An offer to buy a Facebook group for €1000 may be common in business, but it does not fit the image of hobbyists who pursue their passion and have succeeded because their community loves them.
Much calculation, much elbow
Ziro.TV has approached the topic of “Destiny” with ambition and elbow since 2014. Much of it is calculation. It’s about controlling Facebook groups, deciding which videos may be posted there (their own) and which may not (all others). This leads to conflicts with other YouTubers.
Even the position as “German representatives of the community at Bungie” was achieved using elbows. At the end of Year 1, in summer 2015, Bungie celebrated the Destiny community with a video. Almost only English-speaking YouTubers appeared there.
Ziro.TV then mobilized their own community and made themselves known to Bungie with an angry comment under the video. One might call it clever or manipulative to instrumentalize one’s community to achieve one’s own goals. It has certainly worked. Since then, they have been invited as the only German-speaking representatives to Bungie events.
The answer to the question “Hypocrites or heroes” is thus: Neither. One cannot deny Ziro.TV’s passion and competence. However, they are coupled with ambition and a competitive mindset, which lack niceness and which they do not want to show their fans.
The face that Ziro.TV shows to the outside: that of the nice gamers next door, others YouTubers do not see. They do not see any face at all; they mainly feel the elbows.
Ziro.TV – Successful, but controversial
Conclusion: The success that Ziro.TV has is certainly deserved. It is the result of hard and clever work, branding, networking, and user closeness. Especially at the beginning, Ziro.TV was ahead of comparable offerings and was able to establish itself because of that. There is nothing wrong with that.
However, the way they have used their elbows can and should be viewed critically. This does not fit the image of the nice Destiny YouTubers who do everything out of passion and represent the German community as a whole.
Mein-MMO.de and Ziro.TV
We worked with Ziro.TV at the end of 2014 and embedded their videos on our site. They mainly provided us with screenshots with their watermark and our logo.
However, we quickly ended the collaboration. There were several reasons for this. Essentially, in our view, the collaboration failed because: Ziro.TV wanted us to cooperate “firmly” with them and not bring videos from other German YouTubers to our site.
In a side aspect, it was about the Facebook page Xur Destiny. Although Ziro.TV said they had nothing to do with it, only Ziro.TV videos were featured there. As an incentive for cooperation from us with Ziro.TV, it was offered that our articles could appear there.
After that, a trusting collaboration was no longer possible, and we decided to end the collaboration and ignore the channel as far as possible in the future.
Later, when the cooperation with us did not materialize, Ziro.TV entered into a collaboration with a German fan site. The site is relatively small in itself. However, it has a Facebook group with currently over 34,000 members. Only Ziro.TV videos were allowed there for a long time afterward. Meanwhile, that might be different.
The FB page “Xur Destiny” has only been sporadically maintained in recent months, and the cooperation with the fan page seems to be over as well. Meanwhile, Ziro.TV has built its own Facebook groups and channels running under its brand.
We would have liked to receive a statement from Ziro.TV. Despite repeated inquiries, we did not receive one.
YouTuber “Schausix” paints a different picture of Ziro.TV than that of the “nice guys next door.” He speaks of a “tyranny.” Anyone who speaks critically against Ziro.TV must expect that “mean comments” will appear under their own videos and that in large numbers.
The majority of German-speaking Destiny YouTubers know and like each other, exchange information, and collaborate. Ziro.TV stands alone. Invitations for collaborations have been repeatedly declined. There are always tensions.
Destiny for YouTubers: Hobby or Project?
Ziro.TV is not only more successful than comparable channels, they also behave differently:
- Most YouTubers in Destiny see each other as colleagues. Ziro.TV sees the others as competitors.
- While comparable YouTubers just made their videos, Ziro.TV has built a network from the beginning. This made them ahead of others in many things.
- While most YouTubers have slipped into the theme of “Destiny”, Ziro.TV has been trying from the start to expand their reach through marketing means.
This is not inherently a bad thing, but it clashes with the image that Ziro.TV conveys to their fans.
An offer to buy a Facebook group for €1000 may be common in business, but it does not fit the image of hobbyists who pursue their passion and have succeeded because their community loves them.
Much calculation, much elbow
Ziro.TV has approached the topic of “Destiny” with ambition and elbow since 2014. Much of it is calculation. It’s about controlling Facebook groups, deciding which videos may be posted there (their own) and which may not (all others). This leads to conflicts with other YouTubers.
Even the position as “German representatives of the community at Bungie” was achieved using elbows. At the end of Year 1, in summer 2015, Bungie celebrated the Destiny community with a video. Almost only English-speaking YouTubers appeared there.
