So in case you guys missed it, we set up a Patreon last night. So far, we’ve gotten some awesome responses from the fans, and we’re eternally thankful for your contributions already. However, it seems like there may be more questions out there, and perhaps some of our fans are afraid to ask them? I’m hoping to clear some things up tonight, in what I’m calling Operation #NicheGamerNation.

We’re looking to relaunch the site as soon as we can afford it, following our migration to a new web server this month. We’ve outgrown our current shared host and we’re looking to break out of the confines of traditional servers, where we consistently seem to get limited when we get big referral traffic. Now here are the plans that I have in place for our new layout/theme.

I want to keep the dark/eye-friendly color scheme consistent, but I want to add multiple databases with this new layout. Here’s a breakdown of what I want to implement:

• Individual/dedicated pages for each game, complete with all the game’s information, and links out to articles, screenshots, videos, and so on
• Dedicated image galleries powered by a content delivery network (we also have to set up one of those)
• A user-based aggregate that will be right alongside the game’s score (on each game page)
• Dedicated user accounts where you can rank up and get community perks, alongside commenting on the site more (based on comment count)
• An adult section that is at least restricted by an age-gate; we’re also considering having more coverage if we get more fan support
• A video hub where we upload trailers, let’s plays, video reviews, and general video shenanigans
• A potential new comment system (non-third party, all in house) that is also tied into private forums (still prototyping this)

We’re looking to make our new layout bigger, better and—most importantly—faster and more reliable. I sincerely want to pack as much awesome content as I can on the website, but I don’t want to sacrifice the ease of use that you guys have been experiencing since we launched back in July of last year.

Ultimately, I want to keep the minimalist design of our site, but I want to implement those databases and extra features to hopefully bring our community closer together. I want to know how you guys feel about all of these potential changes and additions. I’ve been price shopping as well, in terms of a web developer, so I’m looking to get this done as soon as I can afford it—via our donations.

Finally, I’m still waiting on some legal back-end things to be finished up but once they are … I think the Niche Gamer brand will be even stronger, and you guys will be rejoicing over the new developments we’ll be revealing in the coming weeks/months.

Let’s do this together. Please, let me know what you guys think.