Yes, Normal Guys Do Exist

[HogHammer]

Occasionally, I'll introduce forum members and guests to Twitch or YouTube content providers who produce fantastic content that I feel may benefit many players.  (I do it so you don't have to 👀)

Normal Guy of the North is one I would recommend.

Although a self-professed DD and submarine player, he does a great job in all his videos.  He is detailed and thorough in his reviews and analysis.  His focused analysis covers not just one mode of play but also covers ship strengths/weaknesses for all modes.  He explains things that everyone can fully understand - frankly, he is a joy to watch and learn.

If you are a submarine player, I can highly recommend Normal Guy.  Not being a sub player myself, I  learned a lot from his videos.  What is really nice is that many of his videos run around seven minutes, so you are not sitting there waiting for someone to make a point.

[Sumseaman]

8 hours ago, HogHammer said:

If you are a submarine player, I can highly recommend Normal Guy.  Not being a sub player myself, I  learned a lot from his videos.  What is really nice is that many of his videos run around seven minutes, so you are not sitting there waiting for someone to make a point.

Indeed. The go to for sub players.

Poor bloke couldn't pronounce Xin Zhong Guo....so he called it 'Dave'.

Edited December 31, 2024 by Sumseaman

[pew_pew_magoo]

34 minutes ago, Sumseaman said:

Poor bloke couldn't pronounce Xin Zhong Gou....so he called it 'Dave'.

That wins the internet for today. 

[_Kokushibo_]

Ah yes, 650k subscribers at 900+ videos. Most of the videos with less than 1k views. Almost no comments (like less than 50 at 90k views).
Really nothing suspicious here: must be the famous silent community that subscribed to his channel 😅

[OldSchoolGaming_Youtube]

1 hour ago, _Kokushibo_ said:

Ah yes, 650k subscribers at 900+ videos. Most of the videos with less than 1k views. Almost no comments (like less than 50 at 90k views).
Really nothing suspicious here: must be the famous silent community that subscribed to his channel 😅

Yup, my thoughts exactly. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out there is something very strange about this guy and this YT account. 

656 000 "Subscribers"?! Thats more than three of the biggest OG CC WoW Streamers on EU, Flamu, Flambass and Trenlass ...... COMBINED?!?! OG CC WoW YT/Streamers that has been doing that at the highest level since 2015. Nobody finds that a bit peculiar?

Also as pointed out, its a bit strange, firstly for a YT channel to just pop like that from 1000 subs to 656 000 in a year (unless they are Mr.Beast), but also that it seems like None of his so called 656 000 subscribers actually watch his videos since most of them has really low views, some around 300 views?! WoW Streamer sometimes talks about "Payed actors" when it comes to players in this game, well this smells a whole lot like payed Subscribers and sometimes on his higher viewed videos, payed clicks/views since almost none of them write something in the comments. There are quite popular call centers in India etc that provides services like this for social media content creators for payment.

 

This guy popped up on my YT radar a year ago when I started to play subs. Then he had around 1000 subscribers and was doing mostly replays from other players and some rare own games when he plays submarines. And I felt like that was ok because I do watch a whole lot of other WoW replays channels like "Panzerknacker World of Warships" (94 100 Subscribers), "World of Warships - Best replays" (57 900 Subscribers), "TT TrashTier" (2 880 Subscribers), "Top Tier" (47 600 Subscribers) etc etc.

"Lord Zath", NA (2 750 Subscribers)

"Malteseknight", EU (15 400 Subscribers)

"ChaosMachineGR", EU (2 980 Subscribers)

"The Might Jingles", EY (653 000 Subscribers) So he even beats out Mighty Jingles?!?!?! Which I think EVERY WoW player that doesn't live under a rock has heard of AND watched!

All these guys are frequently invited to WGs special events and streams. Does it start to make sense now how BS this guy is?!

But then after starting to play Submarines a lot and learning all mechanics and using my previous skill and experience to excel in them I realized more and more that this guy, this self-proclaimed "Submarine guy (Main)" doesn't even know what the Submarine skills do which I talked to him about several times in the comments of his video to what he replies that "Hes an aggressive player and that is the skill he wants to take". He doesn't even read the effects on the skills and doesn't seem to understand that about half of the Submarine skills are only effective after a certain threshold is met (because Subs are pretty effin OP and unbalanced....).

