How about we drop the idea that the Devs need a pirate site for advertising. They don't. Each of these developers put in a lot of work into their own advertising on a number of different legit platforms. Our discussions here predominantly spread the word to others who would pirate the game as well, so it doesn't really turn in as many donations as you think it does.
The Devs who participate on these forums are cool enough to tolerate us as an inevitability, but don't forget that a significant portion of Devs don't even want to talk about sites like this. And if you ask any one of them - F95 participants or not - they'd prefer that their work wasn't pirated at all. So let's not act like we're doing any favors for the Devs, because we're not.
If Devs are willing to come here and talk about their game with us, then the least we can do is show a little respect. If they ask us not to post the Dev's own direct download links on these forums, then do what they ask. Don't argue, don't get sassy, don't disrespect. Most importantly, don't post it again right after they already asked you not to.
Dude, you so obviously have no clue what you are talking about.
You want to know where the big, successful games started? They fucking started here. You want to know why so many devs put their game up here, before they do it anywhere else, because that's the fucking place to do it. You know how many games were started by members of this site, mind you, people who were members BEFORE they started their games? Dozens at least, if not hundreds, by now.
I've been with the site here basically since it started, back when kickasstorrents went down, I've seen people like CheekyGimp, Philygames, Perverteer and yes, Dr. Pinkcake post their games here and engage with the community and so many out of all these devs STILL post here, still engage with their fans here. They find team members and play testers here.
Yes, there are also many idiots and yes, once a game has become popular, there might be enough other sources of supporters so that many devs don't give a fuck anymore, but those who are honest, at least know where they started out and what helped made them big.
Devs don't allow their games to be posted here, because they can't fight piracy, they know there is no place like this anywhere else.
I respect Stonefox and his work, but claiming referrals through the last few months show that F95zone doesn't bring in any supporters, that's not really convincing to me.
Yes, google is good at tracking referrals, but many of us do everything exactly NOT to be tracked by their cookies, the referrals through the last few months, also don't show initial support, they don't show where people learned about the game. Sure, people hit social media and homepages by the devs, but how many of them do so, after finding the game here initially?
No, even if Chasing Sunsets doesn't get many new patrons from here now, that doesn't account for those who experienced the first few versions here and then decided to support, back when the game started, it doesn't account for how many people wouldn't have known about the game in the first place if not for here.
Honestly, the whole genre of Western VNs with rendered art instead of drawings would never have taken off like this, if not for f95zone. You think it is a coincidence, that with a few exceptions this genre exploded AFTER these boards here were created? I assure you, it is not.
People come here to look for new games, they don't hunt social media or even places like itch.o. They do it here by the millions.
Yes, this is a pirate site, but this is also the go-to source for this type of games, it's the largest community of people playing these games, it is a place for creators to meet each other and start their projects.
Honestly, devs who think their success has nothing to do with these forums, haven't really thought it through or just don't want to accept it.
