Switching my Patreon to monthly
Added 2017-01-26 13:39:24 +0000 UTCAfter some thinking, I considered switching my Patreon to "monthly" rather than "per project". Obviously I'd rather make such a change after consulting existing patrons first, hence why this post; I'd like people to share their feedback on the matter if they wish, and will take the decision based on it sometime next month. As always I read all replies, so leave one below if you want to share your thoughts. This is my reasoning for the change, which I do ask everyone to read first:
Back when I first started this page, I wasn't doing a whole lot on it, and had few ongoing projects I could share publicly. I asked around for what the best setup would be, and several people told me to use per-project as patrons would then have the guarantee they aren't being charged for nothing. Obviously that seemed like the safest and fairest option, so I immediately went with it. On the downside, some were afraid that I would charge them more than once a month instead... which is why I made the promise to only create one charged post per month, never more. Therefore the only reason why I used per-project altogether was to make sure no one pays during a month in which I didn't do anything.
This was two years ago. Today things have changed quite a bit: I have a group of awesome patrons who are supporting me, thanks to which I was able to kick up a lot of projects on which I work simultaneously. Charging per post is starting to become more of an inconvenience in comparison: I need to pick just one subject to post about publicly each month, and have to make sure I never publish more or less than one relevant post monthly... forcing me to either limit or oppositely strain myself.
I believe monthly would be a better solution at this point, and what every creator with my pace seems to use; My life consists of me sitting at a computer all day long... almost always working on some sort of project, which is in nearly all cases open-source or somehow available to the public. Whatever happens, I'm bound to work on something anyone can access and use freely! Another problem is that ironically, per-project is intended for people who charge multiple times a month, which is the exact opposite of my case... Youtubers who charge per video typically need this.
One important mention: While I do work on something intended for the public almost every day, this does not mean I make a whole new project each month or have radical new features available monthly! Nearly everything I make I make alone, and things take time to finish. Obviously I'm not alone here, since no one I know can create a new video game each month nor start and finish a complex animation in that timespan... many work on continuous projects the same way, which can sometimes take years to be officially finished. I know I'm probably stating the obvious here... just making sure I'm being clear and fair for all.
It should equally be noted that I often work on contributions to other projects too. They are themselves projects open to the public, but not necessarily things I'm explicitly supported for. For example, a few days ago I made several pull requests for the Tuxemon project, which is a FOSS monster fighting game written in Python; It's something that might be relevant to some of my supporters, while at the same time I plan to use the engine to make a project of my own someday... however it's up to everyone whether they consider something like that of personal interest. This is the case with a few other game engines or assets I contribute to, but of course I mainly focus on my own projects and they're never left out.
Comments
Alright!
Terra-Bolt
2017-02-05 05:09:35 +0000 UTCI plan to do it sometime this month (February). Mostly because I made a charged post on January, and wanted to be extra sure Patreon wouldn't think of charging anyone twice in the same month. I will see during the next days.
Mircea Kitsune
2017-02-01 15:52:22 +0000 UTCWhen would this change take effect?
Terra-Bolt
2017-01-30 06:27:37 +0000 UTCI understand. The change wouldn't really make a practical difference BTW: I was already planning to charge every month, especially for the first half of the year... the modification would only automate the process instead of me doing it with a post. As I still rely on staying above $250, I hope that won't have to be the case immediately... no worries if it is however, I understand you have your own struggles and I'm grateful for any support! Also thank you very much for mentioning this, so I'm prepared if it is the case.
Mircea Kitsune
2017-01-27 00:07:19 +0000 UTCI may have to cut my patronage in half if we go monthly, I've got a few monetary issues of my own, but at least that will help keep things stable for you and not drain myself too heavily either.
Vector Wave
2017-01-26 23:01:37 +0000 UTC