Hes also one of the players that said Subs and GATO was totally ruined after the Shotgun nerf, which pretty much sums up his "Experience" and "Skill" in submarines.

Also if your attentive when watching his video you will see that he speed brushes over the skills and modules with some random phrases at most times. Compare that to an actual knowledgeable players like "G4ngB4r3ng" (2 860 Subscribers), that does a deep dive analysis and good arguments on why you should take certain skills and modules in each ship he deas a video on and who I cant recommend enough for getting better at this game.

https://www.youtube.com/@P4inish

Yeah ...........so I call BULLSHIT on this guy and his channel and subscribers. As I said, it doesn't take much to figure out that there is something very wrong here. Things just dont add up.

I would never take his advice on anything regarding Submarines or DDs. How many videos on his channel is his own for starters? And after listen to him talk about the skills its quite clear that he doesn't really know.

But if others want to follow/support him and take his advice on playing Subs they can go right ahead.

Edited December 31, 2024 by OldSchoolGaming_Youtube

[OldSchoolGaming_Youtube]

7 hours ago, Sumseaman said:

Indeed. The go to for sub players.

Poor bloke couldn't pronounce Xin Zhong Gou....so he called it 'Dave'.

He even "Stole" that from the Mighty Jingles btw .... Jingles has been calling players with impossible names in his replays for "Dave" for many many years. So very Original.

[Admiral_Karasu]

YouTube algorithms are the likeliest explanation for low views, though I've never seen any of his videos to show up in a google search either. In this came, I recommend judging his videos based on the content they provide.

[Snargfargle]

Sometimes obscure YouTube accounts can get a subscriber boost after by being mentioned by larger YouTubers. Several years ago, I stumbled onto a tiny YouTube gaming channel with less than 100 subscribers. The videos were "rough" to say the least but the kid was hilarious though with his antics, funny commentary, and Irish accent so I started following him. I thought to myself that if he could ever get recognized that he would go far. Suddenly, his channel blew up into a monster. It was because he had been mentioned as someone to check out by PewDiePie. Now, Jacksepticeye is one of the largest YouTube channels in the world with 30 million subscribers and Seán McLoughlin is worth over $40 million.

Edited January 1 by Snargfargle

[Yedwy]

9 hours ago, HogHammer said:

Although a self-professed DD and submarine player

TBH you lost me there

[Snargfargle]

Something caused this nearly un-viewed channel to increase in views and subscriptions starting last February, slump down to almost nothing and then blow up again in September. It probably wouldn't take too much sleuthing to determine what it was.

[tm63au]

Speaking of You tubers does anyone remember that guy who was producing vids on WOWS, he produced an hilarious Vid on I think Orlan was hoping to get CC gig was about give it away when I think it was Boggsy I think or some other manager at WOWS help him out.

He had accent not that that might help players to remember who I'm referring too.

 

Sorry of subject a bit but after reading this post it got me thinking about the Vid this guy made and thought i might look it up and watch, it was such a laugh to watch.  

[Admiral_Karasu]

4 minutes ago, tm63au said:

Speaking of You tubers does anyone remember that guy who was producing vids on WOWS, he produced an hilarious Vid on I think Orlan was hoping to get CC gig was about give it away when I think it was Boggsy I think or some other manager at WOWS help him out.

He had accent not that that might help players to remember who I'm referring too.

 

Sorry of subject a bit but after reading this post it got me thinking about the Vid this guy made and thought i might look it up and watch, it was such a laugh to watch.  

You mean Claus Kellerman?

[Wulf_Ace]

660k subscribers and only 1,5 k views hahah...

 

[OldSchoolGaming_Youtube]

2 hours ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

YouTube algorithms are the likeliest explanation for low views, though I've never seen any of his videos to show up in a google search either. In this came, I recommend judging his videos based on the content they provide.

