I agree with all the comments looking for more competitive videos, particularly AoS. I'd rather see each host know 1 maybe 2 armies perfectly than 5 armies kinda ok
Completely agree. For 40k, I would be surprised if numbers didn’t got up if you started doing some focused ITC and ETC missions with tuned lists. Tournaments and competitive play is bigger than it ever has been and you haven’t leaned into that. While you still cater to fun and narrative play (which is awesome and why I am a vault member), I have a strong feeling you are missing out on a ton of potential members from people who are getting to the game because they want to compete in their local meta.
Personally I feel that the batreps are stagnant. I’m seeing the same armies over and over. There isn’t a lot of variety. Also I think you should do same more comp. games. Reach out to ITC team Canada and have them come in and do some Comp games explaining ITC rules for those of us that would like to get involved. Or even a in house tourney. We all like the kill team and blood bowl matches.
@@Vanagay competition rules guarantees you will see the same army every time. running free of that sort of meta is the only chance you will see variety.
Pha Tass 100% one of the easiest short term moves MWG could make. Have an Armageddon/highly costed game, or better yet campaign but with each patreon donators name written on the base or something and limited to one model per donator. $1 you’re a space marine. $10 you’re a librarian. $20 a dreadnaught. Keeps the community actively invested, plus they can see what small part they play in an ongoing action. If you were to do it over a 6 episode campaign, 50% vaulted as you do now it also would encourage membership. Then if people like it do it once a month?
I was really unsure about joining the vault... but I’ve been a member of the vault for over a year and I love it, it’s got every battle I could ask for, honestly people need to try it and I promise you won’t regret it!
"we are gonna charge you more for bandwidth, in fact so much more that we might cause you to go out of business and eventually not pay us at all" sound business strategy vimeo...
Could be that whatever arrangement they had was cost Vimeo $$ or making them nothing so why not jack up the price? Either that or they figured someone else would likely pay it. Free markets are a bitch :(
Theres actually a pretty reasonable precident for this, hosting videos is surprisingly expensive that's why theres so few options for it, youtube sinks in millions yearly to keep their servers running and updated
Seeing the reduction of in house painting etc was fairly clear that things were a bit tighter. As a silver vault member I'd say it's incredibly good value! I've spent far far more on these hobby games as a result of your fun content than I spend once a year on great vault content
Matt, try and renegotiate, it's not really in Vimeo's interest to just lose all that business, and yes I mean lose, because they will lose your business if their predatory business tactics tank your bottom line.
it's not predatory business. bandwidth costs Vimeo money as well. The standard cost is set for much smaller operations and their terms are clear. It would be nicer if they had set prices posted for various levels but it doesn't sound like Matt feels like the price is unreasonable, just that it is unexpected to be hit with the increase all at once.
@@RRKristensen I dont think you can make that conclusion without knowing Vimeo's situation with regards to the cost of working with MWG and how much they need to charge to break even. Another factor is what other buyers of said bandwidth can and will pay.
I think this is definitely a viable option, right now. If I can call up my ISP and tell them I don't want to pay a certain price, and that I want to talk to customer retention, then MWG can certainly get a response to negotiate.
When you talk about lack of growth in subscriptions, what is your retention like? Are you gaining new vault members but losing older members, which creates the illusion of stagnation? Or are you simply not gaining new members but keeping all of your current members? If you're not retaining members well enough, perhaps consider minor rewards for a year of membership or a free trial for silver if you're a bronze member? I've been a member for 5 years and it's kind of frustrating sometimes to see the giveaways of content to drag in new members, but no real reward for loyalty over the years. These kind of incentives could also help tempt new members in too, give them a reason to keep their subscription on after the free trial, and then encourage them to keep it on longer and longer.
I see that with other services too. Example is our sat. TV provider. I've been a customer for like 15+ years but I get diddly for being a long term loyal customer but I see all the time special promotions where new customers get free things like tablets, or a TV, or one time they gave away a laptop just for signing up. Or very common is free premium channel upgrades and stuff like that. But nope...nothing for me sticking around all those years. I call and complain and they might knock a few bucks off my bill and throw my free HOB for 3 months. But nothing good.
Honestly I left a while ago, and it was because the content that I left. There only seems to be one type of content and that's narrative gaming. Which is fine but it gets dull after a while. It would be good if you looked at more competitive tactics. And in general the tournament scene. Matt I know your a great tactical player. I'd really love for you to flex your might and talk about tactics and interviews with top players. In terms of your vimeo. You need find a new partner. Maybe even look at your own hosting service. There are cloud services out there that could be used. Alternatively look at only hosting less on Vimeo and move more content to TH-cam or other free services. This should reduce your bandwidth. This should also be a good wake up call. You need to look at all your partners and ask. What if this company went out of business. What would we do? What if this company changed its policies. You need a disaster recovery plan for ally your partners to mitigate those risks
@@chadashton7029 - Attracting new customers is difficult and expensive. Keeping customers is easy cheap. That is why you get nothing. Because they have to convince (bribe) new customers to try their service, and all they need to do for you is keep providing the service that you're already happy to pay for (read: do nothing extra). If you really wanted free stuff, then you would leave. But the truth is that the free stuff isn't worth the hassle of switching providers, and you both know it. Which is why you have no leverage, and get no freebies.
@@JCPRuckus Nope. Not afraid to leave. We've done it more than once. Worst thing that happens is we're out of Satellite TV for a few days but we stream 90% of the stuff we watch these days anyways so it's just a matter of time before we cut that cord completely.
Honestly, I don't expect MWG to read or respond to this, but I figured i'd throw my $.02 american out there. A great friend of mine had an amazing anecdote for his small business that's kept him alive for over 20 years.. "If you don't grow, you die." Perhaps part of the issue is the content. Battle reports are cool, but that's pretty much all you guys do now...and yes, narrative campaigns are battle reports, just with a theme. At this point, 90% of content is created for a single type of customer. I remember when vault content was a bit more diverse. There were Battle reports sure, but there were terrain tutorials, painting tutorials, the variety shows (Dave's animated shorts), LoaWG, the live shows from content creators, etc. Today, it's Battle reports, themed battle reports in the form of narrative campaigns, and some behind the vault, with an occasional smattering of other content. Painting tutorials died years ago in lieu of quick tips, to now nothing (because you guys sponsor painting studios in trade for advertising). Terrain tutorials died ( because you guys trade terrain for advertising). Heck, even Dave has pretty much fallen of the face of the earth with the Banter batreps. One of my favorite contents of the Vault back in the day was the pie challenges....hilarious! The other thing to consider is missed opportunities...when you guys were building the bunker, you guys used an epic amount of 3d printing..and honestly I had though that you guys might take that opportunity to maybe do some wargaming 3d printing videos, or heck sell the .stf files you guys used in the bunker to customers....nope none of that and yes I suggested that via e-mail, comments on vids to no response. Which ties into why I left the vault. I left the vault years ago when the focus shifted from a broad scope of topics surrounding wargaming including batreps, to batreps, with a narrow scope on anything else. Couple that with the surveys that went out for a few years that apparently fell of deaf ears and I sadly stepped away. I genuinely hope MWG makes it through this as I enjoy the YT content, unfortunately for me it will never be more than YT views as long as that content stays in it's narrow lane of batreps.
That's a great analysis. I think they do need to have a more detailed and varied content plan. I stopped watching battle reports years ago. Sadly, they're not really engaging with the community in such a discussion. They're just thanking people who say that they'll resub to the Vault. These subs will revitalize the business for a short time, but we'll back here again soon. Also, Patreon. Can't understand why they're not on there.
I've seen this coming some time ago when channels like Striking Scorpion, TabletopTactics and winters SEO started to explode. the main difference with those channels is, that these guys know the rules and play the game according to it (sure a mistake is made here and there). but miniwargaming as fun as they are don't play the game (40k that is, dunno about AOS) according to the rules but play a mish mash of remembered rules. this is a major turn off for people who want to see the game played "right".
This. I got tired of posting rules issues and getting down votes or snubbed by the content creators. To me, it is unacceptable for someone to play games professionally as a day job and have such little interest in doing it well. The reason why they are failing isn't a mystery at all, they have a low quality product and more competition then ever before. They need to stop being lazy and just make better videos with higher quality looking armies and less rules errors. Tabletop Tactics is now the industry standard, MWG was sitting comfortably in the drivers seat but they got lazy and never tried to improve. Rather then shaking a cup or begging for more support they should be getting their acts together and creating better content. One major issue is playing guests on camera. Some games are fine of course, but playing the staff against each other regularly would ensure everyone is improving and getting better.
@@marcellogenovese199 agreed 100%. I am new to the hobby and started with MWG's youtube vids. It didn't take long for me to switch over to Tabletop Tactics. No cringe guests, high quality, lots of passion and very few rules mistakes. They even take time to explain interpretations of rules if they do something borderline for fun. They actually come off as professionals with a product worth buying.
I must genuinely disagree with all three of these comments....rule mistakes don't particularly bother me...they don't take away from the fun of the game for me but then I don't play in competition....I play just for fun and I enjoy the fun aspect of MWG....I will be fair and say that I enjoy SS82 but I have never watched tabletop or SEO, maybe I should check them guys out, but the thing I enjoy from MWG the most is their sheer volume of content, I don't get anywhere near consuming allot of it and not all of it appeals to me but when I do watch them have fun watching them....also I think that the quality of the content and presentation is very high maybe not as high as SS82 but then with MWG I get to see every single dice roll instead of some here and there....I would finish in perhaps it's horses for courses and each to their own, I would like to see MWG stick around as they have allot to offer
@@blacktemplar5970 Tabletop tactics puts out 1 free video a week and 2 on demand. Their volume is quite high when you look at the quality that it comes with it. Quality over volume everyday.
@@zyearwood4587 ok that is a pretty valid point and you have me there I suppose what I meant was that because of large volume of content from MWG there is more stuff on there for to possibly enjoy, for instance I had zero interest in DnD until I watched MWG and I loved it and the Wrath and Glory and the Dark Imperium, I loved the ' this is not a test' I don't like to see 40k and AoS and 30k just for the sake of it but because there is so much of it I can soft through and find what I want to watch....I would love to see K47 or team Yankee being played, ( I collect these too and they would be awesome to watch) i would also love to see Battlfleet, starwars or Fire and Ice (I don't collect these but perhaps I would if I watched them awile)...MWG has something special and maybe too much of the same thing gets boring or bland quickly but I also see that they can't just cover every single thing, GW games really do (at least for now) keep the lights on....moving forward maybe they will have to expand...but for quality there tables always look awesome you have to give them that
Simply dont want to pay for yet another streaming service. I'm all good on those and there are plently of other people out there who do the stuff they are doing for free so I dont see the point.
Move battlereports that are 2-3 years old out of vault and into TH-cam. I don't think vault members will care for those old battle reports and you will decrease vimio traffic, don't know by how much but maybe it will help. Good luck on fighting the good fight. Vault member for life, literally. ;)
Edit: look at replies Would you consider uploading videos that are 2-5 years old onto another TH-cam channel and then managing the size of the Vault with Vimeo so that you can keep paying the amount you were prior?
Penisbone I don't think that works. It's bandwidths issue, as in pure number of people watching videos monthly... streaming movies. It's not a storage issue.
@DAMAGE tapletop I understand that. The Vault adds heaps more value to subscriptions by comparison to most Patreons. I initially thought that the issue had to do with storage, not user capacity.
Would like to suggest some things. I was a vault member and found that even though I was paying for the content I still would choose to watch TH-cam content. Reasons are listed below: 1. I watch AOS only and there is not enough vault AOS per month for me 2. AOS content is not great, aside Luka content was not to a standard I believe was better than other TH-cam channels 3. Website even with update seems dated. Can’t sort to find Sole AOS vids, cant download to watch rather than having connection, if away for a while unsure which vids I have/haven’t watched as it doesn’t say on the vid which would help, no app. 4. Comments on videos on vault didn’t get replies even when asking for your thoughts making it seem like commenting was not worth the time I feel like these fixes would make a huge difference 😊
I can agree to this. I feel like if the platform you guys had for the vault was better it would really help. Hate to say it but a year ago when i was a member it felt cheap :( content was great but sadly when people pay for stuff they consider things like that too. Hell i dont wanna but i do haha. Anyways all the best guys!
