A misconception about perks and Creative Licence.

I've stumbled upon a site called F95Zone - some of you may know - it's a forum about games, where there are thread pages of our games. After a quick reading of Pandora and Finding Miranda threads I felt a little annoyed about some stuff.

It's a site where people get the game somehow and go post it for their users. Then they comment about it, point to guides and walkthroughs, mention their disappointments and likes, etc. 

I'm confident that I speak for both Tlaero and myself when I say that we love to hear from the players. We like to hear what you liked but also what you didn't like and how we can improve to provide a better experience and to grow as game developers and artists. Deafness of other's critics is the path to mediocrity, after all. 

But I saw a post literally quoting Tlaero's post when she spoke her hearth to you guys, days after releasing Finding Miranda for patrons only, and realising the game was already pirated in many other places. It cost us dearly to release the game publicly, to sabotage those pirates intents, despite it being reserved for 5$ patrons. You remember that?

Well, this one guy that quoted Tlaero said that we, Patreon creators, are in the wrong in believing that we own any rights to the perks we deliver to our patrons. In his opinion, once a perk is given, a reward for the patronage, it's public domain.

Here's the copy/paste of that user's opinion: 

"Dear Tlaero your games are somewhat better than most of the patreon games out there, I understand how you feel at this moment, but don't forget that it's the right of your patreons to share their copy with whoever they want. In patreon you don't sell games, you just reward something for your patreons when your works are being supported. Even though morally it may appear as wrong, still it's their right. There is no piracy with these patreon games, because none of these games are for selling, they are just REWARDS. so in the next time, instead of focusing on cursing ,blaming people when your games are being shared, why don't you try to improve the quality of your games? why don't you try to release games faster than the current rate? I have been waiting for Pandora 2 for ages. I even supported your patreon hoping it would help you to release the game more faster, but no you take so much of time to release a small game, it doesn't take more than a year to release a small game. So start focusing on improving the quality of your games, try to release games a bit more faster, then you can get more supporters to your cause. I don't mean to offend you, but you have to know how this world works, blaming, whining and playing the victim doesn't take you anywhere, in fact it just makes you feel more hurt. So try to focus more on your games, then you can earn more than you are earning now."

It's addressed to us. I don't feel bad quoting it.

I feel strange reading this opinion. I don't feel bad or offended. It's just AN opinion. But it seems that this person is somewhat misguided in many levels.

First, I have a law degree and practiced law for 8 years before starting rendering naked people on the computer, and I'm pretty sure that in the U.S.A., as in Portugal (Tlaero's and my country) an artist product is protected by copyright and non-disclosure laws. I may create some piece of art, donate it to someone, I'm not sure it gives that person the right to make money out of it if I don't give him permission. There's US, European Union, and Portuguese legislation that will certainly protect any artist's piece of work that is commonly recognized as art. 

Of course, parallel to this, you know by now that our goal isn't to keep our games to a restricted elite that happens to support us. Quite the opposite. Our games happen to be a vehicle of our messages and we want to convey our words to the maximum people possible out there. It is my honest desire that you, our fellow patrons, take our games and share them with your family, friends, and strangers, because you recognise value in it. I dream of the day a Tibetan monk strays away from his enlightenment path to play Finding Miranda. 

What we don't agree are two simple things. We don't want anyone to make money out of our work, and we don't want anyone to take advantage our patrons' money. Perks mean a reward for your sacrifice in helping us. Some of you don't care about piracy, and that's honourable. But other patrons have the right, a right I would feel the need to call upon myself, to feel bad if someone who is not a patron enjoys the same thing he spent his money to obtain. That's totally legit. 

And the person that posted that quote fails to understand that modicum reality. We don't give perks to patrons so that they can enrich themselves, and we certainly don't like the lack of loyalty a dishonest patron might have towards all the others. 

The other part of that quoting doesn't bother me that much. I can't give much importance to someone's opinion when he's ignorant of what he's talking. Were he a game developer who can deliver a game in lesser time and keep its quality, I would place weight on his words. But he isn't. And his words are carried away by the wind. 

He spoke one thing true though, and I hope that he'll meditate about the coherence that is lacking in his speech: none of our games are for selling, they are just rewards. 

It's true. Our games aren't commercial. We didn't put a commercial value on them. That certainly doesn't give anyone the right to put a price tag on them either, like selling them or using them to finance ads on their sites. 

Oh, I've been working on a sex scene today, for Saving Chloe. I need a cool shower.

Cheers,

Mortze