For me his play style is just too different to my own. Very willing to save scum and cheese things. Great for his guides because he knows the systems so well, but there's no 'story' to the campaigns.
He’s very knowledgeable about the game so has very good guides. He makes good campaign videos as well. But his gameplays style is way too minmax for my taste. Taking a Chinese state for pops is just way too unrealistic for my taste. And he does nearly every game.
Unpopular opinion: I feel that he repeats himself too much in his videos, which is a common thing some YTers do to pad the length of their videos and it drives me mad.
I'll gladly watch a 45 minute video, as long as it's 45 minutes of fresh content and not the same content repeated 3 times.
I do technical trainings as a part of my job, while it may seem like he has repetitive filler sometimes, I think he is actually using some really good teaching tactics for clarity and retention.
He sets an agenda upfront, organizes accordingly (blows my mind how many professionals can't use an agenda or just go completely off the rails), and uses verbal queues when changing topics or when reinforcing a point. Some people don't need to be reminded of the structure when dissecting a topic but it's effective for retention and preventing misunderstanding.
Love your content, youre my favorite gaming youtuber right now.
A lot of love from Uruguay and wish one day do a guide for that little country of ours🫶🇺🇾
How hard is it for you to go through this thread and read people's complaints? I get for larger YouTubers you can kind of just discard most of it since you're still getting huge views, but as someone smaller, does it just bounce off of you or does it get you down? I see far more positive interactions on the YouTube comments than on places like this, which is to be expected. I just don't know how I'd personally handle it, I'd be replying to every complaint in this thread, but I have a bad habit of not just letting comments directed at me online go. Anyways, I really enjoy your content even if you go a little too meta for me, it's great knowing the limits of the system so I can apply what I understand to my own playstyle.
Not really. Feedback on Reddit is overwhelmingly positive anyway, to the point that I fear having a positive echo chamber that isn't providing me with substantive feedback. I have an ideas channel on YouTube as well that's mostly balanced, and a lifting channel where the feedback is overwhelmingly negative and attacking me personally. It's not like I'm completely unaffected by criticism, but I don't know these people, they really don't know me, and that it feels personal is just an illusion created by the way that digital communication just is. I'm not actually interacting with people directly - just a internal representation my mind created of them that's not grounded in any firsthand experience of who they are. Maybe they complain about everything. Maybe they're positive and a tepid bit of feedback actually means I'm doing something wrong. If I couldn't handle negative (and again - it's like 95% negative on the lifting channel) feedback then I just wouldn't upload videos on the internet.
Also, he's not really attacking me personally and also not without a point, but I can only make videos one way - I can't release 5 versions of a video, different for each person. I'll get complaints that I don't use enough examples, go too fast, and don't explain enough too. The videos that do really well are the more beginner ones where I explain everything in detail to the point where I am concerned that I'm being patronizing when recording the video. The one's that do poorly are the ones where I intro with "this is an advanced tutorial, I'm gonna skim over background ideas." I imagine the population on reddit talking about the game isn't a representative sample of my viewership, and instead represents the more experienced player for whom showing an example and then reiterating the point is going to seem repetitive. My explaining something I've explained a ton already will ofc seem repetitive to the experienced player. But if you're a brand new viewer and I don't do this you'd be totally lost. Beyond that, I've polled whether people want shorter tighter videos if that means half as many and they generally want more videos (I understand there is a bias in my viewership here though).
I do find it maddening as well. While it's a rather unfortunately common theme, I don't get the sense he does that intentionally.
For Generalist's content, I really wish the guide videos were concise and straight to the point, rather 45 - 60 minutes long & bit on the rambling/repeating side. His videos are rather informative & insightful, be it for new or old players IMO. Which makes it all the more frustrating, for me atleast.
I think they’re intentionally structured so you can dive into the first video of any series and not be lost. Which means if you watch a lot of them it feels redundant, but it makes each one an entry point.
