I want to make sure I do it justice and I may need more time then I usually give myself.

As always, this schedule is subject to change.

A Comment on Banning

In these divisive times I am doing my best to not discourage people from being honest with me on social media or the comment section of my videos...but do you want to know a sure fire way to get yourself banned going forward? Saying something like: "You are bias! Either change or I am leaving."

That always reminds me of a kid who doesn't like how the game is being played and thus threatens to take his ball and go home if you don't start playing "right". In some of my videos I do try to be neutral and present different points of view, but there are times when that is not possible for me. Occasionally I will tell you what I think and you are more than willing to disagree with me. In fact I encourage it, but I will not change my views or hide it just to keep you as a viewer. That said I will always try to back my statements with facts, hence why I always cite my sources in the credits.

I'm thankful for everyone who has joined me on this journey from blogger to YouTuber and I hope I can continue to present you great videos about alternate history and related topics while I continue to learn more about making videos. I appreciate your input and if I ever offend you, I'm sorry. You have every right to stop subscribing to me, but for both our sakes, if you want to leave, then just leave. No need for an angry comment causing me to figure out how to block you from Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Most Viewed Video from January 2017

State of the Channel: January 2017

Happy new year everybody!

So 2016 is done and we have new year to fill ourselves with unimaginable dread and despair. I for one am trying to stay optimistic and will hopefully meet my scheduling goals. Speaking of that...

January 2017 Schedule

1/1: Trope Talk: Pin the Zion on the Map
1/8: Do Flat Earthers Think Pearl Harbor Was an Inside Job?
1/15: What If video
1/22: Map video
1/29: What If video

So you may have noticed that I didn't even get close to meeting my schedule for last month. Sorry guys, but with work, the holidays and some personal issues, I was left struggling to get even the couple videos I did get up published. Hopefully January will be better for me.

This week I should be finally posting "Trope Talk: Pin the Zion on the Map" (title card pending) and then next week I will post a map video which I am calling: "Do Flat Earthers Think Pearl Harbor Was An Inside Job?" Trust me, once you see the map we are focusing on that title will start making a lot more sense. After those videos I have a couple more untitled What If videos coming up and another map analysis video...so stay tuned.

Book Reviews

Do you guys want to see more book reviews? I've been thinking that a way to make my one video a week goal easier would be to throw in a few short, audio-only book reviews. That said, my book based videos have always been rather "meh" when it comes to views, so please let me know if this is something you want to see more of.

Amazing Stories

As some of you may know, I am a weekly contributor to Amazing Stories...and I have missed a couple of weeks. I hope to turn things around on that front soon, so my apologies for those who have missed my posts.

Most Viewed Video from December 2016

State of the Channel: December 2016

For those who care, these State of the Channel posts will be a monthly update on what is happening with the channel. I'll post tentative schedules and news that might not make it into the video proper. I think it will be a great way to keep you guys updated on what is going on with me and hear some feedback from yourself as well.

So without further ado...

December 2016 Schedule

Week of 12/4: Trope Talk: Pin the Zion on the Map

Week of 12/11: Plausibility Review: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

Week of 12/18: Map? OR Thoughts on?

Week of 12/25: Thoughts on Its A Wonderful Life

I want to stress again that this is a tentative schedule and is subject to change at a moments notice. As many of you know, making videos is not my day job. Thus if I can't find the time to make any of the videos above I will either do something else or skip a week entirely.

That said, I am looking forward to this month. Trope Talk will return, The Man in the High Castle season 2 on Amazon premiers and I'm going to review one of the most famous Christmas movies of all time. Still not sure what I am doing the week of 12/18, but I'm sure I'll figure something out.

No More Link Sharing on AlternateHistory.com

For any of you who also looking for updates on the channel by following our official thread on AlternateHistory.com...you can't anymore. Its been shut down by the mods. I'm not angry, I figured it would happen sooner or later. In fact I'm surprised it took this long since if you count the thread created for my old blog I've been promoting my writing and videos like this for FIVE years and only now has anyone taken issue with it.

Again I'm not angry. I understand how difficult it can be for Ian and the other mods to moderate a forum, having done something similar myself on a number of occasions. That said, it does mean that I won't be able to promote the channel on that forum anymore so please keep that in mind.

Most Viewed Video from November 2016