MMO Grinder

It’s likely no secret we are in a bit of a rut here at MMO Grinder. Both my co-writer and I have had a harder time keeping a balance of interesting games to look at while keeping up with a pace that lets us really work on playing these games with the community we’ve worked so hard to form. Summer is more or less here depending on if you’re one of those people who thinks it starts on Memorial Day as opposed to June 21st. People are out of school, but they’re also taking advantage of this weather, and the MMO Market itself has been in a bit of a rut, with the biggest news going to titles that were all the rage last year being converted into Buy-to-Play or Free-to-Play titles. There’s not much to work with there, regarding the main show, as most new and anticipated MMO games are either trapped in betas, or so far down the horizon there’s no point in holding out for them.

I’ve also not spoken of Patreon too much on this site, and mostly because I don’t want people to think it’s a requirement to enjoying this show, or community. There’s already too many people who think playing the games along with us is a paid-only exclusive perk (Maybe I should go about changing the wording on those.) You don’t need to be a Patron to make a suggestion, just to make one “official.” You don’t need to be a Patron to play along with us and give feedback, only to have access to the official script and writing process. I have no desire to hold my videos “hostage” (by offering an early-access tier) so all new releases will be availble to the public when ready… but I really should think about having Grindstone screen them before I go live. Scheduling is just too tight.

And there’s the problem I’m having. Scheduling is just way too tight to balance the amount of time a lot of us want to play these games, the time we need to include side content and backtracks that are sorely needed for so many titles, and the time I need to live my actual life.

For a good long time I’ve wanted to step back to only releasing one full Grinder episode per month, giving a lot more time for things like side content, community play days, and of course, streams (as much as I despise streamer culture.) We’ve even been very back and forth on a podcast, to which we’ve still not ironed out the particulars.

Going monthly on a Patreon is always something that irked me. It’s like paying me to exist, and I’ve always preferred having at least something to show for it. If we were to go monthly, I think that would make quite a few more people less wary about putting something down, since they won’t feel like I’m trying to mine videos out of them. (Of course you can set a monthly limit, as many often do.) The dropoff from multiple videos is significant, but still potentially net more per video than just opting for a flat monthly. I would have to adjust some goals, though. Perks levels are just fine.

So with all that in tow, how would you prefer we go forward? June is still slated as a two episode month, and likely I’ll be releasing the next full episode within the week, and the next episode after that near the end of the month, as usual. If episodes were to be released once a month going forward, they would likely be released mid-month to allow for the biggest window for time regarding Patreon (provided I don’t shift to monthly, that is.) Vote on the poll below and offer more detailed opinions and feedback in the comments. You don’t have to be a Patron to vote on this and offer feedback. I wouldn’t have posted it here if that was the case, and scheduling changes would affect everyone who watches with any sense of regularity. I’ll close the poll at the end of June and talk about the decision we’ve made from there.

Granted this could all change come fall/winter again, and if the MMO market picks back up to offer some more interesting titles.