NokiMo
Orioto
Orioto

patreon


Some feedback and questions!

Hey!

So i've seen a huge drop in my number of patrons this month, and obviously you being the ones still supporting me i can't ask you why haha, and thx for still supporting me! 

I know there has been a long term paiement problem with credit cards and Patreon and some people have to reopen account many times, that's certainly a pain in the ass! I heard there are alternative to patreon, is it the time to think about that ?

Also some people must be frustrated by games picked each months but i can't do a lot to change that, that's democracy! I have only one free spot left, remember :p 

On Patreon you don't have a lot of fedback, as i only have like 2-3 likes on my posts. The only feedback you get is how many people are still there he next month unfortunatly!

So, for exemple, i'm having a ton of fun doing neo16bit pixel art pieces, but i don't know, i always worries some of you don't like it! So it's time to tell me if some things are frustrating you! Unfortunately, if you think my art is less good or something, i can only continue doing my best but i'm only human :p  Been doing that every week with almost no break for 6-7 years now! I try to diversify in style but it's not without a risk each time!


Update: Thx very much for your kind words everyone (The usual talkers, but also the lurkers :p)!  

I tried to answer individually people but in term of what i can do to make things more attractive (god i need more people to pledge!), this is some of what i noted and thought about:

_Saying what game it is when i post art haha!
_Finding a way to offer more exclusive content to you (but i also need to be able to promote it outside to attract people lol!)

_Creating a discord channel to have more direct chats about what i do. (Now about that, i have my restrictions. I can absolutely have suggestions and advises / requests for particular scenes or details from a game, before i start, when i research for the art! What i won't do is discussing the art while i'm doing it cause i don't want to be in some sort of client to artist relation where i have to change what i do :p ) Also as i was saying to one of you i can hear requests for particular scenes, but i need to keep the final decision to avoid being asked something that will be super bad (cause that's still my art in the end and i try to avoid it being too bad :p)

i'll post more updates as the discussion goes on!

Comments

I'm new here so I don't have much in suggestions. I can only offer my thoughts I have so far. I signed up for a month because I love your art and wanted access to old stuff, and also look forward to new art. But the last few polls, I didn't like any of the outcomes (which is fine, I know if I wanted to vote I can upgrade, I didn't vote because I am mid-tier). But because I wasn't interested in the poll out-comes, I thought "well maybe I should unsubscribe for now, and I can subscribe again in a year or so. Then I can see what all he has done." But I decided to just wait it out because I want to support you monthly while I can for now as a thanks for all the awesome art. So I don't know if my thoughts on my own experience helps, but hope it does help to just get more feedback.

Out of the Nox

unfortunately that's not possible at all :p

Orioto

Thx for the double pledge, i feel bad for not having a special reward for that haha

Orioto

Hi there, I would maybe offer a different suggestion - instead of doing one piece a week, maybe try one a month. If you’re able to spend a lot longer on a piece it may result in even better work that gets more pickup on social media. I don’t mind waiting if it would mean even more special pieces. Thanks!

Joel Bartley

Given that the current URL is orioto.free.fr, I assume that you're self hosting the files on your own computer/server or you're using a file space that your ISP has provided? If you're self hosing the files now, it's probably a trivial amount of setup to secure your own domain name, point that domain at the same location that the orioto.free.fr name is pointed, and then have Certbot (https://certbot.eff.org/) take care of your TLS for you for free. Other than having to purchase a domain (typically $12-20 a year), then setup the certbot software, and then change the domain name in your URL, nothing else about your current setup should change. If you're hosting the files on a system that free.fr operates where you don't have any control over the hardware or software, things are a little more complicated and I might suggest that you just look at something like Dropbox or Google Drive to overcome the issue. That said you could use this as an excuse to convert to self hosting. I host a bunch of my own public stuff on a cheap Amazon Virtual Private Server Instance and outside of it taking an hour or two to set it up initially some years ago, I never touch it anymore outside of when I upload files to it. It runs a webserver and certbot to keep connections secure and I can host my own websites/files for $3/month at my own domains that cost ~$12/year. Perhaps the easiest and cheapest option may be to just upload the files to your Patreon posts directly? According to https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/204606055-Post-attachment-limitations you're able to attach ZIP files to posts and the size limit is a gracious 200MB, which should accommodate all of your Direct Downloads handily. With this, you'd piggyback on Patreon's TLS for the downloads which should get Chrome to stop complaining about the downloads being insecure.

