questions for youse
Added 2025-01-15 16:52:10 +0000 UTCHey team! I'm in my protracted process of planning my year, gearing up for a Patreon relaunch, and figuring out the next round of quantifica projects. Wanted to ask your thoughts on a number of things/run some ideas by you. Anyone who's got opinions, please share them in the comments!
1. What did you find interesting in quantifica? Did you enjoy getting updates on my various projects? Was it useful hearing how the channel was doing financially? Did you enjoy getting little musical playlists every month? Or was this mostly for my edification? If you found it interesting, which parts were the most interesting?
2. Additionally: which parts were least interesting? Was it crushingly dull to get updates on my Bingo Card when you didn't know what any of the things on it were? Did it feel like oversharing to get page counts on books you knew nothing about and esoteric "novelty scores" for music I was listening to? Which parts could you have just completely done without?
3. What tweaks would make it more interesting? I do little blurb movie reviews on Letterboxd (sometimes more than a blurb) and have started logging/doing blurb reviews of games on Grouvee, and would like to start collecting those in the quantifica posts. Is that of interest? Would info about books/games/movies/music be more valuable if came with recommendations? What else might make it compelling?
4. Would more audience engagement be interesting? I'm entertaining the thought of having a few movies on the randomizer list/a few games from the backlog be up for a vote from patrons, i.e. y'all pitch a few games/movies and then vote from the list of pitches. Might use the votes as pledge-drivers. Would you enjoy giving me homework? Are there other types of involvement you would find interesting?
5. Who's interested in more details on the Mana Tracking system? I can give a deeper rundown of how I've used it and share some template spreadsheets for anyone who wants to do something similar/adapt it for their own purposes, and maybe we could even discover new applications together! It would probably be an extra video, so I don't wanna put the time into it unless there's some genuine interest.
6. Are there any kinds of Weird Number Crunching you would like to see in 2025? Progress reports on ongoing projects? Details about different aspects of my finances? Deeper dives into the mana stats? Something else? (I won't go with any suggestions that don't serve me, so let your imaginations run wild - you won't yoke me to a life of suffering, I promise.)
7. I am about to launch the 50 Adventure Game Tier List as a weekly project on Nebula, and intend to cross-post it here. (Basically, unless Nebula pays me for exclusivity, everything I post there will be posted here as well.) I don't wanna spam your inboxes with weekly updates, so I was considering doing a monthly post with batches of 4ish edited together - does that work for you? Or would weekly posts be preferable?
8. Are you interested in more WIP posts? I would like to share more snippets of projects/scripts I'm working on, but there's always the chance that the work will change significantly or get scrapped, which is why I've always kept things close to the chest until they're finished. Would y'all be disappointed if something I previewed never got finished/the segment I shared was drastically redone, or is that still interesting?
9. If my work starts to drift a little further afield than traditional "video essays," are you still here? It's okay to say "no," I won't take offense. I said last year I wanted to get "weird with it," and I tried out a few different things, though mostly stuck to/struggled with my usual wheelhouse. But I think that may be, more and more, my trajectory after I wrap up The Alt-Right Playbook. Not sure what "further afield" will look like, and most of the stuff I'm working on now is pretty familiar in shape, but I'm just testing the waters for how you feel.
10. Finally: in the Patreon relaunch, I want to scrap reward tiers entirely. I don't like perks, I don't want to upsell you or gate things away from patrons - that just sounds like a headache. Even my film and game reviews are free - hell, the videos themselves are free to most viewers. So I want whatever I post here to be available to everyone. (Also I haven't delivered on my $5 and $10 perks in ages and nobody seems to care, so I don't think y'all are pledging extra just to get bonuses.) In light of that, though, I would like to set the default pledge to $2. I'll still probably have the early video posts go out to "all paying members," so I guess there would technically be a $1 tier and a $2 tier. But I wanted to run this idea by you. Many of you have been here for years, and it does feel weird to take away things the $1 folks have gotten this whole time. But I'm trying to get my finances in order and I think, for the amount of stuff I do, it's justified, and the nudge would make a big difference. No final decision is made, but I wanted to toss it out.
OK, that's everything. I await your feedback with a desperate, desiccating thirst.
