2M Views! Spring updates, merch, & the secret project (Patreon)

Hi Patrons,

Things are finally settling down from the vs. Oxob premiere, which means it's time for stuff to start bubbling up. "Bubbling" is an apt way to describe the channel right now. The past couple of weeks, I've been wrapping up leftover tasks so that I have a clean slate for new projects, as well as one project that I wish to release this month. This will all be covered in this update post.

Reaching 2 Million Views on YouTube!

In just under 1 month of release Gildedguy vs Oxob is just about to hit the 2 Million view mark. This is a new record, since the previous story (#5) hit 1 million after a month (it took #6 only a week this time)! It's a statistic that still surprises me - and I'm still trying to figure it out.

In case you haven't read it, you can check out my thoughts on the project on my blogpost here:  https://gildedguy.com/gildedguy-vs-oxob-is-out-in-the-wild/ 

Merch: Wrapping Up Keychain Fulfillment

As of today, all keychain orders are shipped and are in the mail system! Except for 4-5 orders, which have been delayed due to low stock or postage errors (I have contacted these patrons individually). Everyone else should have already gotten or will be getting their keychains soon (1 week or so).

I apologize for the delay - normally I'd have enough materials ready, but the fulfillment volume and shipping fees have really overwhelmed me.

Merch & Tiers

A lot of the merch I've sent (keychains, pins, buttons) is actually too bulky for standard flat envelopes. Unfortunately, it's becoming more often that post offices reject them and send them back to me, leading to delays, extra fees and wasted supplies. It's a big source of stress that takes away from my art.

► To help manage workload, I've consolidated the merch into the Care Package tier, which I can send as one safe parcel instead of risky little envelopes. It's been repriced to reflect the  new amount of effort I put into the package. 

During this down time between projects, I'll be exploring easier to deliver rewards (exclusive content, digital codes).

I get the sense that many of you don't care so much about physical goods as much as the animations themselves, so it's important to me to find an efficient balance.

 I'd love your feedback on this. 

System Upgrade - More "Premiere Proof"

This past week, viewers have been feasting their eyes on incredibly exciting live-streams of me typing code into text editors. Dozens of bugs have been ironed out, and it can now better display alerts and support events during high-traffic events. Of course, it can't truly be tested until the next premiere.

I finally made the switch over from Win7 to 10, and Flash CS6 to Adobe Animate. For some reason I'm getting BSOD's and slower performance, but I'm hoping the features will be worth it.

New Livestream Mini-game: Coco Loco

Along with the technical upgrades, we have a 3rd minigame! Based off of gildednutz , the goal is to convert every viewer into coconuts by @mention'ing them in chat. It's like a big game of tag, starting with one player. We haven't had a chance to test it with more than 30 active participants, so the whole thing might explode during our next give-away.

Now in Production: Shadowshaw (pet project)

I can't say much about this project publicly, but for the patrons I should mention it. A week ago I put out a casting call for voices for a radio play style animatic. I want to explore voice-acted productions more because good, human performances can really elevate a story. This particular story will have a short production cycle - I'm aiming for a mini-premiere this month. It'll drop outta nowhere, so watch out!

That's All for Now

Animated projects are often messy, and I have to ignore and defer small things to reach the finish line. Story 6 left me with a huge "todo list" that I am now finally finishing up. Although there's been a lot of housekeeping, there are still some spots left for me to clean. Once 'ShadowShaw' is out, I think I'll be ready to work on the next Gildedguy Story. We'll see!