I just wanted to say thank you, you seem very nice. To be honest, it wasn't just the gif that bothered me, but also the response that I was overreacting. Maybe you as a woman can understand this, but the real lack of empathy in some men is when a woman has a legitimate emotional reaction and the man will automatically apply their own perception/logic of what is the "proper" feeling for something, and as a result invalidating a woman's feelings. I'll step out of this thread again, and thank you Darktoz for your kind words. I love your game! I'll take a break from the site in general perhaps, and I do love my Patreons and only sacrifice the money I do now because I love a lot of them quite a bit. Especially the ones that bother me the most
Dear TessSadist and Darktoz,
It should also be stated, that people like you and other devs too who create something relevant, significant and valuable for others, what you get in return is far greater than what is contained in the current monetary gains.
Your work enhances the quality of life of many, you do something positive, you enrich our life with your creativity, the knowledge of which could be seen as a reward in and of itself (at least it would be for me), but you also gain respect, trust, name (brand) recognition and traction with others, a community, etc. simply put: symbolic capital. Which, if you are playing a long, strategic game, it even has a potential monetary aspect: you will be better positioned to start a startup or the like in the future for a completely monetized project, many people who enjoyed your work previously for free, being more inclined to buy into it, to spread the news of it, etc. The people who enjoy your work for free now, may be paying you in the future.
I know very well that money is the most direct and most easily convertible carrier of value [and power] in our harsh world where we all have to eat and pay bills, but please don't underestimate the value of our verbal gratitude and "moral" support. I know you do value it, I just wanted to emphasize that your energies are not spent in vain, its not a net loss, even when there is no immediate conversion of value into visibly useful assets - of course this also depends on what your personal model of value is, and whether at all you feel as though some portion of the value given is perhaps also regained by you also being able to benefit from what others share for "free".