Major Changes to Patreon Page & Content Distribution

Hello everyone!

Long post ahead explaining some changes i'll soon be making and my reasoning behind them. I'll have a TLDR at the end for those who can't spare the time.

It's been a while since I've done one of these update posts. I've been doing a lot of thinking and self-reflection recently about everything and I need to make changes to see if this helps to improve the situation for myself and everyone here. 

There are three main areas I'm moving to change; that being upload / content frequency , accessing pledged content and the Discord Server.

1. Upload / Content Frequency
   I've decided to move to a non-fixed upload schedule similar to what you'd expect from most other Patreon creators in hopes of providing quality over quantity from not being hyper focused on hitting weekly deadlines.

   In theory, I felt that keeping to a weekly upload schedule would provide a reliable and structured reward system to drive engagement and support. Something for everyone here to look forward to each week. 

   In practice however, keeping to a weekly schedule has negatively impacted the quality and variety of my work. It's clear that having a weekly deadline every Sunday has resulted in me opting to create more still shots / illustrations over animations - definitely annoying for people who are obviously here to see animated content!

2. Accessing Pledged Content
   With the change to upload frequency, I've also decided to move away from using content archives and will revert back to uploading all future content directly to Patreon. This includes Works In Progress and Behind The Scenes updates.

   I recognize that there will be two immediate negative side effects from this:

   • Any future content which I suspect MIGHT NOT align with Patreon's 'Terms Of Use' will not be available on Patreon.

   • All my past work up to this point will not be re-uploaded. There's too much to go through at this point so grab your favorites before the content links expire.

   To somewhat remedy the second problem, I will continue to host the content archive for Tier III supporters on Patreon.

3. Discord Server
   Server access will be optional for all supporters. The discord server will essentially acts as a way to directly interact with me beyond Patreon if you so wish and not as a means of accessing your pledged content.

   Most things mentioned will be general chatter/banter, trash posting, showing canceled projects or anything that I can't consider as Patreon worthy.

Extra Chatter - Closing Words

To those wondering - Why all these changes so sudden? 

I'll be completely transparent and outright say it. Content Piracy. 

I've tried to run my page in a way that pushes against it while not making it a major pain in the ass for you as the consumer. I've now reached the point where I feel it's more counter productive to put all these safety measures in place and jumping through hoops to avoid a handful of people committed to re-uploading or pirating my work. If people want to pirate something, they will find a way to do so.

I've seen plenty of threads discussing the justifications and reasons behind choosing to pirate instead of supporting artists directly. I guess it's hard to explain when most are disconnected from the work that goes into making content as an individual.

To any content pirates that might see this - Thank you for enjoying my work. I'm weirdly happy that you enjoy despite choosing to redistribute it to a wider audience or actively seek it out through shady means.

I suppose the only effective strategy to fighting piracy would be to reach the quality of content that can convince you to support it rather than work against funding it. 

Anyways, thank you to those who took the time to read through this post. Back to work!

TLDR -

a. No more fixed upload schedule.
b. Content archives replaced with direct hosting on Patreon.
c. Discord server optional. Content not hosted there.
d. Content Piracy