Re: Crisis Point: Extinction - Metroidvania H-game - NEW PUBLIC UPDATE! (Sept. 25th)
patreon is literally the worst idea. "backers" not only get sucked in but its getting sucked in "per update" so people end up just donating over and over again to the point that its likely the person issuing the updates is doing so solely to extract more money from the masses. I would think most people think patreon is just like kickstarter where you make a one time donation and get whatever reward that is associated with it. However it is not, so I think alot of people are turned off by that fact after they get sucked dry from each update.
You could make a blog? Maybe even link it in your signature? I wouldnt know or care if you did already since I have forum signatures disabled. My personal opinion is that you are excluding the non-donators by making "donation" updates and then public updates after that fact, so someone who is not hooked will not ever get hooked as they are already excluded. Possibly treating the general public the same as people who are donating already might give you a larger base of potential donators?
When it comes down to it, I care little for this game in the first place. However tough it is for you to stomach, this is my opinion on things. What you do with it is completely up to you.
Wow. I mean, you're free to have whatever opinion you want, man - but there was absolutely no need to be so rude about it. Considering your comment here, I think it's safe assuming the negative reputation along with the comment "garbage tier beggar" was from you as well.
I don't think you understand the point of Patreon. You don't have to like it, and I'm certainly not telling you to change your mind, but that's not what people use Patreon for. At least, not what decent people use it for. For single-donation systems, there are already places like Kickstarter and Offbeatr - Patreon is an entirely different kind of system, and that's what it's SUPPOSED to be. I also think you're underestimating user intelligence by saying that most people don't know that Patreon is a monthly donation system, rather than something like Kickstarter.
Because of the way Patreon is set up, the amount you have to donate for any individual reward ends up being a very paltry number. How big of an impact do you think $10/m makes on a person's wallet? If they have a job and a source of steady income, it's a number that's hardly even noticeable. Patreon gives people a chance to support creators they really like in an easy-to-manage way that DOESN'T break the bank. Yes, it's possible to set up expensive reward tiers, but if that reward tier isn't worth it to somebody than they can just.. not use it. My most expensive tier right now is $100 (compared to Kickstarters which usually go up into the thousands). There's only one slot for it, and I frequently chat with the guy who's doing it. He has a ridiculous amount of excess income from his job, and he just really likes where Crisis Point is headed, so he wants to support the project as much as he can. He knows full well that it's $100 every month, and it doesn't bother him at all. If he ever did want to stop, it takes all of two seconds to stop your pledge. I don't see how a system like that is "literally the worst idea."
For me, Patreon is a way for me to try and make a living off of these games. I don't think you quite realize how much time and effort it takes to pull off a game like this, and earning nothing for it would gradually whittle away at the motivation to keep working. Working a 9-5 all week, to come home and keep working all day? That's some seriously depressing stuff. Nobody has to donate - I bring every update to the public, and I listen closely to the feedback of people, regardless of whether they're patrons or not. I honestly don't know where you're coming from when you say I'm not including non-patrons in this game. On the contrary, I go out of my way to try and include them as much as possible. Everyone gets the exact same updates, they just come a little later to the public. It's not like I even limit public updates to the prototype. I bring all the little morsels of information on development to them, too.
For the record, I DO have a blog - and it's been slowly dwindling away ever since I started Crisis Point. The majority of the people there followed me from my old days as a Maplestory H-artist, and lots of them weren't happy when I changed focus to original content. ULMF has become the most active place outside of Patreon, which is why most of my updates are focused here. People wouldn't randomly stumble across a blog, anyway - I'd still be trying to spread the word about the game if I DIDN'T have a Patreon campaign going. Community feedback is hugely important to me, Crisis Point would be a much different game than it is now if I wasn't getting thoughts and opinions from others.
Again, you're welcome to have your own opinion on Patreon or my project, I'm not going to tell you to change them. I just think you could have found a way to go about speaking your mind without being so rude about it. Just because you have a different opinion or you don't agree with something doesn't mean it needs to be met with hostility.
In the words of the great Bill & Ted: "Be excellent to each other."
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