Thinking About Shaking Things Up A Bit
So I have a lot of irons in the fire right now, and work has been keeping me silly busy, but in an excited "can't wait to release this stuff" sort of thing. I'm chugging away on Volume 2 of the Starcaster Chronicles, Analog and D-Pad and CAD 2.0 books. I've recently finished a tabletop card game I'm hoping to bring to Kickstarter in the very near future. I just wrapped up a handful of new shirt designs, my first new shirts in ages, that should be popping up pretty soon.
The Patreon has been on my mind a lot lately as well. A while back I ended the $100 tier, and while it meant giving up a chunk of my income, it was an important step in general for lightening my workload for a bit, and keeping me sane. It's been nice, but at the same time, I'm open to doing that extra work if it's a project I feel strongly about, and that I feel would be well-received. I've been working on just such a thing, and I'm thinking our Patreon might be just the right environment to help me get it done.
It's called Analog and D-Pad: Year One. Just as it sounds, it would be basically Ethan and Lucas' origin story, that entire first year they were super heroes that we essentially shipped by jumping into the story with them already established.
I've sprinkled in bits of backstory and flashbacks for some of the important stuff, but there's a lot there we haven't been able to explore. The duo grappling with their newfound powers, how did they pick their names and costumes, what did those early days of learning to be a superhero look like, how did it clash with their normal lives, who was their first criminal? First villain? There's a fun story within that first year, not super critical to the ongoing story, but still one I'd like to tell.
I've outlined all of the major story beats, and begin scripting pages, but I also need to start thinking about how to release it.
Patreon's great for this sort of thing (for me) because rather than this huge monumental project I have to somehow find time/a way to tackle, it lets me break it up incrementally as "here's one of my work tasks for the month."
So I'm considering two options here... Option A sees a new $7.50 tier created above the Superhero Sidekick tier (I don't want to do away with the one-shots, which are fun), providing (I'm thinking) two Analog and D-Pad: Year One pages each month.
Option B is a little more drastic, as it would replace the Art Enthusiast $10 a month tier, but because I'd no longer be doing wallpapers, I could put that time into pages and aim for four pages a month.
This would be an ongoing project, but not infinitely so; I don't really know how many pages it would be in total, but it is a story with a definitive end. At some point we'd catch up to the point Ethan and Lucas are at in Analog and D-Pad #1, and this project would be complete. At which point I imagine I'd scale back for a spell, and then find something new to pour that time into.
But for now this is the thing which I see value in writing, and I'm thinking (hoping) it's something you'd all be interested in seeing. Which brings us to the comments: let's have 'em! Let me know what you think, I want to hear your comments, questions and concerns.
Comments (39)
I'm three years behind so. Getting caught up on what I missed. I would be interested in reading the year one stuff but can't retroactively change my subscription for the last 3 years =P Also not sure that I can afford to subscribe higher than I currently am.
I’d be happy to upgrade.
As a long-time creeper tier, my budget would afford upgrading tiers for more comics. I do not sponsor to receive the wallpapers, but always look forward to whatever storylines you throw at us.
I feel like there might be ways you could earn extra income without adding a lot of extra work for yourself though like background cameos in the comics of people that might replace whoever was originally going to go there , that being said I'm no artist so I'm not entirely sure what takes a lot of extra time and what doesn't.
As someone who doesn't really care about Wallpapers, I'd have no issue with a $10 tier with more comics. Maybe even a little backstory about how Lila came to her current position in life. Technically $5 extra a month for 4 extra comics is a better value than $2 extra a month for 1 comic.(the 1-shots). The only part that sucks a little is that Ctrl/Alt/Del overlaps with Starcaster so whenever Ctrl/Alt/Del runs Starcaster comics I saw them months ago and it means I'm not really seeing anything new during that time. Obviously it's not a big deal though just worth mentioning.
