A long requested update. A huge thank you to each and every one of you who's on this journey with us it means so much to me and my family. If you want to help keep Zorpazorp going, it would mean the world if you'd join the patreon family, or pick up a Displate. Or if that's not in the budget, the old like, subscribe and a comment is genuinely super meaningful. Maybe let me know what's your favourite video or board I've ever made? Patreon: patreon.com/Zorpazorp Grab your Displates here: here: displate.com/zorpazorp or use code: ZORPAZORP If you want to see some crazy battle reports on all these boards we're making checkout the Zorpazorp Battle Reports Channels: @ZorpHammer : www.youtube.com/@ZorpHammer @zorpoftherings : www.youtube.com/@zorpoftherings Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts, and here's to a stupidly massive finish to 2024. Lachie and the family.
Out of curiosity why not do a 15 minute weekly raw footage of your thoughts and what you're working through and plans, so you don't have to edit one of your videos and test that out. Might help keep engagement. I try to watch everything you do, sometimes time is a huge factor for videos for me.
Maybe throw a decision of the build in there done through comments that you announce at the beginning of the next quick update, and keep the cycle going.
Don't focus on audience fragmentation. Shorten your production schedule with focused videos. Look at eonsofbattle (yes, I know it's mostly minis). He puts out 13 videos/month while you do 2 videos/month. You both get similar views per video.
The one feedback i have to say is FINISH something. Like you mentioned even if its only a section of a total board. While your core is super boards, not everyone can afford that or have the time to dedicate. Build a functional battle ground section that then also slots into the mega board. move away from the "OMG Im so overwhelmed". Maybe some people connect to the humility but for me it comes across as a victim of choices. Ive thought maybe bringing in some interns to help you out so you arent working 80 hours yourself. while inflating costs the finished product is where the content comes in. plus your wife gets to see you.. plus adding 2 people would increase the productivity. Maybe then allowing more vids, more views in total, meaning more revenue. which then slots more into my first point of finished product. you seem like a good person, and I want you to succeed without suffering like you are now. im sure youve considered the things ive mentioned. but sometimes people get caught behind a train of thought and cant see the side steps
Agree, respectfully. I like his content but a youtuber is basically a story-teller. He's telling us a story, but it's like the GoT's books, these 'stories' feel like they have no end. I think brainstorming how to start, progress, and then finish a project within 1-to-3 modest length videos would do his channel wonders. As you suggest maybe leaning into more less ambitious terrain projects wouldn't go amiss. He seems like a really cool guy so I'm hoping for his success.
I very much get tired of the "woe is me, TH-cam's algorithm is against me all the time" story. Zorp seems to know how the algorithm works, so by continuing to do exactly what he's doing, he's just perpetuating his issues.
This is what gets me I like the videos but it really is getting kind of annoying that it feels like nothing is actually finished. idk if he has ADHD or what but it just feels like its all over the place and stuff doesn't end. Do a bunch of smaller ones (how to make textured buildings) or something and then every month do an update on the big one.
I have to say I am quite the same: never finishing something. But, as far as I'm not right in my shoes to say that, I'd like to see something finished. With the size of your projects it's not possibly achievable in 1 shot but if you try to segmentize the project, like just the foam work but on the full size board, then the detailing on all the side sheet... each time one step is finished. An other way might be to go just by small area, like a quarter, of the full board but from start to finish. With this ways, or others, the feeling of accomplishment might be solved. Anyway, I'm not the best follower, but I deeply like your craft job, game job and video maker's work. I hope you'll keep going.
I think the best solution is to scale down the 40k build and complete it, then permanently move on to another project. The videos get fatiguing when there's no ending in sight, and when an audience has closure on a project they'll likely be more open to investigating another project.
Exactly my thoughts! Set out a plan, spend 3-6 structured episodes building it (e.g. Palace on Terra, Part 2/6 or Grey Havens 2/3), then move on to the next project. I love the videos, but there is too much Terra and no clear end goal. In your last goodbye video you said that you wanted to cross off several big projects this year and we haven't really seen that happen 🫤
I agree. As much as I love the passion, the projects never seem to end and as a viewer it’s hard to follow. Today’s society we want to see the idea, the process, and then final result in a video. There can be mini series once in a while but having to wait for long periods of time to see a project to end loses viewer attention because it’s hard to keep track while there are other content creators pitching in videos in a more frequent level; and we know how the TH-cam algorithm is not friendly to people not uploading frequently. I really want to see this channel’s success. There just needs to be some changes in how to deliver the content in a shorter period of time.
Alternatively, make the palace updates less frequent and deliver smaller projects as normal content. You know, then we get a quarterly Palace of terra update. This labour of love clearly isn't conducive to a profitable channel, if you want both, you will have to deal with the realities of YT.
Maybe you could start doing smaller scale terrain tutorials / videos that could tie in to the relevant mega board, between big mega board vids, that way you have a steady stream of easier and cheaper to produce videos that aren’t all or nothing, while also allowing the mega board videos to be really substantial. It would also have the added benefit of bringing in more “standard” terrain builders as viewers and introducing them to the core mega build videos. An example layout could be: Week 1: how to build a fortified imperial structure Week 2: how to make destroyed vehicles Week 3: how to create an imperial guard ammo depot Week 4: Imperial Palace update video (including all previous creations that month and some new stuff that is suitably mega) That should make Zorpazorp cheaper to run, less reliant on every video being a hit, brings in an even bigger audience, and still keeps the core of zorpazorp of megaboards
Yea I think most people would be fascinated by just how a single small section of one of the big boards gets done, its all most people would have time to imitate anyway. COuld then slowly build towards the larger one, constantly teasing its coming then do a big video on the final product.
This is what I liked when I started watching Zorp. A mixture of small scale terrain tutorials (how to do stone texture and so on) and amazing terrain megaboards.
Yeah, that's a very good idea. I know there's lots of people doing, let's say tight focus pieces, but one of the first things I really loved from this channel was the lockdown Minas Tirrith vids, which felt a lot more like this pattern.
Honestly i think the giant stuff is cool but i also believe that it's out of reach for most hobbyists. I always love watching smaller builds that are fully completed and can be replicated at home.
That's interesting, but the opposite of what I want. I watch zorp or Eric's hobby workshop for the absolutely massive projects they do, and I live vicariously through them. It's what makes their work special.
Its like when painting channels paint a warlord titan, it's cool I guess, but I watch painting videos to inspire me to paint my models. I'd click so fast on a video on how to build a rohan house, or 40k factory, or dwarf ruins, but I'm not going to build an imperial Palace. The content is cool, but it's not going to get multiple rewatches from people replicating it at home
@@devononair Eric does a much better job of chunking out those massive projects into individual videos. Like his trenchline board each video felt like a full and complete project, and the Titan has a clear focus with each episode.
As many others have stated, i think the biggest killer is that nothing ever gets finished. It always reaches an 80%-90% state and then you move onto building another section. Me personally i think the imperial palace build should have been what it was after the first few videos before you started extending it and pulling out more tables. Just build the board, stick some terrain and greeblies on it and paint it up. Audiences want the satisfaction and dopamine spike of seeing a completed project as opposed to tuning in to a seemingly unending build that even you yourself have stressed while fun, is stressful as well. I would also say that a lot of us would love smaller diorama style projects that A. Can be brimming with narrative elements and tiny details as well as B. Being (somewhat) easily replicated by your audience. Maybe an armies on parade-esque tutorial series since that seems to be getting more popular each year (in terms of in store attendance). All the best mate.
I had written you more than a year ago that you start to many projects and do not finish the ones you started. I still stand by this statement. Less projects, but done till the end!
Gotta number your videos (Pt1, Pt2, or better yet Part 2/6, Part 3/5 etc). People coming in have no idea where the build begins without any expectation of when it ends (including me that has been around for a while). I definitely think explaining how things are done tutorial style as you go through the build is very helpful regardless of the scale so please continue to share your knowledge. Your efforts and craftmanship are without equal!
Thanks for the update Lachie! Interesting insights about the algorithm and was happy to see the patreon wall coming together, looks awesome! I think pivoting between blocks of builds using "bridging" content is a great idea, and might even be an opportunity to make easier videos that contribute to a larger build! An example sequence might be something like: Imperial Palace 1: bridges Imperial Palace 2: electric boogaloo Imperial Palace 3: real light up street lamps Bridging video: Zorp builds thatch roofs Middle Earth 1: Recreating Edoras Middle Earth 2: etc etc And you use the thatch roofs or what have you in your middle Earth build, or maybe that build technique (cloth roofs for Haradrim markets or Necromunda shantytowns) fits in both settings. Hope this helps mate, and here's to the next 6 months of success! 🎉
Your channel is a very large part of what I enjoy about the hobby. Sure, I may play a different game (Warcry), but the lessons you give are all the same; you're the reason I got into making my own terrain. Why I'm working on a modular board. You're a pillar of not just the LotR-SBG community Zorp, you're a pillar of the Miniature Wargaming Hobby as a whole.
I would do unspeakable things to see progress on the Dol Guldur board. I was there. I was there 3,000 years ago. I was there when the first Dol Guldur board video was posted.
