Newsletter #1 (January 2018) (Patreon)

Hello all of you wonderful people! I figured I'd do the newsletter here on the Patreon so it wouldn't be cluttering your inboxes. Let me know in the comments if you'd prefer it the other way. In any case, for this first go at it, I figured I'd talk briefly about the past of RTFM and what I hope for it's future.

I mentioned this briefly in the Patreon video, but I really did start this because of Twilight Imperium 3e. I had the game, wanted to play it, but my friends didn't want to read the manual on their own and it took over an hour to teach them. The next time around I told people to watch a video I had found explaining it. The only problem was that that video was unbearably boring. I have a background in acting and film making and I was sure that I could do a better job. On top of that I was encouraged by Quinns' (of Shut Up and Sit Down) boast that he could teach the Game of Thrones game in 20 minutes, so I thought maybe I could make a video to do the same.

When I was first writing it, it was really only going to be for me and my friends. As I put more and more time into its development though, I realized how much I enjoyed the process, and so I decided to make it public and see how people liked it. If they didn't, I was fully prepared to quietly disappear and never make episode 2. Fortunately, the response was super positive. The TI3 got posted on Reddit a number of times as well as getting written about on Geek and Sundry (which happened while I was out of town, so I returned to more Youtube notifications emails than I've ever received before in my life). From there I've made videos for other games that I felt either needed more explanation or just more attention, and while nothing has hit quite so big as the TI3 video, the response has continued to be positive.

Which brings us to now, and what comes after now. I'm overjoyed that so many of you have pledged to this Patreon. I was a little worried that most people would either not bother or sign up to see the exclusive stuff and then promptly disappear, but so far that doesn't seem to be the case, and I couldn't be more grateful. I really do want to make this my full time job and to do my part in getting more people into this great hobby of ours. I'm also very excited about the next goal getting reached, which will allow all $5 pledges to suggest games that need teaching. Not only because I was getting a little worried about running out of games that I own that need teaching, but also because this will introduce me to some great games that I might not have played otherwise.

And lastly, in case you folks are interested in what I've been playing lately, I decided to take on the 10x10 challenge. Basically I pledge to play 10 games (that I get to pick) 10 times each before the year is up. Here's my list and where I'm at so far.

Dead of Winter - 0

Castles of Mad King Ludwig - 0

Eldritch Horror - 2

Spirit Island - 0

Race for the Galaxy - 3

Star Realms - 4

Pandemic Legacy Season 2 - 1

Above and Below - 0

Cosmic Encounter – 0

Splendor - 1

With Star Realms and Race (since they're so quick), I'm counting how many times it gets to the table, not how many individual games I play. Still, I expect those will be finished first. I don't play Cosmic Encounter or Castles that much these days (though I should, which is why they're here), so those will probably be my hardest ones. Anyway, fingers crossed! If any of you are doing the 10x10, let me know what games are on your list. And before anyone asks, I'm not putting TI4 on this list because I don't want to destroy myself. I love it, but I think I can only handle playing TI once every 2 months, tops.

Bye!