Hype, fundraising, importance and a question

I'll be writing them back this week and will let you guys know where that is :) I appreciate your trust and I know it's something I have to continue to earn, not just earn once.

The King of Average

First off, congrats on being rated as a top influencer! That’s just others coming around to see what those of us here already knew =) You present information that is helpful and straightforward. You put your community (us!) and the consumer first, and it’s clear that your opinion is not swayed by others, be that game developers or even other content creators. These are some of the key reasons why so many of us trust you and continue to tune in. As you mentioned above, even the fact that you’re coming to us with this sponsorship issue is an example of your integrity and transparency. In this particular case, I don’t feel like you’d be compromising anything to accept the sponsorship. With all of the feedback you’ve been given, though, it’s ultimately up to you and what your conscious is telling you is right for you to do. We trust ya =) Thanks for bringing this up to discuss!

Smooth Rivera

I appreciate the hard-earned trust. I feel me coming to you guys with the situation at all is exactly how I've earned it through these almost 4 years. :)

The King of Average

Personally, I have no problem with your taking sponsorships. Ultimately, either I trust you to be honest or I don't, and you seem like a pretty honest guy to me. :-)

I feel like for the sponsorship, that it’s great that you’ll be able to afford more things for the channel, we completely understand where you’re coming from and where you’re going towards. If it makes you feel any better or genuine, if you have a sponsor, maybe not review the games they sale in order for you to continue to be unbiased. Another way you could go about it is like you’ve said, you could just put a disclaimer on the video, letting us know that you were sponsored by that very creator/developer. Ultimately, as long as you’re continue critiquing with both pros and cons, then you will continue to sound unbiased; that’s what is bringing most of your viewers to you anyways, is that you’re unbiased in your critiquing. It’s easy to tell if someone was paid off for a review to give a positive review vs just being paid to review a product with honest opinions. Who knows, maybe some game creator will take your criticism to change how their game is developed, and how to set up their campaign better.

Hello Ben, and welcome by the way! I really appreciate the feedback! I've gotten quite the mix of it between here and discord and in PMs :) Some lean your way, others the complete opposite. I'm going to get in touch with them and see how their company really runs, but ultimately I feel it's best to not even give the doubt some might have. I'm with you though of course. When Shadowborn Games reached out about putting me in Oathsworn they asked if it was okay. I responded with "they either trust me or they don't. I hope that, over the last 3 years, I've earned their trust." and I hope that regardless of anything, that I have :) Coming here and talking to you guys about it is just part of that I feel :D

The King of Average

On the idea of a channel sponsorship, I feel like anyone who watches more than one or two videos on your channel already knows for sure that your opinions won’t be influenced by the company making the game. It comes across well that you’d rather call out anyone on a bad game or bad components etc. and harm your own position in the industry by doing so, if it’s going to be helpful information to even a single viewer. And the fact that you can introduce this potential sponsor as a company that “makes great videos and crappy board games” speaks to that 100% Personally I’m all for the idea of sponsorships and if it helps you grow and continue to make awesome and valuable content, it seems well worth considering!

Ben Davies

That's wonderful to hear, I feel it's important to share similarities with someone reviewing something you are interested in. Sounds like it's a good fit! :)

The King of Average

Thanks so much! :) Makes me happy knowing I'm helping others.

The King of Average

Congrats on #1. You're the only YouTube channel I watch so that's very cool

I totally get you because you're a lot like me.