Real talk I really do hope you make it. I love your videos and by far my favorite was your massive Pelennor Fields battle report. That was insanely cool to see. I see some of the comments mention moving to smaller projects with immediate conclusions to keep folks rolling in and seeing a full build from start to finish. I agree with that idea and I think it would be really cool to see a video series where you provide the creative process that you work through, the prep for that build (whatever it may be), and then a timelapse of you completing the project. Then folks can see every stage you do to create the absolutely wonderful work you are doing. After all that you can provide a monthly update on your huge projects to break up the pace. You can keep your channel fresh for new viewers and keep old viewers happy when they see that your big stuff is still being worked on. Granted I dont know much about YT or editing a video, so you would know if that is even possible considering your workload. Good luck man, you absolutely deserve to keep this thing going.
I play neither 40k or lotr . As a grandfather i watch your videos and build things for my grandchildren to play with their action figures on. They love it. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome talent with the rest of the world.
I don't think it matters whether you're a 40k fan, LotR fan, or a fan of both, the content here is still S-Tier. We're all crafting fans at the end of the day. The major issue I find is that due to the grand scale of your projects, there never seems to be a pay-off in sight. Personally, I love all of the projects I've seen, but how many videos is it before I begin to skip ahead, only to be frustrated at the sheer length of 40+min videos for one build? 3-4 maybe? Perhaps focusing on some lesser builds you know you can get done within a shorter time, and blasting out a few of these may see a rise in viewership where this ebb currently fills?
why ask people for feedback if you are just going to ignore it? i see many issues but when bother telling you? any how, good luck, you certainly need it.
Personally I think your videos have grown exhausting to watch in their ever growing scale. Have you fully finished any of your projects before moving on to the next thing?
Respectfully, I'd like to see you finish projects. I understand that resources of all sorts can be limited and you need to shift focus at times. That's a very real issue to work around when making content like this, but every time the scope changes, it's hard to get reinvested in the new vision. Being excited about a project and seeing it completed is a very different thing than wondering how the scope will creep and dreading it'll never get finished. Shock and awe on massive projects is great, but it wears off over time and not finishing projects can overstay it's welcome. You're talented, fun to watch and you have a core set of fans that support what you do. You got this Zorpazorp, just pinch off a project so existing viewers can get excited about the next one while having that sense of completion.
maybe you could do a series on terrain that can be used for both systems. It would probably be quite generic, but potentially a way to please both audiences?
I try to help when I can dude, I don't really want to have a TH-cam without you, so I really hope it can be sorted and you'll be here for a long time yet!
Those mountains in the background are absolutely stunning. Also I'm hardly ever recommended your videos for some reason, I have to actively look for your videos. I love all of your videos building set pieces/game boards for Warhammer and middle earth. Would love to see the sets finished and painted
I personally think you and the channel feel a bit like “butter spread over too much bread” You’ve literally moved to middle-earth (New Zealand) so I think just stick to LOTR themed builds and videos 😅
I would've said that rather a ZorpoftheRings and Zorphammer, just have had Zorphammer and Zorpazorp as the MESBG channel. And I agree with the spraed over too much toast - I feel like I keep catching odd videos that are parts of a project. Often not seeing a previous video, or the following video. So end up just not watching. Smaller projects would be what I'd recommend, with the ocassional larger project. More smaller painting projects too. He's a good baser and painter. Why not some basing tutorials for miniatures etc.
@@Patrick-y4d1zI miss his LOTR painting tutorials from 2019, it was the reason why I came back to the hobby and started my factions of middle earth page! Really miss all the middle earth stuff and I feel like that’s why most of us are here! Personally don’t enjoy any of the 40k or 30k stuff!
@@star_wars_miniatures I enjoy 40K so I'm one of the rare few. But it's not why I'm here. I already have so much exposure to 40K elsewhere that his videos don't really grab me. Whereas MESBG is definitely more niche, and as a result his content is better to watch than most. I do think he needs to do a lot more content of a smaller scale to try and scale.
As a lotr creator, you were pretty unique. But within the 40k universe, your videos will have to compete with extremely skilled creators. A lot of serious competition and the size of a diorama might not be enough. While I get your desire to cover both topics, you already pointed out yourself why this will probably not work. Wish you all the best Zorps ❤
Great channel. Hoping to its success as always. Some feedback as a viewer. I'm a bit over the imperial palace tbh, its probably good for maby 3-4 months, then im keen for the next thing. It also seems a little less detailed than the Lord of the Rings boards. I really enjoyed osgiliath, and the detail is crazy. The imperial palace is just a concrete fort, really, There's not much flavour to it, whereas osgiliath and the pelenor fields has grass, rocks, water, city, and small scene stories everywhere. It is a great environment to see all this new stuff and different techniques for terrain making, wheras the palace, I can only watch so much foil on foam rolling. I haven't actually watched maby the last 3 imperial palace videos. The algorithm does kill me, too. im surprised this video popped up tbh. Maby, a reminder and a blurb about what other videos you have posted are, I only really go to the other channels with im reminded something good is there. As for the game space i used some carpet tiles from bunnings to make the floor area in my garage a bit nicer to look at and walk on. They also do rolls of rubber, which is good to.
Hard to pick a favorite video, but always here to learn new ways to make great set pieces. Been catching up on my own pile of shame, but once I get some space to store a couple boards I'd be chomping at the bit to make something like these. As a lot of people have said finishing either a portion of the board in its entirety before moving on may help. Having definitive conclusions to the stages in the project helps bring a sense of closure to the viewer and help with transitioning between the Minas Tirith and Imperial Palace boards if we know one has hit a nice "stopping point". Something that could also help are little one-off videos on tools, techniques, standalone small projects, etc. thrown into the mix every now and then. That way the audience doesn't get too worn out on the same one or two massive projects with the feeling of no end in sight.
It's one thing to have a broad premise for the first episode of a block, but the final episode of a block needs to try and make sure those viewers know when to come back for "their" next block, at least an eta, or just some extra pushing to subscribe and click the bell.
I'm sorry to hear about the channel situation, I always check out all the videos you drop! I also have an idea for a diorama on a shelf! I was thinking maybe a Jungle/forest cliffside for the Blood Ravens so they can be positioned to be standing at the edge looking out over a valley perhaps on the hunt for some Orks or Eldar! Or maybe it could be the Blood Ravens doing a last stand on a pile of rubble against an oncoming horde of Orks like the Crimson Fists art or that one scene from Space Marine II?
Love your stuff. I have been watching the Imperial Palace stuff even though I don't play 40k because I am loving the ludicrously large scale/size of it. My favourite video that you have put out was the first video I watch, the Battle of Pelennor Fields with Jacques, Ryan, Dan, & Orry. I remember their names because I've watched it countless times while painting. I hope things look up soon!
Keep your chin up. Dont let the algorithm win. As others have suggested i would recommend breaking down the builds into blocks with a clear Start, middle and End. Smaller scale with alot more detail that can be replicated at home will also help with supply cost saving. Planning a build with a completion time of 3 months will allow for 2 videos per month totalling 6 videos per build. Labelling the videos "Part 1 of 6" will build anticipation about what is to come. Bigger isnt always better. Osgilliath remains my favourite build because you built it in sections with each section being completed before the next and it all came together with the massive resin pour. At the moment the Imperial palace still doesnt look near to completion.
Mate, Love the work and this video, I think the biggest thing that will keep people invested will be smaller, self contained videos doing dioramas/display boards that you start and complete in an episode à la "boilei hobby time" That way even if your audience isn't invested in either lotr or 40k they get the completionist dopamine from the video and they know the next EP is going to be something different and not 8 weeks of the same stuff that they're not interested in. I'd say something down as small as a 4'*4' fall of boromir with 2-3 minis up to display boards, but overall you can't keep doing everything at the same scale as you have been, keep them going in the background, but scale back.
In your corner Lachy, you can do it! How would Mrs Zorpazorp feel about hosting annual games retreats where players of each universe can play a 3 day narrative campaign on your incredible tables... or similar side ventures?
Thank you so much mate!!! That is one day the dream!! Just need to get my boards over to NZ and I can host some events again :) :) Thank you for the super mate, really helps
ok i'm going to be honest with you mate. the market is just not there. i even ran the seo on this and the market for lotr is poor at best. your success was built on the pandemic and you have struggled along ever since. not all hobbies can be businesses - by all means prove me wrong but so far it sounds like i'm right, sadly. no offence but you've become too much of a self endorsed celeb and i think you need to re-engage with the people again. i see countless issues with your youtube channel and where is your marketing? i would think of your family, do this on the side and go work a job, full or part time. lot of nice comments, clever quotations, but ultimately you need to be sat down and told the brutal truth whether you like it or not.
As much as I love seeing the super big, super long projects, I do have to agree with the overall sentiment that sometimes it just feels like there is never an end in sight, and that does makes people tire of something faster. I'm not much of a Warhammer fan but the builds are awesome enough that I still enjoy watching them even if I don't get the same enjoyment. I have been feeling more optimistic now that you've been saying theres a lot of Middle Earth coming in a month or two so I know that the stuff is coming and there is an 'end' in sight.
Dude I came to your channel because I saw a short about one of your middle earth board. i was hoping to see a video showing off the whole finished project in detail. Even better I was hoping to see either a mega game on the whole thing or ondividual vids of games on the different boards. I would love to see something like that, but the impression I get looking at your channel is lots of videos showing builds happening, but not a lot of finished products or gameplay. You do you, just sharing what I cane here for just in case. Will check out one of those other channels you mentioned to see if that had this kind of thing!
I love ya Zorp . I've loved most every video of yours, too many to pick a true favourite. Today I'll say... The Vostroyan painting and collecting stuff. Unfortunately it's a tough month for me to justify more displates so I hope the engagement is enough to tide you over.
