GVG Version 3.0! Details about the revamps to our channel and Patreon tiers + goals within! (Patreon)

THE RETURN OF THE KING! EVERYONE IS HERE!

Hey there folks! We've been teasing some forthcoming updates and revamps to the channel, our content pipeline, and our Patreon tiers for a little while now, and we're finally ready to dish out the details on what exactly those are!

But we'll get to those in a bit. To be clear, the single most important part of this new phase of GVG going forward -- which officially kicked off on Friday with our Big Announcement -- is obviously the grand return of our dear friend and GVG Co-founder Jon Cartwright! We've known all along that GVG would never truly feel complete without him here with us, and with the whole gang now reunited at long last, we're so excited and more than ready to share what's next with you all!

CHANNEL CONTENT CHANGES AND REVAMP

• Today's News Tonight (TNT), the thrice-a-week live news show/podcast we've been running since our launch, is going on hiatus. This is the big one, and we know it stings -- but bear with us. As much as we've enjoyed doing the show and will miss it in its current form, we also recognize that it's been holding us back quite a bit. One of the most consistent criticisms we've gotten from our audience is that folks want to see more pre-scripted, short-form, evergreen content from us, and frankly, TNT requires so much prep work three days a week that it holds us back from being able to execute on that feedback. TNT has also been pretty bad for The Algorithm in terms of our YouTube growth, and that's something we just can't ignore. To be clear, TNT is not dead! We do have long-term plans for TNT's eventual return, but when it does it will be in an entirely new format and it's going to be quite awhile before this happens. But we do have a replacement of sorts!

• Announcing the GVGCast! Occupying one of TNT's former time slots, we'll be hosting the all-new GVGCast on our YouTube channel every Friday at 4pm Pacific/7pm Eastern/12am UK time. Compared to TNT, this will be a more freeform, conversational show where the GVG crew will be doing what they do best: chatting about games, being silly, and talking about gaming news -- though the GVGCast won't be fully anchored around news stories like TNT was. But that's where the differences end. Every Patreon perk you've come to know and love about TNT, such as the Patron-only Live Audience chat and spicy post-shows, the Producer credits and Executive Producer callouts at the end of the show, Promote a Pet, and sponsorship slots -- are being carried over in full to the GVGCast, with no changes! (And while it's not a Patreon perk, don't worry... #ShakeDatAsh isn't going anywhere either!) As for Jon, you can expect to see him on the show occasionally, but out of respect for his family and sleeping schedule where his timezone difference is concerned, he's generally going to be focusing on the pre-scripted content he's so incredibly good at and joining us for live events only when they don't clash with his commitments to his family and health.

• More pre-scripted, short-form, evergreen content! We've been hearing all the criticism that our focus has been too much on TNT at the expense of other, more varied content that's shorter in length and not wrapped up in news content that's no longer relevant after the day it goes up. And with Jon here now, this pre-scripted content we're now refocusing on will be better than ever!

• Scheduled Ash streams on our Twitch channel! Many of you have been asking Ash to start streaming again every week like he did during the GX days, and not only does he hear you, he agrees with you and wants to make it happen! This won't occur right away as he still needs to complete his new PC setup with a second monitor, but once that's been taken care of, he'll be establishing a weekly streaming schedule on our Twitch channel that may or may not involve some of TNT's old Monday and Wednesday time slots (but certainly won't, of course, clash with Brandon and Daniel's schedule for Good Vibes Arcade). Stay tuned!

PATREON TIER + PERK UPDATES AND REVAMP

And now for a look at the changes we're making to various tiers and their associated perks right here on Patreon! Please note that if an existing perk isn't specifically mentioned, you can safely assume that nothing about it is changing and it isn't going away.

$1 - Discord Community Member

• No changes! Supporting us at this tier still gets you into GVG's official Discord server, the Best Damn Gaming Community on the Internet™.

$5 - Live Audience

• NEW PERK: Hang out with us in our Live Audience chat while we record our Weekly Discussions every Wednesday at 11am Pacific/2pm Eastern/7pm UK time! In addition to our Live Audience perk being carried over from TNT to the GVGCast and remaining in full effect for reaction streams and other live events on our YouTube channel, we're now inviting those of you in this tier to join us and watch as we record our Weekly Discussions at the same time every week -- behind-the-scenes goofs and all!

• UPDATED PERK: Not only is our Patron-exclusive post-show being carried over from TNT to the GVGCast, we've figured out a new setup that will let us once again watch and react to silly/weird/cursed videos together, by popular demand! Also, we'll now be making video uploads of our GVGCast post-shows available for those of you who can't make it live.

• UPDATED PERK: Early, ad-free access to our feature videos! While we've already been offering early and ad-free content in a limited fashion, it's been very difficult for us to embrace that in full because uploading each of our videos to YouTube twice is neither feasible nor sustainable. That's why, going forward, we'll instead be uploading this content to a Patron-exclusive Google Drive directory for you to grab at your leisure! We'll be relying on the Honor System in terms of asking that our Patrons not re-upload this content elsewhere for early consumption by non-Patrons, but let's face it: you're wonderful people who wouldn't be here if you didn't want to support us, and we trust you. <3

$10 - Producer

• NEW PERK: Have a burning question for us? Great! In addition to Producers getting to vote on Weekly Discussion topics, we'll now be putting out the call each week for Producers to submit their questions for the GVG crew to answer during a dedicated segment of the GVGCast! Please note, however, that we won't be able to answer every question we receive each week (or else the show would run way too long!), so while we welcome and value each and every submission, please understand there's no guarantee yours will be featured in any given GVGCast. We will, however, do our best to choose questions from different Patrons each week!

