Drew's new project is Cloth Map - Patreon inside

@monetarydread: If your making money with your videos I am pretty sure you have to pay your crew a living wage.

Cool for Drew. I enjoy the stuff Danny makes on NoClip because it is specifically the type of behind-the-curtain look at games that I enjoy. Not sure how interested I am to see gaming culture around the world, that is to say I'm not actually, but I wish him great success.

Gotta say though, as the guy who was always behind the camera or in the control room, it was really weird seeing just Drew, front and center, driving a video. Even during Extra Life I always somehow felt like it was Alexis, Ian and Drew.

Regardless of how you feel about the premise, Drew is a man who knows how to cut an interesting video. I'm looking forward to seeing where he goes.

Backed the project. Good to see Drew do what he likes, i really enjoyed that North Korea video. (for a second i thought he was gonna become some broadcast consultant or something :P)

What he wants to do fits Drew as a glove, and he has already shown that he's good at this. It's encouraging to see that there are enough people out there that want to see this happen.

Also wise to keep the tiers at a reasonable prize so that the whole project won't collapse if a big investor that gives a monthly 500$, 1k$ suddenly pulls out.

@monetarydread: Vinny's case he'd have to get out of games to make that sort of money, and dunno if he could do it while also staying in NY.

And for expense Drew's probably going to need a cameraman as he'll probably be on camera himself at least some, so 2 plane tickets, plus room and food for the time he's in the location (eating out ain't cheap, though with AirBnB he might be able to actually rent a house and cook to lower costs). Throw in paying HIMSELF a living wage as this is his only income plus insurance and it adds up super fast. (8.3(repeating)k/month is right at $100,000/year, which if he will continue living in Cali isn't THAT much money).

Now if he gets into Danny money ($20k/month) it starts to become a more interesting conversation as he'll be able to upgrade all his equipment sooner than later at which point he may either bring more people on board contracting or who knows what.

drews note to you when you pledge is kind of adorable. :) i'll miss the guy here but i'm glad he's still making himself visible.

I feel like this is something that would have done very well on the site, and CBSi should have funded it.

He wouldn't get to call the shots though. I get the sense that it is important to him that he does.

@westernwizard: throw in the fact that he has to pay taxes and patreon gets a cut.

This is a better idea then it has any right to be.

I'm really tempted to make this the first patreon I donate to.

Just made a new Patreon account and Drew's my first... patron? No wait, I'm his patron? Either way, can't wait to see him take off!

Interesting. Seems right up his alley. I might back him.. never done a patreon before. Feel like I want to see an "episode" to know what exactly this is going to be and either love it or meh depending on how it is put together.

That being said, it seems slightly weird because Jeff has always talked about wanting to do something similar to this with GB. Traveling the country and looking at games and the people etc in a more, on-the-front-lines, local sort of approach I suppose. Also, as was brought up in here, I never considered the fact that the GB crew would be looking at others and thinking they aren't getting paid enough. I'd be happy to do what they do for next to minimum wage.. Same as what I get now except I'd actually be interested and passionate about my job instead of feeling like I'm wasting my time/life.

Although, I get the impression that being under CBSi's umbrella is a lot of not-fun. Corporate overlords and such. GB feels like it wants to be loosey goosey and scrappy.

I feel the same way, but I joined for $5 a month to give Drew the benefit of the doubt. Who knows? It may just be a cool travel show through the eyes of a duder I've followed for a large portion of my life. That could be cool. The gaming angle probably just gives him a narrower focus, so the projects don't ramble too much.

I supported him at the $5 level, i've been with the site since it's inception and for like 95% of that Drew has been there, and been awesome, gotta support that guy.

I don't have any spare bucks for Patreons but I'll check this out whenever the first one releases.

The name doesn't do anything for me though, sounds a little drab.

also, from Drew's stream today:

I love the name and am excited to check out his Patreon!

I'm super happy to see that this is already at $12k. This is the most Drew-ass project I could've hoped for.

I'm hoping this will be a Bizarre Foods travel show that some how integrates video games.

Not my kind of thing but hope the very best for drew.

I feel bad for saying this, but what's the chance of this turns out terribly and Drew comes back? I mean, it's not unlikely right? Think Alex and Rorie.

I wish these guys (Drew & Danny) the best. I can afford supporting these guys but I doubt I'll follow them. My gf and I have a mutual backlog of Netflix shows to binge watch. I follow 3 popular YouTube channels for aquarium related videos and I have GB podcasts and videos to enjoy. There's just no time to keep track of all these different things. I wish Drew's projects could have been done as part of GB.

Love the name and the concept. Once my tax return comes in or if I can get a few things sorted before then I'm hoping on board. Can't wait to see Drew put his passions and talents together like this.

@spitz1000: For me it's a "What if?" that sticks out as very negative in what should probably be a positive and well-wishing thread at this fetal stage of Drew's project.

I was always taught to write things or say things only if I could say them to the person's face, and I couldn't say to Drew "What if this fails terribly?" or "I don't like the name," or, "I have no interest in this at all." Seems a bit anti-social, but I know some people say what's on their mind just to get it out of their system with no ill will.