Favourite video ever: Amon Hen battle report (wicked!!). Favourite build: Minas Tirith “Tuber Town”, it inspired me to build my own 4x4 Minas Tirith terrain board. No matter what happens to the channel I’ll always go back and watch the old vids. Thanks for being the most inspiring member of the community Zorp
I think what really worked well with the middle earth mega board was that you built a section of a rammas echor from plaster casted bricks and finished it and it looked great. Then you finished an ambitious pellenor board with fire and smoke effects which also looked great. Then there was the osgiliath build which was all about working with the plastic kits and the big resin pour. They were all stand alone projects with new techniques, taken through to a satisfying conclusion. And they were all visually distinct. It's really cool that they all join together to make a cohesive mega board, but that's not the main draw. My favourite projects are probably edoras and dol goldur which aren't even part of the mega board haha. I've been enjoying the imperial palace, but it's a whole lot of grey. It would be cool to see a small section taken all the way to completion (including adding some colour!). Really looking forward to getting onto some rohan stuff because I assume we'll be getting some green! 😂
Hey man, I just wanted to let you know I love your passion for the hobby! You have reignited my MESBG hobby that lay dormant for many years and I really enjoyed your MESBG stuff. Besides that I also enjoyed the occasional SW legion and 40K but as others have commented as well there are only so many video's on 40k I will watch if the project appears endless. All the best!
Hey Zorp! The first video of yours I saw was the Rivendell set up in your house iirc - my boyfriend was so keen to show me. I did wonder if you lived with people and how they'd get around it lol We've been watching all of your videos since you posted part 1 of the end (?) - here are some quick thoughts. 1. Separating your channel content into LOTR, Warhammer, tutorial stuff channels etc. Right now it seems like these are separate audiences and hammering your reach. 2. Finish stuff. It's satisfying to watch as a viewer. (Maybe smaller items for shorts, and a particular piece from a bigger project for longer content). We want a before and after. 3. Get a manager or someone to help work out a realistic timeline for making and posting the epic projects so you can finish stuff. And also have a life! 4. I think your battle report channel should be called ZorpReports lol That's all I can think of - I know lots of suggestions are in the thread already. Take care of yourself, Lachie! We're rooting for you 🎉
I'm sure many people have weighed in on how best to continue moving forward. I think you do a great job of the builds you do; the way you film them, and your own charm is captivating enough to get me to stop painting for a moment and just watch. I would just like to say that I agree with some of the feedback, in that often times, it feels like youve made a ton of effort to progress on a very small aspect of your current builds. Overall, the % of completion goes up by a lot, but as a viewer, we don't get to see a significant change on the project. When I think back to your earlier builds, the modular structure of your projects made for very satisfying videos and although not as epic in scale, is still good fun to watch. I don't believe that youve jumped the shark; the scale of the builds is definitely interesting and unique, but you can still make very watchable videos in smaller scale.
I'm not sure you will ever read this, but at least this comment will help the channel exposure if nothing else. If I can give you one piece of feedback, the "one thing" that makes me sometimes avoid some of your videos are the actual videos names. It might seems strange and it might not be a problem for many, but when I get multiple videos with the almost exact same name ("Games Workshop WHAT HAVE YOU DONE", "The BIGGEST wargaming board in TH-cam History") I tend to not click on it at all. The thumbnails sometimes have a little number on the corner, sometimes they don't, but I find it not quite enough to differentiate one video from the others and quickly know if I watched it already or not for I am not always logged to the same account or logged at all. And like others mentioned, I would really like to watch a finished project too, or at least a completely finished section with long and beautiful revealing sequences. Good luck with the channel, I wish you all the best.
Please just never quit, your content is amazing. I'm a huge lotr fan and actually dont know a lot about warhammer and it's lore but even so i still love to watch your warhammer video's. For me it's the crafting, the creation of something beautifull out of thin air that is the art of wonders.
A bit of a heart to heart Lachie! I still watch most of your content as I have been doing for the past years. I havent been commenting as much because I really feel like you have moved passed lord of the rings and the more approachable content to a more influencer style content focused on views. I watch zorpazorp for the sw legion content and of course for MESBG. The long hiatus of content has made me and what I gather from our Portuguese community move on to watch other channels. Bat reps of Mesbg were reuploads and I feel like you lost a bit of your passion for it (TH-cam). I still enjoy your content and will probably check the builds of middle earth. But I fell like the campaign of middle earth will never come, helm's deep, finishing the scenarios of Gondor at war/war in Rohan etc will probably never come. But who knows, I am not in a financial situation to help on patreon and I hope this channel survives since it has always expanded the boundaries of wargaming terrain! Hope this new strategy works out!! From a loyal viewer, Miguel
I absolutely love your channel and the content you put out. But today you've gone above and beyond; carving wall decor on foam sheets. Brilliant!!! I dare say you may have changed many mancaves forever! Oh, and building little dioramas on shelves to store/display your minis? Love the idea, and I can never unsee it now. Seriously, there are two TH-cam channels that I follow religiously, and yours is one. Thank you for all your effort.
Have you seen how Squidmar tackled their massive diorama projects? Each video focusing on finishing a specific part/adding a cool detail, with other videos interspersed between. Seems to work quite well for them
Hey man you have my full support, i'v known and loved your channel since i was a kid with your first osgiliath board and it never stoped beeing my favourite chanel since ( you practically tought me english too😭). I hope u will get out of this mess soon! And bring us whatever board you want, eventually creativity always win! Cheers mate!
Zorpazorp I love your content and you will be happy to know I am a LOTR and Warhammer fan so enjoy everything you do!! LOTR brought me to the channel and love the scenery you build for the Middle earth strategy battle game. Thank you for everything you do, I will continue to watch your channel and support you as best I can 👍✌️
I watch your videos twice, once on my personal account and second on my work account. I am rewatching your Star Wars Legion videos for painting guides. I am about to paint my Saber Tank.
Hey Zorp, Thanks for keeping is in the know. I honestly think you finishing things, like for instance the studio upgrade now, will help with a lot of viewer retention. I'm not a youtuber, but I do know that when I see a progress video once or twice, I get a kick out of it. But when it's 8 progress videos it can get a bit tiring. I adore your content though and still watch, but it's less fun? You're doing great and I hope we get to see more small scale, but epic projects as well!
Those upgrades to the studio look great! Im hoping for the best for the channel, as well as zorpazorp as a whole. It is a shame that youtube's algorithm is trying to blend together shorts and more longform content. It really has thrown a wrench in a ton of creators' livelihood.
You must be one of the most authentic and hard working TH-cam creators on the internet. I absolutely love the quality and style of your work. That said, I think you have to pick a lane - 40k or Middle Earth. The only solution to fragmentation is making the tough decision and staying disciplined. My very biased opinion is you should pick Middle Earth (I’m one of the guys that religiously watches your middle earth stuff and tunes out on 40k). But objectively speaking, Middle Earth is having a renaissance with Rings of Power, the new animated film, other IP, and GW actively reinvesting in it. You’re super well positioned to be a top content creator for this swell of interest. You’re a legend in the hobby and you live in middle earth now - embrace it. I wish you all the success in the world on whatever path you pick!
I have been watching your videos for over a year now and I find every single one makes we want to make more time to do my own hobbying and terrain building. You have so much passion for the content you make, it is contagious. I think mixing in some shorter terrain building tutorials with your large scale builds might help bring in views and would reduce the amount of effort needed per video. I really hope you are able to find a process that allows your channel to flourish.
Love them both, excited to see what this looks like in smaller videos that I can watch quicker. Usually end up coming back to my history to finish videos that are 15-20 mins or longer.
I like both the Minas Tirith and Palace builds. I'm not a Middle Earth player (but I LOVE the movies), but I AM a Old World player. And your videos have given me inspiration to build a Bretonnian castle siege board. And I know its wrong universe, but... I'd love to have my noble knights of Bretonnia defend the walls of Minas Tirith from an orc horde! Keep it up!
favourite video has to be your first Edoras builds, they inspired me to make my own terrain and are what brought me back to playing Middle Earth and that led me to discover that other people actually played it and I could go to events and make friends in the hobby and table top gaming world
Amazing short shot! Now as others have said, it would be amazing to see boards finished, you made an amazing improvement by doing them chunk by chunk. But perhaps you could scale down the size of those "chunks" I'm someone who absolutely loves the creativity in both the warhammer and middle earth content and usually click as soon as I get a notification of an uploaded video. To this extend, I think you may want to consider doing something similar as you did for your Flooded city of Osgiliath. I personally LOVED the attention to detail in all of these videos. It's true that those were filmed in your older format of bit by bit, yet seeing those 1 by 2 foot? (correct me on the size if I'm wrong) sections being brought to life was stunning. For your Imperial palace build you've made an amazing start and I truly love where it's going, yet it would be amazing to see the upper sections, the tower in the corner, the lower city and the trenches being completed one by one. Now enough telling you what to do or what I like, but Zorp, Thank you for all your videos I love them!
Thought this was going to be a talky video with a call to action. Turns out it was a talky video with a call to action, cool crafting, marketing analysis and strategizing. Holy hell!
