Part One: The Model, Mission Statement, and Consequences
Part One: The Model, Mission Statement, and Consequences
There has been considerable introspection within our team, and personally, by myself (SmokeShank), regarding influences that have shaped our game. Over the course of nearly 9 years, we have been actively working on our project, SU, under the Patreon funding model. It's become clear how Patreon's content delivery system has impacted the type of game we've developed. Comments labeling us as "milkers" or "scammers" are common, as many perceive the platform's impact from their perspective alone. I aim to explain how it affects our team from the inside, offering a glimpse into our world rather than casting judgment on others.
At the outset of our journey, I was tasked with devising a business model. It was straightforward: Patreon bills monthly, so content should be delivered monthly. Our mission statement was to showcase our work consistently, regardless of circumstances. However, this approach was not the standard at the time. Two major models dominated our space: the sporadic release of content while billing monthly and billing upon content release, with pauses in between. Desiring to differentiate ourselves, we opted for scheduled content releases, believing this would marry the best aspects of both models and help us stand out. This strategy proved successful early on, as our updates became the most anticipated releases, attracting significant attention.
As time went on, we noticed a shift in the industry, with more developers adopting our approach for monthly content releases, moving away from the pay-on-release model. This reaffirmed our belief that we had made the right decision. Now, in 2024, the landscape features two primary models: the sporadic release schedule and a newer approach by smaller developers, who produce content monthly or even more frequently. The effects of these models are well-documented. For instance, the case of Breeding Season illustrates the potential pitfalls of sporadic releases. Despite this, such a model remains popular due to its ability to generate substantial income spikes, as seen with Summertime Saga.
Conversely, a regular release schedule tends to maintain steady support but can lead to quicker audience frustration due to perceived inadequacies in content delivery. Regular updates lack the impact of less frequent releases, leading to a sense of predictability and diminished excitement.
So, how does our model affect our content and game? A fixed delivery schedule necessitates efficiency, leaving no room for correcting mistakes or reevaluating poorly conceived content. The drive to continuously produce and release content leads to compromises in game depth and quality. Our focus on quantifiable outputs, such as the number of images per update, has inadvertently shaped SU into a unique genre within visual novels, one heavily reliant on SR7's art.
A major error was mine: publicly setting a timeline and deadline, with firm promises. Bound by our mission statement, we had no choice but to follow through, for better or worse. This approach heightened the risk of negatively received updates, a consequence we've faced more frequently than if we had opted for less frequent releases. Our determination to avoid being labeled as scammers or milkers ironically led to such accusations regardless.
We are still evolving and learning. I'm now developing an internal schedule that shields our audience from the pressures of our content creation cycle, aiming for each release to be well-received and allowing for significant updates. While challenging, our team is dedicated and prepared to meet this challenge head-on.
Part Two will be in May Patreon, Flowcharts, and Rewards!
TL;DR: Over nearly 9 years, our team, has developed our game, SU, under a Patreon model, aiming for monthly content releases to stand out from sporadic release models. This approach, while initially successful, led to challenges like content quantity over quality and audience frustration with perceived inadequacy in updates. The major mistake was publicly setting strict deadlines, which, despite intentions to avoid being labeled as "scammers" or "milkers," attracted criticism anyway. Now, we're shifting to an internal schedule to improve content quality and reception, learning from past experiences and committed to evolving.
Comments (18)
I've been with you guys for a while, not a major contributor by any means.. just waiting for the day BoB2 is completed and released!
My only gripe was too many updates involved simply only doing outfits for each person. Instead of working on new characters and advancing the story. A lot of things were stagnated due to only focusing so much on outfits. This made any new content released a bit much b/c you guys had to make sure you had similar amount of outfits for each new champion. Due to this very issue is why I think ppl think you are milking the title. Because for most part you only focused too much on outfits and not meaningful content that add to the overall story and gameplay mechanics. You added a ton and left them alone for way too long. As one stated before a lot of updates had game breaking bugs that stopped ppl from able to progress in the game. Due to the amount of outfits you were creating. For most I still love the content you make and the way you portray the characters is amazing. Everything in story parts is excellent quality and feels like it fits the true personality of each character and believable. Also I should mention in recent year or so you have strayed from doing so many outfits and put focus on the game's story and game mechanics. This is what made start to pledge. You have shifted focus to something more meaningful. I know artist that work on these types of games have many layers to make. Compound that with more than one outift and the amount of artwork needed to be done is drastically increased. I think when back then you were so focused on outifts you suddenly realized that was causing smaller updates. And most likely put a lot of strain on the artist. Glad you guys shifted away from that and really got down into working on story more and game mechanics.
