RobDyke

FIRST GOAL = CRUSHED

Here I am. It's just past 5 in the morning. I can barely get ready to sleep because of how tremendously happy I am -- how thankful I am for all of you. I'm absolutely blown away. You've shown me so much hope. I was honestly starting to lose so much before you all displayed such an immense gesture of kindness towards me by not only pledging money, but BELIEVING in me. Thank you.

With the first goal done, you've guaranteed that I can pay my people to produce content for you regularly. Mind-blowing. My team and I are so beyond grateful for this.

I've unlocked a new goal. This goal will help with further projects, but also help me with life expenses, honestly. But there are more details written in the goals section. So be sure to give it a look. I had mentioned a horror game before, but I just mentioned something brand new that has been in the planning stages for over a year now. A real, scripted series in which I am a main actor.

Let me know your thoughts. And thank you so much. Let's take online content to the next level and show anyone who doubts us exactly what we are capable of.

Without you, my work is meaningless. Thank you for humbling me beyond what I am even capable of expressing. Thank you.

Rob

A Potential Gift for Everyone

Hi there,

I've decided that I will be giving away a free t shirt to one random patron from ANY reward level every now and again. So keep an eye out for messages from me. I may need your shipping info! Just an extra way to say thank you. Merch is almost here!

Hope you're all doing well,

Rob

You'll Like This

Hello everyone!

We just broke $7,000! Insane! Thanks to Mario for pushing us over the edge of that! Closing in on the goal thanks to all of you.

I wanted to fill everyone in on a future plan. Once we reach goal, I'm going to continue the Patreon (pretty obvious) but I wanted to let you know a couple of reasons why, with a little bit of bonus information that I think you're really gonna dig.

Firstly, I don't think I'll ever trust YouTube again. Not to say they're bad or anything. But this situation really showed me how you can't depend on them solely. With all the people that depend on me, like my team and my family, I can't ever put that at risk again. Because it's only a matter of time before something like this happens again. Because it will. It always does.

Secondly, I want to open more goals -- specifically, the next goal after this one -- will be the first step in a non-YouTube direction. Not to say it won't be entertainment based. Because it will be. And here's where something really cool begins to take form.

I've been conceptualizing a horror video game for a while. So once we reach goal, I'm going to set a new goal, and as we work towards making that happen, the horror game will begin to go into development. And ANYONE who is a patron here helping me will be put into the credits for the game.

What I would like to do is make a really cool credits "room" in the game that will feature photos of all of you (if you decide to send a photo of yourself to be used). So you will be immortalized in a horror video game that I truly want to be wildly popular and horrifying.

How does this sound to you? Personally, I'm excited for this. I want my brand of scary to reach all new levels. And I want you all to feel proud to be a part of it, because I'm so proud to have you here. Each and every one of you.

Thank you so much again. Here's to $8,000!

Rob

The Halfway Point & Hard Truths

Man, oh man...

To be honest, I didn't think we would make it to this point, no less in only a few days. It's so great to know so many people give a shit. All of you. My hat is off to you.

Been getting really tired of YouTube's baby shit for a while now. I'm just stunned that they think my content isn't appropriate for advertisers. Meanwhile they put advertisers' ads on super inflammatory content that creates a brand exodus (made way bigger than what it actually was by assholes like the Wall Street Journal).

And who are they gonna blame for this issue? People like me, of course. Sometimes I wonder if they even know who I am. Oddly enough they wanted me in the 2015 YouTube Rewind and the 2016 YouTube Rewind because they like my content so much. Makes no sense for them to then demonetize my content and also leave me and so many others high and dry when the brands pull out.

What makes me a bit angrier is the fact that YouTube is actually protecting a good handful of creators from this brand boycott. Their earnings are fine. Practically untouched. Their preferred partners -- as they call them -- are safe and sound.

Meanwhile, a certain YouTuber (who will remain nameless) strong armed YouTube into giving them hundreds of thousands of dollars through a Platinum Deal two years In a row (unheard of for almost every other creator). The Platinum Deals were offered to creators when competitor video site Vessel was starting up. Vessel went to YouTube's biggest names and offered hundreds of thousands of dollars for them to upload their content to Vessel first for one year. Then upload to YouTube 24 hours later. YouTube didn't like this.

