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Blood on the Clocktower Video Kickstarter Survey (Patreon)

Published:
2022-06-08 17:00:07
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Hello everyone!

As many of you will know we plan to fund future in person videos of Blood on the Clocktower via Kickstarter due to the huge costs of producing these episodes. As such we wanted to ask you, our loyal patrons, what kind of costs you are expecting, how much you would be looking to potentially contribute, and what kind of rewards you want to get. If there isn't enough space in the text-boxes provided, then feel free to comment below any ideas/feedback you may have.

Thank you all for taking the time to help us with this!

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Files

Blood on the Clocktower Video Kickstarter Survey

Hello! Thank you for taking part in our survey, and helping us shape the Kickstarter that we hope to launch in the coming weeks. Our costs are unfortunately largely fixed but we would like to know from you what kind of costs you would expect (spoiler alert, it's loads) and what rewards you would be interested in.

Comments

DONALD McLeod

You have to play until Laurie gets a victory.

Independent Taiwan

Done the survey and whatever decision you guys make, I’ll…we’ll always be there for you guys

Jack Archer

As stretch goals, you could add flying in certain international players, like SRS, Denise or Tempest

David Summers

I filled it in to help, but honestly my answers are “not a clue, not a clue, not a clue”. I guess I’m happy to contribute whatever it is that makes this financially viable for the team. I will say it becomes harder to justify the more episodes you’re talking, so for example, I’d pay you £10 for an episode right now, but it’d feel weird to pay £100 for 10 future episodes in one lump sum? But then I guess there’s savings to be had filming a whole chunk.

Jeff Craig

I'd be very interested to see the results of question 1 alongside the actual costs of recording the existing in-person games, just to get a sense of how production costs match up to my (ignorant) estimates.

Swizlestik 97

Insert meme of Futurama shut up And take My money

MZA

Completed the survey but it's honestly very difficult to gauge. Think I'd rather you guys costed it, worked out what would be viable, then laid it out for us. I get you want to do your market research first, and that's admirable, but I have so little idea what the cost-to-content ratio might be!

Ryanfuss

just realized I screwed up and forgot to add the amount I’d believe fair to donate for access to a short pre and post production footage vid. For the record I think anything between £25 - £50 would be fair. But Essentially I might be undervaluing such a reward, but it’s roughly what I’ll be giving so 😛😂 Best seriously, best of luck funding it folks 🙏😀

Worcanna

It's very hard to gauge how much things were. I did my best.

DONALD McLeod

Ooh, that's a great idea. I'd love to see that myself.

LooseLeaves

It's difficult to estimate production costs given that I'm sure a huge portion of that is renting the studio. And being that I live in Washington DC, I have no idea what London studio rental fees are these days! :P

John Farrell

The in person games are excellent, but the cost compared to content return needs to be considered. I’ll happily pay for special in person events every so often, but there isn’t a huge amount of replay value for most games, once I see an episode once I’m unlikely to watch it again any time soon. I think there should be a balance between online games (the most frequent), in person without all the bells and whistles and then the periodic PPV style extravaganza sessions a couple of times a year. Best of luck with whatever the target is though and I’ll definitely happily contribute for such fine content!

Greg Kleinfall

While I enjoy seeing all of you together in person, I also really enjoyed the online episodes as well. Perhaps, to somewhat lessen the costs of production, you could ask for us to contribute funds for a # of in person and online episodes. I don't want to speak for anyone else, but my interests would be for more episodes in total and if having some of them being online helps mitigate your costs, I would be all for that.

Kat

I have zero idea how much any of it costs so its difficult to guage what i think an acceptable amount would be. Im willing to support this though

Peter Atkinson

I think a lot have covered this already, but it's incredibly difficult for us to judge your costs and what's appropriate. I would say most of the live comes from sewing you play the game and not all the bells and whistles. I'll happily take virtual games like before with maybe a rare in person if the costs are so hard to maintain. Or even without all the amazing production value. I loved the in person episode bit if it's unsustainable to do as frequently, then it would be sad for it to become a rare thing.

