The German Twitch streamer Maximilian “Trymacs” Stemmler has apologized for his statement on what editors should earn in Germany. He says he did not recognize himself in his statement and believes that sleep deprivation and unprocessed traumatic experiences from 2017 and 2018 contributed to it. However, some fans find his statement hollow.
For which statements does Trymacs apologize? Trymacs does not specify any concrete statements for which he wishes to apologize, but has retracted the entire reaction video and deleted it from the internet.
In the video we reported on at MeinMMO, he explained among other things:
- He had involved his editor in the growth of his channel on a percentage basis, but fired them when his YouTube channel grew so much that they demanded more than €10,000 in monthly salary.
- He also stated that editors should not be paid so incredibly well, as many could do their job and the requirements were not that high. Supply and demand determined what editors could earn. Once editors became too greedy, they could be replaced by others who were satisfied with a fixed salary.
- He repeatedly expressed his misunderstanding that his position was not understood. He pays well, but it seems crazy to him if editors earn so much money. If a channel generates €100,000, one cannot involve an editor in that percentage-wise. That seems totally crazy.
Trymacs holds unprocessed conflicts responsible for his statements
This is how he explains his failure: Trymacs now gives the impression in a new video that he does not really recognize where he went wrong. However, he has noticed how poorly his views are received by his audience.
He says he has read an incredible number of the over 2,000 comments, which led him to the realization that he must have been wrong there. He says the statement arose from sleep deprivation. He had played a lot of Factorio beforehand.
In his statement, he did not recognize himself:
I was amazed by myself – I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t recognize myself. It was all completely exaggerated, totally blocked, not allowing anything, not reflecting.
Moreover, “unprocessed feelings and conflicts” from his early days came up. He says that there was a conflict with his then editors during the early days of Fortnite, which then led to their dismissal.
He now sees his role in the conflict critically. He was not a good boss back then, did not communicate well, and avoided problems.
He never processed this whole conflict, and it came up again when he spoke about the topic.
Trymacs portrays former editors as unreliable newly rich and also limits this
What seems strange? In the statement, he accuses the former editors of being unreliable. The many money went to their heads, and they worked more and more unreliably, extending their vacations without notice or faking illness, and rarely meeting deadlines for videos.
In a second video on YouTube “My old editor called me after 5 years …” he also limits this criticism again. That was a good, competent editor and also a top guy. And they were very young back then. The whole thing is water under the bridge.
Felt 18 and just graduated from high school
How old was he back then? Trymacs says: Back then, he felt “18” and had just graduated from high school. In reality, however, he was already 23 and 24 years old in 2017/2018. The high school diploma was already a long time ago.
Fans find acknowledgment of guilt good, but statement content-wise hollow
How is Trymacs’ statement received? The statement seems a bit hollow content-wise, as many note on YouTube. While people generally appreciate that Trymacs admits extensively to being wrong.
But many would have wished that he would specifically criticize what was wrong with his point and how he sees the conflict differently now. Because he apparently has not grasped the actual topic and does not mention it in a single word. He retracts all previous positions but does not name any new ones.
Trymacs’ business model provides:
- That an editor is involved in the success of a channel on a percentage basis, meaning they bear all the risks if the channel stagnates or performs poorly.
- If the channel is successful, their salary is suddenly capped.
This model brings all the advantages to the streamer but expects the editor to take risks that do not pay off in full in case of success.
In this business model, it apparently seems okay for the streamer if the editor earns nothing in a bad month. However, as soon as he earns “a lot” and the risk pays off, intervention must be made, and the salary regulated because it cannot be that an editor “earns more than a chief physician” – the fact that the streamer himself earns much more than a chief physician seems to be no problem and is overlooked.
On this aspect of the criticism, Trymacs says nothing in his statement. He does not get specific about where he was wrong, but his statement amounts to: “I take everything back and claim the opposite.”
While many find it generally great and also unusual for a streamer to admit his guilt at all, it apparently seems to many users as if Trymacs only quickly reacted to “Oh my God, they all hate me – I have a shitstorm” and backpedaled, and the insight that one really had represented a false position is missing for some users. You can read the original, comprehensive article on the fundamental conflict here: Twitch streamer does not understand why he should give an employee so much of his money
