Introducing Summon Sign, Last Stand's All-New Podcast About the Games We Play (Patreon)

Happy New Year! It’s me, Colin.

Today, we’re launching something new. We’re also reworking our production and publishing schedules, sunsetting a subprogram, and reworking a few existing offerings as well. So let’s get into it without any further ado, as I know many of you have been waiting patiently.

First and foremost, please welcome Brad Ellis to the Last Stand family. Brad made his bones at the now-defunct (but at-the-time revolutionary) GameTrailers before moving on with much of that crew to launch Easy Allies, which is actually how I became aware of him, and how our very own Dustin Furman became a fan of Mr. Ellis and his work. To be frank, after the fallout Dustin and Brad alike recently experienced following Dustin’s appearance on Brad’s previous show late last year, I told Brad he should come do something for us instead, in an environment and for an audience that not only welcomes -- but expects! -- varied opinions, personnel, viewpoints, and so on. Thankfully, he accepted my offer.

Brad’s show is called Summon Sign, a weekly offering all about the games we play. While the likes of Sacred Symbols, Defining Duke, and Punching Up all have (and will continue to have) varying degrees of gameplay discussion within, we wanted to dedicate a program not to analyzing the industry (the primary charge of those aforementioned pods), but rather aimed at the actual end-product itself. Our first episode is up now, starring Brad, Dustin, and myself, and I assure you it’s a doozy. But the only constant with Summon Sign is Brad as the anchor and play as the focus. He’ll be pulling in members of Last Stand’s family as he sees fit to chat about the relevant game(s) of the week, and he’s also free (and encouraged) to invite anyone from outside the family, as well. It’s his beast to do with what he’d like. As usual, when it comes to our various shows, we only ask for high-quality podcasts presented to the audience on-time. Brad will otherwise design Summon Sign exactly as he sees fit, with our backing, just like various minds have done with our existing slate. What will come in the weeks, months, and years to come will be a reflection of his vision, and I can’t wait to see what he does with the LSM platform at his behest.

Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty. First, the introduction of Summon Sign means that a new publishing schedule must be deployed. This week's schedule will look a little funky (for instance, we published DDU's final episode yesterday, and Summon Sign's first episode is itself going up off-calendar). But that's temporary.

Here’s how things will now look beginning January 8th:

• Monday: Constellation
• Tuesday: Summon Sign
• Wednesday: KnockBack or Punching Up
• Thursday: Defining Duke
• Friday: Sacred Symbols
• Saturday: Sacred Symbols+

Apart from the inclusion of Summon Sign, the first thing you may notice is that Defining Duke Ultimate is off the calendar. Candidly, DDU is our lowest-performing show. It’s also taxing on Matty and Cog, specifically because we need their availability for Constellation, SSxDD, and now Summon Sign, too. You may also notice that Sacred Symbols+ has gone from twice a week to once a week. This is likewise to keep the Sacred boys available for Summon Sign (etc.) as needed, but more than that, really, to further focus on + to make it an even stronger perk. (Indeed, Brad will help us revive The Sacred League in the coming months.) I want to interview more people on the show, do deeper dives, and generally have more time to spend on individual episodes. It’s tough when the next one is always only a few days away, y’know? So, this brings us from publishing seven times a week half the time and six times a week the other half of the time to publishing six times a week, all the time.

Now, this is an important point: All spoilercast and review discussion-style content that would have otherwise lived on SS+ and DDU will now live on Summon Sign. That means that, with Sacred Symbols in mind, for instance, the review discussions and spoilercasts for the likes of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Helldivers II, and Rise of the Ronin will be on Summon Sign, as will DDU-centric chats for the likes of Hellblade 2, Avowed, and so on. Now you can perhaps see why we weren’t too concerned with cutting out DDU and cutting back on SS+, as much of that content will live on under a different name with a fresh level of dynamism.

Another important point: As referenced earlier, you shouldn’t expect a grand change to the “What Are We Playing?” sections of Sacred, Duke, and PU. We know that these segments are important to our core audience. So you may (somewhat logically) be asking yourself: “Won’t there be redundancies?” And the answer is “very rarely.” Think about the various mathematical permutations of people that can and will appear on Summon Sign, and you’ll quickly see that there really isn’t a conflict here, particularly because Brad isn't on that platform-level programming. In fact, Summon Sign allows us to streamline our entire review discussion and spoilercast operation, leverages new conversations about play that we otherwise wouldn’t have, and provides Last Stand’s growing audience a multifaceted and diverse showcase of opinions on the reason we’re all ultimately here: The games.

We’re only able to make this investment in Brad’s show -- and in all of our programming -- because of the absolutely berserk level of support shown to us here on Patreon by our audience. It’s no joke to have more than 13,000 subscribers paying an average of $5 a month. I don’t take that for granted. In fact, I sometimes honestly wonder if I’m in my own version of The Truman Show, and maybe I am. Yet, because of you, it all somehow works wonderfully. But listen, we don’t want to pick you up, turn you upside down, and empty your pockets either. We see how some other content creators treat their audiences, we see the endless endemic advertising and flagrant levels of selling-out, and we have no interest in participating. The economy isn’t great. Times are tough, inflation is erosive, people are struggling. So we’re not asking for a single penny more than we have for years. $5 a month gets you early, ad-free access to everything we do, every week. That’s a brand new episode of Sacred Symbols. And Sacred Symbols+. And Defining Duke. And Punching Up or KnockBack. And Constellation. And Summon Sign. All at a price so reasonable you simply cannot argue with it, which is why no one ever does. The market has spoken. Will it continue to speak, though? That’s entirely up to you.

For those that choose not to support us on Patreon, we totally understand. You’re an important part of our audience, too, and we appreciate you as well. For anyone that wants to go the ‘free’ route, you can find every episode of Sacred Symbols, Defining Duke, Punching Up, KnockBack, Constellation, and Summon Sign in video form on YouTube and via free audio feeds on virtually every podcast app. There will be a three-to-seven-day publishing gap between paid and free feeds, depending on the show, and many episodes of Sacred Symbols+ will remain completely exclusive for Patrons, even in the long-term. You will continue to find ads in free feed programming, but please understand this: We will never accept endemic advertising. We will never try to sell you the products we cover, accept financial endorsements of any kind from developers, publishers, or other gaming entities, or otherwise run gaming-centric campaigns. Likewise, LSM’s laissez-faire approach to production means each member has to coordinate their preview and review connections for their respective shows and offsite endeavors, but Sacred Symbols -- our flagship -- will remain steadfast in accepting no preview opportunities, early access, review builds, or anything else. We buy our games and hardware, just like you. We play our games precisely when you do. We experience it all together!

I want to thank you, as I did in our holiday letter, for making Last Stand the fan-funded behemoth that it is. We truly do have a wonderful audience from all around the world, and I want to tip my cap to you all for your love and kindness as we head into our eighth calendar year (which is insane).

See you on the shows, and please enjoy Summon Sign. I know that you will. <3 -Colin