The "youtube meta" has changed overtime and not all creators have stayed current with it, so you can find old videos which were once optimized for youtube but no longer are, or new videos being created in an outdated style. With some channels though, I think they've decided to make suboptimal videos from the youtube algorithm perspective because they're getting most of their revenue from a loyal fanbase donating to them on patron/etc, so they cater to the preferences of that specific crowd.
There could be multiple valid strategies too. I’ve seen some creators will put out a video once every few months, but that video will be shown on everyone’s feed and will get millions of views. While mass content posters like gaming channels probably get less exposure or their videos spend less time on the top.
True. And different kinds of content may have different metas. Some content needs to be timely and can only get views for a short period of time before effectively expiring. Other content is evergreen and can play the long game, counting on getting reliable view numbers for years.
