So I posted this to the patreon yesterday but figure I should let the rest of the community here know as well. I'll present you with an edited version of what I told the patreon (edited so as to not refer to patreon so much basically):
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You may have noticed that the last episode didn't have tim in it, and you will soon notice that the next one doesn't either. I wanted to address this once we actually really knew what was going on, but I figure I need to tell you all something sooner than later. The short version is tim appears to have quit the show!?
Basically, on the day of the last recording session, tim sent a message saying he's quitting, but didn't give any qualifiers or explanations. We didn't actually see the message until the show was over, though jaffe had said he didn't think tim would be there today. We don't have any info about why he's left or what he's feeling since we haven't been able to get in contact with him since! So far as we know there's no bad blood between us, the last episodes we did were all regular funtimes except for him being sick during the last episode we recorded. So it's all a big mystery, and we hope he's okay! But for now that's really all the information we have. He hasn't been back since, so for the time being we're assuming maybe he really has quit, and that we will have to figure out how to continue the show without him.
Anyway, that's all to say why we didn't mention it right away - we didn't know during the last episode, and for the next episode (already recorded, coming soon) we knew, but were hoping he'd just be like "lol nevermind" and get back in there. But it seems that's not the case, so here I am.
I won't pretend to be rosy about it, this has definitely got us pretty down, and I did even consider just shutting the show down, but that doesn't feel right to me now that I have thought about it for a week. We've built this robust forum community, which really was a big part of my decision. I wondered if people would like a slower-paced, deeper dive place to talk about games and the demand has absolutely exceeded my expectations. To shut down the show and leave the site unmoored would not feel good.
On top of that we've got the website ready to go, we have a great editor who's making those cool twitter videos, Jaffe is working hard on those questions, and besides, it took 5 months of work to even get the podcast back off the ground in the first place. It feels like it would be a waste to let it all go. And for several of our participants this show is also a not-insignificant portion of their monthly income.
So we're going to keep going, and I have a real desire to make this work, different though it may be. We don't know exactly what we're doing yet, but for the time being I want to share with you the best idea I've come up with. (Frank, jaffe, and esper are on board with the this assuming it goes well):
1) Jaffe will continue to host, and frank and I will continue to be on the show, and for now we'll just invite one different guest per week, focusing on those with whom we have the best rapport, or with whom we suspect we might. I think you'll see the next episode (where we bring back liz ryerson) has a lot of that chummy vibe that we want.
2) through this process we'll work toward a system where we rotate through a group of regular, consistent panelists, with the occasional "special" guest. The idea would be something like "1st week is X person, 2nd is Y person" and that would remain consistent across the months. Frank and me, three regulars who rotate, and a special guest. It's basically what Whose Line is it Anyway does!
3) with this format we'll feel more comfortable inviting some bigger name folks from journalism and the industry at large to join in on occasion because the show won't just be "three white dudes talking" most of the time.
To me the things that we need to work hardest to preserve are the camaraderie between people who have known each other for a long time, high level knowledge of game errata and obscurity, and media outside of games. So you'll see us trying to figure out who best represents these elements in the coming weeks. I really recognize that for a lot of folks this show is a nice and kind of necessary substitute for hanging out and talking with friends about games (or whatever!), and I want to keep providing that for people.
This may not wind up being the final format, but this is what we're trying! "Replacing" tim doesn't feel right (and frankly is impossible), but having a rotating cast might add some interesting spice to the show without having to think about "replacement."
I know that some folks came to the show from tim's videos in the first place, so if he was the main reason you listened to insert credit, we certainly understand if you need to change things up! We do hope folks who are enjoying the show and the community will stick around, and I think we can make something that really works, because the format is in many ways the star of the show. But it'll be different - the insert credit show has always been about me, tim, and frank butting heads with each other and then ultimately agreeing on stuff (or not), and there's no way to replicate that exact dynamic. But I do think that where we land will ultimately be pretty cool, though different.
And just to say, we were pretty blindsided by this, and are kinda thinking on our feet over here! So we appreciate your input as well.
I want to emphasize that we also would welcome tim back whenever, in case he decides to return! We hope this is just a rough patch he's going through and that he'll be back with the gang after a while. We really appreciate how great everyone in our little community has been so far, and hopefully we can all keep supporting each other going forward.
I'll also admit I didn't quite realize how many people were coming to the show from tim's videos, especially to the patreon, so I think going forward we're going to have to think about other vehicles to promote the show and get more eyeballs and earballs on us.
Anyway, we're gonna launch that website pretty soon and get some fun guests, so hopefully things will be looking up sooner than later!
Thanks for reading, let's just try our best!!!
[UPDATE:] Tim has gotten in touch with Jaffe and explained he has to step away for personal reasons, but there's no bad blood between us, and if things change over on his end he may be able to come back. So for now, we're just wishing him well and hoping for the best, and carrying on over here. I'll admit I still don't love how this happened but I am glad to at least know there's nothing interpersonally dramatic going on.