Blair Leggett

I did the survey... no offense guys but the text box fields need to be waaaaaaaaay bigger to get better responses. If you're looking for ideas on rewards & possible prices you need to allow for smallish essays for fielding ideas. ;)

Blair Leggett

I think my general takeaway from your survey is that you're not going to get many of whale backers, but you should try to get LOTS of decent backers (similar to a boardgame KS backer). You should definitely reach out to local celebrities who would be interested in playing social deduction games (and being filmed while doing so...). This will help get the word out and bring more eyeballs to your campaign.

Nicholas Hojnacki

I agree with everyone’s feedback. It is hard to gauge some of the questions since I don’t have a clue about the general costs associated with producing the episodes. As much as I love the two in-person episodes, if there’s a way to scale the production down while keeping the same structure and “heart” in order to make it more financially viable, I would be just as happy. I imagine a lot of the cost comes from the set, renting the theatre, props, lighting, etc. If it would be possible to do the setup somewhere cheaper (basement, classroom) or maybe partner with Draughts to use their customer spaces. It looks like they are closed on Mondays, so if there was a way of using the downstairs space during those days could give an aesthetically interesting location with hopefully not having a cost to them either. I love the BOTC series and I hope they continue. I would love it to continue and be featured as a monthly series rather than just a limited release. In order to make it easier, maybe cycle videos between one in-person and the next one or two being virtual. In terms of add-ons, personally, the videos are what is most important to me. I’d rather pay money and have the efforts and cost go to that than have the team worry about additional costs and items that need to be manufactured and shipped. If the team is really pushing for items as a part of the Kickstarter, I think the most interesting one would be promo items for BOTC that are partnered with Pandamonium. Whatever you do, I will definitely be backing it.

Jim Rennie

No matter the cost, it will need to be very clear from the start who gets access to what content. Will Kickstarter backers get exclusive episodes? Will Patrons? Will some content be locked unless you have both? I can see a situation where someone who has paid $25 per month for over a year would be somewhat annoyed at having to put up more to get the videos that someone giving the kickstarter $5 once gets... but maybe this community is more understanding than average! I think the bigger return on investment is bringing the Americans over to be able to shoot multiple episodes of BGC.

Shiiva Wilding

Those boxes don't have a limit, just keep typing. Most of my replies are small essays!

Blair Leggett

Yeah, but editing them is like writing a letter through the plastic window on an envelope. This should be a simple setting for their survey. Just trying to help. :)

Jodie Sweitzer

I think a another approach for a survey like this would be suggesting potential creative perks and soliciting willingness to pay for said perks for you to devise a plan to cover costs and generate necessary profits to make it worthwhile (given we’re not production cost experts, and asking how much I think something costs/should cost doesn’t get at how I actually value it - but if you ask me how much I would pay for 4 new episodes and a NRB t-shirt, I can more easily put an amount behind that). Can use that to build out a simple model. The survey could also gauge how much folks value in-person vs. online BotC, assuming a mix to keep costs reasonable (both are great!) to create a more sustainable content strategy.

Steve Pellikaan

I agree with most of the other comments here. I’d love to see more in person games, but I don’t think that you need to go all out with the costumes and set design. It’s all of you people that make the videos so great, not the sets and costumes.

ItzSmashley

If the series would cost some of the higher amounts u are quoting in this survey then you should probably have plans to fund a large amount urself and not financially impact ur company. Looks like me and others would happily support a kickstarter compaign but id be very surprised if it created some of the numbers ur considering in here. Maybe also consider u might lose some patron supporters who would take the money they are paying and transfer it to the kickstarter instead. Just dont want to see you guys overreaching x

Suizie

Yup, scale down the costs, it doesn't have to be over the top production every time

Micah Newby

I agree with what several other commenters have said: we didn't watch all those zoom calls for costumes, set dressing, and teleporting game Masters. We came for the people, and while I know from personal experience that plane tickets from America to England are not cheap, I have the feeling that many of us would happily support eagerly support just having 10 to 12 of you sitting in a room not unlike you do at Draughts (that specific room / table might not be of sufficient size, but surely the point is taken).