Hi Matt, reach out to me about the vimeo issue. I have some options you could explore in terms of video hosting which might help keep the costs down. 🙂 Thanks for all the great content.
The main reason i dropped my vault subscription was because the video player didn't seem to work at all on mobile devices, which is where i would watch/ listen to the videos
I've been enjoying your content for years now, but it looks like it's finally time to sign up for a Vault Membership. I'll be skipping the free trial and going straight for a subscription. Praying for you guys as well!
As a Silver Vault member, Twitch Subscriber, and huge fan. This. Studio. Is. Worth. It. It’s rare to find a long term studio that keeps churning out content they enjoy. I’m not saying they don’t burn out, but they have the staff to move around to keep everyone having fun. If you haven’t at least tried the vault, please do yourself a favor. I can’t begin to imagine where my models would be without the Quick Tips. The Painting Auxilium is fantastic. I would pay more money for my vault membership if I could!!
I'd need a firm commitment to quality checking, or having referees in games. I unsubbed from the vault a couple years back due to Quirk, and then I come back a few months ago and that Karl Tau 'player' damn near pushed me out again. If we can get the games played properly then you have my money
Have you guys considered revisiting doing more competitively focused content? Miniwargaming has awesome production values, beautiful armies and terrain, and great personalities. The one thing missing, in my opinion, is competitive content. I think the new diceless battle reports would be PERFECT to create bite-sized videos where the focus is on tactics and strategy with competitive missions and lists. If I could watch a 10-20 minute video to see how some of the different meta lists play and understand their tricks and abilities, or to just see it played in the hands of a great player, I would watch several in a row as part of tournament preparation. Perhaps inviting some of the big names in the competitive scene would help attract viewers as well.
This would mean they actually have to learn the rules fully and correctly for the games though, which they either don't have the time or simply don't want to do. They make far too many mistakes to even be considered good examples of casual games, never mind competitive games!
Well, I have been a subscriber since the first Gorkamorka campaign and needless to say I love the work that you make at MWG, its thoroughly entertaining and I always look forwards to seeing new videos by you all. Now, I am no expert on TH-cam, Vimeo or business in general and I cannot in good faith give you some kind of learned and sage like wisdom to improve matters and I can only talk as a consumer and come up with a few suggestions to try and help: • Reduce the length of battle reports: As much as I enjoy your content I really don’t understand why you are uploading battle reports that in some cases are over two hours long when it feels like a lot of that content is just rolling dice and moving the models around. The meat of the content, the banter, the pivotal dice roll that saves a character, the ‘Ten Part Plan’ stuff that makes your content really fun to watch feels like it gets buried in the run time. Maybe try a few battle reports where the final video is most of the biggest moments or funniest bits? It might not seem like a big idea, but I had to stop one channel because the could spend an hour or more just going through the army list and whilst you aren't that bad a little more pace might spice things up. • Have a greater variety of content: I love AoS, I love 40k, but that’s all I am really getting from you guys these days. I might not have played them but I enjoyed WHF, Blood Bowl, This is Not a Test, Necromunda, D&D and some of the other games you done promos for whose names escape me but I don’t see that stuff any more. I understand the cost of doing them can be prohibitive, you need to pay the content producers, it can be hard to get guests to play those games, I understand that, but would it really be so hard to do one game a fortnight, or even a month of a non-GW/GW Specialist Game? Sure you can’t do that for D&D and some of the games I listed but for others it could be worth it as a pilot to see what people are into, see if audiences for these things have grown since you last tried them. Could do it as ‘Specialised Saturdays’, do them every other Saturday when there isn't a narrative campaign going on. • Upload old Vault Videos to TH-cam: I don’t understand the bandwidth stuff, I am a technical idiot, but I can’t image that its worth while to keep videos from five or more years ago in the vault where no one is watching them. Sure, it might be a little jarring to see the content creators that are no longer with MWG or younger versions of the current ones, but I can’t imagine they are bringing in that many Vault Memberships at this point. Sure, you might make a whole penny from ad revenue on putting it on TH-cam but it’s better than nothing. • You need to drop Vimeo: I know that goes without saying and that you are trying to find an alternative and it would take time to switch over to another service but for a lot of people Vimeo can be really temperamental and I imagine it puts a lot of people off keeping their memberships once they try them. • Sort out the editing issues: I know you have a new editor and they are trying to get used to doing it all but the number off graphical and audio issues in some of the past battle reports have been really annoying to sit through. I can shrug off rules mistakes and more often than not you guys catch them and mention it in the video either at the head of a video or during it so that’s cool by me. But when a 30 minuet video has close to two hours of blank screen at the end of a video, the wrong audio plays in some videos and there are random blank screens where turn graphics should come it doesn't make for a good advertisement for the Vault. Those are just a few off the top of my head. Again, I love what you guys do, you are one of my favourite channels on TH-cam and I want to see you continue to make content for years to come but I feel you need to make a few tweaks to get people subscribing/re-subscribing again. I tried to be as objective and fair as I could because I don’t want to step on any toes or anything so I am sorry if it feels a little samey or if anyone else has said this. Best of luck with it!
Honestly this is my most watched 40k channel, I have only recently joined the vault, and I have to say i adored your shattered imperium campaign and I'm always looking forward to the next narrative campaign, I hope you guys can continue making videos.
Vimeo *increase* is rather space rocket. That increase is more MORE than unfair. Try maybe more often tours around vault(if you can) give paint lessons army & strategy lessons etc. Maybe open vault gift shop or something? Maybe add some ads to tv or newspaper around nearest towns to attract more people. Hang in there guys im sure you gonna make it! Edit: I almost forgot! Maybe add to merch store t shirts or something? Also, miniwargaming transfer sheet would be awesome!
Saving costs ideas and attraction drawing ideas: - get more armies covered! No one is playing drukhari, harlequins, sisters of battle; people like them - get the rules right especially vito. I personally dont really care too much but seen bunch of comments that they stoped the video cause there were 5 mistakes in 3min - cut very old and low view videos to save on data - keep the nothing but narrative stuff going! Gets people in who dont like watching 1 hour videos - instead of 2 days per week with 40k videos have 3 days and mix it up: 1 day conpetetive itc lists, 1 day pure fluff armies (iron warriors, blood axe clan etc) and 1 day regular ones. 40k is the biggest thing and you have to get every fan - offer slightly better bonuses for silver vault membership to get people to upgrade - if you have a guest that stays like 2 weeks, dont release every video with that person in a row. It gets boring to see 6 batreps with the guy and almost the same list (looking at you carl with the colorful tau)
The issue is your first two points work against each other. The more armies they each try to play the more rules they get wrong. They play the armies they somewhat know and like. Not to be mean but it seems most of their content producers are not concerned about that either.
@@wulfrik1631 Thx for you comment. I think whats happening right now is a good example. Luka is now starting to play sisters of battle again because of the new codex and he has played them before. So he doesnt need to learn everything from scratch. The other thing is, i guess everyone is very forgiving when you play an army fir the first time. Yet, i have seen lots of comments (sry vito) when someone continously make mistakes with their staple army (forbidden gem relic). Another example would we army unrelated rules like when vito (sry once again) read the mission and how to place the objectives and 3 seconds later places an objective right at the battle edge which had an game deciding impact. Things like that. But i got what you meant!
You have always inspired us with your work. We are on your side guys! We'll try to spread the word here among our Italian friends! we can't imagine a world without miniwargaming! HOLD ON Paolo & Riccardo Cousin's War Italia
Hoping for the best. Between keeping me in the hobby while I was isolated, to even getting a chance to work and film as a team member, I want nothing but the best for you guys! You guys are still one of the best entry points to the hobby, and keeping people engaged with it, even if they are unable to participate physically. I hope that a solution presents itself
Looking forward to trialling the Vault and likely subscribing next week, love your content and hope you guys will stick around. Would love to see more Math-hammer videos, comparing units in the same codexes to consider best value, or strategies for fighting strong units or common lists etc, utilising new rules to design new lists etc
ive been a vault member for years , just bought a lifetime this summer (hopefully you guys wont close anytime soon , i want to watch 70 years old dave banter a new player :P)
It is a sad situation and I have been a member before. But to support you and your team, I will subscribe again because you are all awesome. Happy to share this video and spread the word, can only help.
I've only recently discovered you folks and I really hope y'all are able to get through this and keep on doing this thing you obviously care so much about.
@@skarsik they can't send a lawsuit for someone turning their OWN head into a model piece, it's only when it's directly copying or claiming to be another's work and as for custom shoulder pads, there is already lots out there on various sites.
brightborn I’m talking specifically about MWG marine shoulder pads. They’re a large enough platform I’m confident it’ll get the attention of GW. Or it won’t, it’s my speculation.
I am a vault member for over a year and I do not regret it. I started the hobby by watching your shows and I really enjoy your narrative campaigns. I can only advocate for any regular viewer to become a vault member. Content does not appear from thin air and even wargamers need to eat sometimes. Please support your artists.
Not sure if someone has mentioned it (lots of comments), but when White Dwarf magazines dropped in numbers they changed the content, added new elements but also brought back old elements that readers enjoyed. Why not try something like The Tale of 4 Gamers with different armies not seen on the channel. Or bring in professional gamers to showcase beautifully painted armies / very beardy armies. I will be joining today however as you guys rock, and I really want to come to meet you. Hope to see you soon.
Three years ago, I started to play Warhammer 40k and your narrative campaigns really helped to create the enthusiasm to the hobby. I signed up for the vault and loved getting immersed into the MW's own little corner of the vast Imperium. During that time, especially in the latter days of WH40 7th edition, you guys had, i felt a bigger focus on large army bat reps. Like the campaigns and stage continued to grow with each episode, into like a huge planet winning pitch battle. And while you guys still do have some focus on that universe what with shattered imperium and the multiple death watch campaigns, but I would say that more than half of the content wasn't in my wheelhouse for interest. It wasn't until this past year that I discontinued my vault subscription. I just felt that the content I was looking for was coming in far and in between. I understand, GW has been releasing new product and you guys need to cover alot of that, but like I feel that your 40k narratives got lost in all the new reviews and such. I still enjoy the open vault and your q&a stuff, but I wish that you guys could field more 40k content in line with fate of fayoom. the utgaard infestation and such. Thats my 2 cents on that. I still appreciate what you guys have been doing for the community.
I think a 24 hour livestream might generate some short term cash, whereas moving forwards perhaps a serious look at sponsored content and general ads running in videos I feel as a silver vault member I would see as a fair trade off. I think I will treat myself to some merch for Xmas and if you do a live stream then I will jump onboard and give....perhaps running a tournament would also be a viable option
To add to this I would literally go through every single commission painting studio you have ever used, I would go to every game mat company every single online retailer and conversation bit hobby stockist you can find, I would approach other TH-camrs and podcasters I would get advertising on your site because if you can generate 20 sponsors at 50bucks a week then that's like another 4 grand a month....and should be easily achievable
@@blacktemplar5970 that is a great idea. Get more advertising revenue. I think most of us would understand if you gotta devote part of your videos to advertise for someone else. Gotta pay the bills. That and also finding a cheaper way to stream your vault content. There has to be a way
@@Bluepanther80 exactly and it would be a real foot up for some of the smaller companies out there, painters, podcasters, sculpters, other batrep producers, air brush manufacturers, other table top game producers, magnet sellers, green stuff and sculpting products, paint brush companies, terrain companies, DnD channels....miniwargaming could literally become a one stop shop for all table top enthusiasts and allot of people from all over the genre would start visiting the site, in time it could even allow MWG to dabble with different games, I would not mind at all seeing sponsored content and banners for various products related to the hobby....if I was MWG I would be literally getting in touch with everyone even remotely linked to the hobby, and along with all the additional revenue would come free sample products and products to receive....I think the more they did the more foot traffic they could get and the more they could charge for the ad space....and a genuine campaign to fight back against Vimeo would be worth while I would get it out there to Valarak and Arch and Kirioth and Glacial Geek, there are so many even the Quartering just really put a spotlight on the situation and it also just gets the name out there.....MWG need to get loud and if they are going down then they at least need to go down swinging.....they could even look at hosting their own tournaments and painting competition to attract all the prestige that comes along with that...... advertising within the hobby really works... because of Dave's podcast with 'Life After The Cover Save' I have now started listening to them and even become one of their patreons....MWG can really make this work but they have to call and email everyone in the business and get really imaginative
Vault member here. Thank you for everything, looking forward to visiting you all in Ontario, requesting more kill team videos. Talk about the competitive side, clarifying rules, clarifying special rules. Much appreciated.