DarthYoshiBoy

Sorry, as I'm not perfectly fluent with english it's difficult to be clear, let me rephrase it (there's no reply button so I make a new post). I know you have only one spot left but it go well with my suggestion. As you say you do sometimes stuffs that was asked for a long time. What if you make an extra list with proposal from everybody that you personally like but also ones you know that they will not be put in first or 2nd position into polls plus your own suggestions if you like. Like that everybody could have a chance to have his/her category or suggestion picked and it give you the chance to also make stuff you'll enjoy in particular? You could make people vote for one thing per month within the list or pick one yourself it's not the real matter I think, the most important is that people who propose things like small indies game can also have a chance to see theirs stuff picked. I hope it was clearer and that the idea isn't completely foolish to you.

Mordiern Le Dissez

I'm not sure i got your idea with extra list sorry :p But my only free spot i sometimes do things that have been asked for a long time though. I don't have anymore free spot.

Orioto

I could change that yeah but probably not for old files! If you have advices for hosts let me know!

Orioto

worry about that to but yeah this is tricky to tell people you'll have less for your money :p

Orioto

More engagement what do you mean ?

Orioto

Sad to see the numbers go down, but I guess this is something also related to the current state of the world. Now more than ever. People look for cutting expenses and the first thing are such things like entertainment, charity or crowdfunding initiatives. Gas prices are going up and will go up. Life becomes more expensive. Inflation is hitting record numbers all around the world. I hope you can live through it and keep on doing the amazing art you do, BUT I fear this will continue.

Germanos

I'm sorry to hear that there's such a big drop-off this month. I'm a big fan of your work (I think I bought a couple of your original prints about 10 years ago) and I'd love to see it continue. For what it's worth, I'm also generally much more interested in your renditions of classics, as well as modern indie games. I don't play JRPGs so most of those, I don't even recognise (even the popular ones such as Final Fantasy). I do generally feel like the voting skews in that direction, though of course I might be biased. I see this week's is Cuphead so obviously it's not always true. Perhaps it's worth limiting votes to a category? You specify the category (e.g. "NES games this week", or "action RPGs this week", or a genre of movie, or whatever). That way no one feels like their favourite style is never coming up. Even if it's not true. I'd also appreciate it if you put the game title in the posts! Often I don't recognise them. Please keep up the wonderful work. ^_^

Samir Talwar

Sorry that this was posted before I got the meaningful feedback in there, I went to add a new paragraph and it submitted rather than starting a new line. 🤦‍♂️

DarthYoshiBoy

Hi there, First I love your art and I'm here since maybe 3 or 4 years now. A lot of things have already be said and I'm OK with most of them. Personally, I often frustrated because I always try to propose things you haven't done yet or things I think that would be awesome with your take on it but I see many people for most of the time voting for the newest trendy game ,and it's normal, but I miss a chance to have your vision on smaller games from every generation. I also agree with Platypus, I enjoy a lot your Neo-16-Bit stuff and I would love to see art from the "wrong" generation. Aside I have a suggestion, I dunno if it's possible, if people would support it or even if you would like the idea but here it is. Maybe you can put an "Extra list" with some of the idea you like from each polls or ideas people had placed in 3rd or 4rth position in polls and propose each month to do one of the list. Then each idea in the list who's present for a certain amount of months will be discard for new one. It's maybe a bit complicated to be clear (as English not my mother language) but using this guarantee that even the oldest and most hardcore gamers get also art related to them and theirs favorite games and maybe for you it's a good way to ensure keeping it fresh and propose new ideas? I also completely in line with what Matthew Ritter said, I understand why you're doing things like that, it's democracy. I'm just giving my small opinion, and of course, not trying to tell you to do anything. Again you are extremely talented, and even if sometimes I don't know the game, I'm still enjoying the art! So cheers, I hope you'll regain subs soon even with the actual crisis. THANK YOU!