I have been a subscriber only for some months until now, but I really love your content and the variety of it! I really hope you'll have a blast for years to come, not just some months!! That said, maybe keeping this channel for mega boards and creating another one for smaller projects could help? Obviously some people could get frustrated at a slow paced gigantic build but not at smaller more concise projects! Or maybe you just have to complete your builds one section at a time (west wing of the palace, main spire, trenches) thus keeping the attention of viewers and a sustainable pace for your work and finances! Obviously many others had valid and awesome ideas, so I am sorry if all of this sounds dumb.... Hold fast! And thank you for your awesome videos.
As a non-subscriber, youtube algoritm points me to you alot due to the content Im usually watching, mainly terrain building, kitbashing and 40k/MESBG content. The sad part in this is that the videos Im being directed to are mostly these videos. I have not felt that I want to hit that subscribe button since most of your content Im shown is that you have given yourself a to big project to work on and complaining about it, being overwhelmed or saying that youtubes algoritms are ruining your channel and damaging you finacially. On top of this, I to see alot of great builds being started but not that much being finished here, nor played with, and that makes me loose hope and is, honestly, damaging to me as a wargamer who thinks about getting into making terrain, all I see is alot of stuff taking up alot of place and nothing being finished nor used. What I would ask for to gain my subscription would be smaller projects, how to plan them, starting them and finishing them, that would get my attention alot more than your current content. I would like to see you succeed, I want to feel that I want to hit that subscribe button, but as many has alredy stated, you are looking at the problem from the wrong angle. Best of luck to you.
i know its a bit silly but i fell bad seeing you push yourself so hard for my/our little youtube enjoyment of course the huge boards are amazing to see but if its killing it all idno, id just hate to lose Zorpazorp its not namárië yet
Dude, love the way you decked out all of the window openings with brick work and stone detailing! Looks awesome!! In terms of my viewership, I watch because its you ... I mean, I love LOTR stuff more, but I really do enjoy the 40K stuff too, because its you and usually epic builds. But for me, it's Lachlan that makes me watch. That's probably the least helpful comment ever, because it gives no tangible insight, but I am here for the journey. When I do actually get a chance to watch a video, I'm here, all in, straight in no kissing, and loving it all the way!
There were soo many new warhammee hobby creators popping up. When you started it was just a few but now the space is just too competitive and everybody has been grinding the algorithm so hard that i just feel saturated with the genre at the moment.
With the way he has described the problem , this sounds like it should be seriously considered. Just cannot how hard it would be starting another channel from scratch
I've been fighting a little bout of flu this week and watched all your Osgiliath videos yesterday to keep me sane, so thank you! I originally came to watch your 40K content, but the Lord of the Rings content drew me in too. I also wasn't aware that you have a set upload time, even though I've tried to keep up with every video since February. So I would recommend mentioning that fact a little more regularly, just so people can set the time aside to watch.
i agree that finishing stuff - smaller stuff - is the way to go. I think it might be to ambitious to have to many huge projects going on at once, thats what i feel et least, idk whats the right way forward, but i always feel like the projects are running away from you, just too much to do and its never done. Maybe the craziness has to come down to a more reasonable size.... idk That being said i am here for all the new middle earth videos!
When you first started the Imperial Palace project, I had no interest in 30K… but your videos got me curious, and now I’m obsessed. I’ve just built an army, I’m rapidly working through the Horus Heresy books, and I’m building my own (very small) Terra board!
I feel like the two biggest Problems with your Videos (as a viewer) is: -The builds never get finished -I feel like there is too much talking, not enough building. Some people love it, but I - and I guess some other people - get really turned off by that.
Maybe try doing more tutorial based videos on smaller builds that feel achievable for viewers, then the series would also come to a close quicker and keep people engaged. For example I would love tutorials on how to make scenery for Quest of the Ring Bearer scenarios
It's so rare to have a creator be so open and reflective with their content strategy. I think your work is brilliant. I don't know how or if it would be a good idea outside of my head, but there's a big audience of terrain crafting people that you aren't marketing to: DnD players. Not saying you should make content specifically for that, but the techniques you demonstrate and the visions you have are totally applicable to that, too. It could be good to figure out some way to emphasise this general applicability. I also see that you aren't doing many on-video colabs (anymore), which is something that helps channels of your size to grow usually, but I'm not sure what your experiences have been with that in the past.
I feel like collabs are less useful to Zorpazorp now that he's in NZ, and is as far as I know the largest terrain channel in that country (I watch a few others but they're much smaller).
I love the Imperial Palace videos! They're incredibly inspiring to me and they definitely don't help me resist the urge to get into Legions Imperialis at all! Not sure what the ideal way to break up the Warhammer and LotR content is, it's incredibly frustrating that TH-cam is so structured against content diversification. If the gameplay channels work well as standalones, maybe that's the direction to take this channel as well? Separate the build channels into one for Warhammer and one for LotR? Doesn't help for the currently built up retention though. My fingers are crossed for you and yours though, I LOVE your content and light up whenever I see a new video in the Palace series.
Here’s my 2 cents as a “new” viewer. Your content is pure chaos. I have no idea when something’s coming out, when to expect an update. Idc about LotR crafting. Fan of the movies, but idk about the game. I came to watch the 40k build and idc about the rest - sorry, but that’s just me. If there was a channel just for 40k I’d subscribe to that, but considering I don’t want all the rest of the content I didn’t subscribe and just occasionally check if there’s a new 40k video. Also, like many people have commented - FINISH something. It’s mostly jumping from here to there and then a bit of that before returning to here. ADHD issues, but make a plan & try to follow it. Helps you stress out less & the viewer to know what to expect. Hope this helps & hope you can keep making these videos 🙏🏻
You need to stop starting projects and actually finish them and then move on from then, it is really draining to see so many progress videos. I don't actually know any completed projects you have, you might have dozens, but it always feels like slowly ticking away at multiple projects is your bread and butter. It would have been nice of you to focus on one thing at a time.
Zorpazorp got big when it was making LotR content. The original Megaboard in most of our eyes was Minas Tirith. The Imperial Palace is awesome, but I think there's a "good enough" point so we can resume Middle Earth. I legitimately think the Grey Haven's build is better than Minas Tirith
Honestly these channel videos are very well explained TH-cam creator tutorials. You could capture a third audience of people just curious of how a passionate creator keeps a channel alive with tactics and strategies.
I watch for your creativity. Anytime I see you work on some ungodly huge project it makes ME feel overwhelmed. I love seeing small, high-quality builds. Think of all the amazing things you could have started and finished instead of some stupidly large build that gets both stressful and repetative for you and for some of your viewers.
Yeah I'll be honest, I tend to watch all of the board crafting videos that you put out, but just personally I'm a lot more excited for the 40k ones than I am for the LotR ones. When I watch a LotR build I get some ideas on how to build good scenery, but if I watch 40k I imagine myself building the same actual scenery for my own games. Genuinely love all the content you put out though!
You always try your best that's what I love about your channel Zorpazorp. Especially with War of the Rohirrim is round the corner. I been inspired to start my Rohan Army and wanting to plan to build my every own Edoras and Suthburg. Keep trying your hardest and I know your content is forever fantastic. 😊
A long requested update. A huge thank you to each and every one of you who's on this journey with us it means so much to me and my family. If you want to help keep Zorpazorp going, it would mean the world if you'd join the patreon family, or pick up a Displate. Or if that's not in the budget, the old like, subscribe and a comment is genuinely super meaningful. Maybe let me know what's your favourite video or board I've ever made?
Patreon: patreon.com/Zorpazorp
Grab your Displates here: here: displate.com/zorpazorp or use code: ZORPAZORP
If you want to see some crazy battle reports on all these boards we're making checkout the Zorpazorp Battle Reports Channels:
@ZorpHammer : www.youtube.com/@ZorpHammer
@zorpoftherings : www.youtube.com/@zorpoftherings
Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts, and here's to a stupidly massive finish to 2024.
Lachie and the family.
Thank you ZZ
Out of curiosity why not do a 15 minute weekly raw footage of your thoughts and what you're working through and plans, so you don't have to edit one of your videos and test that out. Might help keep engagement.
I try to watch everything you do, sometimes time is a huge factor for videos for me.
Maybe throw a decision of the build in there done through comments that you announce at the beginning of the next quick update, and keep the cycle going.
Don't focus on audience fragmentation. Shorten your production schedule with focused videos. Look at eonsofbattle (yes, I know it's mostly minis). He puts out 13 videos/month while you do 2 videos/month. You both get similar views per video.
The one feedback i have to say is FINISH something.
Like you mentioned even if its only a section of a total board.
While your core is super boards, not everyone can afford that or have the time to dedicate. Build a functional battle ground section that then also slots into the mega board.
move away from the "OMG Im so overwhelmed". Maybe some people connect to the humility but for me it comes across as a victim of choices.
Ive thought maybe bringing in some interns to help you out so you arent working 80 hours yourself. while inflating costs the finished product is where the content comes in. plus your wife gets to see you.. plus adding 2 people would increase the productivity. Maybe then allowing more vids, more views in total, meaning more revenue. which then slots more into my first point of finished product.
you seem like a good person, and I want you to succeed without suffering like you are now. im sure youve considered the things ive mentioned. but sometimes people get caught behind a train of thought and cant see the side steps
Agree, respectfully. I like his content but a youtuber is basically a story-teller. He's telling us a story, but it's like the GoT's books, these 'stories' feel like they have no end.
I think brainstorming how to start, progress, and then finish a project within 1-to-3 modest length videos would do his channel wonders. As you suggest maybe leaning into more less ambitious terrain projects wouldn't go amiss. He seems like a really cool guy so I'm hoping for his success.
