Great Newgrounds Video - WATCH IT!

[TomFulp]

kaptainkristian released a video about Newgrounds this morning and everyone should watch it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFS7APAApBA

People have made some great videos about NG but this one really strikes me for how succinct it is and how much it feels like it came direct from my heart. It's the short version of NG I want everyone to know and understand.

Of course, when videos like this get me feeling all passionate and inspired, my frustrations with the state of NG and the larger internet also emerge.

There's been a lot of drama this week on YouTube over videos being demonetized. People are mad at YouTube but this is the reality of mixing user generated content with brand advertisers; it's the reality NG has been living in since the late 90s, anyway.

So here I go again: Please become a Newgrounds Supporter!

I really don't enjoy asking people to do this. It's not like I woke up one day and said, "Wow, after all I've accomplished, I think I'll spend the rest of my life begging people for money." I just really believe in this system and what it can do for Newgrounds and everyone who shares their work here. We're the most likely platform to make this work.

I generally keep this to myself because it upsets people but last year NG came up $64,000 short. That wasn't even our worst year. I'm super fortunate to be able to lose $64k in one year without going bankrupt but I don't make a new Castle Crashers every day and I'm a finite resource. NG needs to be around in 100 years so people know this shit happened!

And no, NG isn't losing money because it sucks and is dying. We're getting hammered by declining ad rates and ad blockers. We're blacklisted by Google Ads, which makes us blacklisted by Google-owned DoubleClick and any ad network that ties into Google services. We don't track weird personal details about our users and share it with marketers. We have indecent content but we're one of the last decent websites and we're 100% independent.

If NG had 1,800 more monthly subscribers in 2016, we would have broken even. If %0.01 of our monthly visitors became paying subscribers, we'd gain 800 subs per month.

With 800 new subscribers per month, NG would barely need advertisers after one year and we'd be getting ultra competitive with a rev share system that isn't based on pleasing brands. Imagine what that would look like after 3-5 years, it would be insane. It would be ridiculously better than anything anyone ever thought NG could be.

There's a future version of Newgrounds that turns around in my head 24/7 and some days it keeps me going and other days it fills me with despair because we haven't been able to get there. All I know is that our supporter system is the key and I really hope you give it some consideration, if you enjoy NG and can spare $3 per month. You get a lot of great perks and we'll stick you on the Wall of Honor.

Regardless of what the future holds, we have lots of great stuff coming in 2017. Many of you are aware our layout is in transition - the front page, content hubs and feeds are using a streamlined, mobile-adaptive layout. Other pages will be joining them soon, with plenty of improvements along the way. Your support helps fund this ongoing development.

We're celebrating Pico Day on April 30th and will be hosting a Construct 3 Game Jam in mid-May. The Construct 3 public beta is happening now and you can make a game right in your browser, with no prior programming experience.

Scirra (Construct 3 devs) also JUST NOW fixed video imports in the beta. I'm hoping this will be a great tool for making fun classic-style animation collabs like Mr. Dink's Grill, without relying on Flash. I'm gonna experiment with that today but first I gotta go give a talk at La Salle - if any La Salle students are reading this, see ya soon.

Everyone else, thanks for reading and see ya around NG!

[PocketIllust]

Lovely video ♥

[Raeldor]

At 3/31/17 11:40 AM, TomFulp wrote:

And no, NG isn't losing money because it sucks and is dying. We're getting hammered by declining ad rates and ad blockers. We're blacklisted by Google Ads, which makes us blacklisted by Google-owned DoubleClick and any ad network that ties into Google services. We don't track weird personal details about our users and share it with marketers. We have indecent content but we're one of the last decent websites and we're 100% independent.

Looks like the ad revenue of every site is getting worse over the time. People use Ad block because ads became intrusive (I'm one of them) but when a site is worth I don't mind whitelisting it, I did it with youtube and NG too (Until I became a supporter). But more and more people using adblock doesn't use the whitelisting feature at all.
Also Youtube gives the option to the creator on how intrusive the ads are, and there are a lot of them that don't look to put them sensibly.

Finally, I like this video a lot, and also puts the hard truth about staying true to the artists freedom not being so profitable. And that's a shame.

Until ads become less intrusive and more "cool" people prefer not to look at them. Ad companies are trying by looking at what you like, but that has 2 problems, one privacy and the other, that looks like that way is already failing, for example I recieve ads about McDonalds not because is a recomendation or something about, but because My phone picked my location on one McDonalds, and now the ads think I want McDonalds ads, but I already ate there, so pleas dont spam me with more BicMacs.

[kidray76]

Thx for the post. I find it inspiring you are sticking to your guns regarding your philosophy on what newgrounds should be and didn't cave in to others demands.

Video awesome as well. My e penis is tingling.

[Zhon]

I'm admittedly very disconnected from modern web content (I kinda fell off the grid in 2013) but what little I do get exposed to, I see constantly struggling and dying. It seems like there's a new hurdle every week on Youtube, be it the fault of Google or another party. Let's Players, news casters, animators, content creators in general seem to be under the gun most of the time because there's no good platform for them.