Ziro.TV then mobilized their own community and made themselves known to Bungie with an angry comment under the video. One might call it clever or manipulative to instrumentalize one’s community to achieve one’s own goals. It has certainly worked. Since then, they have been invited as the only German-speaking representatives to Bungie events.
The answer to the question “Hypocrites or heroes” is thus: Neither. One cannot deny Ziro.TV’s passion and competence. However, they are coupled with ambition and a competitive mindset, which lack niceness and which they do not want to show their fans.
The face that Ziro.TV shows to the outside: that of the nice gamers next door, others YouTubers do not see. They do not see any face at all; they mainly feel the elbows.
Ziro.TV – Successful, but controversial
Conclusion: The success that Ziro.TV has is certainly deserved. It is the result of hard and clever work, branding, networking, and user closeness. Especially at the beginning, Ziro.TV was ahead of comparable offerings and was able to establish itself because of that. There is nothing wrong with that.
However, the way they have used their elbows can and should be viewed critically. This does not fit the image of the nice Destiny YouTubers who do everything out of passion and represent the German community as a whole.
Mein-MMO.de and Ziro.TV
We worked with Ziro.TV at the end of 2014 and embedded their videos on our site. They mainly provided us with screenshots with their watermark and our logo.
However, we quickly ended the collaboration. There were several reasons for this. Essentially, in our view, the collaboration failed because: Ziro.TV wanted us to cooperate “firmly” with them and not bring videos from other German YouTubers to our site.
In a side aspect, it was about the Facebook page Xur Destiny. Although Ziro.TV said they had nothing to do with it, only Ziro.TV videos were featured there. As an incentive for cooperation from us with Ziro.TV, it was offered that our articles could appear there.
After that, a trusting collaboration was no longer possible, and we decided to end the collaboration and ignore the channel as far as possible in the future.
Later, when the cooperation with us did not materialize, Ziro.TV entered into a collaboration with a German fan site. The site is relatively small in itself. However, it has a Facebook group with currently over 34,000 members. Only Ziro.TV videos were allowed there for a long time afterward. Meanwhile, that might be different.
The FB page “Xur Destiny” has only been sporadically maintained in recent months, and the cooperation with the fan page seems to be over as well. Meanwhile, Ziro.TV has built its own Facebook groups and channels running under its brand.
We would have liked to receive a statement from Ziro.TV. Despite repeated inquiries, we did not receive one.
The most important YouTube channel for Destiny in Germany is Ziro.TV. Serious allegations are now being raised against the channel. Are Germany’s biggest Destiny YouTubers hypocrites or heroes?
There are two faces of Ziro.TV.
Ziro.TV – The heroes of the German Destiny community
One is the picture of “heroes of the Destiny community“.
The duo of “Flo” and “Micha” has been creating Destiny content since November 7, 2014. They currently have 40 million views on their channel, spread across over 1700 videos. They regularly stream and have built communities on Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube.
They are the German representatives of the community at Activision and Bungie. They are “the guys next door” who treat Destiny as a hobby. They love their fans and do everything for them.
Ziro.TV – Hypocrites
This image has been shaken at the latest since last week. In a series of videos, YouTuber Lachegga paints a different picture of Ziro.TV. He calls them the “hypocrites of the Destiny community“.
- Images are shown of them asking for donations and complaining that they earn too little money on YouTube while posing with a Mercedes on Instagram.
- It is said that they take content from other YouTubers, delete watermarks, and pass off foreign gameplay as their own.
- Ziro.TV is only about money while pretending it doesn’t matter at all.
- Moreover, they would work against other channels. Anyone who speaks negatively about Ziro.TV must expect to be insulted by their “children’s army” in the comments. The German community lives in fear of confronting Ziro.TV.
- Furthermore, they would overstate their own work and effort.
These videos by Lachegga have unleashed an avalanche. Other YouTubers are now speaking out and making allegations. Hundreds of players are discussing the topic in comments and reporting negative experiences with Ziro.TV.
Criticism is just envy
Ziro.TV did not comment on the allegations for several days, closed ranks, and disabled comments under their videos. The shitstorm intensified. In just a few days, they lost about 3,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Yesterday, a statement was made via video.
- There, the allegations were labeled as lies stemming from envy. Someone wants to destroy them.
- They did not buy subscriptions from English-speaking YouTubers.
- Other allegations are private and are nobody’s business.
- Moreover, they never said they had no money privately; they only said they earn little with YouTube.
Tyranny and Facebook: This is how we see it
Mein-MMO says: Lachegga’s criticism shoots beyond the target. Personal attacks and polemics make it easy to refute them in some points. Especially the point that Ziro.TV “bought” subscriptions directly is debatable.
