I didn't see a thread for this, but if there is, kill this one. Thought it might be interesting to some considering Re/Action was the site that spawned the much-discussed Open Letter To Games Media.

Here's the fundraiser page, and here's the briefing video.

Our site (www.reactionzine.com) is a platform for talented writers, from the mainstream of the games industry and beyond, to discuss the sorts of issues that are vitally important but do not serve a specific commercial purpose. During our prelaunch, re/Action has featured amazing people with compelling stories:

• Samantha Allen’s “Open Letter to Games Media” about the exclusionary comments and problematic community members in many game sites
• Zoya Street’s “Why Invisibility Isn’t A Superpower” describing how his transition from “girl gamer” to “guy gamer” was like gaining the unwanted power of invisibility
• Brendan Keogh’s “Regarding The Pain Of Avatars” showing why action hero avatars suffering in ways that matter lead to great storytelling
• Jeremy Antley’s “Morally Guided Drone Strikes” about two games that challenge morality through powerful gameplay
• ...and over a dozen more.

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For this to continue, we need funding. We intend to pay a quality rate -- $200 per article -- and that can only happen with your financial support. We aren’t taking advertising from the games industry. We need $41000 to support our team for the last six months of 2013. Here is the breakdown:

• $200/article to the writer * 78 articles (avg. of 3 each week for 6 months): $15600
• Staff costs (Mattie, Stephen, Andrea) of $833/month each: $15000
• Costs for print publication’s layout, artwork, and similar: $5000
• Webhosting, monitoring, domains, taxes, and other administrative costs: $1050
• Approximately 7.5% buffer for unplanned expenses: $2750
• 4% Processing Fee: $1573
• Total: $40976.

We rounded up a bit. =)

This project is all-or-nothing. Either we get enough to launch for real, or August 1st will be our last day.

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Backer rewards include naming credits, physical copies of the magazine and other such things.

Personally, I love the mission statement. We DO need more diverse writing from a greater range of sources and viewpoints, in order to look at games in different ways and deepen the possibilities of the medium. This is a brilliant idea, and one I would try to personally get involved in if I thought I had the skill. I am also obviously very sympathetic to the idea of better pay rates for writers.

THAT SAID

I have been disappointed with a number of re/Action's articles. The aforementioned Open Letter to Games Media was disagreeable in a way that makes me scared to raise my thoughts on it (does this remind you of anything?), and Denis Farr's article on needing more queer relationships in gaming had a brilliant idea, but the pure writing lacked crucial components to make a compelling argument. Basically, I am more than prepared to reward some writers, and less than willing to reward others.

Still, I will probably toss ten dollars in when I can in two weeks, because the cause is more than worth it.