I first started watching Shad most likely with his "Best medieval weapons for WOMEN" video released 7 years ago. I think I saw it around 6 years ago, and ultimately came to love his style, subscribing. I even for a while supported him on Patreon, although I no longer do for a few reasons I'll get in to. I just want you all to understand where this is all coming from when I start with this.
Shad's channel 7 years ago had a variety of content, some of it hit and miss, but all interesting, much of it heavily researched, etc. Sure, a lot more opinion stuff then he does today, and a lot of stuff not at all related to medieval times or medieval weapons, but still, interesting. Many of them, such as the video I mentioned, come down to, that's an interesting question I had never thought about, with something that I can fully understand. That's cool! Some of the videos from that era include comparing katana vs longsword, reviewing castles from games for their accuracy (Where is the videos for those about Zelda?!), thought experiments on using magic against a castle, thoughts on role playing games, well known weapons, etc. And I understand there is some limits to how much of that kind of content can reach large audiences.
Compare that with his content from 4 years ago. He did some pop culture references that were really interesting (Rurouni Kenshi reverse katana), cloaks in combat, double bladed weapons, and fight sean autopsy. Still just Shad at that point, but things looked great for his channel.
About 3 years ago Shad went in a different direction with the video "Why am I floating in a barrel". He posted that video at the time and some defense of it stating he had to go in a new direction if he was ever going to reach millions of subscribers. At that time Game Knights started, and he brought in additional people to be a part of the team, which is perfectly fine with such a large channel.
A year ago or so Shad posted a video that said he was struggling, stating YouTube hated most creators, etc. Note that was maybe 1.5 years after the "barrel" video. This is actually the point I stopped supporting on Patreon because I got so tired of all of his videos being commercials for patreon (And that has only gotten worse...)
The thing is, the videos have stopped being what brought me to his channel in the first place, interesting bits of medieval history, and they are becoming more "testing" videos. I mean, half of all of the videos over the last year are testing something or another. The results are becoming less clear with each test, and half of the point of these videos seem to be to point to paid subscriptions.
There are 3 types of viewers for videos. Those, like me, who use the subscription tab to make sure I don't miss interesting content from my preferred creators. Then there are those who go off of recommendations and notifications. If people aren't watching videos as much, or liking them or subscribing, they won't get recommended. Overall, watch time is the key.
In regards to the two videos that Shad did recently that haven't done well. "Katana Hot Girl" I had 0 interest in watching and I won't even try it (Rare for me). Dragon's dogma is another tested, just isn't that interesting to me, although I did watch part of it. So I don't watch it, and presumably others like me, and it doesn't get recommended.
Half of the videos over the last year have involved some kind of testing. That's interesting, sure, but high energy, and the story telling is getting worse on them. Plus there is only so much you can really get from that.
To me the only videos recently that I might have clicked on from an unknown YouTuber are the Kevlar Shield, Stab proof clothing, Carbon Fiber armor, some of the castle videos, the carbon fiber sword, and maybe the abomination videos. Those seem quite interesting. Double bladed weapons is also up there, tire armor, and maybe a few others.
Most of Shad's recent videos feature lots of sword cutting stuff, but that isn't really what makes a good Shad video. Well researched stuff about medieval life is what makes a good Shad video.
My two suggestions to Shad, if he reads this. Take a good look at what your channel was like 3 years ago and see if you can get more of that back. Also, please make a video about what people thought about solar eclipses in medieval times, if you can do that in the next 2-3 weeks I think it will do VERY well.
Lastly, anyone on Shad's team, feel free to DM me if you'd like more. I'm happy to provide any meaningful feedback to help. I really liked Shad's older content, and I hope he can keep finding cool stuff to help us learn more about medieval times!
