Patron Update: Looking at 2024

Hey everybody, figured it'd be a good time for an update what with the new Patrons and all.

First of all, thanks for all the support. Akalabeth/Ultima I I wasn't the best performing video, so I didn't really know what to expect but UItima II has had some good viewership and really positive feedback! To be clear, I do not care about performance (within reason). I've never gamed the algorithm with clickbait, tiddy-laden thumbnails or HOT video topics and I never will. A lot of people tell me to not burn myself out, but as long as I don't turn YouTube into a pure numbers game, I'm at no imminent risk of that happening. Having a nice Patreon cushion certainly helps with that mindset, so thank you.

Anyway, just letting you know what's coming next. I'm actually jumping straight into Ultima III and that'll likely be the next video that comes out. Already started writing/researching, so expect the usual turnaround time if not a little sooner. I've been doing some beginner online editing courses since I really never established my fundamentals back when I started the channel. It's amazing how many simple, time-saving things I've been overlooking. I've always been more of a "let me figure it out on my own" type of guy, but there's definitely a point where I'm just working hard-but-not-smart, and I think that point has passed. The Ultima videos are the ones where I like to test what I've learned about editing a little bit more, so you can still expect the calculated lack of professionalism when I make a video on a goofier topic.

After Ultima III is finished, I'll take a break from the franchise to do a video on the Shadow Tower games before returning for Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (that's a big one). I've spent so much time playing Ultima that I'm looking forward to being impressed by rudimentary 3D graphics again.

My general, poorly thought out goal was to perhaps do ALL of the Ultima games by the end of this year, but I'm not sure that'd be possible even if I DIDN'T also review other games (which I'm going to). I mean, it might be possible, but not while maintaining the quality of the videos where I want it to be. So, it's gone from a long-term project to like... a REAL long-term project. For those of you who aren't really familiar with Ultima, I think it'll become more and more clear as to why this is considered such a formative series as we move through the games.

I haven't thought too far ahead of Shadow Tower/Ultima IV yet, but I know I want to cover more weird 90s point & click games, some Sega Saturn JRPGs, and whatever else comes up (including one of the suggestions made on my Discord, if one grabs me). Just wanted to keep everybody in the loop and let you know that, as always, I'm hard at work making content that I hope you enjoy.

Cheers everybody!