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Rob Zacny

3MA has a Patreon

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After a lot of discussion among ourselves and with the Idle Thumbs gang, we've decided to start a Three Moves Ahead Patreon.

 

This is something we've had our eye on since... pretty much the moment Patreon became a thing. It's a good fit for 3MA and our audience, much more so than the ad-supported model has proven to be, and we're hoping that we can use Patreon to both cover our producer's time and also cover some of the opportunity cost that doing a weekly strategy podcast involves.

 

One reason this took so long is because it's all new, weird territory for us. We like 3MA and we're proud of it, but it's still a huge leap for us to then open up a Patreon and say, "Maybe you'd like to give us money for it?" Nevertheless, it's time to give it a try.

 

Comments and questions are welcome here. Troy, Michael, Bruce, and myself are all around and listening. This Patreon, like 3MA itself, is a work in progress. We want to hear what you have to say.

 

But money would be cool, tool.

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Oh crazy, when I woke up this morning I was literally thinking about how I should have some way to give money to Michael Hermes thinking about how much work he has to put into different podcasts at this point. Glad we're on the same wave length!

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Oh crazy, when I woke up this morning I was literally thinking about how I should have some way to give money to Michael Hermes thinking about how much work he has to put into different podcasts at this point. Glad we're on the same wave length!

 

Wow, I really appreciate that! Though I feel compelled to point out that Rob is the steam engine of the show, and I'm just here shoveling coal. Or something. Wait, maybe Rob is the coal. And I'm a shovel? And Troy is the track... this is getting away from me. In any case, thank you very much.

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I mean, you're all getting my money so it is all good, but being a musician that has wrangled with some tedious editing using Audacity (don't know if that's what you're using but my point stands regardless) I definitely appreciate the behind the scenes work you're putting in. Obviously the logistical planning from Rob, Troy, and co. is important too... I wasn't trying to snub anyone, honest!

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It's all good! And for what it's worth, I use Adobe Audition for all podcast work. (And Reaper if I have to do music for other projects.)

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Consider yourself patronized! Could you give a bit more info about the patrons-only podcast? Will they be about the length of a normal episode? Will you be committing to releasing them at specific dates, or just some time within each quarter? Will they mean no more general Q&A shows?

 

I'll admit that at $120/year, or $60 more than the previous level, for four extra podcasts, that level feels a bit expensive. (My points of comparison here are Savage Lovecast, which is $36/year for an extra half-hour or so of content each week, and We Have Concerns, where all patrons get access to occasional extra episodes.) Not that you guys don't deserve the money, but, y'know, freelance writer married to another freelance writer = not rolling in dough. But, I'm happy to give 3MA some money no matter what.

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 I could be spiteful and go on a rant "its about time" but instead I will up my monthly pledge to compensate for all the great content across 300+ episodes!

 

I haven't had as much time recently but I do catch the podcast when it covers games I care about. Those are usually 4x or RTS games... the Historical Wargames and LoL talk usually goes over my head. Can't wait for the next podcast... I think it might be King of Dragon Pass related!!!

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Well, time to sign up for this Patreon thing everyone talks about.

 

I like how Paradox Special is illustrated with Victoria 2 screenshot. Vic3 confirmed, naturally.

 

Michael, keep up the great job. It takes listening to many other podcast to understand that either 3MA hosts are superhumans devoid of snoring, coughing, yawning and mewing or you are doing a tremendous invisible work from the shadows.

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I'm all for a patreon, but I dislike the idea of exclusive content. The public face of Rock Paper Shotgun has noticeably gone downhill since they started their supporter-only posts. [They've made a few of these articles public, and they're excellent - but the normal content has suffered]. I would be worried that this would happen to 3MA. As I like the podcast. I'm not really sure I can justify spending £60 a year on it though, as this is more than I spend on games these days (I'm working through games via steam sales.. for example, I'm currently playing Dragon Age Origin and Napoleon:TW). And there's a whole load of other great free content that I try to keep up with.