Wholeheartedly agree. Finish Something! We ❤ you!
I very much get tired of the "woe is me, TH-cam's algorithm is against me all the time" story. Zorp seems to know how the algorithm works, so by continuing to do exactly what he's doing, he's just perpetuating his issues.
This is what gets me I like the videos but it really is getting kind of annoying that it feels like nothing is actually finished. idk if he has ADHD or what but it just feels like its all over the place and stuff doesn't end. Do a bunch of smaller ones (how to make textured buildings) or something and then every month do an update on the big one.
I have to say I am quite the same: never finishing something. But, as far as I'm not right in my shoes to say that, I'd like to see something finished. With the size of your projects it's not possibly achievable in 1 shot but if you try to segmentize the project, like just the foam work but on the full size board, then the detailing on all the side sheet... each time one step is finished. An other way might be to go just by small area, like a quarter, of the full board but from start to finish. With this ways, or others, the feeling of accomplishment might be solved.
Anyway, I'm not the best follower, but I deeply like your craft job, game job and video maker's work. I hope you'll keep going.
I think the best solution is to scale down the 40k build and complete it, then permanently move on to another project. The videos get fatiguing when there's no ending in sight, and when an audience has closure on a project they'll likely be more open to investigating another project.
Yep. All good stories need a coherent beginning, middle and end. Zorp's telling us a story, at the end of the day.
Exactly my thoughts! Set out a plan, spend 3-6 structured episodes building it (e.g. Palace on Terra, Part 2/6 or Grey Havens 2/3), then move on to the next project.
I love the videos, but there is too much Terra and no clear end goal. In your last goodbye video you said that you wanted to cross off several big projects this year and we haven't really seen that happen 🫤
I agree. As much as I love the passion, the projects never seem to end and as a viewer it’s hard to follow. Today’s society we want to see the idea, the process, and then final result in a video. There can be mini series once in a while but having to wait for long periods of time to see a project to end loses viewer attention because it’s hard to keep track while there are other content creators pitching in videos in a more frequent level; and we know how the TH-cam algorithm is not friendly to people not uploading frequently. I really want to see this channel’s success. There just needs to be some changes in how to deliver the content in a shorter period of time.
Alternatively, make the palace updates less frequent and deliver smaller projects as normal content. You know, then we get a quarterly Palace of terra update. This labour of love clearly isn't conducive to a profitable channel, if you want both, you will have to deal with the realities of YT.
💯
Maybe you could start doing smaller scale terrain tutorials / videos that could tie in to the relevant mega board, between big mega board vids, that way you have a steady stream of easier and cheaper to produce videos that aren’t all or nothing, while also allowing the mega board videos to be really substantial. It would also have the added benefit of bringing in more “standard” terrain builders as viewers and introducing them to the core mega build videos.
An example layout could be:
Week 1: how to build a fortified imperial structure
Week 2: how to make destroyed vehicles
Week 3: how to create an imperial guard ammo depot
Week 4: Imperial Palace update video (including all previous creations that month and some new stuff that is suitably mega)
That should make Zorpazorp cheaper to run, less reliant on every video being a hit, brings in an even bigger audience, and still keeps the core of zorpazorp of megaboards
honestly this is a pretty good idea. stuff like just different foam techniques for different rock textures. and honestly smaller videos works great
Yea I think most people would be fascinated by just how a single small section of one of the big boards gets done, its all most people would have time to imitate anyway. COuld then slowly build towards the larger one, constantly teasing its coming then do a big video on the final product.
This is what I liked when I started watching Zorp. A mixture of small scale terrain tutorials (how to do stone texture and so on) and amazing terrain megaboards.
Yeah, that's a very good idea. I know there's lots of people doing, let's say tight focus pieces, but one of the first things I really loved from this channel was the lockdown Minas Tirrith vids, which felt a lot more like this pattern.
Tft reftU8@@luclin92
I really loved your Dol Guldur build and would love to see that finished in all its glory one day.
Finishing that board which is quite small compared to the others would definitely be a win
absolutely underrated comment. Dol Guldur was a great build waiting to be finished
Dol guldur was looking so good but I think he left it in Australia 😢
Honestly i think the giant stuff is cool but i also believe that it's out of reach for most hobbyists. I always love watching smaller builds that are fully completed and can be replicated at home.
That's interesting, but the opposite of what I want. I watch zorp or Eric's hobby workshop for the absolutely massive projects they do, and I live vicariously through them. It's what makes their work special.
Its like when painting channels paint a warlord titan, it's cool I guess, but I watch painting videos to inspire me to paint my models. I'd click so fast on a video on how to build a rohan house, or 40k factory, or dwarf ruins, but I'm not going to build an imperial Palace. The content is cool, but it's not going to get multiple rewatches from people replicating it at home
@@devononair Eric does a much better job of chunking out those massive projects into individual videos. Like his trenchline board each video felt like a full and complete project, and the Titan has a clear focus with each episode.
Your videos are great but I am exhausted with the continual updates with no ‘finish’ in sight. I’m waiting to see a video on the final boards.
As many others have stated, i think the biggest killer is that nothing ever gets finished. It always reaches an 80%-90% state and then you move onto building another section. Me personally i think the imperial palace build should have been what it was after the first few videos before you started extending it and pulling out more tables.
Just build the board, stick some terrain and greeblies on it and paint it up. Audiences want the satisfaction and dopamine spike of seeing a completed project as opposed to tuning in to a seemingly unending build that even you yourself have stressed while fun, is stressful as well.
I would also say that a lot of us would love smaller diorama style projects that A. Can be brimming with narrative elements and tiny details as well as B. Being (somewhat) easily replicated by your audience. Maybe an armies on parade-esque tutorial series since that seems to be getting more popular each year (in terms of in store attendance).
All the best mate.
TLDR: nothings seen a coat of paint in months. Just finish something.
Agreed.
Make the mini diorama for the army, is for example perfect. Relatively fast, FINISH and cool.
I had written you more than a year ago that you start to many projects and do not finish the ones you started. I still stand by this statement. Less projects, but done till the end!
Gotta number your videos (Pt1, Pt2, or better yet Part 2/6, Part 3/5 etc). People coming in have no idea where the build begins without any expectation of when it ends (including me that has been around for a while).
I definitely think explaining how things are done tutorial style as you go through the build is very helpful regardless of the scale so please continue to share your knowledge. Your efforts and craftmanship are without equal!
Oh this for sure, im blown away there is no parts, if you start watching in the middle, you have no idea where this starts.
I'm one of those viewers who love Warhammer 40k and LotR both, so I'm sticking around :) I love all the content. Nobody builds like you!
Same! I was actually surprised to hear that there isn't a lot of overlap between the two groups of fans
Thanks for the update Lachie! Interesting insights about the algorithm and was happy to see the patreon wall coming together, looks awesome! I think pivoting between blocks of builds using "bridging" content is a great idea, and might even be an opportunity to make easier videos that contribute to a larger build!
An example sequence might be something like:
Imperial Palace 1: bridges
Imperial Palace 2: electric boogaloo
Imperial Palace 3: real light up street lamps
Bridging video: Zorp builds thatch roofs
Middle Earth 1: Recreating Edoras
Middle Earth 2: etc etc
And you use the thatch roofs or what have you in your middle Earth build, or maybe that build technique (cloth roofs for Haradrim markets or Necromunda shantytowns) fits in both settings. Hope this helps mate, and here's to the next 6 months of success! 🎉
Thank you Angus!! You're a champ as always and some great ideas there! Fingers crossed it all goes boom!!!
Your channel is a very large part of what I enjoy about the hobby. Sure, I may play a different game (Warcry), but the lessons you give are all the same; you're the reason I got into making my own terrain. Why I'm working on a modular board.
You're a pillar of not just the LotR-SBG community Zorp, you're a pillar of the Miniature Wargaming Hobby as a whole.
I would do unspeakable things to see progress on the Dol Guldur board. I was there. I was there 3,000 years ago. I was there when the first Dol Guldur board video was posted.
*insert Titanic old lady meme here* 😂
Same but with the Imperial Palace build lol. Though TBF it has grown immensely since I last checked in!
😆
Real talk I really do hope you make it. I love your videos and by far my favorite was your massive Pelennor Fields battle report. That was insanely cool to see. I see some of the comments mention moving to smaller projects with immediate conclusions to keep folks rolling in and seeing a full build from start to finish. I agree with that idea and I think it would be really cool to see a video series where you provide the creative process that you work through, the prep for that build (whatever it may be), and then a timelapse of you completing the project. Then folks can see every stage you do to create the absolutely wonderful work you are doing. After all that you can provide a monthly update on your huge projects to break up the pace. You can keep your channel fresh for new viewers and keep old viewers happy when they see that your big stuff is still being worked on. Granted I dont know much about YT or editing a video, so you would know if that is even possible considering your workload. Good luck man, you absolutely deserve to keep this thing going.
I play neither 40k or lotr . As a grandfather i watch your videos and build things for my grandchildren to play with their action figures on. They love it. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome talent with the rest of the world.
Wholesome 40.000
You’re a brilliant creator and artist. I love your positivity - please keep going. I hope things look up for you mate
positivity? Hes whining more than a toddler.
@@EspenShampoo25…no. He’s recognising challenges and problems, and instead of giving up, he’s adapting and continuing. I call that positivity.
