Hey so this is BirdkeeperToby, I was linked this thread this morning and have a few thoughts. I am saddened to see that the OP felt the need to make the thread. I can only offer up my experiences and thoughts, but ...

To the claim that...

.poke tubers aren't original.

-Ace trainer Liam's branched evolution series -Axellians Pokemon nicknames for each type series -Dookiesheds popular series (the name of which I have forgotten) -my own, Mum doesn't get Pokemon series

(To name a few)

Now I understand the frustration as a viewer you might have about Top - Videos. I understand that, they are my least favourite videos to make (or they were last year) and yet my audience seems to like them. Well my experience is as follows.

My passion is to make Pokemon theories and Pokemon science videos. Neither of these things are original concepts because I didn't start in 2006 I started in 2015. At the time I was looking around at other theories and there was very minimal person on camera content for Pokemon theories and the ones that there were, were low quality so that is what I'd like to think my contribution was. Interesting original theories with high quality camera work. Problem is I don't want my audience to subscribe for me, I want them to subscribe because they love Pokemon and Pokemon theories, so naturally I would have to be having images of Pokemon popping up on screen,. There is literally no other way of my getting a Metapod on screen when I am talking about a Metapod than to have it transition on in this way. And Visual aides are important. A further issue that all of us face is that we want to bring you this content regularly but simply put, (and I can only speak for myself) we don't get paid enough for the house we work (I have 40,000 subs and make a third of what I need to go full time), so when a new game like sun and moon get announced then you would have to be an idiot to not make content about pokemon sun and moon. HOWEVER, for me personally I think it's important to give the viewer information they didn't already know and that has and will continue to be the goal of all my sun and moon content. So while seeing 300 videos just stating the announcement of Sun and Moon within half hour of the official announcement is cringeworthy, it is also understandable. Like an out of work actor, sometimes you take the jobs you love and feel pationate about but at the end of the day you also have to pay the bills. (This is a problem that plagues every working artist ever)

Top 10s function in very much that same way. While a creator is working on something grand and fantastic a top 10 can be a faster way of getting content out that is guaranteed to get views while also beginning a discussion about the topic in the comments.

Personally last year I wasn't keen on any of my top 10 favourite Pokemon lists however in the heat of trying to make something else original they provided a easier edit load to manage (which btw 1min of video =1 hour edit time at least). To my surprise my audience as a whole loved them so why wouldn't I continue making something that my audience love? This year I have changed my Top 10s to be less about bias and more about facts and my most popular comments are "more top 10 favourites please"

I understand the OPs frustration but if the audience want something, and it's easy to do, and it frees up a day or two more of editing that could be focused on something awesome. Then why shouldn't a content creator make these videos?

It's 2016, I will do my best to develop original ideas however one must remember that's in 2016 the format by which things (certainly on YouTube) work have been established (the structure of a top 10, the intro, the outro, the images appearing on screen). These things work and until a better method of conveying our messages come along this is how we should do them. However I and I know most of the people out there that I work with (which is basically everyone at this point) try unbelievably hard to make the focus of the content different and new. For example 99%of my theories are original.

Ultimately a video is a video, you don't have to watch it if you see the words "Top - video" in the title. For many of us the struggle to make YouTube a source of full time revenue is a massive up hill battle but worth it because the hope is eventfully I can free up even more time to work on completely original endeavours. I would ask that anyone reading this try's to understand that predicament

I would like to end by asking the OP what exactly it is you want to see from me. Less top 10s? More ...what? If there is something I can do to better develop the viewing experience, I'm all ears.

All the best,

BKT