EPISODE 200 Progress Report! (Blog)

G'day you fucking legends! Big things are a foot: EPISODE 200!

I wanna give you all a bit of an update on progress, how I'm feeling about the channel and life, my end of year plans and what you can expect from PATREON moving into 2025~!

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FINAL CALL for Video Submissions) If you want to appear in the video, then you only have ONE WEEK left to submit something. Please refer to my previous post regarding instructions!
You can also access everything needed HERE on Google Drive!

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Episode 200) So... cat is out of the bag! (I think anyway)

Quick bit of real life stuff, work was majorly delayed coming out of October into this month. Unfortunately we had some unexpected family news that required my partner and I to travel for a week (and need a good week of pure recovery time). It's been tough but we're doing alright now, I think we've found a lot of peace and it was cathartic being back in the old stomping grounds. Never forget to hug your loved ones! ❤

Anyway so work was delayed because of that but I'm stoked to report that script revisions were awesome! First time EVER... I actually have a Ghost Writer! 👻 Given the topic is much more up my partner's alley, I had Donnie look over the script's I'd written. He's a better writer than me anyway and so we worked as a team to get these videos in tip-top shape. I'm really proud of what we ended up with and I'm so glad and relived to announce that filming HAS COMMENCED!!!
As you can see from the image posted above, almost HALF of camera shots have been completed! This is huge as we're due for a massive heatwave this upcoming weekend so work is going to be disrupted again (there is no cooling in my workspace). Fortunately, the major stuff is completed and on camera stuff is 50% of the way through. MY GOAL was to have everything shot before the end of the month of November and right now, I see no reason why we can't SMASH that objective!

Late 2024 Plans) Despite all the excitement, I'm feeling a bit burnt out lately but that's ok. I'm still motivated however I will be keen for a holiday break. Right now plans are to get the Episode 200 stuff completed, which includes additional Patreon EXCLUSIVE content!
As for the actual channel, I would like to try and get a Game Testing out but honestly, my health (mentally) is gonna come first so don't be surprised if it doesn't happen.

The main reason I'd like to try and hope at least is given that my plan for the year didn't really pan out (as usual lol). If you hadn't noticed, I decided to cut back on excess content and purely focus my attention on the main SEJ episodes in the hopes it may boost the channel a little. In fact this did NOT happen. The channel hasn't done worse or anything, it's been kinda stagnant if anything, however I feel like there have been some holes that need filling. So in 2025, we're giving the algorithm a phat middle finger "fuck off" and just making what I want, when I want.

It should've always been that way but hey, it's a lot easier said than done!

Patreon PAUSED) I've been flirting with this idea for a little while. Throughout all my breaks and inability to work over the years due to IRL stuff, I have always maintained some kind of work ethic through it all and justified the Patreon despite a dip in volume released. However I want to break that habit!
While I plan on having some Jak time over the holiday season, the month of January will see support be PAUSED!!

What does this mean? You will all still be here (hopefully) however you will NOT be charged for a month. Even if I do decide to chip away at some work here and there, I don't expect any typical videos to hit the channel during that time so it seems fitting to pause support. When things commence, everything will startup the same again! Just want to make it super clear what the plan is to be as transparent as possible.

Ambitions for 2025) With all of this I've still been thinking about what I can do to try and boost the channel's standing without taking an additional chunk of my work efforts. I WANT TO LIVE STREAM!!! No details as of yet but I would like to attempt a weekly live stream schedule on YouTube for some Game Testing (or other) content. I feel like it's something that I can do for work that won't feel like work so much. I'm also considering exploring options with YouTube SHORTS!
I feel like these could potentially offer a gateway for discovery onto the channel, uploading the best bits from videos, super short impromptu reviews on games and movies or just reactions to news within the industry...

who remembers Square Eyed Shorties?

So yeah... thinking it might be great to revive that idea for something additional on the channel. If either of these things prove to help the channel get a stronger foundation beneath it, along with Patreon growth: the ultimate goal will be to have someone to start managing some of these areas of the channel so I can focus on primary content easier. Always been the dream, maybe 2025 will finally be the year?? 🤔

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Closing Thoughts) Anyway that's all I've got for you guys, get fucking pumped for 200 cause I'm going all out! Once it's done, my PC is due for a kick in the ass so I'll be upgrading my kit during that hiatus as well. Current PC was built in 2017 and still runs ok but is really on the verge of death in others. Each year usually starts with a big tech purchase/upgrade for the channel so that's the plan right now. Might be able to make something of a video detailing all that perhaps??

But anyway, thank you all so much for reading. Get those Episode 200 submissions IN before November 30th!

Cheers and I hope you all have a great fucking day guys! 😎

 Super early preview of the Episode 200 logo!
You can bet you ass I'm proud of this one!