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Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: The RPPR AP podcast site is now up
« on: May 15, 2013, 01:50:25 PM »
If I get a bunch of content early (as you are saying making Fortunes of War available before they go live) then when the week comes when the new content comes out to the dirty masses then I don't have anything to listen to. I already felt this when I backed one of the kickstarters and got a bunch of stuff early and then realized you were going to post it. I did not listen to the fortunes of war play I had access to early because of this.
Perhaps if it was just outside the normal stream of content (extras that will eventually go live as you noted) that would work but for me just getting a lump package of things that will eventually be in the normal stream does not work well. Others mileage may vary.
I actually find the con games not as great (with the exception of Mr Glancy's games - I think someone should just follow him with a microphone in his day to day interaction) since your are doing them in a large space with a lot of background noise and the audio quality suffers. I have no problem with non RPPR regulars being in/hosting games but if the situation is such the audio is compromised I tend to stop listening.
This may hopelessly date me as an old man not with the hot new business models but my personal feeling would be to create a subscription service (I know you already have a way to donate money but looking for something more formal). Being a 'member' may get me nothing more than to be 'ahead' on the streams some amount of time. Being a member might also just get me nothing but a pat on the back and a bumper sticker/tote bag although this of course will likely limit the people who sign up. A subscription service would create an actual revenue stream instead of step function payments which some people (including myself) believe to be better long term way to fund a business. It create incentives in the business to keep going as opposed to the temptation of taking all of one time cash and spending it on expensive cars/drugs/companionship (note I did not say that would necessarily be a waste of money). I also think it is easy when you have a lump sum to plan poorly so late in the game you realize you need more cash. You are seeing a number of Kickstarter projects having this same issue. With money coming in the door each month/quarter you need to plan better for today but tomorrow you have a revenue stream so your corrections might not have to be as dire.
All of the above being said I understand why a bundling model is much easier for you to do. You don't have to create a mechanism to gate release of content based on subscription status and track, maintain, and process subscription payments. If you bundle you just give a pre-vetted list of people a link to a place they can pull the files and they handle distribution. The model I want is a much higher technical investment so that might make it a non starter. I am sure services exists to help solve the technical problems but they will want some form of cut which then eats into the revenue and you end up having to buy the discount dollar store Cheerios not the fresh free range ones made by well paid and happy indigenous peoples of an underprivileged country that you buy at Whole Foods.
In the end I will likely buy some bundles as I am at a point in my life that I am happy to pay people for the content I enjoy even if I don't automatically pull down and listen to them. One of the aspects of the crowd sourcing movement that people use to talk a lot about but I have not heard much of recently is the idea of being a patron of something. I get some small amount of affirmation knowing that while I might have 'overpaid' for something I am supporting content/products I want to see in the world.
Perhaps if it was just outside the normal stream of content (extras that will eventually go live as you noted) that would work but for me just getting a lump package of things that will eventually be in the normal stream does not work well. Others mileage may vary.
I actually find the con games not as great (with the exception of Mr Glancy's games - I think someone should just follow him with a microphone in his day to day interaction) since your are doing them in a large space with a lot of background noise and the audio quality suffers. I have no problem with non RPPR regulars being in/hosting games but if the situation is such the audio is compromised I tend to stop listening.
This may hopelessly date me as an old man not with the hot new business models but my personal feeling would be to create a subscription service (I know you already have a way to donate money but looking for something more formal). Being a 'member' may get me nothing more than to be 'ahead' on the streams some amount of time. Being a member might also just get me nothing but a pat on the back and a bumper sticker/tote bag although this of course will likely limit the people who sign up. A subscription service would create an actual revenue stream instead of step function payments which some people (including myself) believe to be better long term way to fund a business. It create incentives in the business to keep going as opposed to the temptation of taking all of one time cash and spending it on expensive cars/drugs/companionship (note I did not say that would necessarily be a waste of money). I also think it is easy when you have a lump sum to plan poorly so late in the game you realize you need more cash. You are seeing a number of Kickstarter projects having this same issue. With money coming in the door each month/quarter you need to plan better for today but tomorrow you have a revenue stream so your corrections might not have to be as dire.
All of the above being said I understand why a bundling model is much easier for you to do. You don't have to create a mechanism to gate release of content based on subscription status and track, maintain, and process subscription payments. If you bundle you just give a pre-vetted list of people a link to a place they can pull the files and they handle distribution. The model I want is a much higher technical investment so that might make it a non starter. I am sure services exists to help solve the technical problems but they will want some form of cut which then eats into the revenue and you end up having to buy the discount dollar store Cheerios not the fresh free range ones made by well paid and happy indigenous peoples of an underprivileged country that you buy at Whole Foods.
In the end I will likely buy some bundles as I am at a point in my life that I am happy to pay people for the content I enjoy even if I don't automatically pull down and listen to them. One of the aspects of the crowd sourcing movement that people use to talk a lot about but I have not heard much of recently is the idea of being a patron of something. I get some small amount of affirmation knowing that while I might have 'overpaid' for something I am supporting content/products I want to see in the world.
