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So, I haven't changed around the NerdSync Patreon reward tiers in a while, and with all the new support, I would like to change stuff around. But before I do, I want to know what you think is a fair reward for which tier! Tiers can have multiple rewards. Most do already. Let me know in the comments where each reward belongs so I can keep that in mind as I restructure things!

  • Discord access
  • Thank you video
  • Name listed in video credits
  • Name spoken in video credits
  • Discounts on merch
  • Behind the scenes updates including screenshots, access to scripts, polls for upcoming topics to cover, etc. (these will always be available to all patons eventually, but which tier should have early access?)
  • Commentary videos where I talk over my latest videos and discuss how filming went, stuff I had to cut out, editing tricks, and even video performance (again, it will be available for all patrons, but which tier gets early access?)
  • Any other reward you might like

What feels fair to you all? Current tier prices are $1, $3, $6, $10, $15, $25, $50, and $100. I would like to not change the price values because that will be confusing to existing patrons if suddenly the $15 tier raises to a $20 and there's nothing being offered for $15 anymore, y'know? Anyway, I'm going to go on a grocery run, and I'm excited to read everyone's thoughts when I get back! Fill out them comments!

We are also having a big discussion about it on the Discord as well if you want to hop in there!

Comments

Adham Barbour

I say that the rewards are fair Scott but in the end I will go with what you think is best.

Anonymous

Honestly, I think everything is fine where it is now. The only one I might consider changing is lowering the Verbal Shoutouts to $10 or $15. But honestly I don't know how many patrons you have at those levels, how much longer your videos would become, etc. I know you had an issue for a time that you were reading too many names and I understand that. I have two other things to comment on: 1) I think it's important for you to send a video greeting to every one who joins. I was blown away by my video because I could tell it was custom made, on the spot, that day, for me (I believe you got a new hat in the mail and you discussed it not living up to what you thought it would be). That's something that's stuck with me and I can't think of any other Kickstarter / Patreon I've supported that has done something like that before. I've even bragged about you doing that to other Patreon creators, encouraging them to do something similar. Honestly it's a great way to create an actual community instead of just feeling like I'm paying for YouTube videos. 2) On that note of creating a community (which I believe is partially your goal), I think the idea of "early access" is misguided. Having a factioned, two-tier community causes there to needlessly be a section of haves and have-nots. If you want to foster community and discussion about your work, having a group discuss the work a week before the other group gets to see it seems counterproductive. I'm not sure what you had in mind in regards to price and how early people get it, but it seems just like a bad idea that doesn't really get you anything in the long run. I doubt many will pay more to get early access to something they will eventually get anyway, and those that can't afford to pay more will be insulted. But maybe I'm overthinking it.

NerdSync

Hey, Michael. Thanks for the long response. I'm glad to know that the personalized thank you video was meaningful and impactful. I'll more strongly consider keeping it at the lowest tier. And you're right. Verbal shoutouts in videos used to be at the $10 tier, but it became so many people that it took up an absurd amount of time at the ends of my videos to say everyone's names. So I had to increase it to $25. That's just a logistical thing. I can't dedicate 3-4 minutes at the end of my video to currently say nearly 100 names out loud. As for the early access idea, the reason I'm thinking about doing early access is specifically because I don't want a fractured community. I want to create bonus content for patreon, and I want to make sure that EVERYONE has access to it. Not just patrons. Because when you think about it, keeping all this behind the scenes content I post behind the paywall of Patreon (even at just $1/month) still creates a fractured community. It keeps things from people who simply aren’t in a financial place to donate, but who are still big fans of NerdSync. I never want to keep anything from people who can't afford to pay as much as the other person. I've very specifically been against the idea for the past few years. That's why I wanted to try out early access to content because it incentivizes people to pledge more money if they can, but after a week or so, every patron will be able to see every piece of bonus content. Heck, I even want to make bonus content available for free for people who can’t afford to be patrons. It would be a system where if you can afford to pay $15 or so dollars a month, you get the bonus content immediately. If you can only afford $1 and up, you get it the week after. If you can’t afford to pay anything, you get it the week after that. I want to do it this way specifically so I’m not creating a fractured community. Everyone gets access to everything while still incentivizing those to who want reasons and rewards for supporting me at higher tiers. And this is super important: This is only for bonus content. Things like commentary videos and other actual produced content. For behind-the-scenes updates, I will keep access to that strictly to Patrons only as it’s usually just screenshots and scripts and things that people will technically get for free eventually when I published finished videos. I really hope this makes sense. The last thing I want to do is withhold something from someone just because they don’t have money. Everyone gets every piece of content for free. Some people just get it a little earlier than others. I don’t think that will make too big of an impact. I get that you’re worried about splitting the community, but I think even just being here on Patreon has already split the community from fans who aren’t here and only watch for new stuff on YouTube. So many Patreon creators offer early-access to their YouTube videos on Patreon before YouTube. That would similarly result in a fractured community, but I’m not even doing that. I’m just talking about bonus content. And it’s always going to be available to everyone, even people who can’t be a patron.

Anonymous

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I took the time because I knew you'd take my feedback seriously and how important it is to you. That comes through clear in everything you do. Yes, I understand that eventually all patrons get access to the bonus content and we are only talking about getting bonus content. Also, I'm glad you aren't discussing hiding some of your "normal" content behind a paywall because that causes further issues. I just want to make clear as well that I am not talking about myself in this scenario. Even if I wasn't able to back at the tier that gets the bonus content early, I would not mind as I'm a patient person. I warn out of an abundance of caution because in my experience online, I see a lot of entitled people who if they don't get everything they thing they "deserve" they'd rather just not contribute at all. I realize too that I'm painting people with a broad brush and I don't have as firm a sense of the community as you do. So if you feel like people won't be upset over it, I say go for it. I also understand the need to encourage people to back at higher levels and incentivize them to do so. Early access is definitely a way to do this. I'm afraid of it not helping enough or driving people away, but I honestly can't propose anything better. Also, again, I'm not an expert and you would have a better sense of how this would impact the community than I would. Patreon splitting the community is a fair point and honestly something I didn't consider when writing up my original post. I was just taking into account the Patreon community and not thinking about people that just follow along on YouTube. Because of course, if people follow your work they give you money. Right? :P I do really like your idea of eventually putting the behind the scenes videos somewhere were even people not on Patreon can get access to them. I don't know if you have plans to put it on a secondary channel or if you think it'd go well on NerdSync main, but I think either could work. Having a tiered system where: $15 you get it right away, $1 and up gets it a week later, and people on YouTube get it a week after that sounds like a great plan. Even for me, I'm usually so late to the videos anyway I'd probably just watch them on YouTube since there's no way to watch Patreon videos on my Xbox (my main media source). Honestly, the bonus content on YouTube a couple of weeks later probabloy would be advantageous as I would imagine it would increase traffic to the original video. If you are generating all this additional content you should benefit by it the most you can. Getting more traffic and having more videos on your channel would help. Plus, if everyone knows they get it eventually no matter what tier they are at, I'm sure people are less inclined to have the negative reactions I fear.