Miniwargaming is one of the reasons I came back to the hobby last year! keep up the good work and I'm newly a vault member too! Maybe you should do some clothing in your store too! And as others have said, having a show focused on the competitive part of the hobby would be awesome!
I was, on and off, a vault member for the past 10 or so years. Usually, my membership depends on the content interesting to me. Lately, i cancelled my membership, again. There's plenty of reason, but here's a few : - Smaller games. I realized i don't care much for games under 2000 pts, and when one pop up at 1500 pts, i'm just not that interested. - Army involved. I'd say that's a twofer. first there's the fact that after awhile, some army are boring to watch. Second, some army composition are just so... predictable, that its almost boring. When watching the first 5 minutes tells you how the game will end, its hard to get motivated to watch it, and even worst to pay for it. - Content creator. I don't want to aim at anybody, but some people in MWG are better than other at making interesting content (which is just normal), and It feels like you lost some good creator in the past years. - New website. Ok, that was the last straw that made me cancel my membership. I HATE the new website ; it doesnt make things easier to view, its actually the opposite. Now, what can be done to improve interest in vault service? It's hard to say. To me it would be somethings and for others, it most likely would be other things. So i'll just list what would make "me" more interested ; 1- more content. A 1k and a 2k games each day? i don't know. i know more content means more people which means more expense... 2- more "various" content. I know some people play only one or two army, and probably you do not own all the armies, but still. Haven't seen that many Ossiarch Bonereaper, or City of Sigmars battle report. 3- New stuff about... new stuff. Sure, the reading of new books is interesting, but what about new models? unboxing, painting, etc? I'm probably not the only one who loves to watch someone build and paint something before i do. 4- more contributor (?). I think you used to have something like thins a long time ago, where people could post their video on your site or something similar. External contributor could help, i think, add more variety in content creator, armies, and hell, even terrains! 5- A community. Now in the age of facebook, community isnt what it used to be, but its something taht is always interesting to have, when you pay for a service ; feeling part of something. With the forum death, i doubt you'd revive it, but there's got to be something to make it more community-like. I truely hope you guys stick around, because you are pretty much the go-to channel for AoS videos.
I mentioned that in my e-mail to MWG of why I cancelled, their website put me off. I just wanted to watch 'AoS' videos, or '40k' or whatever, it was too much hassle trying to go through individual staff members. It's the whole "if you can't find what you're after within 10 seconds, a visitor usually leaves" It didn't help that my account messed up twice and I'm still not able to log back in, that was the final straw and I cancelled my sub. Rest of your post I wholeheartedly agree with
For the video solution, would you be able to have vault videos hosted though youtube, and have them unlisted and just link them on the vault member pages?
I was going to suggest this. It’s less of a enforceable paywall as people could technically share the links. But I think it’s worth a try for free hosting.
My friends and I came up this past summer. We were hoping to see their battle report go up. They did a 4 person free for all with Steve. Figured I would throw that concern up here. We did have a lot of fun at the new bunker and would suggest it to anyone. Though I would like to add there seems to be a noticeable increase in editing errors like the one that made me skip watching Skarred cast's last battle report on your channel. Hope thats helpful. You guys helped us get into the hobby and I can't thank you enough for that.
I was a loyal vault member until you guys stopped with old world wars. I then cancelled my subscription. This because it was important to show what content was important to me. Bring back old world wars on a regular basis and I would def become a silver member on the spot
Business 101, if the old model aint working, don't try beat a dead horse. Adapt, change you practices, listen to your customers (all those suggestingons from interested parties below).
as someone wanting to do this job more casually on the side, I would love a "training" of sorts on how you do what you do with setting up cameras, best recording practices, etc
Matt! Some pointers from a business perspective; 1) If this is a business, you have to run it from economics first and passion second. If you want more subscribers, ask the 90% on youtube that are not vault members what they want and produce THAT! It doesn't matter if you want to or not - make what people want to see, stick a smile on your face and be happy if you can get paid to play games you like 15% of the time. Also regarding contents, find your strengths and work out your weaknesses. You have some of the best batreps on youtube when it comes to video, sound and models, but is there some other part of the production that can maybe be improved on? Intros, presentation, wardrobe, guests? Maybe invite some local celebrities or rent a butler for a day to move the figures in a vid or two? Consider who your staff fanfavorits are and put THEM in front of the camera, even if this means you yourself is stuck with editing. Maybe you can't run a business and play with your toys? Pick one! The format has been the same for a decade - are there elements of the games you still haven't tried yet? If the staff wants to try something new, let them, but be quick to shut it down if it doesn't work. How about the competitive scene? Would hiring a pro-player to share tactics and strategy be viable? Oh, and regarding the roleplaying stuff, I'm not sure how popular it is among your paying customers but basically, if it's not Critical Role-popular you really should consider cutting it. There are way too many good competitors out there and frankly, you almost need professional actors to stand a chance in that department. 2) Cut your expenses. You have to figure out a cheaper way to get paid for your goods. I can't tell you what that is in your local region, but consider all options. Especially ones you really don't like. Make cheaper memberships for people that just want access to part of the Vault? Sell adspace in the videos? Ask GW for sponsorship since you are already making commercials for them and tell everyone how good their games are, even when it's AoS. Also, if the vault is not paying your bills, maybe it has to change. Increase prices? Only produce content that is payed up front, like Steve's kickstarter? Remove old irrelevant vids after the viewing rate falls below a certain point? If the vault is not doing its job in bringing in revenue, fire it and find a replacement. 3) Efficiency! I'm sure all your employees are also your friends, but they are also a bunch of slackers, and frankly, so are you and the bearded guy who has his mouth open in every pic. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you all work long hours, but you all spend alot of time in the videos on things that are not related to the contents of that specific show. Stop looking up rules while filming. Knowing the rules should be a requirement to work at MWG, otherwise it's a hobby and not a business. You as a manager have to find time-leaks and eliminate them. How much time is spent on setting up terrain? How much time on changing armies? If you are doing 12 games with Ultramarines in a year, film them all at once and then release them once a month, thus reducing time packing and unpacking the models. You are producing videos, not playing with your toy soldiers! And no more snacking while filming! Consider swapping out some of the main crew for a couple of part-timers. Maybe some youth and diversity among the staff would bring new and different viewers? And when looking for new staff in the future, maybe you can't really afford to hire gamers? Anyone can be thought how to play, but being able to sell a video for profit is more of a talent... I know all of this sounds pretty harsh and I hope you understand that I'm trying to help. I would really love to join the Vault as a member, and I will in the future... just as soon as you BRING BACK FANATSY! =)
I agree, 'Bring back fantasy', for many reasons; but a lot of this advice is either stuff which Matt already does, or is, in my opinion, actually opposed to the things which make MWG worth paying for. People want more videos from Matt, not fewer; they want more passion and less cranking out of batreps. More variety and more of the old fun feeling. We want to pay to see Matt playing with his toys, not to watch people working. We want our players fresh, vibrant, and playing for fun. A business mindset has slowly drained that away. The main problem is that MWG doesn't raise its prices or ask for further contributions from vault members. Charge more money, in more ways. As Anecron says, you have to monetise more effectively. Good luck :)
@@malkomalkavian I feel like I have to clarify something here; I'm not saying they should remove Matt from the vids. I'm saying find out what people want and make adjustments, EVEN if that means that you (Matt) as a businessman have to assign himself tasks that are not as fun as playing games. I believe this is the mentality required to keep a successful business running. Who knows, maybe his vids are the most popular and in that case, great! But prioritizing screentime when it comes to certain hosts, games or segments is far to important to ignore. When it comes to what people want to watch, you may be absolutely right. The real question though, is what are people willing to pay for. More vids produced in the same amount of time (as long as the contents is diverse) means a bigger potential audience, more advertising space and thereby more revenue. Regarding the players having fun, well, that's not really required as long as the audience thinks that's the case. Look at the new presenter on GW for example, Becca Scott. When she explains how to play Warcry, she's clearly reading all the rules from a prompter, but she looks like she loves the game and that is enough to make the video interesting. Perhaps a bad example for hardcore fans, but from an earnings potential and reaching a wider base, I'm pretty sure this strategy has a greater potential than someone who's there to have fun and just happened to bring a camera...
@@Anecron1 Yeah, I've been scanning the comments on this vid, here on youtube and on MWG, and many people are calling for a return to the Matt vs Dave, or Matt vs Steve, glory days. Matt has moved himself away from video production specifically because he is a businessman first, and a wargamer second. That may have been a misstep. My other point (while we are clarifying) is that the industrial production mindset that you advise, while staggeringly effective at increasing production, is the enemy of craftsmanship. In aesthetic businesses, craftsmanship is important. I am not saying that you are wrong, I agree strongly with you in many areas, but Matt will probably read all of these comments and I wanted to provide an alternative take on where MWG could go to capitalise on its core strengths. A well monetised product that people are willing to pay for is the aim in any case, but I believe that real fun is central to the product, that people can tell when it is being faked, and that they will not have loyalty to the fake version. Thanks for replying, it's nice to chat :)
Oh, on a personal level I totally agree with you. I love watching narrative games with people who loves what they are doing in settings where it doesn't really matter who wins. I just highly doubt that's where the money is. Compare Matt vs Dave with Kim Kardashian vs Dwayne Johnsson playing 40k while throwing insults at each other, taking a shot of tequila every time they lose a unit and while wearing purple bunnysiuts sponsored by Coca Cola! It may not be what the loyal fans are asking for, but don't say it wouldn't help pay the bills... Regarding the comments it's an interesting point you bring up. Admittedly, I read them all when there were about 270-ish so things might have changed, but what stood out to me was people asking for more competitive games, competitive analysis of lists and tournament strategy. It may be confirmation bias, but it seems the main requests involved contents that MWG isn't really producing, and I've heard Matt mention somewhere that the reason they don't create this stuff is because no one on the staff is really into this sort of thing. If this is correct, and it very well may not be, that's another reason to bring in a couple of fresh faces. A quick poll on the channel may clear things up, but then again, the result may show something that MWG is not willing to pursue?
Good luck guys, interesting to watch in many ways as its good to find out and realise just how much work goes in to these videos and the whole team that works for the channel. Bare with me, but i shall certainly help and become a member. Hang in there :-)
Well im so so unhappy by this video, i love the channel and all the people who work at MWG. I have been watching MWG for about 9 years,a silver Vault member for nearly 4 years and a twitch sub for 6 months and i have never looked back. Best money i spend each month. I really really hope people do sign up so you guys can keep up the amazing videos. I know this may not be a popular idea. But i wouldnt be put out if you decide to increase your prices for the vault. I would be happy to pay 25% more each month. I would now if i could. P.s really appreciate that you have always been so transparent when MWG have had big changes (closing of the store, people leaving, the move to the bunker etc) Edit : i know someone else has suggested it. Have you considered amazon web services as a hosting site. I do have a friend who works for them and could ask him if he knows what sort of prices they charge and deals they do
From the perspective of an accountant and MBA, I know you all don't have schoolhouse training, but are your costs assigned appropriately? Tracking what things cost is important and as a service (non-mfg business), there are several ways to do it.
Hey I get it. We recently did a big update, and we're still finishing up some loose ends. We just fixed the search, and are now working on a lot of other functions.
You guys got me back into the hobby after stopping for a while, never been more into it and that's thanks to you so I'm definitly gonna join the vault! My Emperor's Guild space marine Chapter needs its painter to stay motivated!
