Heads up! Changes afoot for 2017! (Patreon)

Hey everyone, it's-a me, Jeremy. I just wanted to share a quick message about some changes Bob and I have in store for this campaign in the coming year. 

If you check out the revised campaign goals, you can get a sense of what we have in mind, but the tl;dr of it is: We'd like to get serious about Retronauts in 2017. Like, really serious. For example: We mentioned at the 10th anniversary panel at PRGE that we'd like to take the show weekly (as opposed to biweekly with Micros on off-weeks), and now it's time to make that happen. 

I've already set some wheels in motion. I know quite a few classic gaming experts here in Raleigh NC. If we can hit the proper funding level, I have two cohosts on board for collaborating with me on monthly Retronauts East episodes. We're also going to open up a limited number of backer request slots for episode topics, something that proved incredibly popular during the Kickstarter campaign and continues to come up as a request. My hope is to bring more voices to the show, and open up the floor to a wider array of topics by introducing people with knowledge in areas Bob and I lack.

Another goal we've set for 2017 is for Retronauts to stop being a break-even proposition, so we can finally take home something for ourselves. The show currently amounts to an unpaid part-time job, which is getting more and more difficult to justify (certainly my wife would like to know why I take multiple weekend trips across the country each year for a venture that doesn't pay). Plus, we'd also like to be able to pay cohosts and other show participants, who to this point have all generously given their time and expertise for free. 

To that end, we'll be revamping our Patreon reward tiers to get rid of the goods that have proven both incredible expensive to produce and generally unpopular among supporters. Shirts will still happen twice a year, but stickers and posters will be out in 2017. In their place? Supplemental books to complement the podcast. Books aren't nearly as expensive to ship as posters, and on top of that, I frickin' love creating books. I hope you won't mind my self-indulgence in this regard. I just... really like print publishing.

We'll also be shuffling support tiers around, adding some new options and making changes to most of the existing ones. The one that will affect the greatest number of people is that the weekly early-access tier will be moving to $3 instead of $2. We've found that most shows supported through Patreon generally start early access at $5, but we both agree that seems a bit steep. But if every $2 supporter were willing to commit to $3/mo. instead, we'd nearly be at the weekly-show tier right away. Plus, if we can hit the funding goal for two weekly podcasts, you'll actually be getting 100% more early-access content for a 50% greater investment. That's a good deal!

There'll be some other big changes happening in the new year as well, and we'll talk more about those soon. But I wanted to give you all a heads-up as to the impending changes and some of the reasoning behind them. My dream for Retronauts has always been to make it bigger, better, and more professional, and that has to come to pass in 2017. Both Bob and I are deeply grateful to everyone who has supported us over the past few years, because this show would literally be impossible without your enthusiasm and generosity. We really hope that you'll continue to support the show in the new year, and we'll do our absolute best to make it worth your while.