Mordiern Le Dissez

I've loved your art since I discovered it back with 'Prisonniere' I honestly can't say that I'm unsatisfied with anything about the way you work or the art that you produce. My wallpapers on every PC I use are set to rotate through your whole collection, it's the first thing that I set up when I get a new system or change phones. That said, there is an issue where Chrome fights me to get my direct downloads because the URLs are "insecure" which is to say that they all start with http:// rather than https:// this manifests when I click to download the direct download link and seemingly nothing happens. Chrome doesn't post an error or even complain, it just doesn't download the file. I have to go out of my way to right click the link, choose 'Save as', select a location to save the file to, and then save it... at which point Chrome complains about the file not being available securely and tries again to stop me from downloading the file. I could see this issue being a reason that people stop patronizing your work. Chrome just makes it a huge amount of work to get access to the content and if I weren't so devoted, I probably would have just given up and cancelled my pledge. Fixing this may require changing where you host the files. I could probably offer you some further insight if you're interested, but there are ways to do stuff like this for cheap or even free if you're interested.

DarthYoshiBoy

I don't know if it's too big of a risk, subscription-wise, but I'd actually like to see you be able to take your time with some of the art and not create one a week. You always do a great job but I worry about burnout and your creativity being fulfilled in general.

Jimmy Cleveland

The classics are may favourite ones as well.

Joshua Ham

So I will echo everyone else in that I’ve been a major fan of your work. Ever since I first saw that Super Mario level done in that watercolor style. (The original version, not a fan of the one with the different Mario) And do want to support your work. You are my first Patreon backing and why I created an account. Every time you ask for poll suggestions, I’ve struggled to try and find titles you’ve not done, especially from the NES and SNES era. As you’ve been doing it for so long that there are so few games/series which haven’t had at least some representation. But it is a fun challenge to attempt at least. This isn’t to say I don’t want more Final Fantasy and Zelda, but just trying to get every game its due :) I know sometimes we end up voting for a new game because its the new hotness that everyone is playing right now. Perhaps we should have a slightly better mix of new, old, and classic (you’ve done before) games in our polls. Maybe I’ll try some throwback suggestions next time. I am more excited for a video game image than a movie/show. But not so much that I’d say you shouldn’t do it, especially if you have a good inspiration/style for it. For the most part, I think these suggestions tend to get less votes anyway…? As for the voting, yeah democracy is probably the best. Although as someone at the suggestion tier, I do sometimes feel a little bummed in that with only one vote, I feel compelled to vote for my own suggestion. Don't want to betray my baby! But should probably keep to a single vote. As for patreon benefits/ideas? I don’t know. As I am perfectly happy with what I am getting. Feels a little dirty to suggest it, but is more "engagement" an answer? \shrug

Andrew Hannon-Rizza

Ah, that sucks. Hopefully they ease up on that kind of thing in the future.

Paul Beer (TUFCfan)

Haha well resetera doesn't want me to cause it's self promo :p Gaf let me have a special treatment but i guess resetera doesn't like me that much :p

Orioto

Firstly just want to say thanks for all the great artwork over the years. Have a large number of prints of your work framed on my walls at home and always enjoy using a selection of the new wallpapers. Hope you're able to continue on with this for many years to come. Unfortunately I Imagine some aspects of a downturn in Patreon subs possibly just has to do with the current cost of living crisis we're all facing. A while ago I dropped down from the 4k tier just because I had to set myself a limit to my Patreon subs to keep it down to a similar monthly total to a Prime/Netflix sub as otherwise it was getting too much of a monthly expense. It wasn't in response to anything to do with your work, it was just personal circumstances and I had to do similar to my other Patreon subs as well. One question I've been meaning to ask for a while in regards to social media/getting your name out there, apologies if answered in the past, is that I've noticed that you don't have a thread for your current artwork on Resetera. I remember in the old place you had a thread that was regularly updated (haven't looked on there in a while so don't know if that's still the case). Is there a reason you haven't done that on there like you'd done previously, or is having an Orioto [OT] still something you'd be looking to have in the future?

