TL;DR; TASBot has turned 10 and I'm moving to full-time content creation with new TASBot HD and TASBot Re: videos but I've been laid off and my kids and I are
relying on your renewed support - Comment below, what's your favorite TASBot memory? :)
TASVideos was born on December 6th, 2003 and TASBot was born on December 22nd, 2013
when I first assembled him. It's been a wild ride of ups and downs but TAS event content I've led has raised more than $1.4m USD at various charity events in the last decade and I aim to keep going. I supported all charity event travel costs with my day job, ultimately spending $20k more than I recouped through Patreon and elsewhere, but it was absolutely worth it. Unfortunately, I was laid off many months ago in a challenging time for the security consulting market and I've decided to focus on making new TASBot content instead. My kids (DefeneSam and Wrentendo) and I can't relocate from the SF bay area and I need to net $6k per month just to survive due to high housing costs; I regret I'll need to pause donating 10% on to charity for now but I'll give you plenty of fun content if you can help us, so read on!
(As a brief digression, nothing about my involvement on the TASVideos side as a senior staff member and Senior Ambassador will be changing and
I'll continue to create content directly for the YouTube TASVideos Official channel. A lot of the initial content I'm describing below is based on the last 10 years of charity event work but I'm also working on some new YouTube content that's unrelated to TASVideos or even traditional TAS content. I'm very sensitive to ensuring everything I do in each of my roles/positions is first and foremost above reproach, faithfully following the TASVideos content policies and CC-BY-2.0 attribution requirements, and always promoting the site positively. Please feel free to reach out to me directly on any of this, I don't mind.)
I'm announcing TASBot HD and TASBot Re:
YouTube.com/dwangoAC content! Remember Pong inside SMW, Brain Age, or Pokemon Plays Twitch? I couldn't have presented any of those without the help of an awesome community of TAS authors, presenters, and volunteers from TASVideos and elsewhere. TASBot HD is an exciting project where I'll be cleaning up past charity event run videos with full attribution and other TAS authors and presenters that helped make it all happen. The original videos were often posted in lower quality on scattered channels with uneven editing and this is an opportunity to honor everyone who helped out for charity. We're already underway updating the
TAS.Bot wiki with proper attribution and Wiki editors are welcome.
TASBot Revisited (stylized as TASBot Re:) is an opportunity to dive deeper into how each run was created; livestreams give only one shot to get things right and TASBot Re: is an opportunity to revisit the most amazing content we've made and the people behind it with in-depth explanations around some of the craziest things we've done. Think of TASBot Re: videos as a mix between minidocs and explainer videos with a dose of nostalgia, created during
Twitch.tv/dwangoAC livestreams complete with perks like a return of PBN / Paint By Numbers.
I'm also looking at relaunching an idea I toyed with in a different form called FasTAS which takes the concept of glitched games in 60 seconds or less to short-form video. I experimented with a few ideas already and I'll likely condense TASBot Re: videos to their most interesting sections as FasTAS videos. I'll be adapting based on audience feedback, so stay tuned for more FasTAS and other new content news. I'm currently releasing YouTube Shorts based on TASBot Re: video content which have been a lot of fun.
I'm relaunching my
Patreon.com/dwangoAC page and I've significantly expanded the tier rewards and incorporated shoutouts in video credits for all tiers, with higher tiers receiving more prominent coloring in a new vaporwave aesthetic. I'm also giving all tiers early access to videos with no ads until they go public. It's never been a better time to support my family, TASBot and I, so click that tier now! :) I plan to take TASBot to upcoming charity events while also enabling other TASBot handlers but future travel depends on revenue streams, including direct support. Can you spare supporting on Patreon or elsewhere? If so, thanks. You can also help with edits on the
TASBot Wiki or just checking in on the
TASBot Discord server to help there if financial support isn't possible for you right now. Genuinely, from DefeneSam, Wrentendo, TASBot and I, thanks for everything, and here's to another decade!
So with *all* that out of the way, what's your favorite live TASBot memory from the last decade of events? :)
