Questions about Youtube

[FollowerOfMask]

I had a question regarding videos uploaded to Youtube: Can I upload a public video series to Youtube following a single character?

I did a brief search of the forums, as well as Youtube, for Arelith related videos. It seems like only one person has uploaded a public 'series' to Youtube that focuses on Arelith servers, and it's ~8 videos that are non-concurrent in the character's story.

A few questions about it here:
1. Is it allowed at all? I'd love to share the fun of playing a character as well as advertise the server.
2. If it is allowed, is there anything to purposefully cut from videos? This could be things like hidden IC only info, such as dig spots and hidden areas.
3. How could I get consent from players to include their characters in the videos? I wouldn't want to wantonly throw people into videos without them knowing. That's just poor form.
4. How would you all feel about this? Does the community even want the server to be publicized like this?

Would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this, even if they're "No! This breaks the Arelith!"

[The Rambling Midget]

1. It's not something that the staff can prevent, aside from banning players who put up objectionable videos, to prevent them from continuing to do so.

2/3/4. If you're going to do it, as many have before, it should be focused on your character and others that have consented prior, and shouldn't include anything that could potentially harm your fellow RPers. That includes IC info, as you said, as well as any elements of their own RP that they had intended to be shared privately. It's really down to personal judgement, but I would advise erring very heavily on the side of caution. The best ones I've seen focus on the individual experience and exploration of the environment.

[Gouge Away]

AFIAK it's considered really bad form to post videos or screenshots of anyone's RP without their permission. Even if it seems harmless to you, you don't know. Maybe if it's an IG public performance like a storyteller's night it's okay, but that's the exception.

I'd probably be pretty upset in most cases because if I'm RPing with a small group and saw it go up on Youtube I'd be like.. That wasn't for everyone in the world to see, and I'll probably be a bit embarrassed too if I wasn't top of my game. Or maybe I have some schtick I repeat with different characters and I don't want everyone realize I'm not as imaginative as I let on. There's a lot of reasons.

Showing someone's combat abilities is also something that could easily be exploited. I'd say just don't do it without asking.

[Hazard]

I'd be super uncomfortable with anyone posting screen shots or videos of RP sessions involving my characters without my permission, to sources outside this roleplaying community.

If a screenshot shows up in our screenshot section or someone is sharing it with friends that play here, that's a bit different. It's intimate. It's us. We're a community. Hopefully it's being done from a nice place and not maliciously.

Seeing something like that just up on Twitch, or Youtube or something feels totally different. I don't think it'd even make for good publicity or advertising, because the game is pretty old and clunky and the roleplaying is very much in our minds and not on the screens. Just watching a video of someone else roleplaying, I think, will always look very unflattering for the server and people involved. That's just my opinion.

[DM Rex]

We don't have an issue about sharing screenshots or content with youtube, twitch, or other platforms. Though we ask people to be courteous with what they display. The information should not be used for metagaming information purposes, so ensuring that you don't reveal things that you wouldn't want revealed.

What we do have an issue with concerning youtube, et all, is mocking other characters. Be it for their PVP, roleplay, or interactions. Through the use of sound effects, music, and additional added content of any type that further dramatizes whatever is being mocked. Such is not tolerated as it falls under our Be Nice Rule.

We honestly could use more of a public presence to draw in new players to our world. I'm a fan of it, and if there's a concern about whether the content is acceptable, we have had Irongron look things over in the past, the DM Team would also be willing and able to help there.

[The Rambling Midget]

So, chasing your local necromancer around with a stick, recording it, and then playing it back at double speed with Yaketty Sax in the background would probably be considered poor form.

Even if it's hilarious.

[Skibbles]

Personally I really don't like the idea someone can be recording my RP to a potential audience of thousands when on my side it was to a potential audience of three.

It feels deceptive in the same way that if I made a personal painting for a friend only to discover they gave it away.

I might also question whether their RP was actual RP or just whatever the player thought might entertain their viewers who in some percentage or another are not likely to be connected with the community. This is a deeper concern for me especially where platforms like twitch are involved.

That being said I think there could be room for videos that are cut and edited to highlight the scenic and immersive elements of EE and Arelith like panning shots of Minmir or being lost in the lower dark - anything without a chat log really.

[ReverentBlade]

I'm a "no thanks" on being broadcast.

[Drowboy]

I'm a "no thanks" on being broadcast.

[Skarain]

I think Youtube videos work in a "Trailer" like fashion, showcasing the awesomeness of RP. Much like the rotating advertisement of Arelith on the front page.

Or individual clips and then some bold text that explains what was happening, jumping from scene to scene.

That can be used to Promote the server.

However, I wouldn't record long pieces of footage, since RP isn't particularly fast-paced to begin with, and you sort-of need people consent to publish it if you are going to be nice about it.

[Kalopsia]

I'm a "no thanks" on being broadcast.

[The Kriv]

there are playthrough examples of Arelith already on YouTube. Unless there are some new Terms of Service agreement that the playerbase must aggree to by the act of logging into the server... technically, there is no expectation of privacy when you log in. EVERYTHING you do... even inside your locked quarter... should be expected to potentially be observed.

(think: playing in your front yard... anyone on the public street can legaly observe you, provided they are not inviolation of local loitering ordinace laws.)

We all know that at any time, in our own quarters, a tricky high-stealth rogue could be hiding in your drapes or that evil cleric of Mask is scrying you to learn your dark secrets!

...or a DM could be invisibly standing next to you, watching/listening to your RP without you ever being aware.

And as such, there is no expectation of privacy. And because there is no expectation of privacy, anyone is able to record and post to youtube whatever transpires in their computer screen.