-I
Comments
quantifica was one of my favorite music discovery methods this past year. it really helped replace the loss of music-discovery joy I experienced leaving tiktok. I implemented a mana system for my house chore tickler file and have found it really helpful for balancing that work out. would love to hear more details on how yours works
Lomky
2025-01-19 23:56:00 +0000 UTCFantastic, thanks! :) I did see that other playlists were already implemented, which is very nice.
Charlotte KL
2025-01-19 19:59:46 +0000 UTCoh, good catch! I was just making playlists yesterday and forgot that one. I'm on it!
Ian Danskin
2025-01-19 17:21:02 +0000 UTCIf you see this, Ian, I have a small silly request: On Nebula, would you be able to make a playlist for "Bringing back what was stolen" for smooth rewatching purposes?
Charlotte KL
2025-01-19 08:46:19 +0000 UTCOh man, I looove the Good Scansion Powerpoint presentation! One of my favourite videos, honestly.
Charlotte KL
2025-01-17 11:36:33 +0000 UTCWow. I am almost 26 and only started to watch Breadtube regularly a couple months ago. The last year I watched sporadically. I've been centrist/moderate for little over four years now. I do sometimes feel like I have to pace myself though.
PixelWords205
2025-01-17 02:08:02 +0000 UTCA bit late to the party, but here are my 2 cents: 1-2. Updates on the projects and financials were great. Bingo card was fun even without knowing what is was, it was nice to see that you had good things in your life. Page counts on books were nice too. I'm personally not as interested in music playlists. 3-4. Blurb movie reviews are great, and it'd be great for games/books/etc too. Your taste is different than mine, so I'd personally not consume the same media, but I really enjoy reading your take on it. Because of that, I'm also not particularly interested in audience engagement. 5. I'm interested in how you track your productivity and financials in general, and how you make all of this work out in the end, but it's also not the main reason I'm here, so maybe try not to spend too much time on it? 6. Progress reports on ongoing projects might be fun, especially regarding the contents of what you're working on. 7. Weekly updates sound great, as long as it's sustainable for you. 8. Yes please, I'd be delighted to see drafts that never get made, or that get significantly changed, and maybe have some insight into why that happened. 9. Depends a bit on the new format, but mostly yeah. I enjoy your writing, and video essays are just a convenient way to consume it. 10. I'm here to support your work, I didn't even remember there were rewards in the first place. If you think $2 is the best option financially, go for it.
Vinicius Vendramini
2025-01-16 21:14:14 +0000 UTCBefore my specific answers, a general request: As a patron, I'd like to see more of the nuts & bolts of your creative process. How do you do an animation? Do you storyboard first? How is a script written? Done in one or fifty thousand revisions? Do you have beta testers or sensitivity testers for drafts? How did your collab work, step by step? How do you manage your backlog? Where do ideas come from? Stuff like that. I'd include this in the "not really a video essay" content departure, although I suppose it's just a different kind of non-fiction. What did you find interesting in quantifica? I found the mana budget, financials, reading and game lists the most interesting Did you enjoy getting updates on my various projects? YES Was it useful hearing how the channel was doing financially? YES Did you enjoy getting little musical playlists every month? I was less interested in the music playlist, but did not hate them. It was kind of cool seeing comments every now and then from people who loved some particular song you listened to. Additionally: which parts were least interesting? Bingo and music playlist. blurb reviews of games on Grouvee, and would like to start collecting those in the quantifica posts ... YES! Would more audience engagement be interesting? Maybe, depends on what it is. I like the few ideas you mentioned. Who's interested in more details on the Mana Tracking system? I like it the way it is, just the bottom line PLAN vs. ACTUAL. I don't need to see how the sausage is made. Instead, the subjective sharing of expectations vs. reality and how the numbers influence or don't influence your decisions going forward would be great to see more of. Adventure Game Tier List: I was considering doing a monthly post with batches of 4ish edited together - does that work for you? Either weekly or monthly is fine with me, I just want it! Are you interested in more WIP posts? ONLY if they aren't zero-sum with your mana budget and things I enjoy would have to be dropped to do it. I would NOT be disappointed by projects that get dropped or get back-burnered, that's all part of the creative process. If my work starts to drift a little further afield than traditional "video essays," are you still here? I'll have to see the work and decide on a case-by-case basis. As just an example, say you do more audio-only podcasts. I'm not a podcast enjoyer, so that would be a no for me. On the other hand, if you were to do an original work of fiction or a parable on, I dunno, climate change, as an animation, I'd be all over that. want to scrap reward tiers entirely. YAY! I never liked the quid pro quo structure of that system in general, least of all for this channel. I think $2 is underselling your value to patrons, but if you think that's the best level, I've got no complaints.
