Quality vs Quantity - The Creator Dilemma

I was raised in the era of Youtube where Let's Play content ruled the screens; folks like Chuggaaconroy, Datai, Lueroi, and so many others were pumping out content on the daily, and it seemed like it would never end. And the level of quality behind some of these productions was so high that it still hasn't been attempted again in the modern day... except by someone like Chuggaconroy who never stopped.

Things like custom character bio graphics, actual research and scripting, elements designed in programs like After Effects, custom songs and voice over... it felt like the videos I spent the time watching were actually something of substance and not just a cheap attempt at garnering views. Hell it even scratched an itch in my brain to learn more and make the content I produced (garbage though it was in 2010) of a higher caliber and continuing my learning with video editing.

And then came the era of what I refer to as "webcam jump scares". YouTubers would turn on their camera, play a game, and scream. 15% dialogue, 85% screaming. That's not to say that this era was totally garbage though... creators like Markiplier, Jack Septiceye, and Pewdiepie ended up being able to pivot into more niche roles in the medium and actually make something incredible of their careers. Markiplier, for example, has multiple films under his belt at this point, both acting and producing, which is HUGE for someone who got their start on YT.

When you compare the two eras of Let's Play content, there is another thing that stands out overall: quantity of videos produced vs quality of the product.

For this comparison, I will continue to compare the likes of Chuggaaconroy and Markiplier in terms of their content output ONLY. My reasoning: I watched both at different points in life (Chuggaaconroy during my high school years and Markiplier during my college years). I will also be comparing one video series from each creator for the sake of ease.

Chuggaaconroy and Pokemon Crystal Version

Chuggaaconroy produced a series covering Pokemon Crystal Version totaling 64 videos, each between 8 and 11 minutes in length. The series itself ran from March 14, 2010 (the release date for Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver, and 100% relevant) to July 5, 2010, and to date has achieved 8.5 million total views.

Due to the nature of the custom trainer sprites created for the sidebars on the video, as well as sidebars themselves and the wild encounter trackers, plus the occasional extra bits and pieces of custom sprite and animation work done on the video, for the year 2010 this was quite possibly the pinnacle of production value for video game content creators.

Markiplier and Amnesia: The Dark Descent

On the other side of the scale we have Markiplier and his series covering Amnesia: The Dark Descent. For this series, Markiplier produced a series of 18 total videos, ranging from 12 to 17 minutes in length, and totaling just under 10 million total views. The series itself was also uploaded to YT all on one day, May 26, 2012.

The videos themselves follow the signature Markiplier style at the time - minimally edited, long form content focusing on reaction and commentary in real time as opposed to researched, scripted content in post-production.

Comparison: Quantity of Videos

Let's cut to the chase - 64 videos is a LOT of videos for a series. So comparing 64 videos to 18, we're looking at roughly 3.5x the number of videos Chuggaa produced vs Markiplier. But stack those 64 videos agains the 18 others when looking at something like "percent of game covered", I can say with certainty that Chuggaa could have easily added more videos to the series in order to cover more information. Likewise Markiplier could have as well if going for something like a 100% completion of the game.

While neither choice can be viewed as the "correct" choice, each creator made what I would say is the "right" choice for their medium of choice.

Comparison: Quality of Videos

Now here is where things get spicy: everything in this section is going to be based solely on my opinion on the two series. I will TRY to remain objective when it comes to certain parts and pieces, but as a fan of Pokemon and JRPGs and less of a fan of the horror/suspense genre... my opinion is going to, in fact, be skewed.

I think the series on Pokemon Crystal Version is a masterclass of how to engage your audience with your content.

Every frame of the videos, every infographic, every detail is meticulously crafted to ensure that nothing is wasted and that knowledge is shared with those that may need it, or have missed something playing the game in their early years. I remember thinking to myself that this was just going to be another series I would watch and forget about, but then I found myself digging out my copy of Crystal and playing along with Chuggaa, learning several new things about the game that I had missed as a 10yr old.

This series was also where I decided to learn more about graphic design, and where I learned that I was not good at graphic design.

Markiplier's Amnesia: The Dark Descent series is... a series of raw videos that feel like they were recorded, thrown on to YT, and left do to the job. It reminds me a lot of the early, EARLY days of DarkSydePhil videos.

If you're in the dark about who DarkSydePhil is, that's okay. The comparison I'm making is that Phil would point his video camera at the tv, play a game, commentate in realtime, and then upload directly to YT. No editing, no quality control, no nothing. Just a pump and dump of content.

Now OBVIOUSLY Markiplier put a bit more into his content; the man actually recorded in good quality using a capture program and didn't just... make. But it still feels like a relic of a time that doesn't really work in the modern day.

Or maybe it does and I'm just more accustomed to a certain type of content. I won't lie, I even tried to do a similar thing to Markiplier on a different channel, but that lasted around 3 weeks total before I just got sick of the lack of quality and went back to what I knew.

Take what I say with a grain of salt obviously.

The Takeaway and Tying Into My Life

So what does all of this have to do with anything I normally talk about?

One of my goals for content creation in 2026 is to create with a focus on quality, not quantity. I used to set goals for my channel like "upload a new Retrospective every month", which holy shit, that was impossible for me to achieve and I think I knew that at the time, but was lying to myself.

So when I say produce content of quality instead of a quantity of videos, I mean creating something with value to the viewer, not just myself. I want someone to have that same feeling I did when watching Chuggaa's Crystal Version series; that feeling that they can do this themselves, or that they learned something valuable and new.

That's the goal, and for once... I'm sticking to it!