October 2022 Report (Patreon)

Hello! Before we begin, if you missed my previous post about a potential Patreon revamp in the future, please check out said post here! TL;DR: I'm planning to replace the $2 tier with a $5 tier in the future, but all existing patrons will be able to keep their pledge level indefinitely. But do check the post out for more details on that! And with that...

Discord updates

I think most of you reading this are in my Discord server, right? (If not then psst you're missing out)

I recently opened up a dedicated corner in the server called the 'Chill Lounge' (previously the VIP Lounge). It is, as it says on the tin, a chill space mostly designed for me and my mutual friends, for when I want to casually stream my progress through games and whatnot without them being public streams every time (I'm still not sure if I'm cut out to be a proper streamer lol). But in addition to that, $2+ (and eventually $5+) patrons can also join in as well! This doesn't mean I'll be exclusively streaming there though, it's just for more casual sessions, so they're something you can tune into if the time's right for you! I've been playing games like Psychonauts and Monkey Island in there for the first time and it's been a blast.

Plus channel videos

This month on the Plus channel, we took a look at Nintendo Power...the cartridge, not the magazine! Ultimately, it's basically an official flashcart that I didn't have a method to rewrite yet, so after unboxing it there's not much to visually show aside from footage of other games, but the thing itself is still a neat piece of SNES/SFC history that I'm glad I could show! As I said at the end of that video, once I obtain a better cartridge reader I'd love to give rewriting the cart a shot!

I've been trying to put out at least one Plus channel video a month! Ideally I'd want to put out two videos per month on there, but this month has been a bit busy in terms of all the other stuff I'm handling. Regardless, these videos will still remain available for ALL patrons, and that won't change even after my planned Patreon update, so don't worry. Once I push the Patreon more afterwards, I'd like to do more Plus channel content for it more often as well!

And once again, the "Exclusive" tag on my Patreon page lets you see all of the videos (and other posts) that are currently exclusive on Patreon! It excludes stuff that's released publicly on a later date.

The Famicom Disk System Cleaning Extravaganza

This video is now in the editing process! I recently finally gathered up the rest of the footage I need, so that's now all done and I hope to have it out soon. Sorry that it took a little longer than expected due to job work, but it's coming!

For those in the $2+ tier, there's some super short previews posted in my Discord server in the 'behind the scenes' channel! I'd post a longer preview on YouTube, but what I have right now is admittedly pretty short and fractured. I'll try and have a longer preview up on YouTube soon though!

After the FDS video is done, there are still other scripts I previously put on the backburner, such as the GBA TV Tuner Things of Interest. However, as we're approaching the end of the year, there are two projects I'd like to prioritize.

The first is a proper YouTube trailer for Patreon! Actually, let's go off on a small tangent about Patreon in general, since there's been the recent sorta-relevant news that popular gaming news source Nibel has decided to leave Twitter, and I figure that's a good opportunity to talk about the potential of Patreon as a source of stable income.

Let's talk about Patreon, like in general idk

Being able to do something full-time through Patreon funding is a privilege that I imagine only a few lucky people get to have, and the recent news with Nibel shows that even prolific people sometimes can't earn enough to make a living off it. I know I am in a slightly different situation as someone who puts out original stuff (compared to a 'service' that a lot of people expect to come free as a convenience), and while I've mentioned full-time YouTube being a dream of mine, don't get me wrong, it is absolutely still just a far-off dream, and obviously I'm definitely not going to be reaching those levels any time soon.

As I said in my previous post about the Patreon update, I've been working a full-time job on the side alongside YouTube, while also making teeny bits of additional income from doing art commissions for mutuals and members in my Discord server. While the job is a stable income, it's pretty evident that it sometimes gets in the way of working on videos, so in actuality the ad revenue I get from YouTube isn't a giant amount either, unless I put out the occasional video that gets blessed by the algorithm. (The lesser activity AND mandatory Google taxes probably don't help either)

While I don't anticipate Patreon being a stable income for me anytime soon, it IS a small boost to what I'm earning on the side, and I'd like to thank all of you for that, as it's probably that extra boost that lets me check out more weird and interesting things for the channel. After my planned update to the Patreon tiers, I'd want to advertise it as just that, a small boost to my work as a token of thanks, with stuff like extra videos and Discord hangouts in return. When I have enough saved up from my job I would love to try putting 100% of my energy on YouTube for a while, and that's when this platform could really help, even if it can't magically become a substitute for a full-time job overnight.

But where was I? Right, Patreon trailer! I'd like to revamp the tiers I've had since 2018 and also push it a little bit more on YouTube. But you can find more details on the revamp in the link at the very top.

End-of-year video

Throughout 2022, I've been writing down a list of games I've beaten during the year. Not just games released in 2022, but any games in general! I usually dabble in a lot of old games or indie games on the side in addition to new mainstream releases as someone who only had a Switch for the first 2/3 of the year. Getting a PC has allowed me to experience some older gems as well!

At the end of the year, I'd like to release a video where I give quick-fire thoughts on every single game I've beaten in 2022. Think Dunkey's end-of-year Best Of videos, except it's not a ranking. It'd be an interesting grab bag of (sorta) random games to those who haven't been keeping up with what I've played, and I think it would be a good opportunity to introduce some of the more obscure games I've played to other people.

So far, the list consists of 36 games, so it is definitely going to be a quick-fire thing and not an in-depth review of each game. Let's see how this goes! I'd love to make it a tradition.

That's it for the report! Thank you for reading me rambling. I'm writing this at work, so...I'm gonna get back to it now lol