Is NL a Good Investment?

My problem with the crew really is Brad. It's not that I dislike Brad, it's just that he's always been so low energy that he tends to drain the energy out of the room. It's good if you've got guys like Dan who need something to tone them down, but then you've got Vinny and Alex who usually go with the flow of the room, so the podcast ends up feeling like Bombcast used to feel and honestly the streams where Alex and Vinny are by themselves tend to be more energetic. Still, the best is when they have Abby co-starring.

Also, while I get the reasoning behind them all playing the same game, it's just really not thought out. It just results in them playing the game that's currently in the discourse and then discussing that, and I'm so done with redundant takes on the same couple of games all the time. They're now being directly paid by subscriptions so they really don't have to chase the proverbial clicks(or downloads in this case), but they still do it for some reason. They don't even have ads, for goodness' sakes.

They are actually working on getting ads into their free version of the podcast, I guess that takes some sort of setup that I know nothing about. I think the key thing folks are missing from this discussion is that with this Patreon, they are able to do what they want. Does what they want look a lot like what's already being done sometimes? Sure. But they have given themselves the freedom to do that, and have lots of free offerings so you don't HAVE to spend money on it. It's also very early on in this business for them and there is so much going on in the back end that we won't see. It's only been just about 5 months. Things are still growing and being put into place. Maybe it's not for you now, maybe you check it out in a few months and see if you like any of the new things. No one is forcing anyone to pay money to them if they don't want to.

I’m happy to support them and they can have my money. I enjoy the podcasts and the videos. I’ve fallen off GB, checking it about once a week. I ended my premium and seen no reason to return.

I've been enjoying Nextlander (Neckslander) immensely and havent enjoyed online content this much since the Whiskey Media days.

The small, 3 person size of the podcast never has anyone talking over eachother and its just a nice, respectful discourse between colleagues with a well oiled working relationship. Its very enjoyable.

I haven't really payed too much attention but so far it looks like they became average Twitch streamers that also do a couple podcasts. The content is just them playing games in the lets play format and that seems to be the majority of what they do. Now I have no issue with this as these guys are pioneers in that space. However I don't enjoy watching someone just play an entire game anymore. I liked the shows that GB East used to do, like burgle my bananas for instance. And if you're not into FMV games or what the guys typically play you basically get a stream here or there covering a new game, or the odd old game.

Again, these things are all fine and dandy if you're into it. So far for me I don't even listen to their podcast on a weekly basis. Brad is still kind of a downer, which is a bummer cause I thought maybe it was just GB getting old and he was getting bored. I miss Vinny but our game tastes don't really mesh. I don't always like Alex games but I do miss his input. I'll mirror what others have said that the 3 are a bit low energy and having someone like Abby show up on their shows goes a long way in elevating the mood. I'm fine with just consuming their free content if it suits me until we see what their future looks like. Might throw them my Twitch Prime sub once in awhile.

I had no clue what NL was either. Lol. I was thinking of Newfoundland and Labrador from a value proportion...which is okay given they have pretty decent natural resources...just a bit cold.

If you're looking at it as a pure value proposition and weighing it up against other services (Netflix etc.) clearly it's not going to be worth it. But the way I see it is that I'm putting $10 pretty much directly in the pockets of guys whose content I've enjoyed massively over the past 10-15 years and who seem like very decent individuals. Even if there were no reward tiers for the Patreon I would still contribute.

I completely understand if that's too steep an entry price for some people though.

Not to compare apples to oranges but I'll be honest, in the initial pitch for Nextlander vs NuGB I thought Nextlander sounded more exciting but honestly I've found I vastly enjoy the new shows on GB versus what Nextlander has been streaming. That being said, I am paying for both partly out of inertia. I have however thought about cancelling the Nextlander patreon more than I have about cancelling GB premium.

For me the issue with Nextlander has been that its both incredibly low energy and banal. They don't really dive deep enough into any game and dissect it (which I thought was their goal with them playing the same game), they don't ride the wave of what's latest and greatest close enough to be informative, and they don't produce anything noticeably different or substantively more now that they have no corporate oversight and meetings filling up their time.

I see Nextlander as a continuation of GBEast. They're just picking up where they've left off. That's not new but it's comfy. Premium seems a step too far for me. I get what I need from the youtube channel.

Just a reminder, this thread is asking if NL is a good investment or not.

This isn't another thread to exclaim each grievance you've thought about GB for the last five years. Please stay on topic or this thread will be locked.

Content creation is hard, especially when you aim for high quality. Be kind and empathetic.

Nextlander appears to be the most sustainable model thus far from those that have departed GB. The solo efforts of Jeff are not bad but what I like is banter, specifically banter with the worlds more likable man, Vinny. NL seems to have the right amount of people, patrons, collaborations with other ex-GB folks like Austin and Abby, the occasional current GB person like Jerf and Dan, and while doing nothing but twitch dreams gets a tad stale for video content, they mix it up with enough stings like old FMV games or showing weird old videos about exercising to keep things interesting.