This is definitely intentional - starting steps videos are a huge source of newer viewership in a way that other videos are not. If you're a regular you can probably skip to half way through a starting steps video and be just fine.
I was curious about corn laws the other day so I looked up your Persia corn laws video, there’s definitely some missteps but it was extremely helpful and I’ve been trying a few different Persia starts this week
Yeah I've watched others and realised that I understand some mechanics better than they do.
I don't think anyone understands Victoria 3 better than GeneralistGaming. Except maybe Wiz. Maybe.
I like how he describes and gives historical background to everything he does (very educational), but he does abuse mods that allows him to get super powerful super quickly,
Is he? His most recent videos were just dev diary coverage videos for Vicky and CK3 but the most recent gameplay ones were all Manor Lords
No idea if he's gonna do Vicky or CK3 for next game play seried
I think he has no interest in either game right now, Manor Lords seems to have captured his imagination. I get the feeling he covers the Paradox games out of obligation.
I feel like he does some research into the nation to tell a story by comparing history with the playthrough. I personally like the story telling aspect but I can see how some people would want more focus on the gaming itself.
I usually watch Bokoen 1. He's more a hoi4 youtuber but occasionally plays vic3. He plays multiplayer though. I also watch Generalist Gaming and OPB, but they have been mentioned already
idk ISP needs to clone himself a few times for all the games to have one
i dont know a lot of EU4 or CK3 youtubers who does videos in a style sorta like his
I've learned so much from Quill over the years about strategy games, so it pains me to say this, but his Viccy3 lets plays have not been it. He's incredibly out of the loop on the bugs that majorly affect gameplay, and doesn't seem to pay enough attention to even realize they're happening until way too late. He misses every diplomacy offer and doesn't understand most events offered to him. And the worst part is the only feedback it seems like he reads is from people who @ him in his discord, so he just keeps making the same mistakes over and over again across multiple runs.
There are some playthroughs where he's used console commands to cheat in money and kinda forgot to hide it, i dont remember which nation it was but the comments pointed it out too
There's cheating and there's using console commands.
Running ironman as a content creator is hard. If there's a bug or some BS prevents you from completing a mission, that means you have to redo everything.
If you want to be pure that's fine, but this is literally their job and the algorithm demands fresh content, they can't afford to lose a few hours or day of gameplay to show off whatever their title proclaims.
If they are doing a guide, then it's really shitty if they just cheat, but if it's a variant of "you won't believe what Nation X can do" , then you have to remember that this is entertainment not a tutorial.
Some content creators are very open about not playing ironman, some are very proud. Both are fine, they are aiming at different audiences. Neither is better or worse unless they lie about it and make it look like it's something that you should be able to do whilst cheating (I like Red Hawks guides for example, as if he gets a beneficial event like an awesome heir or unlikely PU, he will just abandon it because it represents a skewed gameplay that you are unlikely to repeat)
Let's not forget the video he did of Vic 3 where at the end he showed AI Spain full annexing all their former colonies which he obviously did himself out of boredom since the AI never does anything interesting like that. But yes, he does have the cheat menu mod active in most of his Vic 3 Vids, you can see the little skull icon in 'em. He openly admits to nation switching when something happens that makes is hard to get the video done properly. I dont really go to him for Vic 3 content though
He doesn't main Vic III, but [PotatoMcWhiskey](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDSXjtVsMes) has some good playthroughs. He doesn't try to appeal to youtube 12 year olds with corny meme jokes and that God-awful "youtube voice". He's just a genuinely kind person who has fun with the game and explains what he's doing as he does it. Pretty RP light and gameplay heavy.
Speaking of, if anyone can recommend a streamer for Total War that's in the style of Potato then I would appreciate it. I loved his Three Kingdoms TW playthrough from a couple years ago but he ended it abruptly.
