New Equipment - Channel Changes

RECENT PURCHASES

I have recently purchased new equipment for the channel. It's something I have wanted to do for a while, and I have finally splurged to do it. It may not seem like much, but in my current financial state it was quite a purchase.

I have purchased a set of lights from amazon to help with video recording and to aid in the creation of some of the upcoming documentaries I will be working on in the future.

CHANNEL UPDATES

As to the changes, I have shut down monitization on youtube permanently. This has been done in part because of the draconian rules governing fair use on the platform, but also because, well, I hate ads, I have a feeling you do to, and I think it would just be better to fund these videos completely through Patreon.

I know that I have talked about moving the channel to a more documentary/rhetoric/philosophy channel and I am finally going to do that. It doesn't mean that I will be ditching gaming content, but whereas my current upload schedule is gaming gaming gaming then documentaries every once in a while, it will look more like doc doc doc gaming.

I understand that this is something that may turn a lot of my patrons off, that is why I am posting this two to three weeks ahead of my next video so that patrons can have a chance to cease support if that is something they wish to do.

I am also toying around with the idea of having two patreon channels, one that charges for gaming vids, and one that charges for the docs. If there is enough of an outcry for this, then that is what I will do, but if you could, please let me know in the comments below. I will also be emailing everyone directly to let everyone know this same info so to inform you appropriately.

As it was before, the channel will only charge for documentaries and gaming videos. I tried the experiment of monthly charging, and that experiment was a failure in my opinion because I felt pressured to give a steady stream of content and in turn, that content suffered, felt rushed, and wasn't well received. 

I swear, this will be the last time I change the way Patreon works for me. Previous attempts weren't thought out thoroughly, and I apologize for that. At the time I think I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do with this channel, especially with the massive down swing my channel has seen in average views per video.

I am sorry for any issues this causes for any of you. I love you folks for the support and for making this content even possible, but I think in the long run, this is exactly what needs to be done to make this channel sustainable and give me more satisfaction with the productions I create.

UPDATE ON AFTER WAR DOCUMENTARY

I will be flying out to Minneapolis in the coming months to interview people associated with the VA out there as well as veterans. This video will take quite a while to research and gather interviews. I don't want anyone to feel like this has been abandoned so I will try to do monthly updates here, as well as post snippets of footage as I cobble it together.

POSSIBLE REWARDS

I have been giving some thought to a rewards system for patrons of the channel, and I was wondering what you, the patron, would like to see as a reward for 5 dollar donations and above. I am also looking for graphic artists so I am open to suggestions.

I was thinking t-shirts, mugs, tat like that, but that seems a bit too pedestrian for a channel like this, so what would you like to see?

I was thinking I might release a book of short stories that will only be given to Patrons of 20 dollars or more, but I have all kinds of funny feelings about that. Mostly, feelings inadequacy surrounding how I feel about my own writing. But, fuck it... I'll get over it.

I hope this letter finds you all in good spirits and I look forward to hearing your feedback!

Paul Fassett (Strat-edgy)