That being said... the only folk who are going to sit through 10, 20, 30, or even 40+ minutes of screenrecoprdings of a text-based low-poly game that exists soley on the X-Z axis .... will be folk who are genuinely interested in this 18 year old game... so if you don't feel comfortable having your RP shown to the world.. take comfort that the views will be low because it is a niche audience of a niche game of a niche genre.


I say.. if someone wants to put some Arelith video's of game play up on the web? GO FOR IT! it's just more free publicity.

[Skibbles]

I don't agree with the kind of reasoning you're using here.

We don't *technically* agree to a private setting so therefore we should encourage the exact opposite?

There are a thousand ways to filter out the rogue spy, or the scrying wizard, and the DMs specifically moderate server rules and culture. Your examples are hardly the kind of concerns being thought of since all of it is handled either in the game, or by Irongron's administration, both of which are exclusively and implicitly a part of the Arelith culture and the role play experience.

If my neighbor filmed me mowing the lawn every weekend should I not be concerned and uncomfortable solely because it's totally legal and I signed the social contract at birth saying anything I do publicly is free game to the world?

I don't think so, and that's without even mentioning what might be going on when it comes to potentially monetizing other people's hobbies without their knowledge.

[Nobs]

Some times i do record and mostly its when i feel the need to document what went down in case of rule breaks.
And one time a DM even asked me for the vid as he was watching a rule break going on so he wanted the vid for evidence.

Send him the youtube link and never got a complaint about it being on youtube.


*Makes some more paparazzi picks*

[Gwenneth_Corvain]

(think: playing in your front yard... anyone on the public street can legaly observe you, provided they are not inviolation of local loitering ordinace laws.)

Funny you would use that analogy because it highlights very well the difference between "observing" and "recording" and how it is treated differently.

In many countries -watching- from the street what goes on in someone front yard is perfectly fine and will have no repercussions.
Recording and putting it online however, without consent and knowledge of the recorded parties will very quickly put you at odds with privacy laws. This is because there is a different -quality- in both actions and we can reasonably expect not to be secretly put on video while we pursue our private lives. We cannot reasonably expect not to be seen by our neighbors.

The Arelith playerbase in this example are our neighbors which we all agreed to interact with. Youtube is not part of that agreement.
There is some wriggleroom for the fact that we play "online" - but it comes down to respecting your fellow players. This is not a public platform with millions of potential viewers. And it is reasonable to go into playing a 20 yearold game with the expectation to not be exposed to such a plattform.

[Irongron]

Personally I have no issue whatsoever with this, so long as it is not being used to mock/belittle players, or to give away FOIG secrets.

We can face two pretty basic truths here; first is that this has been going on for years, and second - streaming is very much part of contemporary gaming, expecting Arelith to somehow be divorced from that is unrealistic, and unenforceable.

My advice to any player who finds themselves featured in a video where they would rather not be present is to reach out to the content creator, and ask, politely, if they can possibly be removed. Don't expect it to be acted upon, editing takes time, and almost all such videos have been made in good faith as an attempt to promote the server - we would be poorer without them.

[NauVaseline]

Personally I really don't like the idea someone can be recording my RP to a potential audience of thousands when on my side it was to a potential audience of three.

I will eat a stick of rubber if one of these streams somehow manages to breach four digits

[Hazard]

Personally I really don't like the idea someone can be recording my RP to a potential audience of thousands when on my side it was to a potential audience of three.

I will eat a stick of rubber if one of these streams somehow manages to breach four digits

Stream it.

[NauVaseline]

Stream it.

That'll hit 1k for sure

[Pincushion]

I've held the conspiracy theory for a number of years now that it's practically inevitable that a popular youtuber is going to cover NWN persistent worlds and perhaps Arelith in a video. I have my thoughts on who it might be. I hope that the Arelith team has procedures in place for the chance of several thousand people of differing intent and quality trying to join and flood the server all at once.

[FollowerOfMask]

I've held the conspiracy theory for a number of years now that it's practically inevitable that a popular youtuber is going to cover NWN persistent worlds and perhaps Arelith in a video. I have my thoughts on who it might be. I hope that the Arelith team has procedures in place for the chance of several thousand people of differing intent and quality trying to join and flood the server all at once.

For this reason alone, I would say streaming is in poor taste for the server.

Edited videos would be far easier to swing. Especially if it's a dungeon-delving moment, everyone in the party has been asked for consent, some even send messages saying 'Oh, that be nice rule? For your editing, I wave that right. Mock my character, it's part of the fun.'

The question now: Is voicing the character's chat bubbles considered a violation of the Be Nice rule? If someone just doesn't like how I made their character out to sound, in a video, is that my fault?

[Kuma]

I've held the conspiracy theory for a number of years now that it's practically inevitable that a popular youtuber is going to cover NWN persistent worlds and perhaps Arelith in a video. I have my thoughts on who it might be. I hope that the Arelith team has procedures in place for the chance of several thousand people of differing intent and quality trying to join and flood the server all at once.

hey hey people

[Liareth]

I've held the conspiracy theory for a number of years now that it's practically inevitable that a popular youtuber is going to cover NWN persistent worlds and perhaps Arelith in a video. I have my thoughts on who it might be. I hope that the Arelith team has procedures in place for the chance of several thousand people of differing intent and quality trying to join and flood the server all at once.

hey hey people

in before Vippin nudes kindly sponsored by the many members of the merchants' guild

[Drowble Oh Seven]

Why would you type those words, and make me imagine that? Why?

[TimeAdept]

I've held the conspiracy theory for a number of years now that it's practically inevitable that a popular youtuber is going to cover NWN persistent worlds and perhaps Arelith in a video. I have my thoughts on who it might be. I hope that the Arelith team has procedures in place for the chance of several thousand people of differing intent and quality trying to join and flood the server all at once.

hey hey people