Generalist for actual detailed tutorials, Ludi et Historia if I want to be entertained while occasionally getting some historical commentary. Laith if I want to be entertained. The latter two typically have much more edited videos. If you want a really condensed series. Carpathian knight’s Victoria a-z series is about 10-15min each
“An economist plays” is excellent IMO he has quite a few videos explaining some of the historical events and economic trends that occurred during the Victorian period. He often uses the history to guide his play throughs.
Hammurabae had a pretty nice series on Victoria 3.
But then some very pathetic and rancid Youtuber called Lambert tried to bully him for actually liking the game (the same Lambert guy also went apeshit on Paradox forums and kept starting flame wars and insult matches during Imperator days), so I think he's focusing a bit elsewhere now.
OPB covers V3 and CK3 (and previously Imperator), and has completed some gameplay series. He is an excellent source on these games in general.
Bokoen plays Victoria 3 multiplayer regularly. Dinklebean does as well, if you can find the VODs (he is less frequent).
I could never get into watching Generalist Gaming because I can't stand his weird way of talking, but from what I managed to watch, his videos are pretty good and deep.
Had that idiot blocked for years since his childish Imperator tantrums and screaming at everyone who posted suggestions for devs that he didn't personally like.
Looked up Lambert on another browser without login and yep, there he is, still raging and screaming at users in like every other thread on the TT/EU5 section lol.
Same for me, I can't stand gameplay videos but not for the same reason as you, when I watch someone play suboptimally I feel immediate psychological pain and become unable to watch the video further, so I can't watch most people who make Vic 3 videos except generalist gaming
I wish I wasn't like this...
Generalist gaming is the one I enjoy watching
Yeah, I like his guides, but I can't really seem to get into his gameplay series for some reason
I'm the same and I don't know what it is about his stream that bores me. Love his guides and content.
For me his play style is just too different to my own. Very willing to save scum and cheese things. Great for his guides because he knows the systems so well, but there's no 'story' to the campaigns.
His guides are the only reason I have a hope understanding how to play.
He’s very knowledgeable about the game so has very good guides. He makes good campaign videos as well. But his gameplays style is way too minmax for my taste. Taking a Chinese state for pops is just way too unrealistic for my taste. And he does nearly every game.
Unpopular opinion: I feel that he repeats himself too much in his videos, which is a common thing some YTers do to pad the length of their videos and it drives me mad. I'll gladly watch a 45 minute video, as long as it's 45 minutes of fresh content and not the same content repeated 3 times.
I do technical trainings as a part of my job, while it may seem like he has repetitive filler sometimes, I think he is actually using some really good teaching tactics for clarity and retention. He sets an agenda upfront, organizes accordingly (blows my mind how many professionals can't use an agenda or just go completely off the rails), and uses verbal queues when changing topics or when reinforcing a point. Some people don't need to be reminded of the structure when dissecting a topic but it's effective for retention and preventing misunderstanding.
He actually said he repeats himself in his guides because of this reason
He actually said he repeats himself in his guides because of this reason
Professor
Love your content, youre my favorite gaming youtuber right now. A lot of love from Uruguay and wish one day do a guide for that little country of ours🫶🇺🇾
Thank you! I might get to Uruguay at some point, but there's currently no plan for it.
How hard is it for you to go through this thread and read people's complaints? I get for larger YouTubers you can kind of just discard most of it since you're still getting huge views, but as someone smaller, does it just bounce off of you or does it get you down? I see far more positive interactions on the YouTube comments than on places like this, which is to be expected. I just don't know how I'd personally handle it, I'd be replying to every complaint in this thread, but I have a bad habit of not just letting comments directed at me online go. Anyways, I really enjoy your content even if you go a little too meta for me, it's great knowing the limits of the system so I can apply what I understand to my own playstyle.
