Welcome to another affiliate snapshot! This week we meet YourNeighborTJ (previously known as RedBaronMTG):

Screenname: YourNeighborTj

Twitch URL: https://www.twitch.tv/yourneighbortj

Podcast Link: https://soundcloud.com/user-155844997

Team Affiliation: I'd like to join a team that aligns with my message and can help facilitate the resources to bring my content to the next level both directionally and technically.

Country of residence: Washington State, United States

Primary game you stream? Why do you stream this game in particular? 

Magic the Gathering. It’s the game I have found my community in and have found the most longevity in enjoyment. The introduction of new sets and shifting metagames makes the challenges that the game poses always a little different. The biggest reason I have continued to focus on Magic is the community and friendship that I have found within it.

If you’re looking to take a break from your primary game, what are some fun secondary games you enjoy?

Lately I’ve enjoyed Slay the Spire and Clone Drone in the Danger Zone as secondary games. Though in the near future I intend to stream Cities: Skylines because of how close it is to my daytime job in a planning department.

Why do you create content? The love, the money, the fame?

I create content because of the community that it creates. Being able to connect with a vast network of people I never would have been able to otherwise is hugely exciting. I also create content because I want to make a positive impact on the world and by making a larger platform for myself I can hopefully be more effective in that goal.

You’ve seen lots of success streaming, podcasting, commentating games, and more. What are your goals now with content creation?

Right now my goals are to start vlogging in addition to streaming and continue expanding my skill sets in editing and video production. A large portion of my mentality right now is based around getting back to basics and the parts of content that are fun because I was beginning to take myself too seriously and had a worse product because of it.

What are some hobbies you like to do when you’re not live creating content or thinking about the next project to work on?

Lately I’ve been putting effort into spending more time with friends, family, and my partner to keep myself ties to the social bonds and support system around me.  Beyond that I have been exploring the local restaurant scene, playing pool, and beginning my journey towards being bilingual by learning Spanish.

What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to someone who is looking to get into content creation?

The best advice I can give is to get started. I often tell people to go out and make something bad, then make it better. I find that I am much more capable of reviewing my work and making changes to the things I dislike than I am of making a perfect product the first time. Sometimes you need to create the block of marble before you can chisel away at it.

Is there anything you would have done differently when you were first starting streaming/content creation? What was the big, “lightbulb” moment for you?

I got really lucky when I first started. I had access to some wonderful resources for motivation, support, and technical help. I think the biggest change I would make from when I first started streaming is better documenting the process and tools that we used to achieve what we did. I would have preferred to be able to pass along our resources to others to create their own local commentary.

One of the biggest “lightbulb” moments for me was recognizing the responsibility that comes with being on the stage of streaming and that your words come from a position of authority. At one point during my stream I had criticized a player’s actions because they didn’t make sense to me, and in doing so I created the narrative that they were wrong and I was right. After talking with that player and reflecting back on the stream I realized that it was important for me to recognize that while I’m doing commentary I have an obligation to give players the benefit of the doubt and try to understand their actions rather than dismiss them.

Recently you announced a rebrand. What is the reasoning for your rebrand and please give us a background on what your future goals of YourNeighborTJ?

I’ve gone by the name RedBaronMTG for a long time but that name no longer matches the person I am or the content that I create. At the time I competed more in Magic: the Gathering and almost exclusively played Red decks, makes sense, right? But my priorities have shifted towards community and the positivity that it’s able to create. I want my content to be warm, inviting, and full of love and I want the name that I put on it to reflect that. Hopefully the term neighbor helps elicit the sentiment that we are all closer and our actions are more tied together that we realize.

 Any parting words of advice, shout outs, projects that people should be aware of, or anything else you would like to talk about?

My final thoughts would be to encourage people to lift up others and focus on building our communities. Magic: the Gathering, and gaming in general, is experiencing a large amount of growth and it is in our own self interest to welcome and encourage new and established players to enjoy the games and communities we have created.

One last thing, we always like to do a silly question at the end. So, if you could time travel – what year and location would you go to, and why?

Time travel questions are always difficult because they constrain you to a singular answer. I think I would go to the year 2119 to see a glimpse of what exciting things are in store for the future. The problem with going to the past is all the potential to either change nothing or change far too much, not to mention that in most cases the past is an objectively worse experience than present day.

We hope you enjoyed getting to know YourNeighborTj a little bit more! 

Ta ta for now!

The Inked Gaming Team