Whether I’m writing in-depth fighting game guides, sharing streaming advice, or recommending games for your next board game night, In Third Person has always been a reflection of my life situation and interests at any given moment in time. It makes for an experience that’s difficult to follow on an ongoing basis, but my top priority has always been to give myself the freedom to make whatever I want with the time I have available to commit to this passion project.

These last few years have been no different. Due to some major global events, lifestyle changes, and new hobbies, my output continues to change with me.

The Whole Pandemic Thing

It goes without saying that the COVID-19 pandemic that kicked into high-gear in March 2020 has fundamentally-changed the world. Millions of lives have been lost, countless people have contracted it, and despite the world’s best efforts to push towards normalcy, we can’t escape the way it still impacts our day-to-day life.

One of those changes included a shift towards working remotely. Since this pandemic began, I have been fortunate enough to work-from-home. I save so much time and money from not having to commute downtown. However, losing that commute also means losing the time I would have spent writing posts for the website. For the past few years, most of my writing was done on the train to-and-from work, which was about three solid hours every weekday.

Without that commute, finding the time to write has been difficult ever since. I hope to write more, but it’s highly-dependent on me having something that I really want to express in written form while also finding an opportunity to scribe it. At this point though, most of my ongoing ramblings end up happening in video form.

Streaming (and all the extra work that comes with it)

Streaming has grown to become my primary medium for content creation. I love the platform for allowing me to share my thoughts, opinions, and gameplay experiences in real-time with immediate feedback from those responding in the chat.

More than just playing games, I also use my streaming time to create content that will be repurposed for other platforms, such as Pokemon TCG deck profiles, commentary on a specific subject, tier lists, or whatever other ideas come to mind. Off the strength of two streams per week, I’m also creating roughly one week of longform video content for YouTube, as well as a few highlights I can share on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.

Approaching streaming with a content plan for multiple mediums helps to make my content better on every platform it appears on. Viewers on my streams can expect a show that is more than just me pressing buttons and reacting to what’s happening in whatever game I’m playing.

On top of that, I greatly expand my reach by repurposing my streaming content into structured videos or highlights that work better in a VOD format. Any given moment on my stream is only seen by roughly 10 people live. However, videos and highlights from those streams have the potential to reach hundreds, thousands, or in the most extreme cases, hundreds of thousands more who wouldn’t have seen my work otherwise. Most of my videos don’t go viral, but if they’re being seen by people who didn’t catch the live stream, then that alone justifies the extra planning and effort that goes into creating streams with the intent of repurposing material for VOD content.

However, this extra work comes at a cost. And not in the monetary sense. Having a video editor would be a godsend, but I can’t afford one at this juncture. Because of this, I edit everything myself. Even though my edits are the bare minimum, it still takes many hours on top of the hours spent streaming to convert one stream into multiple videos for different platforms. I usually end up spending more time editing the streams after-the-fact than the actual time it took to complete the streams themselves.

As such, the time I have for content creation is almost exclusively going towards the process of streaming and adapting streams for VODs. If I can find another window to write more frequently, that would be awesome! But it just hasn’t arisen yet with everything else going on.

I discovered the awesomeness of the Pokemon Trading Card Game

Ever since my wife and I tried out the Pokemon Trading Card Game last summer, I have become obsessed with it. Bought more packs of cards than I’d like to admit. Most of the content I consume these days relates to the game. As of writing, the in-game clock says I’ve put in over 800 hours.

Needless to say, it’s become an all-consuming hobby. Not only am I buying the cards and playing the game, but its influence has spilled into my content in a big way. Most of my written posts in the last year have centered around the game. It’s become a staple of my streaming schedule, too. Heck, it’s actually the game that draws in my largest audience, both live and through VODs.

It was scary to transition into Pokemon TCG content at first. I had no idea what I was talking about. Furthermore, I was scared to alienate much of my audience that isn’t interested in the game. However, I’ve always used In Third Person as a platform to document my adventures in geeky hobbies of all sorts, from fighting games, to board games, comic books, to live streaming, and other nerdy pursuits. This is just where my heart is at right now and I’ll continue to fixate on it for as long as I’m hooked. The fact that it’s actually led to some success in terms of numbers is a bonus.

Beyond its influence on the content I make, it also influences the content I don’t make. Any free time I have left after streaming essentially goes into playing Pokemon Trading Card Game Online. While I did squeeze in some time to play Pokemon Legends Arceus and Kirby and the Forgotten Land to completion, I haven’t found the time to write anything about them (or much of anything else for that matter).

Where to from here?

Lots of things have changed, but things are also par for the course within the In Third Person universe. Whatever life throws at me, In Third Person continues to be a reflection of where I’m at and what I’m into at any given time. I’ll always focus on making stuff that I’m passionate about in any medium, from writing, to video, to streaming. Truly appreciate you for any amount of attention you give to my work over the years and I hope it’s enriched your life in some way or form!