Almost there!

Wow. What can I say? Thank you guys! Seriously, I wish I could properly express my gratitude for each and every single one of you.

I was just speaking with my wife earlier today about how another YouTuber reviewed a product and also had an affiliate link to that product and how wrong I felt that was. If you can get money by saying something is good, and you know you wouldn't get it if you said it was bad, then how much of a review is it really? No one is going to say "this is crap, but if you want it any way please use my affiliate link that the company gave me so I can get some kickback." It just doesn't happen.

During our conversation I mentioned my fundamental believe that if you review something, you don't partner directly. For instance, I'd think partnering with Miniature Market, or Audible makes a lot of sense for someone who reviews board games. Both can relate to the hobby and neither is hurt by a bad review. But to partner directly with companies you are reviewing I feel is rather poor taste. Not that there *has* to be anything shading going on, but ideally you aren't giving off the impression that there could be.

Which is why I don't and why I MUCH prefer a COMMUNITY driven support system. Patreon doesn't just allow me to get more product, or get more equipment (though it does do that, A LOT!) but it also frees me from even being tempted to "follow the views" so to speak. I feel free to give that indie game that looks interesting a shout out. Sure it's not Awaken Realm's next mega hit, but that's okay. It allows me the freedom to more easily follow my passion, wherever that may lead.

Of course it also allows for a pretty killer way to interact in a more personal way with all of you and that's the best part! Forget any sort of money stuff for a moment, because what I *LOVE* is being able to speak with you guys in more detail. Every single person here makes up the core of the community. You guys are the heart of it all. So even if a Patreon post takes an hour to write, even if I try and bust my butt to finish editing a video early to post here, even if I have to paint a gigantic ton of rats just to send away....it's worth it and I love it.

In case you guys hadn't noticed, we are FAST approaching my next milestone. In fact we are only $11 away from it! This is one of my most exciting milestones yet, and the start of the really fun ones. Once reached I'll film my entire process in making a video. Not just a camera behind the camera, but the planning, the emails, the setup, the filming, the editing, the posting and sharing, comment follow ups, analytics and more. A truly end-to-end look at what it takes to make a typical YouTube video for me. And at the very end I'll send the miniature painted out to one of you :) It's the least I could do!

I'm pumped to do that video. It's something really different from what I normally do which of course gets the creative juices flowing.

Incidentally, we're almost half way to the milestone even after that! With that one I send an entire board game out to one of you - Happy early Christmas to you! :D Then eventually, God willing we get to the big two. I'll be taking the world by storm, attending all of the big cons, with of course special Patreon meetups - perhaps some food and games?

Anyway, it's all very exciting. I love where the channel is headed. I love that you guys are here and I can hardly wait to see what tomorrow brings. It's an awesome time to be a board game lover, and I couldn't be luckier to be where I'm at, with all of you. Thank you.

Real quick, for anyone that actually reads this far, I wanted to get a bit more personal here. My family has been going through somewhat of a testing phase in our lives. It's so bad that under other circumstances I would have shut down the channel. We've had great loss, and tons of stress and I just wanted to say that talking with all of you has been, on more than one occasion, the complete highlight of my day. I might say more when everything is over and we can finally move on, but I wanted to be as real as possible with you guys so there it is. I appreciate all of you, thank you for being there for me even when you didn't know I needed it. :)