Micah Newby

I agree with what several other commenters have said: we didn't watch all those zoom calls for costumes, set dressing, and teleporting game Masters. We came for the people, and while I know from personal experience that plane tickets from America to England are not cheap, I have the feeling that many of us would happily support eagerly support just having 10 to 12 of you sitting in a room not unlike you do at Draughts (that specific room / table might not be of sufficient size, but surely the point is taken).

Puck League

I wholeheartedly enjoyed the in person clocktower games, but not by an appreciable amount over my enjoyment of the zoom clocktower games. I will support a in person kickstarter if the tiers are affordable enough (disabled/fixed income) but I would be just as happy with more zoom games if we're being honest.

Meliv

I'll add to the chorus. We love the BOTC content for you guys. The costumes and set were a fun one time bonus but it's not at all necessary. Keep your business sustainable

trixie and fredlet

I think it's reasonable to ask about the same price as a movie rental, $2-3 per video, as big game playthroughs have similar entertainment value (couple of hours, not likely to re-watch). Like others, I think that adding Kickstarter costs to Patreon costs is a big ask that might drive folks to just shift their dollars from one to the other. I'd personally prefer a release model where you shoot 6-12 episodes at once, funded by Kickstarter and with all videos released immediately to backers, THEN release one for free on the YouTube channel and trickle out the rest to Patreon backers once per month. The Kickstarter would help to get the project started and then attract people to become long-term backers (like the first two videos did for a lot of us).

Micah Newby

Not being flippant here. I am genuinely confident that most of us would be happy with Ben walking around a card table at which the players are sitting in a conference room somewhere

Jonathan “The Headmaster” Hedman

Knowing the logistics of travel, production and everything else I compared it with what tv production here in America costs I think it’s very ambitious and I know what I’d want to pay compared to what I can afford to pay. If I had to guess each episode cost upwards of $10,000 unless you got free studio rental, talent paid their own expenses and travel and Laurie or whoever edited it on salary

Henrik

I often work with people who do a lot of media and production stuff, so I understand wanting these videos to look as good as they possibly can. But to be completely honest, from my perspective as a fan, I don't really care that much about production values or anything like that. I would rather have regular videos of you folks sitting in a random room without any fancy effects, sets or costumes. I'd wager a guess that a majority of people who are fans of yours are fans of the people and personalities, rather than the production values. While that production obviously helps draw in new fans and "casual" fans (for lack of a better word), I think the fans who are into these videos to the point of backing a kickstarter might not care as much. Which can maybe make backing a kickstarter a hard sell if one of the main reasons for needing the kickstarter is said production values? Or maybe that's just me. The thing I like about the in-person games is how differently you guys play the game, how the social element is emphasized and how it allows for your personalities to come through even more, not that it looks better!

Patrick Ash

Well said, I totally agree.

Mumbles

Yeah, I think you guys set the bar so high with the free, immensely entertaining digital version. It'll be hard to get people to pay anything when the free version was already so good.

Steve Pellikaan

Agreed. I said pretty much the same thing in my post.

Tim A.

I submitted my survey before looking at these comments and now that it's been said out loud I agree that we don't need an over-the-top production. It's nice to have but far from a requirement. What we watch for, mainly, is the social interaction between everyone. I can't retake the survey but if I could I would lower the budget required. The production could be a stretch goal if you get enough money but evidently most of us would be happy with just you guys in a normal room playing BotC.