Obviously, this is coming from a washed-up commercial writer who abandoned artistry years ago, so I have no true insight, but from the words of content creators, it seems to be a problem. I signed up for some random video site that sprang up promising a creator-driven system that catered to artists rather than companies (note users never even enter into this equation), but it just kinda... Flopped.

Anyway, all that to say, I've felt a lot of the things said in that video for a while but haven't really nailed it down in words. Sink or float, NG will always be the shit, and it's worth it to me to spend an hour's worth of wages once a year (/vomits) to help keep it alive. Raising my bottle of water to Newgrounds, in lieu of a glass, largely because I'm on a hiatus from alcohol, but also because I'm at a Subway at high noon on a Friday.

[Anluka]

Newgrounds, the ultimate underdog. I have high hopes for its future.

[MoriChax]

Just when I thought KaptainKristain videos couldnt get any more nostalgic, he releases this. Got a little tear in my eye, so many good memories here. And still havent attended a pico day event T^T

[RobLpresents]

I've been a subscriber of Kristian's for a while (his Superman vid is especially great), so I was absolutely chuffed to see Newgrounds featured in a video this morning and getting some well earned love and praise.

Netflix making their own stuff and sticking it online was absolutely bizarre 5 years ago. Today your average filmmaker, stand up comedian etc is praying to get their work on there. If a percentage chips in there's no reason why Newgrounds couldnt be a smaller version of that. Getting lots of site exclusives from talented creators!

I've been an on/off lurker since 2000(?!) and I've only been doing my own amateurish stuff over the last six months but I've just become a supporter! Finally got a tablet last month too, this will get me more involved and actually finish and submit something!

Long Live Newgrounds! God bless angel Tom Fulp!

[RobertClock]

Really touching video. It always feels good to see someone with an audience you wouldn't necessarily expect speak out about NG so positively.

[DancingTomato]

Just watched it. Brought back great memories. Really glad I was a part of this weird community back in '04.

[Blobzone]

Woohoo, im part of the video :3

[Pico]

Newgrounds is where most of my favorite indie Steam developers got their roots, they would never have had the exposure required to make it on Steam had it not been for places like Newgrounds giving them the opportunity to network and flourish. I'll always be thankful that NG exists.

The thing I've always wondered is why Newgrounds isn't a publisher for Steam like Adult Swim Games is, helping talent on the site to publish their games on Steam and get some proper spotlight in exchange for a small percentage. Would that make up for some of NG's money issues?

[Intrapath]

Man, watching that brought back a ton of good memories...made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I'm choosing to pursue a career in animation thanks to NG, and I've been on here for about 8 years now...here's to 8 more, and 8 more after that, 8 more after that...

[ChandlerThompson]

God that video was touching. As some of the old flash animations were playing it was like I was seeing friends who I'd lost touch with but never forgotten. The video should be required watching in art history classes.

Also - the supporter number is rising quite nicely for today! Definitely gonna be checking those numbers as the day goes on!

[Dragamex]

At 3/31/17 11:40 AM, TomFulp wrote: And no, NG isn't losing money because it sucks and is dying. We're getting hammered by declining ad rates and ad blockers. We're blacklisted by Google Ads, which makes us blacklisted by Google-owned DoubleClick and any ad network that ties into Google services. We don't track weird personal details about our users and share it with marketers. We have indecent content but we're one of the last decent websites and we're 100% independent.

How can we combat this? I started using Newgrounds when I was 14 years old. I'm turning 28 next month, and I still visit VERY frequently. I know if we all went supporter, that would fix the problem, but I also know you've got a large base of kids (like I was) who can't get mom and dad to pony up the dough for that weird animation website that you probably shouldn't be going on in the first place (mom's words, not mine).

That said, Newgrounds is in a unique position, specifically today. KK is a huge name (this video already has 70k+ views), and this can really help sway minds and make people more sympathetic to the plight of the site. Utilizing this would be in your best interest - we could potentially rally and put pressure on papa google to remove the blacklisting. Maybe it's unlikely, but I hate to think that you lost more than my yearly salary, CONSISTENTLY, all because the deck's been stacked against the site since before Britney Spears shaved her head.

What I'm saying is, what can we do, how can we help? What other avenues can we explore, or help explore, to make Newgrounds THE platform for artists?

Also, a long time ago I sent you a message asking if you could just apply the ad revenue I've accumulated over the last few years ($75) to Supporter status. I think that might REALLY be a great way to keep more adshare in your pocket, which in turn helps with costs. Just a thought.

EDIT: Typo on age

[SolarFoxProductions]

So, can I make alt accounts if I become supporters on them, Tom?

[FOST3R]

@TomFulp I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, but how would I correctly go about changing my monthly supporter subscription amount? I just don't want to double - purchase a subscription by accident (not sure if that's possible, even).