I'm currently in the $3 tier (although I'm not sure why I'm not in the $5... I need to fix that.) I would definitely upgrade to either of those choices. Wallpapers aren't my thing so the current $10 tier didn't do it for me... But that story would definitely be.
I like the project's idea and will be fine with upgrading to 7.50$ or 10$ too (just don't forget to announce it!). It's not clear if you're planning to share these additional comics with non-patreon supporters. I'd still upgrade to support the additional effort, even if the comics would be released Starcaster-like to main CAD page at some point. And I think that added character depth from the origin story would be important enough for the main story line, so I'd vote for public release.
The project would be made available in its completed form via a PDF or maybe even a book, but not released to the website similar to Starcaster. Starcaster is a unique situation in that it started freely available, and I don't feel comfortable starting a story for people and then locking the rest behind a paywall. Analog and D-Pad Year One would not be required reading to follow the events of the story on the main site; it would be strictly additional.
Damn, that is a tough one :) I do appreciate the wallpapers and like others I have mine on a 25 minute rotation ... but at the same time the trade off is more than fair ..more story is always a good thing :) However even if I do value that you are giving us (the fans) a chance to voice our opinion you are the Creator. As such I am just humble to have access to your work no matter what you do. You need to fulfill your creative "cravings" or we risk you burn out . Basically it is up to you - I am following you as an artist including your different stages in your process and just glad to experience your art no matter what you do .. I am here for the long haul. I survived the end of the first era (I still miss Lilah) so I think I can handle any changes you make. ...but I do miss the 100$ craziness that was the first version of the tier and I still want to experience to be cartoonified :)
I like the option A idea because I'd love to see the storylines fleshed out wherever you see fit. Kind of like a "did you know" sort of thing! But I doubt very much I'd be disappointed whichever way you go.
I know I downgraded from the Wallpaper Tier because I honestly never used them. In fact, it was the downgrade that allocated the funds to back the Starcaster Chronicles at the Navigator level. I'd be willing to upgrade to the $7.50 tier to get the additional comic because I'd actually enjoy that.
Might consider a $7.50 tier for "on going projects" that enables you to continually work on whatever new project. You finish one and then when the next comes you've already got people on board. I'd sign up for that. In between we'd know we're sitting a great artist who brings us joy. Any things you throw in between projects, (new wallpaper, trying a new character arc, whatever) are icing at that point.
I personally LOVE the wallpapers. I have my background set to change every 30 minutes and I have built an entire folder of backgrounds including every wallpaper you have created. I still laugh every time the "Ethan McDuck" background pops up. Having said that we have several years worth of backgrounds so I don't think it would hurt to take a break from them. Most people don't use the slideshow feature for backgrounds. You can always add it back in later. ;-)
Well I'm already on the 10 buck tier, and as much as the wallpapers are fun, I think I've only ever used like 4 of them, I always enjoy seeing them even if I won't use them tho. But yeah what others have said, switching it out for the year one comics run till that's done then flip back to wallpapers when it's done I guess.
I’ve never felt the need to switch wallpapers multiple times per year (let alone 12), so haven’t used the $10 tier. However, more comics sounds like a good use of the tier.
I would go bigger on my pledge tier for year one as well.
I really liked the Wallpapers, but if we can get more background on A+D I'm totally fine.
I could definitely accept loosing wallpapers for new story at $10 tier. And as have been pointed out above, I would also go for a separate Patreon for set time projects. So any of the proposed solutions would be fine with me.
Would definitely up my pledge for Year One.
I do not believe the wallpapers would be missed. They are fun, but they do not create joy like the comics you produce.
Wallpaper for comic? Trade accepted.
Oh yeah, the 100 USD tier. Still patiently waiting for their comeback ;) Also, I don't mind dropping the wallpapers for a comic.