I don't watch as many videos as I used to, but I'm signed up to the vault and it's a pretty awesome service and for me, its cheaper then Netflix (which I watch less). If you can, sign up for the vault, these guys, as Matt said, make their videos with passion, and blue collar heresy is without a doubt my favourite role playing series
I used to be a vault member, but I let my subscription lapse a little while ago for financial reasons. I think one of the big reasons I haven’t been drawn back in is because it seems so GW focused. I realize that GW games appeal to the biggest audience to get the numbers in but it’s also what everyone else is making videos on as well and I think it’s become harder and harder to differentiate in the games workshop space. The thing that really drew me in at first were the other games like Infinity, and particularly dark potential. I think its difficult to convince people to pay for something when there’s now so much more of it for free. From a business perspective, when your market has become saturated and therefore more competitive, the two things an operator can do are cut costs (which would be cutting people) or create a distinct and unique value proposition that draws in people who are willing to pay more. Warhammer has broad market appeal, but the broad market largely isn’t willing to pay. In the internet space, the people largely willing to pay money are the “whales” or “unicorns” who have more niche interests but are much more willing to part with money than the people who are catered to by all the other content creators. My formal education is in business and my experience is in new era small business. Differentiation has been the make or break for small business recently, particularly in the online space because competing on cost is really difficult and forces people to compete with others who don’t need to make a living solely from their business. Hope that helps with some outside perspective at least, thanks for making such great content guys!
I am a vault member (sadly I can't afford a higher tier than bronze) , and I love it! You make great shows and I really hope your financial troubles resolves, you make great content & I would love to see you continue long in the future!
Honestly the reason I don't watch much Vault content even though I've had a subscription for a couple years, is Vimeo. I can't resume a video that I've partially watched, and my internet isn't good enough to stream without many hitches because it isn't as efficient as TH-cam. I would download the battle reports and watch them that way, but the only uploaded versions are 1 or more Gigs, which would take many hours to download. I would recommend ditching Vimeo, since for me, it's the reason I don't watch Vault content, and it sounds like they jacked up the price on you anyway.
For me it's the lack of rules knowledge or army knowledge. The poor army match ups that happen quite often ending up in a blow out game. The narrative campaigns or custom games on the other hand are done very well. I agree with doing more competitive stuff even just mini tournaments between the staff members doesn't have to be to the extreme competitive wise but bring some armies to clash with some teeth.
i concur, narrative campaigns that start with a Battle Fleet segment that can continue to give bonuses to campaign would be great. Even after the main fleet action is over you could have blockade running scenarios to reinforce or boost planet side factions. Great Idea!
So, I love everything you guys put out there. I was a member for the longest time, however funds got a bit limited. I will be re-subscribing when I can. The videos that I would like to see are more tournament level games with highly competitive lists and ITC or similar rules. Seeing some of the lists that are not entirely optimized makes it a little less enjoyable for people like myself who enjoy watching armies at their peek. Otherwise, I enjoy all the different personalities that you guys offer. Keep it up! You guys are gonna make it!
Don’t look at the Vault and Patreon as either or. With over 300k YT subs, you could have a revenue stream of folks who enjoy all your YT content yet aren’t ready for a Vault commitment. $1 per month x 100k subs is a good deal.
That could be something. Really low cost option to pull in a lot of people and give them maybe a taste of what they'd get from the vault but not the full experience. I mean I'd think a lot of people would drop a buck or two a month to get some exclusive content weekly. I've done the vault and honestly...loads of great stuff but just a lot of things in there I never watched so it was a ton of content wasted on me and I was paying like $7 a month. I'd gladly pay a fraction of that and only get to see a smaller amount of videos. Even just a few extra battle reports a week for a dollar or two a month....I'd be down for that.
I would vote for less battles but more quality. Recently a lot of videos have had guests who couldn't be heard / weren't on microphone correctly, A LOT of repeating armies, and that the camerawork has stayed firmly on a blank area of the board to roll dice. While the dice are important, I feel like I don't see the board or the players in a way that engages me the same way that some other Battle Report sites do. This results in my engagement with the report dropping off. There are a lot of people calling for competitive analysis/discussion? Perhaps videos around that, that aren't as intensive to record as they don't require the full game setup, could be used to help take the pressure off while doing more focused reports?
I've followed you guys on youtube since 2012 and recently became a bronze member in 2018 and will happily upgrade to silver. You guys do great work, have good people, and a lot of charm. I hope you're exploring cheaper alternatives to Vimeo and I trust you guys will make good decisions to keep MWG going. Happy Wargaming.
Im so sorry that your expenses just skyrocketed, you are just amazing all of you, proud vault member for just about 3great years. Never tried the store but chtistmas is coming so i would gladly make your products a big part of that. I have a suggestion that i already know you probably think is bad is that give vault members the options to pay more to support for a shorter time, please think about it because you guys revolutionised the online battlereporttrend. It would really suck if the miniwargaming family grows smaller. Lots of love from Sweden and a supporter of the Tau'va(sorry dave)
Hej miniwargaming, I'm sure going to sign-up to the vault, 1 question, I would love to see more age of sigmar, the amount of 40k compared to AOS is kinda off... Is this possible?
In the last year or so, there has been a lot and I mean a lot of AOS on the channel compared to before. Probably 50% 40k, 10% 30k and 40% AOS right now
generally speaking, Age of Sigmar is hated. That is why the announcement of a return to Warhammer Fantasy was such a big deal. Yes, it's arguably the better game, but more AoS content is probably a bad business move.
Mellow Seven Gaming I mean AoS is bigger than fantasy ever was and in certain large markets even out performing 40k....... it’s far from unpopular, if MWG do indeed see it as something not worth investing in... their loss.
Two things: 1.) It seems the number one complaint is with you guys not knowing/ playing the rules correctly. (easy fix) 2.) Perhaps you offer too much content! Reduce the volume but crank up the quality.
They offer too many battle reports and nothing else. They used to have painting tutorials, terrain tutorials and a ton of other variety content that kept things fresh. There are only so many times that watching two people battle would be interesting. They need variety content or they'll simply fade away like any business that fails to adapt.
@@Emajenus I never mentioned specifically what content they should or should not create. Only that perhaps they should focus on quality over quantity. Which like most things involving entertainment is a key to success.
Scrap the Vault as a paywall for exclusive content, and treat it more as a Patreon style direct donation with maybe some other perks (live-streams, campaign suggestions, whatever), and just host everything on TH-cam or an equivalent service. Sure the ad revenue is less, but is the difference more than the increase in Vimeo costs?
Been watching y’all for years least I can do is give it a shot. Next payday you’ll have yourself a new silver. Thanks for asked earnestly and being upfront. I appreciate that greatly. Keep up the good work and keep the dream alive. I’m trying to support myself as a pro-painter and the mini-wargaming market is brutal these days!
Just an idea, but couldn't you use the vault for 'time exclusive content' which eventually gets released to youtube at some point down the line? That'd reduce bandwidth usage and might bring you under the threshhold so your costs can drop back down again. Or use the vault for torrent distribution of your content?
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Hope it keeps going well, or better for you.. Can you find another bandwidth provider or wtf was that price hike recently? Seems kinda ridicolous upping it that much..
To be honest Dave and I knew that this would eventually happen. It was too cheap to begin with. Having said that there wasn't really much way to prepare for it other than to just wait...
@@dominicbenitez6899 Vimeo has it in their terms of service. They reserve the right to increase the cost for a user that uses high amounts of bandwidth. Legally, Vimeo had every right to do that, even if there was a contract.
So the issue for me is you stopped supporting Old World Wars. I was and would happily reactivate in a moment, but I don't play AOS or 40k. So you lost me there.
Create a new video like this that fully summarizes why I would want to sign up, what are the benefits other than video vault? Having to click and go searching what exactly is all included is just an extra step to entice me.
To be perfectly honest, while not being glibbly insulting, the content over the past autumn and summer has been disappointing and not developing in direction I enjoy. I've found myself skipping more and more videos. My suggestion is focusing more on your previous core content: nonnarrative battle reports and painting tutorials.
This is also something i feel too. Narrative campaigns are nice but if they really take a huge amount of effort and you could be doing more painting or podcasts that could be solid. You guys to me are the fun batrap channel, like thats your think in my eyes so keep it coming. If other stuff takes alot of planning perhaps dip into another area like paint tutorial as Que said.
Silver Vault member here. It’s definitely worth it to anyone on the fence. I’ve learned so much from Kris’ painting videos alone, not to mention the backlog of batreps, especially Horus Heresy and Old World Wars. Edit: They also allow you to download most of the content in the vault
My interests are AoS and I feel like Matt’s the only who is really into it. Not interested in watching batreps where the staff don’t care and can’t be bothered trying to get balanced armies on the table.
Just resubbed. I let my access lapse a year or two ago because I no longer had time to sit down and watch nearly as many videos as I used to. That hasn't really changed, but you guys are the trailblazers in this field, a genuine inspiration to so many of us, and you deserve to keep doing the good work. Heck, I'm on holiday, so maybe I'll spend a few days catching up on the fun stuff I missed. Good luck guys.
Some possibilities: 1-Place your revenue into a portfolio within a corporate TFSA to earn some interest. 2-As an SME maybe switching to ASPA would help cut some costs. 3-You could issue Private Placements to certain parties (such as the couple mentioned in the video, or your staff). I would agree with the crowd in trying to get a new contract with a different streaming service.
Analysis of competitive army lists being added to the vault may attract more people looking to learn how to play better as well as being entertained?
I agree with all the comments looking for more competitive videos, particularly AoS. I'd rather see each host know 1 maybe 2 armies perfectly than 5 armies kinda ok
Colin Williamson I agree.
Definitely agree with having videos that are competitively focused.
Completely agree. For 40k, I would be surprised if numbers didn’t got up if you started doing some focused ITC and ETC missions with tuned lists. Tournaments and competitive play is bigger than it ever has been and you haven’t leaned into that.
While you still cater to fun and narrative play (which is awesome and why I am a vault member), I have a strong feeling you are missing out on a ton of potential members from people who are getting to the game because they want to compete in their local meta.
This 100%. Make something shocking and explain why.
Personally I feel that the batreps are stagnant. I’m seeing the same armies over and over. There isn’t a lot of variety. Also I think you should do same more comp. games. Reach out to ITC team Canada and have them come in and do some Comp games explaining ITC rules for those of us that would like to get involved. Or even a in house tourney. We all like the kill team and blood bowl matches.
I’m tired to see the same tau army everytime.
Plz matt, consider a more competitive approach in 40k, with itc rule and players.
I would love gloomspite gitz
@@Vanagay competition rules guarantees you will see the same army every time. running free of that sort of meta is the only chance you will see variety.
Yes more variety would be great. One army I haven't seen in a REALLY long time on this channel is Disciples of Tzeentch/Daemons of Tzeentch 40k.
@@Vanagay um comp lists are more of the same thing over and over again than normal with just faster more boring matches
Why not do patreon. Like a dollar is a thank you $5 has your name show up at the end of the show and $10 has a model named stuff like that.
Pha Tass 100% one of the easiest short term moves MWG could make. Have an Armageddon/highly costed game, or better yet campaign but with each patreon donators name written on the base or something and limited to one model per donator. $1 you’re a space marine. $10 you’re a librarian. $20 a dreadnaught.
Keeps the community actively invested, plus they can see what small part they play in an ongoing action. If you were to do it over a 6 episode campaign, 50% vaulted as you do now it also would encourage membership.
Then if people like it do it once a month?
Horselhero that’s such a cool idea I love it
Honestly! That’s a great move!
$5 to have a model have your name painted on the base rim
$10 for your name painted on a vehicle (name plate or something)
Horselhero, awesome idea, id throw money at that definitely!
I was really unsure about joining the vault... but I’ve been a member of the vault for over a year and I love it, it’s got every battle I could ask for, honestly people need to try it and I promise you won’t regret it!
Thanks David! Your kind words are very appreciated.
"we are gonna charge you more for bandwidth, in fact so much more that we might cause you to go out of business and eventually not pay us at all" sound business strategy vimeo...
Could be that whatever arrangement they had was cost Vimeo $$ or making them nothing so why not jack up the price? Either that or they figured someone else would likely pay it. Free markets are a bitch :(
Theres actually a pretty reasonable precident for this, hosting videos is surprisingly expensive that's why theres so few options for it, youtube sinks in millions yearly to keep their servers running and updated
This is why unregulated free markets suck
@@SigridKroon 100% agree.