[Aprime]

I had no idea Newgrounds was losing money :O
Man I'm really out the loop.
Gonna watch that YouTube video when I get back from work too

[Timmy]

Good to hear my dick animations have made such an inpact on the future of animation :D

But for real - if you visit the site, support the site.

[PegasuTV]

That video was fucking beautiful, it still feels strange, dare I say, wrong, to see comments like " I've been watching animation on yt since forever and I've never really used Newgrounds" "do they still post there?"...

I always hope for the best for NG, may it keep on living through thick and thin.

[Sequenced]

Newgrounds is one of the very few websites I have whitelisted on adblock. I love the integrity @TomFulp and the community has for this website.

Patreon services like the one you have is certainly the way to go as ads are being pulled because of mainstream media hatred for independent content creators.

I wish Newgrounds and @TomFulp the best of luck for the future of Newgrounds. We survived 20 good years, and that's something rare to say.

Here's to another 20 more :)

[Darklighthouse]

Seeing this video and reddit and subsequently reading this post, I decided to recover the password for my old newground account from years ago.

It worked and I became I supporter right away since this site deserves to get back to it's glory days.
First thing I will do as a Supporter is change my godawful username.. Darklighthouse..
What was 12 year old me thinking

[lemon123212]

Newgrounds was the site that got me into animation, programming and video making in the first place. I was influenced a lot by the community here and for that I'll be forever grateful.
I remember being around 14-15 (12 years ago) when I heard a friend introduce me to the site to play little flash games. I immediately had to know how regular people could create games people could play on. I started reading up on the forums and asking a tonne of dumb questions, annoying the hell out of everyone. I learnt basic flash animation and actionscript within a year, then moved onto making websites, one in particular called spamtheweb.com. I doubt anyone remembers but at one point it was quite a popular SWF uploader here on NG for half finished animations providing private links. I was super proud of it at the time!
I don't think this site will ever die with all the people here that owe so much to it. I'd love for NG to start competing with Youtube, a lot of youtubers are getting more and more upset with the way things are run over there so if anytime is a good time to launch a rival 'video only' site it would be now.

[iscrulz]

The yt video is featured on reddit. On my front-page I didn't read every comment but it seems the crowd is general pleased about this site overall.

[Galneda]

Done and done! Been meaning to for years now, and it finally happened. Love you guys

I can say, with absolute confidence, that if it wasn't for this website and this awesome community, I wouldn't be working my dream job at Cyanide & Happiness now. In turn, Newgrounds changed my life forever and for the better. I'm grinding in the creative industry thanks to y'all. The least I could do is give back yearly.

And I mean really. I didn't have an animation reel, but my Newgrounds Submissions was pretty much a substitute. Dick Neck made them laugh so hard, it got my foot in the door.

[life]

The video is perfect Tom, an accurate an honest depiction of NG and it captured the vibe really well. Made me tear up, the memories. I love it and love you all. This site isn't done, the subscription model is smart and the way of the future. You've got this Tom. You're a genius.

[ChandlerThompson]

At 3/31/17 03:41 PM, life wrote: The video is perfect Tom, an accurate an honest depiction of NG and it captured the vibe really well. Made me tear up, the memories. I love it and love you all. This site isn't done, the subscription model is smart and the way of the future. You've got this Tom. You're a genius.

yo dude you dont know me but you tagged me in like the first flash i was ever "a part of" which was some clock day flash animation that was similar to the mad men intro and had paper planes playing in the background and for someone who didnt have flash at the time it was so awesome to see my name attached to a project as lame as that sounds and i shamelessly voted 5 on that motherfucker every single day - so thanks man

[Sirschmoopy]

I owe my entire career to Newgrounds Tom and for the first time in my life, I have the income to start putting it back into Newgrounds to support the next generation of animators and storytellers. You rock man, thanks for everything you do in supporting creators.

[squidly]

At 3/31/17 11:40 AM, TomFulp wrote: "Wow, after all I've accomplished, I think I'll spend the rest of my life begging people for money."

I stopped reading there, nice post Tom good to see you figured out your goal in life.

jk

People have made some great videos about NG but this one really strikes me for how succinct it is and how much it feels like it came direct from my heart. It's the short version of NG I want everyone to know and understand.

I wish we could, like, EXPLAIN this to people. I wish we could tap every animator and game developer, or at least a bunch of them, to one day, just with one big ass thunderclap, have a "Newgrounds Appreciation Day" where they talk about how Newgrounds helped them.

Of course, when videos like this get me feeling all passionate and inspired, my frustrations with the state of NG and the larger internet also emerge.

Things are gonna get better. We just need to organize a bit more imo. We can't just keep throwing things at the wall and waiting for some controversy or another to boost us up like we've been doing for 20 years. We gotta actually gotta get them to come here outside of the controversy - to come here because they know we're good, not because we're less bad.

[ZJ]

That Tom is a real crowd pleaser.