Billing Changes – Final Update

Hey everyone—This will be my final update regarding the transition from the “per creation” billing model to Patreon’s new mandatory monthly subscription model. If you missed the previous message outlining the plan, you can find it here. Or my previous update on the situation here.

The outcome is not what I had hoped for, and I’m extremely disappointed in how things have unfolded. In the spirit of transparency and accountability, I want to walk you through what happened and what’s coming next.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Patreon mishandled the migration of my page between billing models. In doing so, they removed your established monthly charge limits and incorrectly applied the existing tier prices to the new monthly model.

While they’ve acknowledged the mistake and apologized, Patreon has confirmed there’s no way to restore the limits while keeping the new system in place. Returning to the old system is not an option. Preserving those limits for longtime patrons was my top priority in this transition, and I’m deeply sorry this wasn’t the outcome.

After reviewing all available options, I’ve decided to move forward immediately by updating my tier prices to match the structure I had originally planned to roll out post-transition for new members:

Wanderer – $5.00/month

Pathfinder – $10.00/month

Trailblazer – $13.00/month

Wayfarer – $15.00/month

This was the most mutual and sustainable solution I could arrive at—balancing what Bearworks needs to grow while keeping your cost of support manageable. Under this new pricing structure I will be making less a month than I was previously but this keeps the impact to you at a minimum.

WHAT HAPPENED

For the past few months, I’ve been in ongoing discussions with Patreon to prepare for the transition. We aligned on several key points: the new pricing structure, preserving your existing monthly charge limits, and completing the migration on April 2.

But April 2 came and went—no migration, no updates. I reached out and was told that transitions were taking longer than expected and that my page would be switched before the end of April.

On April 23, I followed up again, still without hearing back. Then on April 24, I started receiving messages from some of you letting me know that you’d gotten emails from Patreon—and the numbers didn’t match what I had shared.

Upon investigating, I found that Patreon hadn’t adjusted my tier prices at all. Instead, they simply applied the existing “per creation” tier amounts to a monthly billing model—completely contrary to what we’d discussed.

I immediately reached back out. Their initial suggestion was for me to manually adjust the tiers. I asked them to confirm whether doing so would preserve your existing limits—and they told me no, it would erase them. They agreed to look into alternatives.

Yesterday and today, I followed up again, pressing for a solution that would allow me to maintain the limits. Their final answer: it’s not possible. The only thing they could offer was adjusting the prices on their end to what we had originally agreed to. I’ve since told them not to proceed—I’ll make the changes myself, as i laid out above.

Due to the situation, this month's revenue for me will be 40% of what it is usually. However, due to it being their error, Patreon has offered to compensate me for the loss in revenue and disruption. While this does not affect you all, i want to make sure you all get the full story.

LOOKING AHEAD

This experience has been frustrating and disappointing. I hope how i have handled the situation and the information I have provided has reinforced my commitment to accountability for the decisions I make and to a sense of mutuality—ensuring Bearworks grows in a way that benefits both me and the people who support this work

During the last month I have been forced to sink time into resolving these issues and haven’t had the time I wanted to work on the true purpose here, maps. With this all out in the open and hopefully out of the way lets get back to the maps and the stories you all are telling at your tables. You will be hearing from me shortly with some new content and some news, this time for the positive!

As always, thank you for your patience, your trust, and for sticking with me through this mess. I’ll continue doing everything I can to make Bearworks worthy of your support!

If you have any questions or issues please let me know.

—Nate