Joriss

The only true thing I want out of production value is that these games are a good way to show newcomers how to play Blood on the Clocktower properly. No need for over-the-top production like everyone here says. I want videos that I can show to my friends and they can think "we could play that, we should play that!".

Max Fun

I love all your content, and I am even ok to have Zoom versions of you guys playing BOTC, if it means that you guys can produce more BOTC content! You guys have such great chemistry and wit. Love it!

Qu Jee

The Imp-person Blood on the clocktower was fun, sure, but it felt more like a spectacle than how people actually play it. By focusing non-stop on high-tier production for inperson games, you run the risk of making the game seem less accessable if you dont go the whole mile and hang fake spiderwebs all over your house. You can just prepare like 2-3 rooms (private home if comfortable or renting a place) and then just use that. Some cost will always happen (own hourly wage, editors wage and rent), sure, but it doesnt always need to be blown up.

Ian Burkhill

The Patreon tiers are also very high for uncut Board Game Club as much as I liked BOTC live simply can't afford to Kickstarter it. I accept it buisness but, the whole family of of Wrestletalk, PFK and NRB are expensive plus its not like you don't have corperate sponsorship or your your own merch stores

Rob E

Possible dissenting view here - but I *really* valued the extras from the last in-person BotC vids (scenery, music, sound, lighting, costumes, etc.). It makes them feel like events - they’re epic stories. It also makes them very rewatchable. I 100% appreciate you might want to cut back on some of this, but if you reduce it so much that you end up just filming in someone’s house - I feel it would lose the magic. At that point, what’s the value of in-person BotC as opposed to another Zoom episode (which I also enjoy).

Allan S. Hansen

I'd like to say I very much enjoyed the 'in-person' BotC episodes - but I would also like to say that one of the main reasons I found you guys where the 'virtual' BotC episodes and I thoroughly enjoy them as well and have watched them all multiple times, and I find they work very well. Sure - in person adds other perspectives - not only to you guys and to the game it self - but you've made the virtual ones just as good or me personally. It's the people - not the format - that drives it for me. What's most important to me is you have fun, because that creates fun.

Dominic Jennen

So I am probably going to be in the minority, but I kinda prefer the games over zoom. To me, it felt like the editing was tighter. The delays like walking to the side rooms or to the podium stood out to me. I enjoy the NRB versions of Clocktower because the all of the side conversations are edited in so we can see the sub-plots develop. If it is easier to do this via zoom I am fine with that. I mean, good lord, don't bankrupt yourselves for in person games...

Jo Wood

I came here expecting to be in a minority of one preferring the online versions, but it looks like I'm not alone. The best episodes were the ones that ended up with a great story arc. So if you were going to pump money in (and I'd pay modestly for this), I'd much rather it went into playing more games, and if necessary releasing only the best of them. Online via zoom also offers aspects you can't get with in-person, such as the reaction of players in the night phase. If you wanted to innovate, you could 'interview' players in the night phase to see what they think is going on and their strategies. As it is we tend only to get this via their interactions with each other, that can involve deception and obfuscation. And of course, online might make it easier to keep Carley on board.

trixie and fredlet

My wife also said that she preferred the Zoom games to the imp-person episodes. She didn't elaborate on why, but I can see a few possible reasons. For one thing, there are a lot more nighttime conversations in the Zoom episodes, where the players actually get to speak privately with the storytellers instead of just waving hands at each other.

Margie-Pargie

I answered the survey, but like many here, I’ve no idea on costs of production! I personally preferred the in person episodes to the Zoom versions (although I do like them too) so I’ll def back the kickstarter. Everyone being together in the same room was more enjoyable for me. However, while I’d love to see more in person episodes, are there things that can be scaled back to save costs, like a smaller venue for example? I’m not saying have it in someone’s house, but just somewhere smaller! I’m certain that, even with scaling back on the venue or other areas, you would still make an amazing in person video that we would all love!