@@SigridKroon without unregulated fee markets the internet never would have happened.
Seeing the reduction of in house painting etc was fairly clear that things were a bit tighter. As a silver vault member I'd say it's incredibly good value! I've spent far far more on these hobby games as a result of your fun content than I spend once a year on great vault content
Thanks so much Tyler! :)
Matt, try and renegotiate, it's not really in Vimeo's interest to just lose all that business, and yes I mean lose, because they will lose your business if their predatory business tactics tank your bottom line.
it's not predatory business. bandwidth costs Vimeo money as well. The standard cost is set for much smaller operations and their terms are clear. It would be nicer if they had set prices posted for various levels but it doesn't sound like Matt feels like the price is unreasonable, just that it is unexpected to be hit with the increase all at once.
This guy is right. If Vimeo are a professional business, they will negotiate a reasonable price with you guys.
@@RRKristensen I dont think you can make that conclusion without knowing Vimeo's situation with regards to the cost of working with MWG and how much they need to charge to break even. Another factor is what other buyers of said bandwidth can and will pay.
@@RoamGaming All business is predatory.
I think this is definitely a viable option, right now. If I can call up my ISP and tell them I don't want to pay a certain price, and that I want to talk to customer retention, then MWG can certainly get a response to negotiate.
When you talk about lack of growth in subscriptions, what is your retention like?
Are you gaining new vault members but losing older members, which creates the illusion of stagnation? Or are you simply not gaining new members but keeping all of your current members?
If you're not retaining members well enough, perhaps consider minor rewards for a year of membership or a free trial for silver if you're a bronze member? I've been a member for 5 years and it's kind of frustrating sometimes to see the giveaways of content to drag in new members, but no real reward for loyalty over the years.
These kind of incentives could also help tempt new members in too, give them a reason to keep their subscription on after the free trial, and then encourage them to keep it on longer and longer.
I see that with other services too. Example is our sat. TV provider. I've been a customer for like 15+ years but I get diddly for being a long term loyal customer but I see all the time special promotions where new customers get free things like tablets, or a TV, or one time they gave away a laptop just for signing up. Or very common is free premium channel upgrades and stuff like that. But nope...nothing for me sticking around all those years. I call and complain and they might knock a few bucks off my bill and throw my free HOB for 3 months. But nothing good.
Honestly I left a while ago, and it was because the content that I left. There only seems to be one type of content and that's narrative gaming. Which is fine but it gets dull after a while. It would be good if you looked at more competitive tactics. And in general the tournament scene. Matt I know your a great tactical player. I'd really love for you to flex your might and talk about tactics and interviews with top players.
In terms of your vimeo. You need find a new partner. Maybe even look at your own hosting service. There are cloud services out there that could be used.
Alternatively look at only hosting less on Vimeo and move more content to TH-cam or other free services. This should reduce your bandwidth.
This should also be a good wake up call. You need to look at all your partners and ask. What if this company went out of business. What would we do? What if this company changed its policies. You need a disaster recovery plan for ally your partners to mitigate those risks
Why not just can this old way of doing things and open up a patreon?
@@chadashton7029 - Attracting new customers is difficult and expensive. Keeping customers is easy cheap. That is why you get nothing. Because they have to convince (bribe) new customers to try their service, and all they need to do for you is keep providing the service that you're already happy to pay for (read: do nothing extra).
If you really wanted free stuff, then you would leave. But the truth is that the free stuff isn't worth the hassle of switching providers, and you both know it. Which is why you have no leverage, and get no freebies.
@@JCPRuckus Nope. Not afraid to leave. We've done it more than once. Worst thing that happens is we're out of Satellite TV for a few days but we stream 90% of the stuff we watch these days anyways so it's just a matter of time before we cut that cord completely.
I’ll be restarting my vault membership on Friday.
Thanks so much!
gonna be doing the same by the end of the month when I get paid
Honestly, I don't expect MWG to read or respond to this, but I figured i'd throw my $.02 american out there.
A great friend of mine had an amazing anecdote for his small business that's kept him alive for over 20 years.. "If you don't grow, you die."
Perhaps part of the issue is the content. Battle reports are cool, but that's pretty much all you guys do now...and yes, narrative campaigns are battle reports, just with a theme. At this point, 90% of content is created for a single type of customer. I remember when vault content was a bit more diverse. There were Battle reports sure, but there were terrain tutorials, painting tutorials, the variety shows (Dave's animated shorts), LoaWG, the live shows from content creators, etc.
Today, it's Battle reports, themed battle reports in the form of narrative campaigns, and some behind the vault, with an occasional smattering of other content. Painting tutorials died years ago in lieu of quick tips, to now nothing (because you guys sponsor painting studios in trade for advertising). Terrain tutorials died ( because you guys trade terrain for advertising). Heck, even Dave has pretty much fallen of the face of the earth with the Banter batreps. One of my favorite contents of the Vault back in the day was the pie challenges....hilarious!
The other thing to consider is missed opportunities...when you guys were building the bunker, you guys used an epic amount of 3d printing..and honestly I had though that you guys might take that opportunity to maybe do some wargaming 3d printing videos, or heck sell the .stf files you guys used in the bunker to customers....nope none of that and yes I suggested that via e-mail, comments on vids to no response. Which ties into why I left the vault.
I left the vault years ago when the focus shifted from a broad scope of topics surrounding wargaming including batreps, to batreps, with a narrow scope on anything else. Couple that with the surveys that went out for a few years that apparently fell of deaf ears and I sadly stepped away.
I genuinely hope MWG makes it through this as I enjoy the YT content, unfortunately for me it will never be more than YT views as long as that content stays in it's narrow lane of batreps.
That's a great analysis.
I think they do need to have a more detailed and varied content plan. I stopped watching battle reports years ago.
Sadly, they're not really engaging with the community in such a discussion. They're just thanking people who say that they'll resub to the Vault.
These subs will revitalize the business for a short time, but we'll back here again soon.
Also, Patreon. Can't understand why they're not on there.
Have been a vault member for years. Didn't regret it for a second. If you watch MWG regularly: Become a member!
Thanks so much Philipp!
I've seen this coming some time ago when channels like Striking Scorpion, TabletopTactics and winters SEO started to explode. the main difference with those channels is, that these guys know the rules and play the game according to it (sure a mistake is made here and there). but miniwargaming as fun as they are don't play the game (40k that is, dunno about AOS) according to the rules but play a mish mash of remembered rules. this is a major turn off for people who want to see the game played "right".
This. I got tired of posting rules issues and getting down votes or snubbed by the content creators. To me, it is unacceptable for someone to play games professionally as a day job and have such little interest in doing it well. The reason why they are failing isn't a mystery at all, they have a low quality product and more competition then ever before. They need to stop being lazy and just make better videos with higher quality looking armies and less rules errors. Tabletop Tactics is now the industry standard, MWG was sitting comfortably in the drivers seat but they got lazy and never tried to improve. Rather then shaking a cup or begging for more support they should be getting their acts together and creating better content. One major issue is playing guests on camera. Some games are fine of course, but playing the staff against each other regularly would ensure everyone is improving and getting better.
@@marcellogenovese199 agreed 100%. I am new to the hobby and started with MWG's youtube vids. It didn't take long for me to switch over to Tabletop Tactics. No cringe guests, high quality, lots of passion and very few rules mistakes. They even take time to explain interpretations of rules if they do something borderline for fun. They actually come off as professionals with a product worth buying.
I must genuinely disagree with all three of these comments....rule mistakes don't particularly bother me...they don't take away from the fun of the game for me but then I don't play in competition....I play just for fun and I enjoy the fun aspect of MWG....I will be fair and say that I enjoy SS82 but I have never watched tabletop or SEO, maybe I should check them guys out, but the thing I enjoy from MWG the most is their sheer volume of content, I don't get anywhere near consuming allot of it and not all of it appeals to me but when I do watch them have fun watching them....also I think that the quality of the content and presentation is very high maybe not as high as SS82 but then with MWG I get to see every single dice roll instead of some here and there....I would finish in perhaps it's horses for courses and each to their own, I would like to see MWG stick around as they have allot to offer
@@blacktemplar5970 Tabletop tactics puts out 1 free video a week and 2 on demand. Their volume is quite high when you look at the quality that it comes with it.
Quality over volume everyday.
@@zyearwood4587 ok that is a pretty valid point and you have me there I suppose what I meant was that because of large volume of content from MWG there is more stuff on there for to possibly enjoy, for instance I had zero interest in DnD until I watched MWG and I loved it and the Wrath and Glory and the Dark Imperium, I loved the ' this is not a test' I don't like to see 40k and AoS and 30k just for the sake of it but because there is so much of it I can soft through and find what I want to watch....I would love to see K47 or team Yankee being played, ( I collect these too and they would be awesome to watch) i would also love to see Battlfleet, starwars or Fire and Ice (I don't collect these but perhaps I would if I watched them awile)...MWG has something special and maybe too much of the same thing gets boring or bland quickly but I also see that they can't just cover every single thing, GW games really do (at least for now) keep the lights on....moving forward maybe they will have to expand...but for quality there tables always look awesome you have to give them that
Simply dont want to pay for yet another streaming service. I'm all good on those and there are plently of other people out there who do the stuff they are doing for free so I dont see the point.
Going straight to the top for you guys Matt...praying to God for your complete success on this matter! 🙏 Amen.
Move battlereports that are 2-3 years old out of vault and into TH-cam. I don't think vault members will care for those old battle reports and you will decrease vimio traffic, don't know by how much but maybe it will help.
Good luck on fighting the good fight.
Vault member for life, literally. ;)
Edit: look at replies
Would you consider uploading videos that are 2-5 years old onto another TH-cam channel and then managing the size of the Vault with Vimeo so that you can keep paying the amount you were prior?
Penisbone I don't think that works. It's bandwidths issue, as in pure number of people watching videos monthly... streaming movies. It's not a storage issue.
@@SlayerOfWorlds oooh, I get it now, thanks
@DAMAGE tapletop I understand that. The Vault adds heaps more value to subscriptions by comparison to most Patreons. I initially thought that the issue had to do with storage, not user capacity.
Would like to suggest some things. I was a vault member and found that even though I was paying for the content I still would choose to watch TH-cam content. Reasons are listed below:
1. I watch AOS only and there is not enough vault AOS per month for me
2. AOS content is not great, aside Luka content was not to a standard I believe was better than other TH-cam channels
3. Website even with update seems dated. Can’t sort to find Sole AOS vids, cant download to watch rather than having connection, if away for a while unsure which vids I have/haven’t watched as it doesn’t say on the vid which would help, no app.
4. Comments on videos on vault didn’t get replies even when asking for your thoughts making it seem like commenting was not worth the time
I feel like these fixes would make a huge difference 😊
I can agree to this. I feel like if the platform you guys had for the vault was better it would really help. Hate to say it but a year ago when i was a member it felt cheap :( content was great but sadly when people pay for stuff they consider things like that too. Hell i dont wanna but i do haha. Anyways all the best guys!
Great feedback. When i was a vault member i also preferred youtube and everything in one place
Hi Matt, reach out to me about the vimeo issue. I have some options you could explore in terms of video hosting which might help keep the costs down. 🙂 Thanks for all the great content.
Jesper Bisgaard danish?
@@KiraDeRichelieu yes i am 🙂
Tænkte jeg nok
The main reason i dropped my vault subscription was because the video player didn't seem to work at all on mobile devices, which is where i would watch/ listen to the videos
I've been enjoying your content for years now, but it looks like it's finally time to sign up for a Vault Membership. I'll be skipping the free trial and going straight for a subscription. Praying for you guys as well!
As a Silver Vault member, Twitch Subscriber, and huge fan. This. Studio. Is. Worth. It. It’s rare to find a long term studio that keeps churning out content they enjoy. I’m not saying they don’t burn out, but they have the staff to move around to keep everyone having fun. If you haven’t at least tried the vault, please do yourself a favor. I can’t begin to imagine where my models would be without the Quick Tips. The Painting Auxilium is fantastic. I would pay more money for my vault membership if I could!!
