A Wild Summary Appears!
Citizens!
INN, or the Imperial News Network, provides news, analysis, video, fiction, and expert opinion about Star Citizen, the most successful crowdfunded project ever, as well as one of the most ambitious video games ever created.
That said, let's get right into it. INN is going to CitizenCon, CIG’s yearly Star Citizen convention, to cover all the news we possibly can. CitizenCon is a big deal; it’s when CIG is expected to announce, well, we honestly don’t know. But it will be big.
We have already paid for tickets, airfare, and hotel, and we have most of the equipment we need to cover the event. We will cover everything, whether this campaign is successful or not. But the hotel and airfare have been a substantial financial hit for us, and anything we recoup through this campaign will help us put more into INN in the future.
What we’re doing! Also, what we need! Also, what you can get!
What it is:
In order to better serve the Star Citizen community, INN will be sending two correspondents to CitizenCon, in Manchester, UK, this October.
Erris, INN’s Executive Producer, and Mr. White, INN’s Audio God.
INN will be reporting live on the CitizenCon event, providing a liveblog, as well as real-time analysis, impressions of the event, and more.
INN will do our best to obtain a tour of the Foundry 42 offices, including images and video, if possible.*
INN will do our best to obtain various interviews with developers throughout and after the event.*
*Please note: Until closer to the event, we have no idea if we will be able to get interviews or a tour of the Manchester offices. But we will do our best.
Really, what we need is your support to help us do this without worrying too much about finances.
The Goal
$1,500 - $1,500 pays for INN’s plane tickets from Ottawa, Canada, to Manchester, UK. Our plane tickets have already been purchased out of pocket, but if we can get them covered, we can work, and breathe, a little more easily. With our plane tickets paid for by you, the community, we will be able to focus our dosh on other things more important for news reporting, such as rental equipment, food, transportation, etc...
Stretch Goals
We have to ask: What’s a crowdfunding campaign without stretch goals? The stretch goals for Star Citizen were some of the most fun things about the earlier days of CIG’s campaign, watching goal after goal fall. So here are ours!
$2,000 - Buy INN a video camera, and we’ll get video from CitizenCon (the event will be livestreamed by CIG, but we will get more in-depth video coverage where we can).
$2,250 - Enable INN to buy a shotgun mic for better audio quality for interviews and other recordings.
$2,500 - Enable us to buy a UK SIM card with mobile data, so that even if the event has spotty / no WiFi connection, we can continue to update in real time. This will also help us communicate with CIG and the INN team at home. Also, it might stop us from getting lost too often.
$2,750 - Pay for INN's food during our coverage of the event!
$3,500 - Pay for INN’s hotel during our coverage of the event!
Anything above $3,500 will go directly towards improving our CitizenCon coverage, and INN’s ability to cover future events as a whole.
**note - any equipment bought through these stretch goals will be used to cover future CIG events as well, such as PAX / whatever else we can get to.
Perks
The stretch goals are nice, but what’s even better than stretch goals? Perks! What’s any crowdfunding campaign without perks? You're giving us something, so we want to give you something back! If you fund us at the levels below, you’ll get the perk associated with that level.
*All funders will be included on an INN ‘Wall of Thanks’ page on INN itself, thanking them for their donations. An INN team member will also send a personalized 'thank you' message or e-mail to all funders.
$5 ~Words Words Words~ We'll give you a shoutout on INNverse or INNside the ‘Verse.
$10 ~Even More Words!~ Shoutout on both INNverse and INNside the ‘Verse.
$20 ~It Is a Good Day to Die~ We'll put your name / your avatar name in an INN fiction story. (Limit of 25)
$20 ~A Coaster!~ We’ll send you an INN-branded drink coaster, made by Erris! (Limit of 25)
$20 ~Holy Fleet!~ LegoRobotDude will make a render of up to 7 in-game ships of your choice. (Limit of 25)
$30 ~It Is a Good Day to Not Die~ We'll put your name / avatar name in an INN fiction story, and not kill them off. (Limit of 25)
$30 ~YOUR Coaster!~ Erris will make you a coaster with an image of your choosing. Got an org logo you want on a coaster? We can do that! (Sadly, for IP reasons, no Star Citizen ships will be offered through this perk) (Limit of 25)
$50 ~Straight to the Heart~ Get in touch with Erris or Nehkara via Skype, and chat with them for 30 minutes about whatever your little heart desires! (Limit of 50)
$50 ~Because Nudity Is Bad~ At $50, we’ll send you an INN t-shirt, because nudity is bad in public. Sadly it’s just a t-shirt. You’ll have to cover the rest of you yourself. (Limit of 20)
$75 ~Here We Go…~ INN will, within reason, do a write-up / analysis on a Star Citizen topic of your choice. (Limit of 5)
$75 ~What the Toque!~ INN will send you an awesome INN-brand toque, hand-crocheted by StormyWinters. (Limit of 5)
$100 ~Be Our Friend!~ Join us on an episode of INNverse or INNside the 'Verse. (Limit of 5)
$150 ~Be Our ‘Special’ Friend!~ Join us on an episode of both INNverse and INNside the ‘Verse! (Limit of 5)
$150 ~This Can Only End Well…~ Erris will write you a story, focused on a character of your choice! (Limit of 10)
$250 ~Who Would Want This?~ A kiss from Erris (David) at CitizenCon (or another Erris-attended event) **funders at the ‘Who Would Want This’ level also receive the perks from the ‘Be Our ‘Special’ Friend!’ and ‘This Can Only End Well’ levels. (Limit of 999)
$300 (or more) ~Really? Gee - thanks!~ We don’t really have anything planned out for this - we’ll just have to be creative!
$1000 ~Why are we including this?~ Seriously, we don’t know. We’ve got nothing. Thanks? Like, seriously thanks, but… I guess… let us know what you want? We’ll see what we can do! (Limit of 2)
The ‘Oh Wait - There’s More!’
INN has a proven track record of bringing accurate, timely, relevant news to the Star Citizen community, and we will continue doing that, no matter what. The goal of this campaign is, quite honestly, to simply make it easier for us to do so.
INN makes no money; the donations we receive through Patreon (which are incredibly appreciated) cover our massive server costs, with very little to spare. The goal of this campaign - the impact it will have if successful - is simply that the quality of our coverage, and the reach of that coverage, will be improved.
We’re going to continue bringing you the news you want and care about; help us bring it to you better!
Risks & Challenges & Other Difficulties & Slight Annoyances
The only risk to this campaign is that Erris, our Executive Producer, has an intense fear of flying. But he will be getting on that plane, whether he has to be drugged and/or hogtied.
Other Ways You Can Help
You can help by spreading the word! Know people in the Star Citizen community that like our work, and might be willing to help us out? Let them know!
Also, if you’re interested in helping INN out with transcripts, videos, analysis, or any of the dozens of other things we do, you can visit our 'Get Involved' page over on INN!
