- Oct 20, 2019
- 29
- 232
i don't think we can objectively compare nintendo and Odes/Dogson games, not just because they are AAA compagny vs 2 indies dev (even it's speacking by itself), but because this is a different type of product. (this subject is already exausted, i won't argue anymore on that, and it won't change your mindset on this =)
i understand your feelings like most of ppl here complain and i really appreciate you try to take it objectively and being respectful.
if you're waiting for the animation updates like most of ppl on this forum yeah i understand you are upset or disappointed. even it's not really their fault right now (unity bug). for me again i'm happy with it cuz i have the CCtool i dreamed.
but i'm not really agree on the purpose of paying on patreon.
we paid 12$/month to support them in their project, to make it a reality, not for the content they release right now.
i think they've show me they are worth my financial support (even i've stopped it this month cuz i need to eat and paid my bill) in the past 2 years.
Like i've paid around 140$, it's not for having acces to the release but trully to support them. the goal is different y see ?
and yeah FFG are really incredible, i've discuss a lot with one of them on facial expression for my characters and it's really help me. but don't forget other creator some of them are really good^^
I really appreciate both of your responses as you've reminded me just how important it is that they receive the support they get to stay fully dedicated to such an innovation-heavy project. Putting myself in Odes's perspective, I can speculate why he makes the price so high; inflation has had a world-affect this past year, so there's probably even a personal financial sob-story that he's sparred us of due to his dedication & humble competence, but still needs that $2k-$3k split for vehicle/house bills + food/nutrition + etc.The only reason a niche product such as this is possible at all is because people are supporting it with money each month. If you were making a one time purchase, the financials would cover the development cost of maybe a month or two. That's not enough time to implement a product such as this. So FuzzyFerret is right on the money here - you should see it as crowd funding rather than paying for a service.
Compared to other projects, the research and development that has gone into this is shocking considering the team size. Given how you can earn a lot more money doing something easier, like implementing one character with some pre-made animations and paywalling it, it's a miracle anything like this exists at all. Why would anyone spend this amount of time and effort doing all this work if they could simply do something easier and yet earn more money?
If you ever wanted to know the reason why seemingly no one else is developing this type of application, read the previous paragraph again.
For all intents and purposes, the only thing we should be stuck with are projects drip feeding pre-made characters and pre-made animations, and yet we are not, and the only reason why is because people are generous enough to support a grander vision.
With that said, I still feel like a dog with a small piece of meat being dangled 12 feet above me instead of 6. I still can't help but feel like we should be getting more in return. Yes they're already doing everything they can as a team of 2-3 people who do need that $6k/month, but I believe there are those who genuinely want to support Odes (me before the pandemic), and there are those who've gotten desperate waiting so long and just want to cling on to something that is already there while still giving Odes & Dogson some support (me resorting to this website). Both kind of people need to be tended to, no? My suggestion was they edit their tier awards to justify their tiny release updates as $7 or $8, while giving those who want to pay the $12 the reward of voting for the next animal head, and maybe even have their names engraved on the startup loading screen as a thank you.
$12 is just a wee bit too much to me, especially when they clarified that they can't properly progress until Q3 2023 because of that Unity bug. I will admit that I'm stubborn; If I'm paying you, I want something more than "Thanks, we're working on it," whether you're a one-man dev or as big as Disney. I want to support and give Odes my love as much as I want something justifiable in return so I know my money is being spent heartfully. It doesn't help that the game disables access to newer character posts, forcing me to pay another $12 to properly engage with their release. At that point, it no longer feels like I'm doing it solely to support "their grander vision."
The trade-off in it's current state just feels... unfair. To me at least. I can't speak for anyone else. and I just needed to get it off my chest. The $3 tier option looks pretty great. (Who knows, i'm probably just too sexually frustrated for my own good and a $12 charge is actually totally justifiable since "the game is super ambitious and time-consuming, therefore $12 for the single animal head you may not even plan on using in our unfinished game actually makes perfect sense.")