Fundraiser Update

[Ross Scott]

Wow. It's been a week, but my brain is still adjusting to the new reality of what's happened. You guys not only sent more money than I was due to earn this year (without additional work), but this is easily the most money I've ever received at once in my life. Receiving this money has been like a weight being lifted, it should buy me all the time I need to get my life stabilized financially again. When I made the fundraiser video (which I was hesitant about doing in the first place), I thought the odds of getting enough money for the SSD were pretty good. The 12k figure I put on the funds raised thermometer was just a pipe dream. That was just me calculating how much I would need (with taxes) to supplement my own income so that I wouldn't need ANYTHING for a year, and could focus just on making videos. I never expected to GET that much. I thought MAYBE I'd hit the 1k mark. Some people have asked if I've been super happy and excited about this. I was initially, around the 1k mark. Since then, I've mostly been in shock as I've never had anything like this happen to me before. But since it has happened, I'll put it to use! This is the second-most thankful I've felt in my life (the first being when I accidentally had my carotid artery sliced open as a kid, was bleeding profusely and almost died), so, thanks!

 

How I feel about all this

 

 

FUNDRAISER OVER?

 

There was never really an expiration on the fundraiser, but I will be disabling the counter showing how much has been raised in the near future. The reason being is that only counts how much money is in my Paypal account, so if I withdraw anything, you would see the number go back down, not showing how much has been raised since. I'm still ALWAYS happy for donations and the "prize" of any line you want voiced is still applicable, for both past and future donators. Also I have added a link to all the isolated voice tracks to Freeman's Mind so far (597MB) as a bonus. Also, due to popular demand, I've implemented some cryptocurrency donations as an option:

 

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I honestly have NO IDEA where cryptocurrency is headed, but hey, I'll give it a shot if people want to send me some! As always, anyone who donated will receive a "thank you" email from me, although I need more time to catch up on email replies to everyone, the response I've received has been overwhelming, it's gong to take me a little longer to get through it all (also if you donate via cryptocurrency, I won't know who you are to thank unless you also email me). I've spent most of this past week focusing on Freeman's Mind.

 

 

WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING?

 

I've heard many stories before about people who win the lottery going broke after a few months because they spent it all. My brain is simply not wired that way. I've had enough financial stress over the past year that I'm going to make sure this money lasts as LONG AS POSSIBLE. I don't want to go on a shopping spree and be back where I was the next day. I want to make smart decisions and still be making videos decades from now. If you're curious, here's what I have planned:

 

-Reserve cash to supplement food and rent: I want to make sure I'm always several months ahead for groceries and rent. This one thing reduces my stress more than anything else and is where the majority of the money will go.

 

-Smaller purchases I could have used for months: Stuff like replacing my broken shoes, replacing a ripped pair of paints, replacing my partially-broken headphones, in short, stuff I would have bought a long time ago if I hadn't been economizing as much as possible.

 

-Some money for long-term volunteers: This is money for a small number of people who have given me a tremendous amount of help with the site or videos over the years.

 

-Computer parts: Maybe! Josh Phillips of LPC Gaming has offered to donate a 500GB SSD drive and some other viewers (thanks to Chris Cogdon, Joe McJoey, and CyDrake583) have offered to donate some parts as well. So while this fundraiser was originally for the SSD, you guys have me covered there as well!

 

-Gorilla Gong: Besides making my videos, I want to improve the Gorilla Gong site, we have BIG plans for it, hoping to really make it explode with some of the features we have coming. I can't reveal everything now, but it's going to be awesome.

 

-Re-opening t-shirt shop: This is a low priority, but I do want to make this happen. The t-shirt will likely relaunch sometime in the future at a lower price to buyers with less money going to me (like $1 a shirt), but many, many more designs to choose from.

 

-Long term stocks investing and MAYBE some trading: Now before everyone panics, I'm going to pursue this very, very cautiously. I've wanted to learn more about stocks for a while now since I want to put my money where my mouth is regarding things like peak oil and the economy declining. Additionally, I know of a trader whose advice I respect, so I may dabble in this, but not without expert advice. In any event, I will not be risking a significant amount of income in this, I'm not much of a gambler.

 

-More videos: Most of these don't actually COST anything (besides the food and rent part), but I have promised to complete Half-Life for FM this year, also you can expect a lot more Game Dungeon later on. For the long term, I hope to divert some funds later for making the full length machinima movie I've mentioned before.

 

-Robot attack dogs: Some Japanese company is working on it. They're having bugs in the AI where the dog doesn't discriminate against the owner and got set back by some casualties.

 

 

So, while my plans are pretty conservative and not as entertaining as a kickstarter scandal, they should lead to more videos in the long haul.

