Patreon Tweaks

Helllllo Rivans

As discussion seems to have stopped on the PokéSins Plans post (although it's not too late to catch up or leave thoughts), I thought it safe to move onto the Patreon Tweaks I mentioned in that post.

I try not to change things too often on here so you guys have the sense of stability that's important for monthly pledges. As its been a little while since I changed/added some stuff, I think it's okay for me to reopen discussions. There are a number of tweaks I'd like to make, so I'll go through them one by one; I'd really like general approval on these...especially the ones that change rewards.

1. The $25 Reward

When I came up with having Personalised Thank You videos as the reward, it seems I may not have thought it through well enough.  Turns out they don't have the longevity I originally thought they did, so very few people pick this tier and those who do don't stay there long.

I propose that I completely remove the untouched $35 reward (Monthly Gaming) and replace the Personalised Thank Yous with this reward. This would be effective immediately but as there, at time of writing, is only one patron affected, I don't think it'd cause much awkwardness.

2. The $100 Reward

This one's a bit of an 'I Want Your Advice' situation. Honestly I've never liked having PokéSins Cameo as a reward. I don't like having my hands tied with my videos and a requirement to include a high-paying patron in a video that may not suit them or fit an unknown voice... I'm sure you can understand my relief that no one has actually taken this tier.

Nonetheless, I feel it's important to offer an insane top-tier reward. It's supposed to be a massive stretch goal that every patron thinks 'I wish I could afford that'. I don't actually expect anyone to afford it. It's insane. But should I somehow get a Nigerian Prince as a fan, I'd like to be able to accommodate him.

That said, I have NO IDEA AT ALL what I could replace the Cameo with. I've been thinking ever since I set up my Patreon and yet have no ideas that don't have the same issues... Collab video? Can't easily do that once a month. Be part of a series? There's the hands-tying thing again...

I'd like to remove the tier until I can find a replacement. Please comment with any suggestions for what could replace it.

3. Milestones

We're very close to hitting $500 a month at the moment and while the next reward is $600, I feel it's closer than I expected. This is another of the 'I may not have thought them through properly' ones. I'd like to do something of an overhaul on the milestones for $600+.

Most of the milestones will still be there, but at altered numbers. These changes would be based on what I can realistically do at those income levels as well as what I think would be worth my time.

Because I'm sure a few of you are concerned, I WILL be keeping the Weekly PokéSins milestone. I'd like to, however, shift it to $1000 a month. The reason for this is we're currently over halfway to it at $800 and I don't know on what website I'm posting the episodes! I am committed to bringing the series back to regular viewing as I've said many times, but I will not be able to provide the milestone reward with the series flapping in the wind as it currently is.

4. $5 PokéSins Episodes

This is a continuation of the PokéSins Plans post. I floated the idea of implementing $5 pledges for some of the main series episodes to support them being posted to unmonetised sites. I am NOT implementing this currently, but instead will probably be trying Option 2 for a trial period. I just wanted to remind you all that this is a possibility should I not be able to find a stable, reliable platform.

For more information, check out the PokéSins Plans post.

And that's it. Another long post, but early January is the best time to overhaul and rebuild, right? Please leave me your thoughts.