u/AmplifiedText — reddlx

https://preview.redd.it/hzb5rb6guuyg1.png?width=1724&format=png&auto=webp&s=f6dad376f24ca6b3ff639e514f5a81ef039c2f95

I wanted to see the number of minutes of video available across the difficulty levels (super beginner, beginner, intermediate, advanced) and difficulty scores (1-100).

The vertical axis represent the number of minutes of video. The horizontal axis represent the difficulty score (1-100) while the stacked bar colors tell you which difficulty level comprise the number of minutes in each bar.

The high peaks at 32, 36, 49, etc. represent long gameplay videos. It seems CIJ tends to release videos in a series all with the same difficulty score and it can take some time for the voting system to move some of the video difficulty scores up or down, spreading the load. The peaks at 99 and 100 are Yuki doing some long literature analysis.

There's about the same number of minutes of Super Beginner (3170m) content as there is Advanced (3709m), while Beginner (8407m) and Intermediate (7946m) make up the bulk.

Personally, I feel there still needs to be a lot more Super Beginner content. I had to rewatch those videos a LOT to get up to Beginner, which I'm still not fully comfortable with.

Sorry the chart is crap, it's the best I could manage in Google Sheets.

I was shocked to find that, while gameplay videos on CIJ make up only 10% of the catalogue (164 out of 1666 videos as of today), they tend to be longer and account for more than 26% of the total hours of content (101 out of 383 hours)!

Now, I enjoy a gameplay video as much as anyone, but I find this trend a bit concerning. I’d argue that these videos offer much lower overall value compared to a regular whiteboard lesson or a conversation between two people.

Downsides of gameplay videos (in my opinion):

There tends to be much less talking (lower information density).
They aren’t nearly as re-watchable. This is partly due to their length, but also because gameplay simply isn’t as engaging on repeat viewings.
Lots of repetition of vocabulary (which can also be an upside at times).

Upsides (in my opinion):

Lots of repetition of vocabulary (which, as noted, can also be a downside).
They can be more interesting or fun compared to a regular lesson video.
Unscripted content with more natural flowing language.

Overall, I enjoy the gameplay videos, but I treat them like a snack. You wouldn’t want to fill up on snacks when there’s more nutritious content available.

EDIT: Further analysis. The difficulty of gameplay videos range from 16-77, so calculating the hours of gameplay content as a percentage of content in that range I get 36%. More than a third of your time working your way up through Intermediate content will be watching gameplay videos.

EDIT 2: Added upside of being unscripted.