 

Mental note to self: go crazy with Patreon when I finally get a permanent job)

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Well, this is the straw that made me get a patreon login.  I can only speak for myself, of course, but given that 3MA is being done pro bono, if you just want to just roll around in the cash or use it to pay for food or pleasantries or rent, I've no objection.  I'm in for $10 per month, and that seems reasonable for what I'm already getting.  If anything else happens, I'll call it a bonus.

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I don't know about Patreon.  Is it possible to sign up and pledge an amount one time...or does it have to be a monthly subscription? I'm not into recurring payments. :P

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I don't know about Patreon.  Is it possible to sign up and pledge an amount one time...or does it have to be a monthly subscription? I'm not into recurring payments. :P

 

General practice is to sign up for a donation plan at the level you wish to make a one-time donation, then cancel it once the first month has gone through. Just really, really make sure to cancel it. 

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General practice is to sign up for a donation plan at the level you wish to make a one-time donation, then cancel it once the first month has gone through. Just really, really make sure to cancel it. 

Thank you, Sir.  Done and done.  And a fine job you all do with 3MA - I'm a reglur.

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I'm all for a patreon, but I dislike the idea of exclusive content. 

 

That's why I like 3MA goals. Exclusive content is some voting and playing MP with guys. Latter should obviously limited. Since I'm poor guy from Eastern Europe I'm glad those guys can have my 5 bucks (half of monthly income in my country) and I'm still helping. But I won't lose a show if state death squads take all my money.

 

Also are you sure about Napoleon? It's a TW game no one plays. They even play Empire instead. I too love the era but modelling Borodino with couple of thousands guys is underwhelming.

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Consider yourself patreoned. If such a word exists! In the event that you get more cash than you were expecting (for example way more than just covering production costs & the stretch goals etc) are you intending to tell us what you will do with it? 

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That's why I like 3MA goals. Exclusive content is some voting and playing MP with guys. Latter should obviously limited. Since I'm poor guy from Eastern Europe I'm glad those guys can have my 5 bucks (half of monthly income in my country) and I'm still helping. But I won't lose a show if state death squads take all my money.

 

Also are you sure about Napoleon? It's a TW game no one plays. They even play Empire instead. I too love the era but modelling Borodino with couple of thousands guys is underwhelming.

 

Yep, none of our new monthly podcasts (except for the new Q&A) will be exclusive. Basically, patronage is a way for listeners to show their appreciation and contribute to the "common good" and expansion of the show in new directions. They may get rewards that are nice - we've taken suggestions before but never polled our audience for their preferences - but that don't stick essential parts of the 3MA experience in a walled garden.

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When do we get to vote on future episode topics? Because there is a new Julian Gollop game out, and I think that deserves coverage!

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Ok, fine, I gave you money. You don't have to call me a tool.  :sad:

 

lol - me too.  I enjoy the podcast, but I was hoping that a stretch goal would be to have Tom Chick on the podcast more. Please?  Pretty please???  ;)

Love you guys, and keep up the good work.

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When do we get to vote on future episode topics? Because there is a new Julian Gollop game out, and I think that deserves coverage!

I doubt you're going to need to vote on this.

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When do we get to vote on future episode topics? Because there is a new Julian Gollop game out, and I think that deserves coverage!

 

Rob will have the final say on this, but I'm thinking we do a poll in a few weeks.

 

And yes, Chaos Reborn is a thing.

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When do we get to vote on future episode topics? Because there is a new Julian Gollop game out, and I think that deserves coverage!

 

We're working on that now and should have a poll available within the next week or so. We'll create a new post on the Patreon page for the backers, and that will have a link.

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I see pitch video has only 137 episodes. Even if you didn't need any more reasons to give those people money and just clicked "become a patron" before page had loaded - I recommend to see the video. You'll see the beard and glasses behind those voices in high definition. Contrary to what you may have thought it's not cowboy hat and monocle.

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