So YouTube offered Platinum Deals to those creators (I am obviously not one of those creators). Hundreds of thousands of dollars to NOT take Vessel's deal and instead stay exclusive to YouTube. And they took it. By the time the year was over, Vessel was a distant memory. No longer a threat. So naturally there's no longer a need for a Platinum Deal. YouTube has no real competition. But one YouTuber contractually obligated YouTube to renew their deal specifically. They are protected. They have received millions in advertising. They thrive in a time when everyone else is having a hard time.

I know I sound bitter. Truth be told, I'm just sick of the bullshit. I've been an underdog for a long time. And though I've worked my ass off to create one of a kind content on YouTube, I don't think they've ever truly been thankful for it. Now more than ever, they're ignorant and flippant of the work I do.

But not you all. You value the work I do. You see the hard work. You value it. And most importantly, you invest in it. Not just your money here, but your time. Your attention.

And in that, we will succeed. Halfway there. This is only he beginning.

Thank you for everything.

Rob

A Slight Adjustment

Firstly, we are cruising towards $5000. Insanity. I'm humbled above and beyond.

As for the slight change, the $10 a month reward offered a private email that people could use. I've changed this to the ability to participate in Patreon-only livestreams. I recently found out that Patreon added a live function which I think is great and I'll take advantage of soon.

So just wanted to let you know! And again, thank you so tremendously for all your help. It's incredible. More content is on the way. Full steam ahead.

Rob

Some Important Concerns

Man, we just broke $3000. That's so awesome. Almost a third of the way there. Welcome to so many of you that are new. This is a place where you all can communicate with me directly. And I can communicate with you. So thank you so much.

It's become rather apparent to me that YouTube has protected some creators from this boycott. Some people are totally fine right now. Making the same money. No issue. Despite YouTube losing around a billion dollars in ad revenue, it hasn't really impacted them. For creators like me, we lose 80% of our business, and YouTube won't even come forward to try to explain anything or show us a game plan.

So the fact that you're helping me in this way is like giving YouTube the middle finger and saying that the content YOU love will be there regardless of them. Which is powerful as hell. All the brands could come back tomorrow, but it's always possible YouTube will still screw over people like me by making our channels less enticing to advertise on. Because they're going to give advertisers more power in who they advertise with. So they're going to divide all their creators into genres. Some will be educational. Some will be kid friendly. On and on.

I have a sneaking suspicion that YouTube will take my channel and group it into a genre that makes advertisers think I am pretty much a gore porn channel that exploits bombings and other tragedies without adding any editorial content or substance whatsoever. That's my concern now.

So thank you for helping so that that shit doesn't matter. I'm really really wanting things to go back the way they were a few weeks ago. The fact things have changed this much makes me sick, really.

Just thank you. For everything.

Rob

Okay WTF

I was hoping to break $1000 tomorrow at some point and we've already broken $2000 just today/tonight. That is mind blowing. Thank you all so much for this. For helping me to keep my work going for not only all of you, but for everyone. We still got a ways to go, but we are a fifth of the way there. And then we can see what other incredible things we can do.

Thank you immensely. Every day.

Rob

Welcome Newcomers

Hey everyone,

Almost at $1000, making 1/10th of our goal. That's awesome to see and I really really appreciate all your help. This has been a rough road but seeing things like this definitely brings more hope to the whole situation. So again, thank you.

Rob

The Return

Hello everyone,

First, thank you to everyone new around here for deciding to support my content. Thank you immensely to so many of you who have stuck around for so long.

I'd like to let you know that I'm going to be revamping this Patreon and I'll be offering rewards again. I have brought on someone to do fulfillment for me. That was always the biggest issue - figuring out how to send out all these rewards, as well as organizing who gets what.

Please note that if you become a patron for me, you can only get a reward if your payment goes through. One big issue we had before was that a lot of people became patrons but their cards either got declined or were entered incorrectly or something along those lines.

So bear with me while these changes are made and thank you, once again, for becoming a part of what keeps me going.

Rob

Unforeseen Circumstances

Hi everyone,

So I have some potentially upsetting news. I am no longer able to offer rewards for levels of patronage on my Patreon. The main reason for this is not only an overall inability to keep up with the demands of my multiple channels and Patreon, but also the fact that a lot of people who do pledge money, end up getting their cards denied for whatever reason, and then they are still considered a "patron" but they're not paying. So trying to sift through who ended up fulfilling their pledge and who didn't is a bit mind numbing.

I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND if you'd like to withdraw what you've pledged. Know that I appreciate so much beyond belief those who have pledged and continue to do so and I apologize considerably for my lack of keeping up with things. 

