Important Announcement - This Will Be My Last Video

Hi all. Sorry to kind of hit you with it all at once, but I wanted to make sure you all were the first to know about this, at least "publicly".

I'm currently in final edits for the Best of 2024 video and I wanted to let you know matter-of-factly that... this is going to be my last.

Ever.

I'm going to retire from video-making after this video drops. At least in terms of "content creation" (video essays, reviews, the like). I'm contemplating maybe doing some kind of Q&A or maybe even a final "goodbye" livestream or something to that effect, but in terms of traditional "content" style videos you're used to seeing... this will be the last.

Again, I apologize if this seems sudden or unexpected, but I'm sure you've noticed the drought in videos from me here lately. I just haven't had the availability to devote to video-making, it's been tougher and tougher to get stuff done, and it doesn't looks like it's going to get easier anytime soon so... we're gonna just tie the bow on things with this video and call it a good 13 years (give or take).

I want this post to be succinct, so I won't go into graphic detail on the "whys". I just wanted to let you supporters know what's going to happen next.

I'm hoping to get the Best of 2025 video out before the end of the month. I'm in the final edits so barring anything disastrous, we should be able to hit that goal. Once the video is out, I'll be unpublishing the Patreon and I believe that should stop all further charges or ability to contribute. As much as I would appreciate folks continuing to give, if I'm not putting out content of some kind, it doesn't feel right to continue to charge. So this will likely be the last month you'll be charged (again, I want to finish this before June, but if I can't I'll suspend charges for a month so that no one gets dinged accidentally.)

Though if you or anyone you know would like to get access to the Discord server, you can still pledge at the $10 level and we can get you access. But now's going to be your last opportunity. After the Best of 2025 video drops, I'm unpublishing the Patreon page, so we won't be able to take in any more new folks to the Discord. (The server will continue to stay up for as long as the community wants it to. Things are still very active over there, so no need to close anything down. And, should I eventually come back or publish other things, y'all will still be the first to know and keep track of stuff.)

I also wanted to emphasize that while I'm going to be retiring from video-making... I'm not 100% against this being... let's call it a "KISS-style" retirement.

There's a part of me that does still very much enjoy content-creation and writing and "performing" for an online audience, for lack of a better term. But if I were to come back in some fashion it wouldn't be in the same style that I've been doing for the last 13 years. Things would need to change dramatically in order for me to upload material and, if I'm being honest, I no longer have the desire to do things the way we've been doing them.

But I'm not against the idea of popping back up in some other fashion. Y'all ain't gonna get rid of me that easy. :)

There are places where I'll still be active. I have a few cameos in other folks videos here and there, and I've let other folks know that if they want to use "my services" I'm still very much available. And I will still be a part of Rock Coliseum. I'm always happy to help the Coliseum Crew with anything and everything they may want to do and I'm honored to still be a part of that.

I also have a Twitch channel (same handle as everything else, crashthompsonxo) that I wanted to finally indulge in a little bit, but... that's not going to be "content" per say. We'll just be doing stuff for fun over there. Feel free to follow if you like watching someone be bad at video games!

But The Rock Critic/Crash Thompson/whatever you want to call this weird little experiment we've been at for the last decade and change... that's going away.

Again, I'm considering options for how to handle questions on this. If you do have anything you would like me to answer, please feel free to ask me here or if you're in the Discord you can ask me or the Mod Crew. I'll be happy to address any concerns regarding things.

But for now, until the video comes out, I'll just say...

Thanks for everything. Especially those of you who have given to the channel over all these years. I sincerely appreciate your support and I'm happy I could provide you with some insight, some new bands to check out, or even just a few laughs.

I'll keep you updated on things as they roll out, but for now... Take care! See you in the next video.