December 31, 2017

[2017] What happened this year to Rayque?

It's that time of the year again! It's time for another summary!
This marks the 7th summary on this blog.

In tradition, I (and the rest of the Rayque3 Staff) wish you a great 2018. To be honest about my personal life here: 2017 has been such a mess with a scarce amount of redeeming moments. I wouldn't say it's "the absolute worst year I've experienced", but I could say it's definitely among the top 10. Either way, there's not much I can do about it, and even if 2018 to me doesn't feel to become any better, I'm always optimistic and stubborn enough to give it a try.

But enough "boohoo-ing" about something that will probably be an afterthought in a few years, I know we're all here for the statistics, achievements, shameless bragging and loads of numbers! So, let's get to it!

The Youtube Department (Rayque3 Staff)

General
- Our ninth anniversary!
- Reached 11.000.000 total upload views!
- Reached 10.500 subscribers!
- Only published three videos on our channel this year (ouch), all of which are part of the Smesh Bros Series. Four additional videos have been uploaded but I don't consider these as "published on our channel" as they have been part of two blogposts (here and here) as part of the subject and were not meant to be standalone.
- Started working on two Single-Part-Videos from a single game, but these had to be delayed due to time and difficulty. I might have to consider parking these for the time being and work on something a bit more manageable that is on my to do list (and less ambitious than what I'm working on right now).

The following numbers are approximated to improve readability.

Analytics for this year (+% compared to gain in 2016)
- Obtained 1.200.000 views (-33%). Previous year: 1.825.000 (-41%).
- Obtained 3200 likes (-5%). Previous year: 3400 (-32%).
- Obtained 380 dislikes (+4%). Previous year: 360 (-42%).
- Obtained 360 comments (-22%). Previous year: 470 (-48%).
- Obtained 670 shares (+3%). Previous year: 650 (+33%).
- Obtained 1500 favorites (-52%). Previous year: 3200 (-9%).
- Obtained 1000 subscribers (-23%). Previous year: 1500 (-44%).

Top 10 Most Viewed Videos for this year
1. [+0] Mario Party 7 - All Mini-Games (460.000 views)
2. [+0] Kirby's Return to Dreamland - All Mini/Main/EX Bosses (435.000 views)
3. [+1] Super Smash Bros. Brawl - 100% Subspace Emissary (80.000 views)
4. [-1] Donkey Kong 64 - All main bosses (70.000 views)
5. [+0] Pokémon Battle Revolution - All Masters Battles [HeartGold] (25.000 views)
6. [+0] [Walkthrough] - Croc 2 - Part #1 -- CROC TO THE RESCUE (14.000 views)
7. [+0] Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards - All main bosses (10.000 views)
8. [+0] Lego® - Custom Electronic/Pneumatic Helicopter Simulator (7.000 views)
9. [+0] Sin & Punishment 2: Successor of the Skies - Isa & Kachi Mode (4500 views)
10. [+1] Lego Alpha Team - All Levels, normal solutions (3400 views)

Top 10 viewed countries for this year
1. [+0] United States - 385.000 views (32%)
2. [+0] Japan - 91.000 views (7,5%)
3. [+0] United Kingdom -  58.000 views (4,8%)
4. [+0] Brazil - 52.000 views (4,3%)
5. [+0] Mexico - 44.000 views (3,6%)
6. [+1] Canada - 38.600 views (3,2%)
7. [-1] France - 38.300 views (3,2%)
8. [+1] Italy - 34.700 views (2,9%)
9. [+3] Spain - 32.300 views (2,7%)
10. [-2] Germany - 30.200 views (2,5%)

Traffic Sources for this year
1. [+0] Suggested video - 470.000 views (39%)
2. [+0] Homepage (subscriptions, recommended videos) - 450.000 views (38%)
3. [+0] Youtube search - 125.000 views (10%)
4. [+0] Youtube playlists - 70.000 views (6%)
5. [+0] External - 32.500 views (2,7%)

