New Baby, Streams, Witcher, Q&As, and Scripts
Added 2019-04-15 17:37:24 +0000 UTCHey everyone. As always I'll try to keep this brief and fail miserably.
First the bad news: Q&As are on hold until the same time that streams come back. Right now I am only able to put in 60 hours of work every week and the Q&As are taking up too many of those hours and have become disruptive. This is being made worse by the other problem I will go into detail on below. I've always said that if the Q&As got too much in the way that they would have to go and for now that has to happen.
If you pledged this month *only* to ask Q&A questions shoot me a message about it and I can issue a refund.
Q&As will return in a few months and I'm still finishing up the answers on the current round.
That other problem is that I'm juggling way too many projects right now. That may sound like bullshit considering uploads have been scarce (although the last two were quite big) but you'll see what I mean over the rest of the month since I'm going to be uploading a bunch of scripts to patreon. I have too many videos near complete because I'm not handling the juggling very well. Moving between Witcher gameplay then to smaller projects, then bouncing back to other things I've already recorded and written on, might end up being efficient long-term but it's driving me crazy short-term and has caused this congestion. It's also causing me to rewrite scripts because I'm holding too much in my head.
I don't know if this is a flaw of how I approached this Witcher project. Maybe I should have just focused only on that since it would have been done already if I wasn't trying to do other videos at the same time. But I feel like it's more to do with Lili's pregnancy and the upcoming baby. The channel didn't exist before Finn was born, and extra stuff to do with the channel happened later after Leo was born. Q&As were a new feature. There was no streaming back then, no discord, and now we have two young children with a new one on the way. This pregnancy has been tougher on Lili and I've been making myself available to help her how ever I can. Hence the fewer work hours I have every week right now, but I also wonder if the split focus is making it worse.
Somehow I doubt it, I think I should just be more focused on individual videos.
I'm not making any more "Witcher-work videos" after this current round. I won't be uploading the videos all at once so there should be spaced out content that *should* last until the big Witcher video is finished (as a super rough estimate, I am 60% done and think I need two uninterrupted months to get it out), but the new baby is due in June. Right now I'm being careful about pulling all-nighters because Lili could go into labor and it wouldn't be that much of a surprise. I don't know how disruptive that is going to be for work. The previous two babies weren't *that* bad but it's still a new baby.
My estimate for streams and the Q&As returning are one month after the baby is born at the *earliest*. I miss streams and I know Lili misses the Q&As. However I don't know what the schedule for streaming will be like going forward. I've realized recently how much I've sacrificed to pour so many hours into channel work in the past. I know that's the standard I'm going to be held at forever and I feel the pressure to live up to that, but I miss out on seeing the kids at important parts of their lives and I'm not taking care of myself (physically) anywhere close to what I should be.
So what I'm saying is that even after this tumultuous period is over (new baby and the gargantuan Witcher project) that 60 hour work weeks are going to be the new normal I aim for rather than the lower setting. I know myself and I know that I will still crunch projects because it's my nature, but there will have to be some balance after that. If this is not acceptable for you to continue pledging then I understand--a big part of this post is clearing the air on that. I don't think I communicate as clearly as I should with you all. I've said most of this on streams and in Q&As before but it's ridiculous to expect everyone to know all of that content.
I'm hoping this will be enough when things aren't so hectic. The more I'm thinking about it now the more I'm realizing just how much is going on at the moment.
Witcher 3 is pretty good though.
Thanks everyone.
Comments
Seconded - Joe, would happily up my pledge if it meant you could hire an editor and focus your time on the playing/analysis/writing rather than the tedium of video editing.
Stochastication (Nate)
2019-06-08 08:31:02 +0000 UTCAs a long time supporter: 1. Get sleep. Take good care of yourself. This is top priority. 60 hr work week is perfectly fine, nobody would complain if you further take it down to 40. 2. Take good care of Lili and spend time with kids. I don't think anybody wants you to actually sacrifice family for video works. 3. I'd suggest finish up a couple short videos that are closest to done and then focus on getting Witcher out of the way. This project has been looming over you for literally years and I think you will be relieved both mentally and physically after it finished. Don't drag it anymore! Although I know it's not out of laziness. But seriously in my opinion you should finish it asap.
2019-04-18 23:23:35 +0000 UTCIf you'd consider *only* 60 hours of work as something manageable that's pretty amazing. 60 hours is a lot and I'm blown away that's the low-end for you. If you wanted to cut it down more than that I would completely understand. Are you in the position to be able to pay a video editor going forward? Or have someone you pay to edit your scripts? I imagine that would cut down greatly on the workload.
Alon
2019-04-18 01:43:21 +0000 UTCyou're free to do with your money what you'd like and that's totally fine. But I kind of feel like you completely misunderstood this post. He never said he doesn't enjoy the work, just that he's been doing a lot of it.
