Important news: The future of Seafoot Games

Hey you wonderful Patrons!

This is a heavy update to write, but it’s also one filled with immense gratitude. I want to start by thanking each and every one of you from the bottom of our hearts for supporting our work, for using our maps and adventures to make great memories with your friends, and for all the heartfelt encouraging comments and emails we have received over the years. I haven't had time to get back to them all, but Luke and I couldn't have asked for a kinder, more amazing community than you guys. Thank you so, so much. 

Now, a lot of you who have been following our health updates could probably read the writing on the walls since I've gotten sick. Our customer support has suffered, we've cut a bunch of stuff from Patreon, and we haven't been able to upload our backlog onto websites that make everything easier to sort through and download . We are genuinely sorry that we haven't been able to provide the consistent value you all needed and deserved over the last four years.

Big changes are coming, so we can adapt to our new reality and build a better path forward for our family.

Moving Forward: Winding Down Seafoot Games After July's Release

Our lives changed forever when my conditions triggered. Luke hasn't been able to work the hours he's needed to in order to keep our income afloat, and we have much higher expenses now due to all these health problems. Patreon, our main source of income, has also been tanking over the last four years. To be completely transparent, the business is failing, because we simply haven't been able to provide the value or high quality service that you guys deserve. We are really sorry about that, you guys have been so kind and understanding regardless! Thank you for all the patience and grace you have shown us over these last few years. 

To get ourselves out of this financial rut and protect my health as much as possible, we need to wind down Seafoot Games' new content and transition into a passive business while we figure out something else. Below is our plan currently:

• Release 3 Final Mega Bundles: Luke is going to spend the next few months grabbing our backlog from 2023 and later, and compiling them into our last three mega bundles, then we'll publish them.  If you weren't subscribed during that whole period, the bundles will be great value for money. If you were subscribed, you have our sincerest thanks - you played a major role in keeping our business afloat and helping us afford the medical bills.

• No More New Battlemaps After July: Luke will stop painting new maps and, starting in August, only release "throwback" map packs from our massive, previously released backlog. Luke still needs to figure out how many map packs / battlemaps will be included in each month's throwback collection, and how much that is going to cost. But, because it's all existing maps and it isn't going to take him more time to paint new ones, it should be many more maps per month at a better price.
  
  So, for anyone that hasn't been a patron for the past 3+ years, by staying subscribed you'll be getting a great deal on maps you don't currently have. For those who have been around longer, we're really sorry we can't continue creating new content that's worth your while. This has been an incredibly tough decision for us to make. Both sentimentally, as Seafoot Games was our brain child, and financially, because this has been our main source of income for the last 7 years. These changes are big, and intimidating.

• Uploading Our Backlog: Once Luke's time is freed up by no longer painting 50-100 new battlemaps each month, he'll finally begin getting our existing backlog up on to DriveThruRPG, Foundry Marketplace, MyMiniFactory, and our website so you guys can keep enjoying any content that suits your fancy, and we have a passive income while we figure out what's next. 

So, What IS Next?

As to what we'll do afterwards, that's an exciting and stressful conundrum. Right now we are at a crossroads. Luke's passionate about level design, game design, and writing, so he's spent the last year teaching himself about indie game development and the Unreal Engine. He's actually started and scrapped three different game projects as he's learned more about what works and what doesn't. 

We know from authors like Brandon Sanderson that massive success can take 5 to 7 releases, and I'm confident that if Luke commits to indie dev, he has the natural knack to build a stable income and eventually create a game that succeeds big time. We could also still publish the games under our existing business, so it wouldn't be as big of a change for us. 

With that said, our time on this earth is finite, and we're also both drawn to pursuing virtue. As you'll know from our adventures and campaign sourcebooks, we have a deep love of philosophy. The problem is, virtue can be difficult to monetise. 

So, the tough thing to sit with right now is that we're not entirely sure what the path forward is. Currently, Luke's going to do the Self Inventory / Flower Exercise from the book, "What Colour Is Your Parachute" and see what he learns about his existing skills, what he likes doing, his ideal lifestyle, and work he could do that combines those areas. We're also going to go get some professional advice on the matter, because this is such an important decision and we don't want to take it lightly. If you have any tips or suggestions, we would be grateful to hear them. 

Thank you so much for everything, you guys have really been amazing. Being able to make fun and interesting content with Seafoot Games have been some of the most wonderful years of our lives, and it would never have been possible without your support. Thank you for walking this path with us. <3

Health Struggles

Since my first pregnancy almost four and a half years ago now, when I got hyperemisis gravidarum and had an overall very painful time, to now - when I have such a long list of diagnoses I find it hard to remember them all off the top of my head. Looking back, the signs of my connective tissue disorder were always there, but it was really my last pregnancy where POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) triggered that started the cascade into severely bad health and me accepting the reality of being disabled. 

The good news is that we are fighting back and finding answers. My POTS is a kitten compared to the tiger it was when it first triggered, thanks to successful lifestyle and management strategies, and the beautiful encouragement of one kind and also ill DM named Andrew who gave me hope I could still regain quality of life despite my new burdens. So I am not in the wheelchair anymore, and I have no intention of going back. 

But now I know I have what is called The Dysautonomia Trifecta, a common cluster of disabling conditions that can't be cured. They can be managed, but it is incredibly difficult, and everyone's presentation is rather different and not enough is known about these conditions. I've also collected less common extras, such as severe non-diabetic reactive and fasting hypoglycaemia. Because specialists globally are shockingly sparse, I have been going back and teaching myself biology and chemistry so I can understand some of the heavier hitting studies about these conditions. 

In the meantime, Luke and I have been struggling with me "passing out" a lot, either due to the low blood sugar, the vasovagal syncope, and random MCAS flares. He has finally been accepted as my carer by the government, and while it’s a tough new reality to accept, it has significantly alleviated our financial burden which has been a big relief for our family.

vEDS or hEDS?

Some of you might remember our Patreon update where we celebrated that my genetic test came back negative for Vascular EDS (the most severe form of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome). However, my rheumatologist recently explained that it’s still possible to have the vEDS "phenotype" (diagnostic presentation) even with a negative genetic test, accounting for about 2% of clinical vEDS diagnoses.

So, right now, we are working to clarify whether I have vEDS or "just" hEDS (Hypermobile EDS). The odds are in our favour, though. The genetic test was negative, my heart shows no aortic root dilation, and an old chest CT showed no unusual arterial twisting. To be absolutely certain, (especially for the sake of our three-year-old son, who shares my weirdly aged hands / acrogeria), my GP is trying to refer me to the Marfan Syndrome & Inherited Aortopathy team at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. The EDS have been called "the most neglected condition(s) in the history of modern medicine" by expert Prof. Rodney Grahame, but we are determined to get the clarity our family needs one way or another.

TL;DR:

• We love you guys, and we are truly sorry for the recent drops in support and consistency while we've been navigating this health storm.

• We're winding down. Once our THREE final mega-bundles are complete, Patreon will transition to "throwback" packs so Luke can focus on uploading our massive backlog to DriveThruRPG, Foundry, MyMiniFactory, and our store.

• Health update: We are managing my complex diagnoses (POTS / Dysautonomia, MCAS, EDS, Severe Hypoglycaemia) and seeking out aortopathy specialists to get definitive answers on my EDS type for peace of mind.

• The future: Luke is exploring a pivot into indie game development OR some sort of virtuous work to help people and make the world a better place, we're not sure yet.
  

As always, thank you so much everyone for supporting Luke and I's work! Thank you for everything!

Beb (Rianna) from the Seafoot Family