Simfers

The question of access for patrons/kickstarters is also my main one. I know I'd personally be a bit miffed at the scenario you outlined. Not enough to drop the Patreon, mind, but it'd be an annoyance.

Simfers

I'll echo a lot of my fellow Nerbs in saying that while the in-person eps were lovely, the Zoom ones were perfectly serviceable and the important parts of those games weren't the production values, it was the stories and the personalities involved. Jon's song as the minstrel, Carley's little dance when she realized she'd won as the demon, Adam's absolute shit-flipping when he realized he was the lunatic, Luke's betrayal of Ollie (side-note: I miss Luke), the immortal "ARE YOU EVIL?!"... All of these moments (and so many more) were YOU people, not the production values.

David Monticchio

Yeah. As much as I liked the in person blood on the clock tower, the zoom ones are perfectly great as well. And because they are in zoom, the people get to explain their picks in the night with the storytellers.

Rasmus Forchhammer

Personally greatly preferred in-person to the zoom-games but must be a lot cheaper an alternative for sure.

Micah Newby

I for one am glad I read through most of the comments before actually taking the survey; they helped crystallize my thoughts and even brought things to my mind that hadn't occurred to me. Thank you all

Chris Downie

Did I enjoy the in person episodes? Yes. Did I enjoy them vastly more than the online games? No. While they looked stunning (and a huge amount of credit needs to go to the whole team for putting them together) I don’t think the end product was considerably more enjoyable. Also, I agree with what another commenter said, there is very little re-watch value to these games. I would say a better use of your funds would be to keep diversifying the channel with more video types like Johnny Bollocks or Blair’s cosplay videos. For me, I wouldn’t put all my eggs in the same basket.

Brandon Lee Abbas

Rolling up my sleeves to bring some more positivity to you. The in person games were fantastic. I have rewatched the zoom videos 10 times each easily and gave them all a personal ranking. The in person ones felt so special and we're very entertaining. I would honestly rate them higher than every zoom BOtC. I will happily contribute to the Kickstarter and help as much as I can. That being said, I understand the view that zoom was better for many. They are an entirely different show in my mind after watching everything again. I think of them as two separate entities and if a new one of either dropped tomorrow I would click them instantly and watch them all the way through with joy. The in person one I would likely only watch once vs the zoom I'd watch again and again. I get a bigger high out of the in person games and a longer high out of the zooms. In person doesn't have as much you can squeeze in to where you rewatch to enjoy small bits you forgot about but has large bits you don't need to watch again because they were so memorable. I suppose it comes down to what is more fun for NRB and what is more important: the highest quality 1 view or the also very high quality 10 views. I will support either decision with glee. Thank you all ❤️

Eric Elsner

I decided to give money for live BotC episodes, now you want more money through Kickstarter as well??? No thanks. EDIT: I should add that the zoom episodes come across the same as the in-person ones, because - you know - they a both recorded anyway. I appreciate the production you put into the in-person version, but it's not worth any extra cost to me. If you require more cash through another outlet, I will just go ahead and cancel all of my donations.

Gerrit Coulter

The in-person games were more enjoyable, just not 10-20 times more enjoyable, yet they probably cost 10-20 times more to produce.

Danny

I really enjoyed the in-person episodes - everything about it. I do think that the main factor that made it more enjoyable was the fact that chemistry between you all was easier to see in person. I think that if the cost is too high, you could scale down the production and simply have a halloween decorated AirBnb!

Matt

Agree with the main sentiment here - the in-person videos are really enjoyable, but not significantly more than the zoom videos. Therefore I don't think the massive costs to produce them are particularly worth it. A much more scaled down and sustainable version of in-person videos would be preferable. I personally would not be contributing to a kickstarter whilst I already pay for the Patreon.

SEAN BADGER

Keep the costs down. I'd be happy with regular zoom videos and maybe an in-person video every once in a while.

