Gwent Deck Guides

[Eydok]

Hello there folks.

I'm Eydok and I make deck guides. I would like to introduce to y'all my deck guide series. I made a couple of guides on different factions, feel free to check them out.
What's different about my guides?
For starters, I keep them short. You will notice the length difference between my very first video and the last one. I want to make these quick guides for a couple of reasons. The main one is to attract new players. Simply put, learning a new CCG can be a daunting task. When I first got into GWENT back in the BETA, this was the first CCG I really gave a try. And loved it. Obviously the learning curve wasn't as steep, since there were a bit fewer cards back then, but it took some time. With these guides I'm hoping to give new players a chance to get to the fun part faster- which is playing the game, rather than having to get a bachelors degree in "Neutral cards and their synergies".

Here is the latest one I released a week ago:

I am currently waiting for the expansion to drop so I can continue making these guides.

Feedback is appreciated, since I want to make these guides as short and informative as possible. Any idea that could step up the production value would mean a lot to me. As you can see the intro does seem quite familiar to most of you... let's call it recycling. Despite not having high quality 3D assets, I'm trying my best to make the videos look professional.

Cheers,

Eydok

 

[Riven-Twain]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing!

A bit of feedback: If you've newcomers in mind, consider displaying the names of the cards you mention, along with their art, so players can look them up using the game's search function, or in one of the databases. Also, though keeping your videos short is nice, always make sure you don't sacrifice information for brevity. Clipping too quickly between segments can be confusing and disconcerting for those just learning the ropes. Other than that, the presentation looks fairly professional. Good luck with your guides!

 

[Jollyrogerxberg]

You found your way and I must say well done. But I agree with Riven that if you aiming at new players your speed is at the limit.
Also add a link to the full deck, so folks can check out the cards while whatching and finding the cards. If you say "balance of assimilate and triggers" would be nice to have a reference to those cards. (Or is this the new starter deck?)

 

[Eydok]

You found your way and I must say well done. But I agree with Riven that if you aiming at new players your speed is at the limit.
Also add a link to the full deck, so folks can check out the cards while whatching and finding the cards. If you say "balance of assimilate and triggers" would be nice to have a reference to those cards. (Or is this the new starter deck?)

The deck list is in the description.
I also toyed with the idea to have the card descriptions present while showing the cards, but it would make the video too hectic to watch, since it takes time to read the descriptions.
And when I say new players I mean the people who already started playing and are familiar with the game and it's chore mechanics. I'm already working on a series for complete beginners where I go over all the core mechanics of the game and then make faction specific videos describing their unique traits and how to use them. Those videos would be geared towards people who have never played the game or are downloading it as they watch.


Thanks for the feedback

 

[DRK3]

@Eydok First of all, congratulations on your work and good luck for the future on creating content.

Second, i wouldnt worry too much with production values and trying to make your videos look professional, i checked the one you posted and i had no issues with these aspects, i think the content itself is way more important in determining your success.

Finally, and by far the most important feedback:
Like it has already been pointed out to you in this thread, the pacing of your videos may be detrimental to your goals.
Me, i love short videos, without wasting time, just how i like playing Gwent lightning fast... but im not your audience, i got thousands of hours in this game and know every card and mechanic by memory.

I cant speak with 100% certainty, but by the years of reading posts of players starting out, the speed of your videos is too fast for players starting out, they would quickly get confused and not watch your channel anymore, the players starting out and learning are precisely the ones who are more inclined to spend time learning the game with videos and guides than by playing.
So if this is your target audience, you shoud consider slowing down and explaining everything, maybe you dont need to go with 40-60min videos, but at least 10-15min.

 

[Riven-Twain]

at least 10-15min.

Ay, I'd aim for approximately this length, since it's easier to watch. (Personally, I find longer videos rather unmanageable, especially if I'm just watching something between games, or other projects.)

 

[Eydok]

@Eydok First of all, congratulations on your work and good luck for the future on creating content.

Second, i wouldnt worry too much with production values and trying to make your videos look professional, i checked the one you posted and i had no issues with these aspects, i think the content itself is way more important in determining your success.

Finally, and by far the most important feedback:
Like it has already been pointed out to you in this thread, the pacing of your videos may be detrimental to your goals.
Me, i love short videos, without wasting time, just how i like playing Gwent lightning fast... but im not your audience, i got thousands of hours in this game and know every card and mechanic by memory.

I cant speak with 100% certainty, but by the years of reading posts of players starting out, the speed of your videos is too fast for players starting out, they would quickly get confused and not watch your channel anymore, the players starting out and learning are precisely the ones who are more inclined to spend time learning the game with videos and guides than by playing.
So if this is your target audience, you shoud consider slowing down and explaining everything, maybe you dont need to go with 40-60min videos, but at least 10-15min.

The reason I focus on the production value so much is because of the fact, that if a video is poorly edited or the audio quality is bad, no matter how good the content is, people will not watch it.

Regarding the pacing:
I understand that some beginners might find it difficult at first. But the deck guides are made for beginners in a sense, who are stuck on low ELO or are just starting out with the game (meaning they are playing ranked and know what their faction does).
But I also believe, that if a complete beginner just copies the deck and follows the guide, he'll be aight. The reason behind it is learning by showing, rather than learning by talking on the deck creator screen for 40 minutes without showing gameplay.

And as mentioned before, I am working on a complete beginners guide, regarding decks, mechanics and factions (which are geared towards people who have not even played the game).

When it comes to the length of the video there are 2 main factors:
1. No one watches a video that is much longer than 3 minutes if it's not from a known youtuber.
2. A lot of things can be said in a very short time if planned, written and executed correctly. The reason most of the videos are so long is due to the fact that most people just hit record and start talking. They might have a plan what they want to talk about, but it's not a written text. So if you need a minute to explain a mechanic, you can do it in 3 seconds, by just saying what it does and showing it. that's my philosophy at least.
That's why I call these guides "tomato paste" guides. It is the upmost concentrated information you need. It's so concentrated, that if you leave away 1 word, the sentence won't make sense.
Most of the guides are around 6 minutes when I first start the concept and I trim them down to around 3-4. I truly believe less is more, especially if you just want to try out a deck without having to watch a 40 minute tutorial.
With that out of the way I just think the quality increases the shorter the video is.

But if the community doesn't really like them then I'll just do them for me. Eventually I'll find an audience and if not, I'll still have fun making them.

Thanks for the feedback!