Thing is, I really went all in and nerded down on YT and its algorithm when I started my YT channel many years ago and I can tell that the Algorithm used by YT and all the big social media plattforms (X, Facebook, Tik tok etc) is next level AI, it probably knows you better than most of youre best friends because it sees Everything you do on youre PC and smartphone. It is really smart and clever at boosting up content you have any type of interests in youre daily flow and always recommend videos to you that you are likely to watch, because that means more watch hours, clicks and interaction on their plattform which they use for selling ads to companies with.

So, this probably means that the Algorithm dont identify this channel to be any interest to these 656 000 "Subscribers" (maybe because they are callcenter bots). Either that or the "Subscribers" for some strange reason choose to ignore this guys video every day when they pop up in their daily start page.

Only reason why probably most players of WoW or even Forum members in here never heard of this guy is the fact that the YT algorithm identifies that this guy is of zero interest for people who often look at WOW videos, because otherwise he would have been on all of us start page as a recommendation from YT.

Edited December 31, 2024 by OldSchoolGaming_Youtube

[tm63au]

9 minutes ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

You mean Claus Kellerman?

Just looked at his you tube channel only saw one WOWS , this guy has lot of WOT. 

Bits and pieces coming back about this Vid think the guy is Russian and at the start of vid its animated the guy in navy uniform ( still probably doesnt help )

  

[OldSchoolGaming_Youtube]

2 hours ago, Snargfargle said:

Sometimes obscure YouTube accounts can get a subscriber boost after by being mentioned by larger YouTubers. Several years ago, I stumbled onto a tiny YouTube gaming channel with less than 100 subscribers. The videos were "rough" to say the least but the kid was hilarious though with his antics, funny commentary, and Irish accent so I started following him. I thought to myself that if he could ever get recognized that the would go far. Suddenly, his channel blew up into a monster. It was because he had been mentioned as someone to check out by PewDiePie. Now, Jacksepticeye is one of the largest YouTube channels in the world with 30 million subscribers and Seán McLoughlin is worth over $40 million.

I totally agree, this happens when the person actually put out consistent quality or fun or really entertaining content. This is actually the way Flamu got his start. One of his early WoW guides got mentioned by a big streamer that did early content for WoW in 2015-2016, that I cant remember the name of right now and Flamus channel took off in a couple of days earning him a large number of subscribers and followers on both YT and Twitch.

But that is Flamu, a guy that since then became one of the most notorious CCs for WG, a guy that been one of the best WoW player for 9 years, playing for the highest ranking clans when he still cared, made tons of quality content and for many is one of the most entertaining streamers to watch in this game. And he has like 30% of this North guys subscribers?! Seriously?

Jacksepticeye is a seriously good gamer and is very entertaining to watch, thus his success. There is no big mystery there. I feel like he is on the level of "Hollow" and "RadBrad" when it comes to channel and PC game playthrus.

In the majority of the "Normal guy of the North´s" videos you see another players replay, so as far as I can tell this guy has no skill or experience in this game, some of his own gameplay is in subs and can be performed by any subplayers that has learned the class. Most of borrowed replays are from submarines which are one of the most hated classes in the game, and then he copy-pasta in his voice over in the last 10 seconds of each video where he asks if you enjoyed the video and ask you to like and subscribe. That is the lever of his creativity and channel quality. This is of course worth 656 000 subscribers.....

Meanwhile a lot of other really good replay channels that do better quality as I mentioned before has puny subscriber numbers but quite more views on their videos.

There really isnt any logic or explanation to why this channel would be so big except for its been bought and payed for. 

Edited December 31, 2024 by OldSchoolGaming_Youtube

[Admiral_Karasu]

15 minutes ago, OldSchoolGaming_Youtube said:

Thing is, I really went all in and nerded down on YT and its algorithm when I started my YT channel many years ago and I can tell that the Algorithm used by YT and all the big social media plattforms (X, Facebook, Tik tok etc) is next lever AI, it probably knows you better then most of youre best friends because it sees Everything you do on youre PC and smartphone. It is really smart and clever at boosting up content you have any type of interests in youre daily flow and always recommend videos to you that you are likely to watch, because that means more watch hours, clicks and interaction on their plattform which they use for selling ads to companies with.

