Progress Update: Script completion, merch, patreon, and more!

Hello, other humans in gentle servitude of the story robot~

It's been a slow couple of weeks since our first worldbuilding video went live, but we've been making steady progress all the while. Seeing the constant flow of creativity from both our community and World Anvil's as the competition continues has helped us stay energized through this pre-production phase. Honestly, thanks for the entertainment in the meantime. It's been a blessing~ 

Of course, while all of you have been busy building worlds, we've been busy as well...

Where are we?

As of now, we're officially climbing out of the slow period in our list video pre-production cycle. Writing these scripts is always a little rough, as they're expository (see more in this sneak peek). They have a little less play and a little more work involved, in a manner of speaking. This one was particularly taxing, but in a good way. Trying to go deep on our three methods from the first worldbuilding video was a cognitive challenge. I honestly hadn't realized exactly how much there was to say about them before I began outlining the script.

Luckily, this list is nowhere near as long as the Slavic Creatures list. That means it's totally possible we actually get this thing done within a reasonable timeframe. I... won't commit to one just now, but it's on the way! I can tell you that much!

Tomorrow we'll be recording the audio, Chloe will begin the audio editing process, and I'll get the video all ready for creation—a process all y'all are gonna be in on with this week's sneak peek!

What's next?

Our main focuses at the moment are the video, the new changes to patreon, and getting some products into our brand new merch store. The first of those is well on its way. Right now we're mostly sifting through lots of past rewards and ensuring those get sent out, but we're also priming some new... ish... ones to fire as well! The letters, for instance, are finally going out either this week or next! I'm really looking forward to sharing some pictures of those as you guys receive them, so be ready to snap some pictures and send them back!

In terms of the changes to patreon, I've adjusted lots of the tier graphics to show some more progression tier-by-tier... except for the construct tier. I want that thing to look really nice, but haven't had the time to put it together. Hopefully sometime this week? We'll see. It should be a little more time intensive than the others.

As for merch, we had an awesome think tank with our engineers about it four days ago. I've sent the DFTBA some final questions about what they'll be capable of doing, and as soon as I get a response I'll set to creating/commissioning some of the designs we thought up with you guys. Thanks for the brilliant suggestions and feedback!

Anything else?

One big thing! Our discord server is starting to light up with new activities and events as our community team grows! We have a group of "coordinators" who have been coming together to do things like post daily writing/art prompts, play madlibs, and orchestrate writing/art competitions! This is a big thing, and I want to give a special shout out to Chloe (who's managing the coordinator team for the time being) and all of the amazing members who have taken up the mantle of coordinators to make this community or more lively place. 

Thanks guys. It's been really amazing to watch. <3

And that about wraps things up for this week's progress update. Thanks for all the support you guys, and thanks for your patience! I hope the changes we've made to the patreon have made it a better place to hang around and wait with us in the long interim between videos.

Anyway, I'll see you in the sneak peek! Bye for now~

—Benji