Alon
2019-04-18 01:40:06 +0000 UTCHey Joe I love your video and the work you do, I postponed my pledge this month cause you seem extremely busy. People may think I'm selfish but I have a real tight budget for supporting creators and you're the best one I've come across. Bar-none if you had the time to put out videos non-stop then I would be watching your videos non-stop but that's not our reality. I don't want you to be offended that I'm pulling my subscription I just want to give someone else an oppourtunity while you figure out if this is what you actually like or not.
2019-04-18 00:01:08 +0000 UTCSo as anybody here I do not want to tell you how to do your job. But, in my humble opinion, you should really try cutting down on your workload. In depth-critiques are your whole brand, I get it, but I personally came and stayed for smart ideas and critiques, not for the exhaustive nature of the stuff you do. I think you shouldn't feel the need to be thorough just because a game is huge and that is what you did in the past (e.g. Witcher obviously). I know that you always have a lot to say, but you shouldn't force yourself just for the sake of consistency. Hope this doesn't rub anybody the wrong way ;)
2019-04-16 17:06:33 +0000 UTCI hope people don't hate me being honest but a couple months ago when you were streaming more frequently I was thinking of ending my pledge. Streams are not the content I want to support. And to me, an admittedly selfish donor, I saw hours spent on that as hours you were not working on the channel and high quality videos. However, I am MORE than happy to support you and your family through this time. And that should be proportional... not 60 hours, more like 40 hours max. And please take time off for the baby. You have created great YouTube content and I look forward to seeing more of it in due course, but for the moment your family is the priority. Best wishes.
2019-04-16 16:49:28 +0000 UTCDon’t worry, Joe. You’ll have my support as long as I have disposable income. I am sure all these projects are interesting and I am especially looking forward to the Witcher video. Note that you *do* work a lot, even if you consider 60 hours the minimum. You should take care of yourself and balance everything. This can only make things better for you and, obviously, for us as I believe your content will benefit in some way. Hope you, Lili and the boys are doing well <3
2019-04-16 04:14:52 +0000 UTCYou should definitely take care of your health and well-being first: you are of "no use" to anyone if you get sick! Like most of your viewers, I care more for the quality of your videos than for the quantity. Take care of yourself and your loved ones ☺
Calirohé
2019-04-15 22:56:13 +0000 UTCI imagine most of us are in agreement that you should consider taking a holiday some point soon Joe. Don't burn yourself out! We will keep on patreon-ing all the same. Good luck.
2019-04-15 22:45:23 +0000 UTCI imagine most of us support you for the quality of the content when it comes and not quantity. You absolutely should prioritize your family over work every single time and there is no need to apologize for it. Thanks for the update and I hope that Lili is feeling better as it goes rather than worse and that the baby comes healthily with no complications.
Forbes
2019-04-15 19:15:51 +0000 UTCI've been a supporter for a while now but had to stop recently for financial reasons as much as I would like to continue support. I know my individual contribution doesn't mean much but I feel the need to make clear no matter what's going on you have many loyal fans, I included, who would be happy with just a fraction of what you do. No one expects as much from yourself as you do. Of course the people want more Joe, but you aren't letting anyone down by focusing on yourself.
2019-04-15 19:00:55 +0000 UTCYou're doing good. If anything, it's very interesting how open you are now with family stuff. 60 work hours a week seems like a lot to me, but hope that you can make the work-life balance better because of it. And hope there's not too much trouble from the patrons as well, since we kinda volunteered to help make your content sustainable XD
Ervin
2019-04-15 18:41:22 +0000 UTCThanks for the update Joe. This doesn't change my pledge whatsoever. I can't wait for new streams, but I'm still catching up on the VODs. Thanks for giving me the time to catch up. I hope your first stream back gives you a ton of resubs. In the meantime, take care of yourself and your family.
Kyle McGuffin
2019-04-15 18:14:06 +0000 UTCYou are incredibly hard working and your work ethic is admirable. Like some other patrons have said, you can expect my 3 dollars for as long as im financially capable. Your work is one of a kind and if you need to slow down or rethink the way you create, do it! Your family and health come first - but know that I and your other fans will always support you. Thank you for what you do and will do, Joe!
2019-04-15 18:09:42 +0000 UTC60 hrs per week is a bit too much for me. How could you have time to take care of yourself (physically)? Seriously, health is alway first priority. Take care, Joe! We love your work, and what you have achieved was more than enough to convince us to be patient for your next great video.
Christopher Lin
2019-04-15 18:05:44 +0000 UTCI picked the wrong month to up my patron pledge, should have done it sooner lol. In all seriousness, keep doing what's in your best interest Joe, life is more important than videogames.
2019-04-15 17:57:15 +0000 UTCTake time for yourself and your family, and we'll see you when it's all said and done. Can't wait for Witcher 3, though.
2019-04-15 17:49:43 +0000 UTCGosh, Jordan, don't ever apologize for working 60 hours a week, that's an insane amount of time, specially if you have a baby on the way. Take your time to take care of Lili, your kids and yourself. We'll wait whatever is necessary.
Jaime Llanos
2019-04-15 17:49:00 +0000 UTC