I don't think it matters whether you're a 40k fan, LotR fan, or a fan of both, the content here is still S-Tier. We're all crafting fans at the end of the day.
The major issue I find is that due to the grand scale of your projects, there never seems to be a pay-off in sight. Personally, I love all of the projects I've seen, but how many videos is it before I begin to skip ahead, only to be frustrated at the sheer length of 40+min videos for one build? 3-4 maybe?
Perhaps focusing on some lesser builds you know you can get done within a shorter time, and blasting out a few of these may see a rise in viewership where this ebb currently fills?
Agree, need a bit more lower level content. Maybe, yea, even some reaction videos: easy wins that don't require a massive audience to be worth it
why ask people for feedback if you are just going to ignore it?
i see many issues but when bother telling you?
any how, good luck, you certainly need it.
Personally I think your videos have grown exhausting to watch in their ever growing scale.
Have you fully finished any of your projects before moving on to the next thing?
Honestly speaking for myself and other hobbyists I know, project jump is chronic for a lot of us.
@GloriousGrunt you can't run a TH-cam channel (which is a business) like that.
"There never was much hope, just a fools hope" - G
I'm hoping everything can come together for you brother
Respectfully, I'd like to see you finish projects.
I understand that resources of all sorts can be limited and you need to shift focus at times. That's a very real issue to work around when making content like this, but every time the scope changes, it's hard to get reinvested in the new vision.
Being excited about a project and seeing it completed is a very different thing than wondering how the scope will creep and dreading it'll never get finished. Shock and awe on massive projects is great, but it wears off over time and not finishing projects can overstay it's welcome.
You're talented, fun to watch and you have a core set of fans that support what you do. You got this Zorpazorp, just pinch off a project so existing viewers can get excited about the next one while having that sense of completion.
maybe you could do a series on terrain that can be used for both systems. It would probably be quite generic, but potentially a way to please both audiences?
also as a fan of both, ive been eating well XD
This could be an option, especially if it is shorter and easier to make. Stuff like "making ruined brick walls" or stuff like that
Agreed. Tutorials would be amazing
I try to help when I can dude, I don't really want to have a TH-cam without you, so I really hope it can be sorted and you'll be here for a long time yet!
You're a legend as always Jaffa, thank you mate :) :)
I hope your channel survives
Those mountains in the background are absolutely stunning.
Also I'm hardly ever recommended your videos for some reason, I have to actively look for your videos. I love all of your videos building set pieces/game boards for Warhammer and middle earth. Would love to see the sets finished and painted
I personally think you and the channel feel a bit like “butter spread over too much bread”
You’ve literally moved to middle-earth (New Zealand) so I think just stick to LOTR themed builds and videos 😅
I would've said that rather a ZorpoftheRings and Zorphammer, just have had Zorphammer and Zorpazorp as the MESBG channel.
And I agree with the spraed over too much toast - I feel like I keep catching odd videos that are parts of a project. Often not seeing a previous video, or the following video. So end up just not watching.
Smaller projects would be what I'd recommend, with the ocassional larger project.
More smaller painting projects too. He's a good baser and painter. Why not some basing tutorials for miniatures etc.
@@Patrick-y4d1zI miss his LOTR painting tutorials from 2019, it was the reason why I came back to the hobby and started my factions of middle earth page! Really miss all the middle earth stuff and I feel like that’s why most of us are here!
Personally don’t enjoy any of the 40k or 30k stuff!
@@star_wars_miniatures
I enjoy 40K so I'm one of the rare few. But it's not why I'm here. I already have so much exposure to 40K elsewhere that his videos don't really grab me.
Whereas MESBG is definitely more niche, and as a result his content is better to watch than most.
I do think he needs to do a lot more content of a smaller scale to try and scale.
40k is better than LOTR, warhammer universe is far more vast with more lore and potential than LOTR unfortunately. 40k,fantasy>LOTR @Patrick-y4d1z
@@battleshipman56 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
As a lotr creator, you were pretty unique. But within the 40k universe, your videos will have to compete with extremely skilled creators. A lot of serious competition and the size of a diorama might not be enough.
While I get your desire to cover both topics, you already pointed out yourself why this will probably not work.
Wish you all the best Zorps ❤
Great channel. Hoping to its success as always.
Some feedback as a viewer.
I'm a bit over the imperial palace tbh, its probably good for maby 3-4 months, then im keen for the next thing.
It also seems a little less detailed than the Lord of the Rings boards. I really enjoyed osgiliath, and the detail is crazy. The imperial palace is just a concrete fort, really, There's not much flavour to it, whereas osgiliath and the pelenor fields has grass, rocks, water, city, and small scene stories everywhere.
It is a great environment to see all this new stuff and different techniques for terrain making, wheras the palace, I can only watch so much foil on foam rolling. I haven't actually watched maby the last 3 imperial palace videos.
The algorithm does kill me, too. im surprised this video popped up tbh. Maby, a reminder and a blurb about what other videos you have posted are, I only really go to the other channels with im reminded something good is there.
As for the game space i used some carpet tiles from bunnings to make the floor area in my garage a bit nicer to look at and walk on. They also do rolls of rubber, which is good to.
Hard to pick a favorite video, but always here to learn new ways to make great set pieces. Been catching up on my own pile of shame, but once I get some space to store a couple boards I'd be chomping at the bit to make something like these.
As a lot of people have said finishing either a portion of the board in its entirety before moving on may help. Having definitive conclusions to the stages in the project helps bring a sense of closure to the viewer and help with transitioning between the Minas Tirith and Imperial Palace boards if we know one has hit a nice "stopping point".
Something that could also help are little one-off videos on tools, techniques, standalone small projects, etc. thrown into the mix every now and then. That way the audience doesn't get too worn out on the same one or two massive projects with the feeling of no end in sight.
ill sit down and watch anything you put out. Your Content is absolutely inspiring.
It's one thing to have a broad premise for the first episode of a block, but the final episode of a block needs to try and make sure those viewers know when to come back for "their" next block, at least an eta, or just some extra pushing to subscribe and click the bell.
I'm sorry to hear about the channel situation, I always check out all the videos you drop!
I also have an idea for a diorama on a shelf!
I was thinking maybe a Jungle/forest cliffside for the Blood Ravens so they can be positioned to be standing at the edge looking out over a valley perhaps on the hunt for some Orks or Eldar!
Or maybe it could be the Blood Ravens doing a last stand on a pile of rubble against an oncoming horde of Orks like the Crimson Fists art or that one scene from Space Marine II?
Love your stuff. I have been watching the Imperial Palace stuff even though I don't play 40k because I am loving the ludicrously large scale/size of it.
My favourite video that you have put out was the first video I watch, the Battle of Pelennor Fields with Jacques, Ryan, Dan, & Orry. I remember their names because I've watched it countless times while painting.
I hope things look up soon!
The huge, never ending, projects cooked the channel.
Keep your chin up. Dont let the algorithm win. As others have suggested i would recommend breaking down the builds into blocks with a clear Start, middle and End. Smaller scale with alot more detail that can be replicated at home will also help with supply cost saving. Planning a build with a completion time of 3 months will allow for 2 videos per month totalling 6 videos per build. Labelling the videos "Part 1 of 6" will build anticipation about what is to come. Bigger isnt always better. Osgilliath remains my favourite build because you built it in sections with each section being completed before the next and it all came together with the massive resin pour. At the moment the Imperial palace still doesnt look near to completion.
Mate,
Love the work and this video,
I think the biggest thing that will keep people invested will be smaller, self contained videos doing dioramas/display boards that you start and complete in an episode
à la "boilei hobby time"
That way even if your audience isn't invested in either lotr or 40k they get the completionist dopamine from the video and they know the next EP is going to be something different and not 8 weeks of the same stuff that they're not interested in.
I'd say something down as small as a 4'*4' fall of boromir with 2-3 minis up to display boards, but overall you can't keep doing everything at the same scale as you have been, keep them going in the background, but scale back.
In your corner Lachy, you can do it! How would Mrs Zorpazorp feel about hosting annual games retreats where players of each universe can play a 3 day narrative campaign on your incredible tables... or similar side ventures?
Thank you so much mate!!! That is one day the dream!! Just need to get my boards over to NZ and I can host some events again :) :) Thank you for the super mate, really helps
ok i'm going to be honest with you mate.
the market is just not there. i even ran the seo on this and the market for lotr is poor at best.
your success was built on the pandemic and you have struggled along ever since.
not all hobbies can be businesses - by all means prove me wrong but so far it sounds like i'm right, sadly.
no offence but you've become too much of a self endorsed celeb and i think you need to re-engage with the people again.
i see countless issues with your youtube channel and where is your marketing?
i would think of your family, do this on the side and go work a job, full or part time.
lot of nice comments, clever quotations, but ultimately you need to be sat down and told the brutal truth whether you like it or not.
I just found your video for the full build of the 40k castle and trench city and let me tell you, you are one of a kind man!
I didnt even know Zorpoftherings existed
I just found out in his last LOTR video. Had no idea.
As much as I love seeing the super big, super long projects, I do have to agree with the overall sentiment that sometimes it just feels like there is never an end in sight, and that does makes people tire of something faster. I'm not much of a Warhammer fan but the builds are awesome enough that I still enjoy watching them even if I don't get the same enjoyment. I have been feeling more optimistic now that you've been saying theres a lot of Middle Earth coming in a month or two so I know that the stuff is coming and there is an 'end' in sight.
