Update #74 - Merchandise Poll & October Plans (Patreon)

October is here!

I found out the information I needed, and it looks like I won't be able to start working on the next released video properly until around the mid-point of the month due to it getting a major update then. I do have a lot already set on it regardless, but I'll still need to wait until then to record most of what I need. I'm not keeping idle though, as I'm going to be actively working on the Halloween video right now, so you can likely expect a staggered release this month. A fairly normal video around the mid-month, and then a BIG video on Halloween or right before depending on your time zone. I'm also dedicating a few hours a day to catching up on email requests properly since there are hundreds and hundreds and if I don't try to get through them all with this big time chunk I might get buried to the point I won't be able to recover from it. Normal work is near dead right now so I have spare hours to make this happen.

On that note, with corona obliterating a lot of my side stuff and everyone here being insanely generous on Patreon I'm having a lot more time to focus on YouTube stuff. People have been telling me they were interested in getting shirts, mugs, etc and all that stuff but I knew for a fact that wouldn't be something I could manage properly on my own as far as distribution and shipping goes. Unfortunately this applied to the jam as well, along with the various import laws some countries have for food along with USPS being on fire right now to the point some of my packages I've sent for miscellaneous stuff are weeks behind. 

On that note, because there are people here who pay above the final reward tier already I wanted to do the Patreon integrated merch stuff where people could just get a hoodie or mug or something like that automatically. The problem is, after seeing some samples of Patreon's provider the quality of it just isn't up to snuff. T-shirts that disintegrate after a few washes isn't something I want to be handing out even to people who were giving already.

So the new plan is to use Teespring who have have much, much better stuff than when I tried something from them a few years ago. I already have a few of the regular artists interested in making stuff for this, and the plan isn't to have any channel font, urls, or anything that makes it a walking advertisement. Basically I'll be happy if people mistake them for band apparel or just fun graphic design that doesn't relate to anything else. Whenever these do come out, the people who are giving more should probably just stop giving me extra money for no reward and buy a shirt god damn it. It's really more than I deserve for the giveback, so at least now people can get something physical out of it.

On that note, the poll below is basically to gauge what items people would be the most interested in. I've had a lot of requests for crop tops so I'm starting to truly realize I'm not sure what people want anymore. After I know that, the artists can do their thing and there'll be some options. For those worried this will take a lot of video time up, it luckily won't since all I'll need to do is look over some designs and back and forth on some feedback. If anything, catching up on the emails is going to take me a lot longer. I might run some things by here too as well when it's more ironed out, but for now I'm focused on the adventure game and email catch-up.

Thanks as always for your support!