Pledges Paused and Poll Thoughts

Blooper

I guess recommendations like Ghost & Goblins won't have much effect on patreons, but that's a very small portion of the audience. Most viewers probably haven't watched even one Ghost & Goblins stream, or read the Patreon posts about it. One part of being a patreon might be to get access to exclusive content, but just getting it early is fine by me. If you made a Ghost & Goblins recommendation tomorrow, that'd be what, a year at least that we basically got that in advance? One for Alien Soldier, maybe five years in advance? Far as I'm concerned, I won't feel short-changed if you make a video about a game that's more of a patreon/stream subject than a main channel one, even if that video won't contain any surprises for me. Not that I'd complain about recommendations for other games you haven't discussed much, either. Personally I think recommendation videos are inherently fun, it's nice when someone's love for a game can come through in a little video.

gibbdude

Here's some prime anecdotal evidence lol. The phrase "context sensitivity" is dropped regularly in games discussion among my friends. One of my buddies and I wouldn't shut up about it for weeks after the release of the video, and Tears of the Kingdom ignited extensive reflection on the idea.

gibbdude

Maybe it's foolish, but I'd like to believe (and kinda do) that the theory videos can have a pretty significant effect. Their appeal is strictly limited to people very serious about games, but because of that, I think they have the possibility of resonating with a thoughtful, passionate audience more strongly than anything else; anything besides a great game, of course. Provided a video reaches the right person, it could inform the creation of a new, uniquely awesome game. I love your recommendations; they're why I've had many of my most rewarding gaming experiences. However, they don't do nearly as much to directly challenge the viewer to achieve a new understanding. Without general critical commentary, it's much harder for a medium to meaningfully, lastingly make progress. Providing useful lenses and rules-of-thumb is what best helps people label and organize concepts relevant to comprehending the technique of an art form. Some theoretical principles do make it big and stick; think of "Show, don't tell" in narrative literature or the 180-degree rule in film. The biggest struggle for these insights, in my mind, is getting awareness of them spread in a healthy way--considering their inaccessibility, the mental inertia of humans, and our society's media landscape. I don't have a solution to that. Still, I think that probably both recommendation and theory videos are worthwhile, as they're positioned to meet different, essential needs.

I completely understand that it must feel extremely uncomfortable taking pledges, even when I seems there's not alot to show for it, but overall it's really important to take in that it's also very much our responsibility if we want to continue supporting you or not. As long as you continue to be transparent and do your monthly updates (which you are), you aren't doing anything wrong!

DominickKimbley

For what it's worth, I think the theory videos you've made thus far are the best ones you've made to date, at least the Context Sensitivity video is. I think if you went forward making only those, you might end up helping a lot of people with game design projects.