Love all of your Warhammer videos. The Imperial Palace is looking so amazing these days!
Thanks buddy, yeah she's really coming along haha, just getting huge 🤣🤣
Dude I came to your channel because I saw a short about one of your middle earth board. i was hoping to see a video showing off the whole finished project in detail. Even better I was hoping to see either a mega game on the whole thing or ondividual vids of games on the different boards. I would love to see something like that, but the impression I get looking at your channel is lots of videos showing builds happening, but not a lot of finished products or gameplay. You do you, just sharing what I cane here for just in case.
Will check out one of those other channels you mentioned to see if that had this kind of thing!
I love ya Zorp . I've loved most every video of yours, too many to pick a true favourite. Today I'll say... The Vostroyan painting and collecting stuff. Unfortunately it's a tough month for me to justify more displates so I hope the engagement is enough to tide you over.
Favourite video ever: Amon Hen battle report (wicked!!).
Favourite build: Minas Tirith “Tuber Town”, it inspired me to build my own 4x4 Minas Tirith terrain board.
No matter what happens to the channel I’ll always go back and watch the old vids. Thanks for being the most inspiring member of the community Zorp
I think what really worked well with the middle earth mega board was that you built a section of a rammas echor from plaster casted bricks and finished it and it looked great. Then you finished an ambitious pellenor board with fire and smoke effects which also looked great. Then there was the osgiliath build which was all about working with the plastic kits and the big resin pour. They were all stand alone projects with new techniques, taken through to a satisfying conclusion. And they were all visually distinct. It's really cool that they all join together to make a cohesive mega board, but that's not the main draw. My favourite projects are probably edoras and dol goldur which aren't even part of the mega board haha.
I've been enjoying the imperial palace, but it's a whole lot of grey. It would be cool to see a small section taken all the way to completion (including adding some colour!). Really looking forward to getting onto some rohan stuff because I assume we'll be getting some green! 😂
Hey man, I just wanted to let you know I love your passion for the hobby! You have reignited my MESBG hobby that lay dormant for many years and I really enjoyed your MESBG stuff. Besides that I also enjoyed the occasional SW legion and 40K but as others have commented as well there are only so many video's on 40k I will watch if the project appears endless. All the best!
Hey Zorp! The first video of yours I saw was the Rivendell set up in your house iirc - my boyfriend was so keen to show me. I did wonder if you lived with people and how they'd get around it lol
We've been watching all of your videos since you posted part 1 of the end (?) - here are some quick thoughts.
1. Separating your channel content into LOTR, Warhammer, tutorial stuff channels etc. Right now it seems like these are separate audiences and hammering your reach.
2. Finish stuff. It's satisfying to watch as a viewer. (Maybe smaller items for shorts, and a particular piece from a bigger project for longer content). We want a before and after.
3. Get a manager or someone to help work out a realistic timeline for making and posting the epic projects so you can finish stuff. And also have a life!
4. I think your battle report channel should be called ZorpReports lol
That's all I can think of - I know lots of suggestions are in the thread already. Take care of yourself, Lachie! We're rooting for you 🎉
I'm sure many people have weighed in on how best to continue moving forward. I think you do a great job of the builds you do; the way you film them, and your own charm is captivating enough to get me to stop painting for a moment and just watch.
I would just like to say that I agree with some of the feedback, in that often times, it feels like youve made a ton of effort to progress on a very small aspect of your current builds. Overall, the % of completion goes up by a lot, but as a viewer, we don't get to see a significant change on the project. When I think back to your earlier builds, the modular structure of your projects made for very satisfying videos and although not as epic in scale, is still good fun to watch. I don't believe that youve jumped the shark; the scale of the builds is definitely interesting and unique, but you can still make very watchable videos in smaller scale.
I'm not sure you will ever read this, but at least this comment will help the channel exposure if nothing else.
If I can give you one piece of feedback, the "one thing" that makes me sometimes avoid some of your videos are the actual videos names.
It might seems strange and it might not be a problem for many, but when I get multiple videos with the almost exact same name ("Games Workshop WHAT HAVE YOU DONE", "The BIGGEST wargaming board in TH-cam History") I tend to not click on it at all. The thumbnails sometimes have a little number on the corner, sometimes they don't, but I find it not quite enough to differentiate one video from the others and quickly know if I watched it already or not for I am not always logged to the same account or logged at all.
And like others mentioned, I would really like to watch a finished project too, or at least a completely finished section with long and beautiful revealing sequences.
Good luck with the channel, I wish you all the best.
Please just never quit, your content is amazing. I'm a huge lotr fan and actually dont know a lot about warhammer and it's lore but even so i still love to watch your warhammer video's. For me it's the crafting, the creation of something beautifull out of thin air that is the art of wonders.
A bit of a heart to heart Lachie!
I still watch most of your content as I have been doing for the past years. I havent been commenting as much because I really feel like you have moved passed lord of the rings and the more approachable content to a more influencer style content focused on views. I watch zorpazorp for the sw legion content and of course for MESBG.
The long hiatus of content has made me and what I gather from our Portuguese community move on to watch other channels. Bat reps of Mesbg were reuploads and I feel like you lost a bit of your passion for it (TH-cam).
I still enjoy your content and will probably check the builds of middle earth. But I fell like the campaign of middle earth will never come, helm's deep, finishing the scenarios of Gondor at war/war in Rohan etc will probably never come.
But who knows, I am not in a financial situation to help on patreon and I hope this channel survives since it has always expanded the boundaries of wargaming terrain!
Hope this new strategy works out!!
From a loyal viewer,
Miguel
Agree with this comment 100 percent you made the point a lot better than I did haha
I absolutely love your channel and the content you put out. But today you've gone above and beyond; carving wall decor on foam sheets. Brilliant!!! I dare say you may have changed many mancaves forever! Oh, and building little dioramas on shelves to store/display your minis? Love the idea, and I can never unsee it now.
Seriously, there are two TH-cam channels that I follow religiously, and yours is one. Thank you for all your effort.
May this comment appease the great algorithm.
Mine too. I was scared at first
Uh, mine too..?
Have you seen how Squidmar tackled their massive diorama projects? Each video focusing on finishing a specific part/adding a cool detail, with other videos interspersed between. Seems to work quite well for them
Hey man you have my full support, i'v known and loved your channel since i was a kid with your first osgiliath board and it never stoped beeing my favourite chanel since ( you practically tought me english too😭). I hope u will get out of this mess soon! And bring us whatever board you want, eventually creativity always win! Cheers mate!
Zorpazorp I love your content and you will be happy to know I am a LOTR and Warhammer fan so enjoy everything you do!! LOTR brought me to the channel and love the scenery you build for the Middle earth strategy battle game. Thank you for everything you do, I will continue to watch your channel and support you as best I can 👍✌️
I watch your videos twice, once on my personal account and second on my work account. I am rewatching your Star Wars Legion videos for painting guides. I am about to paint my Saber Tank.
Hey Zorp,
Thanks for keeping is in the know.
I honestly think you finishing things, like for instance the studio upgrade now, will help with a lot of viewer retention. I'm not a youtuber, but I do know that when I see a progress video once or twice, I get a kick out of it. But when it's 8 progress videos it can get a bit tiring. I adore your content though and still watch, but it's less fun?
You're doing great and I hope we get to see more small scale, but epic projects as well!
Those upgrades to the studio look great!
Im hoping for the best for the channel, as well as zorpazorp as a whole. It is a shame that youtube's algorithm is trying to blend together shorts and more longform content. It really has thrown a wrench in a ton of creators' livelihood.
You must be one of the most authentic and hard working TH-cam creators on the internet. I absolutely love the quality and style of your work.
That said, I think you have to pick a lane - 40k or Middle Earth. The only solution to fragmentation is making the tough decision and staying disciplined.
My very biased opinion is you should pick Middle Earth (I’m one of the guys that religiously watches your middle earth stuff and tunes out on 40k). But objectively speaking, Middle Earth is having a renaissance with Rings of Power, the new animated film, other IP, and GW actively reinvesting in it. You’re super well positioned to be a top content creator for this swell of interest. You’re a legend in the hobby and you live in middle earth now - embrace it.
I wish you all the success in the world on whatever path you pick!
Dude that wall idea is badass. It just looks so awesome.
I have been watching your videos for over a year now and I find every single one makes we want to make more time to do my own hobbying and terrain building. You have so much passion for the content you make, it is contagious. I think mixing in some shorter terrain building tutorials with your large scale builds might help bring in views and would reduce the amount of effort needed per video. I really hope you are able to find a process that allows your channel to flourish.
I love and watch all of your vids, crafting, painting, battlereports, the works.
I really hope that you pull through. God speed!
Love them both, excited to see what this looks like in smaller videos that I can watch quicker. Usually end up coming back to my history to finish videos that are 15-20 mins or longer.
Hate to tell you this but you just fragmented your audience again. Now you have added interior design! 😜
I like both the Minas Tirith and Palace builds. I'm not a Middle Earth player (but I LOVE the movies), but I AM a Old World player. And your videos have given me inspiration to build a Bretonnian castle siege board. And I know its wrong universe, but... I'd love to have my noble knights of Bretonnia defend the walls of Minas Tirith from an orc horde! Keep it up!