 

 

MISC STUFF:

 

On thankfulness + guilt: I'm amazed how many people feel bad because they ONLY donated a small amount. Guys, I can get a leg of chicken + thigh meat from the deli for about $1.50 here. It ALL counts to me. Also, if you can't afford to donate and feel guilty about it, don't. It's not like you OWE me the money, I'm happy to have you as fans. As long as I can stay afloat one way or another, mission accomplished.

 

On SrcDemo2: Many people informed me of this piece of software and certainly threw me a curve ball regarding motion blur. Now that I've had time to test it, my conclusion is it WILL cut down on the sizes needed some due to .PNG compression. However, I will probably continue using my motion blur technique as SrcDemo2's requires a MUCH higher framerate to approximate the quality of mine, so the load on the CPU doesn't make it very practical.

 

On RAID 0: While two fast drives in RAID 0 might handle most of what I need in terms of capturing, since I'm being donated a SSD, I plan to stick with my original plan, plus I was leaning towards that anyway since SSDs beat out RAID 0 in noise levels any day.

 

On Freeman's Mind: I've completed the dialogue for the next episode, just waiting on some help with sound effects. I won't be waiting for the SSD to arrive for THIS episode, so I'm going to clear up a ton of space to record this episode in HD. In any event, I'm working to get the next episode out ASAP.

 

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ADHD version: You guys have sent Ross a lot of money! This has changed Ross's outlook on life, thank you! New Freeman's Mind episode coming ASAP!

 

LINK TO FORUM COMMENTS

[Alyxx Thorne]

I was proud to contribute and I think you deserve it. You make quality entertainment without usually asking for ANYTHING in return so it was my pleasure to help you out in a crisis.

[Aardonyx]

Wow. How much money did you receive exactly?

[RunninglVlan]

According to fundraiser - it's more than 16,000 dollars.

I'm happy that Ross has enough money to make videos normally now and achieve his goals, but more than that I'm happy for this quote: "I have promised to complete Half-Life for FM this year".

First episode of FM was released in late 2007, so full season would span 7 years.

Also look forward for your planned full length machinima movie.

Good luck!

[K0Z]

I heard the IFF on those robot attack dogs was a bit sketchy. Perhaps we could just settle for genetically altered house cats that are 200% their normal size or maybe some of those pastel colored talking equines that everyone is raving about. Ya that's the ticket!

[HLPrincess]

I heard the IFF on those robot attack dogs was a bit sketchy. Perhaps we could just settle for genetically altered house cats that are 200% their normal size or maybe some of those pastel colored talking equines that everyone is raving about. Ya that's the ticket!

house cats... we're doing it!!!

[VeryShyPerson]

Robots!

 

Also very good the fundraiser. Wow oh wow.

[Monocle]

Ross, I'm so happy for you that feel financially stable. And I know you said not to feel bad if you couldn't donate but I still do. You make excellent videos and I really wish I could have given back. Anyway, thanks for the all the laughs. I look forward to the next Freeman's Mind!

[Pinkie Pie]

Also I have added a link to all the isolated voice tracks to Freeman's Mind so far (597MB) as a bonus.

Ooh shit. Someone get to work on a proper Freeman's Mind: Black Mesa dub ASAP!!

[ScottD.Betson]

I am glad you were able to get what you recieved Ross, I am also glad for those who couldnt donate you are glad to have as fans, I know I tweeted about your situation, only because you are a fucking genius when it comes to making half life comedy happen

keep up the work

[Templar Knight]

It gets even better if we assume that the 16k is being converted to Polish Zloty, which is basically a 1:3 conversion ratio from American currently. Meaning we've basically given Ross just under 50k in Zloty. Not a bad haul for just under a week.

 

Anyway, glad to see this was a success for you Ross. I've been watching your stuff for years and its always been great, you're certainly due the money you made. Good luck with the new adjustments, and I'm anxious to see what comes down the pipe this summer.

[Ross Scott]

Also I have added a link to all the isolated voice tracks to Freeman's Mind so far (597MB) as a bonus.

Ooh shit. Someone get to work on a proper Freeman's Mind: Black Mesa dub ASAP!!

These are in high quality MP3s. If somebody REALLY wants the original WAVs, I can send them, though they were almost a GB then using maximum 7z compression.

[Srake]

Wow, people either wanted HD a lot... Or a lot of people really love you, Ross. Probably both actually. Well, congrats on your secured income for the near future. Can't wait to see what comes from it.

[rairii]

Wow. Congratulations on reaching 4k over the goal!

 

Also I have added a link to all the isolated voice tracks to Freeman's Mind so far (597MB) as a bonus.

Ooh shit. Someone get to work on a proper Freeman's Mind: Black Mesa dub ASAP!!

 

On it.