I cannot thank MiniWargaming enough for everything they do. Keep up the good work!
I'd need a firm commitment to quality checking, or having referees in games. I unsubbed from the vault a couple years back due to Quirk, and then I come back a few months ago and that Karl Tau 'player' damn near pushed me out again. If we can get the games played properly then you have my money
ronanmcw please no more Karl ever again
I would but I already am a vault member, I have upgraded to silver though
Thanks Matthew! You are indeed already helping, which is awesome.
dito
That was my idea too, but i cannot find the option to do so :D Could you guys guide me to where to upgrade my membership? XD
@@Corvus111 I don~t know either, I wrote Miniwargaming a mail and Erin managed the rest
Have you guys considered revisiting doing more competitively focused content? Miniwargaming has awesome production values, beautiful armies and terrain, and great personalities. The one thing missing, in my opinion, is competitive content. I think the new diceless battle reports would be PERFECT to create bite-sized videos where the focus is on tactics and strategy with competitive missions and lists. If I could watch a 10-20 minute video to see how some of the different meta lists play and understand their tricks and abilities, or to just see it played in the hands of a great player, I would watch several in a row as part of tournament preparation. Perhaps inviting some of the big names in the competitive scene would help attract viewers as well.
This would mean they actually have to learn the rules fully and correctly for the games though, which they either don't have the time or simply don't want to do. They make far too many mistakes to even be considered good examples of casual games, never mind competitive games!
Well, I have been a subscriber since the first Gorkamorka campaign and needless to say I love the work that you make at MWG, its thoroughly entertaining and I always look forwards to seeing new videos by you all. Now, I am no expert on TH-cam, Vimeo or business in general and I cannot in good faith give you some kind of learned and sage like wisdom to improve matters and I can only talk as a consumer and come up with a few suggestions to try and help:
• Reduce the length of battle reports: As much as I enjoy your content I really don’t understand why you are uploading battle reports that in some cases are over two hours long when it feels like a lot of that content is just rolling dice and moving the models around. The meat of the content, the banter, the pivotal dice roll that saves a character, the ‘Ten Part Plan’ stuff that makes your content really fun to watch feels like it gets buried in the run time. Maybe try a few battle reports where the final video is most of the biggest moments or funniest bits? It might not seem like a big idea, but I had to stop one channel because the could spend an hour or more just going through the army list and whilst you aren't that bad a little more pace might spice things up.
• Have a greater variety of content: I love AoS, I love 40k, but that’s all I am really getting from you guys these days. I might not have played them but I enjoyed WHF, Blood Bowl, This is Not a Test, Necromunda, D&D and some of the other games you done promos for whose names escape me but I don’t see that stuff any more. I understand the cost of doing them can be prohibitive, you need to pay the content producers, it can be hard to get guests to play those games, I understand that, but would it really be so hard to do one game a fortnight, or even a month of a non-GW/GW Specialist Game? Sure you can’t do that for D&D and some of the games I listed but for others it could be worth it as a pilot to see what people are into, see if audiences for these things have grown since you last tried them. Could do it as ‘Specialised Saturdays’, do them every other Saturday when there isn't a narrative campaign going on.
• Upload old Vault Videos to TH-cam: I don’t understand the bandwidth stuff, I am a technical idiot, but I can’t image that its worth while to keep videos from five or more years ago in the vault where no one is watching them. Sure, it might be a little jarring to see the content creators that are no longer with MWG or younger versions of the current ones, but I can’t imagine they are bringing in that many Vault Memberships at this point. Sure, you might make a whole penny from ad revenue on putting it on TH-cam but it’s better than nothing.
• You need to drop Vimeo: I know that goes without saying and that you are trying to find an alternative and it would take time to switch over to another service but for a lot of people Vimeo can be really temperamental and I imagine it puts a lot of people off keeping their memberships once they try them.
• Sort out the editing issues: I know you have a new editor and they are trying to get used to doing it all but the number off graphical and audio issues in some of the past battle reports have been really annoying to sit through. I can shrug off rules mistakes and more often than not you guys catch them and mention it in the video either at the head of a video or during it so that’s cool by me. But when a 30 minuet video has close to two hours of blank screen at the end of a video, the wrong audio plays in some videos and there are random blank screens where turn graphics should come it doesn't make for a good advertisement for the Vault.
Those are just a few off the top of my head. Again, I love what you guys do, you are one of my favourite channels on TH-cam and I want to see you continue to make content for years to come but I feel you need to make a few tweaks to get people subscribing/re-subscribing again. I tried to be as objective and fair as I could because I don’t want to step on any toes or anything so I am sorry if it feels a little samey or if anyone else has said this. Best of luck with it!
Honestly this is my most watched 40k channel, I have only recently joined the vault, and I have to say i adored your shattered imperium campaign and I'm always looking forward to the next narrative campaign, I hope you guys can continue making videos.
Vimeo *increase* is rather space rocket. That increase is more MORE than unfair. Try maybe more often tours around vault(if you can) give paint lessons army & strategy lessons etc. Maybe open vault gift shop or something? Maybe add some ads to tv or newspaper around nearest towns to attract more people. Hang in there guys im sure you gonna make it!
Edit: I almost forgot! Maybe add to merch store t shirts or something? Also, miniwargaming transfer sheet would be awesome!
I used to be a vault member back when games other than GW were covered (Warmachine specifically).
Saving costs ideas and attraction drawing ideas:
- get more armies covered! No one is playing drukhari, harlequins, sisters of battle; people like them
- get the rules right especially vito. I personally dont really care too much but seen bunch of comments that they stoped the video cause there were 5 mistakes in 3min
- cut very old and low view videos to save on data
- keep the nothing but narrative stuff going! Gets people in who dont like watching 1 hour videos
- instead of 2 days per week with 40k videos have 3 days and mix it up: 1 day conpetetive itc lists, 1 day pure fluff armies (iron warriors, blood axe clan etc) and 1 day regular ones. 40k is the biggest thing and you have to get every fan
- offer slightly better bonuses for silver vault membership to get people to upgrade
- if you have a guest that stays like 2 weeks, dont release every video with that person in a row. It gets boring to see 6 batreps with the guy and almost the same list (looking at you carl with the colorful tau)
more 40k days that is not horus heresy is + to me
The issue is your first two points work against each other. The more armies they each try to play the more rules they get wrong. They play the armies they somewhat know and like. Not to be mean but it seems most of their content producers are not concerned about that either.
@@wulfrik1631
Thx for you comment. I think whats happening right now is a good example. Luka is now starting to play sisters of battle again because of the new codex and he has played them before. So he doesnt need to learn everything from scratch.
The other thing is, i guess everyone is very forgiving when you play an army fir the first time. Yet, i have seen lots of comments (sry vito) when someone continously make mistakes with their staple army (forbidden gem relic). Another example would we army unrelated rules like when vito (sry once again) read the mission and how to place the objectives and 3 seconds later places an objective right at the battle edge which had an game deciding impact. Things like that. But i got what you meant!
You have always inspired us with your work. We are on your side guys! We'll try to spread the word here among our Italian friends! we can't imagine a world without miniwargaming! HOLD ON
Paolo & Riccardo
Cousin's War Italia
Hoping for the best. Between keeping me in the hobby while I was isolated, to even getting a chance to work and film as a team member, I want nothing but the best for you guys!
You guys are still one of the best entry points to the hobby, and keeping people engaged with it, even if they are unable to participate physically.
I hope that a solution presents itself
Do you guys do a yearly Kickstarter?
Ditch Vimeo, find a new service or stream it yourselves
Looking forward to trialling the Vault and likely subscribing next week, love your content and hope you guys will stick around. Would love to see more Math-hammer videos, comparing units in the same codexes to consider best value, or strategies for fighting strong units or common lists etc, utilising new rules to design new lists etc
ive been a vault member for years , just bought a lifetime this summer (hopefully you guys wont close anytime soon , i want to watch 70 years old dave banter a new player :P)
And now I am picturing an old man with a walker screaming "Blood for the Blood God" at young people.
Hahaha....70 year old Dave still totally ripping on Tau
It is a sad situation and I have been a member before. But to support you and your team, I will subscribe again because you are all awesome. Happy to share this video and spread the word, can only help.
Competitive content, interviews with competitive players, strategy and tactics tutorials.
I've only recently discovered you folks and I really hope y'all are able to get through this and keep on doing this thing you obviously care so much about.
One cool thing you could sell are sculpts of the heads for the models based off of you and Dave. Or your MWG space marine shoulder pads
That sounds like a lawsuit to me via games workshop.
@@skarsik they can't send a lawsuit for someone turning their OWN head into a model piece, it's only when it's directly copying or claiming to be another's work and as for custom shoulder pads, there is already lots out there on various sites.
brightborn I’m talking specifically about MWG marine shoulder pads. They’re a large enough platform I’m confident it’ll get the attention of GW. Or it won’t, it’s my speculation.
@@skarsik I mean it's a shoulder pad still they could even make transfer sheets too
I am a vault member for over a year and I do not regret it. I started the hobby by watching your shows and I really enjoy your narrative campaigns. I can only advocate for any regular viewer to become a vault member. Content does not appear from thin air and even wargamers need to eat sometimes. Please support your artists.
Not sure if someone has mentioned it (lots of comments), but when White Dwarf magazines dropped in numbers they changed the content, added new elements but also brought back old elements that readers enjoyed. Why not try something like The Tale of 4 Gamers with different armies not seen on the channel. Or bring in professional gamers to showcase beautifully painted armies / very beardy armies. I will be joining today however as you guys rock, and I really want to come to meet you. Hope to see you soon.
Three years ago, I started to play Warhammer 40k and your narrative campaigns really helped to create the enthusiasm to the hobby. I signed up for the vault and loved getting immersed into the MW's own little corner of the vast Imperium. During that time, especially in the latter days of WH40 7th edition, you guys had, i felt a bigger focus on large army bat reps. Like the campaigns and stage continued to grow with each episode, into like a huge planet winning pitch battle. And while you guys still do have some focus on that universe what with shattered imperium and the multiple death watch campaigns, but I would say that more than half of the content wasn't in my wheelhouse for interest. It wasn't until this past year that I discontinued my vault subscription. I just felt that the content I was looking for was coming in far and in between. I understand, GW has been releasing new product and you guys need to cover alot of that, but like I feel that your 40k narratives got lost in all the new reviews and such. I still enjoy the open vault and your q&a stuff, but I wish that you guys could field more 40k content in line with fate of fayoom. the utgaard infestation and such. Thats my 2 cents on that. I still appreciate what you guys have been doing for the community.
Could you do another Blood Bowl league please? Those were fun to watch
Are there battle reps on Lee's epic table???
I think a 24 hour livestream might generate some short term cash, whereas moving forwards perhaps a serious look at sponsored content and general ads running in videos I feel as a silver vault member I would see as a fair trade off. I think I will treat myself to some merch for Xmas and if you do a live stream then I will jump onboard and give....perhaps running a tournament would also be a viable option
To add to this I would literally go through every single commission painting studio you have ever used, I would go to every game mat company every single online retailer and conversation bit hobby stockist you can find, I would approach other TH-camrs and podcasters I would get advertising on your site because if you can generate 20 sponsors at 50bucks a week then that's like another 4 grand a month....and should be easily achievable
@@blacktemplar5970 that is a great idea. Get more advertising revenue. I think most of us would understand if you gotta devote part of your videos to advertise for someone else. Gotta pay the bills. That and also finding a cheaper way to stream your vault content. There has to be a way
@@Bluepanther80 exactly and it would be a real foot up for some of the smaller companies out there, painters, podcasters, sculpters, other batrep producers, air brush manufacturers, other table top game producers, magnet sellers, green stuff and sculpting products, paint brush companies, terrain companies, DnD channels....miniwargaming could literally become a one stop shop for all table top enthusiasts and allot of people from all over the genre would start visiting the site, in time it could even allow MWG to dabble with different games, I would not mind at all seeing sponsored content and banners for various products related to the hobby....if I was MWG I would be literally getting in touch with everyone even remotely linked to the hobby, and along with all the additional revenue would come free sample products and products to receive....I think the more they did the more foot traffic they could get and the more they could charge for the ad space....and a genuine campaign to fight back against Vimeo would be worth while I would get it out there to Valarak and Arch and Kirioth and Glacial Geek, there are so many even the Quartering just really put a spotlight on the situation and it also just gets the name out there.....MWG need to get loud and if they are going down then they at least need to go down swinging.....they could even look at hosting their own tournaments and painting competition to attract all the prestige that comes along with that...... advertising within the hobby really works... because of Dave's podcast with 'Life After The Cover Save' I have now started listening to them and even become one of their patreons....MWG can really make this work but they have to call and email everyone in the business and get really imaginative
You guys are the best, Im gonna take a look to the merch store so I can support and also get cool stuff :)
@miniwargaming would switching to youtube red instead of vimeo be a viable option?
