I agree that their "regular" content hasn't been spectacular for a while now, whereas before I used to think that every episode was special and worth watching. They have been releasing daily videos for years now, and I honestly think if they focused on quality rather than quantity then the channel will be much better overall. That's not to say every video they've made recently has been uninspired; the Snake Oil videos for example are great. Although you could argue that not doing stuff like TTT and GTA would just end up with great videos like Snake Oil with nothing else in between, which would be a net loss no matter how you look at it.

Aside from that, I cannot agree with any other criticism you have made. You are claiming that their videos are emotionally manipulative because they pretend that they are friends with fans, but your only evidence to support that is that they are, and I quote, "a big group of friends having a laugh". This makes no sense to me; I have been watching the Yogscast for about 4 years now and not once have I ever heard them refer to viewers in the first person, personally ask them of anything, act like there's some kind of existing relationship there, or anything else which takes advantage of their fanbase. Therefore, if a viewer thinks that they are friends with the Yogscast that's entirely their own fault.

Simon and Lewis didn't just happen to meet over coffee and say funny things for an hour.

They kinda did though; in the early Yogpods and WoW videos, thats exactly what it was.

Simon looked like he'd rather chew his own bollocks off than do a Yogpod, presumably because it was 'work' and he just wanted to relax.

I'm not sure you have a right to presume what other people are thinking unless you know it as a fact. I mean the same criticisms are thrown at Duncan's sponsored videos recently, because he "clearly" does not enjoy them and is only doing it for the money.

Finally, just want to say that the Yogscast, like every other form of entertainment, is a niche, and if you try anything too different then you'll alienate your existing fanbase. However, that's not to say you can't make improvements without changing too much.