[BTGBullseye]

If somebody REALLY wants the original WAVs, I can send them, though they were almost a GB then using maximum 7z compression.

You could always put the WAVs into FLAC... Usually drops the size by half, and it's still lossless. Anybody who can't transcode from FLAC to WAV shouldn't be messing with the audio anyways, now should they...

 

I personally would love to get them in FLAC format.

 

Also as a side note, a single Bitcoin is worth about $630 USD right now...

[Lord Ornlu]

Glad for you man. I'm sorry I couldn't donate, as I'm still a student and the budget is tight right now, but as soon as I find some form of income, I'll try and send something your way. The laughter you have given me has been life-saving in some occasions (like the time I was stressing out about my final year exams for my bachelor, and I couldn't study and suddenly I see in front of me... new Freeman's Mind. I don't remember now which episode it was, but it really lifted all the stress I had and was able to study and write well in the exam later on). Keep up the good work and you are worth every penny you received and more. Also, thank you for showing to me the magic that is Eternam. I've downloaded it when I saw your RGD episode and have more than 50 hours in it so far and enjoying it very much. Also, Tyrian was a game I used to play as a kid a lot on my brother's old computer, but forgot what it was (and my brother didn't really remember it either because he installed it for me as he wasn't much of a gamer). When I saw the name, it immediately came back to me and you've gifted me with childhood memories.

 

This has been a longer thank you note than I first intended, but it's to show you why people feel guilty that they can't donate or can't donate as much as they'd like to you. You provide quality content sir, and you provide good laughter and entertaining history of old and forgotten video games that should have never been abandoned. And you've never asked for anything in return until now, although you've been through some hard shit for quite a long time. I hope these funds will help you in stabilizing your life and getting back to your feet. And even if Freeman's Mind doesn't get finished this year, don't worry too much about it. But you better get those robotic dogs. If not, maybe we can work out some bionic/cyborg parrots

[Trar]

I was surprised when I heard the news myself, but in retrospect it's not THAT surprising. Ross is a highly talented individual who's garnered a not-insignificant following. I wish I had spare cash to donate myself.

 

Godspeed, Ross. The future's wide open, and I will watch your videos.

[Smat]

Congratulations!

I'm glad to hear that so many of your fans came through.

Looking forward to your coming videos. Keep up the great work.

[Teleros]

Thought I'd register here to say, first, well done on the fundraiser - glad it's gone so well .

 

Long term stocks investing and MAYBE some trading: Now before everyone panics, I'm going to pursue this very, very cautiously. I've wanted to learn more about stocks for a while now since I want to put my money where my mouth is regarding things like peak oil and the economy declining. Additionally, I know of a trader whose advice I respect, so I may dabble in this, but not without expert advice. In any event, I will not be risking a significant amount of income in this, I'm not much of a gambler.

I'd be careful here - don't forget the Simon-Ehrlich Wager when it comes to things like the oil price. All this fracking (to say nothing of the potential of Libyan/Iraqi/Iranian oil) will act to push the price down. Obviously you can't predict what future oil shocks etc there will be (also, what'll Iranian oil exports be like in 2 years? Who knows), but Malthusian ideas have always ended up wrong since... well certainly the 2nd Century AD, when Tertullian (a Carthaginian) was whining about the inability of the world to support a colossal ~190M people .

 

 

One thing I'd definitely look into, regardless of what you actually end up speculating in, is automated trading (of which I've had some experience for FOREX markets). If you or someone you know can write a program to buy/sell stocks / currencies / whatever, then go for that instead of relying on a human being to make the call. Software like MetaTrader can be used to test & monitor it - so design the trading program, test it on MT4 or MT5 using historical data, and if it does well using lots of historical data & realistic conditions (ie, don't forget brokers' fees, taxes etc!), try using it for real.

[SirNicholas]

Also I have added a link to all the isolated voice tracks to Freeman's Mind so far (597MB) as a bonus.

 

Orgasmic. I have no idea what to do with them (except for auditory ransom notes, of course). But I just love having this kind of stuff. (On a remotely-related note: Valve left some of their alternative recording in the game-files. Look up /steamapps/common/Half-Life/valve/sound/gman/gman_nogregret.wav for an alternative-alternative ending...).

 

Mind-blowing that you've raised so many funds, the internet can be quite awesome at times. And you've earned and deserved every cent of it. If you still feel guilty (or similar) think of it this way: giving money feels generally better than receiving it (several studies indicate thusly [citation needed]), so you might feel awkward for receiving so much. On the other hand, we, the fans, feel good about ourselves for sending so much. So you get to feel good about making us feel good. And in any case you've made quality stuff that far surpasses what other people get paid a lot more for.

 

Looking forward to Freeman in Xen and those mysterious ambitious projects and T-shirts!