{"id":219514,"date":"2021-03-19T13:58:21","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T13:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gamerant.com\/the-completionist-10-year-anniversary-youtube-lessons-interview\/"},"modified":"2021-03-19T13:58:21","modified_gmt":"2021-03-19T13:58:21","slug":"the-completionist-reflects-on-youtube-career-lessons-learned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2021\/03\/19\/the-completionist-reflects-on-youtube-career-lessons-learned\/","title":{"rendered":"The Completionist Reflects on YouTube Career, Lessons Learned"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The interactive element of video gaming means there are plenty of ways to enjoy them, from casual observers who play\u00a0Angry Birds<\/em>\u00a0on their iPhones to die-hard fans who have bought every console since the Nintendo Entertainment System. Some, like Chinese grandfather Yang Binglin, complete video games<\/a> on principle. However, few have brought the idea of completing games to the forefront online as much as Jirard “Dragon Rider” Khalil.<\/p>\n

Khalil started a YouTube<\/a> channel in September 2011 called That One Video Gamer (TOVG) with\u00a0a\u00a0flagship show:\u00a0The Completionist.\u00a0He has spent the last decade\u00a0completing one video game every week, and is coming up on the show’s 400th episode. While the channel has amassed 1.4 million subscribers as of this writing, leading Khalil to be the CEO of a production company with around a dozen employees, he said the idea behind “That One Video Gamer” was that anyone can be a gamer, a musician, a filmmaker, or whatever they want. Game Rant spoke with Khalil about his 10-year journey on YouTube, the lessons he has learned, and his upcoming charity livestream Preserved Play<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

RELATED: YouTube Begins Testing Twitch-Style Video Clips for Streamers<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Completionist was started out of “a state of desperation,” according to Khalil. He double-majored in Theatre and Film at California State University, Fullerton, but was burned out on an industry that expected everything while providing next-to nothing, and felt many of his\u00a0professors discouraged pursuing a career in film. After being passed up on a promotion following five-and-a-half years at Best Buy<\/a>, where he acquired a passion for helping people buy the games they really wanted, he felt aimless.<\/p>\n

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Then, Khalil helped his high school friend Jon Jafari\u00a0produce some early videos for the\u00a0YouTube channel JonTron (now\u00a0at 6.5 million subscribers), and through a livestream with Jafari met Arin Hansen – who would host\u00a0Game Grumps<\/a> (now at 5.4 million subscribers) with Jafari and later Dan Avidan. “I didn’t know him very well, but [Arin] was like you just have to create something,” Khalil said. TOVG was his third or fourth attempt at becoming a YouTuber following some sketch comedy channels, but “I told myself this one was going to be different, about me and what I’m passionate about.”<\/p>\n

The TOVG YouTube channel posted an update video on March 6, 2021, in which Khalil announced a “soft pause” for The Completionist leading up to episode 400. Khalil said the only other time this has happened was a one-month break around episode 100 when he re-uploaded older\u00a0videos\u00a0hit by copyright strikes<\/a>. While this pause only lasts a\u00a0few weeks, and content is still coming out for other shows, this will give his team the time to figure out how to keep The Completionist from getting stale for its creators.<\/p>\n

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“We’re putting the brakes on so we can have that tough conversation of what it looks like in 2021 and beyond. Do we like what we’re making? Is it exciting?…Are we trendsetters or are we adapting?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Khalil describes production as a lot of moving parts with clashing elements on an intense schedule, not including other shows like Super Beard Bros. that he hosts with Alex Faciane and Brett Bayonne. However, “The reality is we’ve been in the stars for a long time … and we’ve got a hardcore fanbase that shows up each week,” so they just need time to get off the treadmill and focus. In particular, Khalil wants to know what his feelings are, what he contributes, and if “people care whether that contribution exists.”<\/p>\n

RELATED: The Best Mega Man X Boss Order<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

His\u00a0journey began with\u00a0Mega Man X<\/em> for the Super Nintendo, and recently capped off with episode 399 on SSX Tricky<\/em><\/a>. However, things got complicated in 2015 when Khalil split with former co-host Greg Wilmot, leading to The Completionist’s first 120 episodes being removed. There was a negative backlash that made Khalil feel like he didn’t want to create anymore, and he said his personal space was violated\u00a0afterward. He said the thing that helped him breathe again was starting a show called New Game Plus on October 17, 2017: recompleting those 120 games alongside ongoing content.<\/p>\n

“Looking back, it was the right call. It was the call that legitimized us as a true business, and it was a massive risk,” Khalil said. As of this writing, Khalil has completed 112 of his 120-game backlog, but while he only has eight games left to complete on Twitch<\/a> there are at least at least 30 episodes yet to be made or released. Fans of The Completionist are “the lifeblood of my business,” and Khalil hopes he succeeded in giving back to them with this endeavor. Much of his drive has been giving back, from responding to as many messages as possible during early days of the show to adjusting his Patreon page for\u00a0followers to “feel like they’re\u00a0getting their money and heart’s worth by supporting me.”<\/p>\n