- May 9, 2020
- 680
- 2,476
Questioning the dev's game or story decisions is one thing, but accusing him of milking supporters is wrong, yes, if the accusations come from non-supporters. It's like if I tagged along for free on a vacation you were taking. If I asked you where we were going next or what kind of food people ate in those places, you probably wouldn't mind those questions. But if I said you should have spent more on the hotel or tipped the waiter at a restaurant more, wouldn't you get angry? You'd think, if you want to stay at a different hotel, book your own with your own money!So, I said so much and you get stuck up on a word? I'm assuming you must be a paying member so can I ask wtf are you doing on a piracy forum? Doesn't L&P give enough attention on patreon or what? As you said that people who don't financially support the game have no right to question "milking" by dev, so going by the same logic, what reason do you have to be on a piracy forum? Isn't it for the love of game, I'm assuming it is, then what is the problem with discussing the imperfections of the game?You can find literally thousands of comments appreciating the dev for the content he provides,so do you also get stuck up about them financially supporting the game? I haven't seen anybody asking someone to not appreciate the dev because they don't support the game financially so what so wrong when people question him? Get off your high horse and grow up. We all are here just for the mutual love for the game, and while we appreciate the game, one has all the right to question the dev as well if he doesn't delivers.
I support several devs who make AVNs. This is one of them. Being a supporter on Patreon is a bit like being a customer and an investor, but you're still neither one. Like an investor, there's a risk involved in supporting a dev. It's minimal risk, depending on how much money you dole out, but it exists. There is no contract and the devs are anonymous. There's no suing them or taking any other legal action if they fail to deliver. And, if the game is a big success, supporters do not share in any of the financial rewards. The only benefit is early access to the game (though this site usually has new updates posted very quickly) and maybe some other small benefits, like having your gaming handle appear in the credits. Supporters are also not customers. Paying money to the dev on Patreon is no guarantee we will get a finished game. Supporters are willing to contribute to the dev in the hopes that there will be a finished game someday, or by whatever timetable the dev might give. But patrons are essential, as they motivate developers to take time and allow them to buy software and hardware to make their games possible. Everyone here owes those supporters a lot of gratitude. I am also grateful to supporters. I do contribute to several devs, but I also pirate some games. I try to do at least a one month subscription or buy a game on Steam or something when possible, but particularly in early development, I do pirate some titles to check them out.
So I am not bashing on this site or people who use this site generally, BUT you will never find me complaining about supporters or the financial aspect. It's not worth the emotional energy and if I'm pirating the game, I have no basis on which to complain. People downloading the game for free are taking the benefit of the supporters' contributions and dev's hard work while taking zero risk themselves. Zero! So then when Patreon supporters get bashed as stupid sheep being milked, to me that is a selfish and irrelevant view.
If you used to be a Patreon supporter and stopped for whatever reason, then I confess I am more sympathetic, but even so, to me the place to express dissatisfaction is on Patreon, telling the dev you're leaving etc. I know it can be aggravating. I have supported a few titles that have been abandoned and it was enormously disappointing.
Ultimately, L&P is at the mercy of his patrons. If enough people become dissatisfied, he'll either change his approach or he'll go out of business. In any event, people who are not patrons can either enjoy the game that L&P delivers, or spend their time on something else. For the moment, the quality of the title is high and given the support L&P has, he cannot work on this fulltime. From what I can see, he's earning his money.
I happen to like that AWAM is a slow burn (the story, not the development). It's much more realistic, however frustrating it is as porn. It's OK that you don't like how slowly it's moving, too. Let's just leave "milking" out of it, please. That's not what's going on here.