ScentedElf

Newbie
Jan 9, 2020
89
156
I'm not going to lie, I think it's a fine game. The plot is very all over the place, but that's clearly intended with all the mystery, confusion and amnesia going on. The only thing is obviously there are scenes that are kept behind a paywall which I am not a personal fan of. Of course, I understand that making a game is hard work and requires time and dedication. That's something anyone deserves to be paid for and monetizing it is perfectly logical. However, I would much rather such things were delayed in release with patreons getting them extremely in advance or something of the sort that would mean the content is eventually released to the public. Unless, maybe these are the plans, if that's the case I wouldn't know as this is my first time stumbling on the game so feel free to ignore most of what I say if that is the case (although this should be made clear somewhere if that is how things work). But, currently playing the game and all of a sudden seeing a choice blocked for no other reason than it being behind a paywall is a little jarring and breaks the flow of the game. If the dev wanted to reward patreons with exclusive scenes they could take other avenues such as putting out custom animations and the sort, but seeing it in the game just doesn't feel quite right. And I'm sure others will have the same issue and I would hate to see a game with some decent potential struggle over that. That's just my two cents. I wish I could support the game and all that, but unfortunately with how things are it's simply not an expanse I can allow myself. In any case I wish the dev the best of luck!
 
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JackoLant

Newbie
Aug 6, 2016
16
43
... Bruh... The exclusive bonus content is meant as a thank you and to show appreciation to the fine folks that support the game financially. Are you seriously complaining about not getting the entire game for free, even though most of it is? All you have been doing is being disrespectful, entitled, negative and rude. If you don't like the game, just move on...
I really liked the first (game, version?) that you made. But playing through, this one so far has been a confusing mess with no clear through line, even more so than the previous one. But I was more than willing to holf out and see what came, as again I had liked what you had been making. But putting content behind a paywall like this? That just destroys any enjoyment of the game and breaks my want to continue playing. There are many ways to show appreciation to thos who have the ability to and choose to support you financially. This, this aint it man. If anything it is disrespectful to those who don't have the ability to financially support the game, but are still fans. And no, reacting to this and making statements about it is not "disrespectful, entitled, negative, and rude".
 

GamleErik89

Member
Sep 13, 2018
357
909
Liked God & Void, and wanted to check this one out. Came across the scene with Nora at the MCs home and got hit with a Patreon only choice. Not only that, but a fucking T3 at that.:eek: And with some basic shit that should've been free IMHO or T0 at most.:cautious: I'm having doubts about the rest of the game because of it, as it drastically reduces any form of enjoyment from it. And makes me doubt how serious elrath actually is about the game, and having a succsessful one at that when it comes to supporters. I for one lost interest in potentially supporting it.:HideThePain:

I'm all for some extras for Patreon tiers and such, but paywalling content in-game is a really bad way to do so, especially basic porn/erotic game shit like nudity when it comes to Nora at the MCs home for example, and turns off the much more valuable low to mid tier people. Which I'd hazard a guess at is the majority of any Patreon income. Do custom renders, animations and such instead, and have it in the Tier threads on Patreon and Tier channels on Discord. For every T3 there is the hypothetical potential for 50-100 T0-T2 subs(mix of T0 most to T2 least in order). At the minimum you get a bit over 7-14 times the money a single T3 earns you with those numbers, and avoiding paywalling the majority of potential supporters.:WeSmart:
 
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migale

New Member
Nov 14, 2017
7
1
Changelog:
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I doesn't comment a lot, mostly because my english is bad, but i ALWAYS read the changelog, to know if the new version is worth a shot and, most, likely, in what part of the game i should play to access the new content.
So, if you doubt the use of the changelog, well, doubt no more, cuz i read them, and i'm certainly not alone :)
 
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Elrath Creations

Newbie
Game Developer
Sep 28, 2019
53
186
Doing my best to understand the point of view of those talking about a paywall, but it rather feels like people are just used to and expect to have the entire game for free on this site. Maybe it is because people come here of course for the H and having some of those options blocked out annoys them (when only looking at the H content). I will keep the comments in mind, but I am not sure if people are just mad for not getting the Patron only content or try to give genuine advice/their 2 cents.

I feel forced to respond to this as they give the impression that most of the game is for Patrons Tier 3 only but that is far from the truth.

Take the latest update for example.
  • The improved console and conversation with the Caretaker is free
  • Coffee Lake and all its animations and 3 events are free
  • Solitude and all its animations and 2 events are free
  • Realm of The Damned and its (currently) only animation and event are free
  • In both Coffee Lake, Solitude and the chars in those locations there is no cut-out in animations or anything like that: everybody gets the full version! Those places are important and also a big reveal for the fans so cutting out anything from those places did not even cross my mind.
  • The phone conversation is free
  • The event with Kaede in the morning is free, including the 3 variants as random Academy events!
  • The 2 random Academy events with Lilith are free
  • The conversation with Sahaquiel followed by Thorek and Amber are free
  • The optional usage of your ability after the event with Thorek and Amber is free
  • The event with Nora has bonus content in the form of an option. The rest and most of the event is completely free. Added to public version.
  • The stuff that Tier 1/2 get is not even visible in the public version
So yea, almost all of this update is free. Update 0.4.1 contains no Patreon only content as of now.