So, this probably means that the Algorithm dont identify this channel to be any interest to these 656 000 "Subscribers" (maybe because they are callcenter bots). Either that or the "Subscribers" for some strange reason choose to ignore this guys video every day when they pop up in their daily start page.

So that's why I get ads about 'chair exercises for men over 50'....

What the algorithm supposedly does when someone pushes the subscription button during a video it promotes that video. There's nothing particularly strange about subscribers as such not  watching videos on a channel they are subscribing to. I have subscribed to a lot of channels and I rarely if ever see videos by them, unless I am in the habit of watching them regularly in which case they YouTube puts them on offer. The thing is, that I like most people probably, just lazily push the subscription button without going the extra step of enabling the push notificiations.

14 minutes ago, tm63au said:

Just looked at his you tube channel only saw one WOWS , this guy has lot of WOT. 

Bits and pieces coming back about this Vid think the guy is Russian and at the start of vid its animated the guy in navy uniform ( still probably doesnt help )

  

It's from WoT I recognized his name. This is his Orlan video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fyc4wIzgTOA

[Snargfargle]

How to detect fake subscribers on Youtube

Detecting fake subscribers on YouTube is important not only for channel owners who wish to maintain genuine engagement but also for advertisers, collaborators, and viewers who seek authentic interactions. Here are the top 10 best ways to identify fake subscribers on YouTube:

1. Analyzing Engagement Rates

A noticeable imbalance between the number of subscribers and the engagement (likes, comments, views) can indicate fake subscribers. Genuine subscribers tend to interact with the content to some degree.

Engagement Rate 0.04%

2. Sudden Spikes in Subscriber Count

Watch for abrupt increases in subscribers without a correlating viral video or an external cause (e.g., shoutout by a popular channel, social media mention). Such spikes might be due to the purchase of fake subscribers.

+507.89% Growth (6 Months)

3. Check the Quality of Comments

Generic, irrelevant, or spammy comments can be signs of fake engagement. Real subscribers and viewers are more likely to leave specific and meaningful comments related to the video content.

4. Low View-to-Subscriber Ratio

A channel with a high number of subscribers but significantly lower views per video may have a large number of inactive or fake subscribers.

5. Use of Analytics Tools

Employ third-party analytics tools designed for YouTube to get insights into the channel's growth and engagement patterns. Influencer Hero for example can help identify inconsistencies that suggest artificial inflation of subscriber counts.

6. Review Subscriber Profiles

While YouTube does not readily display detailed subscriber information to the public, channel owners can access some data about their subscribers. Signs of fake accounts include lack of profile pictures, no or few personal uploads, and generic profile names.

7. Unusual Engagement Patterns

Look for discrepancies in engagement across different videos. If the engagement does not correlate reasonably with the subscriber count or if there’s a pattern of suspect interactions, this may suggest manipulation.

8. Examine Channel Analytics for Geography Mismatch

Analyze the geographical data of viewers. A large number of subscribers from countries that are unlikely to be interested in your content based on language or relevancy might indicate fake subscribers. With Influencer Hero you can analyse the subscriber locations split to get a better understanding of potential fake subscribers.

9. Compare with Similar Channels

Benchmarking against similar channels can help. If your channel's engagement metrics significantly deviate from those of similar channels (having a similar subscriber count and content niche), it's worth investigating further.

10. Watch for Poor Retention Rates

Video retention rates (how long people watch your videos) can also provide insights. Fake subscribers typically do not watch videos, therefore if your retention rates are unusually low in relation to your subscriber count, this could be a red flag.

https://www.influencer-hero.com/resources/free-youtube-fake-follower-scanner

Edited December 31, 2024 by Snargfargle

[OldSchoolGaming_Youtube]

35 minutes ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

What the algorithm supposedly does when someone pushes the subscription button during a video it promotes that video. There's nothing particularly strange about subscribers as such not  watching videos on a channel they are subscribing to. I have subscribed to a lot of channels and I rarely if ever see videos by them, unless I am in the habit of watching them regularly in which case they YouTube puts them on offer. The thing is, that I like most people probably, just lazily push the subscription button without going the extra step of enabling the push notificiations.