• UPDATED PERK: With the move away from TNT, the credits scroll listing all our Producers will now be displayed at the end of each episode of the GVGCast as well as our feature videos. So this isn't going anywhere, it's just being moved around!

$25 - Executive Producer

• UPDATED PERK + NOW WITH MORE JON!: With Jon here at last, we know you want him to participate in our bi-monthly Executive Producer game streams as well! That's why, in order to accommodate Jon's time zone in a way that makes sense for him, we're changing our EP stream schedule. There will still be one Saturday and one Sunday stream per month, but they will now be taking place earlier in the day, at 11am Pacific/2pm Eastern/7pm UK time. This is also meant to try and accommodate our growing number of Patrons from the UK who have requested that we hold these streams at a time that's friendlier to them as well -- we hear you! <3

• UPDATED PERK: With the move away from TNT, the verbal callout of our Executive Producers will now happen at the end of each episode of the GVGCast, and your name will continue to appear in a dedicated Executive Producer section of our credits scroll at the end of GVGCasts as well as our feature videos. So this isn't going anywhere either, it's just being moved around!

$30 - Promote a Pet

• UPDATED PERK: Supporting us at this tier still gives you the opportunity to proudly show the world (or at least our little corner of it) your beloved furry/feathery/scaled etc. friend(s) -- the only real change is that, with the move away from TNT, your pets will now be shown off during the GVGCast instead!

$40 - Personalized Video Response

• NEW, LOWER PRICE + NOW WITH MORE JON!: That's right! After much consideration, we decided to knock the price of our Personalized Video Response (PVR) tier from $75 down to $40! The perk itself remains the same, though, with Patrons at this tier getting to ask one of GVG's Founders any question of their choice (almost; we reserve the right to veto anything we deem inappropriate or too personal) and receive an answer in the form of a personalized video message. And with Jon now onboard as one of our fellow Founders, he too is available for PVRs -- but in order to make sure he's not lopsidedly overloaded as a new arrival, we're limiting his max number of PVRs per month to the first five requests he receives until further notice. Ash will be putting out the call for this month's PVR requests shortly, so keep an eye on your Discord DMs!

$50 - Fight a Founder!

• NOW WITH MORE JON!: There are no changes being made to this popular tier other than the fact that Jon "Return of the King" Cartwright, as one of our fellow GVG Founders, is now an option for Fight a Founder (FaF) sessions! However, in order to make sure he's not lopsidedly overloaded with sessions as a new arrival, we're limiting his max number of FaFs per month to the first seven requests he receives until further notice. Ash will be putting out the call for this month's FaF requests shortly, so keep an eye on your Discord DMs!

$400 - GVGCast Sponsor

• UPDATED PERK: With the transition away from TNT, our sponsorship slots will now occur during the weekly GVGCast instead. We will still have three slots available, but with the GVGCast being a once-per-week show, these slots will now occupy the beginning, middle, and end of each episode instead of being separated by day of the week. But there's more! Instead of just reading out whatever sponsorship copy you provide us with (though this is still an option if you'd prefer), we will now produce a bespoke video ad of up to 30 seconds that will be played in your chosen sponsorship slot during each episode of the GVGCast (keep in mind slots are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis). This is meant to personalize your sponsorship a little more and get you more bang for your sponsor buck!

NEW AND UPDATED GOALS

We've updated our Patreon milestone goals to reflect Jon's addition to the crew and the channel's evolving needs... as well as shoot for the stars with something super-fun that we would personally love to do if we can reach particularly lofty heights.

• Both Derrick and Jon are in need of new, better PCs to bring you the best content and streams possible, and when we hit $6,000/month that's exactly what they'll get!

• A growing channel needs to refresh and renew its assets once in awhile, and at $7,000/month we'll be able to spend some serious dough to undertake a complete asset overhaul, with a new intro animation, logos, music, and more! (To be clear on the "music" part: the great Tee Lopes' "Pure Bliss" will always be GVG's main theme, but we'd like to mix things up for some of our other content too!)

• And finally, if we can achieve and maintain an incredible $8,000/month, we'll be able to commit to bringing the entire GVG crew together -- that is, the four Co-founders as well as Brandon and Daniel -- for an annual summer get-together where they rent out a location from which they can host a three-day party stream full of games, laughs, and overall good vibes!

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And that, for the time being, is everything in terms of the updates and revamps we're making to our channel and Patreon! By the time you read this post, our various tiers will all have been updated according to the details above. We know there's a lot to absorb here, but we wanted to be as clear and thorough as possible about everything for the sake of your own convenience. Of course, if you have any follow-up questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us and ask either by leaving a comment here, messaging us here on Patreon, or DMing Ash on Patreon!

From the bottom of all our hearts, we want to thank each and every one of you so much for supporting us here on Patreon. Whether you've been with us since the beginning or are a newer arrival, we're so glad and appreciative that you've chosen to be on this journey with us and it's a true honor to have you all in our community.

ONWARD AND UPWARD! <3