To 2024, and Beyond

I think it’s fitting that the first post on this site, one that I’ve been working on and tinkering with for nearly a year now, is a retrospective on the last year. Maybe it means that I shouldn’t tinker so much with my websites… … nah, probably not.

According to Twitch, this coming April will mark my 5 year mark streaming on the platform. I’d been streaming before that, but I didn’t really take it “seriously” until 2019. And 2023 was, for all purposes, a banner year for me in content creation, especially late year:

I was on Felicia Day’s Twitch stream helping to show off her new website WebDevStudios built.
We raised money for Fallout For Hope and Twitch showed up in a BIG WAY
We had an awesome TTRPG Campaign in the Fallout universe and had more people stop by and follow than ever before.
TOTAL, as of this writing, our community has raised 1,689 this year (combined from our personal fundraising and the TTRPG Campaign) for St. Jude Children’s Hospital through the Fallout for Hope Charity Season!

In short… it’s been a pretty awesome year.

But with an old year closing comes the beginning of a new year. And 2024… well, it’s going to be pretty great.

Let’s start with some plans.

New Year, Same Mitch Games

To start with, I think I’ve finally settled on my ‘core’ lineup of games:

Fallout Series (specifically 76)
Once Human (once it releases)
Star Citizen
Deep Rock Galactic
Phasmophobia

That’s not to say there won’t be others, but these will make up the core of what you’ll see on the stream.

Long time viewers may notice that Final Fantasy XIV is not on this list. I still play it, and it’s a long-time staple on the stream, but… I think it’s time to let it go.

A Change in Branding

As I looked over that list earlier in the month, I noticed that there were certain aesthetics and ‘vibes’ that kept jumping out at me: scrap and junk. I know this may sound strange, but I’ve always been drawn to junkyards. My dad is a weekend mechanic, and his auto shop was always filled with random parts, tools, and all kinds of parts. Junkyard Wars was my FAVORITE show growing up, and I love the idea behind surviving with what parts you can find on hand.

The games above all really fit into that same vibe.

Over the next few months, you’ll start to see some things transition around my branding. I’m going to see if I can make the logo I had designed work, but you may see a new complete branding identity change if I can’t make it work. I don’t want to go full ‘brutalist’, but a logo that better fits the games we play, and that can translate over to this website, the stream, socials… that would be pretty rad.

My Big Hairy Audacious Metrics (& Goals)

I have a few metrics for 2024, and I’m a firm believer that by saying them out loud you get both accountability and motivation for them to succeed:

1,000 Followers on Twitch
750 Subscribers on YouTube
500 Followers on TikTok
Continuous Updates on Twitter/Threads/Instagram

With these metrics come a few goals I want to meet:

Become a Bethesda Sponsored Content Creator

I’m diving head first into making Fallout 76 content this year, and one of my goals is to be recognized and ‘blessed’ by Bethesda by joining their content creator program.

“Do Something Valuable”

I have a mantra that’s been burning inside my head for a few weeks now: Do Something Valuable. I want to build something or provide something that can serve as a resource. I don’t know if this is something that’ll be Content Creation related or something more in line with my day job stuff, but it’s something that I want to do. I want to release something out to the world that can help others.

“Learn Something New”

I want to break off of the screen a bit. I currently spend most of my waking hours in front of some sort of screen, be it mobile or desktop, and I need to make myself do something off-screen. My goal is to find a new hobby or interest that’s offline, and that I can share my progress on socials with to keep the accountability going.

Some Final Words

I want to thank everyone that’s stopped by the stream or YouTube channel, even if it’s for a single video or a few moments. I especially want to thank:

OperaticPlum, who encourages me to go on and keep streaming and creating – even when I’m tired.
HamboCommando, my partner in Appalachia, who keeps tagging along on streams and whose presence I greatly appreciate.
The mod crew: MirvansMusings, Xisdibik, OperaticPlum, and HamboCommando, who keep the stream running tirelessly.
Pianoninja247, who’s done some of the emotes we use on stream, for her awesome artistic talent.
Everyone who’s joined and chats in the Discord regularly.
And you, who has read through this list and are still here, which means you may be halfway interested in what we’re doing here!

Here’s to an amazing 2024, not just because of what we’re doing, but because of the community and awesome memories we’re building along the way.

Much love,
Mitch