Civil War: Should Eljay Remove His Mask for Video Recordings?

The TTV Channel
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The editing isn’t what’s a hassle. The editing isn’t what I’m concerned about.

What is a hassle will be us in Virginia and us wanting to record a ton of VLOGs and then having a “No, don’t record us right now - Eljay doesn’t have his mask.” Because he obviously can’t and won’t wear it all day, especially while we’re going out and about from place to place, hanging out at a convention.

What’s a hassle is Eljay suggesting we not do video for certain projects that we have wanted to do, because it’s a long recording session and he is wearing that mask for several hours.

And the thing is, I agree with him. Wearing that mask is understandably very tiring. Which is why I want him to take it off. It was fun as a gag, but it’s not future proof. The larger we get, the more inconvenient this privacy gets.

This is the same argument that we had back when we made the company in the first place. And the argument stays the same now.

This was the same argument when I wanted to move to YouTube and others said no, we should stay on BZP, because that’s where the people that enjoy us are. Why change the status quo? If we were to take this risk, and it didn’t pay off, then we would have nothing.

None of us could imagine the success we would have now, especially back then. And that’s why this is so important. Because we need to think forward when it comes to this or else we’d be stuck with the confines of the past.

And the thing is? If we had never taken that risk, we wouldn’t know how far we could have come. We’d be content with what we had, because we would never know better.

I make comments about the company all of the time because it’s proof that not only us, but anyone can start from nothing and actually build something from scratch. Because we’re not just fifteen year old kids talking once a week about Bionicle. We’re a production studio. We can do more than that.

All of the metrics point towards being onscreen as the driving factor behind more engaging content. Having our faces out there brings more recognizability, relatability, and it helps propel our own careers forward. All of us.

Making ourselves more personable onscreen, making more general, LEGO-centric content, is the future of this company. No more slideshows, no more tetherless voices. Because if we stick where we are, we’re going to fade out right after Bionicle does. And honestly? I’d give that until the end of next year.

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I side with @Eljay. Is it ridiculous that he insists on wearing his mask? Yes, but it’s his call.

Doesn’t this mean that only Eljay’s career is hurt by this? You guys all are separate personalities and that’s recognised by your fans. It’s unlikely that a newcomer will stop watching just because they can’t quite relate to Eljay’s mask alone.

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Out of everyone I’ve seen post so far I would agree with this statement the most. I do agree that Eljay has the right to do what he wants, but I think it’s stupid that he trolls the audience again and again saying he’ll reveal his face and then dances around the subject.

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ohey look a big argument

lol i dont care

it’s incredibly stupid for y’all to be arguing about this IMO
like, who cares if Eljay wears his mask or not?

suddenly remembers the t-■■■■■ announcment

on second thought I take that back

In all seriousness, both sides here are taking things to stupid extremes. On the side of Eljay, you’ve got the whole “i gotta keep de mursk fer privacy” argument. So okay, obviously Eljay has the right to his own privacy.

But the way he’s handles it is stupid.

He’s so paranoid, and for what? He’s afraid someone will recognize him? Track him down? Unless he’s pulling a Deadpool and has disgusting scarring on his face, I see no logical reason as to why he needs to keep the mask on.

On the other hand, Kahi/Var’s argument is just as stupid. There is no way that Eljay’s mask muffles his voice so much that it’s necessary to kick him off of webcam videos. If you’re gonna crack down on audio quality, why not remove whomever has tons of background noise in the podcast?

Also[quote=“Kahi, post:261, topic:755”]
We’re celebrities now.
[/quote]
lolno

You’re famous in a niche part of an already niche fandom. Just because you have 25,000 subscribers doesn’t mean that you’re Robert Downy Jr. or something.

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But, the channel is trying to grow, and with that, each member needs relatability. Sure it hurts Eljay’s career significantly, but at the same time it hurts TTV. There’s trust issues with someone who is hiding their face for some reason. With that comes distrust in the channel.

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What? Distrust about what exactly? We’re not trusting TTV to handle our SS numbers. They’re just a show that comments on toys.

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Except he’s not trolling the obvious. That’s who Eljay is. He thrives on being so secure on his identity. That’s his character.