►►If you'd like to continue to pledge money and you don't care about getting a reward, know that I am humbled immensely by your dedication for what I do. ◄◄

Honestly I made a video addressing this a while ago, but for some reason the audio and video wouldn't sync up correctly. Seems my webcam has some kind of underlying issue. I don't know. 

Thank you for understanding my predicament here. I am working tirelessly to provide you with always enhancing content on YouTube. Trying to give you that one of a kind experience with me, but it does have its demands, and those demands are monumental most of the time. I think I put 80+ hours a week into all of my channels. 

So again, I apologize and understand if you will withdraw your pledge. But if you still decide to support me regardless of rewards, you have my greatest respect and appreciation and I hope taking my content to new levels in order to entertain you could pay you back even a fraction of the amount.

Sincerely,

Rob

Video Coming Soon

I know I have been VERY absent lately, and I'd like to apologize for that. I've got a video coming soon explaining what we're gonna do from here, and why it's stalled the way it has. Don't worry, we'll be fixing things.

Hey all

So just a little update - sorry I haven't been as active lately. Been balancing out a few things. Taking care of other stuff. I am going to be scheduling the Google hangouts soon. So stay tuned and I hope you're all doing amazingly. :)

An Editor

Hey all, wanted to let you know that I'm kind of skipping around with the milestones a bit. I've started to build a team. I am really wanting Patreon to grow as time goes on. I think a team is the best way to get my channel to grow. That being said, I've officially hired an editor for Seriously Strange. Now I can focus more on other projects, and leave the editing up to him. Which is awesome. So thank you so much! Can't wait to see what else is in store!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Hi patrons! I just started a contest. I want you to know that they equipment I purchase will NOT be used from the money you pledge each month. I am taking it directly out of my own personal earnings! Thank you SO MUCH AGAIN!!

Hello to all you new patrons!

Thank you sooo much for being here! We're on our way to $2,000 a month! All going directly to new content! Can't wait to see what we do together, peeps. You have no idea! :D

Hey all - just some info

Just wanted you to know that apparently some people had some issues with their billing information. Just be sure that you enter everything carefully so you know that it's correct! :) If you see that your card was declined, but you know that you have the money, it may be because your billing info is incorrect.

What I'm Gonna Do For You

So, as you may know, I am planning out a new web series. It will be a comedy series (possibly hosted on its own channel) and it will be in the format that you see on television. That being said, I want you all to know that the pilot episode credits will contain all the names of you patrons who have helped make this become a reality. Just so you know how much I less than 3 you all. :D

ALMOST $1,000!!

Soooo close. Thanks to you amazing people. I can't WAIT to start working at what I've got planned. Oh man.

Just a reminder!

I want you to know that donations are taken out within the first few days of every month. I can't say exactly what day as I've only even been here for less than 2 months but yeah. So just letting you all know. Over 120 patrons at over $800 a month. Dude..you have no idea the things you're all making possible. Thank you SOOOO MUCHHHH!

OVER 100 PATRONS!

Yes! I'm gonna start doing fansigns for our milestones. Like patron numbers and whatnot. I'll let you patrons know and ONLY YOU. Some exclusive info. I'm planning out a web series that would actually have the style of a televised series. We may start filming in about a month or two. ;) I'll give more details as they evolve.

Hello to NEW PATRONS!

Thank you so much for deciding to go the extra step. You believing in me to this degree means the world to me. You have no idea. :)

Little Update

Hey all, so I had to remove the shout out reward from all but the higher tier donations. I just already have a hard time telling who I owe one to, and with a new video dropping today for my Patreon, it'd make it nearly impossible as people start to come in. Those of you who became my patron when that reward was in effect, will still get a shout out. Don't worry. :) Just from this point forward I can't justify it.

Hey All!

Just wondering how everyone is? Working on the next WWYPTOTI currently. The cycle never ends.

New Lighting!

One of the new lights, thanks to you all! THANK YOU SO MUCH! <3

CLosing in on $300! Whoo hoo! THANK YOU!

Hey to new patrons!

Hello everyone! How are you? Thank you so much for becoming my patron! You're going to seriously change things BIG TIME.

Just ordered new lighting because of all you wonderful people. Gonna have a big impact on quality! :D

Because of you amazing people...

I'll be able to boost the quality of my videos. Going to be getting new lighting already from what you've all pitched in with. Thank you!

How are you doing?

Fill me in peeps.

New Set for Seriously Strange

Check it out! The camera will not see the curtain rod or the wall outlets. And there are some minor adjustments that need to be made. But this is the new set for Seriously Strange. :D WHAT DO YOU THINK???