Paul Beer (TUFCfan)

Ma production photo ? Mais je doute que ça interesse les gens ici :p Mais j'en fais toujours oui j'ai mon instagram photo @oriotophotography

Orioto

(flemme de rédiger en anglais, mais tu peux répondre in english) j'avoue avoir hésité à cesser mon "patronage" (?) : J'ai commencé pendant le premier confinement, dans l'optique d'aider un artiste français que j'apprécie. Et au bout de deux ans, je me suis dit qu'il y avait peut être d'autres artistes talentueux à soutenir :D. Du coup j'hésite encore entre cette formule de soutien mensuelle ou d'achats d'oeuvres ponctuels. Les thèmes choisis et ton esthétique me passionnent toujours autant. Je ne serai pas contre voir un peu plus de ta production photo, mais je ne sais pas si tu pratiques toujours

Cédric

Yup, understood. I still liked it better before :)

Mark Tonkin

The reason i allow for just one answer now in polls is cause 2 votes will make fans of a certain brand more dominant, like for exemple we've had 2 nintendo games winning multiple times :p So 1 only vote adds more variety to the results!

Orioto

I did many posts lately on social networks to showcase my past work actually! Now on Patreon, people have everything in zips when they arrive, so it's a little useless showing them what they already have :p

Orioto

So, about being able to pick the scene, or a more specific demand, the problem is i absolutely need to keep some level of freedom in my art or, 1_I'll feel like a machine doing what i'm being asked to do 2_When asked things that can't turn out goodin my style or with my skills, i'll have no way to turn around! This is important for me that i can at least chose what i do with a game, to maintain a creative choice and to avoid having to do something too difficult that will just turn out bad! I already get lots of games that i'm honestly not sure what to do with! Now i encourage people suggesting scenes they want from a game, but generally i don't have a lot of answers when i ask! I'll try to ask more for that! I'm also thinking of creating a discord channel to have more direct chats for this kind of stuff! Also, about the classics, just to be clear, that's what i love doing the most personally, but it's rarely asked by people in here :) New games are asked way more.

Orioto

I'll do that :p (I need to think about it!)

Orioto

"Maybe a higher tier that has exclusive suggestions/voting, like "if you really want me to do this game, pay more for the higher tier with fewer people where your vote goes further." The only other one is in the other direction, to maybe target the games a little more - for example, I love Final Fantasy and Zelda, but you have so many pieces for those series already (many of which some newer followers may not be as aware of) that it might make sense to outlaw them from the votes, just to increase variety (but obviously on the other hand, a lot of people suggesting and voting for them means they're popular and why wouldn't you want to appeal to what's popular?)." About that, there is a higher tier vote, it's the 10$ commission :p And no spot left haha. As for Zelda and FF they are actually rarely chosen by the polls, i did way way less art from them in recent years (except for the time when people got obsessed with skyward sword), polls are still quiet varied in their result actually. For the rest, it's noted, i'll think about all that!

Orioto

Love the artwork you create still, even when its games/movies/shows I'm not interested in. I preferred it when we had 2 votes for the poll, as choosing just one is really hard - there are often multiple items I want to vote for. Sometimes I miss out with the initial recommendations at the start of the month as the post is normally made late in the day Australian time (where I live) and we might hit the number of recommendations before I even see the post. Maybe a 24hr time limit for suggestions instead of a fixed number to allow us from other timezones to participate? I think you are still providing great value and will continue to support you (also looking at some more artwork for my walls). Wishing you all the best, and thank you for all the great artwork over the years!

Mark Tonkin

Hey, je n'ai personnellement pas de problème à faire remonter ou de suggestions nouvelles, tant a été déjà écrit ci-dessus! Il y a effectivement une certaine problématique à proposer dans le même temps des choses nouvelles, plus de variété, mais à devoir aussi satisfaire la majorité qui préfère ce qui est populaire, même si ça a déjà été fait maintes fois. Peut-être effectivement tenter de trouver un moyen de remettre en avant des vieux walls de séries comme Zelda ou Final Fantasy? Je sais que ça peut sonner comme un retour en arrière pas franchement évident, mais ce qui a été dit à propos de vieux walls dont les arrivants les plus récents n'en connaissent même pas l'existence tant il y a de contenu, ce n'est pas bête. Pour les votes, effectivement, democracy is democracy, ça fait longtemps que j'me suis fait à l'idée qu'on aurait rarement une réelle nouveauté dans ce domaine. :p En tout cas, force à toi, je te souhaite de trouver le bon équilibre pour continuer dans cette voie, et n'oublie pas que c'est une voie plus ardue que d'autres (plutôt largement basé sur les paysages, pas de chara-design, ni dessins de personnages, en définitive rien de bien sexy ou affriolant, on est très loin de ce qui plaît le plus dans les arts sur internet et autour des JV xD ) !