PC Escobar
2025-01-16 17:10:36 +0000 UTCLoved quantifica especially the mini-mixes. I didn't mind not seeing the bingo. I liked that it is a way for you to share something but you were maintaining boundaries on *how much* and that's important to model. I love WIP stuff and definitely more info on the Mana tracking. I think that could be a whole extra offering, TBH. It seems like a really effective system and sharing more about it could benefit a lot of folks.
Kait Hatch
2025-01-16 14:41:41 +0000 UTC1) Don't change anything about quantifica 2) The bingo seemed somewhat pointless, but other than that we're golden 3) Seeing your reviews/recommendations on quantifica would be good 4) Voting on what you watch/play seems interesting 5) When you write something about mana I always read it, but when you don't I never miss it. 6) Progress report on ongoing projects sounds interesting 7) Either way works for me, just looking forward to seeing it! 8) I would be VERY interested in more WIP posts, WIP posts sound like the most interesting thing you discuss in this post. I wouldn't be disappointed if it changes later on, so long as I got a glimpse of how it started out. 9) This is actually too vague to judge. In the abstract, I suppose to trust you to experiment with your videos, so long as you return to your usual format every once in a while. 10) I contribute like 12$ a month anyways.
Lucas Du Berger Deret
2025-01-16 03:47:30 +0000 UTCI'm honestly just here to provide support and appreciation. All the perks are fine by me, but I am not the target audience for all of them.
Joe Auerbach
2025-01-16 01:45:11 +0000 UTCMana tracking was interesting, loved to see the reading lists (maybe just because I got super excited when Psalm for the Wild Built was on there). Batch or weekly, I’ll probably watch on Nebula anyways.
Dyllan Coop
2025-01-16 00:19:44 +0000 UTC1. I am a collector of backlogs - games, books, movies, shows, everything. I've yet to try out any of the musical playlists or anything, but I liked having them there if in the future I decide to explore that. Otherwise, how your channel is doing or you giving updates isn't super interesting to me personally because I see supporting you as giving to a creator I like, rather than funding an ongoing thing, so my support wouldn't change if you went dead silent. But idk, maybe the majority feels differently, and if so, that's probably worth doing. So, as a very passive observer, your number 2 isn't super relevant to me. 3. THis would make it more interesting, as I always enjoy hearing you discuss art and media. 4. With regards to engagement, I kind of just want curiouscat back. Or some way in which I can ask you questions. Maybe a sort of weekly thing where you ask for questions and then reply to them at a later date? 5. Refer to 1. I think you should keep doing the mana tracking if it helps you and post it publically as a way of sending it off in the world, but it's not something I read much. 6. I guess the only thing I'd like to see is a percentage bar that keeps track how 'done' you are with some videos, but idk if it's feasible. 7. Weekly should be good. It'd be spammy if it were daily, but weekly isn't too frequent. 8. Yes, I love hearing updates on your projects. 9. I support you because I feel you are a gateway to arguments and ideas that I haven't considered and have enjoyed learning from. You can go start cattle farming videos for all I care, so long as the cattle farming videos are as insightful and well written as your other work has been. 10. Yeah, sure, go for it. It's still kind of wild that James Somerton, at his peak, was raking so much more than other content creators. I feel anyone who is a patron here understands that this is a vehicle for ensuring you have food on the table and a roof over your head, so you charging more isn't going to be an issue. Especially since while many are in economic straits right now, $2 is still relatively low. I think things start getting eyebrow raising when the default is $5.
