It’s been a little over a year since we redeployed our Patreon from supporting a single show (Watchpoint Radio) to supporting our entire network, and since we made the change we’ve tried deploying content in several ways. Our goal was to deliver rewards to our supporters in a way that was rewarding for them, but also sustainable for us. Early on we released additional content for 201X, which took the series from being 12 episodes to 33 if you were a supporter. While this worked for 201X, it was not realistic for other shows or even limited series. We weren’t able to create meaningful extra content for We Are Survivors, and it’s the same story with Night City Stories.
We attempted to create extra content for The Mash Those Buttons Show via Extended Play on a regular basis but found that it was inconsistent, especially after we reworked the format. We extended the Extended Play program to our other shows, but the majority of the time the shows are able to pack all of their content within a reasonable amount of time. One show that created and stuck around was Extra Spicy, thanks to the guys over at Dropping Spicy and feedback from the Dropping Spicy community.
We always strive to deliver high-quality content, and after looking back at what worked and what hasn’t, one thing that was clear is that we need to be very deliberate with our Patreon content if we want it to be at the same standard as our other content. With that said, we are making some changes to our Patreon.
Dropping Inconsistent Rewards
We don’t want supporters to have to guess when content will be delivered, so we will be removing rewards that we feel are or will be inconsistent. We love the idea of Extended Play, but ultimately it’s something that we can’t produce consistently, so we will be removing that from the Early Access & Extended Play tier ($3/mo). That tier will now be simply Early Access. I’ll talk more about that in a minute.
Seasonal Content Schedule
We determined the best way to plan and deliver our content is to schedule it seasonally. This is something we are doing both inside and outside of Patreon, but what it means for supporters is that you can expect earlier announcements for content with official dates, as well as more consistent content. Later in this post, I’ll detail what content you can expect this season and a preview of what to expect in our Spring season.
Changes to the Early Access Tier
Our early access tier didn’t deliver the way we wanted to. Originally we were going to deliver The Mash Those Buttons Show and The Tauren & The Goblin early to supporters, but due to changes in scheduling that was inconsistent and then eventually non-existent. Due to that, we are removing those shows from the Early Access tier.
Additionally, the tier would reward supporters with early access to limited and seasonal series, but we haven’t delivered on that yet. As I said, we want to be deliberate with our Patreon content, so as part of the content planning process going forward, we plan on including Patreon Early Access in our production scheduling. The first early access series will be available in early March, with more series scheduled for Q2 of 2021.
More Exclusive Content
Besides 201X and Extra Spicy, we don’t have much exclusive content for Patreon. A year ago it would be difficult for me to justify making a project Patreon exclusive, but the type of content we are producing has evolved, and in some cases, Patreon will make a better home for certain content we produce. Supporters can expect more exclusive content this year, and that content will be created with them directly in mind.
Winter 2021 Content Schedule
We’re already a month into 2021, but we do have new exclusive and early access content on the way.
Clan of Three: Rebels
If you listen to Clan of Three this won’t be a surprise, but right now the clan is working on a new limited series dedicated to Star Wars Rebels and how it connects to The Mandalorian. There are additional Star Wars related projects you can expect in the future, but we aren’t ready to talk about them yet. For now, supporters at the Early Access tier and above can expect Clan of Three: Rebels to premiere on Patreon with an eight-episode run starting March 1st, 2021.
WoW! Thoughts!
If you’ve been with Mash Those Buttons for a while, you may remember Nick’s old column: WoW! Thoughts!. It was the written forefather of WoW! Talk!. Nick is reviving WoW! Thoughts!, but this time in audio form. Every week supporters at the Exclusive Content tier and above can expect a new WoW! Thoughts! on Thursdays.
Extra Spicy
Extra Spicy isn’t a new show, but it’s now under new management! Kurabara from Dropping Spicy will now be the main host and producer on the show, which will see the content change and expand a bit. Additionally, you can expect a new Extra Spicy monthly on the last Saturday of every month. January’s Extra Spicy will be available on January 30th.
We have more content planned for Patreon that we will be delivered in Spring of 2021, but we aren’t quite ready to give all the deets on them yet. You can expect more information at the beginning of March, but I will say that one of the projects is movie related. Our new content strategy going forward should end up producing more content and rewards for our supporters, and we’re hoping that the content we deliver will make our supporters feel like they are valued. Additionally, we are working on ways to make it easier to access your rewards, as looking for older content on Patreon can be a bit tough. We’re even working on ways to have our Twitch subscribers access rewards. More info on that will be coming in the Spring.
I’d like to give a big thanks to all of our supporters on Patreon and Twitch. You are key in our goal to deliver great, high-quality content. If you have any thoughts or questions, feel free to reach outt to me in Discord.
