Introducing Hit Points, a newsletter about the game industry, by me

[Sarlaccfood]

On 10/12/2022 at 13:41, Nate Dogg III said:

Still feeling my way through it to be honest but the way I would describe it is ‘subs first’. They get at least one more edition per week and that means that, in a hypothetical boring week where I only feel like writing one edition, subs get it and the free mob get nothing. 
 

The week just gone I wrote three and two of them were free. I can definitely see a future in which that balance is flipped — free folks get one per week and everything else is paid — but we’re not there quite yet. Still trying to strike a balance between encouraging and rewarding paid subs, without making free fam feel like they’re being punished for not paying up. 

I’m a free boy at the moment and you’d do me a favour by still sending me the opening paragraph or whatever of the subs email so I know what I’m missing. Not sure how others feel but it helps me justify spending money on something if I feel it’s essential and gets rid of the debate in my mind. Right now, it’s a bit out of sight out of mind. 
 

It’s like when Microsoft released Forza and Halo last December within a few weeks of each other and I was like “well that’s that then, I’m getting an Xbox”. 

[Nate Dogg III]

8 hours ago, Sarlaccfood said:

I’m a free boy at the moment and you’d do me a favour by still sending me the opening paragraph or whatever of the subs email so I know what I’m missing. Not sure how others feel but it helps me justify spending money on something if I feel it’s essential and gets rid of the debate in my mind. Right now, it’s a bit out of sight out of mind. 
 

It’s like when Microsoft released Forza and Halo last December within a few weeks of each other and I was like “well that’s that then, I’m getting an Xbox”. 

 

Ah that's good intel, thanks. I do the free preview thing occasionally — once every couple of weeks maybe — but I don't like the idea of overdoing it. I've unsubscribed from a few Substacks when it became clear I was getting more previews for paywalled stuff than I was actual things to read, and at that point they just become like all the other emails offering me 10% off homeware until midnight or whatever, it's just marketing.

 

I do it if it's something I'm particularly proud of or has a chance of going a bit wider than usual, but whenever I do it I get half a dozen unsubscribes within about ten minutes. Normally pick up a few paid so it's all to the good, but it's definitely not something I want to do all the time. Will definitely think about increasing the frequency though, you're right that if you don't know that you're missing anything you're less likely to convert to paid. Thank you!

[Sarlaccfood]

No probs! Oh yeah every time might be a bit much for sure. 

[Yobo Ahoy]

Loved the 'Said and Done'-style column earlier this week. You've already nailed The Fiver format (and then some), this was a logical progression! 

 

Genuinely not sure which industry has the most quotable shysters though, videogames or football. 

[merrychan]

I've been really enjoying this since subscribing for free since it started, the main enemy preventing me regularly getting updated or reading it was my googlemail.

I noticed a link in the newsletter to the substack app, installed that on my phone and it's perfect, instantly upgraded to paid and now I won't miss an update.

I think the format is brilliant and am loving the year round up stuff too. Good work and all the best for the New Year!

[Nate Dogg III]

On 21/12/2022 at 21:19, Yobo Ahoy said:

Loved the 'Said and Done'-style column earlier this week. You've already nailed The Fiver format (and then some), this was a logical progression! 

 

Genuinely not sure which industry has the most quotable shysters though, videogames or football. 

 

Ha, thank you. I love(d) Said & Done even more than The Fiver so it's appropriate I should eventually rip that one off as well. I wrote game reviews for The Observer for a while years ago, one week the usual editor was on holiday and I had to send my copy to Said & Done's David Hills. I am afraid I rather fanboyed at him over email. 

 

16 hours ago, merrychan said:

I've been really enjoying this since subscribing for free since it started, the main enemy preventing me regularly getting updated or reading it was my googlemail.

I noticed a link in the newsletter to the substack app, installed that on my phone and it's perfect, instantly upgraded to paid and now I won't miss an update.

I think the format is brilliant and am loving the year round up stuff too. Good work and all the best for the New Year!

 

Hurrah and thank you! May I ask what the problem with Gmail was? Was it going to spam (which I'm told happens sometimes) or ending up in Social/Promotions and getting missed? 

 

I haven't mentioned the Substack app in the newsletter at all because I don't like the idea of it — I'd much rather be in people's email inbox than rely on them to see a notification and open a specific app — but I'm glad it's worked out for you in this case.

[merrychan]

3 hours ago, Nate Dogg III said:

 

Hurrah and thank you! May I ask what the problem with Gmail was? Was it going to spam (which I'm told happens sometimes) or ending up in Social/Promotions and getting missed? 

Yes it was a mix of the above (I think mostly going in to social and eventually inbox after a few reads, I'd also forget to read it in my email abyss )

[Popo]

Just wanted to say that I’ve really enjoyed the 5 days of Hitpointsmas this week @Nate Dogg III. If I may, this particular line from todays subscriber issue had me grinning:

 

Quote

Nintendo is just coasting along, treading water, and the awkward thing about aquatic metaphors is that most of them involve drowning. 

 

Many congratulations on an always-entertaining read, and here’s to your ongoing success next year. 

[Bushtopher]

I had to pause my paid sub for a while and just tried to reactivate it. Not sure what’s going on but it looks like it’s been cancelled until I go into my profile where it only offers the option for me to gift a sub. 
 

I’ll have another go tomorrow and try to figure it out, but thought I’d mention it in case your stats look weird as a result @Nate Dogg III (I’ve tried a few times now)

 

This is also a good time to say again how much I enjoy reading your work - I often save a new email until I’ve time to sit down and read it with a cuppa during a break in the day, and it’s always worth waiting for. 
 

EDIT: tried to fix it again after posting this and - typically - it just worked. All sorted!

[Nate Dogg III]

7 minutes ago, Bushtopher said:

I had to pause my paid sub for a while and just tried to reactivate it. Not sure what’s going on but it looks like it’s been cancelled until I go into my profile where it only offers the option for me to gift a sub. 
 

I’ll have another go tomorrow and try to figure it out, but thought I’d mention it in case your stats look weird as a result @Nate Dogg III (I’ve tried a few times now)

 

This is also a good time to say again how much I enjoy reading your work - I often save a new email until I’ve time to sit down and read it with a cuppa during a break in the day, and it’s always worth waiting for. 

 

Aw, thank you. Can you DM me the email address you're signed up with? Will see what it says in the backend.