Veelk
2025-01-15 23:56:18 +0000 UTCI liked the quantifica! I enjoyed seeing your progress and appreciate financial updates. I'm less bothered about the playlists, but it seemed like you enjoyed them. I could use the film and game lists for possible recommendations too. The bingo was tricky without knowing what they were, yes. I find all of this interesting because it's useful to see the different ways you're managing your objectives. Therefore more info on mana tracking is VERY interesting to me. I am likely to stick around if you try different stuff and experience. Really excited to see adventure game stuff though
Sarah H
2025-01-15 22:30:33 +0000 UTC1-6 Tbh I don't usually watch the Quantifica. I'm here to give you money and am not bothered so much about nosing in your business. 7 Monthly, please 8 WIP are cool, I have enjoyed those, and I hope having feedback from us while in progress is useful to you. 9 I'm looking forward to weird stuff! I liked the linguistics and classical music videos very much. 10 $2 is fine. Still pretty cheap as Patreon goes. Thanks!
xanna
2025-01-15 22:15:33 +0000 UTCI'm basically just here for the essays and videos. I admittedly didn't pay any attention to the WIPs or quantifica.
Axion Zeta-One
2025-01-15 20:39:54 +0000 UTC#1-2: Neutral. Apologies for getting all parasocial, but what was interesting about quantifica was the glimpse it gave me into how your mind works, not so much the topics themselves. Regarding finances, I care that your channel and projects are sustainable so that you'll keep doing them, natch, but I'm ambivalent about the details. #3: Neutral. If i've already read your thoughts on Letterboxd it wouldn't be interesting to read them again here and vice versa, but I have no idea how many patrons here follow you there. #4: I like the idea of polls, but I so rarely participate in them. #5-6: YES YES please more details and templates. The mana system is so interesting. Honestly, if you have a lot of depth to add, I would pay to take a class or buy a book where you explain your system in detail. I know that's extra work though. Maybe on Nebula? #7: Weekly is fine and not too spammy, although it depends on how many other updates you're doing. #8: Neutral #9: DO IT.
Cade Stanson
2025-01-15 20:03:18 +0000 UTC1-2. I did enjoy getting updates on all of your various projects and your finances. I didn't care for your music and general media updates. 3. I was disappointed when you never completed the Adventure Game Sommelier thing. 4. I suspect that would just end up with you being asked to watch/read/play the most popular thing each time. 5-6. I'm interested in more details about mana tracking. 7. No preference between weekly and monthly for that 8. YES! MORE WIPS PLEASE! Particularly scripts. 9. I'm financially supporting you because I think the work you're doing, the information you've been gathering and clarifying and dispensing with TARPB, is really important. If you move to making content that's similarly political but in a different medium, I'm probably still here. 10. It would sting a little, but I'd probably pay the higher price.
Will
2025-01-15 19:10:51 +0000 UTCRE: (9) FWIW, the only thing I watch or pay attention to are the video essays. I appreciate the adventure game content mostly because there's just generic interest value in watching someone be thoughtful about a thing they care a lot about, but I wouldn't miss them if they went away. I price my channel support as a small bump in `likelihood_of_future_video_essay`
Sean
2025-01-15 18:49:16 +0000 UTCI liked the number crunching, the tasting menus, love hearing about media you're enjoying, didn't follow the bingo card, would be down for getting weird with things, even if i I deeply love your video essays!
SiberianHussy
2025-01-15 18:31:57 +0000 UTCHi! Drink some water please don't be dehydrated on my account. Regarding quantifica, I think the only thing I feel particularly passionate in saying is I would really like to see more about how Mana Tracking worked. I'm such a sucker for a good productivity tool, and it seemed like this was a very effective setup for gaining insights into your work habits. For future work, I'd definitely like to see things that don't follow the standard video essay formula. Get freaky with it. WIPs would be nice—I'm also a sucker for a good behind-the-scenes—and I don't mind at all if that includes seeing progress on projects that don't make it. Actually, it'd be especially interesting to learn what it is that kills a project. Lastly, regarding Patreon reward tiers: I don't care! Personally, my favorite monetization strategy is of the "some people provide support, everyone reaps the rewards" type. I would understand if this isn't the most popular opinion, though.