EDIT: to clarify what I mean with not visible. The tier 1 stuff can be summarized with a thank you message when quitting the game instead of what you see in the public version. It felt like it does not make sense to see that message when you are already a Patron. The tier 2 stuff can be summarized as custom images when the time advances (e.g. the custom renders that GamleErik89 mentioned).
 
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Elrath Creations

Newbie
Game Developer
Sep 28, 2019
53
186
Changelog:
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I doesn't comment a lot, mostly because my english is bad, but i ALWAYS read the changelog, to know if the new version is worth a shot and, most, likely, in what part of the game i should play to access the new content.
So, if you doubt the use of the changelog, well, doubt no more, cuz i read them, and i'm certainly not alone :)
Yea, I got hit with that by some others too haha. Hope you enjoyed the little joke in it :).
 

mathiau

Member
Aug 4, 2020
319
226
Doing my best to understand the point of view of those talking about a paywall, but it rather feels like people are just used to and expect to have the entire game for free on this site. Maybe it is because people come here of course for the H and having some of those options blocked out annoys them (when only looking at the H content). I will keep the comments in mind, but I am not sure if people are just mad for not getting the Patron only content or try to give genuine advice/their 2 cents.

I feel forced to respond to this as they give the impression that most of the game is for Patrons Tier 3 only but that is far from the truth.

Take the latest update for example.
[...]
  • The stuff that Tier 1/2 get is not even visible in the public version
So yea, almost all of this update is free.
Honestly my only issue with this is that the fact the Tier 3 patreon content is marked with a big THERE ARE TINGS FOR TIER 3 PEOPLE HERE kind of fells like you're asking us for a 10$ microtransaction to get a girl naked, and I hate microtransactions.

So yeah, if the Tier 3 stuff was hidden like the Tier 1/2 stuff is I would have no issue with how you're doing things
No idea how many people share this point of view too
 
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JackoLant

Newbie
Aug 6, 2016
16
43
Doing my best to understand the point of view of those talking about a paywall, but it rather feels like people are just used to and expect to have the entire game for free on this site. Maybe it is because people come here of course for the H and having some of those options blocked out annoys them (when only looking at the H content). I will keep the comments in mind, but I am not sure if people are just mad for not getting the Patron only content or try to give genuine advice/their 2 cents.

I feel forced to respond to this as they give the impression that most of the game is for Patrons Tier 3 only but that is far from the truth.

Take the latest update for example.
  • The improved console and conversation with the Caretaker is free
  • Coffee Lake and all its animations and 3 events are free
  • Solitude and all its animations and 2 events are free
  • Realm of The Damned and its (currently) only animation and event are free
  • In both Coffee Lake, Solitude and the chars in those locations there is no cut-out in animations or anything like that: everybody gets the full version! Those places are important and also a big reveal for the fans so cutting out anything from those places did not even cross my mind.
  • The phone conversation is free
  • The event with Kaede in the morning is free, including the 3 variants as random Academy events!
  • The 2 random Academy events with Lilith are free
  • The conversation with Sahaquiel followed by Thorek and Amber are free
  • The optional usage of your ability after the event with Thorek and Amber is free
  • The event with Nora has bonus content in the form of an option. The rest and most of the event is completely free.
  • The stuff that Tier 1/2 get is not even visible in the public version
So yea, almost all of this update is free.
You really just shot yourself in the foot here. I didn't even know about the Tier 1 or 2 content, but knowing that there is even more content paywalled makes me want to play even less. Stuff like this is just bad business in this community, why do you think other games get their releases leaked?

And this is genuine advice. People will see that there is a paywall and at best they will checkfor a leak. But the existence of a paywall will keep people from bothering to try the game in the first place. You can have every single other thing free and ready, but it doesn't really matter if no one is willing to try it out in order to see that content.
 

Elrath Creations

Newbie
Game Developer
Sep 28, 2019
53
186
You really just shot yourself in the foot here. I didn't even know about the Tier 1 or 2 content, but knowing that there is even more content paywalled makes me want to play even less. Stuff like this is just bad business in this community, why do you think other games get their releases leaked?

And this is genuine advice. People will see that there is a paywall and at best they will checkfor a leak. But the existence of a paywall will keep people from bothering to try the game in the first place. You can have every single other thing free and ready, but it doesn't really matter if no one is willing to try it out in order to see that content.
I think you got the wrong idea here about what I mean with not visible. The tier 1 stuff can be summarized with a thank you message when quitting the game instead of what you see in the public version. It felt like it does not make sense to see that message when you are already a Patron. The tier 2 stuff can be summarized as custom images when the time advances (e.g. the custom renders that GamleErik89 mentioned).

As I said: I have read the concerns and will keep it in mind. However, for me it feels like you completely ignored the point of my comment and are nitpicking on the Tier 1/2 stuff. Also, even if I decide to include the bonus content in the public version by your logic the damage has already been done.
 

