Live and Learn
January was a big month for Mortze and I. We released a game we'd been working on for 6 months and were able to share it early with a bunch of supportive patrons. But not everything was rosy.
Most of our patrons joined us in January, and we knew that you can see posts restricted to a patron level as soon as you sign up for that level. This means that it's possible to sign up to be a patron, get whatever perks are available at that level, and then quit without ever paying.
We finished the game a week before the end of January, and the majority of our patrons were at the level where they were supposed to get the game a week early. So we found ourselves with the following choices.
1) Wait a week to release the game, collect payments for January, and then release it to the patrons who had paid.
2) Release the game right away, but only to people who had been patrons in December. This would have resulted in the majority of our patrons getting the game at the same time as the general public.
3) Release the game right away to all current "Friends with Benefits" patrons and hope that people wouldn't "cheat."
We discussed it, and I said, "Let's release the game now. The patrons will be honest." Well, a lot of you were honest. Thank you. But a regrettably large number of people weren't. They waited until the game was released, pledged $5, downloaded it, and then canceled their pledge so they wouldn't have to pay.
(To be clear, there isn't anything wrong with Patreon itself. They give me the tools to handle this, and I appreciate the opportunity they provide to us. It was my choice to release the game when I did.)
So, live and learn. There are great people in the world who are willing to give us their hard earned money to encourage us to keep making our games. And there are ... less than great ... people in the world who are willing to lie to save $5. Next time we'll do things differently.
Tlaero
Comments (10)
IMO I would collect payments for people when they joined
+Tora Productions Sad to hear about the lack of commitment shown by a few 'supporters'. The thought initially came in to my mind at pledging stage, and my first thought is "Why not make all perks only available when first payment is made?". It seems so simple and primary to me that I couldn't understand why it would be set-up in any other way. You could specifically schedule your release dates around end of month? (I presume the payment to Patreon is taken by standing order on the same date on all Patron accounts [and assuming the above has been put in place]). For example; $10.00 Release: 01/01/2016 $5.00 Release: 01/08/2016 General Release: 01/15/2016 (Almost forgot to change the dates and the £) Relating note, your comment previously regarding loyalty to Patrons pledging for sustained period of times; whilst a great idea, I would argue it might not be a worthwhile venture. I would argue that keeping the reward loyalty system simple (I.e. Patron/ Non-Patron) alleviates complexity to your business model. At this fruitful young stage of business it is best not to focus on things so trivial such as payment terms or loyalty. Make the products you and I love and you will get the brand loyalty.
I was able to gain access to the game from Mortze's site, where I am a continuous supporter. Anybody who deceitfully obtains other people's hard work in such a fashion, are usually those who don't work for themselves and are usually looking for handouts. If they can't afford it or don't have the money, then don't get it. And it is usually those few that ruin it for the rest of us. Down right despicable! All they had to do was wait ONE week, really?!! This is really a great piece of art that really deserves it's appreciation. I for one am not ashamed to support such works. Just my two scents on the subject from long winded Cornel Thubster. BTW, as usual, an awesome piece of work again. Please don't let these other patron's ruin future gifts. And thanks again for another awesome game. PS. I am now a supporter of Tora Productions along with Mortze. Thanks again for your tremendous sacrifice of time and effort in putting this and other offering together.
Hi, I'm new here so only time will prove my fidelity. All I can say is that it's crazy that anyone can get access on "premium" works and avoid to pay so easily.
That's a good suggestion, Brad. I can see the total donation for at least existing patrons. (I don't know what happens if a patron quits entirely and comes back.) Should I give $10 perks to people who have been $5 patrons for two months in a row? Or even people who have been $1 patrons for 10 months? I'll think about that and discuss it with Mortze.
Lame! I hope as the game goes fully public, your numbers fully jump here, as well they should. Related: Most Patreon sites I've seen reward based on what a person's monthly pledge is, yet many of us cannot afford to donate more than a few bucks a month, or maybe to give a bigger donation and then back off of it a month later. Does Patreon give you the tools to track the total giving over time from a given account? That seems like a better figure to link rewards against than monthly pledges, particularly when the latter can be taken back at any time, even before they've been charged.
I agree you make good quality games and I am glad that I can at least contribute a little toward your efforts
I figured this would happen, I actually also plunged $5 in just to get access to your game a week early and I just watched a video today from a twitch user who also spoke about this problem on Patreon You guys deserve every penny that is pledged to you for your games, they are by far the best in the genre in my opinion Keep your chins up and keep up the good work! so I can throw more money at you :D!
Unfortunately this seems to be typical patreon problem. There is an other option: 2 + Everyone who wants to have early access but was too late could donate via paypal once. (Wolfschadowe does it that way)
I was kinda confused when the game became available to me. I wondered how this can possibly be normal on your guys end to do something of the sort considering most people will only pledge for the month of february. I'm new to Patreon so I was just confused on how this all worked, When the game was available I was sure you guys just screwed up. I pledged 10$ (and kept it there) because i really loved your guys work especially yours from Keeley to Christine to Elsa and now this wonderful game. I'm proud to be a Pledge and hope these kind of msgs motivate you to create these wonderful games. At the end of the day ... Thank You!