Jesse Anderson

I want to start by saying I LOVED the in person Blood on the Clocktower. I also LOVED the Zoom version as well. I don't know that the in-person version actually made the video any more enjoyable to watch. If the in-person videos are as insanely expensive as you are making them out to be, I don't know that they are worth it and I'd personally say to just keep the Zoom ones.

Noony x33

I agree wholeheartedly, it was certainly a fun experience but I personally get just as much enjoyment from the zoom sessions tbh and they look a lot easier/more streamline to run

Lexicorn Fell

I’m going to add myself to the chorus of people who were perfectly happy with the online games. The in person games were fun and added a different dynamic, but if it’s too expensive to run in person games on the regular, then more online games would be fine by me.

Keltic

Just adding in my thanks with all the others for putting out the amazing BOTC episodes! :) I, too, would be very happy with the Zoom calls. Thank you to the NRB team!

Twenty9 Twelve

I would be happy to contribute a little to see more in person games, it was definitely fun and the big set was really cool. But I am more than happy to see more Zoom games with different scripts and people.

Twenty9 Twelve

Will also add that I would be really happy to see a similar series to BOTC done with Cosmic Encounter! I would not say no to seeing more whacky space battles.

EverdarkRaven

I just joined the Patreon to stay up to date with the Kickstarter. As such, maybe my thoughts aren't as valuable as others who have been here all along. I have loved what you've been doing with NRB since it started, and think the in-person board game club videos are so much better than the Zoom ones. I also think the in-person Blood on the Clocktower videos were worth making. I don't want to say they were better or worse than the Zoom ones, because they are very different from each other. On Zoom, I feel we get more conversations and more personalities than we did with in person Blood on the Clocktower. It allowed for moments like Adam playing detective or Jon singing. We also would get more interaction between the players and the storytellers which was nice. In-person we got to see how everyone is when they don't have the ability to take notes and got a more...I want to say natural...gameplay. What I mean by this is, I guess, is we didn't get as many bits that derailed the game. I enjoyed both and think both are worth making as long as costs are reasonable. I'll be honest, I'm not seeing more than 10,000 an episode. I imagine travel and studio rental is the most costly, and if episodes are filmed in succession then that's just an upfront cost. Maybe I'm undervaluing how much each person makes per episode, but I can't see asking for more than 100k in the Kickstarter for 7-8 episodes. I'll be more honest, I don't know if you'll even reach 100k pledged for it to be a successful Kickstarter. I have no clue what different tier perks would be, nor do I know what I would want as I have never pledged to any Kickstarter before. I would give maybe 100 or 200, but it would really depend on the perks you came up with. I didn't put it in the survey, but awhile back you guys did a very long stream for 50k subs, maybe a perk is another board game club livestream. I'll be happy with whatever the decision is and can hopefully help (financially) support you from here on out!

Wallace Marbach

I loved the in person format, personally. I enjoy the zoom videos, but the in person games feel like an event, and more social reading without notes, and gut checks. I'd say if there's a reason to use a larger studio space like is required for in person BotC, then perhaps looking into a lease or purchase of a building/space would be in order. At that point, buying props instead of renting them, buying and setting up cameras and rigging would be possible, and all around would cut down on recurring costs. I'd pitch in for in person games, and definitely if it meant a stronger foothold for NRB to continue to do these. Furthermore, I think an awesome way to raise money would be to run zoom games for patrons or as part of a kickstarter reward. Perhaps run them as patreon only videos, or do some play tests of shorter games to see how they vibe. I think I'd pitch in the most to get a chance to play BotC virtually with you folks, even if there were other patrons/viewers in the game, also.

Kamvex

I thought the in person format was pretty good. I'm also guessing on the mid-low end of how much money it all cost. Though if someone DID have the disposable income to throw 10k your way, I think they get to be on at least one of those episodes.

Bob Thompson

Couldnt have said it better myself, i would happly pay a few pennies to get a game with some of the crew involved, or to storytell for a group of my friends,