I am fascinated to see how it develops, personally, and will hold off on my opinions until I see the first official episode or however it will be structured. Good luck Drew!

@spitz1000: Honestly I would just be happy if he only came back for Extra Life with Alexis.

Boom! Backed!

Backed. The first thing I've put my money down on with Patreon.

Cool logo, cool name, zero interest.

I guess I have to throw 5€ each to Drew and Danny.

Although I think it would remind me a bit to much about the GOTY theme when all video games disapeared. It would still be fun, but we have seen this "GB doing other things than games theme"

I love Drew and wish him the best of luck, but man the whole trend of "Leaving my job and starting a patron to make videos" thing is getting a little old and dicey now. I mean holy shit 16,000 a month already! But eventually that will go down and down and down...

I mean the trouble is making it on Youtube and actually generating revenue from the views is hard. Take Danny for example. He is still bring in over 20k a month (holy cow) but his first big video is still only a little over 780,000 views. I just do not see it as a sustainable model/income. But hey, enjoy the ride and the passion while you can! Hopefully this makes it big. Would be cool to do a major channel big this up or something, even Netflix

@athleticshark: But they don't need to "make it" on Youtube. People who "make it" on Youtube did so before Patreon was really a thing, so they lived and died by their subscription count being so high that it generated them revenue from adverts. With this, Danny and guys like the Kinda Funny Gaming and Jim Sterling, they're getting paid directly by their established fan base and don't require making videos with 2,000,000 hits on Youtube in order to generate revenue.

Also, while yes it's risky, it's basically just a new way to start your own company with limited risk and no need to go to a bank for a loan provided you've already got a fan base. When Jeff and Ryan started Giant Bomb it was just as risky if not more so than when Danny left Gamespot to go make NoClip. And then eventually they sold their company to another company - which is something that people like Danny or maybe even Drew could do in the future.

Patreon is just a way of pursuing your dream projects while also giving something back to those that support you. I don't think people should be too pesimistic about Drew's future. At the very worst he'll get to travel the world and make some cool videos for a while. He can always get another regular job, it's not like he'll be homeless or anything.

Yeah, Drew doesn't need millions of subscribers in order to make this sustainable. He only needs a few thousand people willing to kick in $3 a month, and if the stuff he makes is good (which I have no doubt it will be) I can't see that ever being a problem.

But that's why they are doing Patrons though. So the viewcount doesn't actually matter.

This is exactly why Patreon kind of rubs me the wrong way, especially in this case. Guess what my dream project would be? Travel. Guess what my wife's dream project would be? Travel. Lots and lots of people would love to be able to quit their jobs and travel the world. Why should I fund somebody else's traveling when I could be saving that money for my own dream trips?

I'm glad to see that Drew has been successful already. I wish him the best and I have nothing but respect for him and his aspirations - I just can't bring myself to support him financially.

The difference is, Drew is going to be creating content from the travel he is doing, and has a proven track record of doing so in such a way that people enjoy watching.

That said, I completely understand your justification for not supporting him financially. Save up for that dream trip!

Personally, I like the idea of the content, and it costs me less than a sandwich worth a month to help get it made. Sounds good!

@baconhound: you are talking about literally $3 a month, but hey it's your money.

i personally think patreon is a great way to cut out (most of) the middlemen and give people the freedom to do cool shit with their lives that normally isn't sustainable. it does seem contingent on a prior history/visibility online, though.

@baconhound: The average patron as of when I write this is donating $7 a month. I spent more on a burrito for lunch today.

I'm not sure about this thing. As in "it's still a bit hard to picture in my head what it will be like", but I wish Drew the best and am willing to give him a few bucks a month to see him give his dream a real shot.

Actually sounds awesome. Drew showed he had real talent with those travel vlogs he did for Giant Bomb.

It's not like he's gonna be on the side of a pool and sipping cocktails during these trips. I mean, I hope he does some of that, but he's gonna be doing these trips to produce content. And if you can learn anything from Drew's exit, and him talking about past adventures, it's that it's super hard work to produce content (either by yourself or with multiple people). He's gonna be running around, shooting footage, editing, etc. There's a lot of work that's gonna be put into this. It's a job. He's getting paid to travel, sure, but he's getting paid to work his ass off, essentially.

I essentially get where you're coming from, but I don't think it would be fair to see this project as us paying for his vacations.

I hate travel, but i love Drew, so i'll probably end up donating at some point, whatever puts Drew on my screen.

@flasaltine: the allure of being your own boss for once is probably pretty strong.

@seikenfreak said:

It' s pretty obvious that CBSi isn't dishing out the money they would need for that. So Drews move isn't weird it's... smart. People get to see interesting travel documentaries and Drew gets to travel the world. Win win.

Count me in for $5.

You do understand that's essentially what you're doing when you read a travel book, watch a travel TV show, or watch a travel documentary on Netflix, right? Patreon is akin to buying a book, which is only slightly more direct funding than you give to a TV show or a Netflix documentary, but otherwise they're all basically the same thing.

And, the idea is that you'd like to watch the documentaries he produces, not that it's some sort of Drew Travel Slush Fund. Personally I can't think of anybody making travel docs (because a billion people do) that I'd rather watch than Drew.