what what
2025-01-15 18:22:49 +0000 UTCOk, this became a little bigger than I was expecting. I wanna preface by saying that I’ve been a fan since I was 16 and I’m… oh god… 26 now. Whatever feedback I have is going to be colored by this, so it should definitely be taken with a huge grain of salt. Absolutely loved the videos this year. Anyways here are my thoughts. 1. / 2. Quantifica felt a little too structured. It was nice to get a peak behind the curtain, but it became a bit hard to follow along as the year progressed. Same with bingo. I did really appreciatethe effort to keep us updated on the videos. 3. Letterboxd blurbs were fantastic and I loved following along. Would honestly not mind little think pieces about stuff you love in my inbox from time to time. Love your media recommendations and opinions. More than lists I want to hear your thoughts on the stuff that moved you. 4. I'm not a big audience engagement guy so I'll sit this one out 5. I mean, I struggle with adhd so the mana system has been a pretty interesting discovery for me. Would love to hear more about it. 6. I don't particularly care for the number crunching tbh. At the end of the day I'm a patron because I really really really like your videos and your writing. 7. Personally would love to get a weekly email with some cool adventure games! 8. No real opinion. I like the WIP, but I usually wait until the video is released to watch it. Would love to see drafts of videos that might have been scrapped in the past, but I understand why you might not want to share those 9. Would absolutely love to see some more weird stuff 10. Makes sense to me I wanna say at the end of the day what keeps me coming back is your writing. Alt-right Playbook and Why are you so angry were foundational in me becoming who I am today, but it was your media criticism that really made me fall in love with the channel. You have a talent for laying out compeling well thought out arguments in a way that feels electric. I'll never forget how excited I was the first time I saw "The Artist is Absent"-- I know this probably feels very hyperbolic but it really was one of those moments that shifted how I thought about art. I don't know if this is welcomed feedback, but I really enjoyed the CO-VID's and would personally love more stuff in that spirit. Thank you for all the hard work you put into this channel and for delivering us so much good stuff!
Daniel Osswald Claro
2025-01-15 17:46:35 +0000 UTCHigh level, I don’t care so much what you make so long as you make it… your passion projects and analysis are valuable. Yes, even the silly scansion powerpoint. Especially the scansion powerpoint. Personally I love the mana tracking and the “how I fixed my brain” sort of thing so it’s always interesting to see other’s elaborate coping mechanisms. Never know when that tool will save someone in need. The music / movie / bingo cards are probably just not for me… what I care about are YOUR thoughts on those things, less so about the list itself.
Trevor Davison
2025-01-15 17:39:35 +0000 UTCQuantifica: I liked them as a whole. Due to my personal media preferences, I was most interested in the books. I did look at the financial stuff pretty closely and found that interesting, but I also found it anxiety-inducing during the less good months (this should not sway you one way or the other). I really liked the tasting menus when they existed. I am very interested in additional info on how the mana works. I'm in favour of scrapping Patreon tiers! Greatly looking forward to the Nebula series. As to more out-there works: I find that impossible to say without seeing what it is, but I can say that I'll give anything you put out a go! I'm obviously here because I really like the stuff you've put out in the past few years, but every artist evolves over time.
Charlotte KL
2025-01-15 17:27:19 +0000 UTCI would love it if you had like a stream to answer questions and catch up with the audience. I would like to learn more about being able to think critically about media, especially media one may personally enjoy, and also how to become a good writer and/or reviewer. It would be interesting to learn how to move past biases and defensive behavior to be able to review with an open mind. Especially as someone trying to move more left. I feel like there's still some things I don't understand.
PixelWords205
2025-01-15 17:20:32 +0000 UTCMana tracking was really interesting, I'd like to use it in my own productivity.
Arthur 'AJ' Jones
2025-01-15 17:13:54 +0000 UTCI would love any and all details you are willing to share re: mana tracking. The spreadsheet sounds potentially very useful for my ADHD consistently-energy-overestimating ass!
Sylvan Thomas
2025-01-15 17:03:28 +0000 UTCPersonally, I like WIPs. I like seeing the difference between where something started and where it ended because I learn from the process of refinement.
Josh Grey
2025-01-15 16:54:22 +0000 UTC