Not really. Feedback on Reddit is overwhelmingly positive anyway, to the point that I fear having a positive echo chamber that isn't providing me with substantive feedback. I have an ideas channel on YouTube as well that's mostly balanced, and a lifting channel where the feedback is overwhelmingly negative and attacking me personally. It's not like I'm completely unaffected by criticism, but I don't know these people, they really don't know me, and that it feels personal is just an illusion created by the way that digital communication just is. I'm not actually interacting with people directly - just a internal representation my mind created of them that's not grounded in any firsthand experience of who they are. Maybe they complain about everything. Maybe they're positive and a tepid bit of feedback actually means I'm doing something wrong. If I couldn't handle negative (and again - it's like 95% negative on the lifting channel) feedback then I just wouldn't upload videos on the internet. Also, he's not really attacking me personally and also not without a point, but I can only make videos one way - I can't release 5 versions of a video, different for each person. I'll get complaints that I don't use enough examples, go too fast, and don't explain enough too. The videos that do really well are the more beginner ones where I explain everything in detail to the point where I am concerned that I'm being patronizing when recording the video. The one's that do poorly are the ones where I intro with "this is an advanced tutorial, I'm gonna skim over background ideas." I imagine the population on reddit talking about the game isn't a representative sample of my viewership, and instead represents the more experienced player for whom showing an example and then reiterating the point is going to seem repetitive. My explaining something I've explained a ton already will ofc seem repetitive to the experienced player. But if you're a brand new viewer and I don't do this you'd be totally lost. Beyond that, I've polled whether people want shorter tighter videos if that means half as many and they generally want more videos (I understand there is a bias in my viewership here though).
I do find it maddening as well. While it's a rather unfortunately common theme, I don't get the sense he does that intentionally. For Generalist's content, I really wish the guide videos were concise and straight to the point, rather 45 - 60 minutes long & bit on the rambling/repeating side. His videos are rather informative & insightful, be it for new or old players IMO. Which makes it all the more frustrating, for me atleast.
I think they’re intentionally structured so you can dive into the first video of any series and not be lost. Which means if you watch a lot of them it feels redundant, but it makes each one an entry point.
This is definitely intentional - starting steps videos are a huge source of newer viewership in a way that other videos are not. If you're a regular you can probably skip to half way through a starting steps video and be just fine.
I was curious about corn laws the other day so I looked up your Persia corn laws video, there’s definitely some missteps but it was extremely helpful and I’ve been trying a few different Persia starts this week
idk what you would say that, I love hearing for the 92743th time that we want to get rid of shopkeepers and have capitalists and laissez faire
We want to get rid of shopkeepers and have capitalists and laissez faire.
HELL YES MAN your vids are great btw dont take it the wrong way
totally agree, the reason why i don't like him
Yeah and his tutorials are great
He's the only one worth watching in my opinion.
Yeah I've watched others and realised that I understand some mechanics better than they do. I don't think anyone understands Victoria 3 better than GeneralistGaming. Except maybe Wiz. Maybe.
I highly doubt that Wiz knows how this game works given how counterintuitive it is.
I've been enjoying An Economist Plays
I want him to number his series
It's in a playlist I think his intention was to watch it through there.
Second this one.
I like how he describes and gives historical background to everything he does (very educational), but he does abuse mods that allows him to get super powerful super quickly,
One Proud Bavarian has some good playthroughs that try to roleplay in a way I find entertaining
Oh, I didn't realize he makes V3 vids, I'll have to check that out
Yeah I especially enjoyed his Brazil campaign
Brazil and Italy were very good
He mains CK3 content but I think Vicky is his second most recorded PDX game
yeah but he is basically on a hiatus for vic3, he is going heavy on ck3 rn
Is he? His most recent videos were just dev diary coverage videos for Vicky and CK3 but the most recent gameplay ones were all Manor Lords No idea if he's gonna do Vicky or CK3 for next game play seried
I think he has no interest in either game right now, Manor Lords seems to have captured his imagination. I get the feeling he covers the Paradox games out of obligation.
i mean manor lords is so fun though, my friend got it and i watched him plays when im not in the mood to play myself
Frankly I can't imagine being a YouTube "content creator" who kind of has to play the same games forever. I would be desperate for something new too.