Its true that no one is watching every video of every channel they subscribe to, but this still makes Zero sense. If no one is watching his videos then why would the very smart algorithm still push him enough for him to suddenly gain 660 000 subs. Meanwhile all other WoW CCs and streamers except Jingles struggle to break 50 000!?

Im not even sure this game has this large number of active players any longer, but they would all sub to a WoW channel that does mostly Submarine replay content?!

Even if you dont push the notification bell when subbing YT algo would still push this guys content on your start page every day ..... if someone actually watched him and had any interaction on his channel. "Worthwhile" to push for in YT´s eyes.

Every day I get spammed by videos from channels I never watched on content I have zero interests in ... but the thing that is exactly the same for all those videos is they have 

• great subscriber numbers
• people like or dislike the videos (because a dislike is just as important as a like for the Algo, sometimes even more so)
• they have great interaction and discussion in the comments

 

[Admiral_Karasu]

1 minute ago, OldSchoolGaming_Youtube said:

Its true that no one is watching every video of every channel they subscribe to, but this still makes Zero sense. If no one is watching his videos then why would the very smart algorithm still push him enough for him to suddenly gain 660 000 subs. Meanwhile all other WoW CCs and streamers except Jingles struggle to break 50 000!?

Im not even sure this game has this large number of active players any longer, but they would all sub to a WoW channel that does mostly Submarine replay content?!

Even if you dont push the notification bell when subbing YT algo would still push this guys content on your start page every day ..... if someone actually watched him and had any interaction on his channel. "Worthwhile" to push for in YT´s eyes.

Every day I get spammed by videos from channels I never watched on content I have zero interests in ... but the thing that is exactly the same for all those videos is they have 

• great subscriber numbers
• people like or dislike the videos (because a dislike is just as important as a like for the Algo, sometimes even more so)
• they have great interaction and discussion in the comments

 

660k subs for sub videos? Well, WG keeps saying that the subs are popular....

[Admiral_Karasu]

11 minutes ago, Snargfargle said:

How to detect fake subscribers on Youtube

Detecting fake subscribers on YouTube is important not only for channel owners who wish to maintain genuine engagement but also for advertisers, collaborators, and viewers who seek authentic interactions. Here are the top 10 best ways to identify fake subscribers on YouTube:

1. Analyzing Engagement Rates

A noticeable imbalance between the number of subscribers and the engagement (likes, comments, views) can indicate fake subscribers. Genuine subscribers tend to interact with the content to some degree.

Engagement Rate 0.04%

2. Sudden Spikes in Subscriber Count

Watch for abrupt increases in subscribers without a correlating viral video or an external cause (e.g., shoutout by a popular channel, social media mention). Such spikes might be due to the purchase of fake subscribers.

+507.89% Growth (6 Months)

3. Check the Quality of Comments

Generic, irrelevant, or spammy comments can be signs of fake engagement. Real subscribers and viewers are more likely to leave specific and meaningful comments related to the video content.

4. Low View-to-Subscriber Ratio

A channel with a high number of subscribers but significantly lower views per video may have a large number of inactive or fake subscribers.

5. Use of Analytics Tools

Employ third-party analytics tools designed for YouTube to get insights into the channel's growth and engagement patterns. Influencer Hero for example can help identify inconsistencies that suggest artificial inflation of subscriber counts.

6. Review Subscriber Profiles

While YouTube does not readily display detailed subscriber information to the public, channel owners can access some data about their subscribers. Signs of fake accounts include lack of profile pictures, no or few personal uploads, and generic profile names.

7. Unusual Engagement Patterns

Look for discrepancies in engagement across different videos. If the engagement does not correlate reasonably with the subscriber count or if there’s a pattern of suspect interactions, this may suggest manipulation.

8. Examine Channel Analytics for Geography Mismatch

Analyze the geographical data of viewers. A large number of subscribers from countries that are unlikely to be interested in your content based on language or relevancy might indicate fake subscribers. With Influencer Hero you can analyse the subscriber locations split to get a better understanding of potential fake subscribers.