Vault member here. Thank you for everything, looking forward to visiting you all in Ontario, requesting more kill team videos. Talk about the competitive side, clarifying rules, clarifying special rules. Much appreciated.
Aight, time to spend some money people!
Thanks Erkki! :)
Knowing our collectiv hobby its something we should be pretty good at. Plastic crack and all of that stuff.
Agreed!!!
Miniwargaming is one of the reasons I came back to the hobby last year! keep up the good work and I'm newly a vault member too! Maybe you should do some clothing in your store too! And as others have said, having a show focused on the competitive part of the hobby would be awesome!
I was, on and off, a vault member for the past 10 or so years. Usually, my membership depends on the content interesting to me.
Lately, i cancelled my membership, again. There's plenty of reason, but here's a few :
- Smaller games. I realized i don't care much for games under 2000 pts, and when one pop up at 1500 pts, i'm just not that interested.
- Army involved. I'd say that's a twofer. first there's the fact that after awhile, some army are boring to watch. Second, some army composition are just so... predictable, that its almost boring. When watching the first 5 minutes tells you how the game will end, its hard to get motivated to watch it, and even worst to pay for it.
- Content creator. I don't want to aim at anybody, but some people in MWG are better than other at making interesting content (which is just normal), and It feels like you lost some good creator in the past years.
- New website. Ok, that was the last straw that made me cancel my membership. I HATE the new website ; it doesnt make things easier to view, its actually the opposite.
Now, what can be done to improve interest in vault service? It's hard to say. To me it would be somethings and for others, it most likely would be other things. So i'll just list what would make "me" more interested ;
1- more content. A 1k and a 2k games each day? i don't know. i know more content means more people which means more expense...
2- more "various" content. I know some people play only one or two army, and probably you do not own all the armies, but still. Haven't seen that many Ossiarch Bonereaper, or City of Sigmars battle report.
3- New stuff about... new stuff. Sure, the reading of new books is interesting, but what about new models? unboxing, painting, etc? I'm probably not the only one who loves to watch someone build and paint something before i do.
4- more contributor (?). I think you used to have something like thins a long time ago, where people could post their video on your site or something similar. External contributor could help, i think, add more variety in content creator, armies, and hell, even terrains!
5- A community. Now in the age of facebook, community isnt what it used to be, but its something taht is always interesting to have, when you pay for a service ; feeling part of something. With the forum death, i doubt you'd revive it, but there's got to be something to make it more community-like.
I truely hope you guys stick around, because you are pretty much the go-to channel for AoS videos.
I mentioned that in my e-mail to MWG of why I cancelled, their website put me off. I just wanted to watch 'AoS' videos, or '40k' or whatever, it was too much hassle trying to go through individual staff members. It's the whole "if you can't find what you're after within 10 seconds, a visitor usually leaves"
It didn't help that my account messed up twice and I'm still not able to log back in, that was the final straw and I cancelled my sub.
Rest of your post I wholeheartedly agree with
Good feedback
Just went back to the vault and started my mebership :) I hope you guys will do great in the future!
For the video solution, would you be able to have vault videos hosted though youtube, and have them unlisted and just link them on the vault member pages?
I was going to suggest this. It’s less of a enforceable paywall as people could technically share the links. But I think it’s worth a try for free hosting.
Unfortunately not, as that is against TH-cam's Terms and Services.
That's how patron videos in patreon work
That probably works for smaller operations because they skirt the rules, but mwg might be too big
@@Darkuwa it's against the terms for that as well.
My friends and I came up this past summer. We were hoping to see their battle report go up. They did a 4 person free for all with Steve. Figured I would throw that concern up here. We did have a lot of fun at the new bunker and would suggest it to anyone. Though I would like to add there seems to be a noticeable increase in editing errors like the one that made me skip watching Skarred cast's last battle report on your channel.
Hope thats helpful. You guys helped us get into the hobby and I can't thank you enough for that.
I was a loyal vault member until you guys stopped with old world wars. I then cancelled my subscription. This because it was important to show what content was important to me. Bring back old world wars on a regular basis and I would def become a silver member on the spot
I have not followed you guys in about four years but I caught wind of this. The signal is being boosted.
Keep the dream alive fellas.
Business 101, if the old model aint working, don't try beat a dead horse. Adapt, change you practices, listen to your customers (all those suggestingons from interested parties below).
as someone wanting to do this job more casually on the side, I would love a "training" of sorts on how you do what you do with setting up cameras, best recording practices, etc
Matt! Some pointers from a business perspective; 1) If this is a business, you have to run it from economics first and passion second. If you want more subscribers, ask the 90% on youtube that are not vault members what they want and produce THAT! It doesn't matter if you want to or not - make what people want to see, stick a smile on your face and be happy if you can get paid to play games you like 15% of the time. Also regarding contents, find your strengths and work out your weaknesses. You have some of the best batreps on youtube when it comes to video, sound and models, but is there some other part of the production that can maybe be improved on? Intros, presentation, wardrobe, guests? Maybe invite some local celebrities or rent a butler for a day to move the figures in a vid or two? Consider who your staff fanfavorits are and put THEM in front of the camera, even if this means you yourself is stuck with editing. Maybe you can't run a business and play with your toys? Pick one! The format has been the same for a decade - are there elements of the games you still haven't tried yet? If the staff wants to try something new, let them, but be quick to shut it down if it doesn't work. How about the competitive scene? Would hiring a pro-player to share tactics and strategy be viable? Oh, and regarding the roleplaying stuff, I'm not sure how popular it is among your paying customers but basically, if it's not Critical Role-popular you really should consider cutting it. There are way too many good competitors out there and frankly, you almost need professional actors to stand a chance in that department. 2) Cut your expenses. You have to figure out a cheaper way to get paid for your goods. I can't tell you what that is in your local region, but consider all options. Especially ones you really don't like. Make cheaper memberships for people that just want access to part of the Vault? Sell adspace in the videos? Ask GW for sponsorship since you are already making commercials for them and tell everyone how good their games are, even when it's AoS. Also, if the vault is not paying your bills, maybe it has to change. Increase prices? Only produce content that is payed up front, like Steve's kickstarter? Remove old irrelevant vids after the viewing rate falls below a certain point? If the vault is not doing its job in bringing in revenue, fire it and find a replacement. 3) Efficiency! I'm sure all your employees are also your friends, but they are also a bunch of slackers, and frankly, so are you and the bearded guy who has his mouth open in every pic. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you all work long hours, but you all spend alot of time in the videos on things that are not related to the contents of that specific show. Stop looking up rules while filming. Knowing the rules should be a requirement to work at MWG, otherwise it's a hobby and not a business. You as a manager have to find time-leaks and eliminate them. How much time is spent on setting up terrain? How much time on changing armies? If you are doing 12 games with Ultramarines in a year, film them all at once and then release them once a month, thus reducing time packing and unpacking the models. You are producing videos, not playing with your toy soldiers! And no more snacking while filming! Consider swapping out some of the main crew for a couple of part-timers. Maybe some youth and diversity among the staff would bring new and different viewers? And when looking for new staff in the future, maybe you can't really afford to hire gamers? Anyone can be thought how to play, but being able to sell a video for profit is more of a talent...
I know all of this sounds pretty harsh and I hope you understand that I'm trying to help. I would really love to join the Vault as a member, and I will in the future... just as soon as you BRING BACK FANATSY! =)
I agree, 'Bring back fantasy', for many reasons; but a lot of this advice is either stuff which Matt already does, or is, in my opinion, actually opposed to the things which make MWG worth paying for.
People want more videos from Matt, not fewer; they want more passion and less cranking out of batreps. More variety and more of the old fun feeling. We want to pay to see Matt playing with his toys, not to watch people working.
We want our players fresh, vibrant, and playing for fun. A business mindset has slowly drained that away.
The main problem is that MWG doesn't raise its prices or ask for further contributions from vault members. Charge more money, in more ways. As Anecron says, you have to monetise more effectively. Good luck :)
@@malkomalkavian I feel like I have to clarify something here; I'm not saying they should remove Matt from the vids. I'm saying find out what people want and make adjustments, EVEN if that means that you (Matt) as a businessman have to assign himself tasks that are not as fun as playing games. I believe this is the mentality required to keep a successful business running. Who knows, maybe his vids are the most popular and in that case, great! But prioritizing screentime when it comes to certain hosts, games or segments is far to important to ignore.
When it comes to what people want to watch, you may be absolutely right. The real question though, is what are people willing to pay for. More vids produced in the same amount of time (as long as the contents is diverse) means a bigger potential audience, more advertising space and thereby more revenue. Regarding the players having fun, well, that's not really required as long as the audience thinks that's the case. Look at the new presenter on GW for example, Becca Scott. When she explains how to play Warcry, she's clearly reading all the rules from a prompter, but she looks like she loves the game and that is enough to make the video interesting. Perhaps a bad example for hardcore fans, but from an earnings potential and reaching a wider base, I'm pretty sure this strategy has a greater potential than someone who's there to have fun and just happened to bring a camera...
@@Anecron1 Yeah, I've been scanning the comments on this vid, here on youtube and on MWG, and many people are calling for a return to the Matt vs Dave, or Matt vs Steve, glory days. Matt has moved himself away from video production specifically because he is a businessman first, and a wargamer second. That may have been a misstep. My other point (while we are clarifying) is that the industrial production mindset that you advise, while staggeringly effective at increasing production, is the enemy of craftsmanship. In aesthetic businesses, craftsmanship is important. I am not saying that you are wrong, I agree strongly with you in many areas, but Matt will probably read all of these comments and I wanted to provide an alternative take on where MWG could go to capitalise on its core strengths. A well monetised product that people are willing to pay for is the aim in any case, but I believe that real fun is central to the product, that people can tell when it is being faked, and that they will not have loyalty to the fake version.
Thanks for replying, it's nice to chat :)
Oh, on a personal level I totally agree with you. I love watching narrative games with people who loves what they are doing in settings where it doesn't really matter who wins. I just highly doubt that's where the money is. Compare Matt vs Dave with Kim Kardashian vs Dwayne Johnsson playing 40k while throwing insults at each other, taking a shot of tequila every time they lose a unit and while wearing purple bunnysiuts sponsored by Coca Cola! It may not be what the loyal fans are asking for, but don't say it wouldn't help pay the bills...
Regarding the comments it's an interesting point you bring up. Admittedly, I read them all when there were about 270-ish so things might have changed, but what stood out to me was people asking for more competitive games, competitive analysis of lists and tournament strategy. It may be confirmation bias, but it seems the main requests involved contents that MWG isn't really producing, and I've heard Matt mention somewhere that the reason they don't create this stuff is because no one on the staff is really into this sort of thing. If this is correct, and it very well may not be, that's another reason to bring in a couple of fresh faces. A quick poll on the channel may clear things up, but then again, the result may show something that MWG is not willing to pursue?
@@Anecron1 I'd totally watch drunk celebrity wargaming :)
Good luck guys, interesting to watch in many ways as its good to find out and realise just how much work goes in to these videos and the whole team that works for the channel. Bare with me, but i shall certainly help and become a member. Hang in there :-)
Well im so so unhappy by this video, i love the channel and all the people who work at MWG. I have been watching MWG for about 9 years,a silver Vault member for nearly 4 years and a twitch sub for 6 months and i have never looked back. Best money i spend each month. I really really hope people do sign up so you guys can keep up the amazing videos.
