I definitely agree that in my particular case, I do not upload videos often enough, which is mostly due to laziness (which for many reasons, I need to curb.) That's only part of the equation with YouTube, though. They place a heavy premium on "audience retention", which is a fancy way to say "how long do your viewers watch one of your videos?". If everyone is cutting out when its like halfway done, your retention numbers don't look that great, and YT doesn't promote your content as much. That's why "top 10" and "hidden gems" videos tend to do well. People keep watching to see what game will come up next. If you just make a video about Game X, the viewer knows that the entire video is covering that one topic, and they minute they get bored, they bail. As a viewer, I am plenty guilty of that myself.
That is interesting, I didn't know that about Youtube. I guess if that is the way the game is played...
I guess it comes down to what you are trying to achieve and what your priorities are. If you want to be a big Youtube name with a large revenue stream, then you probably have to play the game. You have to start making content faster and more often, advertise/spam your videos on forums, facebook, and etc. You'd also benefit by sucking-up to the big name Youtubers. You could get more subscriptions by showing up on shows like MJR, Game Chasers, AVGN, and Game Sack, then having them link to your channel in that video. You could focus on top-10 videos, which force full watches. That said, if you are just interested in producing quality content that appeals to a small audience, without regard to revenue or popularity, then none of that earlier bullshit matters.
As a total aside, I don't understand why the big twitch.tv streamers are as big as they are. I mainly watch speedrunners... People like CalebHart, Cosmo, and Cirno are not particularly compelling as individuals... yet these people are making a ton of cash as a streamer. Its even crazier for Heartstone or Darkstone or whatever it is streamers. They can be making $50k a month in donations...