Okay folks, so it's occurred to me that given it'll be a few short weeks till Xmas when I was planning to start back up, it makes little sense to actually start streaming on a schedule again, so, therefore, I'll not be streaming now until the 11th of January next year, allowing me a week's buffer for the New Year's period, as well as to help finalise scheduling for future streams. Given that I won't be attending Amiga Ireland 2021, this has also affected my schedule somewhat too, so I won't be doing what I did at the start of this year with my streaming starting in February. This extra time also means that I have more time to tie up loose ends with things, such as my PC upgrades and other things I need to sort out. However, I won't be completely going off the radar. I may end up doing some impromptu streams, of which I have none planned right now, but it depends on circumstances over time. Additionally, I will also want to start doing Let's Play videos again, and also refining my "Storm's Showcase" series, as I have quite a backlog to sort out with that, and want to pretty much have a system that's easier to work with in the future, especially given it's had a couple of names over the years (Lightning Plays also being a part of that), so now I want to essentially make things a bit more straightforward for that, so I can save time down the line!
The extra time will also give me a chance to better work stuff out, in terms of overlays, presentation across outlets, and other stuff, especially now that YouTube has started putting ads on everything, and as I'm not a partner, I don't see a penny of that! Also, I've discovered just now that Smashcast is no longer being supported as a selectable option on Restream as of the 22nd of November (though can be used with custom RMTP), which means that it'll be unlikely that I'll be streaming on Smashcast for the foreseeable future, at least until I can afford to upgrade! Therefore, the 2nd (non-Twitch) streaming session will include DLive, Steam, VK (if there's a demand), and YouTube. Smashcast needs an upgrade to be used, as does Facebook to my page (which I'm still wary of using), and unfortunately, Vimm needs a custom RMTP entry too currently, so really it'll only be 3 alternative platforms to Twitch for now, although I'm not sure if there's any point in streaming to Steam (if there's demand, I'll look into it). YouTube is a 50-50 thing, but I may just end up using it to store stream archives rather than having to export it, as at least I wouldn't lose any videos this time! This will definitely happen with DLive (though I may just do DLive and YouTube on the 2nd streaming session), and I'll likely do similar with Twitch.
If I don't ultimately decide to stream on YouTube and DLive at the same time, I'll instead set up YouTube in an archival mode for both DLive and Twitch, but I'll need to work out a publishing schedule for each stream, which makes it just as well I'm not streaming till January now! Additionally, as I've said in the past (maybe), I'm going to be doing 3-hour streams from when I start streaming back up, to compensate for my planned video content that is eventually coming out. The "Team Stream" needs to be talked about more, but I'm going to aim to start that from February, in order to let things get hashed out some more, plus I need to work out my solo and non-GU stuff too! There's just so much I need to do, I can't possibly cover it here, so I'm not going to attempt it, but I do need to make sure that I keep up with my Storm's Showcase segment, though it needs a few changes to make it work for streaming and video stuff consistently, and when I know what I need to do, and have done it, I'll mention what's been done. Likewise, I need to sort out new stream overlays for when I eventually stream, but I'm still looking for ideas, but I'll also let you know of developments in this area.
I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with things as of yet, as I'm still mulling it all over, but first on the list will likely be me doing Let's Plays (Played Up with Stormkeeper) of The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+, and when it eventually releases on the 31st of December, Repentance. I will be keeping Slot 2 (streaming) as it is, and we'll be starting fresh from Slot 1 for the Let's Plays, and I'll reserve Slot 3 for non-stream stuff, so I can practice the game and do stuff without affecting the other 2 slots! As far as other games go, I might also bring Barony in as well, although I'll likely do it as a 3 days Isaac, 3 days Barony thing, though Barony or Isaac might occasionally be switched out for other games, though I will always keep one or the other in rotation, so there will at least be one of them being played per week, if not both. Those will be going up daily from Mon-Sat (alternating between day, so one is evens, the other odds), though I've no idea what I'll do for Sundays as of yet, though I'll think about it. However, that's not all I'd want to do. I do want the main game too, and I'm only going to do one game a week, and I'll likely do those three days a week, so I still have space for "bonus" videos, which will likely be the showcase videos, which I may publish showcases on. Given that this is pre-recorded, I'll need to allocate sessions to record a week's worth of videos for each game, which I estimate will take me about 4+ hours per session, but I'll have to think about how to factor all of that in, especially given I need to make sure I have the correct settings implemented, as well as factoring in breaks between each run.
The bottom line is that I need to work all of this out, and how to fit streaming solo twice a week as well, which isn't overly hard, but it highlights the need for scheduling. I haven't even factored in the Team Stream, other Stormhaven Media/GU streams/videos, and guest appearances, which I'll eventually be looking into factoring in. Additionally, I haven't even considered podcasts as part of this yet either, so I have a lot of stuff to sort out between now and when I start streaming back up, not least I need to plan out the Let's Plays. Suffice to say, and at the risk of repeating myself, I have a lot to sort out! In any case, it does give me a lot to think about. I might actually consider recording 4 episodes at a time, rather than 3, so I have a buffer to work with; every 3 weeks I record, I'll have a batch ready for week 4, meaning I have a week free of recording, which I can then save for something else!
But yeah, I'm gonna leave the bulk of things here for now, as I need to get some rest/sleep. In any case, watch this space for updates, especially as I'll be streamlining things, and also more directly advertising other platforms I'm on besides YouTube and Twitch, because I don't really see it as anything beyond being an archive for streams, as well as using it to push out videos to my Bitchute and LBRY accounts, which I'll more actively be using to help make me some money to cover costs, although equally, access to review codes for games helps me in that regard, though I acknowledge I've a backlog I need to clear on Keymailer and Woovit before I can get more! I do also need to spruce up my blog and profile too, but that'll come in time. Also, I have the unboxings and Cybiko "repair" to sort out, as well as the retro laptop stuff, but those videos will come much later as they're more involved; I do have a lot to organise though, so stopping streaming for a few months is probably a good decision!
Lastly, I am going to try to sort out scheduled update posts and I might also do monthly channel updates to summarise things too, but it'll take some time to streamline stuff at the end of the day; you'll likely notice some minor changes I won't bother to mention in a blog post, or just mention on social media, if I do at all. The reason for this is ultimately because it's such a minor thing, and I have already said changes were coming, so I am less likely to mention it, especially if I'm trying to keep my posts a bit shorter, as I do have a tendency to ramble quite a bit, as you may have noticed; at least I do try to make sure that I split things up into paragraphs because I know a long wall of text is hard to process, especially in my case!
Ultimately though, the TL;DR version is that I'm not streaming now till the week beginning the 11th Jan 2021, I'm going to be doing videos again, and I'm going to be sorting out my online presences, my stream overlay, and also clearing up some backlogs! I have plans to do Let's Plays of Isaac and Barony 3 times a week each, and I have a main game planned for during the week, and eventually, I'll swap Barony or Isaac with another similarly-paced game and have it so one or the other will be continuing. I have other plans involving the rest of the Geeked Up Network and Stormhaven Media, and eventually, you may see me appearing elsewhere, on other people's things!
But for now, I'm calling it here, so until next time, I'll see you all out there on social media!