Watch Out for Fireballs!

This information is presented as both a written post, and as a short podcast episode where we talk about our reasoning.IntroductionHello Patrons and well-wishers: we’re here to report that the Duckfeed state of the union is strong, and we have some announcements about changes. Normally we do these in December, but Circumstances conspired to delay things a bit.Something we really love about this job is that we have the freedom to periodically reevaluate how we do things, and make changes to keep our work interesting and hopefully improve the quality of our output. And we’re fortunate enough that you all are patient and understanding as we do this. So let’s dip into the changes we’re implementing.These will take effect starting February 1, 2026.New Tier PricingAsking for money is hard, and asking for more money is harder. We’ve kept our tiers priced roughly the same since 2014, no matter how much we packed into them. After 12 years, we’re making our first change to this. But to be clear: if you’re backing us right now, nothing will change for you.With that said, this is the new pricing scheme going forward, for new members:The Sparrow tier is moving from $3 to $4.The Duck tier is moving from $5 to $7.The Eagle tier is moving from $10 to $13.The Condor tier is remaining the same, at $25.These changes track roughly with inflation since April of 2014, and we have no intentions of touching this again for a long time. Nothing is being taken out of the existing tiers, and nothing that is currently public is moving to premium.To clarify again: Patrons who are current as of when the pricing takes effect (starting February 1, 2026) will be grandparented in at their old price for as long as they maintain their membership. We want to do this to honor anyone who’s supported us so far. Unfortunately we can’t give you the old pricing if you leave and come back, since that’s not a capability Patreon has.More UnfilmableTo offset the above and sweeten the pot, we are adding one extra episode of Unfilmable per month, because Unfilmable is popular and we like doing it. One episode each month will remain a Gary pick or a Kaye pick, and we are opening Unfilmable up to Executive Producers. Because slots are limited, we are piloting the Executive Producer price at $200. The procedure for this will be similar to picking a game for WOFF! Because watching movies is different than playing and covering whole games, we will most likely go with your first choice. The only limitations are that the request must be a movie (not a TV show, and especially not a full season of a show), and that it not be hateful (we call this the Custer’s Revenge Clause). This kind of thing is in the eye of the beholder, but if we veto your choices you will get a full refund.StreamingNow that Kaye will be in the same time zone and locality as Gary, we are going to pilot doing more streaming, either on Twitch or here on Patreon Live. More details to come. Something that may happen is the VODs for certain streams may be hosted here for Patrons only.DiscordStarting in February we will be shifting our community chat from Slack to Discord. We’ve deliberated over this for a while, and it feels like it’s time to bring our community chat in line with 99% of other communities and use a service that’s not specifically built for workspaces. Community access will remain gated to patrons.The transition to Discord will take place over the course of February, with the Slack closing down at the end of the month. We maintain some reservations about Discord’s direction as a company and will do everything we can to limit annoying features in our server, and will keep an eye out for them deciding that everyone’s childhood memories belong to their AI or something.(If you notice that you were kicked from the old Duckfeed Discord we used for multiplayer game chat, it's because it's under construction and you can re-join later on).Executive Producer ChangesIn addition to changing the prices of our tiers, we are going to make some modest changes to how WOFF! and Abject Suffering executive production slots and demands work.The price to Executive Produce a Watch Out for Fireballs! episode will be rising from $300 to $350.We are moving Abject Suffering picks to the store where anyone can buy a demand for $50, though $25 backers will continue to get a demand thrown in for their pledge (you will get a coupon). Because of the way that the store works, it will continue to be one demand per year.Selling Episodes and CollectionsWe are going to begin offering individual episodes and collections for sale on the Patreon store, in addition to being available to monthly backers. This is something people have requested. For example, some people just want specific seasons of Bonfireside Chat. Others want to retain access to episodes after they drop their support.To clarify, monthly memberships are still the primary way to get our content. No back catalog material will be gated behind an additional purchase. The only thing I could think would end up being listed that way was if we decided to do another charity bundle.Individual episodes will be $3 (the minimum price that Patreon will allow us to set). Collections will be priced at roughly $1 per hour of premium episode that’s in the bundle, as not every episode in the bundle will be premium in some cases.These listings will be going up shortly.Annual MembershipsPatreon offers the capability to offer annual memberships, and we’re opening those up. If you want to sign up for a year of Duckfeed all at once, you can get a 10% discount. Here are instructions on how to get one of those.Community GiftingPatreon recently added the capability for fans to gift memberships to other fans. We just want to let you know about this, since it’s hard to discover on the site.SubredditWe would like to start a community subreddit, but we don’t want to add moderating it to our workload. We also don’t really know how to do this. If you have expertise in this area, please contact us.ConclusionThat’s the extent of what we have planned, and we hope you’re as excited about the additional Unfilmable episode, and the addition of streams to our schedule. Kaye being in Portland is going to open up some fun opportunities and we’re really excited for the future.If you have questions about these changes, please ask them in the comments and we will answer them as best we can.Thank you so much for your ongoing support!

Returning to the world of Thief, we finally cover the much demanded and beloved Thief II: The Metal Age. Often pointed to as one of the greatest embodiments of stealth in video games, what makes Thief II so special? A lot of has to do with The Fantasy. This game makes you feel like a badass fantasy Thief, with a world of treasures and artifacts to claim for yourself.

How can smart people enjoy a game about a naked boy crying at poop? Binding of Isaac is one of the most chaotic, labyrinthine, and complex games we've ever put multiple hundreds of hours into. Inspired by Legend of Zelda and Rogue, Binding of Isaac sees you grabbing dozens of game-changing items, building a unique Isaac, and descending deeper into the basement than you ever imagined. Gary is joined by his Everything to Guppy co-host, Will Hughes, to break down what makes Binding of Isaac an easy entry in the video game hall of fame.

The Legend of Zelda on the Nintendo Entertainment System is one of the most iconic games ever made. While not every trick it used holds up today's standards, the number of innovative techniques they used to make an adventure feel huge informs game design to this very day. Join us in revisiting this stone-cold classic.This episode originally aired as off-season episode of Bonfireside Chat.For more Hidden WOFFs, check out our collection here: https://www.patreon.com/collection/1908383

We hear your thoughts about such as games as Wasteland 3, Wasteland 3 and Wasteland 3.Upcoming Games:JanuaryLegend of Zelda (Bonfireside Chat Rerun)Binding of Isaac (Gary and Will Hughes)Thief II: The Metal AgeRobocop: Rogue City (Premium)FebruaryMortal Kombat IIMega Man X4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (Premium)