Upcoming Patreon Changes

I mentioned in a recent PokéSins update post that I was considering some changes to my Patreon. This post will outline the changes, my reasons behind them and allow you guys to communicate your thoughts. Ideally I'd like to get all of you on board and happy with the changes before I go public.

The biggest change is that this Patreon will be expanded to include all the work on my channel, rather than solely PokéSins. I have a few motivations behind this, so I'll explain:

I always planned to, upon finishing Season 1 of PokéSins, take a break of a month or so. That would take the pressure of my most intensive series off for a bit, let me relax, and then return raring to go for Season 2. At the moment, that is impossible. It would be unfair to go a month or longer without providing any Patreon content. By expanding to include my other videos, it really opens my options and largely removes the do-or-die overhang this series can have for me.

In addition to that, I really want to increase the focus on my gaming stuff (which comprises the majority of my content) and it was always the plan to incorporate my other work into this Patreon. While I enjoy PokéSins and it is my most popular series, my heart really lies in gaming.

With the bombshell out the way, it's time to go into what this change will actually mean for you, my faithful patrons.

First of all, I'd like to assure you that your rewards will remain largely unchanged. I'm working around and adding to what is already there, so you won't lose anything you chose. Only one reward will be significantly changed and that's $3+ Early Access. I'll come onto that in a sec.

One thing I would like to know, however, is how many of you make use of Priority Suggestions. The $5+ slot is the only one I considered changing entirely, partly because I only see one or two of you posting regularly in the thread. Don't get me wrong; if those one or two really like the Priority Status, that's perfectly fine and I can leave it be. Just thought I'd get a consensus on who actually uses it.

The best way I can see to explain the changes is a reward-by-reward explanation. I apologise if this post gets long.

$1+ Activity Feed. This will maintain its PokéSins updates, but I will also post updates regarding special videos. Don't worry; I won't be posting every video I make on here. Probably just the fortnightly First Impressions/Top 5s and any additional one-offs I do that I consider of decent importance.

$3+ Early Access. Very similar changes to the $1, in that you will also get a day's early access to the aforementioned First Impressions/Top 5s and other special one-offs. I said that this was significantly changed because it's a big step for me to have even more videos ready for consumption a day earlier than release.

$5+ Priority Suggestions. Unless people quite unanimously agree that they're not bothered about keeping this reward, this won't change at all. Priority Status for PokéSins suggestions.

NEW $7.50+ Video Voting. A new reward level to give you some say over my additional videos. Of the two First Impressions/Top 5s I do each month, I will let you guys choose one of each. That'll still give me free reign on the other First Impression/Top 5 so I can satisfy my whims. I will give a few options for each vote and majority wins.

$10+ Unreleased PokéSins. This will be completely unchanged.

NEW $15+ Monthly Newsletter. Done via e-mail, this will be a monthly insight into my life outside the channel; what games I've been playing/books I've been reading/films/TV/etc. I dunno how long it'll be yet, but I hope you guys'll find it interesting.

$25+ Monthly Personalised Thank You Video. This will be completely unchanged.

NEW $35+ Monthly Gaming. At least once a month, patrons at this level will be welcome to play with me in a game of our agreement for an hour minimum. This will include some kind of voice chat, but won't be as personal as the Skype Call; the focus will be on the gaming as we relax and play, perhaps with my friends joining in.

$50+ Monthly Skype Call. This will be largely unchanged, but I will increase the minimum from 20 minutes to an hour. This is A) so it is on par with the gaming time and B) because none of my Patron Skype calls have lasted less than an hour, so I may as well.

$100+ PokéSins Cameo. For now this will remain unchanged. I might expand this to include cameos in some of my other videos, but I'm unsure if that'd work as an ongoing monthly reward.

Those are all the planned rewards. Please give me your honest thoughts on these and we can discuss any concerns you may have.

I'm also redoing the Milestone Goals as my current ones are few and far between. The new ones will be a lot more regular (every $200) and include things like new tech, more livestreaming, weekly PokéSins and a super special project that's been sleeping peacefully for a while. I won't go into these here as this post is long enough, but if you guys are worried I'm saving up for another doomsday weapon I can outline the new stuff in another post.

Apologises for the length of this post, but there's a lot to explain and I want you all to be completely in the loop. Your support means a lot to me and I want you to be happy with what I'm doing. So...thoughts?