ThtsMyScrtCapImAlwysHorny

Well-Known Member
Aug 5, 2021
1,258
2,994
Come on man. It's well-established that locking parts of the actual game behind a paywall is the kiss of death. This board is littered with threads marked "abandoned" for games that tried that. Other approaches like bonus renders, short (often non-canon) side stories entirely separated from the main game, cheats if you're making a sandbox or some other kind of game where that makes sense, and staggered access periods are plenty of incentive to draw patrons if your game is actually good. Hell, some of the most successful games here only give their patrons their gratitude, or a day of early access. The path to success in the crowdfunded adult games space is simple, though of course "simple" doesn't mean "easy": make a game good enough that people will want to see it continue being made enough to pay to help make that happen, and get it in front of as many eyes as possible so you'll reach a critical mass of people with that willingness to support you and the means to do so. Paywalling part of it is a knife in the back to that second step.
 

ScentedElf

Newbie
Jan 9, 2020
89
156
Doing my best to understand the point of view of those talking about a paywall, but it rather feels like people are just used to and expect to have the entire game for free on this site. Maybe it is because people come here of course for the H and having some of those options blocked out annoys them (when only looking at the H content). I will keep the comments in mind, but I am not sure if people are just mad for not getting the Patron only content or try to give genuine advice/their 2 cents.

I feel forced to respond to this as they give the impression that most of the game is for Patrons Tier 3 only but that is far from the truth.

Take the latest update for example.
  • The improved console and conversation with the Caretaker is free
  • Coffee Lake and all its animations and 3 events are free
  • Solitude and all its animations and 2 events are free
  • Realm of The Damned and its (currently) only animation and event are free
  • In both Coffee Lake, Solitude and the chars in those locations there is no cut-out in animations or anything like that: everybody gets the full version! Those places are important and also a big reveal for the fans so cutting out anything from those places did not even cross my mind.
  • The phone conversation is free
  • The event with Kaede in the morning is free, including the 3 variants as random Academy events!
  • The 2 random Academy events with Lilith are free
  • The conversation with Sahaquiel followed by Thorek and Amber are free
  • The optional usage of your ability after the event with Thorek and Amber is free
  • The event with Nora has bonus content in the form of an option. The rest and most of the event is completely free.
  • The stuff that Tier 1/2 get is not even visible in the public version
So yea, almost all of this update is free.

EDIT: to clarify what I mean with not visible. The tier 1 stuff can be summarized with a thank you message when quitting the game instead of what you see in the public version. It felt like it does not make sense to see that message when you are already a Patron. The tier 2 stuff can be summarized as custom images when the time advances (e.g. the custom renders that GamleErik89 mentioned).
Nobody is trying to argue in any way that the entire game is behind a paywall and it's impossible to play without paying anything. That is not the case and so far everything important to the plot has been made available to everyone. The thing is most people don't play these games for the plot to begin with. They play them for the lewd side of the game even if you as the dev wouldn't consider it as the main focus of the game. I'm sure many people saw this game on here, thought the renders looked decent, and installed it under that premise alone. So while none of us are trying to belittle your work or efforts in any way, it's obvious that the part that was affected by the paywalls are still an important part of the game to many if not most of your players. I also still stand by what I said about it feeling very jarring to see a paywall in a game. One second, I'm enjoying the story and events, noticing a clear build-up to something lewd only to then have the game put a hand up and basically tell me to cough up some money. It almost feels like a microtransaction even though it obviously isn't.

I think the main takeaway is that this method of monetizing your game can be very polarizing (the fact that this has turned into a debate is proof of that) and is more likely to do more harm than good as it will make people not want to play. Monetizing your hard efforts is not a bad thing though, it just shouldn't affect anyone's enjoyment of the game in such a direct way. That's why everyone has listed other potential methods of making money off of the support of others. Also as a new dev with no real prior history your biggest goal at the moment should be to show as many people just how capable you are of making something really good. Because that's honestly the best way to get more people to support you. If they see that you can make something they will love, they will want to make sure that it gets made and that is easiest done with donations. At the very least that's my 2 honest cents.
 

hiresto

New Member
May 28, 2018
4
19
Eh, seems a simple enough fix. Just remove the portions that states that a t3 patron gets extra bonus content. People on here wouldn't know, the main complaint seems to be that it states that a t3 patron gets something extra anyways. As long as they don't see it, no harm no foul. At least, that is what I get from the majority of people here.

So, keep the bonus content for the patrons who pay, and the people who don't will be none the wiser. Seems win-win to me.
 

Elrath Creations

Newbie
Game Developer
Sep 28, 2019
53
186
Based on what I read so far it seemed like a good idea to remove the mentions of Patron content (in the current update) excluding when quitting the game. These are:
  • The option with Nora.
  • The duck mentioning Patreon only content. In order not to accidently break anything he stays and just says something else a goose would say.
I will think this through while working on the next update.
 

Elrath Creations

Newbie
Game Developer
Sep 28, 2019
53
186
so on top of pay walling half your game so people do not steal your content you steal a full on music video of never going to give you up breaking several copywrite laws in doing so
You do realize that you are on a pirate forum right?

EDIT: also, the rick roll is gone now.
 
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