Eric Zucconi

Hi Miguel! I've been a HUGE fan of your art before there was ever a Patreon. In fact, it was your A Link to the Past piece...with Link on top of the Pyramid...looking timid yet determined...that prompted me to reach out to you via email one day. That piece and the way you captured it resonated with me and my childhood so much... I want to echo what the others have said above...you are EXCPTIONALLY talented and I was thrilled to learn that you'd started a Patreon! Looking at how things are structured on the Patreon...it makes total sense. As you said, you have lots of folks requesting art, and it has to be a democracy in order for folks to vote and get a chance to see their favorites captured in your beautiful style. I want to say that up front...I totally understand why things work like that...it's fair to everyone! Speaking strictly for myself...I do find that I'm less engaged when it's a game that I don't have a connection to (again...acknowledging the above!). It has always been your brilliant reinterpretation of 'the classics' that makes me love your art so much. It's the Marios, Zeldas, Metroids, Sonics, Final Fantasy's...the scenes from those games that takes me back to my childhood. Your art was able to bring to life how they looked in my head as a kid....again...that trepidation before jumping into the pyramid to fight Ganon. I know...through voting...I've made you revisit some of those classics again. I recall one time...my suggestion of Link's Awakening won. I know you'd done a decent amount of those...and mentioned that in the winner announcement message...paraphrasing here..."I've kinda done this one so many times already..." It made me feel bad for making you revisit the games I love...so I kinda stopped suggesting 'the classics' after that. Your beautiful renditions of those classics though...those are the ones I still see all over the internet...so there's a part of me that feels like they could be your most popular. There's a part of me that still believes there are so many scenes/art styles from those games that are still ripe for your art...but recognize that it could get boring as an artist. I thought of an interesting way of doing things occasionally that still includes the community...but others may not like this idea due to it's limitations...so maybe it could just be once a month or something like that. If 'the classics' are your most popular pieces...maybe you set the theme/game. Something specific...let's say Super Mario Bros. (NES). Then...you let the community suggest and vote on scenes... ...for example... >Rescuing the Princess >Looking out the top of the castle onto the next world awaiting >Create a 'world map' for SMB (NES) >Last stand with Bowser >World 1-1 >World 5-2 (or whatever the night levels are) >Art that might have been in the manual (think SMB3 manual) >new KEY art (think Super Mario Land box...but for games like SMB (NES) that didn't have a characters/environment/hero key art to it. *Upon further research...SMB does have key art like this on the SMB Famicom/Japanese box...but you get the idea) >World 8-3...with Mario AND Luigi fighting their way through Hammer brothers...just adding in elements like Luigi to bring the story to life more! Throwing an extra layer onto things...you could suggest some styles to vote on (or choose yourself) >Traditional >Fresco >Neo-16-bit (or Neo 8-bit...could be in interesting challenge...slightly more limited?) >HD-2D (like Octopath Traveler) >Maybe first person view...what is Mario seeing?) >45 degree camera rotation (instead of straight on 2D...what would things look like if the camera was rotated 45 degrees to the left...now you see some 3D as you look further down a Mario level into the distance a bit) >Our Imagination (see A Plumber Summer version of Mario you did) >capture the emotion of a scene....focusing on what that 8/16-bit character was really feeling with a zoom in on the character...with glimpses of the background letting us know what scene is taking place....or taking place just outside the frame. Maybe overly complicated...but could be a fun way of still doing some of the classics while involving your community...if you still had passion to do those games again. Heck...it could be a whole month dedicated to a single game...really diving deep into it and honing your craft on it and capturing all the different (or new) moments within. A Deep study into a single game could yield some interesting results (though again...that could be boring for you or TOO much time for the rest of your community). I know I'd be engaged that entire month...contributing ideas and voting if something like that happened on a game I was passionate about! While those are what brought me to your art...and they are selfishly my favorites of your pieces...I do have room for new games too. Horizon, Halo, Destiny, newer Zelda's and Metroids....still room for all that stuff too...which as you did with Horizon Neo-16bit...still have lots of room for fun!...and I enjoy those immensely like Platypus Man! I'm all for those to keep going...along with new styles and collections you come up with! Something else I thought of...again...going back to another experience. I was desperate to have you do a scene from Final Fantasy Adventure. I was FINALLY able to win one of the slots...and I had the perfect scene in mind! I think I suggested it to you after I won, but you (rightfully so) said, "I get to pick the scene! =) " While I loved the art you made for it...it wasn't the scene I had the deepest connection to (or what was in my head)....so I felt a little disappointed in things. Again...I know it's probably getting too prescriptive...but maybe the winner could pick the scene of the game when they win? Heck...maybe it's required...especially if it's a game you haven't played...it's the winner's job to describe that scene...that game...what it meant to them...to help you better capture the emotion they might have felt...really set things up for you. Well...I've been typing a while here and hope the above comes across as constructive...or at least some thought-provoking ideas to ponder! To close...just want to THANK YOU for every single piece of art you've created. I have a lot of it hanging in my house from this Patreon...and a Link to the Past fresco canvas print in my living room. You are so immensely talented...and we are so grateful that you share your passion in such an interactive way. Your art brings our imaginations to life...Thank you!

