Thursday 10 May 2012

IndieGoGo Fundraiser


Hello! My name is Joey and I make little videos on youtube about Wargaming. In my first video I talk about the lack of easily available information for beginners and I embark on a vlogging adventure as I try to clumsily decipher the jargon and abbreviations with the help of the internet and begin to figure out my chosen army; Wood Elves.

It’s something I’ve had a lot of fun doing, and have received such positive feedback from the community that I recently came to an epiphany:

I want to make Wargaming my full time job. Well, there it is! I’ve said it now – it’s out there! There are a couple of people out there who already do this, but I want to take the hobby in a totally different direction. I still want to produce a documentary of my experiences with the hobby, developing not only a series about my Wood Elves but also branching out into other armies as well as the grimdark 40k universe. Not only that but there are other gaming companies out there producing fantastic games that don’t see nearly enough converge: Privateer Press’s Warmachine and Hordes and Wyrd Minature’s Malifaux are games which I’ve recently been exploring at my friendly local gaming club and am enjoying greatly. I’d be covering this games and anything else that *YOU*, the views of my channel want to see. That brings me onto my next point. I want to make these YOUR shows. Your input, themes, ideas, models, battles reports – everything.

The wargaming community is the single most friendly, helpful and supportive I’ve ever encountered. People swap models, offer genuine opinions, suggestions and advice; moddlers, collectors, painters and gamers all go out of their way to help each other out. Recently I borrowed about 1600 points of elves to play in a local tournament! – I can’t see that happening over video games somehow! “Hey man! I really want to play Guild Wars 2... can I borrow your gaming rig?”

The independent tournament scene is huge, from the European Team Championships (with its altered rules balanced from input from the best player’s on the scene) to one day tournaments at local gaming clubs there is so much going on within the hobby I feel it’s time to take it all to the next level.

With the complexity of wargaming and the rising stars with the hobby on both the painting and gaming side of it, combined with rising popularity and public awareness I see no reason why Wargaming can’t go the same way as E-sports have in recent years and become an exciting spectator sport. Hell; people watch snooker.  I’ve been a fan of Starcraft for many years and it’s emergence as the leading E-sport is an excellent example of what a devoted and strong community can achieve. While I’m no Day[9] (BY THE WAY SEAN I TOTALLY WOULD!) I want to achieve similar interest and buzz around miniature wargaming and be a part of a team that takes the hobby new places.

So what are my big plans for the future of wargaming? - I want to travel to venues all over, from local clubs to international tournaments and start filming.  , professionally edited together to be entertaining and condensed, visual breakdown of tactics, features and stats on the players, interactive army lists and interviews, all rolled into one great Battle Show.

Right now I’m just someone on youtube producing little videos about what I’m doing. Yes, I’m clearly super interesting and amazing with *great* fashion sense (LULZ) but I really want to act as a hub for all the genuinely amazing talent out there within the hobby, on and off the table. There are people out there that make podcasts, videos, tacticians, expert painters, tournament winners and kids playing in local afterschool clubs.

Whilst my knowledge of the various games, tactics, painting techniques and everything else is still in its infancy, I can envision where I want to take these shows with the help of contacts I’ve made within the community – the real experts on all subjects! I’m certainly not in a position to be analysing high-level play yet, but I know people who are, and who are willing to contribute to the shows – they will be the casters of games while I continue to develop. I still plan to bring my quirky humour and whatnot through interviews and I develop new shows in HD quality with much longer run times.

In summary then, I want to be putting up multiple high quality videos a week, from each of my regular series – perhaps Joey 40,000 as a documentary of my 40k army/ies, other games, interviews, comedy, and battle reports of professional level games like nothing you’ve ever seen before! And all remaining an educational experience.

To do this however, it takes money. And this is where you come in. I’ve toyed with the idea generating money through my channel with sponsorship for my channel and videos before; in fact I’ve even been propositioned by companies to advertise for them. I nearly jumped at the offers a few times, but I’m aware that one of my appeals within the community is my fresh-faced and completely unbiased views on... well everything! (well apart from the conspiracy theorists! – news of a shiny new sponsor would play right into their hands!)  I didn’t want the integrity of what I currently film and will continue to produce in the future, to be compromised by having to follow what some sponsor said – as an independent person I have the freedom to say things like “Good God that finecast model was a complete miscast disaster” to “that model actually is well sculpted and put together like a dream” without the wrath of a vicious overseer.

So crowd funding has been suggested to me by a lot of  you on facebook and forums that crowd funding as an alternative to a single dictating sponsor. Taking a massive leap like this to generate funds conjures up images of Dragon’s Den and desperately trying to win over people who really don’t care and just want to see a return on their money. But with funding and support from the community who want to see you succeed lots of little contributions go a long way. So that’s why I’m making this pledge video; with your help I can raise the funds to realise my dream of making Wargaming commentary my full-time job, without sacrificing my integrity and honesty.

So why do I need money? As a minimum wage waitress I can only “do hobby stuff” in my spare time, not to mention my total lack of equipment, in both the recording and editing departments! With crowdfunding I will be able to cut back my hours working in a chocolate cafe and dedicate more working hours to wargaming, along with being able get some desperately needed equipment. A quick breakdown of where the money will be going is available below...

So what do you, the individual sponsor, get out of your donation? Apart from my eternal love, gratitude and the knowledge that you personally helped me make a life-altering career move and every single thing I produce from the date the campaign ends is a direct result of your generosity? Well there all the unique and awesome perks and rewards listed at the side! Have a little look through them right now. Pause the video. Go on, go read them! Still not pausing it? I’ll tell you what, I’ll pause it for you.

Pretty sweet rewards eh? As an added bonus all participants will get their name immortalised on a thank you page on the new site; with the size of the text being proportional to amount given. Your donation doesn’t have to be one of the set reward bands either; it can be any amount you can manage, all of which are appreciated. If you wanted to make a donation but wanted an alternative or specific reward feel free to contact me with your suggestions and I’d be more than willing to discuss it with you.
Even if you can’t make a donation you can really help out a lot by forwarding the campaign on Facebook and Twitter and any forums you may be a part of to get the ball rolling.

It’s something I’m clearly passionate about and really want to make happen so I’m putting myself “out there” with my fate in your hands! Thanks for watching right to the end here; this really means a lot to me. With your support I believe I can develop something truly amazing!

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