Your ability to store so much stuff into a compact space never ceases to amaze me
Hahaha thank you mate, it is a skill I have had to work on 🤣🤣🤣
favourite video has to be your first Edoras builds, they inspired me to make my own terrain and are what brought me back to playing Middle Earth and that led me to discover that other people actually played it and I could go to events and make friends in the hobby and table top gaming world
Hope you can continue mate. Once the algorithm catches you it won't stop booming for you.
Amazing short shot!
Now as others have said, it would be amazing to see boards finished, you made an amazing improvement by doing them chunk by chunk. But perhaps you could scale down the size of those "chunks" I'm someone who absolutely loves the creativity in both the warhammer and middle earth content and usually click as soon as I get a notification of an uploaded video.
To this extend, I think you may want to consider doing something similar as you did for your Flooded city of Osgiliath. I personally LOVED the attention to detail in all of these videos. It's true that those were filmed in your older format of bit by bit, yet seeing those 1 by 2 foot? (correct me on the size if I'm wrong) sections being brought to life was stunning.
For your Imperial palace build you've made an amazing start and I truly love where it's going, yet it would be amazing to see the upper sections, the tower in the corner, the lower city and the trenches being completed one by one.
Now enough telling you what to do or what I like, but Zorp, Thank you for all your videos I love them!
Thought this was going to be a talky video with a call to action.
Turns out it was a talky video with a call to action, cool crafting, marketing analysis and strategizing. Holy hell!
I have been a subscriber only for some months until now, but I really love your content and the variety of it! I really hope you'll have a blast for years to come, not just some months!!
That said, maybe keeping this channel for mega boards and creating another one for smaller projects could help? Obviously some people could get frustrated at a slow paced gigantic build but not at smaller more concise projects! Or maybe you just have to complete your builds one section at a time (west wing of the palace, main spire, trenches) thus keeping the attention of viewers and a sustainable pace for your work and finances!
Obviously many others had valid and awesome ideas, so I am sorry if all of this sounds dumb....
Hold fast! And thank you for your awesome videos.
As a non-subscriber, youtube algoritm points me to you alot due to the content Im usually watching, mainly terrain building, kitbashing and 40k/MESBG content.
The sad part in this is that the videos Im being directed to are mostly these videos.
I have not felt that I want to hit that subscribe button since most of your content Im shown is that you have given yourself a to big project to work on and complaining about it, being overwhelmed or saying that youtubes algoritms are ruining your channel and damaging you finacially.
On top of this, I to see alot of great builds being started but not that much being finished here, nor played with, and that makes me loose hope and is, honestly, damaging to me as a wargamer who thinks about getting into making terrain, all I see is alot of stuff taking up alot of place and nothing being finished nor used.
What I would ask for to gain my subscription would be smaller projects, how to plan them, starting them and finishing them, that would get my attention alot more than your current content.
I would like to see you succeed, I want to feel that I want to hit that subscribe button, but as many has alredy stated, you are looking at the problem from the wrong angle.
Best of luck to you.
I watch all of your content, I just enjoy watching your building process and seeing these large structures come together
i know its a bit silly but i fell bad seeing you push yourself so hard for my/our little youtube enjoyment
of course the huge boards are amazing to see but if its killing it all
idno, id just hate to lose Zorpazorp
its not namárië yet
Dude, love the way you decked out all of the window openings with brick work and stone detailing! Looks awesome!! In terms of my viewership, I watch because its you ... I mean, I love LOTR stuff more, but I really do enjoy the 40K stuff too, because its you and usually epic builds. But for me, it's Lachlan that makes me watch. That's probably the least helpful comment ever, because it gives no tangible insight, but I am here for the journey. When I do actually get a chance to watch a video, I'm here, all in, straight in no kissing, and loving it all the way!
There were soo many new warhammee hobby creators popping up. When you started it was just a few but now the space is just too competitive and everybody has been grinding the algorithm so hard that i just feel saturated with the genre at the moment.
The studio tidy up + the palace backdrop wall look really nice!
Whats the downside on splitting crafting into 2 channels as well? LOTR or Fantasy crafts and 40k or Science Fiction crafts? Wish you the best!
With the way he has described the problem , this sounds like it should be seriously considered. Just cannot how hard it would be starting another channel from scratch
Problem is that each of the channels would be without uploads for long stretches of time while he works on the other
I've been fighting a little bout of flu this week and watched all your Osgiliath videos yesterday to keep me sane, so thank you! I originally came to watch your 40K content, but the Lord of the Rings content drew me in too. I also wasn't aware that you have a set upload time, even though I've tried to keep up with every video since February. So I would recommend mentioning that fact a little more regularly, just so people can set the time aside to watch.
i agree that finishing stuff - smaller stuff - is the way to go. I think it might be to ambitious to have to many huge projects going on at once, thats what i feel et least, idk whats the right way forward, but i always feel like the projects are running away from you, just too much to do and its never done. Maybe the craziness has to come down to a more reasonable size.... idk
That being said i am here for all the new middle earth videos!
When you first started the Imperial Palace project, I had no interest in 30K… but your videos got me curious, and now I’m obsessed. I’ve just built an army, I’m rapidly working through the Horus Heresy books, and I’m building my own (very small) Terra board!
I feel like the two biggest Problems with your Videos (as a viewer) is:
-The builds never get finished
-I feel like there is too much talking, not enough building. Some people love it, but I - and I guess some other people - get really turned off by that.
Maybe try doing more tutorial based videos on smaller builds that feel achievable for viewers, then the series would also come to a close quicker and keep people engaged. For example I would love tutorials on how to make scenery for Quest of the Ring Bearer scenarios
It's so rare to have a creator be so open and reflective with their content strategy. I think your work is brilliant. I don't know how or if it would be a good idea outside of my head, but there's a big audience of terrain crafting people that you aren't marketing to: DnD players. Not saying you should make content specifically for that, but the techniques you demonstrate and the visions you have are totally applicable to that, too. It could be good to figure out some way to emphasise this general applicability.
I also see that you aren't doing many on-video colabs (anymore), which is something that helps channels of your size to grow usually, but I'm not sure what your experiences have been with that in the past.
Not realy all them are very open and begging for patreon subs or similar.
I feel like collabs are less useful to Zorpazorp now that he's in NZ, and is as far as I know the largest terrain channel in that country (I watch a few others but they're much smaller).
I love the Imperial Palace videos! They're incredibly inspiring to me and they definitely don't help me resist the urge to get into Legions Imperialis at all! Not sure what the ideal way to break up the Warhammer and LotR content is, it's incredibly frustrating that TH-cam is so structured against content diversification. If the gameplay channels work well as standalones, maybe that's the direction to take this channel as well? Separate the build channels into one for Warhammer and one for LotR? Doesn't help for the currently built up retention though. My fingers are crossed for you and yours though, I LOVE your content and light up whenever I see a new video in the Palace series.
Here’s my 2 cents as a “new” viewer.
Your content is pure chaos.
I have no idea when something’s coming out, when to expect an update.
Idc about LotR crafting. Fan of the movies, but idk about the game.
I came to watch the 40k build and idc about the rest - sorry, but that’s just me.
If there was a channel just for 40k I’d subscribe to that, but considering I don’t want all the rest of the content I didn’t subscribe and just occasionally check if there’s a new 40k video.
Also, like many people have commented - FINISH something. It’s mostly jumping from here to there and then a bit of that before returning to here. ADHD issues, but make a plan & try to follow it. Helps you stress out less & the viewer to know what to expect.
Hope this helps & hope you can keep making these videos 🙏🏻
I love the passion you have for the hobby! I hope you are able to make things work and continue making such beautiful scenery.
Comment for the algorithm gods
Likes for the Like Throne
I enjoy watching both big builds. Keep going.
You need to stop starting projects and actually finish them and then move on from then, it is really draining to see so many progress videos. I don't actually know any completed projects you have, you might have dozens, but it always feels like slowly ticking away at multiple projects is your bread and butter. It would have been nice of you to focus on one thing at a time.
Zorpazorp got big when it was making LotR content. The original Megaboard in most of our eyes was Minas Tirith.
The Imperial Palace is awesome, but I think there's a "good enough" point so we can resume Middle Earth.
I legitimately think the Grey Haven's build is better than Minas Tirith
Hey Lachie! Where do you source your foam from? I'm in NZ too and XPS seems really hard to find here.
Composite NZ in Christchurch mate! I think they have a Nort Island Depot too 😊😊 goldfoam is what I use www.composite-nz.co.nz/
@@Zorpazorp thanks mate! Champion 💪🤘
Honestly these channel videos are very well explained TH-cam creator tutorials. You could capture a third audience of people just curious of how a passionate creator keeps a channel alive with tactics and strategies.
"This channel is in danger. Anyway I entirely customized my entire garage to match my mega boards."
I watch for your creativity. Anytime I see you work on some ungodly huge project it makes ME feel overwhelmed. I love seeing small, high-quality builds.
Think of all the amazing things you could have started and finished instead of some stupidly large build that gets both stressful and repetative for you and for some of your viewers.
Yeah I'll be honest, I tend to watch all of the board crafting videos that you put out, but just personally I'm a lot more excited for the 40k ones than I am for the LotR ones. When I watch a LotR build I get some ideas on how to build good scenery, but if I watch 40k I imagine myself building the same actual scenery for my own games. Genuinely love all the content you put out though!
You always try your best that's what I love about your channel Zorpazorp. Especially with War of the Rohirrim is round the corner. I been inspired to start my Rohan Army and wanting to plan to build my every own Edoras and Suthburg. Keep trying your hardest and I know your content is forever fantastic. 😊