I know this may not be a popular idea. But i wouldnt be put out if you decide to increase your prices for the vault. I would be happy to pay 25% more each month. I would now if i could.
P.s really appreciate that you have always been so transparent when MWG have had big changes (closing of the store, people leaving, the move to the bunker etc)
Edit : i know someone else has suggested it. Have you considered amazon web services as a hosting site. I do have a friend who works for them and could ask him if he knows what sort of prices they charge and deals they do
From the perspective of an accountant and MBA, I know you all don't have schoolhouse training, but are your costs assigned appropriately? Tracking what things cost is important and as a service (non-mfg business), there are several ways to do it.
why is this the first i hear of you guys streaming on twitch? there is no link in discriptions.
because you haven't been paying attention. :)
How did you miss all the RPGs
Was on the fence. Gonna give it a go. You guys are a rare gem.
I will say that at some point this year, the website became a lot less navigable. Cleaner, but less navigable
Hey I get it. We recently did a big update, and we're still finishing up some loose ends. We just fixed the search, and are now working on a lot of other functions.
I am still a bronze member, if not one that can afford to keep it each and every month.
You guys got me back into the hobby after stopping for a while, never been more into it and that's thanks to you so I'm definitly gonna join the vault!
My Emperor's Guild space marine Chapter needs its painter to stay motivated!
That's a damn shame, hope it gets better.
Very open, very honest, incredibly respectable approach. Best wishes for the changes you will make.
Maybe start adding star wars armada and legion narrative campaigns to the channel
This would be amazing
I don't watch as many videos as I used to, but I'm signed up to the vault and it's a pretty awesome service and for me, its cheaper then Netflix (which I watch less). If you can, sign up for the vault, these guys, as Matt said, make their videos with passion, and blue collar heresy is without a doubt my favourite role playing series
I used to be a vault member, but I let my subscription lapse a little while ago for financial reasons.
I think one of the big reasons I haven’t been drawn back in is because it seems so GW focused. I realize that GW games appeal to the biggest audience to get the numbers in but it’s also what everyone else is making videos on as well and I think it’s become harder and harder to differentiate in the games workshop space.
The thing that really drew me in at first were the other games like Infinity, and particularly dark potential. I think its difficult to convince people to pay for something when there’s now so much more of it for free.
From a business perspective, when your market has become saturated and therefore more competitive, the two things an operator can do are cut costs (which would be cutting people) or create a distinct and unique value proposition that draws in people who are willing to pay more.
Warhammer has broad market appeal, but the broad market largely isn’t willing to pay. In the internet space, the people largely willing to pay money are the “whales” or “unicorns” who have more niche interests but are much more willing to part with money than the people who are catered to by all the other content creators.
My formal education is in business and my experience is in new era small business. Differentiation has been the make or break for small business recently, particularly in the online space because competing on cost is really difficult and forces people to compete with others who don’t need to make a living solely from their business.
Hope that helps with some outside perspective at least, thanks for making such great content guys!
I am a vault member (sadly I can't afford a higher tier than bronze) , and I love it! You make great shows and I really hope your financial troubles resolves, you make great content & I would love to see you continue long in the future!
Honestly the reason I don't watch much Vault content even though I've had a subscription for a couple years, is Vimeo. I can't resume a video that I've partially watched, and my internet isn't good enough to stream without many hitches because it isn't as efficient as TH-cam. I would download the battle reports and watch them that way, but the only uploaded versions are 1 or more Gigs, which would take many hours to download. I would recommend ditching Vimeo, since for me, it's the reason I don't watch Vault content, and it sounds like they jacked up the price on you anyway.
For me it's the lack of rules knowledge or army knowledge. The poor army match ups that happen quite often ending up in a blow out game. The narrative campaigns or custom games on the other hand are done very well. I agree with doing more competitive stuff even just mini tournaments between the staff members doesn't have to be to the extreme competitive wise but bring some armies to clash with some teeth.
I this it would be awesome to see some BFG (Battle Fleet Gothic) battles move into 40k battles.
Agreed. :)
I agree! We will actually be doing this soon.
@@miniwargaming Great to hear! Really nice game and so fun to tie into campaigns.
i concur, narrative campaigns that start with a Battle Fleet segment that can continue to give bonuses to campaign would be great. Even after the main fleet action is over you could have blockade running scenarios to reinforce or boost planet side factions. Great Idea!
So, I love everything you guys put out there. I was a member for the longest time, however funds got a bit limited. I will be re-subscribing when I can. The videos that I would like to see are more tournament level games with highly competitive lists and ITC or similar rules. Seeing some of the lists that are not entirely optimized makes it a little less enjoyable for people like myself who enjoy watching armies at their peek. Otherwise, I enjoy all the different personalities that you guys offer. Keep it up! You guys are gonna make it!
Don’t look at the Vault and Patreon as either or. With over 300k YT subs, you could have a revenue stream of folks who enjoy all your YT content yet aren’t ready for a Vault commitment. $1 per month x 100k subs is a good deal.
That could be something. Really low cost option to pull in a lot of people and give them maybe a taste of what they'd get from the vault but not the full experience. I mean I'd think a lot of people would drop a buck or two a month to get some exclusive content weekly. I've done the vault and honestly...loads of great stuff but just a lot of things in there I never watched so it was a ton of content wasted on me and I was paying like $7 a month. I'd gladly pay a fraction of that and only get to see a smaller amount of videos. Even just a few extra battle reports a week for a dollar or two a month....I'd be down for that.
I would vote for less battles but more quality. Recently a lot of videos have had guests who couldn't be heard / weren't on microphone correctly, A LOT of repeating armies, and that the camerawork has stayed firmly on a blank area of the board to roll dice. While the dice are important, I feel like I don't see the board or the players in a way that engages me the same way that some other Battle Report sites do. This results in my engagement with the report dropping off.
There are a lot of people calling for competitive analysis/discussion? Perhaps videos around that, that aren't as intensive to record as they don't require the full game setup, could be used to help take the pressure off while doing more focused reports?
have yous considered holding a auction for your old miniatures/terrain that don't get used
We might have some we'll be getting rid of, but honestly we use most of what we have.
I've followed you guys on youtube since 2012 and recently became a bronze member in 2018 and will happily upgrade to silver. You guys do great work, have good people, and a lot of charm. I hope you're exploring cheaper alternatives to Vimeo and I trust you guys will make good decisions to keep MWG going. Happy Wargaming.
Your hair looks great Matt.
Im so sorry that your expenses just skyrocketed, you are just amazing all of you, proud vault member for just about 3great years. Never tried the store but chtistmas is coming so i would gladly make your products a big part of that. I have a suggestion that i already know you probably think is bad is that give vault members the options to pay more to support for a shorter time, please think about it because you guys revolutionised the online battlereporttrend. It would really suck if the miniwargaming family grows smaller. Lots of love from Sweden and a supporter of the Tau'va(sorry dave)
Hej miniwargaming, I'm sure going to sign-up to the vault, 1 question, I would love to see more age of sigmar, the amount of 40k compared to AOS is kinda off... Is this possible?
In the last year or so, there has been a lot and I mean a lot of AOS on the channel compared to before. Probably 50% 40k, 10% 30k and 40% AOS right now
@@rallyon4454 would like to see 50/50 (I count 30k under 40k don't like the future xD)
@@rallyon4454 but like I said, I will be a vault member within the hour so even if they don't they still have me xD
generally speaking, Age of Sigmar is hated. That is why the announcement of a return to Warhammer Fantasy was such a big deal. Yes, it's arguably the better game, but more AoS content is probably a bad business move.
Mellow Seven Gaming I mean AoS is bigger than fantasy ever was and in certain large markets even out performing 40k....... it’s far from unpopular, if MWG do indeed see it as something not worth investing in... their loss.
Just out of curiosity, won't getting more vault members mean more bandwidth going through Vimeo, thus leading to them raising the prices yet again?
Two things:
1.) It seems the number one complaint is with you guys not knowing/ playing the rules correctly. (easy fix)
2.) Perhaps you offer too much content! Reduce the volume but crank up the quality.
They offer too many battle reports and nothing else.
They used to have painting tutorials, terrain tutorials and a ton of other variety content that kept things fresh.
There are only so many times that watching two people battle would be interesting. They need variety content or they'll simply fade away like any business that fails to adapt.
@@Emajenus I never mentioned specifically what content they should or should not create. Only that perhaps they should focus on quality over quantity. Which like most things involving entertainment is a key to success.
have you looked at float plane as a platform option?
Scrap the Vault as a paywall for exclusive content, and treat it more as a Patreon style direct donation with maybe some other perks (live-streams, campaign suggestions, whatever), and just host everything on TH-cam or an equivalent service. Sure the ad revenue is less, but is the difference more than the increase in Vimeo costs?
Been watching y’all for years least I can do is give it a shot. Next payday you’ll have yourself a new silver. Thanks for asked earnestly and being upfront. I appreciate that greatly. Keep up the good work and keep the dream alive. I’m trying to support myself as a pro-painter and the mini-wargaming market is brutal these days!
And as personal note bring back hero’s of harinburg and yogvir and tor I love those two shows so much 😃
Pha Tass THIS!
Just an idea, but couldn't you use the vault for 'time exclusive content' which eventually gets released to youtube at some point down the line? That'd reduce bandwidth usage and might bring you under the threshhold so your costs can drop back down again. Or use the vault for torrent distribution of your content?
Hope it keeps going well, or better for you..
Can you find another bandwidth provider or wtf was that price hike recently? Seems kinda ridicolous upping it that much..
To be honest Dave and I knew that this would eventually happen. It was too cheap to begin with. Having said that there wasn't really much way to prepare for it other than to just wait...
Surely if you have a contract with them? And this price increases wasn't in writing you could surly leave them immediately and cancel there contract?
@@dominicbenitez6899 Vimeo has it in their terms of service. They reserve the right to increase the cost for a user that uses high amounts of bandwidth. Legally, Vimeo had every right to do that, even if there was a contract.
Would it be worth looking at new hosting supplier? Surly adding more users will just use more bandwidth and increase costs further?
So the issue for me is you stopped supporting Old World Wars. I was and would happily reactivate in a moment, but I don't play AOS or 40k. So you lost me there.
Create a new video like this that fully summarizes why I would want to sign up, what are the benefits other than video vault? Having to click and go searching what exactly is all included is just an extra step to entice me.
To be perfectly honest, while not being glibbly insulting, the content over the past autumn and summer has been disappointing and not developing in direction I enjoy. I've found myself skipping more and more videos. My suggestion is focusing more on your previous core content: nonnarrative battle reports and painting tutorials.
I'd like to see them do a few games without fouling up the rules. Its a real help to players who wanna get better.
No more Carl ever again please
This is also something i feel too. Narrative campaigns are nice but if they really take a huge amount of effort and you could be doing more painting or podcasts that could be solid.
You guys to me are the fun batrap channel, like thats your think in my eyes so keep it coming. If other stuff takes alot of planning perhaps dip into another area like paint tutorial as Que said.
Silver Vault member here. It’s definitely worth it to anyone on the fence. I’ve learned so much from Kris’ painting videos alone, not to mention the backlog of batreps, especially Horus Heresy and Old World Wars.
Edit: They also allow you to download most of the content in the vault
My interests are AoS and I feel like Matt’s the only who is really into it. Not interested in watching batreps where the staff don’t care and can’t be bothered trying to get balanced armies on the table.
Just resubbed.
I let my access lapse a year or two ago because I no longer had time to sit down and watch nearly as many videos as I used to.
That hasn't really changed, but you guys are the trailblazers in this field, a genuine inspiration to so many of us, and you deserve to keep doing the good work. Heck, I'm on holiday, so maybe I'll spend a few days catching up on the fun stuff I missed.
Good luck guys.
I found the vault poorly organized and difficult to use.
Some possibilities: 1-Place your revenue into a portfolio within a corporate TFSA to earn some interest. 2-As an SME maybe switching to ASPA would help cut some costs. 3-You could issue Private Placements to certain parties (such as the couple mentioned in the video, or your staff). I would agree with the crowd in trying to get a new contract with a different streaming service.