Big Exciting Changes Coming to Noclip & Our Patreon in March (Patreon)

MAYBE WATCH THE VIDEO FIRST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYUQGSR9qJE 

Hello ALL PATRONS,

Far be it from me to tell you what to do with your time but the video above is a fairly comprehensive breakdown of not only what changes we're making to the channel and Patreon, but crucially the reasons why. So if you have any questions that's the first place to look. That said, I know a lot of you have busy lives and want the cliff notes - so let me attempt to summarize... 

Over the past four and a half years I've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't work. I learned about my work-life balance, our audience's expectations, what I enjoy, what I don't, how to grow a business, and how not to. I've learned where my limits are and where I can grow more. And crucially I've learned when change feels natural and positive, and when I'm trying to force it.

So, what's the plan?

On March 1st 2021 we're going to be modifying the Patreon tiers and those modifications reflect a broader change in the focus of Noclip. We will still be filming documentaries and features about contemporary games of all shapes and sizes - that's our bread and butter. We are currently working on docs for two great games from 2020 alongside our big projects on Dishonored, Prey, Black Mesa and Bugsnax.

But in the future we're also going to be putting a heavier focus on classic game documentaries, creative film production and community collaboration. Our goals are to make the best work we can regardless of the restrictions COVID-19 has places on us, to encourage more people to become patrons, and to increase our average patronage with insider productions we're excited to make. These tiers will be going live on March 1st.

Okay, what's changing in the tiers?

So please watch the video above if you want to get a better understanding of where these changes are coming from - but in short are a bunch of new rewards, one new tier and one tier being removed.

The $3 tier is being unpublished but those of you in it are grandfathered in meaning that new patrons won't see it but you'll get the rewards for as long as you're in it. I go into more detail on why $3 is being unpublished in the video above but the TL:DR is our average patronage is really low compared to other media companies and we don't talk to those people enough on here.

The $5 is remaining largely unchanged except Edit Club is moving out of it (most user engagement was in higher tiers) and we're going to be publishing early documentary sneak peek clips in this tier for you instead. Think 3-5 minute teasers from upcoming docs. From our community poles and feedback we understand that most of the $1-$5 Patrons are primarily doing so because they believe in our mission and don't want much in return so which is why we are keeping these tiers largely unchanged.

The $10 is where it starts getting interesting! On top of our ever popular Early Access we're adding three new patron-only productions; a new community podcast we're tentatively calling Loot Box where we talk candidly about our work, take questions, and review games & films. Edit Club which we've been piloting the past few months will now be in this tier alongside a monthly travelogue show called Location Scout where I take a day off editing to get lost somewhere in California, filming the entire thing. So camping in bear country while filming b-roll, talking about cameras, life and work. Think of it as our community's monthly forced vacation leave. A way for us to get out of the house and keep those filming muscles from atrophying.

Okay here we go - our new $20 tier is where is get's really strange. We're launching a new series on the YouTube Channel called Noclip Greatest Hits and people in this tier are going to help us produce it. Episodes come out every two months and each one focuses on a classic video game or studio. $20 Patrons will vote for the game we cover, join in live production meetings (or just watch the archives) and access an exclusive discord channel where we share updates on the project. Greatest Hits will feature the same production values of a typical Noclip documentary, but with the scripts and creativity of my old GameSpot shows as we interview developers and fans about classic games. So kind of like our Half-Life documentary, except shorter, every two months, and produced with our community. I cannot wait to see what people vote for.

And $30 Patrons, well - you get all the new rewards from the previous tiers so we think you'll be excited with all that! Thank you!

We will be launching the above tiers alongside a new trailer and plenty of information and fanfare on March 1st. We're also going to be using the podcast and twitch streams to record interviews for Greatest Hits and talk about the game(s) we're covering in that upcoming episode. So while the show will be produced by $20 Patrons we're also going to have that show spread out into the wider community and be part of our story on a week by week basis - as so many of our other projects have to be kept in the dark for so long. 

Like I said the video above goes into more detail over the "why" of all this change, but the simplest way of putting it is after almost five years of this I imagined what I'd do if I could relaunch the patreon - and this was the result. And I've tried to do my best to add new ideas without leaving anyone behind.

I hope you're as excited as I am to take this next step. My ambition for Noclip has never waned but this refresh has me even more excited for the work we can accomplish in 2021 and beyond.

As ever your feedback is appreciated. If there anything above that you are particularly excited or disappointed about please let us know. We are still a few weeks away from launch so there is always room to wiggle stuff if we see the desire inside the community.

Thank you all so much for your continued support. It means everything to us.

I hope you'll join us on these next big steps for Noclip.

Thank you,
Danny

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NEW TIERS AT A GLANCE;

$5 - Supporter

• Exclusive Update Videos
• Exclusive Sneak Peek Clips of Upcoming Projects. (new)
• Access the Noclip Discord Server
• Access to our Behind the Scenes Video Archive

$10 - Crew Access

• Early Access to New Documentaries
• Monthly episodes of “Loot Box”, community podcast. (new)
• Monthly episodes of “Edit Club”, our video editing series. (new, kinda)
• Monthly episodes of “Location Scout”, our travel & filming series. (new)
• All previous rewards 

$20 - Production Team (whole new tier)

• Help Noclip produce Greatest Hits, our new series focusing on classic games.
• Vote for the Game / Studio we cover.
• Access a Private Discord Channel where we share research and progress.
• Participate in Live Production Meetings (or watch the archive)
• All previous rewards.

$30 -  Executive Producer

• Your Name in the End Credits of every Noclip Production.
• All previous rewards.