Sure you can get down to business on this, but if someone doesn’t bring the fun, then TTV will get boring.

That’s funny Slime, because you seem to like respecting my identity, and I have too for you. Does Eljay NOT have the same rights to you apparently? Or do you just not like Eljay that much?

Exactly my point. Var and Kahi are being totally ridiculous.

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Exactly.

The audio quality is tangential. It’s not so much that it completely hampers the production, it’s part of the larger issue. And the larger issue is, we are not moving forward with several parts of production for no other reason other than Eljay’s non-sensical selfish reasoning.

If he wants to remain private, sure. And if he wants to be heavily involved as he would like to be in the future, sure. But I’m done not moving forward with video concepts, and also holding back from doing more videos and livestreams just because of one person.

Eljay’s got to choose what he values more. We can accomodate him either way.

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So TTV will get boring if Eljay no longer wears a mask. I’m not buying it…

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But they’re growing in popularity! They’re the #1 bionicle channel out there. They have a significant number of subs, and while you may think of it as just that: a channel, it’s. Lot more. This is a buisness. I’ve seen Kahi and Var handle things behind the scenes and stuff gets professional. They have shirts to sell, in order to make money to add to the money they make from video views/vessel subs. From there they have to maintain the website, and even pay the cast when nessacary for various things. Now, Is it really professional to let some guy who can’t even show his face represent this company? Of course not!

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except for that part where i showed my face
made a whole video about it actually
my first name is fairly common knowledge, and my last name will come soon enough

Yes.

Now that makes more sense to me, though I still don’t see why Eljay matters so much to the channel…

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But some people don’t want to show their identity, Kahi. Can you not understand that? I mean, what you could do is just not have TTV Book Club on YouTube. It would allow it to be exclusive to Vessel so you can get more traffic there. Won’t that make MORE money?

Yeah, actually. Whenever I think TTV, I think ELJAY. Or Kahi. Or Var.

That was your choice, though.

I haven’t blatantly told people your name, even though I accidentally discovered it.

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That’s ridiculous. There are many many franchises that have made money off of merch, tv shows, etc. Do you really believe that TMNT fans know the faces of the people who own the copyrights for the franchise? OR any other franchise for that matter. People live most of their lives knowing only so much about the people they buy things from. As long as the product is to their satisfation, it doesn’t matter to them.

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You mean like the Burger King? Or Twinkie the Kid? Because what you said is actually a common business strategy. So, uh…

#Your argument is invalid.

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It’s not exactly distrust. It’s a lack of relatability, and a situation where Eljay is holding us back from doing more with what we want to do in the future.

One common thing we hear is that Venom and Meso always sound the same. You know what might solve that? Actually seeing who is talking.

This goes beyond that, too. It’s proven that podcasts on YouTube do better when there’s video than when there isn’t. It’s also proven that it boosts relatability and exposure. Especially when we’re wanting to expand the audience we’re currently in.

I can understand that some people don’t want to show their identity. I don’t understand why someone would want to be a part of a large channel, which entire draw and livelihood is dependant on you being on camera as an actual personality - and also somehow want an extra level of privacy. If you wanted one, you shouldn’t have tried for the other. It’s inconsistent to want both and still expect everyone to bend over backwards for you.

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We’re frickin nerds. Many of us can relate to running around in a mask. If anything Eljay’s stupid gimmick helps TTV more than anything.

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We’re not talking about the manufacturers of a product alone however, are we? TTV handles all of that, yes, but they also need to be personable. This is a podcast as well. That’s why, say, my face reveal as a mod isn’t as important. I handle the workings of these mb, whereas Kahi, Meso, LJ, etc all are the faces of TTV. How is TTV going to grow if this doesn’t stop? I can safely say that less people would go to Roosterteeth conventions if, say, Gavin wore a ski mask at all times.

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So Eljay’s personality will go away just because he doesn’t wear his mask all the time. You don’t even see his physical being in very many videos. I’m sorry but I’m not going to believe this crap notion saying “TTV hinges on Eljay’s mask or their channel is doomed”, Eljay’s personality isn’t going to change just because he takes off his mask. That’s absolutely ridiculous.

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This is a company based on personality though. Not products.

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You just made my point for me. It’s about personality, not looks.

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