Any Ideas to Increase Transfigure Viability? (Poll)
Added 2018-10-30 23:17:30 +0000 UTCHello everyone!
As most of you are aware, I have put a lot of hours into Transfigure and its ongoing development is also something I have treated akin to a full time job since its launch (at the cost of other much more lucrative work).
The lack of commercial success is a bit distressing not just for my own sake but also because it doesn’t justify sufficient resources to develop this project properly. I have worked on Transfigure pretty solidly for about a year and that I have been unable to get to a subsistence level demonstrates that I am doing something wrong (either that or I have seriously misjudged how good Transfigure is…). I am incredibly grateful to all my patrons, old and new, I just wish I had a few more of you :P
One thing I consistently notice about my patrons is that they usually back high quality projects that have potential and achieve a measure of success. This encourages me, but what bums me out a bit is that I am usually at the bottom in terms of earnings even accounting for other variables like the length other projects have existed and the number of likes they have received across various sites. By many metrics I am doing really well, except the financial ones, lol.
There are many soulless projects that make thousands per month with such a small amount of content they can be played in under five minutes… I can’t even compare Transfigure to most erotic games with a straight face since the written length is already larger than the vast majority of visual novels and real novels. It does lower my morale a bit when I play a new concept game that is low quality/ bare bones / full of typos and then check their Patreon’s and they are just light years ahead in like a month. Despite a lot of research and generalizations, it is still not completely clear what makes a successful Patreon account beyond making something good (or that looks good) and cultivating an engaged fan base.
But rather than be a grumpy puss about it, I have tried to plod ahead and produce a lot of quality content to prove to the internets that (to quote a reader) “Tango is definitely not a patreon shill.” Yet, at some point, working for ~$1-3/ hour is not sustainable as much as I would like to continue. I have lost ~30 pounds writing this project and I am running out of belt loops. The Transfigure diet!
I also believe that Transfigure is genuinely good because the reviews and fans agree (and I do too!). Plus I have played a lot of what is out there and I know Transfigure is/will be among the best written erotic stories because it is simply not feasible for most of my competitors to make something like this. Which may in fact be a problem/ the reason why so much shallow content exists. Maybe I misjudged the market for this type of fiction or perhaps I am a bit nuts/overly ambitious.
In August/September the patron count really started to roll over which is a bad sign and something I usually only see in late stage projects that are in decline (their best days behind them…). The mega update helped and so did a suggestion from a fan, FloricSpacer, who recommended I repost on some additional reddits-something I had tried to do previously but had my posts deleted. It worked last time though and I was able to get another 30,000 or so to at least check the pitch. So a big thank you to Floric! We were able to reverse the trend… although it took many hours for the larger update and extra engagement. But it also shows a simple idea or comment from one of you folks can have a disproportionate impact on the Tango Fiction. Something as simple as going on to tfgs and liking Transfigure is a no-brainer. Likes cost the user nothing but also serve to help market the project and represent real money.
We’re all invested in this project and want to see it succeed so please let me know if you have any ideas to increase the viability of Transfigure. I will continue the obvious stuff like more reddit/free advertising engagement while doing my best to finish the game.
I am not a quitter but I do need an occasional sandwich. :P
Here are some of the ideas I came up with, so please vote or let me know if you have any others (aside from shaking down you current patrons).
As always, thanks for backing me!
Comments
Thanks for that, Troqu! I do think I have a pretty interested core fan base. Those that become patrons usually stick around and if they leave many do end up coming back. By far the most common reason for a patron leaving is that their financial situation has changed. I love my fans and am pretty responsive though, so maybe I have a bit more of a personal connection :P
Tango
2018-10-31 04:31:21 +0000 UTCI agree - but I have kind of changed my mind a bit since I found out that you can save the Transfigure saves to disc and rename them so after I did that it ceased to be a problem. But yeah, Transfigure is way too damn big for like 10 saves or w/e! Maybe I will upload some of the save files if people want in the meantime. Thanks for the ideas Dunko! P.S. You said "one of" so if you have some other gripes let me know :P
Tango
2018-10-31 04:27:24 +0000 UTCYou aren't the only one who feels that way about advertising, but it really is the difference in a lot of projects. I feel the brand of advertising I'm suggesting is about as close to honest as you can get. You're trying to appeal to the potential patrons as a like minded individual and showing that to be the case instead of just spamming everywhere and hoping a few people take a bite before you get tossed out. Your game is solid though so at least you have that going for you regardless and I imagine that you keep your patrons a bit longer than most projects, but I don't have any proof of that.
Troqu
2018-10-31 04:21:54 +0000 UTCOne of the most annoying things about Transfigure is having to re-play a lot of the entire storylines to get to specific new content. Adding a jump or other cheats and such would be a great incentive for Patrons. Gating releases (for a few weeks at least) would also help, I think. Even if a $1 pledge gets you access.
Dunko
2018-10-31 04:14:01 +0000 UTCThanks for the suggestions, Troqu! I am spending more time on various sites like tfgs, reddit, and f95 etc and trying to cultivate a bit of a following (and keeping an eye on the pirates :)). I also have a few shout out/thank you posts I have been meaning to do. If they reciprocate that's all good too. I just always feel a bit awkward with the advertising stuff; it feels a bit crooked and that isn't really my style but I realize I need to do more self promotion.
Tango
2018-10-31 04:02:42 +0000 UTCTo clarify, that's 1/8th of you're work time, however much that is. Not 3 hours a day.
Troqu
2018-10-31 03:48:06 +0000 UTCThe advice FloricSpacer gave you is exactly what I've given others in the past. In general I'd say set aside somewhere around1/8th of your time for advertising/shilling. It sounds like a lot, but engaging to the point of becoming a regular on a few sites (I know your on tfgs, presumably you've at least looked at the lewdgames reddit, maybe f95 and hypnopics, but a couple more would also be ideal) including engaging in other projects on those sites (as part of your 1 in 8 hours for shilling playing another game and giving feedback to help build that 'regular' status, plus it always helps give perspective when you can view what other games are doing) so people feel you aren't just there to shill even if you are. Not sure how much of this you're already doing but it can't hurt to do more. Especially with this game being mostly text/writing based. Personally I wouldn't change a thing, but people just seem to pay less for good writing compared to more porn (3d or real).
Troqu
2018-10-31 03:46:35 +0000 UTC
