Community Spotlight: Ebontis

Protheon: So my first question for you is how did you get started with content creation? Were there any creators that you watched that inspired you?

Ebontis: Well an inspiration early on were people like Datto. He is one of the ones that I remember watching guides all the time for. Honestly, I was just playing Destiny with friends for a while. You do your weekly raids with your friends every Tuesday but as time goes on people start dropping off. For some reason the game stuck with me and I was still playing it.

So I wanted to run some nightfalls but I didn’t have anyone to run it with, let me see if I can do these by myself! Then next thing I know I was able to run some nightfalls solo and started getting comfortable and I was like “okay I don’t see to many people make these types of videos, let me see what I can do.”

The job I was at didn’t have a lot of place to move up, so I took a break from doing what I was doing with the corporate setting and kind of just went head first into this (Content Creation).

It all started with guides because the whole goal was “if I can get through something by myself, can I make a guide that can tell people how they can do it by themself.” Not everyone felt like they can do a lot of Destiny content on their own, and if I can do it in a way where other people could have success, that would be a fun journey for me!

So that is kind of how I started making guides and doing what I do. Finding ways for the average player to achieve things in Destiny solo. It seems like a lot of people who watch my videos are of a mature audience and they are like “Hey I am a 60 year old person and I did this!” and I am like “Cool, I am in the old persons club.” [Laughter]

I also think what makes me a bit different is the live commentary. If I can be calm enough to tell you what to do in the middle of the fight then hopefully you can also get through it. Some people really like the live commentary too.

Protheon: Yeah that is kind of what separates you compared to other guides that I have seen where some guides there is no one talking and it's just text on a screen. You make it more personable with your commentary and I think people appreciate that more than you might think.

Ebontis: Yeah, the ones who have stuck with me have been pretty consistent. There are so many content creators though who don’t have commentary and I get that. Some people just want to be like “Shut up I don’t want to hear you talk about it I just want to know what to do.” There are so many different content creators for so many groups of people.

Protheon: Your channel is filled with a ton of helpful guides related to Destiny 2. Did you always want to be a guide type creator? Did you ever want to experiment with something other than that? I know you do ‘The Last Word Podcast’ but is there anything else you want to do?

Ebontis: My style fits guides the most. Every so often I make goofier videos though. There was this one Nightfall that just ruined me and I made a video called “The 7 Stages of Grief  for Solo Players” and I had a few ridiculous ones. I had a lot of fun with it but it was also kind of outside of my usual. It was a fun video that didn’t do too bad either.

My goal is to be calm during my videos because if I am trying to show you what is going on, on screen I feel like I would be taking away from it if I am acting over the top. I want the game to do more of the shining rather than me.

Protheon: Your most popular YouTube video was the Guide on How to get Whisper of the Worm as a solo player. That was actually the video I discovered you on first! Was that a difficult video to make? At the time of release, many solo players felt hopeless about getting Whisper of the Worm but your guide seemed to help a lot of players out! What were some of the behind the scenes with that video?

Ebontis: So that one came out actually long after the mission was actually out. It was the time when Heavy Ammo was not dropping, if you remember that. I did a few different guides for that specifically. Doing live commentary with something like that… there were many, many, MANY, takes on that. There were a lot of practice runs at first to try and figure everything out.

Once I understand the encounter and a good loadout then I know I am ready. I first have to explain my loadout, a couple weapons to bring with you, etc. At the moment there are a lot of things that can go wrong, you can be in the wrong place or miss a jump and get killed and start the whole thing over… And this mission starts with a jumping puzzle!

So it definitely had many practice runs involved. You get to a point where you know it so well it becomes second nature. Once I get to that point in a mission or a lost sector I know I am ready to make a video on it and can talk about it.

Protheon: I feel like I would have hit a point… and maybe you did where I would have said “this is just impossible. Do I continue trying to make this video? I would have said “is this worth it?” But I would say in your case it was well worth it for you and your channel.

Ebontis: Hah yeah that is one of those where I feel like the YouTube algorithm gods shined on it! That was a video where I was featured as the YouTube Content Creator of the day across the entire platform. I remember saying “I’m sorry I’m going to be WHAT?”

It was one of the moments where I was absolutely floored. No videos I make will scratch the surface like that one did in the remote future.

Protheon: You never know…

Ebontis: You never know… for sure. But with that one there were a lot of factors that went into it and the algorithm took it and ran and I was there for the journey.

Protheon: Moving off of Destiny real quick, what are some other games that you enjoy besides Destiny?

Ebontis: Man that is a long list. I have played a LOT of Destiny 1 and 2. I played tons of different games growing up varying from sports games, to Mario games, to Chrono Trigger. I put a ton of time into World of Warcraft and Bloodborne. I have played every Dark Souls game as well.

There is a lot of learning with those games. Many [Dark] Souls games are developed in a way where you know why you died. Even if it is a really tight window I get it, as long as it is made in a way where it feels fair. If you lose and you understand why, that's good and important!

All of those games are a challenge. And I like those because you can harness your skills and perfect them to defeat a boss or encounter.

Protheon: What are your thoughts about Season of the Lost so far? I know you are mainly a PvE player, but I did see you dabbling in Trials a few weeks ago. How has that been for you?

Ebontis: Season of the Lost seems to me that Bungie is really hitting their stride with storytelling which I think is at a really really high point. In Season of the Hunt it was cool to see Crow come back but they did not have all the gears turning yet.

Then we got Chosen and we got Caiatl and a new antagonist. That season we were figuring out whether we would have an ally by the end of this conflict and it turns out we developed an alliance. As of now, we have this question of “What has Caiatl been up to the past 6 months?”

So we are getting closer and closer to where all these little story beats that have been being built up for a while come together with Witch Queen. And in Season of the Lost it has me really intrigued because Mara is acting cocky, we know Savathun will do something to get into her throne world and receive the light so I am very intrigued.

I think right now on the PvE side Bungie is firing on all cylinders. Shattered Realm speaks to me on another level. Shattered Throne was a really fun dungeon for me because it was the first of its kind, and now we have this Metroidvania type activity unlocking secrets in these cool environments.

The 6 player matchmade activity isn’t bad. They all get repetitive if you play them 100x times in a season and I am not sure how you solve that problem.

As for PvP it is nice to see a start of that renewed focus to put it in a nice way. We see weekly discussions on t TWAB and experimenting with Trials. They still have a Competitive playlist that needs a complete rework in my opinion. We of course still need new maps and modes to come which they said they are working on for next year.

For me Season of the Lost is a good season. But I will say I am still ultimately waiting for the Witch Queen. It is probably up there in terms of all the seasons, but it is definitely worth it and a good prelude to Witch Queen. There is a lot of potential for Destiny in the next year.

Protheon: Where can people find you?

Ebontis: You can find me primarily on YouTube. It is easy to find, just look for Ebontis and a cheetah and you’ll know you are in the right place. It is the nice thing about having a unique name. So whether it is YouTube, Twitter, or Twitch.

I do have a podcast that goes live on YouTube called The Last Word with myself, LordCognito, and TieGuyTravis who was on Fireteam Chat and we found him a new Destiny home.

We have a guest there as well and actually YOU are going to be on there soon!

Protheon: Oh yeah that's right! I am excited about that. Thank you so much for sitting down with me. It was a lot of fun.