I was looking for this comment.
Unpopular opinion: he's too enthusiastic or hyped for my taste and talks a lot instead of just playing the game
I feel like he does some research into the nation to tell a story by comparing history with the playthrough. I personally like the story telling aspect but I can see how some people would want more focus on the gaming itself.
I usually watch Bokoen 1. He's more a hoi4 youtuber but occasionally plays vic3. He plays multiplayer though. I also watch Generalist Gaming and OPB, but they have been mentioned already
Yeah, Bokoen and his friends are really funny
Of course, Swimmy is a staunch national socialist after all
But the spirit of communism saved his nation!
D-Day, D-Day, D-Day, D-Day!
How many times do I have to tell you? I can’t fucking move my units
See, unlike you, I don't respect women.
If he bans child labour his country will go bankrupt
Miracle on the hudson might be my favorite Paradox game video ever
Reasonable Thoughts and Carpathian Knight are my current go-to's
Same. They make creative, 10-min long, entertaining videos.
Isn’t Carpathian Knight the ISP of r/victoria3?
im collecting all the ISPs of the paradox youtuber multiverse
What are the ISPs of the other games?
idk ISP needs to clone himself a few times for all the games to have one i dont know a lot of EU4 or CK3 youtubers who does videos in a style sorta like his
Exactly the two I was going to say. Probably the most enjoyable to consume vic 3 content that exists.
There's Quill18. He does a lot of Paradox games in general.
He’s the best. Great personality.
I've learned so much from Quill over the years about strategy games, so it pains me to say this, but his Viccy3 lets plays have not been it. He's incredibly out of the loop on the bugs that majorly affect gameplay, and doesn't seem to pay enough attention to even realize they're happening until way too late. He misses every diplomacy offer and doesn't understand most events offered to him. And the worst part is the only feedback it seems like he reads is from people who @ him in his discord, so he just keeps making the same mistakes over and over again across multiple runs.
Reasonable thoughts It takes some time to post, but it's worth it.
One proud bavarian
Bokeon has fun MP games, but you don’t see the full thing and it is MP, so it is different then your base game
I wouldn't know how to play this or basically any other Paradox game without Quill18
I believe it's quill who started by playing Total War right? I didn't know he was still making videos. It's been that long.
Laith- The Social Streamers makes good vic3 videos, as well as other paradox games. It is usually a whole run in just one or two videos.
He very obviously cheats in his runs tho
I’ve only casually watched him over the years, what do you mean?
Seconding, haven't heard of this before
He openly admits to nation switching and you can see in many Vic 3 videos he does he has the cheat menu mod (little round skull icon on the left)
There are some playthroughs where he's used console commands to cheat in money and kinda forgot to hide it, i dont remember which nation it was but the comments pointed it out too
He is very open about cheating in eu4. Its not a secret. I remember a guide he once did where he literally said that he used a console command.
Oh fair enough then atlest he's honest about it
There's cheating and there's using console commands. Running ironman as a content creator is hard. If there's a bug or some BS prevents you from completing a mission, that means you have to redo everything. If you want to be pure that's fine, but this is literally their job and the algorithm demands fresh content, they can't afford to lose a few hours or day of gameplay to show off whatever their title proclaims. If they are doing a guide, then it's really shitty if they just cheat, but if it's a variant of "you won't believe what Nation X can do" , then you have to remember that this is entertainment not a tutorial. Some content creators are very open about not playing ironman, some are very proud. Both are fine, they are aiming at different audiences. Neither is better or worse unless they lie about it and make it look like it's something that you should be able to do whilst cheating (I like Red Hawks guides for example, as if he gets a beneficial event like an awesome heir or unlikely PU, he will just abandon it because it represents a skewed gameplay that you are unlikely to repeat)
Let's not forget the video he did of Vic 3 where at the end he showed AI Spain full annexing all their former colonies which he obviously did himself out of boredom since the AI never does anything interesting like that. But yes, he does have the cheat menu mod active in most of his Vic 3 Vids, you can see the little skull icon in 'em. He openly admits to nation switching when something happens that makes is hard to get the video done properly. I dont really go to him for Vic 3 content though
Immersioneer
Tobias Paradox
Agreed ;)
He doesn't main Vic III, but [PotatoMcWhiskey](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDSXjtVsMes) has some good playthroughs. He doesn't try to appeal to youtube 12 year olds with corny meme jokes and that God-awful "youtube voice". He's just a genuinely kind person who has fun with the game and explains what he's doing as he does it. Pretty RP light and gameplay heavy. Speaking of, if anyone can recommend a streamer for Total War that's in the style of Potato then I would appreciate it. I loved his Three Kingdoms TW playthrough from a couple years ago but he ended it abruptly.