I would love to see that story and also something before the death of Ethan's sister as someone above already mentioned. I believe that 7.5 $ would work better for a project with a finite lifetime, since you can just remove the tier when the story ends. I would also consider the 10 $ option but it would be a little more difficult for me to increase from 5 to 10. Whatever you decide in the end, you still have my full support and I would probably just buy the printed version at some point if I can't afford the pledge 😉
One option would be to do this in separate patreon like starcaster chronicles. Both $7.5 and $10 tiers are so much above what I currently pay for this to not consider upgrading. But a separate patreon would be something I would consider investing...
Agreed. I could go for another $2 a month on another Patreon like Starcaster was, but another $6.50 or $9? That's a bit much. I'd just wait for it to be released, either on the site much later or in a book, whatever would end up happening with them. Especially now that I'm looking at tiers again and noticing: "You'll receive access to two Patron-only comics featuring characters based on our $100 Patrons! You'll receive access to our monthly video Q&A where Patrons can ask questions for me to answer in a video!" I can't remember the last time either of these happened. The comic part makes sense, if the $100 Patron tier ended then there's nobody to base the comics on anymore. Q&A, no idea. Maybe nobody had good questions. I have been putting in just to support for the main strip, so I'm not outraged about not getting stuff I forgot was even promised to begin with. But it also makes $7.50 a month for two more comics a very hard sell when even the lowest tier was supposed to have been getting two more comics but hasn't been for a very long time. Realistically, I don't doubt that it is more work to do these and it's not feasible to throw it in for all tiers. More work should be more pay. I'd still rather see another spinoff Patreon so the increase to get access isn't so steep, if that's possible. However the tiers and their descriptions here could do with some spring cleaning. :P
I am definitely a fan of the $10 a month option. I have wanted to go to that tier multiple times, but the wallpaper and art aren't something valuable to me. This is definitely something I would value and want to support! Four pages a month would be awesome.
I am a 5$ and 7.5 would be a no brainer to get access to the origin story. 10$ might be a stretch but I can't say I wouldn't do it. On CAD 2.0, I am all the way in. Just like with the previous volumes
Did you consider an extra patreon like starcaster? You could deactivate it after finishing the year one series until you found something new or put the wallpapers instead into this patreon.
You realize Starcaster has it's own Patreon right?
I'd be okay with "losing" the wallpapers, too. I think stories like this would be more fun.
Either would work for me; I don't value the wall papers so IMO saving you the time to do more comics would be a win.
either sounds good. Maybe adding the mid tier so people don't lose things they are already "paying" for would be the better business move, but I'm not in that $10 tier, so I don't have a dog in that one. I'd be willing to bump up from the $5 to a $7.50 tier for more comics though
This! I think you will get more $5/month guys going to $7.50
I'm a fan of either. I'm already at the $10 level anyway. Though incidentally, how Patreon displays that is _hilariously_ bad. On this page, in the upper right, it shows "$100.80 per month" (which is actually the annual price), and on the membership tier page, it shows "$10/year", which is the monthly price (that is discounted by the annual packaging). Yeesh, Patreon, get it together =P
/ facepalm
I'd be totally willing to increase my pledge to the $10 tier if it allowed for 4 pages a month. That said, I don't know how those currently paying at the $10 tier would feel about losing the wallpapers.
I would definitely consider jumping up a tier from where I am now to read A+D origin story. It would give space to flesh them out as characters more (and somewhat selfishly, hoping to see more of Lucas's LGBTQ background in that too! :D). I don't know what the right price point would be - I think 7.50 sounds right (and certainly would be more persuasive to me) but I would consider 10. For me the wallpapers didn't have the value, but supporting more A+D would!
One of the story beats is actually how their new powers/hobby impacts a relationship Lucas is in. But there's a Lucas relationship arc on the horizon in the main story, too, just not sure where it falls with the Zeke stuff yet.
Would we see delivery girl again, name is escaping me? Would it also tackle some of the setup of the game shop? Be neat to see some before the tragedy with Ethan's sister, Scott, and Ethan dynamic but, that be to far back from the description. Be an interesting round out of the lore.