Did you know...
- That despite Mario Party 7 - All Mini-Games keeps being the most viewed Rayque3 video to date, Kirby's Return to Dreamland - All Mini/Main/EX Bosses is getting close to gaining more views each month? Mario Party 7 had its highest peak several years ago, with declining views every year that much that our second most viewed video is going to surpass it's monthly growth. I expect Kirby's Return to Dreamland to become the video with the most amount of gained views for 2018 on our channel.
- Even if we've only uploaded three videos, we've gained a thousand subscribers and over a million views? In perspective: three videos on a year is the lowest (and a shameful) amount of videos we've uploaded in a single year (including 2008 when we've started our channel during the summer, which had 11 new videos), but the amount of subscribers and views is still more than we've gained between 2008 and 2012? The amount of views is just behind 2013 by itself, which was dominated by Mario Party 7's Single-Part-Video. Hey, declining stats is part of the hobby and a career in general. Sometimes you win big, sometimes I guess videos have lurked long enough on the internet and other Youtube channels start copying your template shamelessly as their primary source for income without actually considering legal rights/consequences, monetization rules and such. Heh, I'm sure Rayque3 will have plenty of (actual) successful years ahead of us, because we like what we do.
- Regardless of what has been published, there were quite some plans for videos this year? Lux is still trying to find time to resume his Breath of Death VII: The Beginning Walkthrough, and I had plans to release at least three Single-Part-Videos, and at least two High-Dex Hero videos. One of these Single-Part-Videos has been on my list since the game's release, and it should be worth 8 hours of length. Of course none of these videos have been cancelled, they're just a tad delayed. At least, anything on my to do list will happen one day. So I hope we can bring you some of these videos next year! If not, eventually. Most likely before Half-Life 3 comes out, that's for sure.
- Despite we're Dutch, the Netherlands is only at the 13th spot in the ranks of most views per country (approx. 2% of the total views gained this year)? That is an overall decrease by one, because in 2016, our country was on the 12th rank.

The MapleStory Europe Department

General
- Reached Level 226!
- Five consecutive years of using my Ribgol Sword!
- Ten consecutive years of playing EMS on my Hero!

Obtaining
- LION SUIT IS BACK!
- Obtained the 5th Mu Gong Soul for my Soul Collector!
- Obtained the three Sengoku High Totems!
- Got my Jett to Level 200 for its Character Card! Yes, no cooldown Starfall and the OMGVIP event were mistakes.

Upgrading
- Upgraded my Union to a Total Level of 5089.
- Maxed out my Dreadnought for Commerci!
- Reached my third Legendary Potential!
- Reached my fourth Legendary Potential!
- Reached my fifth Legendary Potential!
- Reached my sixth Legendary Potential!
- Reached my seventh Legendary Potential!
- Reached my eighth Legendary Potential!
- Reached my ninth Legendary Potential!
- Upgraded my Amaterasu's Gloves for Self Sharp Eyes / Speed Infusion!
- Finished scrolling my Amaterasu's Cape!
- Finished scrolling my Amaterasu's Armor!
- Finished scrolling my Amaterasu's Belt!
- Finished scrolling my Amaterasu's Shoes!
- Finished scrolling my Sengoku Hakase Badge!
- Finished scrolling my Bunny Disguise III!
- Finished scrolling my Chaos Pink Bean Mark!

5th Job
- Although late, started using Will of Erda!
- Obtained Combo Death Fault!
- Obtained Blitz Shield!
- Obtained Body of Steel!
- Obtained Erda Shower!
- Raised Sword of Burning Soul to Level 16!
- Raised Erda Nova to Level 5!
- Raised Rope Lift to Level 5!
- Raised Combo Death Fault to Level 3!
- Raised Blitz Shield to Level 4!
- Raised Road of Vanishing's Symbol to Level 16!
- Raised Chew Chew Island's Symbol to Level 17!
- Raised Lacheln's Symbol to Level 10!
- Raised Arcana's Symbol to Level 6!

Miscellaneous
- Reached Level 40 on Monster Life!
- Maxed out my Monster Life's baseplate to 25x25!
- Maxed out my Monster Life's monster slot capacity to 28!
- Maxed out my Monster Life's monster barn capacity to 10!
- Accumulated a whopping total of 2.080.000 Contribution for the FallenAngel guild in total, with a perfect Contribution score of 1.825.000 Contribution this year! There's no way I can keep up with perfecting Contributions for an eternity, but hey - lemme have my moment for today.
- Started the Cadena and Illium class for its Skill Links, although I don't have space for them on Rayque yet. Also participated in some Mega Burning Events for several other Character Cards.

Did you know...
- I only have 106%-STR on my Hero? The decrease in %-STR compared to last year is because I've been cubing all of my equipment to Legendary one by one, without actually spending time to recube them to return some "lost" %-STR. This does mean that next year my total amount will most likely even decline further. But the funny thing about all of that is, that my damage output has almost tripled compared to last year by boosting those Arcane Symbols and finishing several of my equipment. I still don't use any of the Enhancement 5th Job cores or things like Androids, so I'm pretty confident to assume my Ribgol Sword will hit hard once I get to perfecting my layout in the distant future.
- Of course I'm still working on my Inner Ability! My Excel sheet says I've already shuffled 823 times since I've reached my Legendary Inner Ability in 2015, and I've spent over 7.500.000 Honor for these eight hundred rolls. Obviously, because there was nothing mentioned on my blog related to Inner Ability, I'm still "stuck" at 1/3rd of what I want.
- Despite that 2017 hasn't been a year as much as I wanted it to be, holy whack the amount of EMS milestones (to me personally) is freaking fantastic. THE RETURN OF THE LION SUIT, ten level ups through dailies, Monster Life is at Level 40, seven more equips to Legendary, finishing that many Amaterasu Equipment, and so forth. This is arguably among the better years for my EMS career as a lot of things are carefully falling into place after I've started working on my build nine years ago. Excellent.