KnightBlu

I agree. I like the titles but the name of the good is helpful as well.

Joshua Ham

For me, and this might be an unpopular opinion, I'm not as excited when the subject is an anime or movie, I love it when the subject is a game. But I'm also not really bothered when there's weeks that are less interesting to me so it's not remotely a deal breaker, I generally really love your art. Also just a suggestion, but when you finish a piece could you say what the subject is? There's a lot of stuff I don't recognize so I have to go back and see what the latest WIP was.

John Utke

Hey Miguel! So my guess is that some people are feeling saturated, like "he's made so many great pieces and he's going to keep making them, so I have enough for whatever I'm using them for" (whether that's digital wallpapers, physical prints, or anything else). They don't feel the need to keep paying when they already have a thousand awesome pieces and when they know they can continue to get all of them they still want slightly later from social media for free. In short, they value you, but not your Patreon. I think your art is great but admittedly I only pay because I like supporting an artist whose stuff I like and use so much, I rarely suggest games for you and only vote sometimes and I don't get much out of the in-progress shots. My suggestion is for more Patreon-exclusive content, but I'm not sure what that would look like unless you wanted to make art that only goes to us, but 1) it would probably leak anyway and 2) that would make it substantially harder to sell prints. Maybe a higher tier that has exclusive suggestions/voting, like "if you really want me to do this game, pay more for the higher tier with fewer people where your vote goes further." The only other one is in the other direction, to maybe target the games a little more - for example, I love Final Fantasy and Zelda, but you have so many pieces for those series already (many of which some newer followers may not be as aware of) that it might make sense to outlaw them from the votes, just to increase variety (but obviously on the other hand, a lot of people suggesting and voting for them means they're popular and why wouldn't you want to appeal to what's popular?). For what it's worth, I love the Neo 16 Bit stuff, maybe you could do other series like that but with different times? Like, pieces that recreate the restrictions of other console generations, like Game Boy, NES, N64, or PS1. Maybe even with series from the "wrong" generation? Like the Horizon Zero Dawn piece you did recently, like a "what if it had been on the SNES", etc. You could do "Final Fantasy VII on the NES" or "Zelda A Link to the Past on the Switch" for example. That would add variety to those games large catalogs of art while keeping things fresh. But I'm also not an artist, so it's hard for me to say what would look good and what you'd be able to reasonably pull off. Oh and as to the low amount of feedback on Patreon - I typically don't open the site or app outside of the voting, since I get all the pictures and downloads straight from my email. So I'm not "liking" the Patreon posts, but it's not because I don't like them. Anyway, good luck, I hope it helps!

Platypus Man

Maybe you could encourage feedback on the WIPs by asking for opinions when you post those.

Joshua Ham

I also like the polls and voting style, but maybe you could try a secondary vote with the top 3 or 4 picks?

Joshua Ham

I am pretty new. I love the 16 bit ones. They look really cool.

Joshua Ham


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