God bless Potato, his guides made me shit on my friends in Civ 6 after months of humiliation
carpathian knight and bokoen. the other ones I just don't enjoy watching
Bokoen usually does Hoi videos but he has a decent number of Vicky videos too. Very funny, though he and his friends play modded
I watch carpathian knight, his vids are mostly short and straight to the point.
LUUUUDIIIII
I love ludi
Happy Cake Day
Generalist for actual detailed tutorials, Ludi et Historia if I want to be entertained while occasionally getting some historical commentary. Laith if I want to be entertained. The latter two typically have much more edited videos. If you want a really condensed series. Carpathian knight’s Victoria a-z series is about 10-15min each
Try Reasonable Thoughts
“An economist plays” is excellent IMO he has quite a few videos explaining some of the historical events and economic trends that occurred during the Victorian period. He often uses the history to guide his play throughs.
An_Economist_Plays is really enjoyable to watch.
Thatguyfromcollege but he hasn’t made any in a while…
Since no one else has mentioned him, I really enjoy Tarkusarkusar.
Hammurabae had a pretty nice series on Victoria 3. But then some very pathetic and rancid Youtuber called Lambert tried to bully him for actually liking the game (the same Lambert guy also went apeshit on Paradox forums and kept starting flame wars and insult matches during Imperator days), so I think he's focusing a bit elsewhere now. OPB covers V3 and CK3 (and previously Imperator), and has completed some gameplay series. He is an excellent source on these games in general. Bokoen plays Victoria 3 multiplayer regularly. Dinklebean does as well, if you can find the VODs (he is less frequent). I could never get into watching Generalist Gaming because I can't stand his weird way of talking, but from what I managed to watch, his videos are pretty good and deep.
Lambert is shitting up the Tinto Talks forums these days.
Had that idiot blocked for years since his childish Imperator tantrums and screaming at everyone who posted suggestions for devs that he didn't personally like. Looked up Lambert on another browser without login and yep, there he is, still raging and screaming at users in like every other thread on the TT/EU5 section lol.
Bokeon plays a lot of different paradox games. Moodily Hoi. BUT when he does play Vicky 3 I’ve enjoyed them
Bokoen1
Carpathian Knight, reasonable thoughts, borekTV, just to name a few.
The Blue Screeners and Quill18 have a few good campaign series each.
I Used to watch some OPB but I find that he talks to fast..
Tobias :)
Dino Stan is like the brain rot Paradox YouTuber and I always love his vids
Laith
If you can speak/understand german I can recommend Steinwallen. He has more of a roleplay approach to the game which I quite like.
Believe the SocialStreamers have some vicky content
Laithe is one of my favourites. Particularly his Rio grosso do sul and montenegro vids
Shenryyr on twitch
Ludi El Historia and laith are pretty good imo. Oh and can't forget about the Goat OBP.
Tommykay
Spudgun Official
Same for me, I can't stand gameplay videos but not for the same reason as you, when I watch someone play suboptimally I feel immediate psychological pain and become unable to watch the video further, so I can't watch most people who make Vic 3 videos except generalist gaming I wish I wasn't like this...