9. Compare with Similar Channels

Benchmarking against similar channels can help. If your channel's engagement metrics significantly deviate from those of similar channels (having a similar subscriber count and content niche), it's worth investigating further.

10. Watch for Poor Retention Rates

Video retention rates (how long people watch your videos) can also provide insights. Fake subscribers typically do not watch videos, therefore if your retention rates are unusually low in relation to your subscriber count, this could be a red flag.

https://www.influencer-hero.com/resources/free-youtube-fake-follower-scanner

One way the bot subscribers are used on YouTube involves not just subbing to a channel, but unsubbing in large numbers at the same time which will make the channel crash in the algorithms. This is, obviously, used a hostile measure against the channel.

[Ensign Cthulhu]

10 hours ago, Sumseaman said:

Indeed. The go to for sub players.

Poor bloke couldn't pronounce Xin Zhong Guo....so he called it 'Dave'.

To the extent that I interact with it on my streams, I call it the Ex Zee Gee or just "The Chinese Submarine", because my brain doesn't get along well with Pinyin and wants to pronounce it something like "Ching Chong Go", which some people hearing it might view with eyebrows more than a little bit raised.

[Yedwy]

54 minutes ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

One way the bot subscribers are used on YouTube involves not just subbing to a channel, but unsubbing in large numbers at the same time which will make the channel crash in the algorithms. This is, obviously, used a hostile measure against the channel.

Unless one intends to artificially boost the "ratings", capitalize on it then pull the plug or just go dormant till its forgotten...

Edited December 31, 2024 by Yedwy

[Wolfswetpaws]

4 hours ago, OldSchoolGaming_Youtube said:

There are quite popular call centers in India etc that provides services like this for social media content creators for payment.

I did not know that.  Thanks.

[Wolfswetpaws]

3 hours ago, OldSchoolGaming_Youtube said:

So, this probably means that the Algorithm dont identify this channel to be any interest to these 656 000 "Subscribers" (maybe because they are callcenter bots). Either that or the "Subscribers" for some strange reason choose to ignore this guys video every day when they pop up in their daily start page.

Only reason why probably most players of WoW or even Forum members in here never heard of this guy is the fact that the YT algorithm identifies that this guy is of zero interest for people who often look at WOW videos, because otherwise he would have been on all of us start page as a recommendation from YT.

So, last night, @HogHammer started this topic.  And I noticed and visited, to see what it is about.  At that time, I refrained from posting or reacting.
I had a reason.  

This morning (for me) the topic has been seen by several other forum members and several posts have been made.

In recent weeks, @HogHammer has featured some of NormalGuyOfTheNorth's videos in his posts.
I'd never heard of NormalGuyOfTheNorth before, so I clicked on the videos out of curiosity.
I watched a few minutes, or less, before leaving the videos before they ended.  That's been my reaction.  And it's been consistent.
I haven't done deep-dives in the facts (for confirmation or "busting").
I was going with my gut feelings. 
My gut feelings were telling me that this content creator will never be mistaken for "Greg's Airplanes and Automobiles" or "FortNine" youtube channels.
Or, perhaps more relevant, he'll never be mistaken for "Drachinifel".

Last night, I refrained from posting because I was adhering to the principle of "If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all".
This morning, it seems that there's plenty of posts which are bringing up legitimate points regarding NormalGuyOfTheNorth's content and channel stats.
For me, my reaction was instinctive and my impression was that the content of the content-creator simply wasn't worth my time.
I was judging the content of the videos that I'd clicked on.

This morning, I'm learning about the the statistics, views, subscriptions, and comments of this channel. 
What people are claiming doesn't seem "normal". 
Instead, it seems "artificial".
With such "cats out of the bag", I'm feeling less constrained about posting my feelings and impressions.  Thus, I've written this post.

Bottom line?
I don't have any particular axe to grind or any ill will towards NormalGuyOfTheNorth.
I simply feel that his videos aren't worth my time.  

Edited December 31, 2024 by Wolfswetpaws