Poking at Patreon

First of all, I should establish that I’m not actually dead.

But I have been spending the past few weeks with Dream Quest Academy, helping teach kids about video game development and basic computer programming principles. (Give a kid a block of TNT in Minecraft, he’ll blow it up. Teach a kid how to spawn infinite blocks of TNT, and he’ll blow up the world until the game crashes.)

While away from the blog, I starting thinking about Patreon and pondering what its possible role could be for this website and various other creative endeavors.

For those who haven’t heard of it, Patreon is a platform that lets fans of a creator become patrons by subscribing to his or her efforts. In return for their monthly patronage, the creator give them rewards such as exclusive content, behind the scene info, or a shocking amount of control over what project creator tackles next.

I’ve got enough fun stuff going on here on the website that I can imagine a successful Patreon endeavor. (“Want to see updated Ghost Punchers material before anyone else? Become a patron!”) But there’s also such a wide range of content, I’m not sure what people want to see the most. World-building thoughts? Game design posts? Whiny-yet-humorous essays on the hardships of being a middle-aged father?

And there’s no reason to limit myself to blog content. With patron support, I could actually finish and produce some of these game ideas I’ve been kicking around, or maybe do some more fiction.

It’s… a bit overwhelming to think about. But exciting, too. I’ll continue to ponder, but while I’m pondering, if you have any suggestions, please let me know.