In no way was the post about being called a milker, or scammer. I think both those terms are used by people who don't support products otherwise they would know. I merely mentioned it as a reason why we chose to deliver content in the way we do. Our own want to not be a scammer, which turns out doesn't matter because you will be labelled as such regardless by some. This post laid out what continuous release schedules with firm public deadlines force you as a creator to do. They force you to create content as fast and efficiently as possible. You sacrifice QA, depth, story, and even quality in order to create more and more images. You go to repeatable sequences, which help in making sure your deadline is met. The costumes were a symptom of that need to create, and that is all spelled out in the post. It's why you see new devs jump on the regular release schedule to eventually remove it, it's just unsustainable over time. This post was about Patreon's impact on the game, and how I think it has shaped many games in our space good or bad.
In terms of honesty and integrity you guys are way better than most of the people working in this area. Your commitment, professionalism and the regularity of the content really stands out. What's most important to me, though, is the transparency.
Been supporting this game for a long time. This game has had times of slow updates but I've never felt scammed or that this is being milked. Some updates may not be what I personally wanted out of the game (Not sure why so many Avatar characters got added in that one update) But at least content is being made and released. Even if the deadline is sometimes missed or there is some issues with bugs. it still comes out at the end of the day. Been supporting another game that has been working on 1 update for around 3 years now with not much to show for it and an ever pushed back release date. This game feels safe to support for me since I've never felt there was any true scamming or milking
I am gonna be honest I being a patreon of your for years atleast from the early builds. Heck i was here since the whole debacle of INJUSTICE UNLIMITED. I have never felt you guys were a scam. A project and team without any problems or circumstances doesnt exist and you fellas are an example of how to thrive and advance using this platform or any other. Respect to you.
As long as progress is showed I'm happy to support even if its slow and not regular it shows' my money is being well invested.
I can’t speak for everyone. I like many others who eventually decided to financially support this project, originally played a pirated copy on site that begins with F. It was the Update that had Ravens Cell Content that sold me on just how much productive work can be had, and was being done. Now freeloaders will always call any delay milking and scamming. But what does make me as someone who decided to support game on Patreon disappointed are updates where straight up nothing works and there’s no bug fixes for 2-3 months. I back FET, and Rouge-Like and every release has multiple bug fixes before they move onto the next update. And this is something I’d really like to see done more with SU. I will say, I saw significant performance increase with the Amazon stand alone. And also enjoyed just how much content was in that update. But there definitely updates where it feels like very minimal improvements have been done, and sometimes little if any the new content works. In the end of the day, I’m still happy supporting this project, because there is major improvements looking at year from year. This “scam” or “milking” label, is unfortunately a consequence of your success, and I think the only way to mitigate from supporters is meaningful Content in updates.
I get what you're saying and really the standalones solve all the bug problems. As well FET is a shining example of doing sporadic releases that are on a more regular timeline. They are 4+ months generally in dev length and they can take longer. In that period of time we have done 2-3 updates, and we don't have a week to spare to fix and release bugs fixes (although he have been known to). So we generally wait until the next release. This changed in December obviously due to our standalone efforts. The longer in between updates it's essential to fix and we have and will show that with standalones. Unity might not have that same ability unfortunately. Our content level is sporadic, and I will touch more on this on the next discussion I do in May. In that one I will shine a light on why we have the problems we do with Unity, and why they are not easily solved. Thanks for taking time to write such a long and detailed response! I really appreciate it.
If I didn’t enjoy what you guys were doing, i wouldn’t keep coming back. Believe me, I’ve dropped (and reacquired) a lot of good artists on this site over the years, and I have zero patience for scammers.
You guys were the first ones I supported. And while I may lose interest and become disappointed in others, canceling my support. I have not lost my faith and love for you guys and this game.
Thank you sooo very much Crowsims, it's always nice seeing your name come up! We're just working to keep on improving, and we will continue until there is nothing left to improve.
I’ve never had any issues with you folks which is why I continue to support you. I enjoy your content, your game you’re developing and the info you provide each month letting us know where you stand and what’s coming up.
I haven't had any issues with you guys. I'd say the real 'scammers' and 'milkers' are the ones who are causing trouble for good content creators like you guys.
I hate those terms so much! Scammers is a bi-product of Kickstarter (which is funny as it's still popular), but milker is very much a Patreon exclusive term. But it just comes from jadded fans, some who have supported, and many who have not. It's just a result of Patreons funding model which isn't well suited for this type of content.
you guys have been amazing. no issues with your service or process.
Ok
You guys rock. Never had any issues.