I think this is the kind of question that is going to get an instinctual response of "no" for the most part, because no one wants to think their choices are being influenced by someone else. (Except for LGR because, for some reason, the general consensus is that he seems to be the one Youtuber who is A-okay to be "influenced" by, lol.)
So I didn't quite know how to answer this myself because I think that yes, there are degrees of influence, but of course I make the final decision on my own. But I don't think that the "yes" answer here assumed that someone watches a Game Changer, sees that they like it, and then immediately buys the pack. I mean...who really does that? ;)
I have one Game Changer who I tune into on a fairly regular basis, and that's Iron Seagull. The reason I choose him is because I think his preferences are closest to my own gameplay style, specifically that he has a decent respect for Occult life states, so I know that he will address those things specifically. I also have watched enough of his videos to determine that he is very honest and can be direct about things he doesn't think are up to par. He's also pretty quick with information update videos that summarize Twitter conversations and then gives his own take on what that information could mean for the game. If he's unhappy about something, he'll say it. But he also can keep his opinions constructive and he makes some decent points. So I do like to see what he has to say, for the purpose of getting the info that's important to me.
Occasionally I watch Sim Supply as well, because he has great humor, even when he's giving harsh criticism. And Urban Sims is hilarious, I'll watch her once in a while, and Deligracy because she has a goofy sense of humor and good nature, and she's a deviant player. For building, my very favorite is Simproved. She has the most amazing build themes and many of them tend to be darker and deviant in nature, because she is a huge fan of Supernaturals (and the mighty Lionfish god!) and her builds are some of the most creative I've ever seen.
So essentially, I go to some of these Youtubers when a new pack is coming out, get a good look at CAS and the build/buy stuff, and then get an idea of how some of them feel about the pack in general and what some of the gameplay looks like. I honestly think that they're very helpful as far as information, whether you agree with them or not, and that information is what I use to determine if a pack is worth it or not for my own use. I think sometimes some people on the forums are a little too bitter about the Game Changers and seem to like to trash talk them and make a whole lot of assumptions without really knowing how to utilize the info that they offer. In truth, they are all Simmers, (many of who played previous iterations as well) which is how they got to be Game Changers in the first place, and if you can find one who shares your general play preferences, you might get some good insight from them. :)