The LEGO® Department

General
- Still working on the Hailfire Droid (Mk. 2) project!
- Still working on the Constructor (Mk. 3) project!
- I've finally found a place and time to build my LEGO® Inside Tour set. It sits comfortably with its box next to my Cafe Corner and Green Grocer above my TV...

Obtained
Here are some personal favorites of mine that I've got my hands on this year!

#4588 Racers - Off-Road Race Track (2002)
#7674 STAR WARS - V-19 Torrent (2008)
#8183 Racers - Track Turbo RC (2009)
#75192 STAR WARS - Millennium Falcon (2017)
#75114 STAR WARS - Snowspeeder (2017)
#75191 STAR WARS - Jedi Starfighter with Hyperdrive (2017)
#21137 Minecraft - The Mountain Cave (2017)
#70907 The LEGO® Batman Movie - Killer Croc Tail-Gator (2017)
#70612 The LEGO® Ninjago Movie - Green Ninja Mech Dragon (2017)

Yes, I'm not kidding, that's pretty much all. Didn't have much time to do anything other than working on my graduation assignment, given earlier this year I've also "lived" in Norway for five months and there has been some major school related screw ups that has caused me to be stuck in a loop with the assignment until like the end of 2018 or something. Eh well, it's school. Can't do much about my teachers screwing things up and never really be satisfied with the amount of effort I put into my careful documentation now can I?

It may not have been a lot of LEGO® sets compared to previous years, but all of the ones I've got my hands on in 2017 have been awesome. Don't forget: all of the LEGO® sets on my wishlist are not only "just a bunch of sets I really want", but also ones I will get my hands on eventually. Well, to be more precisely: all except for Mokarr/Makarr*

Also: I've really screwed myself over with the #75192 STAR WARS - Millennium Falcon by making things a lot more difficult than they had to. I mean, I've literally got in the back of the queue to see all Falcons being sold out in the (only) LEGO® Store (in the entire Benelux) in front of my face. Not just one, but twice (read: try to compete with people that are twice your age as you are the youngest in queue, trying to be respectful/kind and not greedy, to get your hands on some 15 kg plastic building toy - it's a recipe for disaster). No seriously though, that was really on me and no one else is to blame for that. But at least I managed to snag one from the last batch that was sent to my nearby LEGO® Store - by getting first in line. Sat in front of a (by that time) closed LEGO® store with a folding chair at 5 AM LOL (Store opened at 10 AM, FYI). But hey, at least I got myself one with an amusing backstory to how I screwed things up but still managed to make things awesome in the end.

Other

General
- Holy cow this year has been excellent for my Gaming wishlist, in my opinion even better than last year! Not only did I get my Nintendo Switch for Xenoblade 2, I also got my hands on BOTH the Mini NES and Mini SNES with the help of two friends, which were two "consoles" I didn't expect to get my hands on this year at all. I also manage to treat myself on a factory sealed Sin & Punishment 1 for my Nintendo 64, as this game has been on my gaming wishlist since I've played the sequel in 2010. There are still several Japanese N64 games left that I want, but I prefer to keep those moments special so it's not like I will search for them any time soon.
- Managed to complete Xenoblade X with a 100% Survey Rate! Still playing Xenoblade 2! Xenoblade 2 is definitely the best all-around Xenoblade game so far, no arguments there.
- Somehow I've also managed to get my hands on some (apparently hard to find) tools that allow me to open up GameCube controllers and Nintendo 64 cartridges. I will definitely consider repairing my orange GameCube controller as that one has been overplayed to a point where the analog stick just falls apart. Just have to buy a new controller soon as they fortunately still are in production, and swap out the worn parts with the new.
- I have been playing Team Fortress 2 a bit more this year than last! I'm currently Level 104 at Casual Mode, with 504 hours of Demoman and 150 hours of Engineer. My Stickybomb Launcher is now Hale's Own and my Ullapool Caber is just 170 kills away from reaching Epic. I've been really enjoying the Jungle Inferno Update too!
- We've also reached Overpower Level 8 on Borderlands 2!

Huh, perhaps 2017 might not have been that terrible after all.

As for next year, hopefully...
- I might be able to make a few fundamental steps with my MK projects? I mean, I can't spend all day on them and I do have a limited budget, but at least I always seem to improve on a few things every year. The fact that teal is returning in 2018 as a plastic color is such a gamechanger for MOC-ing though!
- Will we be able to release at least more than three videos on our Youtube channel?
- Will Youtube stop being an ass with blocking uploads longer than 12 hours or will it take a few additional years of patience until you guys can watch the Xenoblade Single-Part-Video?
- Will it also be a successful year for my EMS career?

That's it for this summary! Took me about four hours to write and prepare.
Luxatus Patella and I wish you a fantastic 2018!

That's it for 2017! I'll see you guys again next year!

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