We spoke to English YouTubers nKuch and DPJ, from whom Ziro.TV allegedly bought subscriptions and views in 2015. nKuch says he met the two only late in 2016 and was never contacted by them. DPJ says he only met Ziro.TV in 2016. The allegations that they bought subscriptions from him are therefore bullshit. He features them because they are nice guys.
However: Even if this point is refuted, the criticism has struck a nerve in the German Destiny community, otherwise the reactions from others would not have been so intense. A conflict is erupting that has been building up since the end of 2014.
YouTuber “Schausix” paints a different picture of Ziro.TV than that of the “nice guys next door.” He speaks of a “tyranny.” Anyone who speaks critically against Ziro.TV must expect that “mean comments” will appear under their own videos and that in large numbers.
The majority of German-speaking Destiny YouTubers know and like each other, exchange information, and collaborate. Ziro.TV stands alone. Invitations for collaborations have been repeatedly declined. There are always tensions.
Destiny for YouTubers: Hobby or Project?
Ziro.TV is not only more successful than comparable channels, they also behave differently:
- Most YouTubers in Destiny see each other as colleagues. Ziro.TV sees the others as competitors.
- While comparable YouTubers just made their videos, Ziro.TV has built a network from the beginning. This made them ahead of others in many things.
- While most YouTubers have slipped into the theme of “Destiny”, Ziro.TV has been trying from the start to expand their reach through marketing means.
This is not inherently a bad thing, but it clashes with the image that Ziro.TV conveys to their fans.
An offer to buy a Facebook group for €1000 may be common in business, but it does not fit the image of hobbyists who pursue their passion and have succeeded because their community loves them.
Much calculation, much elbow
Ziro.TV has approached the topic of “Destiny” with ambition and elbow since 2014. Much of it is calculation. It’s about controlling Facebook groups, deciding which videos may be posted there (their own) and which may not (all others). This leads to conflicts with other YouTubers.
Even the position as “German representatives of the community at Bungie” was achieved using elbows. At the end of Year 1, in summer 2015, Bungie celebrated the Destiny community with a video. Almost only English-speaking YouTubers appeared there.
Ziro.TV then mobilized their own community and made themselves known to Bungie with an angry comment under the video. One might call it clever or manipulative to instrumentalize one’s community to achieve one’s own goals. It has certainly worked. Since then, they have been invited as the only German-speaking representatives to Bungie events.
The answer to the question “Hypocrites or heroes” is thus: Neither. One cannot deny Ziro.TV’s passion and competence. However, they are coupled with ambition and a competitive mindset, which lack niceness and which they do not want to show their fans.
The face that Ziro.TV shows to the outside: that of the nice gamers next door, others YouTubers do not see. They do not see any face at all; they mainly feel the elbows.
Ziro.TV – Successful, but controversial
Conclusion: The success that Ziro.TV has is certainly deserved. It is the result of hard and clever work, branding, networking, and user closeness. Especially at the beginning, Ziro.TV was ahead of comparable offerings and was able to establish itself because of that. There is nothing wrong with that.
However, the way they have used their elbows can and should be viewed critically. This does not fit the image of the nice Destiny YouTubers who do everything out of passion and represent the German community as a whole.
Mein-MMO.de and Ziro.TV
We worked with Ziro.TV at the end of 2014 and embedded their videos on our site. They mainly provided us with screenshots with their watermark and our logo.
However, we quickly ended the collaboration. There were several reasons for this. Essentially, in our view, the collaboration failed because: Ziro.TV wanted us to cooperate “firmly” with them and not bring videos from other German YouTubers to our site.
In a side aspect, it was about the Facebook page Xur Destiny. Although Ziro.TV said they had nothing to do with it, only Ziro.TV videos were featured there. As an incentive for cooperation from us with Ziro.TV, it was offered that our articles could appear there.
After that, a trusting collaboration was no longer possible, and we decided to end the collaboration and ignore the channel as far as possible in the future.
Later, when the cooperation with us did not materialize, Ziro.TV entered into a collaboration with a German fan site. The site is relatively small in itself. However, it has a Facebook group with currently over 34,000 members. Only Ziro.TV videos were allowed there for a long time afterward. Meanwhile, that might be different.
The FB page “Xur Destiny” has only been sporadically maintained in recent months, and the cooperation with the fan page seems to be over as well. Meanwhile, Ziro.TV has built its own Facebook groups and channels running under its brand.
We would have liked to receive a statement from Ziro.TV. Despite repeated inquiries, we did not receive one.
